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I reach out to all of you feeling the weight of sadness in these challenging times. The recent election has left many of us questioning the future, yet it’s essential we recognize this moment as a call to deepen our courage and compassion. Our society’s struggles—marked by our susceptibility to fear, misinformation, and corporate control—can be transformed by how we respond, not by waiting for politicians to lead the way. Let’s focus on resisting the forces that harm our planet and our communities. We must recognize and reject untruths such as touted benefits about inflated military budgets that actually rob essential resources from the people, making a few wealthy and polluting the air we breathe and the water we drink.
Our path forward is action. We can try holding our representatives accountable through direct efforts like union organizing, protests, and boycotts. History shows that real change has always come from the ground up and seldom is initiated by the people we put in office. As leaders in social and ecological justice who are part of the legacy of Horace Mann, now is the time to live the values we study. I write this after having just finished my Lakota inipi ceremony under the last supermoon of the year that is reminding, perhaps warning, that this may be our last chance for a long overdue awakening. Let’s bring deep meaning to our education work by putting it into action. Together, we can be a force for truth, equity, and planetary well-being.
Okiciya makiyokipi na iyuteya, cuke wayokapi, mitakuye oyasin. Help each other acclimate and adjust, because the truth is, we are all related.
Respectfully,
Wahinkpe Topa (Four Arrows)
PS—You are all invited to partner with Veterans for Peace and join our global research project for restoring our Kinship Worldview.
Four Arrows
Four Arrows is a core faculty member with Antioch’s doctoral program in Education and Professional Practice. Former Dean of Education at Oglala Lakota College, he is an Indigenous-based scholar and author of numerous publications and presentations on Indigenous worldview applications, including 24 books endorsed by such notables as Vandanna Shiva, Noam Chomsky, Henry Giroux, Thom Hartmann, John Pilger, and many more. His book, Restoring the Kinship Worldview, was selected by UC Berkeley’s Science Center for the Greater Good as one of the “most thought provoking, inspiring and practical science texts of 2022.” He lives with his artist wife in Jalisco, Mexico in the winter and on the west coast of Vancouver Island in the summers.
