BLACK LIVES MATTER IS A GLOBAL MOVEMENT

“We believe that the future of Africans lies in the fullest utilization of our human resources instead of continued dependency on loans and gifts from abroad…if we do not control the means of survival and protection in the context of the 20th century, we will continue to be colonized.”  — Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, First President of Tanzania, 6th Pan-African Congress, June 19 – 27, 1974

At Adumu Safaris, BLACK LIVES MATTER, and have always mattered, in every corner of the Black Diaspora, from the U.S. to East Africa. We are a social enterprise founded and owned by an African American woman and a Tanzanian Maasai man with the primary purpose of restoring rights and self-determination to Maasai and other Black African communities in East Africa. We know racial and colonial injustice firsthand as well as through our social impact work. The threat to Maasai livelihoods from foreign tour companies and other socially irresponsible forms of tourism at the heart of our work is part of a centuries-long colonial legacy dependent upon the exploitation, control, and extermination of Indigenous and Black lives and theft of local land and resources. This colonial legacy of racial oppression and resource looting leads in a straight line to the untimely and tragic deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and countless others.

We at Adumu Safaris are not new to this concept. “BLACK LIVES MATTER” is at the core of who we are. This is not our first time to join a protest. We have been involved in social justice movements our entire adult lives. We know the power of protest to create meaningful change in our society. Our entry into the tourism industry in East Africa is, in fact, a protest against the status quo and a bold move toward regional transformation that puts local people and the environment first.

Our team is diverse, mainly Black, mainly of the communities we serve. As we grow, we aim to employ thousands of Maasai and other Black Africans, as well as Black and Indigenous people of color in our U.S. office. This is a strength of our organization now and into the future, as Black and Indigenous perspectives help ground us urgently in our social impact vision and mission, and the employment of Black Africans in tourism contributes directly and at scale to the reversal of colonial exploitation and racial injustice.

In the name of racial and economic justice and human rights for Black and Indigenous people of color globally, we encourage you to learn about the crisis that foreign safari tour companies pose to Maasai HERE and to SIGN THIS PETITION demanding justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and the countless other victims of police violence.

To all of you who travel with us and support us, thank you for joining us in being a force for good in the world.