Idle No More Los Angeles Solidarity Rally

In Adam Beach, Canada, Idle No More, Indigenous Rights, Los Angeles, Native rights, Solidarity rally, Theresa Spence by Adrienne K.1 Comment

Long exposure on the hoop dancer…all artistic and stuff.

I wanted to try something different to share my experience at the Idle No More solidarity rally in LA on Friday, so I made a podcast-of-sorts. I give some thoughts on the Idle No More movement, a little background, and set the scene. But then, the exciting part, I was able to interview some awesome folks at the rally: Andrea Landry, Crystle Lightning, Adam Beach (yes, ADAM BEACH), and Kevin Gonzaga. The podcast is about 20 minutes long, and the interviews give background on the movement and legislation in Canada, Chief Theresa Spence’s hunger strike, what this means for Native people in the US, how these rallies and collective action are changing perceptions of Indigenous Peoples, and what the role of settler allies (non-Native allies) can be in the movement. Some really good stuff in their own words. Soundcloud link below, and more pictures after the jump:

Our small but mighty crowd at the Canadian consulate in downtown LA
“IDLE NO MORE!”
Music group Lightning Cloud and Adam Beach
Awesome protest signs, and that’s Kevin (@speakfaithfully) in the corner
That’s me and Adam Beach, nbd.
After our interview
On the way home there was the most spectacular sunset I’ve seen in a long time.
I pulled off the freeway so I could snap this picture over the ocean.

I wish you all a happy, safe, and healthy holiday season, and I hope you’ll send prayers and good thoughts to all the Native brothers and sisters who are fighting this fight, especially to Chief Spence who is on her 14th day hunger striking for her people.

If you attended any rallies over the last few weeks, please share articles, video clips, and photos in the comments, and I’ll try and pull together an Idle No More resource list in the coming week. I do encourage you to go out and educate yourselves further–simply following the hashtag #idleNoMore on twitter is a good place to start.

Huge thanks to Andrea, Crystle, Adam, and Kevin for letting me interview them!

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