Post by blackcrowheart on Jan 17, 2006 21:58:34 GMT -5
Decades later, King's speech still applies to Indian Country - Monday, Jan. 16, 2006
PABLO - It's been 50 years since Martin Luther King Jr. first stepped onto the civil rights stage and grabbed the world's attention.
The civil rights movement, led by eminent black leaders such as King, opened doors for black people to rightfully be treated as human beings.
But how much has changed for Native people?
King captured our imagination with riveting oration skills and unforgettable words. His "I Have a Dream" speech ranks as one of the most memorable speeches ever delivered, anywhere.
In his opening lines, he wrote: "Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation S One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity."
Forget about the handful of super-rich tribes with casinos that have millions of dollars to fill the pockets of lobbyists and politicians.
King's words could apply to Native people today.
When event organizers at the Salish Kootenai College on the Flathead Reservation asked me to give a speech about King, I agreed.
On campus last week, I spent a good deal of time speaking about the birth of the civil rights movement, beginning with Rosa Parks' refusal to give up her bus seat to a white man.
King, then a 26-year-old pastor of a local Baptist church, was called to lead what turned out to be a 381-day black boycott of the Montgomery, Ala., bus system.
The boycott ended after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in November 1956 that Alabama and Montgomery's bus segregation laws were unconstitutional.
Even though much has changed for blacks, much remains the same for Native people. As I revisited the "I Have a Dream" speech, it was easy to insert one word and still keep to the truth.
"One hundred years later, the 'Indian' is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land."
King's statement rightfully belongs to indigenous people. I've often wondered how tribes on the Flathead Reservation must feel when they look at land rimming the gorgeous Flathead Lake. The majority of homes or businesses lining the shore don't belong to the tribes or its citizens.
In fact, hundreds of reservation families are on a waiting list for land housing permits. Do the Salish and Kootenai feel like exiles in their own land?
Where is the economic, social, cultural, political and civil rights justice in tribal communities? Land acquisition is only one area where Native people continue to seek parity.
Where is the economic justice when tribal unemployment rates typically languish in double digits, but can reach 80 percent and higher?
Why does the per capita income for Natives on reservations normally hover below $10,000, while the average U.S. per capita income is nearly three times higher?
Where is the social justice when 24 percent of prisoners and inmates in North Dakota are Native, even though they make up only 5 percent of that state's population?
Where is the cultural justice when 89 percent of indigenous languages in North America will not be passed to the next generation?
Where is the political justice when there is not a single Native person in the U.S. Senate?
Where is the civil justice when half of all Native students in Montana will drop out of high school, young people who will never fully contribute to their community?
One of the most promising ways to achieve economic, social, cultural, political and civil justice is through education.
King educated the masses through remarkable oratory and superb speech-writing skills. His practice of free speech allowed him to voice an opinion, to be heard, to make a difference.
In my small way, I do my best to bring Native voices to a newspaper audience, to tell untold stories.
Not everyone agrees with what I write. That's not important. What matters is that Native issues wind up discussed in a public arena.
This keeps us from being invisible. It's easier to ignore us if no one can see us. If no one can hear us, it's easier to keep us impoverished, unemployed, in jail, out of school and out of Congress.
One of King's greatest gifts to the civil rights movement was his extraordinary talent at using words. His literacy helped educate the world about what it means to be deprived of human dignity.
And he showed us what it feels like when we find it.
Jodi Rave, a Mandan-Hidatsa and Lakota, covers Native issues for the Missoulian and Lee Enterprises. She can be reached at 523-5299 or jodi.rave@lee.net.
PABLO - It's been 50 years since Martin Luther King Jr. first stepped onto the civil rights stage and grabbed the world's attention.
The civil rights movement, led by eminent black leaders such as King, opened doors for black people to rightfully be treated as human beings.
But how much has changed for Native people?
King captured our imagination with riveting oration skills and unforgettable words. His "I Have a Dream" speech ranks as one of the most memorable speeches ever delivered, anywhere.
In his opening lines, he wrote: "Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation S One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity."
Forget about the handful of super-rich tribes with casinos that have millions of dollars to fill the pockets of lobbyists and politicians.
King's words could apply to Native people today.
When event organizers at the Salish Kootenai College on the Flathead Reservation asked me to give a speech about King, I agreed.
On campus last week, I spent a good deal of time speaking about the birth of the civil rights movement, beginning with Rosa Parks' refusal to give up her bus seat to a white man.
King, then a 26-year-old pastor of a local Baptist church, was called to lead what turned out to be a 381-day black boycott of the Montgomery, Ala., bus system.
The boycott ended after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in November 1956 that Alabama and Montgomery's bus segregation laws were unconstitutional.
Even though much has changed for blacks, much remains the same for Native people. As I revisited the "I Have a Dream" speech, it was easy to insert one word and still keep to the truth.
"One hundred years later, the 'Indian' is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land."
King's statement rightfully belongs to indigenous people. I've often wondered how tribes on the Flathead Reservation must feel when they look at land rimming the gorgeous Flathead Lake. The majority of homes or businesses lining the shore don't belong to the tribes or its citizens.
In fact, hundreds of reservation families are on a waiting list for land housing permits. Do the Salish and Kootenai feel like exiles in their own land?
Where is the economic, social, cultural, political and civil rights justice in tribal communities? Land acquisition is only one area where Native people continue to seek parity.
Where is the economic justice when tribal unemployment rates typically languish in double digits, but can reach 80 percent and higher?
Why does the per capita income for Natives on reservations normally hover below $10,000, while the average U.S. per capita income is nearly three times higher?
Where is the social justice when 24 percent of prisoners and inmates in North Dakota are Native, even though they make up only 5 percent of that state's population?
Where is the cultural justice when 89 percent of indigenous languages in North America will not be passed to the next generation?
Where is the political justice when there is not a single Native person in the U.S. Senate?
Where is the civil justice when half of all Native students in Montana will drop out of high school, young people who will never fully contribute to their community?
One of the most promising ways to achieve economic, social, cultural, political and civil justice is through education.
King educated the masses through remarkable oratory and superb speech-writing skills. His practice of free speech allowed him to voice an opinion, to be heard, to make a difference.
In my small way, I do my best to bring Native voices to a newspaper audience, to tell untold stories.
Not everyone agrees with what I write. That's not important. What matters is that Native issues wind up discussed in a public arena.
This keeps us from being invisible. It's easier to ignore us if no one can see us. If no one can hear us, it's easier to keep us impoverished, unemployed, in jail, out of school and out of Congress.
One of King's greatest gifts to the civil rights movement was his extraordinary talent at using words. His literacy helped educate the world about what it means to be deprived of human dignity.
And he showed us what it feels like when we find it.
Jodi Rave, a Mandan-Hidatsa and Lakota, covers Native issues for the Missoulian and Lee Enterprises. She can be reached at 523-5299 or jodi.rave@lee.net.