Andrea Perkins

The last couple of weeks have been rough, we are living a time where violence and hate are on our screens at all times. With all that's going on sometimes, it's good to give yourself a break and watch or listen to things that are not connected to the "real world" and will bring you some peace.

Indigenous struggles go under-reported, mostly because they are either outside of the mainstream media’s focus, or because topics that should be talked about as Indigenous issues are not labeled as such due to the colonial definitions of who counts as Indigenous. Just the inner workings of who is seen as Indigenous from our media, and who isn’t, is another in-depth article. From police killings of Native people during an “independence day” celebration to the concentration camps holding Indigenous peoples that mainstream media does not recognize as Indigenous peoples. The media often doesn’t tell the stories in the context that we need them to be told in. Removing or overlooking Indigenous identity from some of these stories aids in the erasure of our communities. From the Island of Hawaii and Borikén (Puerto Rico) to the settler-colonial borders and throughout Turtle Island (the "Americas”) our community is fighting to save the earth and our people.

While growing up in the 90s my favorite Disney movie was undoubtedly The Little Mermaid. It was released in 1989, and it was the first movie I saw in the theater. The Little Mermaid was my life. I knew all the songs. I had an Ariel doll and birthday cake. I wanted to be Ariel. I dreamed of being a mermaid when I went to the beach with my cousins, talked about Ariel nonstop, I even named my little brother Erick after the Prince. My brother is still sore over this, and he is in his 20s. Get the point? I was obsessed.