Last month, Right to Democracy convened an historic gathering of advocates, artists, community leaders, and experts from across all five territories in St. Croix, U.S.V.I. and San Juan, Puerto Rico to explore how U.S. colonial rule intersects with democracy, arts & culture, racial equity, and climate justice. 

  • Democracy - How can people in U.S. territories meet the moment to advance democracy and self-determination?
  • Arts & Culture - How can we center the importance of the arts in de-normalizing the cultural acceptance of undemocratic colonial rule?
  • Racial Equity - How are systemic inequality and colonial rule in U.S. territories connected to broader issues of racial discrimination in the United States?
  • Climate Justice - How can the innovations and lived experiences of some of the communities most affected by climate change help us develop sustainable solutions to the climate crisis?

We want to thank our amazing co-sponsors who helped make this historic Summit possible:

  • Ford Foundation
  • Fundación Comunitaria de Puerto Rico
  • Democracy Fund
  • St. Croix Foundation
  • Decolonizing Wealth

A big thank you as well to our panelists and collaborators: Edgar Villanueva (Decolonizing Wealth Project), Erika Wood (Ford Foundation), Winny Chen (Democracy Fund), Dr. Nelson I. Colón Tarrats (Fundación Comunitaria de Puerto Rico), Verónica Colón Rosario (Fundación de Mujeres de Puerto Rico) Amalia Brindis Delgado (Panta Rhea Foundation), Deanna James (St. Croix Foundation for Community Development), Rogers Smith (University of Pennsylvania), Dara Cooper (Kataly Foundation), Danielle Royston-Lopez (Kataly Foundation), Alexandra Hertell (Fundación Segarra Boerman), Lina Shalabi, (Kataly Foundation), Michele Perez (Policy Link), Janice Petrovich  (Fundación de Mujeres de Puerto Rico), Jha D Amazi (Mass Design), Ke Vaughn Harding (Mass Design), Eric Gottesman (For Freedoms, Corcoran School of the Arts & Design at George Washington University), Florecer Loiceño (Parque Histórico Cueva Maria de la Cruz), Betsy Collazo (Klik Team), Lorel Cubano (Colectivo PerlARTE), John Carlos Frey, Corredor Afro, Jasmarie Hernández Cañuelas, William Cepeda.

Pictures of the Summit below.

Photo Credit: Jasmarie Hernandez, Sebastián Morales