Waking Up The Sleeping Giant
Photo courtesy of Ayden Clytus
By: Ayden Clytus
I think we can all agree that 2020 has been a lot. It seemed as if as soon as the ball dropped and we celebrated with our friends and loved ones, the world descended into chaos. Potential war, a global pandemic, and a worldwide racial justice movement sparked after the infuriating and tragic death of George Floyd rampaged through social media. For many of the viewers, the images that unfolded of the death of George Floyd was almost too much to bare, too tragic, too unbelievable that someone had to suffer like this at the hands of those meant to protect us. But here is the craziest part – it’s nothing new.
I grew up in the city and the reservation (rez for short). I lived in the city but spent lots of seasonal breaks at my grandma’s house in Ch’íhootsooí (St. Michaels, AZ) on the Navajo Reservation. When I was not back home on the rez, I was attending school in white middle class areas. Little did I know I was caught in the middle of two totally different worlds. On one hand I grew up with my cousins who stayed on the rez and on the other hand I went to school with kids that stayed in the city with no clue how the rez functioned other than the stereotypes portrayed in movies. In a way I was at a crossroads trying to figure out where I stood within these two worlds. To most of my classmates, issues of racial, gender, and economic inequality was a foreign subject. Concepts that did not seem to penetrate and weave their way into these kids’ lives. But I grew up a black, Native American female in America.
The first time I was truly aware of that, I was 13. I had moved to a small town in Idaho where I attended a Catholic School in 8th grade with a graduating class of 14 students – 3 of us were girls. Moving to that small town was probably starting point in my fight for equality. Being there made me recognize myself as a minority in America. My freshman year was the 2016 elections and everyone who knew me, knew I was strongly against Trump. The morning I woke up and realized he would be the sitting president, so much changed for me. I arrived in my 1st hour class and instantly I was reminded of Trump’s victory by a taunting stereotypical “Indian” war cry from one of the students in my class. I slouched in my chair, face red-hot, with tears piling in my eyes. My teacher noticed, and rather than chastise that student for obvious and blatant antagonism, he sat by me and said “Don’t worry, it will get better. It isn’t the end of the world.” Okay…
Sitting here four years later with the 2020 election less than a month away, I would say his optimism was wrong. But in an odd sense, he was right too. What I mean by this is take a moment and look around, recognize that we have the world’s eye. So many are fighting to make things better, causing a rift in politics, something they cannot continue to ignore. Things can and will get better. Everyone has a camera and unlike decades prior we have the power to showcase irrefutable proof that racism and injustice are still alive and well in America. It is our time to stand up again like our grandparents before us and fight our rights as American citizens, as a community, as a people.
Right now, is an awakening. Like those who fought for women’s rights, voting rights, and racial and equality from the 1950’s well into the 70’s, we must reeducate ourselves. We must know what we are entitled to, not the B.S they try to feed us. With this column I aim to provide my readers with knowledge about how to make life better. Knowledge that we have an obligation to obtain so that ignorance does not come to stab us in the back. It is our moment, and we must, like those who fought before us, be prepared spiritually, and prepared mentally with that which can protect us and our Mother Earth. This generation together can make a difference. The ball is in our court now. We are becoming too big to ignore. We are the sleeping giant, and we are ready to awaken.