It felt very satisfying to help clear old blackberry brambles on Indigenous land, and see the 400 or more people who showed up to help weed and mulch on a chilly, sunny Autumn day.
It’s not quite justice, but it’s one gesture toward community.
It’s a beautiful day on Native Land.
Out here with NAYA Family Center, Portland.
"I'm Wampanoag and I'm still here." — Paula Peters
Paula Peters is a Mashpee Wampanoag writer, historian, and activist.
This National Day of Mourning/Unthanksgiving, her words remind the rest of us that Indigenous people are not stories from the past, but people living, working, creating, struggling, and loving right now.
Thread:
#Unthanksgiving Day: A celebration of #Indigenous resistance to colonialism, held yearly at Alcatraz
https://social.vmbrasseur.com/@vmbrasseur/111426235629910859
"Out of Alcatraz came the “Red Power” movement of the 1970s, which has been called the lost chapter of the Civil Rights era."
An abstract for the PBS documentary, Alcatraz Is Not an Island
https://www.zinnedproject.org/materials/alcatraz-is-not-an-island-dvd/
excerpt:
https://youtu.be/pBtWknpytvg
