Smile Politely was founded on the lands of the Peoria, Kaskaskia, Piankashaw, Wea, Miami, Mascoutin, Odawa, Sauk, Mesquaki, Kickapoo, Potawatomi, Ojibwe, and Chickasaw Nations. History is not the past, it reverberates into the present and future. The people of these Nations were forcibly removed from their ancestral and traditional territories; we honor the legacies of their histories found in the land and strive to amplify stories of their present.
We acknowledge and understand that the experiences of forcible removal, attempted genocide, historical erasure and gaslighting, and continued oppression are similar, yet specifically different for Black, African American, Latinx, Asian American, Pacific Islander, and LGBTQ+ communities.
We will continue to support the work of Black, Indigenous, and people of color in Champaign-Urbana and beyond.