Phoenix City Council declared Indigenous Peoples’ Day an official city holiday, replacing the traditional Columbus Day commemoration.
The holiday, which will take place annually on the second Monday in October, was approved by the council during Wednesday’s meeting.
“Phoenix is proud to recognize the roots on which our city was founded,” stated Mayor Kate Gallego.
Yesterday, the City Council voted to make Indigenous Peoples' Day an official city holiday! Phoenix is proud to recognize the roots on which our city was founded.
The city’s resolution falls in line with the recent precedent set by President Joe Biden. The president first declared the replacement of Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day in 2021.
Biden’s resolution followed up on a memorandum honoring Native Americans that he issued within the first week of his inauguration. The 2021 resolution declared that Indigenous communities had contributed greatly to American history and culture, and had been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Biden’s resolution also commended Native Americans for having some of the highest rates of COVID-19 vaccinations.
“History demonstrates that Native American people — and our Nation as a whole — are best served when Tribal governments are empowered to lead their communities and when Federal officials listen to and work together with Tribal leaders when formulating Federal policy that affects Tribal nations,” wrote Biden. “The Federal Government has a solemn obligation to lift up and invest in the future of Indigenous people and empower Tribal Nations to govern their own communities and make their own decisions.”
Biden’s presidential proclamation exists without holiday privileges like bank closures, however. Only a congressional act could establish Columbus Day as an official federal holiday.
Former President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced Columbus Day a national holiday in 1937 to commemorate Italian explorer Christopher Columbus’ landing in the Americas on October 12, 1492, attributed as the discovery of the “New World,” as the Americas were then known.
Christopher Columbus garnered controversy in recent decades for enslaving some of the Native Americans he encountered, as well as the perspective that he encroached and overtook land that wasn’t rightfully his. Efforts to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day trace back to post-Sexual Revolution movements. In 1977, a United Nations-sponsored conference combating discrimination against Native Americans discussed replacing the holiday.
It wasn’t until the 1990s that cities and states began to recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day over Columbus Day.
While former Gov. Doug Ducey signed a proclamation in 2020 announcing Columbus Day as Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Phoenix is the first Arizona city to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day. However, Ducey didn’t renew the proclamation by signing another in 2021 or last year.
I’m beyond excited that Gov. Doug Ducey has signed a proclamation declaring October 12th as #IndigenousPeoplesDay in Arizona! I fully support this at the local, state, and federal level, and I’m happy to share we will also recognize Indigenous People’s Day in #Tempe this year! pic.twitter.com/OtCpUrs10B
Some local leaders across the state, such as Pima County Recorder Gabriella Cázares-Kelly, have wished to see greater local support for the holiday. The recorder toldKOLD in 2021 that only her husband, who isn’t Native American, was able to take the day off.
“They had school, I had work, the only person in our household who had today off for Indigenous Peoples’ Day, is my husband, who is not Indigenous,” said Cázares-Kelly.
My husband has Indigenous Peoples' Day off. I'll be working and our kids have class. Our kid,"Wait…So the only non-Indigenous person in this household has Indigenous Peoples' Day off?!" Lol Smh. Next year, I'm taking it off. #IndigenousPeoplesDay#NotAFederalHolidayYet
The city of Flagstaff received nearly $9 million in federal funding to provide about 100 additional rooms for the homeless.
The Arizona Department of Housing (ADOH) issued $8.95 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for purchase and renovation of the motel. The motel will provide 103 rooms as transitional housing before becoming permanent supportive housing.
Permanent supportive housing provides aid such as long-term leasing or renting assistance, as well as services to treat issues preventing total independence like mental illness and substance abuse.
Flagstaff Shelter Services (FSS), a nonprofit organization, will run the housing project. The housing is scheduled to become available this December.
Congrats to @FlagShelterOrg on today receiving $8.95 million in ADOH funding to acquire and rehab the Lucky Lane Motel 6 in @CityofFlagstaff into 103 units of transitional bridge housing serving homeless individuals and families. The housing is scheduled to open in December 2023! pic.twitter.com/2nUjcR0aqJ
FSS is the only Coconino County agency that provides emergency shelter and services without preconditions, such as sobriety, treatment, or service participation requirements.
Nixing preconditions for shelter and services is a key component of the “housing first” model toward addressing homelessness. “Housing first” theorizes that the homeless will choose to seek employment, achieve financial responsibility, receive mental health care, and/or receive substance abuse treatment if housing is first provided.
Flagstaff named housing first its choice approach for mitigating homelessness, following declaration of a housing emergency in 2020. The city unveiled its goals last February when it launched a 10-year housing plan to address the emergency.
Flagstaff noted that addressing homelessness would likely require an undisclosed number of millions of dollars.
In addition to outlining its housing first approach, Flagstaff attributed homelessness to systemic racial inequities. It also suggested implementing housing equity, in which individuals would receive disparate treatment in order to achieve purportedly equal outcomes.
Last July, FSS received nearly $6.2 million to purchase another motel, the historic Howard Johnson Motel off of Route 66, to provide 58 rooms to the homeless. FSS estimated they could serve over 1,000 people annually with emergency shelter through the motel conversion.
According to the Arizona Department of Economic Security annual report issued last December, there were over 13,500 homeless people in the entire state.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
As the community mourned, Gov. Katie Hobbs celebrated killing a bill legalizing more homemade food sales with an email campaign applauding herself for issuing the most vetoes in state history. The bill would have the greatest impact on small business owners in the “cottage food” industry, such as street vendors.
State Rep. Alma Hernandez (D-LD20) voiced her frustration with Hobbs’ lack of support for the bill, HB2509, on Twitter. Hernandez, who trained at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said that Hobbs’ rationale for the veto flew in the face of public health professionals’ opinion.
“People are NOT dying from street food poisoning. This is personal. Not only do many Hispanics depend on this to make a living but many fear being reported and fined,” said Hernandez. “When my father was injured and could not work, my mother made cakes from home to ensure we could put gas and food on our table. This does nothing in the name of ‘health & safety.’ It goes against my community.”
As a public health professional, I am VERY disappointed to see that a bipartisan bill allowing Arizonans to make an honest living by selling things like tamales, tortillas, and sweets legally was vetoed by Gov. @katiehobbs. It makes no sense. People are NOT dying from street food…
— (((Rep.Alma Hernandez))) (@almaforarizona) April 19, 2023
State Rep. Consuelo Hernandez (D-LD21) added that the veto denied recognition of the popular practice of Latino communities relying on tamale sales for income. Hernandez called Hobbs’ celebratory email “cruel.”
❌It’s outright cruel to be celebrating the veto of #HB2509. The same hard working Latina women selling tamales will continue to live in fear. As it stands you can be fined $500 for doing so.
In Hobbs’ letter explaining her veto, the governor claimed that the bill would increase risk of food-borne illness, as well as limit quality control preventing food contamination from hazardous chemicals, or rodent or insect infestation.
Sen. President Warren Petersen (R-LD14) arranged for a veto override next Tuesday.
“We will put it up for a vote. #freethetamales,” wrote Petersen.
Former senior policy advisor to former Gov. Doug Ducey, Christina Corieri, noted that she was one such small business owner-hopeful impacted by Hobbs’ veto.
Things that I made & shared with colleagues that sadly will continue to be illegal if sold because of Governor Hobbs’ veto of #HB2509 – cookies with real royal icing & homemade marshmallows dipped in chocolate ganache made properly with cream instead of beer as suggested by DHS. pic.twitter.com/OsYlxSFMkb
After issuing the vetoes, Hobbs told her critics that she was delivering “sanity, not chaos” to the people.
“I will gladly work with anybody who will be a partner in addressing the real problems Arizonans face, but I refuse to play political games with our state government,” tweeted Hobbs. “I’m proud of the bipartisan accomplishments we have achieved and encourage leaders in our legislature to continue to come together and pass real solutions that will grow jobs, build roads and bridges, invest in education, and deal with our water crisis.”
I promised to deliver sanity, not chaos in the governor’s office and I am delivering. I will gladly work with anybody who will be a partner in addressing the real problems Arizonans face, but I refuse to play political games with our state government.
The Arizona Department of Education (ADE) released polling results last week reflecting around 80 percent support for police presence on K-12 campuses.
ADE contracted OH Predictive Insights to conduct the poll on public support for school resource officers. In a press release, ADE Superintendent Tom Horne stated that officers serve as an integral part of a healthy K-12 environment, providing safety while teaching classes and bonding with the students.
“They not only provide safety, but teach classes, and become friendly with students, so that students learn to trust them, rather than viewing police as enemies,” said Horne. “The worst tragedy one can imagine would be if a maniac invaded a school and killed 20 children, as has happened in other states, and that school passed up the opportunity to have a resource officer present to protect the students and staff.”
According to the poll results, 78 percent of respondents considered school safety very important and 81 percent supported police presence on campus.
The poll data came out just before the Phoenix Union High School District (PXU) voted to delay bringing back campus police. The vote came days after a high schooler at Betty Fairfax High School was arrested for carrying a gun onto campus.
Also in the press release, Horne urged PXU to hire school resource officers. It doesn’t appear that PXU plans to heed his call.
A poll completed last year with the PXU community reflected majority support for police presence on campuses. According to that poll, 80 percent supported officers on campus, and 82 percent testified to witnessing positive interactions between school resource officers and students.
PXU removed officers in 2021, following activist efforts associated with the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests and riots prompted by the death of George Floyd.
Last Saturday was the deadline for ADE’s school safety grant applications. However, ADE noted in its press release that it would grant exceptions for late applications through this Saturday, April 22.
Horne warned back in February that schools without law enforcement presence wouldn’t be recommended to the State Board of Education for school safety funding.
“Every school should have a law enforcement officer to protect students and staff, and this should be accomplished on an urgent basis,” said Horne. “Delay in implementing this goal could leave schools more vulnerable to a tragic catastrophe. Schools that currently have no armed presence yet submit grants applications that do not request an officer will not receive a recommendation from this Department to the State Board of Education.”
Superintendent Horne is urging schools to prioritize having armed officers from law enforcement or highly trained security on campus. Our office is accepting school safety grant program applications here >>> https://t.co/6bTNomHqvqpic.twitter.com/W4h4HVGStO
— Arizona Department of Education (@azedschools) February 8, 2023
Along with the poll, ADE issued a letter to every mayor throughout the state asking for support in establishing law enforcement presence on every campus. ADE is also awaiting data from local police departments on the impact of school resource officers.
In order to handle this initiative, ADE appointed a director of school safety: Michael Kurtenbach.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Arizona State University (ASU) featured prominent anti-racist proponent Ibram Kendi last Thursday, who proposed an authoritarian rule by anti-racist elite. Kendi said it wouldn’t be necessary for most of the country to support anti-racism — just those with power to mandate it. ASU characterized this solution and others presented by Kendi last week as the necessary steps for “meaningful change.”
“In order to create a society whereby we have policies and practices that are equitable and just and fair — and provide equal opportunity for all, and institutions that are built on those policies — we don’t necessarily need to create a critical mass of Americans who are anti-racist,” said Kendi. “We just need enough people who can get into positions of power, who will then institute [anti-racist] policies and practices.”
The campus venue for Kendi’s speech had to be relocated, reportedly due to outsized interest in the event. ASU estimated that about 1,200 individuals registered for the event. Kendi was the keynote speaker for the event: ASU’s annual A. Wade Smith and Elsie Moore Memorial Lecture on Race Relations. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences as well as the School of Social Transformation organized the event.
During his speech, Kendi advocated for reparations for descendants of slaves. He also claimed that Arizona law impedes voting rights for “black, brown, and indigenous people.”
Kendi, a humanities professor and founding director of the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research, has written several books promoting Critical Race Theory (CRT) concepts such as institutional racism and anti-racism. In his 2019 book “How To Be An Antiracist,” Kendi claimed that everything has to do with race.
“There’s no such thing as a non-racist or race-neutral policy,” wrote Kendi.
— Swapna Reddy, DrPh, JD, MPH (@SwapnaReddy01) April 14, 2023
Moderating Kendi’s speech were School of Social Transformation associate professors David Hinds and Lisa Anderson, also an associate dean in the Graduate College.
Anti-racism has support across the state’s university system. Last summer, a Northern Arizona University (NAU) teacher development affiliate made anti-racism the focus of its annual summer conference. NAU also trained faculty in anti-racism as part of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts.
Support for anti-racism policies and practices has also dictated Arizona’s K-12 schools in the past — though the current Arizona Department of Education administration opposes it. Arizona’s first inductee into the National Teachers Hall of Fame declared that even “nice, white folks” could be racist if they didn’t subscribe to anti-racism, and that teachers opposed to anti-racism shouldn’t be allowed to teach black children.
School districts in recent years have established or supported policies and groups that subscribe to anti-racism, such as Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) and Litchfield Elementary School District (LESD).
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
