Help us build an Afro-Indigenous led, sacred farm!
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Lakou Dantes is an Afro-Indigenous led healing quilombo*, land-based intentional community, herbal-based farm & Apothecary. We are a collective of healers, Manbos* and Ougans*, working hand in hand with the lwa and ancestors to steward sacred land in Jamcel, Ayiti. (Also known as “Yaquimel, which means "clear water" in Taino)
We believe that any community-spiritual intervention must contain a healing component that allows the full spectrum of the human condition to be addressed, including mental, emotional, physical and spiritual imbalances that manifest as a result of oppression, colonialism, and generational trauma.
In 1804 Ayiti created a vibration that started a movement of résistance. Ayiti became the world's first black-led republic and the first independent Caribbean state when it threw off French colonial control and slavery in the early 19th century. Still today, Ayiti (also known as Haiti) is a sacred place that sparks the spirit of radical justice and healing.
We are dreaming of purchasing land for farming and intergenerational healing, and we need your help.
Why is this important? The movement for decolonization is not complete without land restitution for Afro-Indigenous people. This land will not just be reparations for Ayisyen people but a sacred space stewarded by Afro-Indigenous people throughout the diaspora- offering refuge, food sustainability, regeneration, and reclamation.
Your donation will contribute to:
- the down payment on a 3 Kawo (9 acres) of property in Lavano, Yaquimel (Jacmel)
- start-up costs for farm equipment, tools, and crops
- farm infrastructure such as irrigation, wash house, living space
- start the foundation of building a physical center for community members to gather, teach, and hold ceremonies
What we envision for the land and cultivating community once we get the farm established:
Knowledge Sharing & Building
- Training & workshops on land restoration, herbalism, and ancestral medicine
- Homeschooling center/freedom school for the youth
- Space for BIPOC* to think critically, analyze our conditions and develop strategies for changing our society.
Center for Art & Artists
- Residency programs and retreats for activists, artists, frontline communities
- Destination for performances
- Studio space for artists (dance studio, painting studios)
Healing & Wellness
- Space for community ceremony and rituals
- Birthing space for free and home births
- Meditation and yoga center
- Healing practitioners to offer their services
Global Gatherings
- Host retreats for Black, Indigenous People of Color (doing all things listed above)
- Act as a hostel for seasonal, short term, or long term land-based living for Black people
Whether it’s getting your hands in the dirt, discovering healing within yourself, being with community, learning / unlearning, or however this land may serve us- we’re building this dream together. We can’t wait to welcome you to our future sanctuary. Thank you for your love and support.
Follow us on Instagram: lakoudantes
“Revolution is based on land. Land is the basis of all independence. Land is the basis of freedom, justice, and equality.” - Malcolm X
& Ayibobo + Ase O!
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Word Bank
Quilombo: created in Brazil, quilombos as isolated, alternative communities which sought to reproduce Africa in the Americas, and in which all members were free and equal, just as they had been in their homeland from the Kimbundu word kilombo, lit. 'war camp')
Mambo: Priestess of Haitian Vodou Afro indigenous practice
Ougan: Priest of Haitian Vodou Afro indigenous practice
Apothecary: Both the person who manufactured and dispensed medicines and the shop in which these medicines are sold
BIPOC: Black Indigenous People of Color
Organizer and beneficiary
Lanise Frazier
Organizer
Boston, MA
Elizabeth Nguyen
Beneficiary
