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About us
Inclusive International Indigenous Reporting & Storytelling
Background

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

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, a light-complected femme presenting person with black glasses, brown, wavy, shoulder-length hair, sits in a park with stone masonry and trees behind hir. Jen’s left fist is raised in the air, exposing tattoos and a Native designed turquoise, yellow, red, and white bangle bracelet. Hir right hand is holding onto one side of a Native made yellow, black, and white beaded medallion with the Crushing Colonialism logo in the center. Jen is wearing a black, short sleeve shirt and large, yellow earrings.

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, a 2LGBTQIA+ 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 HIV Epidemic among Urban Natives Community Advisory Board with Johns Hopkins University and Native American Lifelines and is a board member of the Disabled Journalist Association.

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

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. 

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.