An Afro-Indigenous History of the United States

which nationalism has become a paradigm for our communitybuilding
processes. 15
I see Native Lives Matter as an attempt to create Black and Indigenous
public dialogue and an expression of solidarity. Native Lives Matter can
hopefully shape a politics that leads to “a world that accommodates
Indigenous nationhood, Indigenous ontologies, and Indigenous political
practices.” 16 After all, if Black lives matter on Turtle Island, then Native
lives and land have to matter too. If, in moments like the murder of George
Floyd and Breonna Taylor, Black folks desire and appreciate Indigenous
solidarity, they also have to show up and show out for Native people
murdered, like Leroy Martinez and all of the Indigenous women killed and
gone missing.
Finally, we need to recognize that the slogan of Black Lives Matter
might be compromised. Given how the corporate media and corporations
are now paying money for anti-racism training, and major sports leagues,
like the National Basketball Association, have even placed “Black Lives
Matter” on the hardwood court, the slogan—not the movement or its
ideological significance—has lost some of its luster. Here, we can learn a
lesson from history. Stokely Carmichael may have used the phrase “Black
Power” to promote his idea of Black capitalism, a strategy of Black
economic empowerment that promoted a segregated economy to further
improve the life chances of the Black community (a strategy even President
Richard Nixon supported). 17 However, this was a far cry from overthrowing
the racist capitalist system. I want to be very clear that I ain’t throwing any
shade at the founders of the movement. But we as people in struggle can’t
ignore that fact that the state—a combination of the corporate media,
corporations, and the US government—adapts accordingly in order to
appease the masses. We don’t have to give up the work, but we have to
adapt just as quickly.