WASHINGTON, D.C. –(ENEWSPF)–November 15, 2016. A peaceful sit-in and rally will be held by Indigenous leaders from Standing Rock, environmentalists, and supporters, at the Army Corps of Engineers Headquarters in Washington, D.C., with a march to the White House calling for an end to the Dakota Access Pipeline.
“The Native-led standoff with DAPL has changed everything in the struggle to save Mother Earth. We have had over a thousand “Flints” in Indian Country for generations,” said Judith Le Blanc, a member of the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, and director of the Native Organizers Alliance.
“Stopping the Dakota Access Pipeline is the next step for protecting our water, Flint’s water, and making access to clean water a human right for all,” said Le Blanc.
Participants joining the rally are expected to include: Ladonna Allard, Sacred Stone Camp; Tom Goldtooth, Indigenous Environmental Network; Eryn Wise, International Indigenous Youth Council; Judith Le Blanc, Native Organizers Alliance; Bill McKibben, 350.org; OJ Semans, Four Directions; Jane Kleeb, Bold Alliance; Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Hip Hop Caucus; Deborah Parker, Our Revolution; Ben Jealous; Larry Cohen; James Zogby, Arab American Institute; and many more.
“Our treaty rights not only give us the right, but the responsibility to be the caretakers of our air, our water and land,” said OJ Semans, Rosebud Sioux, director of Four Directions. “Native peoples cannot carry out this sacred mission alone. A broad cross section of faith, municipal governments, unions and environmentalists are standing with us, calling on President Obama to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline once and for all.”
The rally will start at the National Portrait Gallery, east steps at roughly 653 7th Street Northwest, Washington, D.C. The group will then go together to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Headquarters at 441 G Street Northwest. From there, the group will march to the White House.
SCHEDULE – Tuesday, November 15, 2016
3:00 – 3:30 p.m. — Meet at National Portrait Gallery steps on 7th Street
3:30 – 3:45 p.m. — Walk to the Army Corps Headquarters
3:45 – 4:30 p.m. — Peaceful sit-in
4:30 – 5:00 p.m. — Rally
5:00 p.m. — March to the White House
BACKGROUND: Last week, several leaders in the fight against the pipeline published a letter urging those in the nation’s capital to to join a “non-violent direct action” at the Army Corps of Engineers. The national call to action from Indigenous leaders in Standing Rock is in response to the increased violent repression from militarized police as the pipeline company continues construction on sacred land despite a request from the Obama Administration to pause construction.
This action, and some 300 other actions planned for Tuesday around the country, is a powerful moment for people across movements to unite in solidarity with Indigenous peoples at Standing Rock and farmers in Iowa, and to strengthen the resistance movement against fossil fuels and white supremacy under a Trump administration.
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Native Organizers Alliance, a project of People’s Action Institute, is dedicated to building the organizing capacity of Native organizers and groups building grassroots power for change among native peoples across the continent.
Source: http://www.nativeorganizing.org
