Instituto
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03/28/2026
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03/13/2026
Thank you to everyone who showed up to the Black Emergence: Traveling Mercy to the Desert Sun film premiere at the Living Black Worlds Festival, hosted by Black River Life!
Our Executive Director, Shelley — alongside her Aunt Debra, Thryd Space Co-Founders Chris and Laila, and Assistant Archivist of Black Collections at Arizona State University, Jessica — shared their stories of memory, migration, and Black matriarchs. After the premiere, we asked audience members to ask each other: who taught them what community looks like, and when was the last time they had a real conversation with an older or younger loved ones?
🫂 🫂 🫂
There were many tears, hugs, laughter, and memories shared that we'll cherish forever. :heartpulse:
We're excited to continue the Black Emergence project. Stay tuned for what's next!
A special thank you to:
☀️ Black River Life, Black Emergence film collaborator + festival host
☀️ Chris + Laila, moderators from
☀️ Jessica, panelist from ASU Library Community Driven Archives
☀️ Debra + Jackson Family
☀️ Shaunté Glover (), event photographer
☀️ Trinity Miracle () & Instituto Team, altar set up + stage support
Which role(s) are you? / Repost by
Burnout is a real thing in movements along with PTSD, anxiety, etc.
Choosing one to two lanes (or any overlapping that works) can help you sustain energy
All but three of these roles developed by Deepa Iver
In the “Social Change Map” in my bio. I added Researcher, Documentor, and fundraisers but this is not part of the original framework.
Please stay safe and vigilant out here.
With love and solidarity. 🧡
Roles outlined by Deepa at the Building movement project:
Weavers: I see the through-lines of connectivity between people, places, organizations, ideas, and movements. E
Experimenters: I innovate, pioneer, and invent. I take risks and course-correct as needed.
Frontline Responders: I address community crises by marshaling and organizing resources, networks, and messages.
Visionaries: I imagine and generate our boldest possibilities, hopes and dreams, and remind us of our direction.
Builders: I develop, organize, and implement ideas, practices, people, and resources in service of a collective vision.
Caregivers: I nurture and nourish the people around me by creating and sustaining a community of care, joy, and connection.
Disruptors: I take uncomfortable and risky actions to shake up the status quo, to raise awareness, and to build power.
Healers: I recognize and tend to the generational and current traumas caused by oppressive systems, institutions, policies, and practices.
Storytellers: I craft and share our community stories, cultures, experiences, histories, and possibilities through art, music, media, and movement.
Guides: I teach, counsel, and advise, using my gifts of well-earned discernment and wisdom.
Additions:
Fundraisers: I know how to find funds and do so for community mutual aid, organizations, and arrest funds.
Documentors: I want to be there with a camera in hand on site to deter people from hurting my community.
Reaseacher: I enjoy studying an I see patterns. I know a lot about movement history.
Sources: and i found this , my own experience as an organizer for TWO (only fundraiser and documentor) of the roles named, and Black radicalism.
02/27/2026
Instituto was on the radio!
📻📻📻
Our Executive Director, Shelley, appeared on KJZZ, Phoenix's NPR radio station, to discuss her family's story of migration from the Jim Crow South to South Phoenix and the upcoming film premiere of "Black Emergence: Traveling Mercy to the Desert Sun". Shelley talked about her grandma, Black matriarch Mcdell Otha Jackson, being her muse for the Black Emergence documentary. Even after the loss of her grandma and family members moving due to gentrification in South Phoenix, she carried a deep responsibility to bring her family together — reshaping what the future of their family looks like. The interview is beautiful and moving, honoring Phoenix's Black history, and inspires folks to reconnect with their loved ones. You can listen to the full interview with KJZZ Journalist Lauren Gilger.
02/25/2026
Arizona is home to phenomenal Black leaders like our Monzón Fellowship Alumni. They are rooted in their heritage and histories. They are community leaders who do everyday actions to work, educate, and imagine to create change for the future.
Today, this month, and beyond, we're celebrating 2023 Alum Tearanie for sharing her story from her Southern to Midwestern roots to her vision for Black communities in 2126.
02/16/2026
In 2025, our communities did not retreat. Leaders stepped forward.
Last year was filled with stories of achieving milestones, navigating challenges, and working for and with our communities through rising unemployment and political uncertainty. Our multi-entity organization, Instituto Lab (501(c)(3)) and Instituto Power (501(c)(4), welcomed a new cohort of Monzón Fellows, trained aspiring candidates, convened and coached direct-service leaders, and more.
📖📖📖
You can read all about our organization’s stories in our yearly Impact Report!
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Explore the report: bit.ly/25-report or link in bio.
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Address
221 E. Indianola Avenue
Phoenix, AZ
85012
Opening Hours
| Monday | 9am - 5pm |
| Tuesday | 9am - 5pm |
| Wednesday | 9am - 5pm |
| Thursday | 9am - 5pm |
| Friday | 9am - 5pm |
