Welcome to another episode of Civic Cipher. I'm your host, Ramsay's job. Big shout out to q Ward, who is off this week, but that's all right, because true to form, we are going to bring you all the things that you may know and certainly some of the things that you don't know about life in black and brown America and hopefully give you some perspective and create better allies
and more empowered individuals. Got a great show in store for you today, so be sure to stick around because my guest is the one, the only Queen Ya Najaha, and we're definitely going to get into all of her activism past and present, and maybe even some things that she's planning for the future, if she's willing to let
that out on the show here today. Also, we're going to really stand in solidarity with our Native brothers and sisters today, which is something that we don't often get to do here, but it's something that we very much
enjoy doing. You know, obviously, there's a lot of things that affect indigenous folks and indigenous communities, and when we can share this platform with our brothers and sisters from those communities, we very much enjoy that later on in the show, of course, our Way Black History Fact, we're going to be taking a look at the history of Indigenous people's day of course, with the help of our guest Queen in Najaha and so plenty to stick around
for on today's episode of Civic Cipher. Now, with all that in mind, I think it's time for us to really get into our guest today a little bit more so, let's talk about Well, before we get to that, let's talk about some ebony excellence. How do you feel about that? Okay?
All I do is when no matter what.
So Queen, is there someone that you know that deserves today's moment of celebration for their ebony excellence?
You know, there's so many, but I wanted to shout out Porsia Williams from Real Housewives of Atlanta. The reason why I want to shout her out because if if those that have watched Real Housewives of Atlanta, you know, at the beginning of Porscha's career, she acts, you know, wanted to know if the actual underground railroad was actually
a train track, you know. Okay, So you know a lot of people thought she was ditsy and didn't very uneducated, even though she's the granddaughter of a civil rights civil rights Uh what, Josea Josea Williams.
She's the granddaughter of Josea. Yes.
And but I met Porsia last summer and after I organized a huge marching in Atlanta, Georgia at the CNN building in solidarity for George Floyd, and she reached out to me and she DM me and said, I want to go everywhere you go.
And she said, I love what you're doing.
And so that day I actually was meeting with the Mayor's office in Atlanta, Georgia with the help of t I, and I said, you know what, come with me to this meeting. So she came with me to the meeting and she all, I mean so educated. She had all of the demands from a lot of the activists and community people that she reached out to, of demands to present to the mayor. Mind you, she was not prepped
for this meeting. She but she prepped herself. And ever since then, Porscha has been on the front lines for for human rights. Porscha was right there getting arrested in Louisville, Kentucky, when we was bringing awareness on Breonna Taylor Porsia is She's like, use me, and not not just with myself as an activist, but as well as so many activists. She's like, use me, use me to bring a awareness
on what's happening because I have a platform. So I want to shout out my sister in a movement, Porsia from Real Housewives of Atlanta, that is using her platform and her celebrity, you know, to be able to make a difference.
Absolutely, I love that and that it certainly is an example of ebony excellence if I've ever heard of it. So well done, Portia, and certainly someone to model yourself after, certainly if you aren't as familiar with your history or with how we got to where we are. It's those folks that really take the reins of their own lives and their own education and really do the deep dive and then are motivated to do something with that information that are celebrated around here. So once again, hats off
to Portia, shout out to Porsia. So now I know this is a bit unorthodox because we haven't really done a formal introduction of you just yet, and I think now is the time to do that. Okay, but Before we get there, I want to talk about how you got to being you. And the truth is your mother raised you up in this way. So let's talk about your mother, if we may.
You know one that a lone Wolf was an amazing motivational speaker, activist, organizer.
She's from pine Ary, South Dakota. She's Ogola, Lakota.
She ended up getting she ended up being the first Native American to work for NBC. So she went through the residential school, the boarding school.
You know, horror, you know of that.
And then NBC was looking out for looking on the reservations and seeing anyone that had a bachelor's degree in mass communications, and my mother did, and so she was like this opportunity to get off the res and go to the concrete jungle of New York. When she was in New York, she met Muhammad Ali, and Muhammad Ali offered Muhammad Ali and Don King offered her a job to be the public relations director for Don King Enterprises. So she was the woman, the pr the marketing behind
the Thrilla of Manila, the rumble in the Jungle. It's not like Muhammad Ali needed the help. But you know it wasn't just him.
It was.
It was my mother that helped put together. And she also put together you know, I don't know if you remember a major concert that happened in Africa during I believe it was the Rumble in the Jungle and it was it was Cecilia Crew Cruise and yeah, and then it was Jim's James Brown and it was all of that.
My mom organized that and put that all to help put that together because that was also around the time of Muhammad Ali's fight and so so yeah, so she here she is working for Muhammad Ali and then that's when she met the honorable minslu Was far Khan Okay and and so she met my father. My father is black from Brooklyn, New York, a fine artist. But what my mother did not know was the fact that he
used to get money illegally in different various ways. And so from there she now she was on the run from the Feds because of association or her tie with my with my father and because he ended up going to federal prison. So at this time, Muhammad Ali has retired and and now she's on a run from the Feds.
And so Minister Lewis Farakhan the amble, Miss Louis Farakhan reached out to my mother and said, you know, I want you to help me to be able to engage and have Native Americans, you know, to come and and and what what we can do to support to to create that alliance between black and Native people, because what a lot of people do not know or do know in the Nation of Islam teachings, it talks about how the original people are Black and Native American here and
that not one and the same, but the original people are black and Native, and that we have to be able to uh to unite and understand each other, you know, in that way, and and our unity is very important, especially here in North America. And so my mother now working for helping the honorable mans Louis Fara Khan rebuild the Nation of Islam from the Honorbiarlaje Muhammad of that time.
So of course, you know, the FBI was on all over.
So we ended up he ended up moving us here to Phoenix, Arizona in nineteen It was about nineteen eighty three eighty four. We ended up coming here and I remember as a child living on South Phoenix seeing you know, guys in suits following me to school in their car you know, and I was like, who are these people? And my mom teaching me what a bug was, you
know that was maybe in the house or something like that. Yeah, And so I learned very very early about surveillance and co intel pro and my mother ended up working with the Minister far Khan but also General Mumar Kadaffi in Libya.
Wow.
Yeah, And because Moumar Kadaffi had a huge love affair for all indigenous people, especially in North America, Canada and Latin South America and the Caribbean. He believed that with our power and our unity and our influence, that if we had some financial backing, we can be able to build our own and have our own and that Native American tribes don't have to beg this government for funding, you know, we could also being sovereign, we could practice
that sovereignty and get funding from international resources. So it was people like Clyde Belcourt and Wessel Means and my mother and so many warrior women, Chief Ernie Longwalker, you know, that was going out to Libya, and my mom was organ the woman behind organizing all of these Native Americans and Mexican you know, Mexicans and other Latino indigenous people from South America to go go to Libya. So they was going to these indigenous conferences while that was happening.
FBI was huge on finding out, Okay, what is going on here because if if we remember in the eighties, Kadafi was America's number one enemy. Yeah, and then Kadaffi was giving out money to a lot of organizations, from the Black Panthers to other organizations all across the United States. So people are getting money left and right from Kadaffi
in the eighties. And so the FBI when my mom went to my mother because she already did two years from the you know, the prior offense with my father, but she did uh six months in jail and so now she's on i think probation or something like that.
And they went to my mother and they was like.
We we we would like for you to be an informant for us right against the honorable menslus Finn and the Nation of Islam. And because we're trying to shut this down. We're trying to shut down the Nation of Islam. This is during the time in South Phoenix there was a there's a huge house of the honor Reilaja Mohammas which is called the Phoenix Palace. And my mother and my aunt Maria were the ones rebuilding this Phoenix Palace. And then next to that, next to her is a
small house called the Indian House. So they was rebuilding this.
And so.
My mother was like, no, I am not going to be an informant, you know, and she was just like, I no, I'm not. So what they did.
They ended up they ended up getting in it an FBI agent to act undercover, to act like a construction worker. And she's paying these construction workers, you know, she's paying them with her person, her checking account. And so they came to her and said, you know what, you are looking at four years in prison for to seven years in prison because of the fact that you are on probation,
you're not supposed to have a checking account. And so my mother ended up going with It was a huge trial in Vegas and my mother ended up doing seven years in prison. She did those seven years because she would not being informant, you know, she would not go against her values ten toes down. So I'm trying to make this fast, but I'm working on trying to get a movie made on my mom's life. But but what happened was is that so honorable menslus Far Khan adopted
me and my brother. We left here Phoenix, Arizona and went out to Chicago. And I was raised by the honorable menslus Fara Khan in Chicago. And his family is they're all their aunts, uncles, ground, but he's grandpa to me. Yeah, yeah, he's that. And and so when my mother came out of prison, you know, at Fort Worth, Texas. She was
in a federal penitentiary in Fort Worth, Texas. When she came back here to Arizona, she went straight into behavioral health and trying to get Native Americans off of drugs and alcohol and as well it was a huge gang culture in the nineties, you know. And so with that she was using that same activism, that same fears, that organizing and all of that to be able to go into health and wellness for black Back and Brown and Native people here locally and not just locally but also
regionally and and and then later nationally. She was part of making making sure that we had a Native i mean doctor Markuth the King Holiday here in Phoenix, Arizona. And and that's in that tie was because she already had a lot of friends in the sports industry. She went to that team, to the team, the two opposing teams for the Super Bowl, and said, you all boycott this.
So if both of you all bought the two teams boycott Arizona coming to the Super Bowl, that you will not play unless there's a doctor mark the King Holiday, you know. And so because of her sport, you know, knowledge with Muhammad Ali and all of that, you know, that was able to that was you know, we we made it happen. And then from there she was she ended up becoming president of Native American Recognition Days here she's here in Phoenix, Arizona. She was working for now
it's called Native Connects. At the time it was Indian Rehabilitation Center. Now Native Connections is a huge behavioral health center for Native Americans here locally in Arizona. And so she was a part of the growth of that. And she's started the Children of Color Parade with the City of Phoenix and a lot of other programming. And my mother passed of lung cancer in two thousand and three.
But she gave us, I would say, she gave the city of Phoenix grace and beautiful preparation for that because during that time she the Arizona Republic followed her entire journey while she was battling lung cancer.
So amazing, amazing, amazing.
Absolutely, I'm so glad I asked that question. I really feel like I got because I knew that your mother was someone who was extremely influential, but I didn't know to what degree. Yeah, so that that certainly helps establish the legacy of you, queen Ya Najah. And so you know, I don't want to take a moment. We are we We just got picked up in and spoke Cane Washington, h K Y R, S F M. And we we
just got picked up in Rochester as well Detroit. More recently, we've made announcements on our social media, so a lot of cities that you know, truth told, all of these lands were once belonged to indigenous people. Some would argue should still belong to you, you know, with the whole
land back movement and all that. And I don't want to pigeonhole you at all, but I want to set you up because I really need people to know who are listening to this show that haven't heard about you, haven't haven't seen you I need them to know the caliber of guests we have here today. So let me start now. I will say this, I have known Queen Ya Najaha for many years as a broadcaster where we
both once lived in Phoenix, Arizona. You now reside in Atlanta where q Q is, but as a longtime broadcaster, she's been on the radio with me before, but also at different events on the streets having to do with it, could be remoter registration, you know, events related to indigenous populations, black populations, and so forth, hip hop as well, hip hop as well. Absolutely shout out to Cappadonna. Yeah, one
time and the whole WU tank Land. But now in the past, i'd say maybe certainly the last ten years, but longer than that, just a national presence. I'm so proud of you, the move movement that you've made. I've seen you for the Dakota Access pipeline on the ground up there. Of course in Atlanta, we're going to talk
about all the stuff that you've done in Atlanta. I want to say, ah Mad Aubrey when his when his family before they went to the media, I think they went to you, right, that was in Where was that based in Georgia. That was in Georgia, okay. And and these these neat not neat, but these little moments that kind of create the timeline that has led up to twenty twenty last year and then you know, on into
today and of course into the future. But these little events that kind of was the ground swell leading up to George Floyd. You were there on the front lines in talking to the cameras with all these people, and you represented black women never never not that, Yeah, Indigenous women, never not that. And I believe your background is a Muslim woman, yes, and so never never that never took
a back seat either. And that's such a powerful intersection of people who have had i'll put it kindly challenges in this country, and in my opinion, not only have you handled it with grace and POI all these these opportunities that you have to go and council families or deal with you know, political you know, in the political arena, or engage with politics, or you know, create reform or whatever it is that you're doing, but also moving with a firm hand because a lot of times that's that's
very important. And so I didn't want to tell your story, but I feel like I got a good amount of it, but I know I left a lot off off the table too. So you did mention. You know you have a background, you know, related to hip hop. I'd love for you to talk about that a bit before we go into some of the work that you're doing now.
So the day I fell in love with hip hop, let's talk about it. Yeah, was you know when my mother was on the run from the FEDSKA. You know, there was a period she did go on a run. So that's why always say I'm from everywhere. But you know, we was in la Venice Beach and I'm seeing it was rock Steady cou Crew West Coast, and I'm seeing them just being free with this like with this music that sounds so revolutionary. Now mind you you know the climate now my I'm my mother was freedom fighter, run
from the Feds. We're around you know, major freedom fighters. You know Kwame Torre, you know Caesar Shavez. The list goes on and on, Jesse Jackson, so many people. So I'm a young girl, this is before social media. My mom didn't give me the IBAD. My experience was being at the couch, being at the foot of all of these elders and just listening to them talk about how they're going to change the world.
And so.
They're older than me, but I saw people that were around my age that was also being very revolutionizing a new culture and talking about but in a hip hop form of things that I'm hearing Minister Farkhan talk about that, I'm hearing Caesar Shi that talk about. You know.
The list goes on and I'm like, wow, and it's to a beat. I love hip hop.
You know, That's how I fell in love with hip hop because it was relatable to what I was going through.
And there's there's another part of this too, is that in all of your interactions on the ground, maybe not all, but certainly in a good number that I've seen over the years. Of course, I can't name all the names just you know, some of the incidents will escape me. But you've managed to continue to not only cultivate your relationship with hip hop, but also compel these artists to
come and contribute and be a part of it. You know, you mentioned Ti earlier, and I know that you have a very storied history with the Wu Tang clas and so forth.
So it's important.
It's it's really important because, like I said, I gravitated towards hip hop because I was in the movement.
I was, I'm a movement baby, you know.
And so, but then that vice versa that has to flip around is we know, rap music is a reflection.
It's the news of the hood.
It's now it's the news of the body, or it's the news of the rads, it's the news of Japan and all everywhere, you know. And so, but the culture of hip hop is is now a baby version of culture of whatever demographic we come from, you know. And so I started rapping. I started rapping. I released two albums. I went on tour with Wu Tang Clan. I went on tour with Red and Meth, and I was on the Rock the Bells tour, did some of the dates on the Rock the Bells tour opening up for Red
and Red and Meth. You know, an immortal Technique. I did some stuff with him, and and every opportunity I got, I was like, y'all need to come and speak here, you know. And I always was pushing on them to not just use their influence in music, but also to get back to using that same influence to make differences, you know, make a change. And I'm a huge advocate on that. And artists that do not want to do that.
I don't care who you are. If you don't want to do that, then I don't deal with you, you know. I look at everyone that is like, that's about the movement, whatever it is. So we did something here locally, which was I mean, I believe that we made history. Myself
and DJ John Blaze, I had this idea. I was like, we need to It was during the SB ten seventy bill that was signed, remember yeah, And I was all like Blaze because Blaze just got for tour with me with Ray Kwan on the bill for Cuban Leak's two tour. He just got for tour with me. I'm still in Molde, you know. And I was like, Blaze, let's let's do by the time I get to Arizona, let's do our remix. So I posted on social media and shout out to talib Quali, but he reached out said I want to get on it.
I said, Tlib, I'm sorry.
Even immortal technique I want to get I said, I'm sorry, No, it's just going to be Arizona artists because we're here in Arizona, we're having to deal with this, you know. You I need people need to hear what Arizona hip hop passed to say, you know, and some some people will be like and Tayli ended up doing his own version. Yeah, I think Immortal did his own version, you know. But we got like over ten hip hop artists and we shot that in about a week. It went viral, you know,
and and I think that that's what hip hop. You know, My honorable miss was far Khan said, I'm sorry, Okay said that one hip hop one hip hop song is equivalent to ten thousand.
Of his speech. I remember when you said that's how powerful hip hop is.
And I love that. I think that's that's awesome. So here's what we're gonna do. Yes, now that we know who you are, let's take a break. We're gonna come back. And the first thing I want to ask you about is the Indigenous People's movement. That sound good? Ye Okay?
Now Sadquarters behind him the big.
If you're just tuning in the civic side for I'm your host, Ramsay's job. Big shout out to q Ward, who is off this week. We are very fortunate in that our guest this week is the one and only Queen Ya Najah, activist extraordinaire, mover and shaker, national mover and shaker. When it comes to, you know, advancing the agenda for black, Brown, Indigenous Asian, you know, you name it right, you said it best. You said, you're not Republican,
you're not democrat. You stand up for what's right. And I think that that that was that really does encapsulate you. So we're gonna hang out with her for a bit and talk more about what she has going on. Also our way Black History facts. She's gonna give us her thoughts on the origins of the indigenous people's day in this country. But first we are going to talk about become a better ally. This is our bye by segment, and I would love for you to let the listeners
know how they can become better allies. Maybe it has to do with what you have going on in your world or some larger agenda, but I would love for you to take a couple of minutes and let folks.
Know, Yeah, becoming a better ally is getting out of your comfort zone. Sure, I'm always saying anytime that a change is about to happen is when you're uncomfortable, and so going out and getting out of your comfort zone of whatever community you're in, on whatever clubs or whatever you're a part of getting out of your comfort zone and to be able to figure out and hearing from another perspective and figuring out ways how you can be able to be a support if you agree with them or not.
But I think it's important.
How can people support you directly?
You know things change every day, and so just follow me on all social media platforms Queen while nasda queen, your Najaha, I'm only in Najahaa world. You put that into Google search and you'll find me. But the reason why I say it always happens because I fight for what's right. And so it's not just a certain it's not just against police brutality. It's not just against oil pipelines.
You know, this past week I raised In one week, I raised forty thousand dollars for the people Louisiana by organizing a ten city event called Hip Hop Fanola.
It was a continuance of what I've done. Watched you do that, yeah, and you saw what I posted it right, And I said, anyone want to do a hip hop fanola to help the people.
Yeah, I remember that.
And then so it was ten cities that reached out and said yes, I want to do it, and we raised forty thousand dollars.
I love that all in one week.
So well, and you always do have these neat little things that you'll put on and so yeah, I think that's that's awesome. Once again, let everyone know your social media.
Yeah, Queen Yo n a s DA perfect.
Now let's talk about the Indigenous People's Movement in your words, what is it.
Indigenous People's Movement is a coalition based organization. We started in two thousand and nineteen when we did the Indigenous People's March. I felt that it was important that not just Native Americans, but all indigenous people of the world, that we come together and to bring awareness on what is happening amongst our communities. So we had people from all the various tribes here in the United States, but
we had black organizations, black folks that came. We had people they the Amazons, the people from the Amazon flew in and came as well cause they were fighting against the the the fi I the fires that was happening in the Amazon.
Kay.
We had people, I mean, we had people from all around the world and it was a beautiful, beautiful We even had Buddhist monks that came. It was like over like fifty of them that came in solid you know, that just came in solidarity, you know. So it was just a beautiful, beautiful sight to see that all of us. I realized, all of us are fighting the same fight. You know, all of us are fighting. We just are
fighting for freedom, justice and equality. It may be worded different, it may look different, but it's all the same, you know. And we're fighting the same enemy, which is greed. We're fighting greed and however that looks, you know, and so I wanted I wanted all everyone to be able to see that. And the conclusion of that was so we had about about twenty about twenty thousand people that came to Washington, d C. This was also the weekend of the Women's March as well. We partnered with the Women's
March Forward. We had at the what's that the Lincoln Memorial. So we're on the steps on the day of Martin Thu King Holiday or birthday, on the steps of Lincoln Memorial with not just Native American and not just black people but all people of the world. What Dark Milde the King said on those steps that a gentils and do everyone come together. So the beauty of that was phenomenal. Then so we ended off with an amazing round dance. It was beautiful, beautiful, and African drums and all of that.
Just imagine African drums, Native drums all happening at the same time. Then all of these young people came from with these maga hats, and while we're drumming, they came up y'all, y'all, y'all, y'all, and making monkey sounds and making mockery of Elder Nathan Phillips and Keith imc who was having the drums, and it ended up going viral.
Nick Sandman, young I believe sixteen years old, went up to Nathan Phillips and just I mean the environment prior to him going up to them, but they were making mockery. They was making fun of everything that we just accomplished, and it was so it was like over a hundred young people, So it was very scary. But as Native people, we see this type of behavior at every sports game. We see this type of behavior at a Cleveland Indians game when they're doing the tomahawk chop and they're making
mind they're coming dressed up as Native Americans. We see this type of behavior with uh just n at a lot of our local games, you know, being mascot. So for us as Natives, we're like, all, here it go again.
But what was so and what was so surprising to us was that when it hit the Internet and it ended up going viral and people were in disgust of this mockery, and we're like, oh, wow, people are paying attention to what we've been seeing for over four or five hundred years, just even in ninety years with the Washington Arskins, you know, like but you all act like this at every sports game, just you know, you know, making all this like oh, doing things like that, you know,
And so we were shocked. But then at the same token, we was like, wait, holda, they got our back, you know. And so we ended up creating Indigenous People's Movement and brought in over two hundred other organizations. We have chapters in Australia, South America, Canada, even in Africa and the Caribbean.
We have people from.
All all across this globally and that and we we're about out of half a million followers.
All on social media.
So let me so let me wonderful, Yeah, wonderful. I'm so happy. So let me make sure that this, yes, you championed a and I guess I would call it anti voter suppression initiative for Indigenous peoples. This is one of the more recent things that you've done. Let's talk about that.
So, so, Standing Rock is my sister tribe. I helped Standing Rock raised one point six million dollars for their legal defense fund when we was up in Standing Rock. I helped Standing Rock a lot with a lot of
different things. They was like, you know, like I said, Indigenous People's Movement is a coalition base and Standing Rock is also a part of that coalition, And was like, you know what the they was like, they're trying to stop our votes because if you have a p if you have a PO box, we can't register to vote. So we immediately went into action and petition.
On tribes a lot of times, or on reservations.
There's a lot of times no, yeah, because your address might be the cow up the you know, the third farm that you see on your left hand side, that's my house, you know, it's not. And then plus on top of it, we're an within a nation, you know. We yeah, we have our own tribal government, police everything. We govern ourselves, you know. And so with that being said, but many of us want the opportunity we have the right to vote, you know, for a president, because that
president will be in relationship with our tribal president. So it's really important that we use that opportunity to vote for a president, a United States president, to work with our tribal president. So so we we love that opportunity
to be able to have. But when it was suppressed, especially it got suppressed after the movement and Standing Rock when they saw us up right, you know, when they saw us so many of us, they're like, wait, hold up, Native Americans are rising up deep deep, and they're getting abused. You know, I have lung cancer and there has been over one hundred people that have been diagnosed with lung I mean, with various forms of cancer since being in Standing Rock.
Wow.
I am working with Representative I mean Congresswoman Corey Bush, who was my sister in the movement, as well as some other politicians. She just put it out there to get information on what is in these canisters when they're spraying us with tear gas and all of that. What is in what's the ingredients in there? Because like I said, there's been one hundred people and some of them have already died.
I want to make sure I get this, yes straight, and I'm following. You were you were tear gased in Standing Rock?
Yes? Okay, go ahead, all of us were.
And there has been cases of women that have been losing baby after baby after baby after baby since Standing Rock. So we believe that they sprayed us with some type of toxic gas. And I have it on videos of toxic gas that gave the gave us long term effects. And I and when when I first saw the cancer on the cat scan that I have in my lungs, it is over two hundred cancer tumor cells in both of my lungs. It looks like my doctors thought it
was asthma. They was like, it looks like you breathe something in There's like, we've never seen cancer look like this. So they end up doing a biopsy and they was like, this is Andreo Carsonomo.
What the heck?
They all spoke amongst each other like this looks like she breathed this in. Sure, they don't. They never because you know, sometimes you see like oh there's a tumor here and a tumor there. I have over two hundred cancer tumor cells in both of my lungs and there's just all over just everywhere. So since so we we we just lost the donna whose land we was on in Standing Rock to she had brain cancer. Her husband he passed of cancer. You know, we lost a veteran memb.
There was a lot of veterans that came up there. He passed away of of cancer, you know. And so we were waiting for their ingredients back and then we're gonna do a congressional hearing very soon. Yeah, you know, on on their soul. Yeah, so it's important, you know this. So voter suppression, all of this, all of this that happened in Standing Rock that same year we we they
stopped that governor. That governor in North Dakota was very upset with the just how we rose up as Native people, you know, against his pipeline, and and he needed to suppress our vote because he knew that we would have voted him out. And as well as other governors and politicians. That was for that oil pipeline because we was like, we mobilized, like like hell in Standing Rock. It was over one hundred thousand people. So that year we was like,
oh yeah, we're voting these people out. So from a result from that, Charis Davis ended up becoming the first Native American congresswoman. Deb Halen ended up becoming the first Native American congress woman in that same year.
So they knew what happens when we rise up and we vote.
So this full frontal on you know, there's this been this movement to protect the black vote for a couple of years now. I mean, it's it's a long standing movement. Let me not let me not misspeak, you know, but but it I guess it has been reinvigorated in the past couple of years because there's been an active force on the right, specifically to suppress the vote of melanated
individuals in this country. That's that's perhaps as plainly as I put it, and it's simply without being wrong, And lately you're I mean, I know that you're passionate about all these things, but the indigenous vote is something that needs a special type of protection because perhaps, and correct me if I'm wrong, this population might be especially vulnerable or vulnerable in different ways that folks may not have considered.
So my question to you is, what are some other ways besides you know, the not sending a ballot to a po box? What are some other ways that you've seen voter suppression manifested in those communities? And then I'll ask a follow up question, what can individuals listening to your voice right now do on the ground to help offset that or to reverse that?
Now, what we found out is that what I found out here in Arizona, especially on the reservations, you know a lot of them. So the polling polling place we're closed early, you know, and they know that natives live on a reservation. It's a long distance to get to to go vote, you know, and so closing early, well is another way of voting suppression. You know.
Another thing is in Atlanta, they're trying to stop voting on Sundays.
You know, they that's the souls to the polls.
Yeah, so yep, they're trying to they're trying to stop voting on Sunday. And with the working class, you know, Sundays is well off you know, real.
Quick, real quick, Souls to the polls just so that you know, if you're listening to us, is a movement to get church goers, primarily black church goers, to after church go and cast their ballot. And this initiative to close the polls on Sundays is in direct response to that Souls to the Polls movement or initiative. Yes, okay, do you want to make sure that the listeners are following.
Yeah, most definitely. And then on top of it, you know, what we saw in in Atlanta, Georgia was these long, long lines, and so as organizers, you know, we go and give out food and we give out water. You know, for those that standing in these long lines and they voted against us doing that that we will be ticketed or will be jailed, arrested for giving out water and food, you know, for people that are standing in these standing
in line to vote. You know. So it's it's really really it's it's a lot and we have a lot of work to do, you know. But in regards to what you was saying, you know, the Native American vote is I would say, out of all of these swing states, it is the most important for the Native American vote because of the fact that that population can be able to swing those you know, swing from one to the other,
you know, and and to be able. So I think that it's important as organizers to reap to go and talk to Native American communities and go door to door and talk about the problems that not just what asking what Native Americans are facing, but also educating on what's happening in the inner cities.
See. Native American reservations are far from these cities.
So but the people that are that we have to that we constantly have to uh I would say, work with or fight with or whatever it's in the cities. But those that's on the reservations or away from the city, they're gonna vote too. But they need to know what's
happening in the cities. So go in and educating all like, you know, did you know that this mayor wants X, Y and Z, or are pushing for more untrained police officers or whatever is happening on that level, So when they go and vote, you know, on a federal level, they have an understanding of that. It's a one voice situation. Yeah, okay, So.
I want to switch gears a bit here. Just because we've had to talk about it. Lately. We've discussed missing while black, we've discussed what's referred to as missing white woman syndrome. But we mentioned it you and I mentioned on the show that I was watching a movie. This might have been a couple of days ago Netflix movie. Yeah, and I think it's called wind River and it has the guy from Hawkeye. He plays Hawkey. I don't know his name, but really cool guy, I think, and he investigates,
you know whatever, a murder mystery on. I believe it to be a reservation or you know, they partner with res police or something like that. In the movie, at the end of the movie, you know, it puts a statistic up and it says, you know, women go missing this, that and the third. But then it says, no one knows how many Native women have gone missing. The story
is about a missing Native woman. Yeah, at the end of the movie it says no one knows how many Native women are missing because the government hasn't kept track of them. Yeah, and now that you're here, since we've talked about that, I wanted you to take a moment to discuss missing Native women. You know, I know, you know some statistics. I know, you know, you know there's some there's some passion with respect to that as well, so your thoughts.
So you know, several years ago, I believe it was like two thousand, two thousand and eight, I was organizing and I was reaching out to people in Canada and it was it was a woman by the name of Kanna who's that was educating me about the Highway of Tears.
And I was like, what's the Highway of Tears? And she was like, it's all of the it's she said, you go down this long, long highway and this all all of these pictures or you know, these just you know, just different memorials along this entire highway in Canada of all of the Native American women that have gone missing or that have been murdered.
Wow.
And I was like what.
What you know?
It was so and I was like, what's how are they going missing? What is this?
You know?
She was like man camps and I was like, what's a man camp? And she was telling me.
She was like, you know when they're building these tarzans oil pipelines, mining that, yeah, and and and all of these things around the environmental of them always trying to build something, you know, take resources. While these while these construct, these white men, construction workers and workers, they create man camps, which is that they are prostituting Native American women because a lot of these places are near Native American communities.
The over sexualization of the Native American woman started with Pocahontas. Pocahontas was twelve years old. She was twelve years old. She was taken against her will. They took pictures of Pocahontas get when they went to England and to try to get people from England to come to this new land, this New America. They was like, you could get you a Pocahontas too. Look at this beautiful young you know, Indian woman, you know. And they was having pamphlets out
of Pocahontas. They were sex trafficking. That was the first indication of sex trafficking of a young girl, which was Pocahontas.
And we.
Over we we think it's entertainment with Disney making a cartoon of a in the way that they made Pocahontas in the cartoon of a grown woman.
No, she was eleven, twelve years old.
She was a child that was taken and so and they dressed her up and they they they and I believe I don't know if they ever got her body back from England, but they because but they dressed her up to make her as a spokesperson, you know, of America. Okay, So when we're looking at today fast forward, everyone wants their Pocahontas and they do it by any means necessary and the most disgusting way, by kidnapping, by putting them
into human trafficking, and murdering them. And they have gone and many of them have gone missing.
We have about a minute left. Yeah, So in brief, yes, what is it that people can do to help? Maybe research? What are your thoughts, how can you.
Continue to push your local legislation to get to work on the federal level, but even on a statewide level that when there is a missing missing, there has to be an amber alert for a Native American young girls and boys and and older that are missing to take it seriously. The local law enforcement does not take it seriously at all. They think they run off. We we think we have a problem within the black community of black women that I've gone missing. There's over fifty thousand
of black women have gone missing. It's the same amount with Native American.
Very much smaller part of the podcast. Yes, so that makes it exactly well. I appreciate you sharing that. I know that that's very troubling, but also very necessary to talk about it. Yeah, keeping in line with the theme, I did want to take a moment for Today's Way Black History Fact to discuss the Indigenous People's Day and how that came about. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. So what we do today's article. I've just pulled it from Wikipedia, thought it was in line.
I haven't read it yet, so i don't know what it's all good.
So I'm going to read through it and then we're just going to talk about it. It's pretty simple, all right. So in nineteen ninety, the International Conference on Discrimination against Indigenous Populations and the America, sponsored by the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, began to began to discuss replacing Columbus Day in the United States with a celebration to be
known as in Indigenous People's Day. Similarly, Native American group stage a short protest in Boston instead of Thanksgiving, which has been celebrated to mark collaboration between Massachusetts colonists and Native Americans in the first years. In July nineteen ninety the first Continental Conference on five hundred Years of Indian
Resistance in Quito, Ecuador. Representatives of indigenous peoples throughout the America's agreed that they would mark nineteen ninety two the five hundred anniversary of the first voyages of Christopher Columbus has a year to promote the continental unity and liberation. After the conference, the attendees from northern California organized protest against the King Centennial Jubilee that had been organized by the United States Congress for the San Francisco Bay Area
on Columbus Day nineteen ninety two. It was to include replicas of Columbus's ships sailing under the Golden gate Bridge and re enacting their quote discovery of America. The delegates formed the Bay Area Indian Alliance and in turn, the
Resistance five hundred Task Force. It promoted the idea that Columbus's discovery of inhabited lands and subsequent European colonization of them had resulted in the genocide of indigenous peoples because of the decisions which were made by colonial and national governments. In nineteen ninety two, the group convinced the City Council of Berkeley, California, to declare October twelfth as a day of Solidarity with Indigenous people and in nineteen ninety two
the Year of Indigenous People. The city implemented related programs in schools, libraries, and museums. The city symbolically renamed Columbus Day as Indigenous People's Day beginning in nineteen ninety two to protest the historical conquest of North America by Europeans and to call attention to the losses suffered by Native American peoples and their cultures through diseases, warfare, massacres, and forced assimilation. Get Lost Columbus, and opera by a Native
American composer, White Cloud Wolfhawk, was produced that day. Berkeley has celebrated Indigenous People's Day ever since, Beginning in nineteen ninety three. Berkeley has also held an annual pow wow
and festival on Indigenous People's Day. In the years following Berkeley's action, other local governments and institutions have either renamed or canceled Columbus Day, either to celebrate Native American history and cultures to avoid celebrating Columbus and the European colonization of the Americas, or do to raise controversy over the
legacy of Columbus. Several other California cities, including Richmond, Santa Cruz, Sebastopool, and Sebastaball now celebrate Indigenous People's Day and encourage people to donate to a neighboring tribe and recognize the trauma and pain Indigenous peoples have been subjected to by coloners colonizers, sorry,
last piece. At least thirteen states do not celebrate Columbus Day. Alaska, Wayi, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington, d C Wisconsin. South Dakota officially celebrates Native American Day instead. Various tribal governments in Oklahoma designate these days as Native American Day or have renamed the day after their own tribes. All right, want to get your thoughts on that. That seems like a happy thing.
Oh, it's an amazing thing. I remember as a child that my mother took me to Alcatraz every every October, you know, and and seeing all of everyone, I mean, just really taking over Alcatraz and and so on October eleventh, you know, once again, so many people are gonna be taking over Alcatraz when year before last it was Colin Kaepernick came and and so to continue to see that happen in New York City, for the past seven years, have been taking over Randall's Island for Indigenous People's Days.
So it's an amazing, beautiful thing to see. But we still have a long way to go because of the fact that you know, so many Italian Americans believe and they fight hard in New York City, Chicago, that's in some other cities. The reason why and uh, it's still Christopher Columbus Day and not Indigenous People's Days because Italian Americans really believe that Christopher Columbus discovered America and they believe that throughout their Italian American history that Christopher Columbus
was an amazing man. And they strongly believe that, even though it was documented from you know, those that was with Christopher Columbus that said that we cannot be with this crazy man. This man is insane. He is you know, I mean it was his own people that was with him was like uh uh, you know, and on top of it, he was not a good man in Italy. So I don't understand why Italians Americans believe that this. You know, they want to hold on so strong and
they actually really fit. They they come out and they will they come out in protest against us during that time when we're doing our events and all of that, and it's crazy to see. Yeah, it's very sad. They counteract everything that we do when we're wunning Indigenous People's Day.
Okay, so one final thought from you, God, maybe about a minute left.
Yes, So.
What do you think we should do to connect either old and young or across you know, different rent you know, cultural lines or whatever. What do you think that we can do to connect better? Someone as traveled as you might have some perspective that even I don't have. I love to hear your thoughts.
I think the best thing is to once again get out of our comfort zone, meaning out of our neighborhoods, our neighborhoods that we know, and going into another neighborhood and just learning. You know, some people are scared to go to the bodyo when they're black or you know, or or or go to the reservation if they're Latino you know, I think it's important for us to you know, see what events are happening and learn from the people. Then you be, I in my travels and organizing and
going to all these cities and all of that. Even though I am for I believe I'm forty two, forty two, you know, I'm still a student of life, sure, you know. And I love sitting back and learning, you know, from young people, from older people. When I went out to Miami and I wanted to, it was a hurricane that happened, and I was like, you know what. I went there and I or I had the local organizer, reached out
to local organizers. I happen to always know someone in the state and I'm like, hey, can you get people in the room. And I just sat back and just listened to what's happening politically, socially, you know, even musically, and everything that's going on in Miami. I did the same thing in Detroit. And I will go there once a month and continue to learn and continue to be engaged and learn what's happening and and and I always do that for it. Sometimes I will keep going for
a year and just learning, you know. And so I think that it's important for us to learn what's happening, you know, learn what's happening, and you'll realize that the same things that's going on in your city is the same exact things that's happening in the next city.
Yeah.
I love that too. And you know, one thing that I will say is, you know, for Q and I, we have kind of a unique opportunity with this in that we have a network that spans from coast to coast, a lot of voices that listen to this show that we thought was a good idea. The growth has very much felt empowering, and both of us, I think, in our heart of hearts are love first. You know a lot of folks can't see, but I'm very well tattooed and I have a huge tattoo along my arm that
says I love you. And something I learned from my father, who was a minister, perfect love casteth out fear, and so to live behind fear means that you probably need to work on your love or your capacity to love a little bit more. And that's what we try to do with this show. Obviously, that's what you do with you know, all of the activism and all of the speaking that you do.
I love our people and that's what moves me, and I think that that's what moves.
You to absolutely.
You know, when you love God, when you love God and what everything God creates, you want to be there.
I love that. Yeah, and with that, I think that's going to do it for us. So once again, thank you for coming up, Queenya.
Najaha and damn this job and I gotta give you your flowers.
Yo.
You have been doing this for such a long long time and you deserve every accolade everything. But you really really love our people, Yes, you really really do, and it shows in everything that you do.
I'll take that. Yes, and uh yeah with that, that's a that's a that's an even higher high. So we ended right there. Thank you for tuning in to Civic Cipher once again. I'm your host Rams's job. Be sure to check us out next week and you can download this in any previous episode on Civic cipher dot com And until next week, y'all. Peace. Yeah, like we had to lead
When you travel, speak to you from sunlight to