Peggy Flanagan
Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan at a news conference on May 30.
"There are white supremacists, there are anarchists, there are people who are burning down the institutions that are core to our identity and who we are," Flanagan said, pointing to Migizi, a nonprofit organization serving Native American youth, which was trashed and its historical archives destroyed amid the protests. " ... We need to create the space for people to be able to grieve, to come together, to mourn the loss of George Floyd, but in order to be able to do that, we need to create the space to remove the people who are doing us harm."
Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan addresses the audience at the Fitzgerald Theater after being sworn in as Lieutenant Governor. Lorie Shaull
ON JAN. 7, I was in St. Paul, Minn., where Peggy Flanagan was sworn in as Minnesota’s lieutenant governor. Peggy has been a close friend and ally of Sojourners for many years, serving as a member of our board executive committee, and she has been like a daughter to me and my family.
What I saw and heard from Peggy could be a glimpse of the future of American politics. It felt so different from the divisive political situation I had just come from in Washington, D.C. It was a historical moment as Peggy Flanagan was sworn in as the highest-ranking Indigenous woman ever elected to a state’s executive office. I would like to give my space to present her words, adapted from her inaugural speech:
“MY STORY IS a One Minnesota story. It’s about community. We didn’t have much growing up. What little we had, my mom used to make sure we got ahead. But it didn’t always add up. We needed help. I was the kid with the different-colored lunch ticket. We needed those free meals at school. Medicaid saved my life. As a kid with asthma, it’s the reason I’m alive today.
Growing up wasn’t always easy, but it made me strong. I stand before you today because of a loving family, a supportive community, and a great state. My vocation is to create community across Minnesota—a community like mine that lifts people up and provides them a little help when they need it.
Photo via Kare11
Can your district representative sing? Because Peggy Flanagan sure can.
Flanagan, a representative of District 46A in Minnesota, took Minnesota's house floor with a moving vocal performance on the evening of April 25 to pay her respects to Prince Rogers Nelson, who passed away on April 21.
Image by Ben Sutter / Sojourners. Logo used under critical commentary fair use protection.
“Redskins.” The name of Washington, D.C.’s football team is a racial slur, a racist epithet. The U.S. trademark office agrees; so does the dictionary. But more importantly, Native American people feel it. How important is that to the rest of us? That is the moral question for all of us: are we going to show respect for our nation’s original citizens?
In an insightful column for the Chicago Tribune, Clarence Page compared NBA Commissioner Adam Silver’s decision to ban Clippers owner Donald Sterling “for life” for his private racist comments, with the decision yet to be made by the NFL and Washington’s owner to change a name deeply perceived as a public racist comment. “That’s the question at the heart in the name dispute. Who gets respect,” says Page.
Think about the name. Say it in your head or out loud in a private space. What comes to mind? Try to imagine why Native Americans feel the way they do.