I enter into 2023 with faith that this year we shall overcome. Not blind faith. Not naïve faith. But faith to courageously unite to overcome the racism no longer tolerable in Riverton. The kind of faith that is a beacon of reconciliation guiding us towards community harmony.
The life of Dag Hammarskjold, who was Secretary-General to the United Nations in the 1950’s until his death in 1961, provides a model. Richard J. Foster wrote, “… he transformed the United Nations from a forum for conference and controversy into an agency of creative action for peace.” I recall the intervention that resolved the crisis of the Suez Canal in 1956. Dag Hammarskjold made that possible believing that no obstacle is too difficult to overcome. We need to do the same with the Riverton Peace Mission to address institutional racism.
While the United Nations is unable to resolve every conflict, it provides the means. A good example is the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples passed in 2007. Although the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia voted against it, it is in writing acknowledging for the first time the right of Indigenous peoples to exist is a legal right. It’s a big first step, like acknowledging that institutional racism exists in Riverton is a big first step.
The Riverton Peace Mission cannot resolve every act of racism and injustice towards our neighbors indigenous to this land, but we can provide the moral compass for what should be done to prevent bordertown violence from continuing to be the norm.
CALLS TO ACTION:
Learn what institutional racism is, so that we understand what we are undoing. Join us by Zoom on Thursday, January 5, 7 pm. REGISTER NOW!
SIGN THE PETITION asking the Riverton City Council to address institutional racism.
Get involved. BECOME A VOLUNTEER.
BECOME A DONOR to sustain our work.
Fear not. Be humble. Have faith. Be bold. Build relationships. Do justice. Chesie Lee