George Floyd should be alive

By the Indigenous Environmental Network

Bemidji, MN – the Indigenous Environmental Network issued a press release April 20th about the George Floyd verdict

George Floyd should still be alive. We offer our prayers and solidarity to his family and community. This verdict may not provide any solace, but our continued work, action, and prayers will help us move in the right direction.

Some may feel that justice has been served in this case but there is still much more work to be done. Despite the verdict in Chauvin’s case, the system that allowed for the murder of George Floyd is still intact.

Our communities need more than what police and the legal system can offer

Black, Indigenous, and communities of color have rarely seen justice through the existing system. The fact is, that system is not broken. It is functioning as it was built to uphold white supremacy and keep our communities controlled. That means our communities are not protected by the systems that claim to ensure public safety. We need to be safe in our own homes, schools, communities, and places of prayer.

We need a system that dismantles the systems of white supremacy and invests in healing, care, safety, and true justice for all. Instead, we see cities all across the country investing in more police, military-grade weaponry, and regressive and oppressive laws allowing harm to communities and impunity to those who are sworn to protect and serve.

We support structural change in the justice system

Historically we have long experienced police violence, lack of accountability, oppression, and inequality at the hands of the “justice system.” We recognize that reformation of the existing system is not the same as the necessary, bold transformations that must take place in order for true justice to exist. This transformation is not just about this moment but the long-standing injustices that our communities have suffered.

Liberation for Black lives means liberation for us all. We must continue to lean into the discomfort of undoing racism and dismantling white supremacy and rebuilding communities of care. As grassroots Indigenous Peoples, we pledge to continue to work alongside our Black, Brown, Latino, Arab, and Asian relatives to collapse capitalist patriarchal colonial racist systems.

We will continue to uphold Indigenous solidarity and action in support of Black Liberation and Black power. With strong hearts, minds, spirit, and actions, we stand and uplift our love for, and defense of Black Lives.