Thankstaking

After napping for a couple hours, I got up at 2:30 AM on Thursday and made a cup of black tea. There were four of us shuffling around the kitchen, gathering snacks, filling water bottles, and stuffing blankets into bags. We loaded up and drove an hour and a half into San Francisco, scouring the streets off Embarcadero for parking. We walked in darkness to Pier 33, where we boarded a boat and were taken out to Alcatraz Island with hundreds of others.

Alcatraz is one of America’s most notorious prisons, but it also has an significant Native history. From November 20, 1969 to June 11, 1971 Native American activists from the group, Indians of All Tribes (IAT or IOAT) took over Alcatraz and held it as Native land until they were forcibly removed by the government. The occupation was precipitated by the Treaty of Fort Laramie that returned out-of-use federal land to Native people. With the closing of Alcatraz in 1963, and declared surplus property in 1964, Native peoples felt it qualified for reclamation. There were a number of attempts leading up to the November 20 occupation that ranged from four hours to overnight. (I encourage you to all read more about the Occupations of Alcatraz.)

To honor and celebrate the rights of Indigenous People, each year on Indigenous People’s Day (Columbus Day) and Thanksgiving, an Indigenous People’s Sunrise Ceremony is held on Alcatraz Island by an array of tribes and native peoples. The event is permitted by the National Park Service and is open to all.

We walked up the steep hills to find hundreds of people creating a circle around a great fire. There were ceremonial dances and singing that took place. Smoke burning and cleansings happened throughout the crowds. Native people spoke of their fights and their rights. As dawn came, members of a tribe sang their “Bird Songs” and seagulls flew overhead. A Native woman from the territory we know as Puerto Rico spoke of the situation on her islands, with her people. They gathered those who had been part of the occupations on Alcatraz and ceremoniously walked around the circle to beating drums. Folks from tribes across the West Coast drive all night to join the ceremony.

As the morning moved on and the sun rose higher in the sky, the organizers brought up a special relative, Colin Kaepernick. In the middle of the circle, near the fire, an elder presented Kaepernick with eagle feathers that he, the elder, had been dancing with for 39 years. Kaepernick accepted the feathers and spoke of his solidarity and recognition that the fights are the same fight, that all are fighting for their justice and their freedom. (See link below for short video.)

Today, I was on Alcatraz Island at the Indigenous People’s Sunrise Gathering, in solidarity with those celebrating their culture and paying respects to those that participated in the 19 month occupation of Alcatraz in an effort to force 🇺🇸 to honor the Treaty of Fort Laramie. pic.twitter.com/KdNtY3dp72

— Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) November 24, 2017

The ceremony concluded not with song and dance, but with a prayer that is done through song and dance. I believe they were Incan, dozens of Indigenous folks with their large pluming headdresses, spinning, praying in unison around the fire. The ceremony concluded, and I had never felt more humbled to be present for something so powerful, so beautiful, and so poignant. I stood in solidarity, knowing these small actions are only the beginning.

Hours later, we were seated around a table filled with food and bounty, the sun was now setting. A dear friend opened our meal not with grace, but with an acknowledgment of the Ohlone native land that we were upon. She spoke of the peoples that came before us, that cared for this land, were forcibly removed, and exist elsewhere, while we enjoy the benefits of their place. She reminded us that we must acknowledge the traditional native inhabitants of all the lands we experience, but that is only the first step, and there is much more to be done.

For more information about opening public events and gatherings with acknowledgments (and how to move beyond), consider reading up on and downloading the guide produced by the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture (not a government-affiliated organization).

-Anza Jarschke

pictured: San Francisco skyline at sunrise from Alcatraz Island

Where’s the Rally?

Last Saturday, I was pumped up about attending a rally here in my hometown. I thought it would be a good issue for discussion, and I planned on writing a blog about it. The name of the rally was, Rally to Rename Plummer Auditorium: KKK out of Fullerton. The rally had been pushed back at least once already, but it looked like it was a go on the Facebook page for November 11th. I drove down there at the specified time, and there was no one there! No note, no explanation on Facebook, nothing. This was obviously a case of good intentions, and very poor planning. I messaged the organizer, and never got a response. There is nothing stopping me from discussing the issue at hand, however, so that’s what I am going to do. And I am grateful that the organizers of the rally brought the issue of the name to my attention.

The Plummer Auditorium is a beautiful building on the campus of Fullerton High School, where my daughter went to school. I am aware that Orange County, CA has a very questionable past, and was once one of the most conservative strongholds in the country. I believe this is beginning to change, but the ghosts of the past remain. I have come to find out that Louis Plummer was a KKK member and the school superintendent in the 1920’s. Apparently there are several buildings and streets in Orange County that are named after KKK members. I would like to see all of these names changed.

This brought to mind for me the issue of the removal of Civil War Statues in the South. I fully support this as well. Right now in Anaheim, where I attended high school, there is a push to change the name of the mascot at one of the high schools in the district. The high school is called Savanna and the mascot is named Johnny Rebel, representing a confederate soldier! It is so ridiculous that a high school in California has a mascot named after a confederate soldier. That doesn’t even make sense. When I was in school, I just thought that the school was named after the street it was on, and I never gave it a second thought. I don’t remember ever encountering Johnny Rebel. I thought about my school’s mascot recently, however, and realized it had a white supremacist connotation as well. It was the Saxons.

Most of the people I went to high school with are so conservative that I have to have two Facebook pages. One is for the people in my life now, and one is for the people I knew in high school. I could never post all the political things I have posted on my one Facebook page on the other one or I would be arguing for days. It’s just not worth it. Although I do try to post some political things on that page just to shake things up now and then. I have seen posts about the Johnny Rebel debate on that Facebook page, and people are absolutely livid about the proposal to change the name. Fortunately the Johnny Rebel statue was taken down a couple of years ago because it was in disrepair.

So that is my story. I was really looking forward to the Plummer rally, and I was hoping to meet people and find out more about the push to change the name of the auditorium. I think they should change the name to the John Raitt Auditorium. John Raitt was a famous stage performer who attended Fullerton High School. He is also the father of Bonnie Raitt. It would make sense to name the auditorium after him because the Plummer is a favorite city site for a variety of performances on any given weekend. I seriously may have to suggest this!

 

Project Blackbird

A couple of weeks ago we hosted our first webinar for Project Blackbird. None of us had ever hosted one before so we were nervous but extremely excited. The theme of the webinar was “For Tondalao: Domestic Violence, Motherhood, & Mass Incarceration.” The panelists consisted of a community organizer, a social justice counselor, and a domestic violence expert. My role in the webinar was to interact with people watching the Facebook live and share questions that were asked by viewers with the panel. We had a really good attendance from people nationally and locally.  The panel discussed domestic violence and the impacts abuse has on the lives of those who suffer from it. One of the panelists said  “the biggest threat to women is men.” They also talked about how most women who were incarcerated had dealt with some form of abuse in their lives. The discussion then went into the high rates of incarcerated women in Oklahoma and how moms get extremely harsh punishments for their minor infractions. Women, especially mothers seem to be punished based on this perception that they should be and do better because they are moms. This often doesn’t take into account that many of these women are trying to provide for their families. They were not justifying the actions but the level of punishment they often receive does not fit the crime and the harsh sentencing happens more often in rural areas. The webinar also discussed Tondalao’s sentence and incarceration under the Failure to Protect law. In this case the victim of domestic violence was sentenced to 30 years for not removing her children from the situation before they were abused while the perpetrator did not serve time.

-SH

Civil Rights Movement

The movement for Civil Rights is an example of change and the power of people coming together to demand change. In Atlanta I visited the Museum for Civil and Human Rights it is a transformative experience but the underlying message was community  coming together the power of the people led by great leaders.  I was inspired and felt empowered to share this with all. MariaVelasco

Civil Rights and Human Rights Museum Atlanta GA

The civil rights movement experience is memorialized and Action is inspired As I explore and enjoy the hospitality. I am honored and humbled as I remember our organizing roots. This experience allowed me to listen and learn how the movement grew and impacted all our life’s.