The 6 Solutions to Internalized Oppression

Hello, you super duper double delicious person, you. Welcome back to my channel. If it's your first time here, grab a seat, grab a coffee, get comfy. We got things to talk about. Now this is Sunday and for a brief time I tried releasing member only videos on Sunday. And every single time I did it, Creator showed me. You realize this should go out to everyone, right? That knowledge should be accessed by everyone, not teachings, some of our sacred teachings. You got to earn the right to know that stuff. But the knowledge I share on here should probably go out to everyone. So this is not a member only video. This is a Sunday bonus extra content type video. Because on this channel you hear me talk about oppression a lot and what it does to people and what internalized oppression does to people. But I thought we should talk about the solutions. So let's talk about it. Hi everybody. My name is Sandy Boucher. I'm Red Thunderbolt, woman of the Loon clan and a proud member of sky Seine River First Nation in Treaty 3 Territory in Northern Ontario. And today I wanted to talk about how to overcome the effects of oppression and internalized oppression. So I have mentioned a few times that it's all well and good to understand an academic term, but to understand how it manifests in a community is something totally, completely different. So we know that there are three natural human reactions to oppression or internalized oppression. Oppression, which means if you're a human being and you're being oppressed, you're going to react in these ways, maybe one way more often than others, but these are the reactions. The first one is violence. I'm sorry if someone keeps telling you you're less than or you're never going to amount to anything. At some point you're lashing out and telling them what they can do with that idea. Violence. Not the most conducive to harmony and cross cultural relations, but totally, completely understandable. Now some people really, really dislike that one, and of course I'm not a fan. But it's the second one that actually scares me way more than violence. Because at least with violence, somewhere deep inside that person is still that fight. And they are fighting. Even if they have to get intoxicated to do it, there's still a fight. Acquiescence is the second one, the complete and total giving up. And that scares the daylights out of me. That's the family members we've lost to the streets. That's the family members we've lost completely. That one scares me. And I work really hard to reach people so that they don't give up against what are incredible or seem like incredible odds. Do not minimize how hard it is to be indigenous in Canada. To have a voice, to be accepted, to not be judged. Because every single day, even when I stay home, every single day I have to deal with some stupid joke, stupid comment or stupid assumption made about me because I'm indigenous. So please do not minimize our experience. Experience. And for darker skinned family members and friends, even worse. They're often not even brought into the room. They don't hear the comments because no one's even near them. Non violent resistance is the third. And that's what I do every single day on this channel. Daring to not be the stereotype. Daring to have a voice in a world that says you can't. Daring to help others. Daring to be successful. Daring to be indigenous because I am. And not letting anyone take that away from me. So those are the three natural human reactions. But you, if you look at a First Nation community, you see those. I travel across Canada working in First Nation communities. And I don't want to say all, but I would definitely say most. Like a large percentage. Trying to think of the First Nation communities I've worked in or either in the middle of or have dealt with the suicide epidemic. My heart goes out to KI right now. Lost like 11 people since December and that was in January. Yeah, yeah. So that huge. That's acquiescence, that's giving up or that's violence turned against yourself. We have to recognize it for what it is. A reaction to the environment you can't fix. That's the result. That's the end result. We got to start fixing this environment. Another one is the violence we see in the communities and everything from domestic violence to. To elder abuse to like a child abuse. Like all of the violence. Violence when it's really hard to hit the oppressor in the nose because the oppressor is the federal government. So we lash out to the person that's closest to us. Our partner, our children, other community members, or the people in the municipality nearby. It's not desirable, but it's understandable. We have to change the environment. Indigenous people are flowers trying to grow in soil doused in gasoline. You've heard me say it a hundred times. The addictions not just in First Nation communities all across Canada. Look at the people. Right? That is a way. My mom used to always say that when you come across someone who's making a decision that you would never make, instead of judging that person, ask yourself, how tired would I have to be? How overwhelmed, how exhausted, how scared, how isolated would I have to be for me to think that's a good decision? That brings you a lot closer to understanding the path they're on. And then of course, Canada loves to point out the unemployment levels in our first nation communities. Not anything I look at because we're talking about people that may not be ready for nine to five, five days a week or even worse if it's shift work and saying that they need what? In my opinion, money is a magnifier. It doesn't make you a bad person, it doesn't make you a good person. It magnifies what you're already doing. So if you're a good person, you're going to be able to do more good things if you had more money and if you're already making bad choices, you're going to be able to make way bigger bad choices with money. Many of the people in our communities, if you threw money at them, you're going to watch them self destruct. And denying that doesn't help. We have to fix this. Which is why I wanted to focus. Of course I have to yawn because I'm doing a video. Anyone got an idea why I yawn when I do a video? If you have an idea, give me a hint. I'm. Unless it involves standing on my head, I'm willing to give it a try. Whatever your suggestion is. So there are six solutions to overcoming oppression and internalized oppression. And I did them long before I found them in my academic research. So think haps H A A P P S. That's an acronym and that stands for all the things you need to do. H A A P P S the H he'll have to heal. Four little words that are so hard, but you owe that to yourself. You're not achieving anything until you put down that baggage. And who heal those wounds. And you can. You absolutely can. If I can, you can. And then trust me again. There are stories I will never share on this channel, but that your past does not dictate your present or Future. I'm a 10 year domestic abuse survivor. The woman I used to be couldn't have spoken at a table with two people in a restaurant, let alone do this career. I am living proof your past doesn't have to be your present or future. So don't even go there. You owe it to yourself. Don't do it for anyone else, do it for you. Heal. The first A is to act out against oppression instead of each other. We're going to teach Our youth who are natural born activists, by the way, how to write letters to the MP and the mpp. How to make strike signs, how to make videos on YouTube, how to write songs that protest against the unfair treatment, whatever it is. Do not tell them to calm down. Don't show them how to funnel that energy and that activism in a way that will actually help. They were they are feeling the need to lash out. That violence, that fighting against the environment they're in, that is a positive if directed in the right way. The third or the second a is allyship. And I'm not talking about non indigenous people being allies to us. I'm actually talking about indigenous being an ally to other indigenous people. When you see someone at risk of giving up, get to them, show them this information. Teach them that what they're experiencing is a reaction to the environment and change the environment. Get them to good soil, get them around people that believe in them until they believe in themselves. I know I needed those people to get out as well. Heal, act, ally, ship. The first piece is pride. Take pride in being Indigenous. Get your tattoos, learn your beadwork, learn your language, brag about your hunting and fishing. Take pride in it. Attend powwow, attend ceremony, go to sweat, start smudging in your home, whatever your culture is. And if someone asks, are you Indigenous? Puff out your chest and say ding rights I am. Take pride in who you are. No matter what other people think, how they think you should feel about being Indigenous, proud of it. And if they try to make you feel less than proud about being indigenous, well, you know what? Where they're coming from, they're the problem, not you. The second p this one, protect the children. And it's because children, their brain has not matured enough to be able to say, well that's a bunch of bs. So when someone tells them they're less than because they're indigenous, they believe them. When someone tells them they're never going to amount to anything, that they're just going to be a welfare bum all their lives, they believe them. So those jokes that aren't funny, even told by indigenous in our communities, the children overhear it and all we are doing is inflicting pain on our own. Protect the children, don't gossip around them. You're teaching them to do the same. Don't backstab people and have the children over here that you're just ensuring another generation has shut to heal from. Excuse the expression, we can do better. And the last one, speak up. Use your voice not to attack, not to condemn, to share solutions. Speak up. If someone else is trying to silence another person, say, you know what? I'd love to hear what they have to say. I'd love to hear their opinion. Right? Help create the safe space, the good soil that we all need. Haps, Heal, act, allyship, pride, protect. Speak up. You can do this. Share this video with any marginalized, racialized person that is experiencing oppression. Because this can't be done for us. No one's coming to save us. But we can do this. We got to do the six solutions. We gotta do haps. Until tomorrow. I love you. Take care. Bye bye.