On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, it is vital that we identify and learn more about the history of the communities who lived and continue to live on the land we inhabit. Please use Native-land.ca to educate yourself about states you have affinities with: your home state; if you have family living in the US; states you may have visited; and Deerfield, home to the Pocumtuc, Nipmuc, and Wabanki Confederacy.
Empathy springs from inquiry made with a curious mind, an open heart, and a spirit of solidarity. And it is the first step towards empowering those who do not share our privilege. So we hope you will take some time today to initiate this process of inquiry—or continue what you may have already begun.
We leave you with the wisdom of Toni Morrison:
“I tell my students, ‘When you get these jobs that you have been so brilliantly trained for, just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else.'”