We are visioning the relaunched Colorlines as a gathering place in the spirit of the African Sankofa of looking to our past to guide our future. A spirit of drawing from our cultural and political lineages to make meaning of the impact of race and power, to inform our strategies for building a multiracial democracy.
So many hands have gone into the reshaping of Colorlines, and each of the people connected to those hands has been held, guided, picked up, and pulled forward by many more hands. We could probably write pages and pages in gratitude, and draw a whole forest of roots weaving together the people, ideas, and moments that have brought us here. For now, we’re honoring our respective lineages in this collective collage of people who have inspired and influenced how we show up in the world today, and ground our next steps, and invite you to reflect on who those people are in your own commitments to a better world. Read more about our work and what to expect from Colorlines.
“The People Who Shaped Us” Colorlines Lineage collage by Davon Howard. Pictured: Top row (left to right) – Harriet Jacobs, Toni Morrison, Cicely Tyson; bottom row (left to right): Grace Lee Boggs, Juan Evans, Emory Douglas, bell hooks.