Our Response to the Capitol Violence
Last week’s violent attack on the Capitol Building in Washington D.C., on Nacotchtank Lands, was a horrendous display of unhindered white supremacy. As an organization dedicated to grassroots community organizing for justice and equity we ask our supporters and the community leaders we stand with to speak out condemning the entitlement, violence, and ignorance that has been flamed by president Trump himself.
While the halls of Congress have been cleared of the threat, the violence of those that support last week’s actions remain throughout our communities. The violence displayed in DC has been and remains a very real threat enacted on BIPOC and LGBTQ2S communities, enabled or ignored by many in power. What we do now in DC and within our own state, communities, and homes lays the foundation for what we as a society deem acceptable. What we do now provides protection and safety for the most vulnerable or most targeted.
The mobs of President Trump’s disciples who stormed the Capitol Building waved and wore symbols of hatred, violence and lies, exposing for another brief moment an entire textbook on the complex impact of colonization, white supremacy, racism and the exploitation of working class peoples. Native Movement has signed on to a letter with multiple Alaskan organizations to condemn the President, demand his resignation, as well as the resignation from his political enablers, and facilitate a sweeping accountability process as a precedent for justice.
In this moment the response of elected officials and Tribal leaders matters. From places of power, our communities depend on this leadership to outline the limits of what is acceptable, to mandate the consequences, and to ensure justice, equity, and the safety of those most vulnerable. At Native Movement the story we share starts by reckoning with the common root causes of oppression and looking to community leaders for guidance and solutions.
In an historic announcement last month, President-elect Biden nominated Representative Deb Haaland from New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District to serve as Secretary of Interior. If confirmed, Rep. Haaland would be the first Native American, and only the third woman, to serve in this role. Also joining her this year are a record number of Indigenous womxn elected to congress. Native leaders such as these, along with Black women, women of color, non-binary, and trans relatives are setting an example for us in this uncertain and chaotic time. We must ALL write the story for our future together.
Remember for a moment, with a deep breath of appreciation, that our collective steps toward justice and liberation are deeply rooted in the work of communities of diverse people organizing, despite their own daily struggles. It is essential to recognize and build upon the common threads that unite our diversity, Together we will stand against the current of fascism, it’s failing institutions, and aging billionaire architects.
We believe that committing to healing practices both in our work and our lives is essential to the longevity and joy of the work before us. The deadly attack on the Capitol last week is a tragic reminder of the healing that so much of our world needs. That healing can be nurtured by our movements, guided by an Indigenous worldview, and toward healthy, sustainable communities for ALL.
