About us

Inclusive International Indigenous Reporting & Storytelling

WHO WE ARE

Crushing Colonialism is an Indigenous-led 501(c3) nonprofit in the so-called United States that uplifts Indigenous people through arts, media, and traditional storytelling while supporting those doing the work. We were founded in 2016 by Jen Deerinwater and are operated by Indigenous people working in a variety of storytelling fields across the world. We work to increase the pay and employment of Indigenous storytellers while also promoting their work, providing funding for media and arts projects, and increasing access to professional representation.

MISSION

Crushing Colonialism’s mission is to uplift and tell the stories of Indigenous people through media and traditional storytelling. We produce international reporting and organizing to inform and empower marginalized community members, create professional opportunities, and advocate for the just funding and employment of Native artists, media workers and storytellers. In doing this we control our narratives in order to crush colonialism.

VISION

Crushing Colonialism tells the stories of Indigenous people to create a world that values and honors Indigeneity.

Background, mission, Vision ASL

American Sign Language interpreter, Amber Braithwaite, Concierge Interpreting LLC

(Hunkpati Dakota descendant from Crow Creek Sioux Tribe at Fort Thompson South Dakota)

the staff

Jen DeerinWater

Founding Executive Director

Jen Deerinwater is a bisexual, Two-Spirit, multiply-disabled, citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and an award-winning journalist and organizer who covers the myriad of issues hir communities face with an intersectional lens. Jen is the founding executive director of Crushing Colonialism and a 2019 New Economies Reporting Project and a 2020 Disability Futures fellow.

Jen received a B.A. from the University of Southern California in Gender Studies and Political Science with an emphasis on American Federal Government, a Graduate Certificate in Women in Politics and Public Policy from the University of Massachusetts-Boston, and a M.S. in Communications Management from Simmons College.

Jen is a contributor to Truthout and hir work has been featured in a wide range of publications, including Bitch, Rewire.News, and New Now Next. Jen’s writing is included in the anthologies Disability Visibility: First Person Stories from the Twenty First Century, We Organize to Change Everything: Fighting for Abortion Access and Reproductive Justice, Property Will Cost Us the Earth: Direct Action and the Future of the Global Climate Movement, and Crip Authorship: Disability as Method. Jen is also hard at work on two books, including Sacred and Subversive (Jessica Kingsley Publishers), a 2SLGTBTQIA+ anthology on faith and spirituality.

Jen has been interviewed for numerous outlets on hir work and The Advocate named Jen a 2019 Champion of Pride. Jen is also a 2022 member of the Susan M. Daniels Disability Mentoring Hall of Fame.

Jen currently serves on the Ending the HIV Epidemic among Urban Natives Community Advisory Board with Johns Hopkins University and Native American Lifelines. Jen is also a member of the board of directors for the Disabled Journalist Association and a Senior Advisor for the Disability Culture Lab.

While a nomad at heart and raised in rural areas of her nation’s reservation in Oklahoma and in rural Texas, Jen currently lives on Piscataway land known as Washington, D.C.

A smiling Black woman with two afro puffs sits cross legged on a floor wearing khaki shorts, a tan cardigan, and a shirt that reads "Louisiana girls are sunshine mixed with a little bit of hurricane."

DeAnna Rhodes

Program Coordinator

DeAnna Rhodes (she/her) is a content creator, event producer, Black culture devotee, production manager for several creative spaces in the DC Metro Area, and the founder of Sunny Dee Productions.

The mission of Sunny Dee is to facilitate connecting Black people with their heritage, create safe spaces for Black folks to explore themselves and their interests, and cultivate community – all things she feels are necessary in processing our collective hurt, helping each other heal, and moving towards our full liberation. DeAnna is an unabashed nerd, a womanist, and a proud alum of Howard University.

Isabel Riofrío is a Latino woman, standing in the middle of a garden full of trees. She is wearing a white top and blue trousers, and part of her cherry blossom tattoo is exposed. She is smiling as she looks at the camera.

Isabel María Riofrío Miranda

Editor-in-Chief, The Magazine

Isabel is joining Crushing Colonialism as Editor-in-Chief of The Magazine. She is a seasoned communications professional with ten years of experience in public relations and journalism.

She obtained her Master’s degree in International Journalism at the City University of New York in 2015. She is fluent and has worked professionally in English, Spanish, and French. She is based in Quito, Ecuador, where she lives with her Frenchie named Yaku, meaning “water” in Quechua

Photo description: Natalia is a brown-skinned woman with medium-long hair. She wears a dress with a pattern of leaves and flowers, and poses in front of some trees. Photo description: Natalia es una mujer de piel morena con pelo medio largo. Ella porta un vestido con un patrón de hojas y flores, y posa frente a unos árboles.

Natalia Molina Barreto

Social Media Manager

Natalia is a descendant of the Muisca indigenous people (muysc cubun) from Une, Cundinamarca in Colombia.

She was born in Bogotá, received a B.A. from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Social Communication with an emphasis on Advertising, and a M.Sc. in Media, Communication and Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Natalia has worked with indigenous peoples of Colombia and the Amazonia, and has specialized in the strategic communications of international cooperation projects for environmental protection, adaptation to climate change and sustainability.

A smiling Indigenous woman with long dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, and light-brown colored skin. She is wearing a black sweater and long turquoise beaded earrings. A large plant can be seen in the background.

Casey Norris

Social Media Coordinator

Casey Norris is the Social Media Coordinator for Crushing Colonialism. She is a Diné (Navajo) woman belonging to the Coyote Pass People clan (Ma’ii deeshgiizhiniii) and the Red Bottom People clan (Tl’aashchi’i).

Born in Eagle River, Alaska, she has spent the majority of her life in parts of Arizona and New Mexico. Casey graduated from the University of Arizona with a B.A. in Psychology. She has years of experience in the behavioral health field and managing social media platforms for other Indigenous organizations including Tribal Diagnostics and the National Indian Health Board.

Fabiana has caramel skin, long black hair, and traditional tattoos. In the picture, she wears round glasses as she holds a microphone, delivering a speech. A sign language interpreter is also depicted, translating her words for the audience.

Fabiana Gibim

Grants Manager

Fabiana Gibim, a native Guaraní born on the border of Brazil and Paraguay, is a researcher and curator focusing on Radical Imagination and Transaesthetics. Her particular interests lie in Latin American, Caribbean, and African Surrealism, particularly from Indigenous, Black, and Brown communities, and exploring the interplay between radical imagination and colonization.

Previously, she served as a Special Researcher at The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University, specializing in grassroots independent publishing and examining the relationship between print culture and radical aesthetics. As the co-founder and editor of Sobinfluencia Press in São Paulo, Brazil, Fabiana spearheads a research and publishing endeavor dedicated to radical politics and art, with a keen focus on anti-authoritarian groups, to which current research pursuits have led her to Zeppelin University in Germany. Throughout her life, Fabiana’s passions and struggles are concentrated on fostering culturally radical communities and amplifying voices that have been historically suppressed. She views art as a potent form of protest, striving to cultivate bonds and creative spaces that nurture freedom and dignity.

The image shows Shana looking at the camera with a slight smile. She has dark brown shoulder-length hair, brown eyes, and a nose piercing on her left nostril. She is wearing a black sweater and brown wooden dangly earrings.

Shana Baumgartner

The Magazine, Editorial Director

Shana Baumgartner (Enrolled Oglala Lakota) joined Crushing Colonialism in 2024 as Editorial Director of The Magazine. Shana has had a 25+ year career in the field of education, spending the last 15 years in educational publishing holding various roles such as writer, senior editor, instructional designer, and editorial manager. She is well-versed in end-to-end print and digital publishing and has managed dozens of publications from concept to print, designed and scripted slide presentations, planned and produced videos, created interactive online courses, and more.

Born and raised in California, Shana earned her Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of California Santa Cruz in 2002. She earned her M.Ed. from UCLA, with an emphasis on social justice education. She has lived in England, New York City, and now resides in Pennsylvania, with her spouse, three children, two dogs, and four cats. In addition to her work in publishing, she also teaches yoga online and in local studios.

She is an active member in her community, an advocate for neurodiverse populations (especially children), and generally a champion for justice, equity, and inclusivity.

Our Board Members

A five year old Acee poses for a portrait with a purple background. He has black hair, brown eyes, and is wearing a white, purple, and yellow striped shirt tucked into purple pants.

Acee Agoyo

Acee Agoyo is a co-founder of Indianz.Com, the leading internet Native American news site, where he focuses on the policies and decisions that affect tribal nations and their citizens.

Acee Agoyo was born at an Indian Health Service hospital in New Mexico and it’s been downhill ever since. He is a co-founder of Indianz.Com, the leading internet Native American news site, where he focuses on the policies and decisions that affect tribal nations and their citizens. He was raised at Ohkay Owingeh, home of the Pueblo Revolt, a successful uprising against colonial powers that took place in 1680. He is also Cochiti Pueblo and Kewa.

Agoyo is a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He currently resides in Washington, D.C., on the homelands of the Piscataway peoples.

A Native person poses for a photo focused on their face. They’re wearing black glasses with rainbow details, a black shirt, and tan vest. They’re brown hair is chin length, asymmetrical cut, has small purple and pink highlights, and is parted to the right.

Oswin Latimer

OSWIN LATIMER (FAE/THEY) IS THE TREASURER FOR CRUSHING COLONIALISM. FAE IS AN AUTISTIC, CHOCTAW, TRANS, QUEER ACTIVIST AND EDUCATOR WITH A LONG HISTORY OF WORKING AGAINST SUPREMACISM IN FAER DISABILITY JUSTICE WORK.

Oswin has extensive experience doing policy work in education, healthcare, and employment through an intersectional lens.

Oswin is the founding director of Foundations for Divergent Minds (FDM), an intersectional, Autistic-run organization that focuses on improved quality of life for Autistic people, particularly those who are multiply marginalized by colonialist systems. Fae also acts as an Autistic consultant and provides anti-ableist education and support for dismantling oppressive practices that particularly harm disabled, 2SLGBTQIA+, and BIPoC folx.

Oswin has participated in many presentations, panels, and podcasts over the last decade, including New Jersey Autism Center for Excellence, Penn State TRIO training, and “Two Sides of the Spectrum” podcast. Faer activism and work was also featured in Citizen Autistic (a documentary).

In addition to faer activism, Oswin is most proud of faer children, who range from elementary aged to young adult and who are all neurodivergent. Oswin has applied (and applies) faer work into advocacy for and alongside faer kids, which improved their academic support and transition out of school services.

Shelbi Nahwilet
Meissner

Shelbi Nahwilet Meissner (Luiseño & Cupeño) is an Indigenous feminist philosopher. Shelbi researches, teaches, and consults on Indigenous research and evaluation methods, cultural and language reclamation, Indigenous epistemologies, Indigenous feminist interventions in critical social work, and land-based feminist coalition-building. Shelbi is fascinated by the intersections of Indigenous knowledge systems, caretaking, power, and trauma.

Shelbi is a proud first-generation descendant of the La Jolla Band of Luiseño Indians, and is of both Luiseño (Payómkawichum) and Cupeño (Kupangaxwichem) descent. She is an assistant professor in the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at University of Maryland, College Park and the founding director of the Indigenous Futures Lab, a hub of Indigenous feminist research and evaluation.