A Larger View of Mt. Rushmore and Beyond

Mt. Rushmore is a tragic and heartbreaking monument to white supremacy and colonialism and the values and belief systems which support it. 

How many of us who are white Americans recognize and understand that this is stolen land? How many of us care? These are deeper questions that we can be responsible for answering, individually and collectively.

My heart hurts for Indigenous Peoples and for Mother Earth. And my heart aches with the conscious awareness of the brainwashing which has infected so many of us, making millions blinded to and complicit with the justification of the denigration and violence which have caused such grave harm to the Earth and her First Peoples and to life itself. 

As we courageously embrace the truth behind the horrors and heartbreaks of the shadow side of America, we can no longer in good conscience simply wave American flags, shoot off fireworks, and celebrate the 4th of July — or any other holiday, any normalized cultural belief system, or any powerful historic or present day figure — which in reality serves to perpetuate the destruction of the Earth, has historically participated in the genocide of her First Peoples and enslavement of African Americans, and continues to this day to oppress, marginalize, disenfranchise, dehumanize, and cause unfathomable suffering, violation, and death to Native Americans, to other people of color, and to our Earth Mother.

The wisdom of Indigenous Peoples, and the deep respect of the Earth that they embody, would have made impossible any consideration of defacing Mt. Rushmore and any other destruction of Mother Earth. The spirits of these wise ancestors are with us and remain as watchful reminders of how vital it is for those of us alive today to stand in protection of the Earth rather than be complicit with her destruction.

Bless all that is Sacred. Bless us all.  

— Molly