check ins are not direct action
so, about those Standing Rock check ins...here's something from someone who has been in contact with people on the ground at and en route to the protests and also happens to actually be of native ancestry (not some vague 1/96th "Cherokee" BS) They state: I'm seeing a ton of Standing Rock check-ins tonight, many of which still have the blurb about how it'll confuse the Morton County Sheriff's if we all do it, though I think that's less likely if the blurb is intact. Kudos to those who have caught that and removed it. More troubling is that it states "Water Protectors are calling on EVERYONE to check-in at Standing Rock, ND to overwhelm and confuse them." I can't be everywhere all the time, but I've spent the better part of the last several days focused on sourcing and sharing Native voices from people on the ground, and I've yet to see anyone advocate for this. In the last few hours, I've been on an activism conference call with 500 others, watched a couple of live feeds and many recordings of live feeds from today, and been reading postings from today, and nothing. I don't think there's much actual danger to these posts beyond the usual erasure. Your time's better spent listening to and amplifying Native voices, no? Also, I and countless others are waiting for news of dear ones actually en route right now, and this makes it a bit harder to hear when they actually arrive, but we have faith.
