Making Herstory: Decolonizing Land One Piece of Concrete/Asphalt at a Time for HOMEFULNESS
By Lisa Tiny Gray-Garcia, Daughter of Dee
On February 26th in the gregorian calendar year of 2012, the landless, indigenous revolutionaries at POOR Magazine made Herstory. In collaboration with our families and companeros at Decolonize Oakland, with medicine and prayer brought/shared by indigenous leaders Corrina Gould and Fuifuilupe Niumeitolu and many more communities and folks herstory was made on a small piece of Ohlone land in the city known as East Oakland, CalifasAztlan, Turtle Island, by removing chunks of asphalt and concrete which covered the earth to build the Pachamama Community Garden @ Homefulness
Homefulness is a dream and a vision brought by the poverty, migrante, indigenous, elder and disability scholars at POOR Magazine, worked on for the last 15 years and guided by elders and ancestors and realized when we were blessed with a donation to purchase this humble space.
POOR Magazine believes, like most indigenous, decolonized peoples that no-one owns any land, and our sole intent is to liberate this land, to grow food for the community, create a school for our children guided by our elders and indigenous values and housing created on a sweat-equity model, not tied to how much blood-stained amerikkkan dollaz you have access to.
We faced heated and threatening opposition from the "landlord" next door who has claimed for the last year to have an implied easement to use our space as a parking lot, who we attempted for the last seven months to negotiate with to no avail, and who eventually called the Po'Lice on us to try to stop us from pulling up the asphalt. But we moved foreward as directed by our many spiritaul leaders and brought up the concrete and asphalt, clearing the land for healing and eventual planting of the garden, by Any Means Necessary!
It will take awhile for our colonized brothers and sisters to understand. We are moving with consciousness, prayer,humility, respect and revolution. The Story continues - stay tuned for the video.