By the GRASAC Steering Committee
As an Alliance focused on Great Lakes Indigenous arts and cultures, GRASAC condemns ongoing acts of settler colonial violence, and we stand in solidarity with the African American, Black, Indigenous, Black Native, People of Color, and activists of all marginalized and racialized groups who are demanding justice across Turtle Island. As individuals and a collective, we stand in solidarity with those affected by racism and racist violence, whether perpetrated by individuals, groups, and/or states in the Great Lakes region and beyond. The newest iteration of the fight for Black lives cannot be disentangled from histories and legacies of colonial violence against Native lives in the Great Lakes. Considering in particular that the most recent deaths – those of George Floyd and Regis Korchinski-Paquet – were perpetrated in the territory that GRASAC is responsible to, it is imperative that we stand in solidarity with Black communities seeking justice in these lands, and elsewhere across the continent.
GRASAC is planning ways to enact this statement, beginning with training ourselves and devoting our next newsletter to Black-Indigenous relations. We are open to your ideas for building and supporting solidarity, in this moment and going forward.
In July 2020, GRASAC devoted a newsletter to Black and Indigenous solidarity, featuring a range of resources. You can view it here.
Black Lives Matter.
– Written by the GRASAC Steering Committee, June 2020