As a native Washingtonian, I’m no stranger to the slew of anti-indigenous American rhetoric and images that floods our local media, the most prominent example being the Washington Redskins name, logo, and mascot, all given to the Washington-area football for which my peers and their families have cheered on for several years.

Not even a mass movement to abolish the Redskins name has significantly curbed use of that name in recent years. The notion that We stop saying that name has elicited scoffs from Black people, many of whom refuse to identify with their indigenous American counterparts in the struggle against white supremacy.

From what I reckon, this mindset among some so-called African Americans often comes out a frustration with an American government that seemingly prioritizes the issues of other “minorities” over that of Black people.

I have no reason to contend with that point and have argued that the American government, and other white-centered entities for that matter, often turns its back on overtly Black/African interest groups in favor of those that fit the model of ambiguity that maintains a racist, capitalistic system. This plot however may be part of a grander scheme by the powers that be to box Black Americans into stringent racial categories that deny them of their connection to the hodge-podge of indigenous tribes and nations.

 

In comes Ali Sanders,a descendant of Black indigenous Americans and proponent of indigenous living in which indigenous people operate outside of the American system, the matrix that replaced their people’s ancient way of living, to build a new life for them and their family.

How do they do that? Watch this AllEyesOnDC video and find out.

The nearly two hours of footage includes information about indigenous living and the African origins of the people currently known as Native Americans. After this video and proliferation of similar information, hopefully we as people of African descent can learn to respect each other and move beyond the European-created boundaries that have divided us for far too long.