At Familias en Acción we are committed to pursue those values: safety, dignity, and belonging, for the health of all our culturally rich and diverse Latino/x/e communities in Oregon, who have been historically marginalized and generalized. One way that we are committing is by honoring the knowledge and world views of our indigenous communities, the stories of our ancestors, and cultural ties to land and nature. We lead our Acción Climática work with the philosophy of Vivir Bien—living well— inspired by the kichwa concept of Sumak Kawsay, of a balanced life, from indigenous communities in Ecuador, Bolivia, and parts of Colombia. We know this philosophy resonates across our communities and is shared by many indigenous peoples around the world under different names, and we engage in leading a climate and health justice movement where Vivir Bien is built upon our values for family resilience, including physical, spiritual and mental wellbeing, and our interconnectedness to a larger community that includes nature, plants, animals, multiple territories, and the entire planet Earth.
Thus, we educate ourselves, generate Concientización about climate change, the history of colonization, capitalism, racist public policies and their ongoing impact on our neighborhoods and our families’ health, in order to build another world where our own well-being is not separate from our planet’s well-being.