POWER IN OUR HANDS.

CHANGE ON OUR TERMS.

When we educate, we organize. When we organize, we build people power. TOGETHER, our community transforms Chattanooga.

We are Black and Brown, ordinary, working-class, and unstoppable—building power, reclaiming our city, and transforming our futures.

OUR MISSION

Semillas TN is the only grassroots community organization in Chattanooga founded by Latinx immigrants. Spearheaded by ordinary working-class folks, our mission is to organize, mobilize, build power, and transform the city we call home through the power of education.

OUR VISION

Through a model unique to our region, we empower Latinx folks as well our larger community with the tools, knowledge, and education necessary to understand, navigate, and uproot the systemic barriers and obstacles we collectively face.

Upon doing so, we activate and mobilize the next generation of leaders, imagine and create community-grounded solutions, and win victories that cultivate positive progress for our city.

OUR MODEL NUESTRO MODELO

OUR THEORY OF CHANGE

  • PLANT IT

    1. Because we come from the communities we serve, we identify and meet the immediate needs of the community

    2. By meeting our people where they’re at, we begin to build trust as we mutually guide and support one another in navigating daily life and the challenges impacting our community/our people.

    3. It starts here

  • WATER IT

    1. We learn & unlearn together → tapping into our community member’s potential 

    2. We believe in empowerment through knowledge and education – Asatta shakur: “ No one is going to give you the education you need to overthrow them. Nobody is going to teach you your true history, teach you your true heroes, if they know that that knowledge will help set you free.”

  • NURTURE IT

    1. We believe in the right to self determination and the expertise of our community members. We foster a space for our people to imagine solutions to the issues impacting them, a space to produce original knowledge, and to be empowered to move into action  

    2. Using the ideas, solutions, and visions from community, we make a roadmap on how to organize our base to turn these ideas into concrete solutions, policies, and victories in our community together

  • GROW IT AND WATCH IT BLOOM

    1. Our community’s vision is fulfilled, we address the issues impacting our community, and our people push our movement forward. 

    2. As one seed sprouts and blossoms and our community begins to thrive, we hold space to imagine what else is possible!

VALUES, AFFIRMATIONS, & PRINCIPLES

  1. While we live in “Chattanooga” – a vibrant, beautiful, and growing community with deep history in the South, we recognize that we are living and standing on stolen land of the Eastern Band of Cherokee, Muscogee, and Yuchi peoples.  East of the __ people’s/the name . We honor those that came before us, are here now, and will come. 

  2. We acknowledge colonization is an ongoing project, and that this country was founded on slavery, murder, and anti-blackness

  3. We value political education,affirm that it is a nonlinear process, and acknowledge everyone is at a different point in their learning. We value learning and unlearning together and affirm this is a safe space to “say it roughly.”

  4. We affirm that everyone has a part in our movement, and we  intentionally  center the needs and leadership of directly impacted folks

  5. We affirm that we’re not just “immigrants” or “x” identity but folks living and existing at multiple intersections of (insert preferred term here/experience/oppression/power & privilege). We celebrate and elevate our whole selves – baggage, rough edges, and all

  6. We acknowledge and thank our allies for their support but we will not coddle whiteness, citizenship, or privilege when building strategy for our own liberation

  7. We acknowledge the work and contributions of nonprofits but we reject the professionalization of community based work 

  8. We reject narratives of the “good immigrant," the “insider/outsider,” and the tokenization of our people to determine who is deserving of care, love, and community. We recognize that we are all part of a larger global community and that notions of “citizen” vs “foreigner” are rooted in colonialism and white supremacy.

  9. We celebrate and elevate the humanity of all of our community members. We recognize that all of us are human beings who are capable of making mistakes. Regardless, we do not throw each other away and affirm that we are all deserving of humanity, dignity, justice, and respect

  10. We do not believe in police, borders, prisons, deportations, or detention centers and recognize that we are in a global struggle but must work from where we are at.

  11. We affirm that because we come from the communities we serve, we’re people too. We value rest, each other, having fun, and the boundaries we set to allow us to continue our work and struggle 

  12. We center and celebrate all of our community members – women, LGBTQIA+ folks, youth, elders, disabled folks, etc. We value our families, neighbors, communities and friends. We affirm that on the way to freedom, we take care of each other

BECOME A MEMBER 

Join the Semillas Membership Program – Build Power, Foster Solidarity, and Sustain Change

The Semillas Membership Program is a commitment to collective liberation, community-driven action, and lasting social change. By joining, you become part of a movement that prioritizes mutual aid, political education, and grassroots organizing. Members gain access to exclusive workshops, a digital resource library, volunteer opportunities, solidarity funds, and more. Your support helps sustain community initiatives and ensures that decision-making remains in the hands of the people, for the people. Be part of something bigger—join today and help shape a future rooted in justice and solidarity.

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$10 / Month

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