On this day, instead of Columbus…

On this day, instead of Columbus and his genocidal violence that has been revised and whitewashed to further push the agenda of white supremacy and settler colonialism, I want to honor my people on the island of Ayiti & Quisqueya, the descendants of the first African and Indigenous people devasted by Columbus, the beautiful people still here yet, and all colonized people of color across the Caribbean, who get erased on this day because people do not know or do not wish to honor the African diaspora, of which most of us are primarily or exclusively from. In 1492 began a campaign of terror that took so much from us, took our Carib and Taino Indigenous ancestors, and yet we have still given so much to the world, we are still here.

On this day instead I want to honor the African diaspora! You are also the victims of Columbus, our ancestors Indigenous people kidnapped and enslaved and stripped of their roots, our distant West and Central African fam and others across the continent still currently Indigenous peoples resisting and fighting colonialism! Not instead of or over Turtle Island Indigenous people but alongside them is our story, our history, our narrative too! No matter how hard they tried we never actually lost ourselves or our roots, and we built this day. We are inexhaustible, unending, deathless, powerful! I love you and I am so proud of you!