The past four years have brought more explicit forms and voices of white nationalism - from inside government and outside and the collaborations between them. And, as the Black-led uprisings against police violence have expressed, racism and colonialism are deep in the soil of this nation. While some of the expressions of it change, the fact, acts and experience of it remain consistent. This time has reinforced the importance of the NLG work in defending not only movement organizations but frontline communities resisting, on a daily basis and through explicit acts, white nationalism. It is also an opportunity for white people and organizations committed to anti-racism to turn inward and look at our own practices towards greater alignment between our stated commitments to liberation and justice and our practices. This morning, at 9:30 AM, we are hosting a virtual press conference with the Anti-Police Terror Project (APTP) and the Indigenous Peoples Day 5 (IP5) Solidarity Coalition demanding that Marin County DA Lori Frugoli drop the charges against the IP5, a group of Indigenous women and Two Spirited people who are facing felony charges in relation to the toppling of a Junipero Serra statue in front of Mission San Rafael. As the legal arm of the progressive movement, the NLG denounces these charges and affirms Indigenous sovereignty and human rights over property rights. (Read the full press release and register for the press conference below.) The NLG draws connections between these attacks on Indigenous sovereignty and the physical attacks on immigrants such as those against Asian elders in the greater Bay Area as extensions of state violence. The broader context of the failure of the US government to act strongly to stop COVID, to pass the blame and misfocus on the spread of COVID as coming from elsewhere (China, the UK), and the ongoing targeting of all immigrants. As we witness and defend our communities rise up against attacks on Asian elders in recent weeks, we too amplify the call for community safety without more policing or investment into the carceral state. We are deeply moved by the resilience of communities who have always been at the frontlines of our movements: Indigenous women and Two Spirited people engaging in direct action, criminalized immigrants fighting deportation, Black communities and other communities of color who are threatened the most by targeting, oppression, and repression. We invite our membership and greater communities to continue defending people at the frontlines in their struggles against white supremacy. (See below for action items to take.) We also ask you to turn inwards with us. The second training in our two-part workshop series with Aorta, Interrupting Harmful & Problematic Dynamics, on February 23rd, will also support us in continuing to move towards an organization that is welcoming of the leadership of those closest to and part of the communities and movements we defend and act in solidarity with. (Registration for this workshop is below.) We wish a Happy Lunar New Year to all who celebrated this past weekend. Even in this new year, it is apparent that although the ways which the state colludes against our communities may shift, the fact of it never changes. We renew our commitment to valuing Indigenous sovereignty, migrant justice, and building a world without borders, prisons, or policing. - The NLG-SF Bay Area Team |
