Statement in Solidarity with African-American, Afro-Mexicano, Afro-Indigenous and Black relatives everywhere but especially in the USA by American Indian and Indigenous Peoples organizations in Los Angeles, California

Graphic by Sharaya Souza, Executive Director for the American Indian Cultural District of San Francisco and the Director of Programs for American Indian Cultural Center of San Francisco.

Lazo en Español: https://bit.ly/SolidaridadconAfroAmericanos

May 30, 2020

Policing, politics, and pandemics

The police murder of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis Police Department was an outrageous violation of human rights which must result in the prosecution of all the officers involved. The civil unrest which righteously followed was a result of the city of Minneapolis’ inadequate response to the actions of its officers as an entity charged with the protection of all of its residents. Across America, Black teenagers, college students, city councilmen, congressmen and residents of all walks of life have shared detailed accounts of the realities of police violence as a daily repeated reality. In America today, we know that being Black is sufficient for police to justify violence as they represent an unfounded threat based in racism.

The Minneapolis Police Department’s violence against American Indians in many ways also gave birth to the American Indian Movement in the ‘60’s. According to the…