WHAT WE DO
Upon return from your Solidarity Collective delegation you will be more deeply informed, motivated, and inspired. There is no replacement for meeting directly with communities, witnessing both the political and environmental landscape in which they organize, and listening to their stories of resistance- ones you nor the people you report back to, are likely to forget. If you are ready to jump into activism and advocacy in your community, we’ll be there to support you.
Solidarity Collective designs our Popular Education and Advocacy Program to provide you with skills and on-the-ground experiences that you can leverage in your ongoing work for justice, dignity and collective well-being. Since 1983, we've connected more than 20,000 delegates with a grassroots analysis and with the urban and rural communities that lead struggles across the Americas!
The Solidarity Collective builds transnational grassroots solidarity to resist U.S. government and corporate policies that contribute to violence, poverty and oppression in the Americas.
Our delegations take U.S.-based activists through an immersive and collectively transformative process with our local partners in Latin America and the Caribbean. Our delegations use a popular education pedagogy and focus on the struggle and principled leadership of Indigenous, African-descendant and Campesino land defenders, community organizers, and peacebuilders.
Every delegation is a unique and unforgettable experience. Each delegation has an itinerary with scheduled activities, meetings, training, and visits that are specific to the thematic framing and the group's participants. All delegations center the work, testimonies, and requests from local grassroots organisations that are committed to justice.
OUR VALUES
1.
We believe that every person deserves to live with dignity, freedom, and within an equitable society. Our delegates, as well as the members and supporters of the Solidarity Collective's growing community, are committed to realizing this vision.
2.
We believe that social transformation is built from the ground up. The Solidarity Collective centers the narratives, histories, and lived experiences of those most-affected by U.S. intervention and corporate extractivism - both in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as within the Diaspora.
3.
We believe social change happens from within. Therefore, the Solidarity Collective practices shared power in decision-making, and values equally the labor and wisdoms of each person in our community - staff, volunteers, delegates, donors, and partners.
4.
We believe that misconceptions made prevalent by mainstream discourse can be effectively confronted through experience. Solidarity Collective delegates bear witness and learn directly from those most affected and most expert. Delegates root their advocacy in the lived experience of communities and organizations working for peace, justice and cooperative economies.
5.
We believe in relationships and nurture our long-standing ties with communities of peace-builders, resisters to oppression, and nonviolent activists.
6.
We believe in collective liberation and the transformative power of nonviolent social change. The Solidarity Collective builds intersectional people’s power and challenges oppression, racism, militarization and war in all of its forms.
1.
We believe that every person deserves to live with dignity, freedom, and within an equitable society. Our delegates, as well as the members and supporters of the Solidarity Collective's growing community, are committed to realizing this vision.
2.
We believe that social transformation is built from the ground up. The Solidarity Collective centers the narratives, histories, and lived experiences of those most-affected by U.S. intervention and corporate extractivism - both in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as within the Diaspora.
3.
We believe social change happens from within. Therefore, the Solidarity Collective practices shared power in decision-making, and values equally the labor and wisdoms of each person in our community - staff, volunteers, delegates, donors, and partners.
4.
We believe that misconceptions made prevalent by mainstream discourse can be effectively confronted through experience. Solidarity Collective delegates bear witness and learn directly from those most affected and most expert. Delegates root their advocacy in the lived experience of communities and organizations working for peace, justice and cooperative economies.
5.
We believe in relationships and nurture our long-standing ties with communities of peace-builders, resisters to oppression, and nonviolent activists.
6.
We believe in collective liberation and the transformative power of nonviolent social change. The Solidarity Collective builds intersectional people’s power and challenges oppression, racism, militarization and war in all of its forms.
OUR STORY
The WFP Solidarity Collective's formation was inspired by the analysis and vision of Berta Cáceres, including the need for movements to inherently reflect the intertwining struggles against unfettered capitalism, racism, and patriarchy. The collective brings together grassroots organizers across the hemisphere, stateside regions, international human rights accompaniers, and our advisors to campaign for peace, justice and sustainable economies in the Americas. We continue to host speaker tours and conferences, publish reports, participate in nonviolent direct actions, organize policy actions, provide human rights accompaniment, offer delegations to Colombia, Honduras, and Cuba, and build this amazing transnational movement.
We look forward to moving down this new path with you, growing as a collective and a movement rooted in Witness for Peace's powerful legacy and driven by the creative movements and emergent strategies of today.
We partner on groundbreaking delegations, including Black Indigenous and People of Color Delegations, African Heritage Delegations, Transnational Environmental Justice Delegations, Peacebuilding and Human Rights Delegations, and more.
The Solidarity Collective is not affiliated with any government, political party, or special interest group. We are funded primarily through individual grassroots donations.
In December 2018, the WFP National Office (which acts independently, with its own 501c3, separate from the various Regional 501c3s) laid off all national and international staff, and ceased funding to the international teams that had been present in Colombia, Cuba, Honduras, and Mexico for years, along with the national support staff.
But the Solidarity Collective is still on the ground carrying out the vital mission of Witness for Peace.
What happened next is hard to believe. In an inspiring show of resilience, commitment, and visioning, our national and international staff, supported by the Regional WFP 501c3s, kept our important work moving forward, guiding us through the storm, and reconfiguring ourselves into a new organization informed by grassroots horizontal and participatory governance in a momentous effort to build an organizational model that embodies our values and is able to support transnational movement building in a meaningful way.
Against the odds, we are still on the ground carrying out the vital mission of Witness for Peace, and we’re building up to be stronger than ever, rooted in horizontal leadership, through the Solidarity Collective.
OUR PEOPLE
People are the heartbeat of our organization. We believe that every individual has the potential and ability to transform themselves, their community, and the world
Every person we work with - staff, board, volunteers, delegates, partners, and donors - has something to learn and something to teach. We invite you to join us!
WHO WE WORK WITH
With The Solidarity Collective, the delegation itself is just the beginning of your journey.
We work with a variety of national, regional, and local organizations who are ready to support your efforts, educate your community, mobilize for justice, and help build the larger movement for Latin American solidarity. As a Solidarity Collective delegate, our networks are your networks!
We’re proud that many active members of social justice groups like Veterans for Peace, Sunrise Movement, Inter-Religious Task Force, the Movement for Black Lives, and the American Friends Service Committee, as well as many local churches, peace and justice groups, are Solidarity Collective delegates!
PARTNERS
HOW WE ARE FUNDED
The Solidarity Collective is a people-powered project fiscally sponsored by Witness for Peace Midwest. Since 2019, we have been supported by thousands of individual funders. 100% of our support comes from individuals who donate at all levels. Our average annual contribution is $50.
Your donations subsidize the work of our teams on the ground. We also provide sliding scale prices and fundraising support to BIPOC and working-class delegates.
