#blackliberationproject

[bruisedfruitlove]

A moment of Solidarity

I went to the  #SayHerName: A Solidarity Action yesterday on July 31, 2015. It was put on by the Black Liberation Project and honored Sandra Bland and other black women who die in police custody. At the end though, after  the names of black women who’ve died in police custody were being read and chanted something I wasn’t anticipating occurred.  Sarah Lee Circle Bear was the last name mentioned. She was a Lakota woman who died in police custody on July 13. The speaker said she wanted to say the name of Circle Bear as a way to show how non-Black people also face violence by the police state. This moment was the one that stuck with me because despite Natives experiencing police brutality at extremely disproportional rates they are often left out of these conversations. It’s just frustrating that as a Latina when I read academic books and other materials that talk about police brutality that I usually see Latinxs being brought into the conversation, but Native people and Asians are hardly ever mentioned. Not mentioning Asians adds to the Model Minority stereotype and not mentioning Natives aids in the project of settler colonialism.   For example, in The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander, she brings Latinxs into the conversation but never mentions Native Americans despite the points she is making pertaining so heavily to Native Americans. Different groups of color have different relationships to white supremacy. Colonialism is the distinct relationship that pertains to Native people only and one of the elements of colonialism is that Native people must be invisible. They need to be in a constant state of disappearance, which is why I think mentioning Circle Bear’s name was incredibly powerful. It was a moment of solidarity that acknowledged that black people and Native people don’t have the same relationship to white supremacy, but that their different relationships can manifest themselves in the same way sometimes. In that moment, the Black Liberation Project fought against the project of settler colonialism by making what happened to Circle Bear visible. I am a strong believer in the fact that if we truly want to destroy white supremacy then we must understand how we benefit from the different relationships that  POCs have with it and how we benefit from it. I appreciate these connections being made by the Black Liberation Project. 

#sarah lee circle bear #blackliberationproject #settler colonialism #nativeandblacksolidarity #sandra bland #white supremacy #makingthemconnections #SayHerName #twincities #latinxs #asians #modelminoritysterotype

[rswen-blog]

The black liberation project is putting on a solidarity action for Sandra tonight at 6 @ Hennepin Central Library. Come support, bring signs, let's stand. #Minnesota #minneapolis #blacklivesmatter #blackliberationproject #justiceforsandra #sandrablandslifemattered #soldarity #justice

#justice #justiceforsandra #blackliberationproject #minnesota #minneapolis #sandrablandslifemattered #blacklivesmatter #soldarity