Mni Waconi. Water is Life. When millions of peaceful, prayerful people organize with a clear and just mission, there is nothing that can stop us… and the BREAKING NEWS out of Standing Rock is proof!
The US Army Corps of Engineers has DENIED the permit for the Dakota Access Pipeline easement to cross under Lake Oahe on the Missouri River in North Dakota. The Army Corps is calling for an Environmental Impact Statement with full public input and analysis, which will HALT construction immediately. The Obama administration, Department of Justice, Department of the Interior, and many more government players finally stepped up to do what is right — because of the power of people, of pressure, of peace, of prayer. Hundreds of Native American tribes united, tens of thousands of my fellow Water Protectors risked their lives on the front lines for months, passionate tribal youth led the way, brave independent media and bold politicians spoke out, and millions of allies worldwide stood in solidarity with Standing Rock in the fight of our time. This movement is about climate change, native sovereignty, human rights, renewable energy, national security, peace and justice, police brutality, fossil fuels, civil liberties, illegal land seizure, safe water, crude oil, historic treaties, everything and anything that matters. Today is a historic victory, but the fight continues — with a potential reroute of this pipeline and countless others across the US and worldwide that pose a direct threat to the drinking water of millions and a livable planet for us all.
I am enormously proud to stand beside my native brothers and sisters, like Floris here with me at Standing Rock, in this fight and on the long road ahead. Change does not roll in on the heels of inevitability, as MLK said, but the moral arc of the universe will eventually bend towards justice — and we must never cease to do what is right, what is good, what is just. This is for humanity, for earth, for life.
– Erin Schrode
