Honoring Stolen People; Forced to Develop Stolen Land
by, Latoshia Ellis Ed.D
During the civil unrest following the murder of George Floyd by the Minneapolis police, many people started to rethink the way we function and operate within this country. My colleagues and I began a journey of developing a series of Anti-Bias and Anti-Racism (ABAR) personal development sessions for Pk-12 educators to help them examine their own biases, build a deeper awareness around biases and racism, and examine the overall impact of biases and racism on the students they serve. In our home city, St.Louis, Mo; we have seen our share of civil unrest due to unjust police shootings. We had to discover our “Why” as we processed through the trauma of another unjust killing of yet another black man.
Our “why” was a deep reflection on George Floyd’s murder; a reckoning on our part. As educators, we felt moved to action and acknowledgment. In a country that does not see our positive contribution to this world; we assisted in laying a foundation in the United States in its very infrastructures and structures that hold up this country in the past and present—--buildings, landmarks, and railroads all built by our ancestors. Enslaved Africans literally built Wall Street.
As we work to address systemic racism and oppression through education, we wanted to be sure we were doing our part in acknowledging the land that we were on was in fact stolen land. We also wanted to show solidarity with our Indigenous brothers and sisters in their efforts to bring awareness to “the genocide committed by the United States government and the displacement of Indigenous people”(Trisha Moquino Honor Native Land 2019), as well as educate others on the importance of recognizing the original inhabitants of the land through Land Acknowledgements.
As we were doing the work, I started to think about our own ancestors as Black Americans. Our ancestors were stolen from Africa and forced to labor and develop the land that was stolen from Indigenous Americans. In our showing of solidarity and to honor our African Ancestors who were also a victim of colonization, we included a Labor Acknowledgement with the Land Acknowledgement. Participants in our sessions learn about the importance of doing Land and Labor Acknowledgements and they are given resources to develop their own Land and Labor Acknowledgement.
As a part of our current practices, we open every meeting with a Land and Labor Acknowledgement. Our Land and Labor Acknowledgement is included below. We encourage you to research and create your own Land and Labor Acknowledgment to help bring accountability and awareness to the genocide that Indigenous and Black Americans suffered in the United States through the hands of Colonialism. As Dr. Nicole Evans stated in an Embracing Equity article she co-wrote; “We are bound together in our liberation.” As Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), we must understand our fight against racial injustice must be bound together in solidarity.
Land and Labor Acknowledgement
“I would like to acknowledge that this meeting is being held on the stolen lands of the Kickapoo, Sioux, Osage, Miami and Illiniwek people. I am also acknowledging the forced labor of the stolen people of Africa to develop this land. I am paying my respect to the land, the people, and the elders both past and present.”