We are largely a mixed-race people due to the various colonial histories of our countries and encounters between Europeans, indigenous people, and Africans. Our cultural heritage and who we are today is a result of an unprecedented history of transcontinental migration, when after 1492, 60 million Europeans, 11 million Africans, and 5 million Asians arrived in the Americas.

Latinos come from regions of the world that span two continents: North America (including Central America and the Caribbean) and South America. This includes 19 sovereign nations and one non-independent territory, Puerto Rico. Most people from these regions speak Spanish or Portuguese, although French, English, Dutch, and Kreyol are also spoken in parts of the Caribbean, Central America, and South America.

WE VALUE ALL ARTISTS: We believe every artist deserves respect for their work and whenever possible, should receive payment just as any laborer does.

OUR PLEDGE: In everything that we create and produce we will surround ourselves with a team that is 50 percent women and 85 percent of Latinx heritage. We challenge anyone out there, especially anyone who is in a position of power, to stand with us in solidarity and ensure that we embrace and lift up our community's diverse voices not just in our industry, but in all industries.

RILA is a statewide organization based in Providence and Central Falls, and acknowledge that we are on the traditional homelands of the Narragansett and Wampanoag peoples, the original stewards of the territory now called Rhode Island. We honor their ancestors, we offer our respect to the Elders past, present, and future, and recognize their continued existence and contributions to our society.

In this moment of social unrest and change, in Rhode Island and throughout the country, our success as a community will be determined by our ability to live, work, and communicate with one another. We urge everyone to choose inclusion.