Signals for Change

By Solomon Cyr

When the life and the light of dignity is denied,
and when justice is overlooked,
and when equality is only granted by assimilation,
and when demoralization is the only gift that is given in return for all that we gave,
and when our autonomy has been compromised,
and when our value system has been overlook
and despised,
and our humanity is debased,
and when we are governed by the tyranny
of the foreign majority,
and when the fiduciary obligation becomes
undignified charity,
and when the paradigms are devised to ensure
our destruction,
then we know that the fight to survive has begun!

(This is a reflection on the plight that we have been brought from.  It is not a lament but rather a declaration of the intent to survive. )

Solomon Cyr is Cree, 27, from George Gordon First Nation