The New Activists

A group of Native people came together Monday, January 5, in Rapid City, South Dakota, to discuss and prioritize the needs of the local native community in the aftermath of the Allen Locke killing. Chase Iron Eyes, Founder of Last Real Indians, encouraged everyone to consider what they could contribute individually and collectively to #NativeLivesMatter.

L to R Witko, Chase Iron Eyes, Robert Cook, Lamont Cook, Cody Hall

 “We’re not just activists anymore,” said Iron Eyes. “We’re lawyers, doctors, and entrepreneurs. We’re business owners, artists, and musicians. We’re graphic artists, we’re website designers, we’re writers, and we’re media owners. It’s unstoppable. We have the critical mass now.”

              

Panelists representing the fields of education, childcare, and legal services shared common ground with an audience passionate about developing a strategy to tackle racism in the Black Hills area. No one disputed the fact that the children are a priority and the focus should be on creating an environment that allows them to grow up in a city free of racial tension. “We need to restore promise to our children for a better tomorrow,” said Robin Page, a member of the Lakota Community Homes Board of Directors.       

            

Karin Eagle, Editor at Lakota Country Times, stressed that her voice comes from that place of caring for the community. Her son, Miguel, was a welcome addition to the group. A sophomore at Rapid City Central, he told the group that he accompanies his mother to meetings that are about Native American issues because he believes that the youth voice has been missing. “I possess that voice,” Miguel said.

             

Elizabeth Cook-Lynn

Author, Historian, and Professor Elizabeth Cook-Lynn, urged the group to focus on the genocide of natives that is happening in Rapid City. “We’ve got to do something about the police situation in this town. This group has the power to focus on a couple of things and one of them I think has to be this police issue. The man that you mentioned, he didn’t just die, he was killed, and he was killed by the police. The death of American Indians and killing of American Indians is going on here and it not only goes on in that kind of killing, but it goes on in the genocidal practices that we’ve all been talking about. Somebody has to begin to use those terms.”

           

Heads began to nod. This is the seriousness of racism here. We have talked, we have posted and twittered, we have gone viral on social media, we have rallied, and organizations before us have tried time and again to bring about change. 

#NativeLivesMatter Rally the day before Allen Locke was killed

It is not for lack of caring that others sometimes give up; it is the crushing weight of continual push back dispensed by the institutions that dictate. It is the entrenched structural racism that has wormed its way into every level of government from local administration up to executive federal branches that triggers our frustration and leads to derailment.

             

The twenty-first century genocide in the United States goes beyond the genocidal practices Indians have been exposed to for generations; substandard health care, higher rates of incarceration, educational deficiencies, and the irrepressible cycle of poverty. Racial profiling is a reality in law enforcement and has been observed for decades, but recently police officers are blatantly assuming the role of judge and jury, making the decision to empty their handgun into a warm body. Native citizens do not call the police to have their loved one killed; they call the police because they need help. In Rapid City, the Indian community has lost faith in law enforcement; their trust shattered by the unfaltering racial prejudice demonstrated by the department. Case in point is the Department of Criminal Investigations statement released on January 16 clearing RCPD Officer Anthony Meirose of any wrongdoing in the shooting death of Allen Locke. Rapid City Police Chief Jegeris said it was a “suicide by cop decision on Locke’s part.” Natives were not surprised by the report; it echoed previous similar investigations.

             

As a member of the Oceti Sakowin, I am aware it is time for change and confident that our young energetic leaders will rise up – wielding laptops, tablets, and cell phones, maximizing social media, gathering research, statistics, and facts, and assessing the needs of existing organizations. Many embrace the return of an Akicita society, and I for one, am all for this plan of action.

The new activists are armed with college degrees, wisdom provided by elders, and a thirst for change. They inherently possess the heart and spirit of warriors and are strengthened by the conviction of a people desiring a better world for future generations.