No Justice, No Peace

Hi everybody, today I wanted to talk about all the activism I've been doing lately. This past week I've had some great opportunities to go out and fight for some causes I believe in. On Friday, November 11th, I went out at 5pm until 9pm to participate in an Anti-Hate Rally, it was a protest against all of the hate that has been ensued since the election of Donald Trump as our president. The hateful rhetoric that Trump has been using throughout his campaign is now being pursued by some people who believe (since his election in office) that it is okay for them to say things like that as well. These things have always existed, but they have definitely been brought to light since the election of his presidency. People have been using racist, misogynistic, homophobic, and xenophobic rhetoric towards one another—even on my college campus. I am someone who is dedicated to campaign for human rights and equality, so this was very near and dear to my heart. On November 11th we chanted for equality among race, religion, sexual orientation and identification, and many other things. It was a lot of fun to participate in this event with my fellow classmates. People were cheering for us and against us. People were passing out water, chocolate (from a local vendor) and one person even brought us donuts! Yesterday, November 15th, I participated in another protest. This time it was against the North Dakota Pipelines. This is also a cause close to my heart not only as a Native American, but as an environmentalist. I stood with a lot of people from my community for Standing Rock. We chanted that water is life that we must defend the sacred grounds for which that water and potential pipeline is located. We want justice for the indigenous people of our nation and all people of our nation because the pipeline has the potential to ruin the water source in North Dakota. We were out there from 5pm to 7pm as we walked back and forth over the Bridge of Lions in Downtown St. Augustine. I’m very proud of my peers and myself for standing up for what we believe in. I’ve always wanted to participate in protests since I was a little girl and it has finally added marks on my bucket list, but the fight is not over. We need justice. No justice, No peace!