An arrogant, racist, part-Aboriginal ‘poet’ gets her poisonous diatribe publicized by the segregationist and anti-Canadian CBC (It should come as no surprise that she has roots in the Mohawk reserve of Kahnawa:ke):
“When it comes to ‘Black’ liberation and ‘Indigenous’ {sic} sovereignty, ‘Afro-Indigenous’ (Kanien’kéhà:ka, Mi’kmaw) artist Mahlikah Awe:ri Enml’ga’t Saqama’sgw is done debating. In this poem entitled “DON’T SPEAK”, Awe:ri’s ‘colonial critique’ is direct and biting with lines like “you buried our stories like you buried our children” — yet she still manages to invite reconciliation and healing {Like hell she does!}.
“Awe:ri started writing the ‘poem’ in 2018 for the “Louder than a Bomb Toronto Slam Finals”, but its intentions shifted when her mentor, Cree elder Vern Harper, passed away before it was finished…
‘DON’T SPEAK’
by Mahlikah Awe:ri Enml’ga’t Saqama’sgw
Do you speak on this land?
This is Indigenous Land, do you speak
Do you speak on this land?
This is Our Home On Native Land, do you speak
Do you speak on this land?
This is stolen land, occupied land, land under siege
Do you speak
Do you speak, foot to ground above our burial mounds, do you speak
Do you speak, broken treaties, broken promises, do you speak
Do you speak, white noise, static, so sterile
It is sterilizing the natural blood flow of our blood memory
Like receding ice-caps
From Oceans
To Lakes
To Rivers
To Streams
To Brooks
Do you speak
Or do you leak
False truths
Like pipelines built in 1952
Spewing toxins so poisonous
It’s altering our social consciousness
Do you speak
NAH
YOU JUST TALK A WHOLE BUNCH OF SHHHH…
AND FOR CENTURIES AND CENTURIES
YOU BEEN FERTILIZING IT
Today I am not gonna speak
I am gonna teach
I am not gonna speak
I am gonna preach
I am not gonna speak
I am gonna reach
Back
7 Generations into my ancestral legacy
Cuz I come from a people who don’t speak
We are speak
We be that crazy sexy kool speak
That got you on that tee pee creep
Trying to appropriate
What we did originate
You see our stories are encased in the plates
Of a turtle’s shell
That’s why we are the backbone of this Nation
Our stories are prophecies foretold
That’s how we have withstood more than 500 years of colonial domination
Our stories are forged and femifested
Through light, sound, and story
Not a personification of egotistical patriarchal glory
Our stories are an act of sovereignty
A reclamation of space
Disrupting White Privilege
Dismantling Systemic Hate
Our stories inflate
Our lungs
With language, laughter, and love
Language, laughter, and love
So that we don’t suffocate
You buried our stories
Like you buried our children
Forgetting they were seeds
Our ancestor’s promise
Our elder’s dreams
Our stories are the legacy we leave
Chapters sung and drummed into oral reality
Like the weaving of our wampum
Our syllabics etched in granite
And our souls wrapped
In ancient birch bark scrolls
Our stories are an act of creation
Mother Earth’s gestation
That’s why we rise from the root
Destined to bloom truth
Our stories never die
I said, our stories never die
When we came into this existence
We were already gifted with our narrative
So when we transition to Karonhià:ke
The Place In The Sky
We know someone will inherit them
So, I ask you again
Do you speak on this land?
This is Indigenous Land,
Our Home On Native Land
Do you speak?
Do you speak on this land?
This is stolen land, occupied land, land under siege
Do you speak?
Cuz the next time we meet
DON’T SPEAK
Just listen
And maybe
Just maybe
I will share
My story”
–‘Poet Mahlikah Awe:ri has a suggestion for reconciliation: don’t speak’,
Lucius Dechausay, CBC ‘Arts’, Dec. 03, 2021
“Mahlikah Awe:ri is a drum talk poetic rapologist; arts educator and activist of African-American/Mohawk (Kahnawa:ke) & Mi’kmaw (Bear River) heritage, with Nova Scotian roots…
“Mahlikah Awe:ri is a drum talk poetic rapologist; arts educator and activist of African-American/Mohawk (Kahnawa:ke) & Mi’kmaw (Bear River) heritage, with Nova Scotian roots… She is on the artist roster for OAC’s ‘Aboriginal Artists in the Schools’, and her poem “A Dying Breed” is featured in the latest IFPOR anthology. In 2012, she was a curator for the ‘Canadian Festival of Spoken Word First Nations Showcase’ and the ‘Emergence Community Arts Practice Conference’ at Harbourfront; she headlined at ‘Gathering of Nations’ in New Mexico, ‘Sentinel Shores’ in Vancouver, and ‘NXNE’ in Toronto with ‘Red Slam’. In 2012, she was invited to speak at the Toronto District School Board ‘Sister 2 Sister Conference for Grade 8 Girls’; ‘Lost Lyrics 5th Annual Conference for Youth’; and as a member of the 2012 ‘Individuality & Collectivity May Works Arts Panel’. Locally she is the artistic director for ‘indigenous’-centered arts initiatives at Daniels Centre for Learning Regent Park, and producer/host for http://www.radioregent.com’s monthly broadcast “OneVoice”. Since December, 2012, Awe:ri has been utilizing her words and music to support the ever growing global movement IDLENOMORE both in Toronto and in Ottawa…”
–‘Mahlikah Aweri’,
Diaspora Dialogues, MENTEE,
https://diasporadialogues.com/mentee/mahlikah-aweri
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
See also:
‘What’s In A Name?’ (CBC ‘Indigenous’) {Dec.3, 2019}:
‘In Case You Missed It’ – From 2016: {Your taxpayer dollars at work}
“Today, CBC Aboriginal will be renamed CBC ‘Indigenous’ {sic}, and CBC’s Aboriginal Digital Unit will become the ‘Indigenous’ {sic} Digital Unit. While we understand that there is no truly all-encompassing term, ‘Indigenous’ {sic} is fast becoming the preferred way to refer to ‘First Nations’ {Another newly-invented term for Indian Bands}, Inuit and Métis {mixed Race} peoples.”
{Only because it is being promoted by the politicized Aboriginal Industry – of which you are a major component — and the reality is that applying the term to Canadian aboriginals is a well-known falsehood…}.”
http://endracebasedlaw.com/2019/12/03/whats-in-a-name/
‘CBC Blames Canadians’ (Aboriginal Issues) {September 9, 2016}:
“This is hilarious. Here’s a CBC employee {They used to be called ‘journalists’} complaining about the fact that whenever the CBC covers ‘aboriginal issues’, their audience declines. In their typically-blinkered ideological fashion, they have decided that it’s Canadians’ fault – for just not caring about ‘aboriginal issues’…”
https://endracebasedlaw.wordpress.com/2016/09/09/cbc-blames-canadians/
‘A Segregationist Tale‘ (Mohawk Origin Legend) {Dec.28, 2020}:
Origin stories tend to emphasize our commonality and shared beginnings; however, this Mohawk legend focuses on the differences:
“As far as we’re concerned, our ancestors made their debut into this valley of happiness right here on this land of Onkwehonwekeh (America), just as the white man originated in southern Europe, the blacks in Africa and the Asiatics in Asia. The Bering Strait theory is a tongue-in-cheek propaganda to make the Onkwehonwe think that they, also, are aliens in their own land…”
https://saynotosegregationblog.wordpress.com/2020/12/28/a-segregationist-tale/
‘More Mohawk Discrimination’ {May 20, 2016}:
“If a Mohawk couple adopts a child who is not ‘indigenous’, the adoptive parents have committed an “offence”, according to a new law in Kahnawake, Que. The adoptive parents will lose their rights as Kahnawake Mohawks — which include voting here, living here, being buried here.”
https://endracebasedlaw.wordpress.com/2016/05/20/more-mohawk-discrimination/
END RACE BASED LAW Daily News Canada 