Hi Name,
Monday is Indigenous People’s Day. A day to recognize the tens of thousands of years of history of Indigenous People in the Americas, the suffering and genocide they’ve endured over the past 500 years, and the ongoing struggles and resilience of Indigenous People today.
I’m often asked what kind of work I get to do as a human rights lawyer—and what my work as an attorney has to do with my run for US Congress? Most of it is outside of the courtroom, but I wanted to tell you about a case I’m working on now and how it’s far too familiar in our country’s history.
A few years ago, a County government wrongly sold land that included a historic Black and Indigenous cemetery to a land developer. Despite assurances that the cemetery region would be protected, we are alleging that they broke their promise and bulldozed that sacred land. Now we’re suing for damages.
Unfortunately, this is a microcosm of how our nation wrote hundreds of treaties with Black and Indigenous communities—and then broke them. As a human rights lawyer, I am proud to advocate for a Black and Indigenous community as they seek basic humanity. And I’m running for Congress to transform my advocacy for justice, into building better systems for justice.
When I seek your support for my campaign for US Congress, it is grounded on the values of justice for all people—at the forefront of whom are the vast Indigenous communities who lived on this land for thousands of generations prior to European colonization.
Not only on Indigenous People’s Day, but every day year round, may we remember the unmatched contributions of Indigenous People to the Americas.
In solidarity,
- Qasim
