Today (Friday) is a big day in Minneapolis. At an historic State of The City Address in the Native community today, my brother Daniel Yang introduced Minneapolis Mayor with some straight jewels! “This is a historic week for the Minneapolis American Indian community. Not only because of today’s state of the city address held here in our community, but for the significant vote that the Minneapolis City Council will be undertaking tomorrow morning to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous People’s Day. In the past couple weeks we’ve been flooded at NACDI with phone calls, emails and visitors expressing their gratitude and emotion around this historic moment. The City of Minneapolis has the opportunity to continue to show their leadership on racial equity by becoming the first city in the State of Minnesota to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous People’s Day. The common argument from those outside of this community is that there are more important issues for the city to dedicate their time to – that this isn’t a big deal. And they’re right. It’s not a big deal… It’s not a big deal if you’ve never sat in a classroom as a child and been teased, taunted or tormented about Columbus Day. It’s not a big deal if you’ve never shed a tear reflecting about indigenous relatives and ancestors who faced murder, torture and rape that resulted from this man and moment in history. It’s not a big deal if this issue isn’t one that inflicts trauma and pain on those you love most in the world. No its, probably not a very big deal… But if you or someone you love has had to endure anyone of those things – it’s a pretty damn big deal. If its important for the City of Minneapolis to have ALL of its residents feel respected, dignified and valued this is an important step in working towards healing the pain and hurt that is associated with this day and the indigenous people who call this region home.” -Daniel Yang https://facebook/events/234938776714900/
Posted on: Fri, 25 Apr 2014 03:30:01 +0000
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