While we live in “Chattanooga” – a vibrant, beautiful, and growing city and community with deep history in the South, we recognize that we are living and standing on the stolen land of the Eastern Band of Cherokee, Muscogee, and Yuchi peoples. More so, we acknowledge colonization is an ongoing atrocity, and that this country is a racial project founded on slavery, murder, theft, and anti-Blackness. To move forward, we must honor and recognize those who came before us, are here now, and will come

1. We value political education, affirm that education 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”

2. We fully believe that everyone has a part in our movement, and that we need everybody to set us free. As we organize, we intentionally center the needs and leadership of directly impacted folks

3. We affirm that we’re not just “immigrants” or “x” identity but human beings living and existing with multiple identities, navigating various points of privilege, and struggling against interlocking systems of oppression. We celebrate and elevate our whole selves

4. As community members directly impacted by the work we do, we thank and welcome all allies for their support but affirm that will not coddle whiteness, citizenship, or privilege when building strategy for our own liberation

5. We acknowledge the work and contributions of “professionals” but we reject the professionalization of community-based work

6. 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

7. We affirm and 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

8. 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

9. We do not believe in police, borders, prisons, deportations, or detention centers. We acknowledge that we are in a global struggle for the liberation of all oppressed peoples and that we must work and fight from where we are at

10. We affirm that while Semillas is the organization, its membership and team is composed of real people coming from the communities the organization serves. Thus, we value our collective and individual rest, each other, having fun, and setting boundaries to allow us to continue our work

11. 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