Chicago–(ENEWSPF)–September 7, 2016 — Indigenous and Black activists in Chicago will hold vigil this Thursday night in support of #NoDAPL, over 2,000 Native protesters who are currently thwarting construction of the Dakota Access pipeline in Standing Rock, North Dakota. The vigil will be held from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM at the northwest corner of the DuSable Bridge, on Michigan Avenue, beside the Chicago River. Ever since the pipeline’s proposed path was rerouted through treaty lands to avoid contaminating non-Native drinking water, Natives have encamped in protest. Over 100 Indigenous nations have gathered in protest to protect the Missouri River from this corporate assault.
If constructed, the Dakota Access pipeline would transport crude oil from the North Dakota Bakken region through South Dakota and Iowa into Illinois.
On Thursday, we will hear from Chicago organizers like Kelly Hayes, a Native direct action trainer who has twice traveled to the front lines of the #NoDAPL struggle. “This is a fight for water, but it’s also a fight for visibility. State and corporate crimes against Native people are erased from the media landscape. We are coming together, in power, to fight that erasure,” says Hayes, who is with the direct action collective Lifted Voices.
Over the weekend, dogs were let loose on protesters in Standing Rock when men, women and children stepped into a work area to prevent the destruction of sacred sites. Groups like Lifted Voices and Black Lives Matter Chicago see a profound connection between the environmental racism and state violence experienced by Brown and Black communities. “Black and Brown people in our city have built a lot of power together. This is a chance for us to lend some of that power to Native freedom fighters, on the front lines in Standing Rock.”
Facebook Event Page: facebook.com/events/504129536450389
Participating organizations: Lifted Voices and Black Lives Matter: Chicago
Source: http://truthout.org
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