Native American Heritage Month

As Native American Heritage Month concludes, we can continue to honor and recognize the voices of our neighbors, community and the generations who came before us and acknowledge the discriminatory policy and violence towards indigenous peoples as part of our national history. We can continue to elevate stories of people often excluded from written and prioritized histories. The National Women’s History Museum has a toolkit to recognize the history and story of Indigenous women. You can view their toolkit online: WomensHistory.org

Racial Justice in America

Last week marked the 7th anniversary of the shooting of Tamir Rice, a 12-year old Black boy who was shot by police while carrying a toy gun. Two weeks ago, Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17-year old white male who shot, killed and injured Black Lives Matter rally protestors with an assault weapon in Kenosha, Wisconsin, was acquitted of all charges and released. Though sadly unsurprising for many reasons, the trial result was troubling and disappointing. And then, a few days later in Brunswick, Georgia, three white men were convicted in the killing of 25-year old Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man who was running through the neighborhood. Though one of the murderers shared a recording of the killing, the conviction in our courts was not a sure thing.

Recognizing the pain, fear, and trauma brought on by continued racism within the justice system, there is clearly still work to be done to fight racism and violence against and within our communities.

Our friends from the Bigelow Middle School Chapter of FORJ shared some resources for people at all levels in the work of racial justice education, understanding and practice:

105 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice | by Corinne Shutack | Equality Includes You | Medium

Education As an Agent of Change: A Racial Justice Reading List & Resource Guide | Books | 30Seconds Mom

Talking to children after racial incidents | Penn GSE (upenn.edu)

Anti-racism resources for white people (google.com)

Dr. Ibram X. Kendi’s Picks: Anti-Racist Books for Kids (commonsensemedia.org)

Beyond the KKK: Understanding White Supremacy as a System of Power | Pocket (getpocket.com)

Educate Yourself: Virtual Racial Equity Workshops | Eventbrite

Mental Health Resources | City of Newton, MA (newtonma.gov)

If you’d like to have a discussion to debrief on the news, talk about anti-racist resources, or discuss how we can educate ourselves and our families about racial justice, please contact L-E FORJ PTO Liaison Lanni Isenberg, lanni_harris@yahoo.com

FAMILIES ORGANIZING FOR RACIAL JUSTICE (FORJ) is a group of diverse Newton families helping our children learn about issues of power and inequality and how to stand up for racial justice. We seek to generate understanding and curiosity about differences in our society, and to work together towards racial equity.

Native American Heritage Month Continues

There’s a lot happening in Massachusetts this month to focus on the importance of Native American heritage month and how we can better support the advancement of equity for Native American communities in Newton and beyond.

November CityWide FORJ Recap

In the Newton FORJ meeting last week, Newton parent and Indigenous Peoples Day (IDP) Newton Committee co-founder Dr. Darlene Flores shared a presentation from the IDP Committee to the Boston Athletic Association (organizers of the Boston Marathon). She spoke about the struggle and pathway to get Indigenous Peoples Day approved in Newton and the process, education, encounters, and community action to make it a reality. From getting the day established on the city and school calendars to the acknowledgement and arrangements to make space for the inaugural Indigenous Peoples Day ceremonial celebration. Indigenous Peoples Day is observed on the 2^nd Monday of October.

Land Acknowledgements

You may hear more Land Acknowledgement announcements at the start of meetings and in materials from organizations as our communities learn more about the history and presence of Indigenous Peoples, making visible the invisible, and to start conversations to revise beliefs, thoughts, words and actions. If you’d like to know more, visit: https://www.mcnaa.org/land-acknowledgement

And, for a map of Indigenous Peoples territories, languages and treaties, see this map from Canadian nonprofit Native Land Digital:

https://native-land.ca/

Upcoming Events

The Committee for Indigenous Peoples Day Wellesley, World of Wellesley, and other community partners will hold a virtual event: Myth Busting Thanksgiving (Wellesley Free Library) – Monday, November 22^nd at 7pm via Zoom

Register here.

From Mass Peace Action: National Day of Mourning on Thursday, November 25^th at 12pm via livestream or in-person: https://masspeaceaction.org/event/2021-national-day-of-mourning-copy/ An annual tradition since 1970, Day of Mourning is a solemn, spiritual and highly political day. If you’ve never heard of this day, read more about it.

FAMILIES ORGANIZING FOR RACIAL JUSTICE (FORJ) is a group of diverse Newton families helping our children learn about issues of power and inequality and how to stand up for racial justice. We seek to generate understanding and curiosity about differences in our society, and to work together towards racial equity.

For more information or to work together to address racial equity in our school and in Newton, please contact L-E FORJ PTO Liaison Lanni Isenberg, lanni_harris@yahoo.com