Our Story
Our Vision
The vision of Why We Wear Red is a world free of sexual assault, human trafficking, domestic violence, child abuse and inequality for women in all kinds of workplaces.
Our Mission
is a powerful media coalition initiative aimed at raising global awareness about the glaring lack of inclusion of Native Women in Film & Television in all media. This issue is directly intertwined with the devastating epidemic of Missing and Murdered Native and Indigenous Women, Girls, and People. Why We Wear Red founded in January 7, 2018.
This initiative was christened “Why We Wear RED” in order to create a powerful slogan identified with a strong symbolic color and image of hand across the face to bring attention to the fact that not only are Native and Indigenous Women more likely to be victims of these types of crimes, their plight is often ignored and their specific stories are missing from mainstream media, leading to even further victimization.
The core theme of the #WhyWeWearRED campaign is the critical link between the lack of visibility in mainstream media and increased levels of violence against Native and Indigenous Women. If an Indigenous woman goes missing and her story is not widely distributed, this in turn leads to lower chances of apprehending the perpetrator, and both she and her story are lost forever.
If Native and Indigenous women are excluded from mainstream media, their victimization is compounded because predators receive the message that this class of victims does not matter. To combat this problem, Red Nation Celebration Institute works diligently to increase the profile of the Native narrative in all types and forms of media. This campaign is broad-ranging in scope and impact given the 500-plus tribes and Native and Indigenous communities across the nation.
The campaign furthers RNCI’s goal of increasing the visibility of Native and Indigenous women, and, by bringing the issue forward, educates Americans to transform the ways in which the underlying problem is addressed.
Humanitarian, Joanelle Romero creator of Why We Wear Red©, Native Women in Film©, Native Women in Film & Television in All Media©, coined #WhyWeWearRed, #NativeWomenInFilm, #NativeWomenInFilmTV, #NativeWomenLead, #NativeWomenRise, #IndigenousWomenRise and is the sole property of Red Nation Celebration Institute.