Winona LaDuke Honor the Earth: We need to stand together in oder to make sure that an accurate and anti oppressive version of history is recorded in places like the NYT. And we need our allies to step up and support Ingenious work, and be accountable to the principles of environmental justice. Organizations with the majority of the funding and social reach need to realize the responsibility that comes with that. The fight against this pipeline, against climate change, and against racism counts on it. I cant say that Im not disappointed that there is not one mention of the role the Indigenous Environmental Network along side of the many Native American Communities along the right of way played in this campaign effort….or the fact that the indigenous tar sands campaign was the only group that actually met with President Obama on the issue at the 3rd Native American White House Summit. After all the years of us leading this issue and the almost complete adoption of the EJ organizing frame work by Sierra Club, 350 and others how is it ok for this kind of narrative to go out unchecked? Were are our allies at? #IdleNoMore -Clayton Thomas Muller Clayton Thomas-Muller is absolutely right - that whilst the Tar Sands, the XL fights etc have changed the face of environmentalism both in Canada and the United States. The credit for that does not simply belong to all the very genuine and committed people rallying behind 350.org, Greenpeace Canada Friends of the Earth U.S. and others. It belongs to the countless indigenous communities and their organisations such as Indigenous Environmental Network , Idle No More etc who for generations have been fighting the political, cultural and environmental genocide of their peoples. Its important that environmental organisations who maybe have access to greater resources, more powerful brands and who the media find more telegenic should ensure that we do not simply respect the role of indigenous communities but we put them at the centre of the struggle and show genuine respect and recognise their leadership role. That means more than simply fetishising the imagery of those communities or having token faces on platforms - it means recognising that racism, power and privilege are as much a problem for our movements as it is for dominant society. -Asad Rehman - Friends of the Earth International
Posted on: Sun, 26 Jan 2014 07:49:15 +0000
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