Rising Hearts | Los Angeles, CA
Meet Rising Hearts, an organization fighting for equality and inclusivity in the athletics community by elevating Indigenous voices and promoting intersectional collaboration.
Indigenous-led grassroots organization, Rising Hearts, was created by Jordan Marie Daniel in 2016. Her mission was clear: “We can’t have a better, safer future if we don’t get communities together to collaborate and learn from each other.” Working to raise awareness around social, racial, climate and economic injustice, Jordan works with communities across the US to create an intersectional pathway where Black, Indigenous and People of Color can work with allies to educate and inform.
It is important to center Indigenous voices. The idea for Rising Hearts came to me in 2016 while raising awareness about the building of the Dakota Access Pipeline – an underground oil pipeline measuring 1,172 miles that impacts the environment and sacred Indigenous sites. At rallies, I saw a lack of Indigenous representation in the community. While there were a lot of environmental groups and organizers, no Indigenous leaders had been invited to be a part of the planning. I began inserting myself into the groups, attending organized community runs and marathons and introducing myself as someone from these homelands.
Running With Purpose is our group of athlete advocates who represent Rising Hearts at running races, helping to highlight the work we do and discuss our work with race organizers. We now have 31 athlete advocates in the group. Our aim is to work with the outdoor and running industries to make them more accessible, inclusive and safe for people from all backgrounds. We want everyone to see themselves in this group.
During the pandemic, we hosted annual virtual runs – which have become our biggest fundraising event. We have raised over $250,000 since June 2020. We used the funds on Covid-19 relief equipment for our communities. We’ve held 15 more runs since. We ensure every virtual run has a theme or cause to learn about – so when people register on the website, there is background information to read. Participants can access podcasts, links to reports, book recommendations and connect to social media accounts – all with the goal of raising awareness and encouraging them to take further action.
While we are an Indigenous-led organization, Rising Hearts works to amplify all community voices. Our aim is to build a solid community by making space for allies to work with us. We do this by activating the community around us to educate and inform – through talking with those in positions of power, particularly at run events, and explaining why recognition is important. My hope is that Rising Hearts will encourage people to come to us and platform our voices, and even ask to collaborate with us. Our role is coalition building.
We also have our Running on Native Land Initiative to help raise awareness of land acknowledgment and the Indigenous people who are connected with these lands. We work with race and event directors to implement land acknowledgments at races such as the Boston Marathon. We encourage them to give back to those communities – it’s a long, sustainable, supportive relationship. We hope to work with writers and filmmakers to tell the story of our work.
We still find there is a lot of ignorance around Indigenous people.The Running on Native Land Initiative not only helps people know what land they are on, but also that Indigenous people are still here. We try to encourage organizers to go beyond ticking the box of acknowledgment by placing funds back into the community. Or donate leftover food and water from events to community youth programs. We hope people will foster a deeper kinship with the land and with the land’s Indigenous people this way.
Ultimately, we want people to think about their connection to their surroundings. Yes, people are coming to these races because it’s what they have worked really hard for and they want to perform – but also, once we are in kinship with the land, we are in better kinship with each other. That’s how we create better, safer spaces, and become better relatives to each other.
Find out more about Rising Hearts.
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