BU HISTORY

Santa Cruz Barrios Unidos’ (SCBU) core philosophy of La Cultura Cura (Culture Cures) is at the root of its many efforts in grassroots organizing, policy advocacy, direct service, transformative justice, intergroup coalition-building, and evidence-based community change, and has been foundational to the modern community peace and social justice movement. SCBU serves as an “Anchor Institution,” a communal hub for people to heal and regain one’s cultural bearings; a safe space for unconditional acceptance, cultural expression, and inter-cultural exchange; an organic learning center to develop leaders, nurture healthy intergenerational relationships, and preserve the sacred passage of ancestral values-based knowledge for building traditional communal structures that nurture its people. Organizations and leaders from across the country come to Barrios Unidos for elder leadership, cultural guidance, and practical knowledge to implement in their own efforts..