We’re so thankful that you’re here! We have lots of resources available on our website, but that’s not all. Feel free to also visit us on social media for more.
Find the Accomplice Project on Facebook and on Instagram.
Current Initiatives
As we witness increasing inequality and structural violence manifest itself in the United States and around the world through police brutality, vaccine shortages, gender-based violence, economic recession, environmental racism, and war – among a host of other issues – many of us are struck with the thought: true justice is difficult to achieve unless we reimagine our present circumstances. These events challenge each of us to be creative in our response to the violence we see throughout our world and to imagine a future vastly different from the present we currently find ourselves in.
With this in mind, we invite anyone living in South Bend, Indiana and environs, to submit creative works on themes relating to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) issues; decolonization and decoloniality; intersectionality; reparations; land rights and gentrification; the impacts of colonization and coloniality; and other related issues.
We welcome submissions from Notre Dame students, faculty, and staff; South Bend residents; and other passionate artists to submit work that attempts to grapple with these key issues. While we typically accept academic-leaning submissions, but in this moment in time, we understand the need for creative responses to the intersecting crises and inequalities of our time. Thus, we hope to create a space for alternative responses to oppression. The deadline for contributions is Saturday, April 30, 2022 at 11:59 pm.
Our Mission
Accomplice is a student-led project supported by the Mediation Program of the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. Our mission is to support and sustain decolonial efforts at the University of Notre Dame oriented towards transformational justice and reparations. We seek change with material consequences for the historically oppressed both on campus and in the region at large. We foster dialogue about the history of the University of Notre Dame and its relationships to South Bend and the Indigenous peoples on whose land we teach, learn, and work. We aim to cultivate a place where there is the necessary peace for discussion, debate, and institutional transformation.
Our Name
In May of 2014, Indigenous Action Media published Accomplices Not Allies: Abolishing the Ally-Industrial Complex, An Indigenous Perspective. This zine defines accomplices as those who “don’t just have our [Indigenous] backs, they are at our side, or in their own spaces confronting and unsettling colonialism”. Since 2014, Black and queer activist networks have also adopted the term “accomplice” as a role distinct from “ally”. Some critique the term for further framing oppressed people as criminal. In an unjust society, however, the work of accomplices is often transgressive, revolutionary, and disturbing of the peace.
Inspired by this definition and heightened call to action, we have chosen to name our project Accomplice to continually remind those who engage our work about the involved role accomplices play in pursuits of liberation, material reparations, and institutional transformation.
Our Logo
The colors of the leaves are drawn from the color scheme of David “Half Pint” Martin’s insignia for the Pokagon Band of the Potawatomi work to represent our interest in supporting Indigenous-led initiatives on a local level. The minimal design of the branch intentionally excludes a stem to represent our interest in a politics of decentralized coalition-building. Each leaf, like each struggle we engage, is oriented in the same direction to represent the common goals we pursue together.