Statements

17 Jun

Posted at 14:54h in Frontpage News, Statements

For Immediate Release Thurs, 06/17/2021 Seattle Urban Native Nonprofits www.seattleurbannatives.org Contact: sunn.outreach@gmail.com   SEATTLE — Seattle Urban Native Nonprofits (SUNN) members stand together in support of our Two Spirit and LGBTQ+ relatives, especially our youth, in light of recent disparaging and damaging comments made by a highly visible Native influencer. The significance of these comments arising during Pride Month is not lost on us. At a time when we come together to celebrate the visibility, diversity and endurance of the 2S/LGBTQ+ community, we are reminded that we still have a long way to go to achieve true equity and justice for our 2S/LGBTQ+ friends, family and community members. SUNN’s core values are respect and leadership rooted in love, compassion, courage, accountability and humility. We ask our cis-straight Native friends, relatives and allies to call out attitudes and behaviors that continue to cause harm to the 2S/LGBTQ+ community and to hold those around us...

01 Apr

Posted at 17:08h in Frontpage News, Statements

For Immediate Release Thurs, 04/01/2021 Seattle Urban Native Nonprofits www.seattleurbannatives.org Contact: sunn.outreach@gmail.com SEATTLE —Seattle Urban Native Nonprofits (SUNN) stand in solidarity with our Asian American allies with a commitment to strengthen our coalitions in unity against Anti-Asian racism. As a Native-led collaborative, we write to express our community's outrage against the tragic murders in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 16, 2021. We acknowledge the pain, fear, and sadness that so many of our Asian relatives feel and we want you to know that you are not alone. We stand with you and hold space for the grief of this moment. Out of respect for the families and community, we are not listing their names. We extend our hearts to the victims and families of this tragedy. We stand beside you in the fight against racist and gender-based violence. We are with you. We see you. Anti-Asian racism is not new. Propaganda has fueled...

28 Feb

Posted at 17:23h in Statements

February 9, 2021 Dear Seattle Public Schools Board Members, We would like to join the efforts of the Clear Sky Youth Leadership Council, an inspirational cadre of dedicated Indigenous youth leaders with the motto “Empowerment through Education, Culture, and Tradition,” to support a youth-led effort to uphold Seattle Public Schools’ commitment to equity and inclusion by formally adopting March 9 as Billy Frank Jr. Day. The Billy Frank Jr. Day Resolution calls for designating March 9 as a day of remembrance, celebration, and recognition of the life, legacy, and achievements of Billy Frank Jr. (Nisqually Nation). Billy Frank Jr., 1931-2014, was a courageous advocate for tribal treaty rights in the Northwest. He is remembered for his leadership role in gaining fishing rights for Native people when treaties were being ignored by the U.S. government. First arrested as a teenager in 1945 for “illegally” fishing on the Nisqually River,...

03 Jun

Posted at 19:08h in Frontpage News, Statements

Seattle WA, June 3, 2020 On behalf of the organizations that make up Seattle Urban Native Nonprofits, we express our resolute support for the Metropolitan Urban Indian Directors (MUID), and the communities you serve, in the pursuit of justice for George Floyd, and all people of color, who have been victims of the Minneapolis Police Department. We stand in solidarity with Black Lives Matter. We denounce anti-blackness and settler colonialism. We recognize the power of Black and Indigenous solidarity to honor intersectional identities in our collective liberation. Although we are more than 1,500 miles away, the grave injustice of the brutal police killing of George Floyd is deeply emblematic of the thousands of people that continue to be subjected to police brutality in our communities since colonization. We bear witness to this trauma experienced by your community in the past few days, and long before now. We know...