Orange Shirt Day and the call to stop performative allyship
My work in equity means I see things as they are and am called to say things as they need to be said, and days like Orange Shirt Day/National Day for Truth and Reconciliation make me deeply uncomfortable because few in positions of power are speaking the truth, so let me highlight a few things:
In 2023 we have a genocide epidemic in Canada with over 4,000 missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and Two-Spirit people and our government and police systems continuing to perpetuate the violence. I think a lot about how deeply racist our society is, knowing that if it was thousands of missing and murdered young, white, blond women, the uproar and calls to change would look very different.
I think about how easy it is to dehumanize an entire population of humans who continue to be at the receiving end of our violent colonist systems that erased Indigenous culture, took their lives and the lives of their children, continue to discard their existence and how it took hearing about thousands of children being discovered in unmarked graves for us to care.
I think a lot about how many of us are guilty of posting rinse and repeat photos of ourselves in orange shirts while so many continue to centre themselves and their pocketbooks with the people they vote into power, the ways in which many stay silent while our government does little to address over 20 long term drinking water advisories in place in 2023 in Indigenous communities.
What can we do to move towards standing in solidarity with Indigenous people? I implore you to sit in your discomfort and then critically think about how you're holding corporations and our government accountable to enact change. Then I ask that you centre the voices of Indigenous matriarchs and women - they are healers, visionaries, the lifeblood of the community, holding deep wisdom and answers on how to enact real change. Here are a few to know and follow:
"Even if you survive genocide, the residue of loss and grief lives inside you. And it’s hard not to feel angry at and gaslit by the rest of society as it moves on, totally unaware of the invisible violence it has perpetuated. The tools of genocide are subtle weapons because they involve eliminating language, culture, spirituality, dignity, health and economic sovereignty. Basically, genocide in our communities is passed on genetically like a silent epidemic." - Sarain Fox - Artist, Activist, Ambassador
"Every day is #everychildmatters. Every day is orange shirt day for our people. It's the word "truth" in "National Day for Truth and Reconciliation." here in Canada that doesn't get enough attention. Never be afraid to ask questions. Learning about what the truth is really about is only the beginning." - Autumn Peltier - Indigenous Rights Activist
"So much history can be lost if no one tells the story -- so that's what I do. I tell the stories. This is my way of fighting for social change." - Alanis Obomsawin - Filmmaker, Artist, and Activist
Every day I ask you to progress to solidarity through action. Do more than what you did yesterday. You have more power than you know.