Africans Rising Statement of Solidarity with Afro-descendant Communities in Colombia following the devastating earthquake

We at Africans Rising extend our deepest condolences and unwavering solidarity with the people of Colombia, particularly the Afro-descendant communities who are hardest hit by the catastrophic impact of the earthquake that struck the country recently.

With the epicenter located within the predominantly Afro-Colombian department of Chocó, this disaster has claimed more than 300 lives, injured thousands, and completely upended over 135,000 people across the region. Our hearts ache for the families mourning lost loved ones, those searching for the missing, and the thousands left without shelter, schools, or basic utilities.

We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with frontline, Black-led organizations and grassroots collectives on the ground, who have self-mobilized to deliver food, clean water, and medicine to remote, excluded territories where state aid has failed to arrive. This crisis has once again proven that popular dignity and grassroots mutual aid are our greatest tools for survival.

We call on our global family and allies to rally behind mutual aid initiatives and trusted humanitarian groups to send aid directly to the frontlines of recovery.

In solidarity,