Seize the Moment for Real Change

Last month, AIPI co-authored an open letter with other American Indian Service Constituencies at ASU affirming our solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. 

In the letter, which is available in its entirety on our blog, we join calls for justice and equity for people of color; we acknowledge the realities of historic and systemic injustice that those in the Black community and other people of color face on a regular basis; and we call for an end to normalized racist practices that pervade our society. 

Our hope is that the attention currently being given to race and injustice on a national level will inspire substantive positive changes in both our systems and in individuals. Furthermore, we hope that this conversation does not become a fading memory or a passing phase. A window has opened in our society; it is time to seize the moment, have difficult conversations, and bring about real changes. 

We also hope that as the dialogue around the BLM movement progresses, we as a society can broaden the scope of our newfound cultural lens to include discussions about equity for Indigenous people and other people of color. Already, we are seeing a radical shift that has led to the removal of statues of dishonorable historic figures and the most forceful call to #ChangeTheName of the Washington football team that we have seen in years. 

At AIPI, we support necessary and just changes in our country that advance parity and equity for Indigenous peoples and all people of color. Black Lives Matter. Keep the conversation going.