The Chi-Nations Youth Council issued an open letter to Heather Miller, Ex-Director of the American Indian Center of Chicago, on November 4, 2020. The Ex-Director posted the AIC Board statement on Facebook as a link to a Google Drive file, and it was not posted to their website, in the Smoke Signals newsletter, or shared with the AIC membership.
American Indian Center of Chicago
During this difficult time, as we watch the police murder children and the everyday dissection and criminalization of the characters of the victims in the Derek Chauvin trial, just a reminder @americanindiancenter [the American Indian Center of Chicago] is a white supremacist organization that refuses accountability and chose to honor all those involved with the All Life Matters mural. The original concept by the artist was “All Lives Matter.
Dave Spencer, who chose and supported Robert [Wapahi], was promoted to Director of Arts. Heather Miller, who commissioned the piece and installed it on Election Day after closing the AIC as a polling place, was promoted to CEO of @centerfornativefutures [Center for Native Futures] and is the Vice President @chicagocultural [Chicago Cultural Alliance].
The AIC Board promoted Vice President Melodi Serna, who praised Heather Miller for her leadership, to Executive Director. She promptly fired the majority of the staff and worked to silence staff who verbalized concerns about systemic anti-Blackness as their views “do not align with the values of the organization.” Hours after the mural was “defaced” with Black Lives Matter, the mural was finally removed.
This organization is not representative of the Chicago Native community. They are a conservative, Christian, anti-Black organization created as part of the US government’s relocation act and have been standing in the way of progress since its inception.
#BlackLivesMatter #blackindigenoussolidarity
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