John,
In 2017, I pushed for the village of Oak Park to approve a resolution authorizing Oct. 9 as Indigenous People Day. Now, we, as a nation, celebrate Indigenous People Day on Oct. 14, and this year, it coincides with Columbus Day.
Many Americans, especially Native Americans, view Columbus as an invader. He brought the Europeans who eventually occupied all of their land, and committed atrocities against them.
I pushed for Oak Park to put its Indigeneous People Day on the calendar not because I don’t celebrate Italian-Americans—many of whom hold Columbus Day dear—but because I celebrate all Americans. Certain groups, like Native Americans, were previously never celebrated by a national day.
While we have a day celebrating Indigenous Peoples Day now, It's not enough! We must move past virtue signaling. We need to truly invest in teaching and celebrating Indigenous history while holding ourselves accountable.
Every day, we wake up daily in stolen land. What’s recognition without investment?
The fight for recognition of marginalized groups is a very important one for me, and in Congress, I will fight for this country to invest in a culture of respect, recognition, and education about those groups so that the crimes visited on them in the past are not repeated.
I hope you support my campaign of inclusion. I promise that in Congress, I will continue to fight for the ideals I’ve spent years fighting for.
In respect, honor, and love,
Anthony
