Self-Fulfilling Prophecy - Live

Warning
You are leaving your safe space and entering a bravery zone
With courage and compassion, I expose you to my culture
Bienvenidos a todos
Welcome
Tenemos una noche especial para ustedes
We have a special and meaningful night for you all
Estoy aquí para representar a mi gente, a mi pueblo
Te hablo hoy en español e inglés, las lenguas de mis colonizadores
I am here to represent my people, my tribe
And I am speaking to you today in the languages of my colonizers
My mother tongue is lost
I was initially planning to read a simple land acknowledgement
Crafted by CU Boulder
Quote
CU recognizes that it sits on the traditional territories
And ancestral homelands
Of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, Ute
And many other Native American Nations
It continues by saying
CU can never undo or rectify the devastation
And we are committed to
Something, something and blah, blah, blah
Only a fool could deny the power of manifestation
So when CU says we can never undo
They are spitting in the faces
Of the descendants of Indigenous ancestors
And the ancestors demand answers
It is critical to recognize that
There are many limits to reconstruction
Educate yourselves on why reconstruction failed
For my other ancestors, Black Americans
But, today we are in one of the most progressive
Accepting
And willing generations
Dear Liberal White People
Thank you
Thank you for your efforts
Remember to keep doing better

But, Renae, where do we go from here?

Why thank you for that very important question
The only thing that is equal to stolen land is land
So I'm here to tell everyone
As many, many, have said before me
And continue to say
Give our land back
Just give it back
It was never yours
And it's not even really ours
Because ownership is a capitalist scheme
But still, it is our responsibility
Indigenous people have a special connection to Mother Earth
And clearly we are not on the right path
Lost from our origins
We are confused
When I began this intro
It was just supposed to be a simple acknowledgement
But I cannot acknowledge land
And reparations for my Afro-Indigenous ancestors
Without acknowledging the ethnocide
That is still going on

Two-Spirit people are real and mentally sound
Trans people are real and deserving of equal rights
Drag stars are real, beautiful, and safer than schools
I fear for my children's children
The babies that don't even exist yet
Their lives are less valuable than guns
And while I love my AR-15
I love my people more
America has a problem, y'all
Problems
A nation formed by genociding half my ancestors
And enslaving the other half cannot continue this way
We are a house divided

So, I call you to action
When you see Black, Brown, Indigenous, Biracial
People of color in action
Listen to them, support them, and fight with them
And when women take the lead, follow them
Because, until the Black woman is totally free, none of us are free
I think we can all agree the planet deserves better
It needs better
But, CU is allowing a self-fulfilling prophecy to take place

So, I want to offer you 10 tips to being a better ally
Shut up, sit down, and listen
To Black, Brown, and Colored voices
Take urgent and immediate action
Do it right now
Find yourself as the only white person in the room
I know it might be uncomfortable
But it's for the best
Understand that you do not understand
And for some things you never can
Believe what People of Color say
Because lived experiences are their own sources
Segregation is safety
Don't take it personally
Not everything is about you
Respect the culture
Celebrate the culture
And pay homage to the culture
Not everything is black and white
We live in the gray area
Reevaluate your understanding of good and evil
You don't need to understand the issue
To support the solutions
Like reparations for the descendants of enslaved people
And follow the example of CU
Because it's not perfect
It has many flaws
But every day they are doing better
For example, the CU promise covers tuition for Colorado residents
US citizens who are Pell Grant eligible
And seeking their first undergraduate Bachelor's degree
Including newly accepted and continuing students
For People of Color who exist under constant economic stress
This is a game-changer
I hope you have heard something about the racial wealth gap
It is a part of our society that demonstrates
The plight of People of Color

If I make you uncomfortable
Or I offend you
I implore you to educate yourself as much as possible
Everything you need to know or want to understand is there
Do the work
End your generational curses
We all have our own generational curses
Someone once told me
You don't have to learn about anything you don't have to fix
So, I learn about everything
Consuming truth and knowledge
Because I have to fix it all
I have to fix it all, for everyone
But I can't do it alone
It's killing me
I am breaking
I am crumbling
I am drowning
Please, please, please, help me
You are powerful, and you, personally, can help me
When you leave here
Address the issues facing the most vulnerable of our country

I hope you feel empowered
You feeling miserable doesn't change anything
Once you know better, you can do better
And that's the motto
It's the good medicine
It's a hard pill to swallow
Marginalized people bring positive change
And progress to our world
Queer, gender-non-conforming, trans, women, men, non-binary
Neurodivergent, disabled, liberal, leftist, tree hugging hippies
We are the future
Many important people are working on the climate crisis
But for us to understand the problem
We need to understand who will feel the effects
It's not the billion-dollar fossil fuel industry that will suffer
It's the bottom
It's the working class, highly racialized and marginalized people
That will burn first
Now is the time to educate yourself
On this one hundred percent true and scientific fact
Social justice is environmental justice
My name is Renae Hernandez
And I am seeking my Bachelor's degree in environmental studies
I hope to focus on environmental justice and field research
I grew up in Denver
And I have had the immense pleasure and privilege
To commune with nature and great mountains and live-giving rivers

There is so much we can save
There is still so much we can save
It's never too late to take action
And I know that you all, specifically my generation
The strongest and most resilient
Will bring about liberty, justice, equality
And equity for all Americans
Stay hopeful
Work hard
Play hard, and please
Give a big welcome to our event host and performers