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Fellow PNW UU Wounded in Peaceful Protest
UU Jacob Johns wounded in peaceful protest, here are ways to help
I don’t even know where to begin. One minute I want to cry, the next I want to go into solitude and pray, the next I want to go on a rampage.
Jacob Johns, a member of our UU family from Spokane, was shot September 28th, while participating in a peaceful protest down in New Mexico. Last we heard he was in the hospital and holding his own.
Jacob was very involved in indigenous, climate and environmental justice issues—internationally, nationally and locally. Some of us had the chance to meet Jacob back in May, when UU volunteers got together to help with and participate in the Gathering of the Eagles on Lummi Reservation. Jacob was also a new member of JUUstWA’s First/American Indian Nations Solidarity leads council. Work was in progress to have Jacob visit congregations in the PNW to speak to indigenous issues and the climate crisis.
The best way to support Jacob right now is through the links provided below and please send your prayers and offer whatever financial assistance you can.
Here is a response from the UUA, UUSC and UUCSJ.
UUSC and UUCSJ Response to the Shooting of Indigenous Climate Activist Jacob Johns
We are holding Jacob Johns, Indigenous climate activist, artist, musician, father, and Unitarian Universalist in great care and invite you to join us in supporting Jacob in his healing and organizing journey.
Jacob was shot in the chest on the morning of Thursday, September 28, during a No Juan de Oñate statue peaceful protest in Tewa territory (more commonly known as Española, New Mexico) and is currently in the ICU. This protest was in response to local plans to build a conquistador monument.
There are two ways you can financially support Jacob during this most difficult time and through the long haul of recovery
Via the GoFundMe platform which has been launched for Jacob: https://gofund.me/0a63153a
Via the Backbone Campaign, in support of Jacob’s ongoing Community Supported Organizing page, where tax-deductible donations can be made: https://www.backbonecampaign.org/jacob
Violence against Indigenous people has not stopped since colonialism began and it continues to escalate, often without accountability, as the climate crisis unfolds. As relatives, friends, and allies, we are called to collective care for each other and this sacred planet. It is an honor and an obligation to be co-strugglers. If you are deep in the struggle, please receive this message as deep witness and solidarity. If you have been comfortably numb, please receive this message as an invitation to turn toward relationship with each other, with the environment, for the wellbeing of us all.
