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UNECRA is my attempt at reaching what I call “Economic North.”

 

Economic North, for me, is financial health. It is having the ability and stability to fully express myself as an artist, educator, and visionary. It is having enough resources to build projects that positively impact the world while also creating systems, even small ones, that can sustain themselves over time.

I know I have free will. I know there are no official laws stopping me from becoming financially free. I also know that the journey takes time, wisdom, access, support, and resources that many of us were never taught or inherited.

Like many Americans, I was not raised with financial literacy, investment knowledge, or generational wealth. More realistically, many of us inherit debt, financial survival habits, reliance on religions, and systems we are still trying to understand while simultaneously trying to survive inside of them.

As an independent artist and educator, I believe my work is extremely necessary for these times. I believe my projects can create both social impact and financial return. I believe they can contribute healing, thought, beauty, connection, and transformation to the world.

The challenge is that vision alone does not fund execution.

I am often creating while barely making it financially myself.

 

The idea for UNECRA was born from that truth.

I often affirm that "I have all that I need right now in this moment" especially at times when I am challenged with resources. That affirmation 1. offers me the option to shift where I am placing my attention from a "lack of" perspective to an "abundance" perspective which demands me to express gratitude for everything I currently have; my laptop, design skills, restorative justice experience, artistic expression, website, social media, curiosity, hope, health, relationships, my mind and willingness to learn.

 

UNECRA is rooted in my forming belief of community abundance. I am curious of how clearly can I communicate my vision, my artwork, my projects, and their impact so that people who believe in the work choose to help fund and move it forward?

I believe that if the work is meant to exist in the world, support will meet it.

Also, please know that referring to this initiative as the “Underground Economic Railroad” is in no way meant to make light of the enslaved humans who risked their lives seeking freedom, nor the abolitionists who risked everything to help them move North. It is an ode to both.

The "runaway" had to possess vision, courage, faith, self-belief, and a willingness to move despite uncertainty.
The abolitionist had to think independently, challenge social norms, reject passive neutrality, and believe in humanity deeply enough to risk comfort, reputation, safety, and sometimes even life itself.

That history and spirit inspires this project.

My “running North” is my continued attempt to survive and thrive as an independent restorative justice artist, educator, and builder while learning financial wisdom in real time.

If you believe in this vision and would like to become an Economic Abolitionist, I invite you to look at the projects below and support this work through:

• angel investment

• access to opportunities and resources

• mentorship

• strategic connections

• project funding

• purchases

• collaborative support