In Solidarity
Kamusta po. My name is Alia Ceniza Rasul and I am a Filipina. My father is Tausug from Sulu and my mother is Bisaya from Dumaguete. I am from a place that I don’t really know.
I chose to immigrate to the place colonially known as Canada, in pursuit of a “better life”. These days, I often think about what this means, at whose expense it is that I have received this opportunity, and the implications of my decision to stay.
As a settler, I acknowledge that I reside on stolen land, and benefit from capitalist and colonial systems that continue to inflict violence on Indigenous, Black, brown people, as well as the land and the waters that sustain us.
Turtle Island is the territory and home of many Indigenous peoples, named and unnamed. They have been the caretakers of this land since time immemorial. I acknowledge them as the stewards of this land; past, present and future. I also acknowledge that the United States and Canada, two settler nations that formed on Turtle Island were built by Black people, who were stolen from their own homelands and continue to be brutalized under an oppressive white supremacist system.
As a visitor on this land, I commit to working in solidarity with the struggles of Indigenous Nations for sovereignty, land and freedom. I strive to work with Black people to dismantle white supremacy towards building an anti-racist future, towards our shared liberation and ultimately a better life for not just myself, but for everyone.
Salamat.