Standing Rock reMembered

“And in the end, we remained, and we remained strong -- despite some of
the most heinous state-sanctioned violence that you could possibly imagine. I
was there and I can personally tell you the difference between a rubber bullet
injury and one caused by a bean bag round. I can tell you the difference in the
way pepper spray feels versus CS gas. I know the look of true, clinical shock in
the eyes of a Lakota elder. I know what it is like to be pushed off of land that I
love. I always felt the echoes of that grief deep in my DNA -- but now I really
know ... Now I understand.
We took a stand, and were on the right side of history. We did the right
thing ... We took a stand to protect the water and our children's future. This
pipeline will be the death of our nations -- not necessarily overnight and maybe
not even next year; but it will happen eventually and that is why we must
continue to stand against the fossil fuel industry and the U.S. government that
backs it ... We must never stop fighting until that industry deservedly shrivels
and dies … We will never stop fighting for Mother Earth, we will never stop
fighting for the Water, and we will never stop fighting for Justice … Some will
believe the lies of the mainstream media. Some will believe that we were violent
or that we made a mess out of the various Camps. These are lies, of course, and
yet I can't help such people to see the Truth. I can't make them believe their own
eyes, or the live feeds, or the documentaries, or the photos, or the hundreds of
eye-witness accounts ... Just as nothing will help them understand the
frightening science that tells us about this pipeline's inherent weaknesses and its
inevitable dangers, nothing will allow those weak-minded servants of the
colonial establishment from Seeing the Truth that was oh so plain to see.
And now all that remains is to pray for those people -- and to pray for our
people -- and to pray for our allies -- and to pray for our enemies ... To continue
to pray, and to continue to fight, and to continue to stand strong for the Earth,
and the Water, and the rights of all Native Americans -- indeed, for the rights of
all humans to clean land and clean air and clean water ... And to pray as well
that you too will never forget; that you all will keep the Truth of what really
happened at Standing Rock in your hearts, and that you will keep fighting with
us” ~ Linda Black Elk
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