Sandi L Boucher (Red Thunderbolt, Loon clan, Seine River First Nation, Treaty 3 territory) recounts backlash after publishing a blog post about systemic problems in mainstream workplaces that lower Indigenous retention. She describes being called a “race hustler,” explains why that label is inaccurate and harmful, rejects silence as survival, and reframes her role as a solution advocate focused on calling out racism and building bridges. She notes blocking/deleting abusive responses to maintain a safe space and affirms optimism and Indigenous resilience.
Chapters
So as I mentioned yesterday, I got called a name recently and okay, I'm an indigenous woman in Canada. No one should be surprised. I got called a name that happens way too often. But I've never been called this before. And it actually got me thinking. Let's talk about it. Hi, everybody. My name is Sandy Boucher. I'm Red Thunderbolt, woman of the Loon clan, a proud member of Seine River first nation in Treaty 3 territory in Northern Ontario. And as I mentioned yesterday, I committed a crime recently. I dared to say that there was a problem with mainstream jobs that contributes to the low indigenous retention rates and holy moly's. I mean, indigenous in Canada for the longest time, we were taught silence means survival. Because you dare to speak up, someone's coming after you. And it's only recently that indigenous people have really been able to use their voice. What I say on a daily basis in these videos, my mom never had the freedom to say. And that's one generation ago. So I released that blog post, blog post. And the backlash was ridiculous. I don't know, maybe it was the stop sign that went with the block. I don't know. But something drove people nuts. I spent four days blocking and deleting. And as I mentioned yesterday, that's to maintain a safe space. It's not because I want an echo chamber. Down, boy, down. But I got called a race hustler. And that one stopped me in my tracks because I had never been called that before. So I had to unpack it. And so I was like, okay, a race hustler. So let's look at hustler first. I'm trying to rip people off. I'm trying to get them to buy something like that seedy, derogatory term. So, no, I'm not a hustler. I'm sharing facts so that people can understand and build bridges together. I don't want to rip anybody off. I want to bring people together. So do I consider myself a hustler? No. A race hustler, though. So I just couldn't. I'll admit it, I couldn't wrap my brain around that one. Just obviously not the way I think. So where I went in instead was I asked myself, what would I have to do to not be a race hustler in the eyes of this individual? And no, I'm not having a conversation with this individual. He got blocked, deleted. So I was like, okay, maybe what he's hoping I would do is stop talking about racism, stop acknowledging it exists, stop sharing how it feels, stop sharing how we can get past this. So none of that's gonna happen. That's. That's not the case. Or maybe what he is hoping that I would adopt that we are all the same mantra. So, yeah, we are all human. I'll give you that. But until. If you honestly think. Let's go this way. If you honestly think that the life experience in Canada is the same for a white male as it is an indigenous male, darker skin than me. What. What echo chamber have you been existing in? Because that's nowhere close like the analogy. I've been using it for years. You could take an impoverished non indigenous person, a white person, clean them up, give them a shower and a haircut, nice shave, whatever. We're talking about a guy here. And. And put them in a really expensive suit and send them into a bank to open up a bank account. And. And there's a really good chance they would get great service because of the expensive clothes and the nice expensive haircut. But if I tried to do that to an indigenous man, same fancy clothes, same expensive haircut, same expensive clothes, send him into the bank to open up a bank account, there's someone in there that's going to believe, well, that was a government handout. Or who did he rip off for that money? Or is he in an expensive suit because he has to go to court? Welcome to Canada. So an indigenous woman. There was a memo sent out before I was born that said indigenous women have no value, that we can be used and discarded. By the way, inaccurate. That memo should have never gone out. And I rip it up every chance I can. And anytime I come across someone that's treating an indigenous woman that way, I give him a new memo. So that's not the case either. So am I a race hustler? No. Do I talk about racism? Yes. When it applies to the situation I am trying to rectify. I am a solution hustler. I'm not a hustler. I don't like that word. I am a solution advocate. I am an optimistic indigenous woman in spite of what I have endured. Now that's something worth commenting on. That's a name you can call me anytime, even though I don't know what the name would be. But a race hustler? No. Hard pass. Block delete. Tomorrow, I have something totally different for you. I think you're going to enjoy it. Let's end the week strong. Until then, I love you. Take care. Bye. Bye.
