― bell hooks
United For Change operates within Treaty 8 Territory, in ᓂᐢᑕᐋᐧᔮᐤ nistawâyâw (Cree) / ełídlį kuę́ (Dene), on ancestral Cree and Denendeh lands and the homelands of the Métis.
Founded in 2020 in Fort McMurray, United For Change (UFC) is a Black-led grassroots, non-profit organization. UFC was created to be a network of change makers functioning as one to address the systemic and social issues that oppress our community members.
United For Change exists to serve as an anti-capitalist, counter-colonial education hub, and to directly improve the material conditions of marginalized community members through a mutual aid and resource redistribution network. As a collective, we actively seek to create new structures to support our vision of a world where all people are liberated and resourced to thrive. We dream of a reality where equity is the norm and the exploitation of the global majority for the benefit of a few is not the status quo.
We are driven to work against the colonial, capitalist systems which continually lead to oppressive conditions for racialized and marginalized groups, and ultimately impact the wider community. By encouraging an active and consistent practice of mutual aid, establishing neighbourhood support networks, crowdfunding, and holding knowledge-building workshops, our goals are for resources to be more directly accessible to the people who need them and to raise political consciousness across the RMWB.
UFC intends to work collaboratively with local non-profits and community organizations to mobilize resources effectively in our unique northern, rural context.
UFC develops educational programming for our community through workshops, knowledge shares, mbongi, book and film study groups. We provide decolonized educational resources that prioritize and center the perspectives and lived experiences of Black, Indigenous, and racialized people.
UFC has established Freedom Hub as a space to facilitate community discussions and learning around various topics, especially anti-racism, anti-capitalism, decolonization, climate change, and wellbeing.
The UFC mutual aid network funds solidarity efforts for creating equitable outcomes for Black, Indigenous, racialized, low-income and working class people, and other marginalized groups.
We have established Alpha Hub as a key outreach program - a free, low-barrier food pantry supporting food insecure members of our community.
We aim to elevate youth voices and engage youth on a local level through school programming, workshops and support for local BSUs (Black Student Unions).
We seek to empower individuals with access to political education and liberation resources by sharing information in an accessible manner.
UFC hosts the annual African Liberation Day celebration in the RMWB, amplifying Pan-African solidarity and unity.
We collaborate with other non-profit organizations, charities, community leaders and groups with similar goals to develop projects across the region. Together we work to create a network of care and resistance guided by and for our community needs.
United For Change acknowledges the land we occupy, organize on, and work to become respectful guests on, is Treaty 8 Territory, the stolen traditional and ancestral homelands of the Cree, Dene, and Métis people. We affirm Indigenous sovereignty with a rightful return of the land to Indigenous communities, the original stewards of these lands. As settlers on Treaty 8, we are committed to standing in solidarity with Indigenous communities and honouring Treaties, through our learning, our words, and our actions. The ongoing efforts of United For Change in nistawâyâw / ełídlį kuę́ are first and foremost acts of reconciliation to redress ongoing colonial violence against the original peoples of Turtle Island and to counteract the imperial domination of settler-colonies globally. Our commitment to decolonization and anti-oppression is intersectional. We dedicate our support for the protection of human rights for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and stand behind Two Spirit people reconnecting to and practicing their traditional roles in community.
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