Social Justice

Canadian First Nations demand action on missing and murdered women

The government must be pressured to hold good on its promises.

Published

8 years ago

February 20, 2016

Canadian First Nations demand action on missing and murdered women

“Even though the grave has silenced my granddaughter’s voice, I will continue to speak for her,” vows Renee Hess of Helyna Rivera, a Mohawk woman who was murdered in the U.S.-Canada border city of Buffalo, N.Y. on Aug. 10, 2011.

Hess was one of many family and community members at the 2015 Strawberry Ceremony, an annual Valentine’s Day event organized to mourn and protest the brutal rapes, killings, and disappearances of over 1,100 indigenous women since 1981.

Although Native women and girls make up only 4.3 percent of Canada’s female population, they account for 16 percent of female homicides and 11.3 percent of missing women.

State indifference. For years, activists have called upon the Canadian government to address violence against indigenous women. Victims’ families demand federal action, like improving public transportation so women aren’t forced to walk long distances at night or hitchhike. But seldom are these demands taken seriously. “[An investigation] isn’t really high on our radar, to be honest,” said then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper in 2014.

Aboriginal Minister Bernard Valcourt justified the inaction by stating that 70 percent of indigenous women are murdered by a relative or acquaintance — therefore not the government’s problem. Though Valcourt implies a propensity to violence by Native men, the fact is 75 percent of white women are murdered by someone they know. And it is widely believed that strangers or serial killers are responsible for many of the unsolved murders, including 18 or more committed on the Highway of Tears — a section of Highway 16 between Prince George and Prince Rupert, British Columbia.

Courts have also failed to produce justice. In 2011, Cindy Gladue bled to death in a hotel bathtub from a 4-inch internal vaginal tear. Suspect Brad Barton argued that because Gladue was a sex worker, the injury was an accident during consensual “rough sex.” Though there was no evidence to support the conclusion, the jury acquitted Barton and he walked free in March 2015.

A new leaf? In December 2015, new Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a national inquiry into the deaths and disappearances. This is a major victory. Trudeau’s Liberal Party government promises a two-year, $40 million commitment that will include retrying previous cases.

The government must be pressured to hold good on its promises. The last thing needed is another fruitless study: 40 have already been conducted. Of the 700 recommendations for government action that emerged from the research, 99 percent were ignored. It is clear that any inquiry must be accompanied by active follow-through. This should include scrutiny of Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) apathy toward women who file domestic violence reports, and long-standing charges of sexual harassment and violence by the RCMP against indigenous women. (The RCMP is also being investigated for treatment of women in its own ranks. Hundreds of female cops have complained of sexual harassment on the job.)

Pressure for the inquiry came from many sources, including new Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, a leader of the New Democratic Party, who decried Harper’s years of indifference and issued an official apology for generations of forced assimilation policies by the Alberta government. Notley vows to address the causes of the violence.

The historic disregard for indigenous lives spans a wide range of political issues, and these rapes and murders must be addressed within the context of the larger movement for aboriginal rights. For example, economic discrimination and lack of education hit women the hardest, and are often the reason why women like Cindy Gladue — a mother of four — are forced to become sex workers.

Silent no more. Numerous national and local groups have fought to stop the deaths and disappearances. The Native Women’s Association of Canada has a high focus on the issue and educates about how the dire status of indigenous women is rooted in colonization, cultural genocide, poverty, addiction, and limited legal rights.

No More Silence was founded in Toronto in 2011 and organizes the Strawberry Ceremony. It has brought together groups such as Toronto Sex Workers Action Project, Idle No More Toronto, Outburst! Young Muslim Women Project, and Chocolate Woman Collective to call for initiatives to protect indigenous women. These include safe spaces for sex workers; and full decriminalization of sex work, rather than current “Nordic model” laws that penalize prostitutes by outlawing their customers. Unionizing sex workers would also help them to act in their own defense.

Families of Sisters in Spirit is an autonomous, all-volunteer group that has worked with the Native Youth Sexual Health Network to hold events that draw attention to missing and murdered indigenous women, girls, trans and two-spirit people and to support their families and communities.

Other solutions that would contribute to the security of Indigenous women and all First Nations people include reparations to overcome economic inequality, initiatives to reverse cultural destruction of Native communities, and an all-out offensive against the racist sexism that dehumanizes and devalues Native women.

By Sarah Scott

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Social Justice

Former high school athletic director arrested and charged with using AI to frame principal

A former athletic director of a high school was arrested by Baltimore County Police after allegedly using new technology to impersonate a principal.

Published

2 days ago

April 26, 2024

Unheard Voices Staff

Maryland principal framed Pikesville High School investigation

A former athletic director of a high school was arrested by police in Maryland after allegedly using new technology to impersonate a principal.

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Maryland principal incident

In January of this year, we reported that an audio was circulating on social media accusing Pikesville High School principal Eric Eisworth of making racist and antisemitic comments.

After an investigation, authorities concluded the audio was artificial intelligence.

Suspect arrested

Dazhon Darien, 31, was charged with disrupting school activities, after investigators determined Darien faked Eiswert’s voice and circulated the audio on social media in January, according to the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office. Darien’s nickname, DJ, was among the names mentioned in the audio clips he allegedly faked.

Maryland principal accused audio

In the audio, Eisworth allegedly claimed Black students were unable to “test their way out of a paper bag” and made “disparaging comments” about Jewish individuals and two teachers, the charging document said

“The audio clip … had profound repercussions,” police wrote in charging documents. “It not only led to Eiswert’s temporary removal from the school but also triggered a wave of hate-filled messages on social media and numerous calls to the school. The recording also caused significant disruptions for the PHS staff and students.”

Retaliation

Police say Darien made the recording in retaliation after Eisworth initiated an investigation into improper payments he made to a school athletics coach who was also his roommate. Darien is also charged with theft and retaliating against a witness.

Darien was released on $5,000 bond and waived an attorney at an initial court appearance, according to court records.

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Crime & Justice

Exonerated man on a mission to rebuild his life

C.J. Rice, a man who served more than 12 years behind bars for an attempted murder he was falsely convicted of, was officially exonerated on March 18, 2024. He is now on a mission to rebuild his life.

Published

2 weeks ago

April 16, 2024

Unheard Voices Staff

Charles "CJ" Rice (Photo Source: CNN)

Charles “CJ” Rice was just 17 years old when he was convicted of a crime he did not commit.

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CJ Rice Exonerated

Now 30 year old Rice is using the injustice of the last 13 years to galvanize the life he almost spent behind bars after being exonerated and declared legally innocent of the crime he was convicted of in 2013 on March 18, 2024.

According to the GoFundMe, CJ wants to “embrace this opportunity” and become a paralegal.

With the help of Dream.org, the GoFundMe aims to help CJ start a new life with everything from a place to stay to clothes to wear as he builds a new future.

The CJ Rice case

CJ Rice, formally known Charles J. Rice, was convicted in a September 2011 shooting for attempted murder and sentenced to 30-60 years behind bars in 2013.

According to the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, the South Philadelphia shooting left a woman identified as Latrice Johnson, a 6-year-old girl and two others injured.

Johnson called 911 after the shooting and described the suspects as two men running away in hoodies and black sweatpants but couldn’t fully identify them.

Through an initial investigation with victims in the hospital, Rice’s co-defendant, Tyler Linder, was identified as one of the shooters. Detectives interviewed Johnson while she was in the hospital and she identified 17-year-old Rice as one of the shooters running away although she hadn’t seen the teen in a few years. Rice had been friends with Johnson’s son when he was younger, according to the Pennsylvania Innocence Project.

In her description, Johnson said Rice was wearing a hoodie and claimed that she was able to see his full face and long braids poking out the side of the hood. However, Rice’s arrest photo depicted him with shorter cornrows flushed against his head. Despite this, a case against Rice and Linder was built.

According to the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, among the evidence was a theory that the shooting was retaliatory, which wasn’t proven. That’s because Rice was shot and injured a few days prior. It’s alleged the suspects ran from the scene, and Rice’s counsel never used his medical records as evidence to help Rice’s case.

Rice’s case received national attention after CNN anchor Jake Tapper began reporting on it. His father, Dr. Theodore Tapper, is Rice’s former doctor and treated his injuries.

Although it was alleged that the shooters ran from the 2011 crime scene, this is something that Dr. Tapper believed Rice just physically couldn’t do at the time.

Officials believed the 2011 shooting involved gang affiliations, leading the DA’s Gun Violence Task Force to begin their investigation to see whether or not Rice could be re-tried for the shooting or to dismiss the charges in full.

This suggestion of motive and the sole faulty eyewitness identification of CJ led to his conviction on four counts for attempted murder.

A free man

Rice’s defense counsel filed a habeas petition to get CJ out of prison and have his conviction overturned.

On March 18, 2024, the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas granted the Commonwealth’s motion to dismiss all charges against Rice, officially making CJ a free man.

Read C.J. Rice’s story

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Social Justice

After more than 60 years, a championship HBCU men’s basketball team visits White House

An all-Black Tennessee A&I men’s basketball team won three back-to-back national championships at the height of the Jim Crow era, but were never recognized or invited to the White House. That changed on Friday.

Published

3 weeks ago

April 8, 2024

Jamaal Covin

YouTube Screenshot (CBS News)

This past weekend, the Tennessee A&I men’s basketball team, an HBCU squad that won a title more than 60 years ago, got a White House visit.

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Tennessee A&I made history

The living members of the Tennessee A&I Tigers basketball team were honored by Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House.

“This is the greatest day of my life,” said George Finley, a player on the Tigers team, said to CBS News.

Credit : Tennessee State University

The Tennessee A&I Tigers men’s basketball team was the first HBCU team to win a national championship in 1957, and made history again by becoming the first college team to win three back-to-back national titles from 1957-1959.

“I thought this would never take place,” said Finley, who was part of the 1959 championship team, told the network. “[Winning] the championship was big, but it wasn’t as big as being here with [Vice President] Harris today.”

The challenges

In a time of segregation and the Jim Crow era, Black teams were often not recognized for their achievements but the team finally got their just due.

Harris hosted six members of the team in a meeting along with their family, friends, and those close to the group of former athletes. Henry Carlton, Robert Clark, Ron Hamilton, Ernie Jones, George Finley, and Dick Barnett joined Finley in the Roosevelt Room at the White House.

Tennessee A&I is now known as Tennessee State University.

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