We live in a country that was built on the lies and trickery of immigrant “leaders” and we are now expected to forgive and forget.
The land was taken, addiction and disease introduced, while a people who had spent thousands of years cultivating, living, and respecting the land were forced into camps that would soon become their “homes”.
We live in a country where families were torn apart and abuses we would not wish upon our enemies were handed down to children.
The lives of an entire culture were systematically ruined, generations impacted by a view that one was not “right,” and that its people were meant to assimilate or disappear.
We live in a country that was bought with pain, paid for with death, and destructed through years of abuse.
We live in a country where a people were almost destroyed, but today we live in a time where those people finally have a voice.
The damages of the past still scar the lives and memories of a people, but those scars are now the fuel that feeds the many who have found the strength to say ‘No More’.
We live in a country that is waking up to the truths of a painful past, recognizing the damage it has done, and the importance of support and moving forward.
We live in a country with a very dark past, and a present that is almost no better with entire communities unable to access the necessities of life and assimilation is still in the conversation.
The actions of yesterday do dictate tomorrow, but taking the steps to make change can create an environment of healing and the possibility of a bright future that everyone deserves.
We live in a country that was built on the graves of indigenous people, a culture that is now fighting for what little is left of their ancestry and searching for the respect they rightfully deserve.
Until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter. ― Chinua Achebe