Speaker 1: Welcome to another episode of Civic Cipher. I'm your host,
Speaker 1: Ramsay's job. Big shout out to q Ward, who is
Speaker 1: off this week, but that's all right, because true to form,
Speaker 1: we are going to bring you all the things that
Speaker 1: you may know and certainly some of the things that
Speaker 1: you don't know about life in black and brown America
Speaker 1: and hopefully give you some perspective and create better allies
Speaker 1: and more empowered individuals. Got a great show in store
Speaker 1: for you today, so be sure to stick around because
Speaker 1: my guest is the one, the only Queen Ya Najaha,
Speaker 1: and we're definitely going to get into all of her
Speaker 1: activism past and present, and maybe even some things that
Speaker 1: she's planning for the future, if she's willing to let
Speaker 1: that out on the show here today. Also, we're going
Speaker 1: to really stand in solidarity with our Native brothers and
Speaker 1: sisters today, which is something that we don't often get
Speaker 1: to do here, but it's something that we very much
Speaker 1: enjoy doing. You know, obviously, there's a lot of things
Speaker 1: that affect indigenous folks and indigenous communities, and when we
Speaker 1: can share this platform with our brothers and sisters from
Speaker 1: those communities, we very much enjoy that later on in
Speaker 1: the show, of course, our Way Black History Fact, we're
Speaker 1: going to be taking a look at the history of
Speaker 1: Indigenous people's day of course, with the help of our
Speaker 1: guest Queen in Najaha and so plenty to stick around
Speaker 1: for on today's episode of Civic Cipher. Now, with all
Speaker 1: that in mind, I think it's time for us to
Speaker 1: really get into our guest today a little bit more so,
Speaker 1: let's talk about Well, before we get to that, let's
Speaker 1: talk about some ebony excellence. How do you feel about that? Okay?
Speaker 2: All I do is when no matter what.
Speaker 1: So Queen, is there someone that you know that deserves
Speaker 1: today's moment of celebration for their ebony excellence?
Speaker 3: You know, there's so many, but I wanted to shout
Speaker 3: out Porsia Williams from Real Housewives of Atlanta. The reason
Speaker 3: why I want to shout her out because if if
Speaker 3: those that have watched Real Housewives of Atlanta, you know,
Speaker 3: at the beginning of Porscha's career, she acts, you know,
Speaker 3: wanted to know if the actual underground railroad was actually
Speaker 3: a train track, you know. Okay, So you know a
Speaker 3: lot of people thought she was ditsy and didn't very uneducated,
Speaker 3: even though she's the granddaughter of a civil rights civil
Speaker 3: rights Uh what, Josea Josea Williams.
Speaker 4: She's the granddaughter of Josea. Yes.
Speaker 3: And but I met Porsia last summer and after I
Speaker 3: organized a huge marching in Atlanta, Georgia at the CNN
Speaker 3: building in solidarity for George Floyd, and she reached out
Speaker 3: to me and she DM me and said, I want
Speaker 3: to go everywhere you go.
Speaker 4: And she said, I love what you're doing.
Speaker 3: And so that day I actually was meeting with the
Speaker 3: Mayor's office in Atlanta, Georgia with the help of t I,
Speaker 3: and I said, you know what, come with me to
Speaker 3: this meeting. So she came with me to the meeting
Speaker 3: and she all, I mean so educated. She had all
Speaker 3: of the demands from a lot of the activists and
Speaker 3: community people that she reached out to, of demands to
Speaker 3: present to the mayor. Mind you, she was not prepped
Speaker 3: for this meeting. She but she prepped herself. And ever
Speaker 3: since then, Porscha has been on the front lines for
Speaker 3: for human rights. Porscha was right there getting arrested in Louisville, Kentucky,
Speaker 3: when we was bringing awareness on Breonna Taylor Porsia is
Speaker 3: She's like, use me, and not not just with myself
Speaker 3: as an activist, but as well as so many activists.
Speaker 3: She's like, use me, use me to bring a awareness
Speaker 3: on what's happening because I have a platform. So I
Speaker 3: want to shout out my sister in a movement, Porsia
Speaker 3: from Real Housewives of Atlanta, that is using her platform
Speaker 3: and her celebrity, you know, to be able to make
Speaker 3: a difference.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, I love that and that it certainly is an
Speaker 1: example of ebony excellence if I've ever heard of it.
Speaker 1: So well done, Portia, and certainly someone to model yourself after,
Speaker 1: certainly if you aren't as familiar with your history or
Speaker 1: with how we got to where we are. It's those
Speaker 1: folks that really take the reins of their own lives
Speaker 1: and their own education and really do the deep dive
Speaker 1: and then are motivated to do something with that information
Speaker 1: that are celebrated around here. So once again, hats off
Speaker 1: to Portia, shout out to Porsia. So now I know
Speaker 1: this is a bit unorthodox because we haven't really done
Speaker 1: a formal introduction of you just yet, and I think
Speaker 1: now is the time to do that. Okay, but Before
Speaker 1: we get there, I want to talk about how you
Speaker 1: got to being you. And the truth is your mother
Speaker 1: raised you up in this way. So let's talk about
Speaker 1: your mother, if we may.
Speaker 3: You know one that a lone Wolf was an amazing
Speaker 3: motivational speaker, activist, organizer.
Speaker 4: She's from pine Ary, South Dakota. She's Ogola, Lakota.
Speaker 3: She ended up getting she ended up being the first
Speaker 3: Native American to work for NBC. So she went through
Speaker 3: the residential school, the boarding school.
Speaker 4: You know, horror, you know of that.
Speaker 3: And then NBC was looking out for looking on the
Speaker 3: reservations and seeing anyone that had a bachelor's degree in
Speaker 3: mass communications, and my mother did, and so she was
Speaker 3: like this opportunity to get off the res and go
Speaker 3: to the concrete jungle of New York. When she was
Speaker 3: in New York, she met Muhammad Ali, and Muhammad Ali
Speaker 3: offered Muhammad Ali and Don King offered her a job
Speaker 3: to be the public relations director for Don King Enterprises.
Speaker 3: So she was the woman, the pr the marketing behind
Speaker 3: the Thrilla of Manila, the rumble in the Jungle. It's
Speaker 3: not like Muhammad Ali needed the help. But you know
Speaker 3: it wasn't just him.
Speaker 4: It was.
Speaker 3: It was my mother that helped put together. And she
Speaker 3: also put together you know, I don't know if you
Speaker 3: remember a major concert that happened in Africa during I
Speaker 3: believe it was the Rumble in the Jungle and it
Speaker 3: was it was Cecilia Crew Cruise and yeah, and then
Speaker 3: it was Jim's James Brown and it was all of that.
Speaker 3: My mom organized that and put that all to help
Speaker 3: put that together because that was also around the time
Speaker 3: of Muhammad Ali's fight and so so yeah, so she
Speaker 3: here she is working for Muhammad Ali and then that's
Speaker 3: when she met the honorable minslu Was far Khan Okay
Speaker 3: and and so she met my father. My father is
Speaker 3: black from Brooklyn, New York, a fine artist. But what
Speaker 3: my mother did not know was the fact that he
Speaker 3: used to get money illegally in different various ways. And
Speaker 3: so from there she now she was on the run
Speaker 3: from the Feds because of association or her tie with
Speaker 3: my with my father and because he ended up going
Speaker 3: to federal prison. So at this time, Muhammad Ali has
Speaker 3: retired and and now she's on a run from the Feds.
Speaker 3: And so Minister Lewis Farakhan the amble, Miss Louis Farakhan
Speaker 3: reached out to my mother and said, you know, I
Speaker 3: want you to help me to be able to engage
Speaker 3: and have Native Americans, you know, to come and and
Speaker 3: and what what we can do to support to to
Speaker 3: create that alliance between black and Native people, because what
Speaker 3: a lot of people do not know or do know
Speaker 3: in the Nation of Islam teachings, it talks about how
Speaker 3: the original people are Black and Native American here and
Speaker 3: that not one and the same, but the original people
Speaker 3: are black and Native, and that we have to be
Speaker 3: able to uh to unite and understand each other, you know,
Speaker 3: in that way, and and our unity is very important,
Speaker 3: especially here in North America. And so my mother now
Speaker 3: working for helping the honorable mans Louis Fara Khan rebuild
Speaker 3: the Nation of Islam from the Honorbiarlaje Muhammad of that time.
Speaker 4: So of course, you know, the FBI was on all over.
Speaker 3: So we ended up he ended up moving us here
Speaker 3: to Phoenix, Arizona in nineteen It was about nineteen eighty
Speaker 3: three eighty four. We ended up coming here and I
Speaker 3: remember as a child living on South Phoenix seeing you know,
Speaker 3: guys in suits following me to school in their car
Speaker 3: you know, and I was like, who are these people?
Speaker 3: And my mom teaching me what a bug was, you
Speaker 3: know that was maybe in the house or something like that. Yeah,
Speaker 3: And so I learned very very early about surveillance and
Speaker 3: co intel pro and my mother ended up working with
Speaker 3: the Minister far Khan but also General Mumar Kadaffi in Libya.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And because Moumar Kadaffi had a huge love affair
Speaker 3: for all indigenous people, especially in North America, Canada and
Speaker 3: Latin South America and the Caribbean. He believed that with
Speaker 3: our power and our unity and our influence, that if
Speaker 3: we had some financial backing, we can be able to
Speaker 3: build our own and have our own and that Native
Speaker 3: American tribes don't have to beg this government for funding,
Speaker 3: you know, we could also being sovereign, we could practice
Speaker 3: that sovereignty and get funding from international resources. So it
Speaker 3: was people like Clyde Belcourt and Wessel Means and my
Speaker 3: mother and so many warrior women, Chief Ernie Longwalker, you know,
Speaker 3: that was going out to Libya, and my mom was
Speaker 3: organ the woman behind organizing all of these Native Americans
Speaker 3: and Mexican you know, Mexicans and other Latino indigenous people
Speaker 3: from South America to go go to Libya. So they
Speaker 3: was going to these indigenous conferences while that was happening.
Speaker 3: FBI was huge on finding out, Okay, what is going
Speaker 3: on here because if if we remember in the eighties,
Speaker 3: Kadafi was America's number one enemy. Yeah, and then Kadaffi
Speaker 3: was giving out money to a lot of organizations, from
Speaker 3: the Black Panthers to other organizations all across the United States.
Speaker 3: So people are getting money left and right from Kadaffi
Speaker 3: in the eighties. And so the FBI when my mom
Speaker 3: went to my mother because she already did two years
Speaker 3: from the you know, the prior offense with my father,
Speaker 3: but she did uh six months in jail and so
Speaker 3: now she's on i think probation or something like that.
Speaker 4: And they went to my mother and they was like.
Speaker 3: We we we would like for you to be an
Speaker 3: informant for us right against the honorable menslus Finn and
Speaker 3: the Nation of Islam. And because we're trying to shut
Speaker 3: this down. We're trying to shut down the Nation of Islam.
Speaker 3: This is during the time in South Phoenix there was
Speaker 3: a there's a huge house of the honor Reilaja Mohammas
Speaker 3: which is called the Phoenix Palace. And my mother and
Speaker 3: my aunt Maria were the ones rebuilding this Phoenix Palace.
Speaker 3: And then next to that, next to her is a
Speaker 3: small house called the Indian House. So they was rebuilding this.
Speaker 1: And so.
Speaker 4: My mother was like, no, I am not going to
Speaker 4: be an informant, you know, and she was just like,
Speaker 4: I no, I'm not. So what they did.
Speaker 3: They ended up they ended up getting in it an
Speaker 3: FBI agent to act undercover, to act like a construction worker.
Speaker 3: And she's paying these construction workers, you know, she's paying
Speaker 3: them with her person, her checking account. And so they
Speaker 3: came to her and said, you know what, you are
Speaker 3: looking at four years in prison for to seven years
Speaker 3: in prison because of the fact that you are on probation,
Speaker 3: you're not supposed to have a checking account. And so
Speaker 3: my mother ended up going with It was a huge
Speaker 3: trial in Vegas and my mother ended up doing seven
Speaker 3: years in prison. She did those seven years because she
Speaker 3: would not being informant, you know, she would not go
Speaker 3: against her values ten toes down. So I'm trying to
Speaker 3: make this fast, but I'm working on trying to get
Speaker 3: a movie made on my mom's life. But but what
Speaker 3: happened was is that so honorable menslus Far Khan adopted
Speaker 3: me and my brother. We left here Phoenix, Arizona and
Speaker 3: went out to Chicago. And I was raised by the
Speaker 3: honorable menslus Fara Khan in Chicago. And his family is
Speaker 3: they're all their aunts, uncles, ground, but he's grandpa to me. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 3: he's that. And and so when my mother came out
Speaker 3: of prison, you know, at Fort Worth, Texas. She was
Speaker 3: in a federal penitentiary in Fort Worth, Texas. When she
Speaker 3: came back here to Arizona, she went straight into behavioral
Speaker 3: health and trying to get Native Americans off of drugs
Speaker 3: and alcohol and as well it was a huge gang
Speaker 3: culture in the nineties, you know. And so with that
Speaker 3: she was using that same activism, that same fears, that
Speaker 3: organizing and all of that to be able to go
Speaker 3: into health and wellness for black Back and Brown and
Speaker 3: Native people here locally and not just locally but also
Speaker 3: regionally and and and then later nationally. She was part
Speaker 3: of making making sure that we had a Native i
Speaker 3: mean doctor Markuth the King Holiday here in Phoenix, Arizona.
Speaker 3: And and that's in that tie was because she already
Speaker 3: had a lot of friends in the sports industry. She
Speaker 3: went to that team, to the team, the two opposing
Speaker 3: teams for the Super Bowl, and said, you all boycott this.
Speaker 3: So if both of you all bought the two teams
Speaker 3: boycott Arizona coming to the Super Bowl, that you will
Speaker 3: not play unless there's a doctor mark the King Holiday,
Speaker 3: you know. And so because of her sport, you know,
Speaker 3: knowledge with Muhammad Ali and all of that, you know,
Speaker 3: that was able to that was you know, we we
Speaker 3: made it happen. And then from there she was she
Speaker 3: ended up becoming president of Native American Recognition Days here
Speaker 3: she's here in Phoenix, Arizona. She was working for now
Speaker 3: it's called Native Connects. At the time it was Indian
Speaker 3: Rehabilitation Center. Now Native Connections is a huge behavioral health
Speaker 3: center for Native Americans here locally in Arizona. And so
Speaker 3: she was a part of the growth of that. And
Speaker 3: she's started the Children of Color Parade with the City
Speaker 3: of Phoenix and a lot of other programming. And my
Speaker 3: mother passed of lung cancer in two thousand and three.
Speaker 3: But she gave us, I would say, she gave the
Speaker 3: city of Phoenix grace and beautiful preparation for that because
Speaker 3: during that time she the Arizona Republic followed her entire
Speaker 3: journey while she was battling lung cancer.
Speaker 4: So amazing, amazing, amazing.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, I'm so glad I asked that question. I really
Speaker 1: feel like I got because I knew that your mother
Speaker 1: was someone who was extremely influential, but I didn't know
Speaker 1: to what degree. Yeah, so that that certainly helps establish
Speaker 1: the legacy of you, queen Ya Najah. And so you know,
Speaker 1: I don't want to take a moment. We are we
Speaker 1: We just got picked up in and spoke Cane Washington,
Speaker 1: h K Y R, S F M. And we we
Speaker 1: just got picked up in Rochester as well Detroit. More recently,
Speaker 1: we've made announcements on our social media, so a lot
Speaker 1: of cities that you know, truth told, all of these
Speaker 1: lands were once belonged to indigenous people. Some would argue
Speaker 1: should still belong to you, you know, with the whole
Speaker 1: land back movement and all that. And I don't want
Speaker 1: to pigeonhole you at all, but I want to set
Speaker 1: you up because I really need people to know who
Speaker 1: are listening to this show that haven't heard about you,
Speaker 1: haven't haven't seen you I need them to know the
Speaker 1: caliber of guests we have here today. So let me
Speaker 1: start now. I will say this, I have known Queen
Speaker 1: Ya Najaha for many years as a broadcaster where we
Speaker 1: both once lived in Phoenix, Arizona. You now reside in
Speaker 1: Atlanta where q Q is, but as a longtime broadcaster,
Speaker 1: she's been on the radio with me before, but also
Speaker 1: at different events on the streets having to do with it,
Speaker 1: could be remoter registration, you know, events related to indigenous populations,
Speaker 1: black populations, and so forth, hip hop as well, hip
Speaker 1: hop as well. Absolutely shout out to Cappadonna. Yeah, one
Speaker 1: time and the whole WU tank Land. But now in
Speaker 1: the past, i'd say maybe certainly the last ten years,
Speaker 1: but longer than that, just a national presence. I'm so
Speaker 1: proud of you, the move movement that you've made. I've
Speaker 1: seen you for the Dakota Access pipeline on the ground
Speaker 1: up there. Of course in Atlanta, we're going to talk
Speaker 1: about all the stuff that you've done in Atlanta. I
Speaker 1: want to say, ah Mad Aubrey when his when his
Speaker 1: family before they went to the media, I think they
Speaker 1: went to you, right, that was in Where was that
Speaker 1: based in Georgia. That was in Georgia, okay. And and
Speaker 1: these these neat not neat, but these little moments that
Speaker 1: kind of create the timeline that has led up to
Speaker 1: twenty twenty last year and then you know, on into
Speaker 1: today and of course into the future. But these little
Speaker 1: events that kind of was the ground swell leading up
Speaker 1: to George Floyd. You were there on the front lines
Speaker 1: in talking to the cameras with all these people, and
Speaker 1: you represented black women never never not that, Yeah, Indigenous women,
Speaker 1: never not that. And I believe your background is a
Speaker 1: Muslim woman, yes, and so never never that never took
Speaker 1: a back seat either. And that's such a powerful intersection
Speaker 1: of people who have had i'll put it kindly challenges
Speaker 1: in this country, and in my opinion, not only have
Speaker 1: you handled it with grace and POI all these these
Speaker 1: opportunities that you have to go and council families or
Speaker 1: deal with you know, political you know, in the political arena,
Speaker 1: or engage with politics, or you know, create reform or
Speaker 1: whatever it is that you're doing, but also moving with
Speaker 1: a firm hand because a lot of times that's that's
Speaker 1: very important. And so I didn't want to tell your story,
Speaker 1: but I feel like I got a good amount of it,
Speaker 1: but I know I left a lot off off the
Speaker 1: table too. So you did mention. You know you have
Speaker 1: a background, you know, related to hip hop. I'd love
Speaker 1: for you to talk about that a bit before we
Speaker 1: go into some of the work that you're doing now.
Speaker 3: So the day I fell in love with hip hop,
Speaker 3: let's talk about it. Yeah, was you know when my
Speaker 3: mother was on the run from the FEDSKA. You know,
Speaker 3: there was a period she did go on a run.
Speaker 3: So that's why always say I'm from everywhere. But you know,
Speaker 3: we was in la Venice Beach and I'm seeing it
Speaker 3: was rock Steady cou Crew West Coast, and I'm seeing
Speaker 3: them just being free with this like with this music
Speaker 3: that sounds so revolutionary. Now mind you you know the
Speaker 3: climate now my I'm my mother was freedom fighter, run
Speaker 3: from the Feds. We're around you know, major freedom fighters.
Speaker 3: You know Kwame Torre, you know Caesar Shavez. The list
Speaker 3: goes on and on, Jesse Jackson, so many people. So
Speaker 3: I'm a young girl, this is before social media. My
Speaker 3: mom didn't give me the IBAD. My experience was being
Speaker 3: at the couch, being at the foot of all of
Speaker 3: these elders and just listening to them talk about how
Speaker 3: they're going to change the world.
Speaker 4: And so.
Speaker 3: They're older than me, but I saw people that were
Speaker 3: around my age that was also being very revolutionizing a
Speaker 3: new culture and talking about but in a hip hop
Speaker 3: form of things that I'm hearing Minister Farkhan talk about that,
Speaker 3: I'm hearing Caesar Shi that talk about. You know.
Speaker 4: The list goes on and I'm like, wow, and it's
Speaker 4: to a beat. I love hip hop.
Speaker 3: You know, That's how I fell in love with hip
Speaker 3: hop because it was relatable to what I was going through.
Speaker 1: And there's there's another part of this too, is that
Speaker 1: in all of your interactions on the ground, maybe not all,
Speaker 1: but certainly in a good number that I've seen over
Speaker 1: the years. Of course, I can't name all the names
Speaker 1: just you know, some of the incidents will escape me.
Speaker 1: But you've managed to continue to not only cultivate your
Speaker 1: relationship with hip hop, but also compel these artists to
Speaker 1: come and contribute and be a part of it. You know,
Speaker 1: you mentioned Ti earlier, and I know that you have
Speaker 1: a very storied history with the Wu Tang clas and
Speaker 1: so forth.
Speaker 4: So it's important.
Speaker 3: It's it's really important because, like I said, I gravitated
Speaker 3: towards hip hop because I was in the movement.
Speaker 4: I was, I'm a movement baby, you know.
Speaker 3: And so, but then that vice versa that has to
Speaker 3: flip around is we know, rap music is a reflection.
Speaker 4: It's the news of the hood.
Speaker 3: It's now it's the news of the body, or it's
Speaker 3: the news of the rads, it's the news of Japan
Speaker 3: and all everywhere, you know. And so, but the culture
Speaker 3: of hip hop is is now a baby version of
Speaker 3: culture of whatever demographic we come from, you know. And
Speaker 3: so I started rapping. I started rapping. I released two albums.
Speaker 3: I went on tour with Wu Tang Clan. I went
Speaker 3: on tour with Red and Meth, and I was on
Speaker 3: the Rock the Bells tour, did some of the dates
Speaker 3: on the Rock the Bells tour opening up for Red
Speaker 3: and Red and Meth. You know, an immortal Technique. I
Speaker 3: did some stuff with him, and and every opportunity I got,
Speaker 3: I was like, y'all need to come and speak here,
Speaker 3: you know. And I always was pushing on them to
Speaker 3: not just use their influence in music, but also to
Speaker 3: get back to using that same influence to make differences,
Speaker 3: you know, make a change. And I'm a huge advocate
Speaker 3: on that. And artists that do not want to do that.
Speaker 3: I don't care who you are. If you don't want
Speaker 3: to do that, then I don't deal with you, you know.
Speaker 3: I look at everyone that is like, that's about the movement,
Speaker 3: whatever it is. So we did something here locally, which
Speaker 3: was I mean, I believe that we made history. Myself
Speaker 3: and DJ John Blaze, I had this idea. I was like,
Speaker 3: we need to It was during the SB ten seventy
Speaker 3: bill that was signed, remember yeah, And I was all
Speaker 3: like Blaze because Blaze just got for tour with me
Speaker 3: with Ray Kwan on the bill for Cuban Leak's two tour.
Speaker 3: He just got for tour with me. I'm still in Molde,
Speaker 3: you know. And I was like, Blaze, let's let's do
Speaker 3: by the time I get to Arizona, let's do our remix.
Speaker 3: So I posted on social media and shout out to
Speaker 3: talib Quali, but he reached out said I want to
Speaker 3: get on it.
Speaker 4: I said, Tlib, I'm sorry.
Speaker 3: Even immortal technique I want to get I said, I'm sorry, No,
Speaker 3: it's just going to be Arizona artists because we're here
Speaker 3: in Arizona, we're having to deal with this, you know.
Speaker 3: You I need people need to hear what Arizona hip
Speaker 3: hop passed to say, you know, and some some people
Speaker 3: will be like and Tayli ended up doing his own version. Yeah,
Speaker 3: I think Immortal did his own version, you know. But
Speaker 3: we got like over ten hip hop artists and we
Speaker 3: shot that in about a week. It went viral, you know,
Speaker 3: and and I think that that's what hip hop. You know,
Speaker 3: My honorable miss was far Khan said, I'm sorry, Okay
Speaker 3: said that one hip hop one hip hop song is
Speaker 3: equivalent to ten thousand.
Speaker 4: Of his speech. I remember when you said that's how
Speaker 4: powerful hip hop is.
Speaker 1: And I love that. I think that's that's awesome. So
Speaker 1: here's what we're gonna do. Yes, now that we know
Speaker 1: who you are, let's take a break. We're gonna come back.
Speaker 1: And the first thing I want to ask you about
Speaker 1: is the Indigenous People's movement. That sound good? Ye Okay?
Speaker 2: Now Sadquarters behind him the big.
Speaker 1: If you're just tuning in the civic side for I'm
Speaker 1: your host, Ramsay's job. Big shout out to q Ward,
Speaker 1: who is off this week. We are very fortunate in
Speaker 1: that our guest this week is the one and only
Speaker 1: Queen Ya Najah, activist extraordinaire, mover and shaker, national mover
Speaker 1: and shaker. When it comes to, you know, advancing the
Speaker 1: agenda for black, Brown, Indigenous Asian, you know, you name
Speaker 1: it right, you said it best. You said, you're not Republican,
Speaker 1: you're not democrat. You stand up for what's right. And
Speaker 1: I think that that that was that really does encapsulate you.
Speaker 1: So we're gonna hang out with her for a bit
Speaker 1: and talk more about what she has going on. Also
Speaker 1: our way Black History facts. She's gonna give us her
Speaker 1: thoughts on the origins of the indigenous people's day in
Speaker 1: this country. But first we are going to talk about
Speaker 1: become a better ally. This is our bye by segment,
Speaker 1: and I would love for you to let the listeners
Speaker 1: know how they can become better allies. Maybe it has
Speaker 1: to do with what you have going on in your
Speaker 1: world or some larger agenda, but I would love for
Speaker 1: you to take a couple of minutes and let folks.
Speaker 3: Know, Yeah, becoming a better ally is getting out of
Speaker 3: your comfort zone. Sure, I'm always saying anytime that a
Speaker 3: change is about to happen is when you're uncomfortable, and
Speaker 3: so going out and getting out of your comfort zone
Speaker 3: of whatever community you're in, on whatever clubs or whatever
Speaker 3: you're a part of getting out of your comfort zone
Speaker 3: and to be able to figure out and hearing from
Speaker 3: another perspective and figuring out ways how you can be
Speaker 3: able to be a support if you agree with them
Speaker 3: or not.
Speaker 4: But I think it's important.
Speaker 1: How can people support you directly?
Speaker 3: You know things change every day, and so just follow
Speaker 3: me on all social media platforms Queen while nasda queen,
Speaker 3: your Najaha, I'm only in Najahaa world. You put that
Speaker 3: into Google search and you'll find me. But the reason
Speaker 3: why I say it always happens because I fight for
Speaker 3: what's right. And so it's not just a certain it's
Speaker 3: not just against police brutality. It's not just against oil pipelines.
Speaker 3: You know, this past week I raised In one week,
Speaker 3: I raised forty thousand dollars for the people Louisiana by
Speaker 3: organizing a ten city event called Hip Hop Fanola.
Speaker 4: It was a continuance of what I've done. Watched you
Speaker 4: do that, yeah, and you saw what I posted it right,
Speaker 4: And I said, anyone want to do a hip hop
Speaker 4: fanola to help the people.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I remember that.
Speaker 3: And then so it was ten cities that reached out
Speaker 3: and said yes, I want to do it, and we
Speaker 3: raised forty thousand dollars.
Speaker 4: I love that all in one week.
Speaker 1: So well, and you always do have these neat little
Speaker 1: things that you'll put on and so yeah, I think
Speaker 1: that's that's awesome. Once again, let everyone know your social media.
Speaker 4: Yeah, Queen Yo n a s DA perfect.
Speaker 1: Now let's talk about the Indigenous People's Movement in your words,
Speaker 1: what is it.
Speaker 3: Indigenous People's Movement is a coalition based organization. We started
Speaker 3: in two thousand and nineteen when we did the Indigenous
Speaker 3: People's March. I felt that it was important that not
Speaker 3: just Native Americans, but all indigenous people of the world,
Speaker 3: that we come together and to bring awareness on what
Speaker 3: is happening amongst our communities. So we had people from
Speaker 3: all the various tribes here in the United States, but
Speaker 3: we had black organizations, black folks that came. We had
Speaker 3: people they the Amazons, the people from the Amazon flew
Speaker 3: in and came as well cause they were fighting against
Speaker 3: the the the fi I the fires that was happening
Speaker 3: in the Amazon.
Speaker 1: Kay.
Speaker 3: We had people, I mean, we had people from all
Speaker 3: around the world and it was a beautiful, beautiful We
Speaker 3: even had Buddhist monks that came. It was like over
Speaker 3: like fifty of them that came in solid you know,
Speaker 3: that just came in solidarity, you know. So it was
Speaker 3: just a beautiful, beautiful sight to see that all of us.
Speaker 3: I realized, all of us are fighting the same fight.
Speaker 3: You know, all of us are fighting. We just are
Speaker 3: fighting for freedom, justice and equality. It may be worded different,
Speaker 3: it may look different, but it's all the same, you know.
Speaker 3: And we're fighting the same enemy, which is greed. We're
Speaker 3: fighting greed and however that looks, you know, and so
Speaker 3: I wanted I wanted all everyone to be able to
Speaker 3: see that. And the conclusion of that was so we
Speaker 3: had about about twenty about twenty thousand people that came
Speaker 3: to Washington, d C. This was also the weekend of
Speaker 3: the Women's March as well. We partnered with the Women's
Speaker 3: March Forward. We had at the what's that the Lincoln Memorial.
Speaker 3: So we're on the steps on the day of Martin
Speaker 3: Thu King Holiday or birthday, on the steps of Lincoln
Speaker 3: Memorial with not just Native American and not just black
Speaker 3: people but all people of the world. What Dark Milde
Speaker 3: the King said on those steps that a gentils and
Speaker 3: do everyone come together. So the beauty of that was phenomenal.
Speaker 3: Then so we ended off with an amazing round dance.
Speaker 3: It was beautiful, beautiful, and African drums and all of that.
Speaker 3: Just imagine African drums, Native drums all happening at the
Speaker 3: same time. Then all of these young people came from
Speaker 3: with these maga hats, and while we're drumming, they came
Speaker 3: up y'all, y'all, y'all, y'all, and making monkey sounds and
Speaker 3: making mockery of Elder Nathan Phillips and Keith imc who
Speaker 3: was having the drums, and it ended up going viral.
Speaker 3: Nick Sandman, young I believe sixteen years old, went up
Speaker 3: to Nathan Phillips and just I mean the environment prior
Speaker 3: to him going up to them, but they were making mockery.
Speaker 3: They was making fun of everything that we just accomplished,
Speaker 3: and it was so it was like over a hundred
Speaker 3: young people, So it was very scary. But as Native people,
Speaker 3: we see this type of behavior at every sports game.
Speaker 3: We see this type of behavior at a Cleveland Indians
Speaker 3: game when they're doing the tomahawk chop and they're making
Speaker 3: mind they're coming dressed up as Native Americans. We see
Speaker 3: this type of behavior with uh just n at a
Speaker 3: lot of our local games, you know, being mascot. So
Speaker 3: for us as Natives, we're like, all, here it go again.
Speaker 3: But what was so and what was so surprising to
Speaker 3: us was that when it hit the Internet and it
Speaker 3: ended up going viral and people were in disgust of
Speaker 3: this mockery, and we're like, oh, wow, people are paying
Speaker 3: attention to what we've been seeing for over four or
Speaker 3: five hundred years, just even in ninety years with the
Speaker 3: Washington Arskins, you know, like but you all act like
Speaker 3: this at every sports game, just you know, you know,
Speaker 3: making all this like oh, doing things like that, you know,
Speaker 3: And so we were shocked. But then at the same token,
Speaker 3: we was like, wait, holda, they got our back, you know.
Speaker 3: And so we ended up creating Indigenous People's Movement and
Speaker 3: brought in over two hundred other organizations. We have chapters
Speaker 3: in Australia, South America, Canada, even in Africa and the Caribbean.
Speaker 4: We have people from.
Speaker 3: All all across this globally and that and we we're
Speaker 3: about out of half a million followers.
Speaker 4: All on social media.
Speaker 1: So let me so let me wonderful, Yeah, wonderful. I'm
Speaker 1: so happy. So let me make sure that this, yes,
Speaker 1: you championed a and I guess I would call it
Speaker 1: anti voter suppression initiative for Indigenous peoples. This is one
Speaker 1: of the more recent things that you've done. Let's talk
Speaker 1: about that.
Speaker 3: So, so, Standing Rock is my sister tribe. I helped
Speaker 3: Standing Rock raised one point six million dollars for their
Speaker 3: legal defense fund when we was up in Standing Rock.
Speaker 3: I helped Standing Rock a lot with a lot of
Speaker 3: different things. They was like, you know, like I said,
Speaker 3: Indigenous People's Movement is a coalition base and Standing Rock
Speaker 3: is also a part of that coalition, And was like,
Speaker 3: you know what the they was like, they're trying to
Speaker 3: stop our votes because if you have a p if
Speaker 3: you have a PO box, we can't register to vote.
Speaker 3: So we immediately went into action and petition.
Speaker 1: On tribes a lot of times, or on reservations.
Speaker 3: There's a lot of times no, yeah, because your address
Speaker 3: might be the cow up the you know, the third
Speaker 3: farm that you see on your left hand side, that's
Speaker 3: my house, you know, it's not. And then plus on
Speaker 3: top of it, we're an within a nation, you know.
Speaker 3: We yeah, we have our own tribal government, police everything.
Speaker 3: We govern ourselves, you know. And so with that being said,
Speaker 3: but many of us want the opportunity we have the
Speaker 3: right to vote, you know, for a president, because that
Speaker 3: president will be in relationship with our tribal president. So
Speaker 3: it's really important that we use that opportunity to vote
Speaker 3: for a president, a United States president, to work with
Speaker 3: our tribal president. So so we we love that opportunity
Speaker 3: to be able to have. But when it was suppressed,
Speaker 3: especially it got suppressed after the movement and Standing Rock
Speaker 3: when they saw us up right, you know, when they
Speaker 3: saw us so many of us, they're like, wait, hold up,
Speaker 3: Native Americans are rising up deep deep, and they're getting abused.
Speaker 3: You know, I have lung cancer and there has been
Speaker 3: over one hundred people that have been diagnosed with lung
Speaker 3: I mean, with various forms of cancer since being in
Speaker 3: Standing Rock.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 3: I am working with Representative I mean Congresswoman Corey Bush,
Speaker 3: who was my sister in the movement, as well as
Speaker 3: some other politicians. She just put it out there to
Speaker 3: get information on what is in these canisters when they're
Speaker 3: spraying us with tear gas and all of that. What
Speaker 3: is in what's the ingredients in there? Because like I said,
Speaker 3: there's been one hundred people and some of them have
Speaker 3: already died.
Speaker 1: I want to make sure I get this, yes straight,
Speaker 1: and I'm following. You were you were tear gased in
Speaker 1: Standing Rock?
Speaker 4: Yes? Okay, go ahead, all of us were.
Speaker 3: And there has been cases of women that have been
Speaker 3: losing baby after baby after baby after baby since Standing Rock.
Speaker 3: So we believe that they sprayed us with some type
Speaker 3: of toxic gas. And I have it on videos of
Speaker 3: toxic gas that gave the gave us long term effects.
Speaker 3: And I and when when I first saw the cancer
Speaker 3: on the cat scan that I have in my lungs,
Speaker 3: it is over two hundred cancer tumor cells in both
Speaker 3: of my lungs. It looks like my doctors thought it
Speaker 3: was asthma. They was like, it looks like you breathe
Speaker 3: something in There's like, we've never seen cancer look like this.
Speaker 3: So they end up doing a biopsy and they was like,
Speaker 3: this is Andreo Carsonomo.
Speaker 4: What the heck?
Speaker 3: They all spoke amongst each other like this looks like
Speaker 3: she breathed this in. Sure, they don't. They never because
Speaker 3: you know, sometimes you see like oh there's a tumor
Speaker 3: here and a tumor there. I have over two hundred
Speaker 3: cancer tumor cells in both of my lungs and there's
Speaker 3: just all over just everywhere. So since so we we
Speaker 3: we just lost the donna whose land we was on
Speaker 3: in Standing Rock to she had brain cancer. Her husband
Speaker 3: he passed of cancer. You know, we lost a veteran memb.
Speaker 3: There was a lot of veterans that came up there.
Speaker 3: He passed away of of cancer, you know. And so
Speaker 3: we were waiting for their ingredients back and then we're
Speaker 3: gonna do a congressional hearing very soon. Yeah, you know,
Speaker 3: on on their soul. Yeah, so it's important, you know this.
Speaker 3: So voter suppression, all of this, all of this that
Speaker 3: happened in Standing Rock that same year we we they
Speaker 3: stopped that governor. That governor in North Dakota was very
Speaker 3: upset with the just how we rose up as Native people,
Speaker 3: you know, against his pipeline, and and he needed to
Speaker 3: suppress our vote because he knew that we would have
Speaker 3: voted him out. And as well as other governors and politicians.
Speaker 3: That was for that oil pipeline because we was like,
Speaker 3: we mobilized, like like hell in Standing Rock. It was
Speaker 3: over one hundred thousand people. So that year we was like,
Speaker 3: oh yeah, we're voting these people out. So from a
Speaker 3: result from that, Charis Davis ended up becoming the first
Speaker 3: Native American congresswoman. Deb Halen ended up becoming the first
Speaker 3: Native American congress woman in that same year.
Speaker 4: So they knew what happens when we rise up and
Speaker 4: we vote.
Speaker 1: So this full frontal on you know, there's this been
Speaker 1: this movement to protect the black vote for a couple
Speaker 1: of years now. I mean, it's it's a long standing movement.
Speaker 1: Let me not let me not misspeak, you know, but
Speaker 1: but it I guess it has been reinvigorated in the
Speaker 1: past couple of years because there's been an active force
Speaker 1: on the right, specifically to suppress the vote of melanated
Speaker 1: individuals in this country. That's that's perhaps as plainly as
Speaker 1: I put it, and it's simply without being wrong, And
Speaker 1: lately you're I mean, I know that you're passionate about
Speaker 1: all these things, but the indigenous vote is something that
Speaker 1: needs a special type of protection because perhaps, and correct
Speaker 1: me if I'm wrong, this population might be especially vulnerable
Speaker 1: or vulnerable in different ways that folks may not have considered.
Speaker 1: So my question to you is, what are some other
Speaker 1: ways besides you know, the not sending a ballot to
Speaker 1: a po box? What are some other ways that you've
Speaker 1: seen voter suppression manifested in those communities? And then I'll
Speaker 1: ask a follow up question, what can individuals listening to
Speaker 1: your voice right now do on the ground to help
Speaker 1: offset that or to reverse that?
Speaker 3: Now, what we found out is that what I found
Speaker 3: out here in Arizona, especially on the reservations, you know
Speaker 3: a lot of them. So the polling polling place we're
Speaker 3: closed early, you know, and they know that natives live
Speaker 3: on a reservation. It's a long distance to get to
Speaker 3: to go vote, you know, and so closing early, well
Speaker 3: is another way of voting suppression. You know.
Speaker 4: Another thing is in Atlanta, they're trying to stop voting
Speaker 4: on Sundays.
Speaker 1: You know, they that's the souls to the polls.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so yep, they're trying to they're trying to stop
Speaker 3: voting on Sunday. And with the working class, you know,
Speaker 3: Sundays is well off you know, real.
Speaker 1: Quick, real quick, Souls to the polls just so that
Speaker 1: you know, if you're listening to us, is a movement
Speaker 1: to get church goers, primarily black church goers, to after
Speaker 1: church go and cast their ballot. And this initiative to
Speaker 1: close the polls on Sundays is in direct response to
Speaker 1: that Souls to the Polls movement or initiative. Yes, okay,
Speaker 1: do you want to make sure that the listeners are following.
Speaker 3: Yeah, most definitely. And then on top of it, you know,
Speaker 3: what we saw in in Atlanta, Georgia was these long,
Speaker 3: long lines, and so as organizers, you know, we go
Speaker 3: and give out food and we give out water. You know,
Speaker 3: for those that standing in these long lines and they
Speaker 3: voted against us doing that that we will be ticketed
Speaker 3: or will be jailed, arrested for giving out water and food,
Speaker 3: you know, for people that are standing in these standing
Speaker 3: in line to vote. You know. So it's it's really
Speaker 3: really it's it's a lot and we have a lot
Speaker 3: of work to do, you know. But in regards to
Speaker 3: what you was saying, you know, the Native American vote
Speaker 3: is I would say, out of all of these swing states,
Speaker 3: it is the most important for the Native American vote
Speaker 3: because of the fact that that population can be able
Speaker 3: to swing those you know, swing from one to the other,
Speaker 3: you know, and and to be able. So I think
Speaker 3: that it's important as organizers to reap to go and
Speaker 3: talk to Native American communities and go door to door
Speaker 3: and talk about the problems that not just what asking
Speaker 3: what Native Americans are facing, but also educating on what's
Speaker 3: happening in the inner cities.
Speaker 4: See. Native American reservations are far from these cities.
Speaker 3: So but the people that are that we have to
Speaker 3: that we constantly have to uh I would say, work
Speaker 3: with or fight with or whatever it's in the cities.
Speaker 3: But those that's on the reservations or away from the city,
Speaker 3: they're gonna vote too. But they need to know what's
Speaker 3: happening in the cities. So go in and educating all like,
Speaker 3: you know, did you know that this mayor wants X,
Speaker 3: Y and Z, or are pushing for more untrained police
Speaker 3: officers or whatever is happening on that level, So when
Speaker 3: they go and vote, you know, on a federal level,
Speaker 3: they have an understanding of that. It's a one voice situation. Yeah, okay, So.
Speaker 1: I want to switch gears a bit here. Just because
Speaker 1: we've had to talk about it. Lately. We've discussed missing
Speaker 1: while black, we've discussed what's referred to as missing white
Speaker 1: woman syndrome. But we mentioned it you and I mentioned
Speaker 1: on the show that I was watching a movie. This
Speaker 1: might have been a couple of days ago Netflix movie. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and I think it's called wind River and it has
Speaker 1: the guy from Hawkeye. He plays Hawkey. I don't know
Speaker 1: his name, but really cool guy, I think, and he investigates,
Speaker 1: you know whatever, a murder mystery on. I believe it
Speaker 1: to be a reservation or you know, they partner with
Speaker 1: res police or something like that. In the movie, at
Speaker 1: the end of the movie, you know, it puts a
Speaker 1: statistic up and it says, you know, women go missing this,
Speaker 1: that and the third. But then it says, no one
Speaker 1: knows how many Native women have gone missing. The story
Speaker 1: is about a missing Native woman. Yeah, at the end
Speaker 1: of the movie it says no one knows how many
Speaker 1: Native women are missing because the government hasn't kept track
Speaker 1: of them. Yeah, and now that you're here, since we've
Speaker 1: talked about that, I wanted you to take a moment
Speaker 1: to discuss missing Native women. You know, I know, you
Speaker 1: know some statistics. I know, you know, you know there's
Speaker 1: some there's some passion with respect to that as well,
Speaker 1: so your thoughts.
Speaker 3: So you know, several years ago, I believe it was
Speaker 3: like two thousand, two thousand and eight, I was organizing
Speaker 3: and I was reaching out to people in Canada and
Speaker 3: it was it was a woman by the name of
Speaker 3: Kanna who's that was educating me about the Highway of Tears.
Speaker 3: And I was like, what's the Highway of Tears? And
Speaker 3: she was like, it's all of the it's she said,
Speaker 3: you go down this long, long highway and this all
Speaker 3: all of these pictures or you know, these just you know,
Speaker 3: just different memorials along this entire highway in Canada of
Speaker 3: all of the Native American women that have gone missing
Speaker 3: or that have been murdered.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 4: And I was like what.
Speaker 3: What you know?
Speaker 4: It was so and I was like, what's how are
Speaker 4: they going missing? What is this?
Speaker 3: You know?
Speaker 4: She was like man camps and I was like, what's
Speaker 4: a man camp? And she was telling me.
Speaker 3: She was like, you know when they're building these tarzans
Speaker 3: oil pipelines, mining that, yeah, and and and all of
Speaker 3: these things around the environmental of them always trying to
Speaker 3: build something, you know, take resources. While these while these construct,
Speaker 3: these white men, construction workers and workers, they create man camps,
Speaker 3: which is that they are prostituting Native American women because
Speaker 3: a lot of these places are near Native American communities.
Speaker 3: The over sexualization of the Native American woman started with Pocahontas.
Speaker 3: Pocahontas was twelve years old. She was twelve years old.
Speaker 3: She was taken against her will. They took pictures of
Speaker 3: Pocahontas get when they went to England and to try
Speaker 3: to get people from England to come to this new land,
Speaker 3: this New America. They was like, you could get you
Speaker 3: a Pocahontas too. Look at this beautiful young you know,
Speaker 3: Indian woman, you know. And they was having pamphlets out
Speaker 3: of Pocahontas. They were sex trafficking. That was the first
Speaker 3: indication of sex trafficking of a young girl, which was Pocahontas.
Speaker 1: And we.
Speaker 3: Over we we think it's entertainment with Disney making a
Speaker 3: cartoon of a in the way that they made Pocahontas
Speaker 3: in the cartoon of a grown woman.
Speaker 4: No, she was eleven, twelve years old.
Speaker 3: She was a child that was taken and so and
Speaker 3: they dressed her up and they they they and I
Speaker 3: believe I don't know if they ever got her body
Speaker 3: back from England, but they because but they dressed her
Speaker 3: up to make her as a spokesperson, you know, of America. Okay,
Speaker 3: So when we're looking at today fast forward, everyone wants
Speaker 3: their Pocahontas and they do it by any means necessary
Speaker 3: and the most disgusting way, by kidnapping, by putting them
Speaker 3: into human trafficking, and murdering them. And they have gone
Speaker 3: and many of them have gone missing.
Speaker 1: We have about a minute left. Yeah, So in brief, yes,
Speaker 1: what is it that people can do to help? Maybe research?
Speaker 1: What are your thoughts, how can you.
Speaker 3: Continue to push your local legislation to get to work
Speaker 3: on the federal level, but even on a statewide level
Speaker 3: that when there is a missing missing, there has to
Speaker 3: be an amber alert for a Native American young girls
Speaker 3: and boys and and older that are missing to take
Speaker 3: it seriously. The local law enforcement does not take it
Speaker 3: seriously at all. They think they run off. We we
Speaker 3: think we have a problem within the black community of
Speaker 3: black women that I've gone missing. There's over fifty thousand
Speaker 3: of black women have gone missing. It's the same amount
Speaker 3: with Native American.
Speaker 1: Very much smaller part of the podcast. Yes, so that
Speaker 1: makes it exactly well. I appreciate you sharing that. I
Speaker 1: know that that's very troubling, but also very necessary to
Speaker 1: talk about it. Yeah, keeping in line with the theme,
Speaker 1: I did want to take a moment for Today's Way
Speaker 1: Black History Fact to discuss the Indigenous People's Day and
Speaker 1: how that came about. I'd love to hear your thoughts
Speaker 1: on it. So what we do today's article. I've just
Speaker 1: pulled it from Wikipedia, thought it was in line.
Speaker 4: I haven't read it yet, so i don't know what
Speaker 4: it's all good.
Speaker 1: So I'm going to read through it and then we're
Speaker 1: just going to talk about it. It's pretty simple, all right.
Speaker 1: So in nineteen ninety, the International Conference on Discrimination against
Speaker 1: Indigenous Populations and the America, sponsored by the United Nations
Speaker 1: in Geneva, Switzerland, began to began to discuss replacing Columbus
Speaker 1: Day in the United States with a celebration to be
Speaker 1: known as in Indigenous People's Day. Similarly, Native American group
Speaker 1: stage a short protest in Boston instead of Thanksgiving, which
Speaker 1: has been celebrated to mark collaboration between Massachusetts colonists and
Speaker 1: Native Americans in the first years. In July nineteen ninety
Speaker 1: the first Continental Conference on five hundred Years of Indian
Speaker 1: Resistance in Quito, Ecuador. Representatives of indigenous peoples throughout the
Speaker 1: America's agreed that they would mark nineteen ninety two the
Speaker 1: five hundred anniversary of the first voyages of Christopher Columbus
Speaker 1: has a year to promote the continental unity and liberation.
Speaker 1: After the conference, the attendees from northern California organized protest
Speaker 1: against the King Centennial Jubilee that had been organized by
Speaker 1: the United States Congress for the San Francisco Bay Area
Speaker 1: on Columbus Day nineteen ninety two. It was to include
Speaker 1: replicas of Columbus's ships sailing under the Golden gate Bridge
Speaker 1: and re enacting their quote discovery of America. The delegates
Speaker 1: formed the Bay Area Indian Alliance and in turn, the
Speaker 1: Resistance five hundred Task Force. It promoted the idea that
Speaker 1: Columbus's discovery of inhabited lands and subsequent European colonization of
Speaker 1: them had resulted in the genocide of indigenous peoples because
Speaker 1: of the decisions which were made by colonial and national governments.
Speaker 1: In nineteen ninety two, the group convinced the City Council
Speaker 1: of Berkeley, California, to declare October twelfth as a day
Speaker 1: of Solidarity with Indigenous people and in nineteen ninety two
Speaker 1: the Year of Indigenous People. The city implemented related programs
Speaker 1: in schools, libraries, and museums. The city symbolically renamed Columbus
Speaker 1: Day as Indigenous People's Day beginning in nineteen ninety two
Speaker 1: to protest the historical conquest of North America by Europeans
Speaker 1: and to call attention to the losses suffered by Native
Speaker 1: American peoples and their cultures through diseases, warfare, massacres, and
Speaker 1: forced assimilation. Get Lost Columbus, and opera by a Native
Speaker 1: American composer, White Cloud Wolfhawk, was produced that day. Berkeley
Speaker 1: has celebrated Indigenous People's Day ever since, Beginning in nineteen
Speaker 1: ninety three. Berkeley has also held an annual pow wow
Speaker 1: and festival on Indigenous People's Day. In the years following
Speaker 1: Berkeley's action, other local governments and institutions have either renamed
Speaker 1: or canceled Columbus Day, either to celebrate Native American history
Speaker 1: and cultures to avoid celebrating Columbus and the European colonization
Speaker 1: of the Americas, or do to raise controversy over the
Speaker 1: legacy of Columbus. Several other California cities, including Richmond, Santa Cruz, Sebastopool,
Speaker 1: and Sebastaball now celebrate Indigenous People's Day and encourage people
Speaker 1: to donate to a neighboring tribe and recognize the trauma
Speaker 1: and pain Indigenous peoples have been subjected to by coloners colonizers, sorry,
Speaker 1: last piece. At least thirteen states do not celebrate Columbus Day. Alaska, Wayi, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan,
Speaker 1: New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington, d
Speaker 1: C Wisconsin. South Dakota officially celebrates Native American Day instead.
Speaker 1: Various tribal governments in Oklahoma designate these days as Native
Speaker 1: American Day or have renamed the day after their own tribes.
Speaker 1: All right, want to get your thoughts on that. That
Speaker 1: seems like a happy thing.
Speaker 3: Oh, it's an amazing thing. I remember as a child
Speaker 3: that my mother took me to Alcatraz every every October,
Speaker 3: you know, and and seeing all of everyone, I mean,
Speaker 3: just really taking over Alcatraz and and so on October eleventh,
Speaker 3: you know, once again, so many people are gonna be
Speaker 3: taking over Alcatraz when year before last it was Colin
Speaker 3: Kaepernick came and and so to continue to see that
Speaker 3: happen in New York City, for the past seven years,
Speaker 3: have been taking over Randall's Island for Indigenous People's Days.
Speaker 3: So it's an amazing, beautiful thing to see. But we
Speaker 3: still have a long way to go because of the
Speaker 3: fact that you know, so many Italian Americans believe and
Speaker 3: they fight hard in New York City, Chicago, that's in
Speaker 3: some other cities. The reason why and uh, it's still
Speaker 3: Christopher Columbus Day and not Indigenous People's Days because Italian
Speaker 3: Americans really believe that Christopher Columbus discovered America and they
Speaker 3: believe that throughout their Italian American history that Christopher Columbus
Speaker 3: was an amazing man. And they strongly believe that, even
Speaker 3: though it was documented from you know, those that was
Speaker 3: with Christopher Columbus that said that we cannot be with
Speaker 3: this crazy man. This man is insane. He is you know,
Speaker 3: I mean it was his own people that was with
Speaker 3: him was like uh uh, you know, and on top
Speaker 3: of it, he was not a good man in Italy.
Speaker 3: So I don't understand why Italians Americans believe that this.
Speaker 3: You know, they want to hold on so strong and
Speaker 3: they actually really fit. They they come out and they
Speaker 3: will they come out in protest against us during that
Speaker 3: time when we're doing our events and all of that,
Speaker 3: and it's crazy to see. Yeah, it's very sad. They
Speaker 3: counteract everything that we do when we're wunning Indigenous People's Day.
Speaker 1: Okay, so one final thought from you, God, maybe about
Speaker 1: a minute left.
Speaker 4: Yes, So.
Speaker 1: What do you think we should do to connect either
Speaker 1: old and young or across you know, different rent you know,
Speaker 1: cultural lines or whatever. What do you think that we
Speaker 1: can do to connect better? Someone as traveled as you
Speaker 1: might have some perspective that even I don't have. I
Speaker 1: love to hear your thoughts.
Speaker 3: I think the best thing is to once again get
Speaker 3: out of our comfort zone, meaning out of our neighborhoods,
Speaker 3: our neighborhoods that we know, and going into another neighborhood
Speaker 3: and just learning. You know, some people are scared to
Speaker 3: go to the bodyo when they're black or you know,
Speaker 3: or or or go to the reservation if they're Latino
Speaker 3: you know, I think it's important for us to you know,
Speaker 3: see what events are happening and learn from the people.
Speaker 3: Then you be, I in my travels and organizing and
Speaker 3: going to all these cities and all of that. Even
Speaker 3: though I am for I believe I'm forty two, forty two,
Speaker 3: you know, I'm still a student of life, sure, you know.
Speaker 3: And I love sitting back and learning, you know, from
Speaker 3: young people, from older people. When I went out to
Speaker 3: Miami and I wanted to, it was a hurricane that happened,
Speaker 3: and I was like, you know what. I went there
Speaker 3: and I or I had the local organizer, reached out
Speaker 3: to local organizers. I happen to always know someone in
Speaker 3: the state and I'm like, hey, can you get people
Speaker 3: in the room. And I just sat back and just
Speaker 3: listened to what's happening politically, socially, you know, even musically,
Speaker 3: and everything that's going on in Miami. I did the
Speaker 3: same thing in Detroit. And I will go there once
Speaker 3: a month and continue to learn and continue to be
Speaker 3: engaged and learn what's happening and and and I always
Speaker 3: do that for it. Sometimes I will keep going for
Speaker 3: a year and just learning, you know. And so I
Speaker 3: think that it's important for us to learn what's happening,
Speaker 3: you know, learn what's happening, and you'll realize that the
Speaker 3: same things that's going on in your city is the
Speaker 3: same exact things that's happening in the next city.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I love that too. And you know, one thing that
Speaker 1: I will say is, you know, for Q and I,
Speaker 1: we have kind of a unique opportunity with this in
Speaker 1: that we have a network that spans from coast to coast,
Speaker 1: a lot of voices that listen to this show that
Speaker 1: we thought was a good idea. The growth has very
Speaker 1: much felt empowering, and both of us, I think, in
Speaker 1: our heart of hearts are love first. You know a
Speaker 1: lot of folks can't see, but I'm very well tattooed
Speaker 1: and I have a huge tattoo along my arm that
Speaker 1: says I love you. And something I learned from my father,
Speaker 1: who was a minister, perfect love casteth out fear, and
Speaker 1: so to live behind fear means that you probably need
Speaker 1: to work on your love or your capacity to love
Speaker 1: a little bit more. And that's what we try to
Speaker 1: do with this show. Obviously, that's what you do with
Speaker 1: you know, all of the activism and all of the
Speaker 1: speaking that you do.
Speaker 4: I love our people and that's what moves me, and
Speaker 4: I think that that's what moves.
Speaker 1: You to absolutely.
Speaker 3: You know, when you love God, when you love God
Speaker 3: and what everything God creates, you want to be there.
Speaker 1: I love that. Yeah, and with that, I think that's
Speaker 1: going to do it for us. So once again, thank
Speaker 1: you for coming up, Queenya.
Speaker 4: Najaha and damn this job and I gotta give you
Speaker 4: your flowers.
Speaker 1: Yo.
Speaker 3: You have been doing this for such a long long
Speaker 3: time and you deserve every accolade everything. But you really
Speaker 3: really love our people, Yes, you really really do, and
Speaker 3: it shows in everything that you do.
Speaker 1: I'll take that. Yes, and uh yeah with that, that's
Speaker 1: a that's a that's an even higher high. So we
Speaker 1: ended right there. Thank you for tuning in to Civic
Speaker 1: Cipher once again. I'm your host Rams's job. Be sure
Speaker 1: to check us out next week and you can download
Speaker 1: this in any previous episode on Civic cipher dot com
Speaker 1: And until next week, y'all. Peace. Yeah, like we had
Speaker 1: to lead
Speaker 2: When you travel, speak to you from sunlight to