'English First' policies and
the uncomfortable waning of empire

* “The English Language Bill demonstrated that New Zealand First was "trying to appeal to a racist fringe". Professor O'Sullivan >
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-05/new-zealand-first-pushes-to-make-english-an-official-language/106410158

* "The English-only movement...is a political movement that advocates for the exclusive use of the English language in official United States government communication through the establishment of English as the only official language in the United States." >
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English-only_movement

* “Australia is home to over 250 distinct Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages, comprising around 800 dialects, which are deeply connected to specific land, culture, and identity.” >
https://www.alt.nsw.gov.au/learn/nsw-aboriginal-languages-information

* 'Scarily diverse' people from First Nations or from a culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
https://theconversation.com/a-shadow-on-your-art-how-do-first-nations-and-culturally-diverse-authors-feel-about-representation-275446

* "Monolingualism or unilingualism, is the condition of being able to speak only a single language." >
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monolingualism

#EnglishLanguage #EnglishFirst #language #LanguagePolicies #monolingualism #MonolingualMindset #diverse #polyglots #MultilingualPeople #NormativeMonolingualism #ForcedAssimilation #settlersociety #Anglophones #FirstNationsPeoples #Gumbaynggirr

"Since his inauguration, it has become all too plausible that the American public will forget what we have learned about our country’s #forcedAssimilation of #NativeChildren. #Trump is taking the United States on a historical amnesia tour, suppressing and rewriting our past and overlooking tribal sovereignty."

https://thebaffler.com/outbursts/serious-reservations-martin
#Indigenous #NativeAmericans #IndianBoardingSchools #NativeBoardingSchools #NativeAmericanBoardingSchools #USpol #USpolitics #colonialViolence

China’s Russian Town Has Log Cabins and Cyrillic Signs, but No Russians

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/04/world/asia/china-russia-xi-putin.html

Russia Issues Passports to Ukrainian Children in Occupied Crimea.
Watch full report:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/mXXXrCm3IEY

#RussiaUkraineConflict #CrimeaOccupation #ForcedAssimilation #UkrainianChildren #RussianPassports #CrimeaAnnexation

#NativeAmericans Hold #NationalDayOfMourning on #Thanksgiving

"'Thanksgiving' is a white-washed holiday designed to conceal its true origins of violence, #genocide, #LandTheft, and #ForcedAssimilation," - #IndigenousEnvironmentalNetwork.

Jessica Corbett
Nov 28, 2024

"In contrast with Thanksgiving celebrations across the United States on Thursday, Native Americans held a National Day of Mourning, promoted accurate history, and championed Indigenous voices and struggles.

"Despite rainy conditions, the United American Indians of New England held its 55th annual National Day of Mourning at Cole's Hill in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Kisha James, who is an enrolled member of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) and also Oglala Lakota, shared how her grandfather founded the event in 1970 and pledged to continue to "tear down the Thanksgiving mythology."

"The past influences the present" and "the settler project" continues with racism, misogyny, and anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination, James told the crowd. "The Pilgrims are not ancient history."

"James took aim at fossil fuel pipelines, oil rigs, skyscrapers, corporations, the U.S. military, mass incarceration, and the criminalization of immigrants, and declared that "no one is illegal on stolen on land."

"Jean-Luc Pierite, a member of the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana and president of the board of directors of the North American Indian Center of Boston who helped organize this year's gathering, told USA Today that "while we are mourning some tragic history but also contemporary issues, we are also expressing gratitude for each [other] and building this community space."

"Coming together as a community for a feast and to express gratitude—that's not something that was imported to this continent because of colonization," Pierite said. "Indigenous peoples have had these practices going back beyond, beyond colonial contact."

This year's event in Plymouth included speeches about the suffering of Palestinians—as Israel wages a U.S. government-backed war on the Gaza Strip that has killed at least 44,330 people, injured 104,933, and led to a genocide case at the International Court of Justice—and of people impacted by extractive industries.

"The message from Indigenous peoples internationally has been consistent: that we need to center the development of traditional ecological knowledge, Indigenous knowledge, and move away from fossil fuel extractive economies," said Pierite. "At this time the world needs Indigenous peoples."

https://www.commondreams.org/news/native-americans-hold-national-day-of-mourning-on-thanksgiving

#FreePalestine #FreeLeonardPeltier #SettlerColonialism #FreePalestine #FreeGaza #WestBank #ClimateJustice #DayOfMourning #NoDAPL #LandBack #DefendTheSacred
#IndigenousClimateActivists #MMIWG
#TwoSpirits #NoPipelines
#LeaveItInTheGround
#ExtractiveMining
#NoMiningWithoutConsent
#WaterIsLife #HumanRightsAreNeverWrong #ExtractiveIndustries.
#TraditionalEcologicalKnowledge, #IndigenousKnowledge #PostFossilFuels
#LoveYourMotherEarth #ResistWhiteSupremacy
#CorporateColonialism #Capitalism

#Tibet #China #ForcedAssimilation #FreeTibet
“We must continue adapting religion to the Chinese context and guiding Tibetan Buddhism to adapt to socialist society, which can help Tibetan Buddhism better adapt to the realities of China,” he said.

NO! 😶

China denies accusations of forced assimilation and curbs on religious freedom in Tibet
https://apnews.com/article/china-tibet-buddhism-boarding-schools-5c1cff0837dbd67ee26d4ae9e1e4f348

#Tibet #China #ForcedAssimilation #FreeTibet
China shows off a Tibetan boarding school that's part of a system some see as forced assimilation | AP News

"Village schools have been shuttered across China's Tibet and replaced with centralized boarding schools that critics say represents forced assimilation."
https://apnews.com/article/tibet-china-boarding-schools-6881277c7f22dd97a2e3459067756297