Native Missfit

Yá’át’ééh! Diné. Two-Spirit. Connoissuer of Counterculture. Portland, OR.

[nativemissfit]

[nativemissfit]

Parents of 545 children still not found three years after Trump separation policy

Lawyers struggling to find parents deported to Central America, says ACLU, after US government removed 1,030 children in 2018

“Three years after Donald Trump ordered a crackdown on undocumented migrants crossing into the US, lawyers are still struggling to find the parents of 545 children separated from them under the “zero-tolerance” policy, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

The zero-tolerance policy was announced in April 2018. It was later revealed that the administration had begun family separation the previous year under a secret pilot program.

“The Trump administration ripped 545 children away from their parents, lied about it, then lost track of them as they departed them into danger. That’s par for the course for a sadistic immigration system.” -Paola Luisi”

[nativemissfit]

O'odham members block border wall assembly site to protest desecration of tribal lands

Nearly a dozen O'odham protesters on Wednesday blocked the site where 30-foot bollards are assembled and trucked to construction sites at the border.

‘"We did not give you permission to enter our land, to desecrate our sacred sites. ...you do not have permission to disturb our ancestors' bones. You don't have permission to take our water," one of the O'Odham women leading the protest said.

Customs and Border Protection waived more than three dozen federal laws to speed up border wall construction in Arizona. Among them are several cultural and archaeological laws meant to preserve Native American sites and artifacts.

"We have our sacred laws that have been violated," said another protester who declined to be identified.

...tribal leaders have complained in the past that CBP does not consult with them or even take their concerns into consideration. One example they've pointed to is the blasting at Monument Hill, west of the Lukeville port of entry.’ 

[nativemissfit]

“Long before there was a border, tribal members traveled back and forth to visit family, participate in cultural and religious events, and many other practices. For these reasons and many others, the Nation has opposed fortified walls on the border for many years.”

[nativemissfit]

Burundian writer Judicaelle Irakoze pens a warning to Beyoncé’s fans, reminding them that "we don’t have to be associated with a monarchy to matter."

“I want to make sure you all understand that what I am about to say is not about Beyoncé as a person or necessarily her art. This is an ongoing conversation among decolonizing spaces and Pan-African theorists that no Black person has ever gained freedom by claiming to be king.

This has been our struggle as Black people, living under the blinding effects of the white gaze, by continuously proving that we are worthy and even more harshly by participating in structures that uphold whiteness such as capitalism and imperialism, under the guise of Black power.

My queen Beyoncé is a powerful transcending artist with the power to instill in us liberating imaginations. As a woman of African descent, whose ancestors survived generations of enslavement, she has the right to tap into her Africanness and find her connections to the continent and her belonging to the land. But when she willingly, through her art, participates in telling romanticized African royalty stories, rooted in glamorizing Africa, she indirectly dehumanizes our Africanness. She validates neo-colonialism, entrenched in negotiating and proving our humanity by pretending we’re superhuman.”

[nativemissfit]

Mercy, Mercy, Me - Crips, Bloods, and butterflies.

Mercy, Mercy, Me

“Crips, Bloods, and butterflies.   A sunflower somehow planted in the alley. Its broken neck.   Maybe memory is all the home you get. And rage, where you   first learn how fragile the axis upon which everything tilts.   But to say you’ve come to terms with a city that’s never loved you   might be overstating things a bit. All you know is there was once   a walk-up where now sits a lot, vacant, and rats in deep grass   hide themselves from the day. That one apartment fire   set back in ’76—one the streets called arson to collect a claim—   could not do, ultimately, what the city itself did, left to its own dank   devices, some sixteen years later. Rebellions, said some. Riots,   said the rest. In any case, flames; and the home you knew, ash.   It’s not an actual memory, but you remember it still: a rust-   bottomed Datsun handed down, then stolen. Stripped, recovered,   and built back from bolts. Driving away in May. 1992.   What’s left of that life quivers in the rearview—the world on fire,   and half your head with it.”

-John Murillo, “I wrote the first draft of ‘Mercy, Mercy, Me’ in late April of 2017, a few days before the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Rodney King riots. While on a trip to Los Angeles earlier that month, I looked for old addresses and other childhood landmarks only to find that many had been razed in the fires, while others were lost to time and neglect. I’m not sure, but I think writing the poem was my way of processing memory, grief, and the loss of an already tenuous sense of home.”

[nativemissfit]

This year marks the 155th anniversary of #Juneteenth. It marks the day in 1865 when news finally reached Texas that slavery had been abolished more than two years earlier.

‘When American schoolchildren learn about chattel slavery in the US, we’re often told it ended with Abraham Lincoln’s signature on the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. 

But, as late as June 19, 1865, enslaved people in Texas were still held in bondage. On that date, the Federal troops entered the state and began to punish slave holders and former confederates who refused to obey the law.

“Juneteenth is a deeply emotional moment for enslaved people,” says historian Karlos K. Hill, of the University of Oklahoma. 

In Texas and across the country, emancipated African Americans began celebrating annually with parades, concerts, and picnics. “Being able to go wherever they want and being able to wander about; for enslaved people, it was an expression of their freedom,” says Hill. “Formerly enslaved people celebrating, in public, their newfound freedom, was an act of resistance.” 

However, by 1877, the Federal government had largely abandoned the South. The lynching era— when hundreds of African Americans were killed by white mobs each year across the North and the South— began soon after. 

Today, Dr. Hill says, commemorating Juneteenth is important for all Americans because it helps us see all the ways that slavery still shapes this country, including, as he says, “the desire to master and dominate black bodies.”’

[fatchance]

Chicago Avenue, Minneapolis.

I will update if I am able to find info on the photographer responsible for this remarkable and sobering image. 

UPDATE: This image was taken and posted by reddit user dudleydrone. 

[typhlonectes]

[nativemissfit]

A Big List of Black-Owned Goth/Punk Brands — Buttcape

A list of 20+ black-owned goth and punk indie brands you can support. This list features alternative fashion styles in a wide variety including gothic lolita, cute goth, creepy cute, nu goth, metal, and more. Dollskill alternatives.

[nativemissfit]

"If we acknowledge Black women, Muslim women, indigenous women, working class women... We will rise with them . . . Inclusion is not enough. Diversity is not enough. We don't want to be included in a racist system."

[nativemissfit]

[nativemissfit]

[caroldanversenthusiast]

MARGOT ROBBIE IS SUCH A BADASS

[zolamtl]

[burymyart]

NDN RELATIVES, STAY HOME + SAVE LIVES! We love you. We need you. Please, protect yourselves and support one another from a safe distance. XO!

The image above is a map from 1933 that shows the Navajo and Hopi tribals lands.

Art by RISE: Radical Indigenous Survivance & Empowerment. The following text is taken from a post by Klee Benally and Indigenous Action and features Diné and English translations (by Alfredo Yazzie) on how to protect yourselves throughout and beyond this pandemic:

Níla’ txáánígis! T’áadoo nízaa ni’hoolzhíshi txáliwosh bił níla’ txánínánígis díí tsį́įłgo yikęsígíí naadiin dahalzhin bíighahgo. Txálíwosh ádingo éí ála’ bik’édzidí łibéi bił ałtxahígíí choidííł’įįł.

Wash your hands! Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol- based hand sanitizer.

Niniijį’ bik’í’síníłtxi’! Haniijį’ bik’é’éstxigo éí díí ch’osh dooyit’íinii ni’kwíyósin.

Keep your face covered! When you cover your face it will keep the germs at bay.

T’áánahdi na’ázhdiilt’ego bee asdáhóót’i’! T’áá lą’í áłah nída’adleehgóó t’áadoo nanináhí dóó hastxą́ą́ ké silá bíighahgo nahdi nahiná díí naałniih bits’ąą.

If people keep their distance from others they will survive! Avoid large gatherings and stay 6 ft away to avoid the virus 👉🏽www.navajohopisolidarity.org

Translations: Alfredo Yazzie

Follow us on Instagram: @RISEindigenous

[tlo-chi-iin]

Skinwalkers Honor Curfew to Stop Coronavirus Spread

TONALEA, Navajo Nation- The Navajo Nation government issued a shelter-in-place last week and now the curfew has been issued for the nation. These actions were taken to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus within the four sacred mountains. Many people were pulled over by police and ordered to return home in accordance of the curfew. 

Skinwalkers were also honoring the curfew despite their nightly activity. Many have stopped their nocturnal escapades to slow and lessen the spread of the coronavirus. Tlo’chi’iin spoke to a few about their decision to protect public health.

“Many people think we are monsters but we aren’t assholes” one said. “I go for a run to witch the person I need to but thats about it”. “I am not trying to spread a virus to others for no reason” he said confidently. “I only go after the few that I am paid to or ordered to witch”. “It is an asshole thing to do, potentially spreading a virus that can ruin a lot of people’s lives”.

“I think the curfew is good despite it financially hurting my wallet but its for the collective good”, he said.

He decided to stay in and catch up on his netflix shows. Others decided to honor the curfew for similar sentiments and some took a more pragmatic approach.

“A virus that has the potential to target the young and old and limit the population is bad for business” another said. “I need people to want me to witch and I need people for me to witch”. “Who am I going to witch if people are succumbing to something else”? “The economy is already in the shit hole and I need to eat”.

The curfew applied to all Navajo citizens and implicitly included skinwalkers. Police officers were planning to issue harsh discipline on any skinwalkers who would be running at night pass the curfew. The police chief said he issued an arrest with long jail time and steep fines for all witches caught at night.

“I don’t have time for such nonsense especially when we are dealing with this pandemic” he said sternly. “Witches do not need to add to this”.