‘Raise Your Voice’ Archives
The snake and our nurses
By Peter Molenaar Not so long ago, the ancient ”˜black snake”' prophecy was linked to the construction of railways. However, recent ceremonies have sifted through the prophecies to reveal that the snake goes underground. In these modern times, millions of settler descendants are coming to know the truth as well. Should the black snake cross the land, the world will come to an end. Note: The fracking fields of the Bakken will be short-lived”¦leaving all the pipes as “stranded assets” to waste beneath the ground. The Standing Rock Lakota are determined to prevent the Dakota Access Pipe Line from crossing, just upstream, beneath the Missouri River. No, they were not consulted, as per “the law,” but were subjected to pepper spray and dogs. September 11, 2016”¦. The MN350 people hosted a fundraising event in the amphitheater of the Minneapolis American Indian Center. They said to us: “Leave it in the ground.” Then, to our [...]
Union Pride
By Peter Molenaar UNION PRIDE MEETS NATIVE PRIDE, this is the frontline caption seen in the August issue of The St. Paul Union Advocate. From the article: “Participants in a unique pre-apprenticeship program co-sponsored by the Cement Masons and area tribal authorities, worked in silence, heads down, as their instructors barked orders”¦”'Let”'s go, you”'ve got to pick up the pace,”' Local 633 apprenticeship instructor Moke Eaglefeathers warned”¦” Historical note: A visit to the Interpretive Center at Fort Snelling State Park will reveal the family names of the 1600 innocent Dakotas, interned in the concentration camp of 1862. Innocent? In fact, many had risked their lives to save White settlers. For their reward, they received the ”˜collective punishment”'. Are there White workers who fail to recognize a Native man”'s right to walk where he walks? Do some whine about treaty rights and every other [...]
Philosophy and the Police
By Peter Molenaar They say that all conscious beings are a product of the evolution of matter. Yet we must resist all forms of oppression as if moved by ”˜God”'s will”'. Such is one meaning of the expression: Black Lives Matter. Yes, we live in a country built upon the most massive genocide and cruelest enslavement, and yes, the existing ruling class descends from the perpetrators. Are the police merely servants of the capitalist order, or are things complex in nature? Once upon a time, land based “lords” hand-picked their cops from peasant stock, to facilitate tribute from travailing merchants. However, as mass production industry developed, the emergent bourgeoisie disdained to tolerate the tolls, which every fiefdom imposed. Hence, in the “religious wars” of Europe, ”˜divine right”' was defeated by ”˜predestination”' and the modern nation state was born. The new bourgeois Protestantism also dealt a blow to [...]
