Land & Water Acknowledgment

Black Hawk held: In reason

land cannot be sold,

only things to be carried away

- Lorine Niedecker

We recognize that our work takes place in, on, around and through the traditional homelands and waterways of many Indigenous nations, including the Potawatomi (Bodéwadmi), Ojibwe (Anishinaabe), Odawa (Ottawa), in addition to the Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Miami, Kickapoo, Sauk, Meskwaki, and Peoria peoples, as well as the descendants of earlier Woodland and Mississippian cultures whose earthworks and effigy mounds remain throughout the region.

Just as glacial events that carved our landscape and shaped our natural resources and climate, we acknowledge the lasting impacts of colonization and forced removal while honoring the enduring presence, cultures, and stewardship of Indigenous peoples, as well as the legacies of oppression, exclusion and marginalization that have forced other communities and identities of race, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation, as well as physical, mental and cognitive differences. We commit ourselves to learning, partnership, and responsible stewardship of the lands and communities we share. Similarly, the rich tradition of colonial and postcolonial diaspora and immigration have brought enduring influences of Black, Latino/a/x, Jewish, Danish, Armenian, German, Irish, Italian, Polish and other European cultures, each shaped by their own historical material conditions. As our region continues to evolve, we invite all these communities and those to come to join us in giving poetic voice to their stories and concerns

The current transportation infrastructure in the Chicago-Milwaukee corridor faces socio-cultural, ecological, and economic obstacles. These problems are not new but rather stretch back to the historical development of the region.  

Amid the removal and attempted conquest of sovereign indigenous people, the Chicagoland and Greater Milwaukee area have since their respective foundings in 1937 and 1846 grown toward a megalopolis while remaining racially and economically divided landscapes. Along with the economic growth that has followed from this urban expansion, the area has seen sharp increases in income inequality marked by disproportionate educational attainment, prison sentencing and community violence. Likewise, these socio-economic conflicts find ecological corollaries in air and water pollution that are likewise tied to reduced green space. Individuals from the most marginalized social groups in our current economic, political and social climate face a mental health crisis, the product of which can be seen in homelessness, drug overdose and suicide rates. 

To address these concerns, our project aims to synthesize ecological wisdoms from the Eastern, Western and Indigenous Meso-American traditions while unifying disparate communities in the Chicago-Milwaukee corridor around shared experiences and histories of transportation as a means of cultivating new narratives about the individual and collective changes needed for a sustainable future. We aim to accomplish this through an increased focus on producing, publishing and performing poetry that tackles mental health issues in public spaces.

In addition to connecting with diverse audiences through voluntary participation in workshops, publications and performances, we aim to partner with organizations throughout the Chicago-Milwaukee corridor to extend the reach of poetry's benefits.