"According to Eastern Kentucky University professor Victor E. Kappeler, 'New England settlers appointed Indian Constables to police Native Americans (National Constable Association, 1995), the St. Louis police were founded to protect residents from Native Americans in that frontier city, and many southern police departments began as slave patrols. In 1704, the colony of Carolina developed the nation’s first slave patrol. Slave patrols helped to maintain the economic order and to assist the wealthy landowners in recovering and punishing slaves who essentially were considered property.'
"According to the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice 'The racial group most likely to be killed by law enforcement is Native Americans, followed by African Americans, Latinos, Whites, and Asian Americans.' This is not to argue Indigenous folks’ oppression is more severe, but to recognize our shared struggles to ensure there is not one more Sarah Lee Circle Bear, Corey Kanosh, Paul Castaway, Allen Locke, Mahivist Goodblanket, John Williams, or Loreal Tsingine (and so many more...) and to situate the ongoing police terrorism all our communities face as originating from the same systems of oppression.
Beyond pleas for a system rooted in genocide and slavery to recognize that our lives matter, our communities and movements can learn from each others’ struggles and build together towards lasting solutions to defend ourselves, neighbors, lands, and to resolve issues we face in more just and healthy ways. "
"All my rage bleeds out my throat
into rivers that used to flow
into canyons painting these deserts
so that they will grow. (once again)
is it too late
to rethink this?
on the eve of another apocalypse…
how far are will willing to go
to resist?
how far are will willing to go?
we can’t sustain, we can’t sustain
the unsustainable
are you still waiting and hoping this will all go away?
or for a better cage or more comfortable chains?
while these roots wither and they decay
well, its not broken, it’s made this way…
we can’t sustain, we can’t sustain
the unsustainable
and if the structures don’t change?
and the control remains the same?
they bring terror but they have names
so fuck your votes, your politicians, and reforms
we can’t sustain, we can’t sustain
the unsustainable
"Our Mother aches
Our claws dig until She breaks
And we bleed for this
How much is in her
I remember songs of the Sun
For those whose breath was stolen..."
"At least 196 #environmental defenders were killed last year, most of them #Indigenous or #Afro-descendant. The deadliest country was #Colombia, where at least 79 land, water and climate defenders were killed. '2023 was yet another appalling year for those who want to protect their lands and their environment,' and this violence is likely to 'intensify as the consequences of the climate crisis become more apparent,' says Laura Furones, senior adviser to the land and environmental defenders campaign at #GlobalWitness, which published the numbers in a new report."
"Broadcasting from #COP28 in Dubai, we speak with Jacob Johns, a #Hopi and Akimel #Oodham environmental defender who is leading the #IndigenousWisdomKeepers delegation at COP28. This is his first interview after surviving being shot in the chest by a far-right agitator in September. Johns and other #IndigenousActivists were holding a vigil opposing plans to reinstall a statue honoring the 16th century Spanish conquistador Juan de #Onate in Española, New Mexico, when a 23-year-old shooter wearing a red MAGA hat fired on the crowd. Johns says he died in the airlift on the way to the hospital and is still dealing with medical issues from the shooting, but wanted to come to the climate summit to share Indigenous wisdom with the world. 'We as Indigenous people understand that as the old world dies, that a new one is created and that we must focus on that creation process.'"