I Like The Truth

Nolan is Irish.

I ain't Irish.

Hack is a slave name.

I ain't a slave.

I am colonized.

No more compromising. We're trying to get free.Our lives are worth just as much as theirs. Forget what they think about us. #ListenToTheAncestors. Our lives are worth so much.

We fought to escape slavery. We fought for our human rights in the 60s. Our ancestors set the table. We need to finish the job & get free.

In my continued efforts to push for Native and Black solidarity another roundtable was done. This time in the Big Apple. We had brilliant Indigenous and Black activists and intellectuals. A wonderful discussion was had. Not everybody wanted to be videotaped or listed so that is why we did audio and not all names are mentioned here.

Enjoy.

Listed members of the roundtable:

Savannah Johnston - Educator and writer

Lindsay Cain -  Lakota, Indigenous Media Graduate NYU

Nolan Hack - Black activist from Los Angeles

Fyc

Noel Altaha - Apache Nation, MSW

Raki Jordan

Alex Jimerson - Native graduate of NYU

The more we think outside this system… the more we reject this system… the more we shine playing within the system while working to destroy it… the more we push back against this genocidal creation then the closer we get to freedom. That creation is the creation of the United States of America. The creation of the push for Indigenous extinction. The creation of Black slavery. The only hope in hell we have is to tear down this system, which is THE ONLY WAY to liberate ourselves, after 500 years of continued bondage.

Hoping for wide scale help from White America and this system is absolute foolishness. White America has either joined in on the raping and killing of our peoples or they have looked the other way, which in turn has helped preserve this system. Silence is a powerful thing. White silence has the power to move mountains.

Expecting liberation from the same hand that beats the hell out of us is illogical. Albert Einstein stated “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results.” We have to snap out of it.

This system has been in genocide mode since its creation. It was built on it. It has never moved away from it. Begging this monster to stop is a waste of time and is actually harmful to the movement.

A great panel made up of Black and Native activists and intellectuals. Not everyone wanted their names mentioned. We ended up going with audio instead of video and some parts are cut out to protect their privacy. 

I’m Black. Sometimes I say it out loud to remind myself. Sometimes because I’m at a loss for why we were put in this position of being 2nd class in this country. Sometimes to be proud of what I am. Sometimes to reinforce the thought of actually being Black because of my lighter skin and half white/Euro ancestry.

There are so many different versions of Blackness. And that’s fine as long as those versions don’t demonize our race or defend white supremacy. I grew up morphing in and out of so many different versions of my Black self that all the rules and regulations I set for other people’s Blackness that I ended up confusing myself.

Being half white I thought I had to make up for that “defect.” I considered my half white side a useful tool to navigate this racist society but I also disliked it because I thought it took away from my Blackness. My Black friends and I would play little games to try to prove we were the Blackest. And ever so often the “But you’re half white” card would get thrown at me.

I’ve since learned if you are Black, you are Black. You know you’re Black because you get called awful names. You get harassed by the police and other authority figures. You see it when you look at your skin and then look back at the screen and see nothing but white people in your favorite movies and television shows. You see it when parents name their kids “Black” or “Ghetto” names and the establishment shuns those kids even when they become adults. You see it every day of your life if you’re being honest with yourself.

If you’re Black, you’re Black and you’re treated as such. White people don't get reminded of their skin color or race every 5 minutes. It can be very taxing to be a Black person in America, especially if you’re “woke” because you’re more aware of the hell we face all across the country.

Until this oppressive system is no longer in place we must endure the reality of being Black in America. The good thing is we can get through this as a people because of all the nightmares we’ve faced in our past. We’re still an essential part of American life. This place needs us. Along with Native people, we built this place!

Love your Blackness. Love who you are. Love your own personal and unique version of Blackness. You are love. We are love. Black is love.

They keep killing our kids. They keep killing our mothers. They continue to cripple our families. They continue to try to destroy our souls.

White America continues to pretend that this is a new problem. This problem has been going on since 1492. Native and Black people have ben dehumanized on a daily basis for 500 years.

I could list the names of our fallen young kings and queens and beautiful mothers… I could go on and on about how crooked & purposeful the police and law enforcement are about their actions towards us… I could go into detail about how systematic the racism is towards Native and Black people is in this country … but what I will do is say that we have two options: one, we can just lay our heads in the sand and give up; two, we can continue to show that we are the most unbreakable races on the planet.

We need to show the nation and the world what this country does to us; even the ugliest of it and most gruesome crimes we’ve been inflicted with. I know what you’re thinking: the media and White America is aware of the Black plight that still cripples us… to a point they do but most of the deaths by cops or in custody that we suffer is not reported. Mass incarceration, broken homes and schools are laughed off by the powers at be. Not to mention the Native genocide that still goes on is hidden not only purposely by the media but the government continues to do an incredible job of suppressing the Native plight.

If we can show this country the depths of hell Black and Native people still go through then the myth of American Exceptionalism will be shattered and we can start to tear down the system.

This can only happen if my Black brothers and sisters give Natives our microphone so they can tell truth of what they go through can finally be well known fact instead of a well kept secret. Most importantly the genocide they’ve been under since 1492 can end.

I’m out for now.

This is a huge opportunity to make real change. The system we have in America is faulty and has been so since 1776. It was made to trip up people of color. Blacks and Natives are second class and it’s been that way since colonialism started. America’s racial crimes must be put on the world’s stage. This is what this protest is for.

American Exceptionalism and white supremacy must be done away with if we are ever going to see racial equality in America. Native people endure a hell you cannot imagine. Black people are still treated as criminals as soon as they leave their mother’s womb.

This protest will put pressure on the United Nations to finally charge America with genocide and human rights violations for what they do to Natives and blacks. Before he died, Malcolm X was going to go to the UN and try to force them to charge America with crimes against blacks in America. He is a major inspiration for this protest but this is Native land after all and we must not forget them. They are still going through the worst genocide in human history. In fact I just learned that Native kids are actually sold to white families through the foster care system in South Dakota. This is just one of an endless amount of peril they have to face in this country.

Natives are killed by the cops at a larger rate than black people in this country. And of course with the Sandra Bland, Tamir Rice and Freddie Gray rulings handed down by our injustice system we can see clearly that American racism is not going away but it’s actually getting worse. We even have a supreme court justice who believes, and has stated as such, that blacks are of lower intelligence to white people. The racist people in power know there are more colored people around and they are reacting unkindly. They’re trying to turn the clock back where blacks, natives and all colored people have as little rights as possible.

I urge you to join this protest. You can help make history. The time is now to make a change. Join the We Want Freedom Protest.

This recent events at Missouri cannot fade into the distance. We need use it as a catapult for the movement. Black Lives Matter has done an amazing job as a driving force for change but we need to do more. We need to be more vigilant. We need to finish what Martin and Malcolm started.

Our march to freedom ended has been in suspension since 1968 in 1968 when Dr. King and Robert Kennedy were killed. Since then we’ve been treading water. However, in the last number of years the police have started taking our lives at astonishing rates. That has caused us to fight back and we’re marching again for the first time in nearly 50 years. Sometimes it takes tragedy to ignite a people.

A problem I see is more talk than walk. It’s great to theorize what we could and should do but it’s all white noise if nothing is put into action.

We still get blocked from voting. We can’t have “black names” or black hair in job interviews. No matter where we go we’re never free from harm. We’re at risk in all walks of life… especially black women.

The cops are obviously a huge problem. The judicial system continues to impede and ruin so many of our lives. White America still denies the fact all of us are looked at as “less than.” Even President Obama can’t escape the ills of American racism.

We must put our foot on the gas and move forward. We want to be free. We want to live in peace. The movement has to take a giant leap forward. Pressure has to be put on the politicians, the media and the country at large. We’re not going to take it anymore. In order for evil to fall good must take a mighty stand.

I ask all my brothers and sisters to stand up and get with the cause or at the least be an ally to it. Forget what year it is. The time is now. Write letters, protest, make phone calls… do what you can to grab the key to unlock us from our shackles that have been on our feet since slavery started.

The time is now, my people. The time is now. Peace and love.