Atlantic Black Box is committed to expanding the field of historical recovery. We empower communities throughout the Northeast to research and reckon with the region’s active role in colonization and slavery while recentering the stories of its historically marginalized groups. Burying New England’s history of racial violence and oppression was the work of many hands. At Atlantic Black Box, we believe it will take just as many hands to uncover the truth and to build a culture of repair. Our organization provides communities with the tools, resources, and support needed to recover and make sense of suppressed history through public programming, research assistance, community dialogue, place-based education, artistic expression, and advocacy.

Wabanaki REACH supports the self-determination of Wabanaki people through education, truth-telling, restorative justice, and restorative practices in Wabanaki and Maine communities. REACH designs structures and processes to be responsive to Wabanaki communities and beneficial to Wabanaki people, envisioning a future when Maine and Wabanaki people join together to acknowledge truth and work collectively toward equity, healing, and positive change. We seek to build a broader and stronger community of people who understand the long term impact of the generational harms done to Indigenous people since first contact and who are committed to transforming the present day systems that provide advantages to the dominant culture.

Indigo Arts Alliance builds global connections by bringing together Black and Brown artists from diverse backgrounds to engage in their creative process, while building lasting relationships rooted in co-mentorship. An integral aspect of the Indigo vision is providing Maine-based artists of African descent access to a broader range of practicing artists of color worldwide. Indigo Arts Alliance embodies a multiracial approach to the rich intersections of citizenship, community-building, and creativity. Our work is in service to shifting historical injustices as a vital component of achieving equity for Black and Brown artists. We believe that artists are instrumental to doing the work of social justice in ways that are deeply grounded in lived experience and community.

Community Change Inc. promotes racial justice and equity by challenging systemic racism and acting as a catalyst for anti-racist learning and action. We work through education, advocacy, and solidarity to organize for change. Our organization was born out of the Civil Rights Movement and in response to the Kerner Commission report, which named racism not merely as an individual bias but as an institutional problem that White people had a moral obligation to grapple with. CCI shines a spotlight on the roots of racism while specializing in educating and organizing White people for antiracist action. Racism is a deeply rooted problem in our society but change is possible, and it starts with each of us. We can all take steps to reduce racism in our communities and create a better future for everyone.

In Kinship Collective is Lilah Akins, Cory Tamler, Jennie Hahn, Emilia Dahlin, Devon Kelley-Yurdin, Darren Ranco, and Tyler Rai. An interdisciplinary and cross-cultural group, our learning and creation process follows the tradition of Wabanaki Guiding and centers Indigenous knowledge and experience. We create interdisciplinary works in conversation and relationship with Wabanaki guides and watersheds, exploring ways that settler colonial individuals can ethically participate in shifting public understanding of our shared environments and histories, and how creative intersectional dialogue between Native and non-Native people might productively function. We view a plurality of voices situated within Indigenous guidance as an approach toward, and modeling of, equitable cross-cultural practice.

The Third Place is a cross-sector network that connects Maine’s Black professionals, students, and entrepreneurs to social, professional, and economic opportunities. We do this through in-person events, online programs, and a virtual community platform. These programs and platforms serve as a critical resource in creating and sustaining Maine’s Black cultural infrastructure. Our network is designed to create a dynamic ecosystem that connects Black Mainers to other communities of color, local businesses and institutions, and cities/towns across the state. The Third Place brings together individuals, emerging initiatives, and organizations who share a common goal- ensuring that Maine is “The Way Life Should Be” for ALL people.

Maine Black Community Development is a Portland-based non-profit whose mission is to advance racial, social, and economic justice for all people living in Maine, with a particular focus on improving the quality of life for multigenerational Black Mainers. We produced the 2023 State of Black Maine Symposium and are organizing for lasting structural improvements for Maine’s Black communities.

The town of York has a growing group of volunteers working to form a coalition of historians, educators, activists, and descendants excited to support WHERE2024’s goal of moving in solidarity toward truth. The town of York had a large role to play in the Norridgewock Massacre 300 years ago and we hope that today we have a significant role in speaking truth to heal generational wounds.

When people talk about the history of a place, they are often talking about the history they see with one eye: a colonial one. Seeing with a Wabanaki eye reveals a place connected by movement and relationships. The Pejepscot Portage Mapping Project is producing a web-based countermap that helps us see with both eyes the wider relationships and continuing Wabanaki presence in this place we call home.