Latest news with #Indigenous
Korea Herald
an hour ago
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
Fans criticize Beyonce for shirt calling Native Americans 'the enemies of peace'
A T-shirt worn by Beyonce during a Juneteenth performance on her Cowboy Carter tour has sparked a discussion over how Americans frame their history and caused a wave of criticism for the Houston-born superstar. The T-shirt worn during a concert in Paris featured images of the Buffalo Soldiers, who belonged to Black US Army units active during the late 1800s and early 1900s. On the back was a lengthy description of the soldiers that included 'Their antagonists were the enemies of peace, order and settlement: warring Indians, bandits, cattle thieves, murderous gunmen, bootleggers, trespassers, and Mexican revolutionaries.' Images of the shirt and videos of the performance are also featured on Beyonce's website. As she prepares to return to the US for performances in her hometown this weekend, fans and Indigenous influencers took to social media to criticize Beyonce for framing Native Americans and Mexican revolutionaries as anything but the victims of American imperialism and promoting anti-Indigenous language. A publicist for Beyonce did not respond to requests for comment. The Buffalo Soldiers served in six military units created after the Civil War in 1866. They were comprised formerly enslaved men, freemen, and Black Civil War soldiers and fought in hundreds of conflicts — including in the Spanish-American War, World War I, and World War II — until they were disbanded in 1951. As the quote on Beyoncé's shirt notes, they also fought numerous battles against Indigenous peoples as part of the US Army's campaign of violence and land theft during the country's westward expansion. Some historians say the moniker 'Buffalo Soldiers' was bestowed by the tribes who admired the bravery and tenacity of the fighters, but that might be more legend than fact. 'At the end of the day, we really don't have that kind of information,' said Cale Carter, director of exhibitions at the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum in Houston. Carter and other museum staff said that, only in the past few years, the museum made broader efforts to include more of the complexities of the battles the Buffalo Soldiers fought against Native Americans and Mexican revolutionaries and the role they played in the subjugation of Indigenous peoples. They, much like many other museums across the country, are hoping to add more nuance to the framing of American history and be more respectful of the ways they have caused harm to Indigenous communities . 'We romanticize the Western frontier,' he said. 'The early stories that talked about the Buffalo Soldiers were impacted by a lot of those factors. So you really didn't see a changing in that narrative until recently.' There has often been a lack of diverse voices discussing the way Buffalo Soldiers history is framed, said Michelle Tovar, the museum's director of education. The current political climate has put enormous pressure on schools, including those in Texas, to avoid honest discussions about American history, she said. 'Right now, in this area, we are getting push back from a lot of school districts in which we can't go and teach this history," Tovar said. "We are a museum where we can at least be a hub, where we can invite the community regardless of what districts say, invite them to learn it and do what we can do the outreach to continue to teach honest history.' Beyonce's recent album 'Act II: Cowboy Carter' has played on a kind of American iconography, which many see as her way of subverting the country music genre's adjacency to whiteness and reclaiming the cowboy aesthetic for Black Americans . Last year, she became the first Black woman ever to top Billboard's country music chart, and 'Cowboy Carter' won her the top prize at the 2025 Grammy Awards, album of the year . 'The Buffalo Soldiers play this major role in the Black ownership of the American West,' said Tad Stoermer, a historian and professor at Johns Hopkins University. 'In my view, (Beyonce is) well aware of the role that these images play. This is the 'Cowboy Carter' tour for crying out loud. The entire tour, the entire album, the entire piece is situated in this layered narrative.' But Stoermer also points out that the Buffalo Soldier have been framed in the American story in a way that also plays into the myths of American nationalism. As Beyonce's use of Buffalo Soldiers imagery implies, Black Americans also use their story to claim agency over their role in the creation of the country, said Alaina E. Roberts, a historian, author and professor at Pittsburgh University who studies the intersection of Black and Native American life from the Civil War to present day. 'That's the category in which she thought maybe she was coming into this conversation, but the Buffalo Soldiers are even a step above that because they were literally involved in not just the settlement of the West but of genocide in a sense,' she said. Several Native influencers, performers, and academics took to social media this week to criticize Beyonce or call the language on her shirt anti-Indigenous. 'Do you think Beyonce will apologize (or acknowledge) the shirt,' an Indigenous news and culture Instagram account with more than 130,000, asked in a post Thursday. Many of her critics, as well as fans, agree. A flood of social media posts called out the pop star for the historic framing on the shirt. 'The Buffalo Soldiers are an interesting historical moment to look at. But we have to be honest about what they did, especially in their operations against Indigenous Americans and Mexicans,' said Chisom Okorafor, who posts on TikTok under the handle @confirmedsomaya. Okorafor said there is no 'progressive' way to reclaim America's history of empire building in the West, and that Beyoncé's use of Western symbolism sends a problematic message. 'Which is that Black people too can engage in American nationalism," she said. "Black people too can profit from the atrocities of American empire. It is a message that tells you to abandon immigrants, Indigenous people, and people who live outside of the United States. It is a message that tells you not only is it a virtue to have been born in this country but the longer your line extends in this country the more virtuous you are.' (AP)
Time of India
an hour ago
- Politics
- Time of India
New global energy report offers path forward on fossil fuel phaseout, just transition, renewable energy models
The Women's Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) on Thursday released a new report on effective and equitable community-led energy solutions to address challenges to just transition away from fossil fuels. The report, How Local Community Power is Central to a Just Renewable Energy Transition , spotlights scalable global community initiatives that are advancing decentralized and democratized energy solutions. The report was released during the Global Women's Assembly for Climate Justice : Path to COP30 and Beyond, and comes on the last day of government climate negotiations in Bonn, and ahead of COP30 in Brazil, where the international community will need to tackle not only escalating climate disasters but also the expansion of fossil fuel extraction and infrastructure by high-income countries. The report's analysis explores some of the barriers to implementing a just transition and the complexities of shifting away from current social and economic structures. Such structures include economic systems that promote fossil fuel production (including the trillions of dollars in government fossil fuel subsidies); societal patterns characterized by overconsumption in high-income countries; and current models of utility companies that further enable fossil fuel use and discourage a transition to more affordable and beneficial energy alternatives. The authors warn that the energy transition cannot replicate the same injustices as the fossil fuel economy. Instead, this transition must prioritize ecological well-being and community-owned renewable energy projects that are rooted in democratic governance and local empowerment. 'The era of fossil fuels has been defined by corporate greed, environmental destruction, Indigenous and human rights violations, and the denial of communities' right to clean, affordable energy,' said Osprey Orielle Lake, Founder, Executive Director at Women's Earth and Climate Action Network. 'As the climate crisis accelerates and governments regress on their climate commitments, frontline communities are showing the world what a just and regenerative future looks like—one rooted in equity, democracy, Indigenous and human rights, and community-led regenerative energy solutions. We have a narrow window to act and accelerate efforts for a Just Transition. COP30 must be a turning point to phase out fossil fuels and take action toward a just energy system that serves people and planet.' Case studies from the report explore principles and on-the-ground lessons that can inform a rights-based, environmentally sustainable, community-led energy transition. For instance, in Spain, a member-owned energy cooperative began providing renewable energy to its community following the 2008 economic crisis and frustrations over corporate control of energy access. In Ladakh, India, where the Himalayas make it challenging for villages to access outdated energy infrastructure, off-grid and decentralized solar solutions, as well as microgrids, are now a reliable source of energy for many remote villages. The report closes with a call for action: 'Communities across the world recognize that a transition away from fossil fuels is not only urgent but also inevitable, with many taking it upon themselves to implement socially and environmentally just solutions. Looking forward, governments, businesses, and civil society can work together to scale effective and lasting solutions, creating just pathways for economic transformation that do not perpetuate past and present injustices, but instead build a just, equitable, and inclusive future for all.'
Boston Globe
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Fans criticize Beyoncé for shirt calling Native Americans ‘the enemies of peace'
As she prepares to return to the U.S. for performances in her hometown this weekend, fans and Indigenous influencers took to social media to criticize Beyoncé for framing Native Americans and Mexican revolutionaries as anything but the victims of American imperialism and promoting anti-Indigenous language. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up A publicist for Beyoncé did not respond to requests for comment. Advertisement Who were the Buffalo Soldiers? The Buffalo Soldiers served in six military units created after the Civil War in 1866. They were comprised formerly enslaved men, freemen, and Black Civil War soldiers and fought in hundreds of conflicts — including in the Spanish-American War, World War I, and World War II — until they were disbanded in 1951. As the quote on Beyoncé's shirt notes, they also fought numerous battles against Indigenous peoples as part of the U.S. Army's campaign of violence and land theft during the country's westward expansion. Some historians say the moniker 'Buffalo Soldiers' was bestowed by the tribes who admired the bravery and tenacity of the fighters, but that might be more legend than fact. 'At the end of the day, we really don't have that kind of information,' said Cale Carter, director of exhibitions at the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum in Houston. Advertisement Carter and other museum staff said that, only in the past few years, the museum made broader efforts to include more of the complexities of the battles the Buffalo Soldiers fought against Native Americans and Mexican revolutionaries and the role they played in the subjugation of Indigenous peoples. They, much like many other museums across the country, are hoping to add more nuance to the framing of American history and be more respectful of the ways they have 'We romanticize the Western frontier,' he said. 'The early stories that talked about the Buffalo Soldiers were impacted by a lot of those factors. So you really didn't see a changing in that narrative until recently.' There has often been a lack of diverse voices discussing the way Buffalo Soldiers history is framed, said Michelle Tovar, the museum's director of education. The current political climate has put enormous pressure on schools, including those in Texas, to avoid honest discussions about American history, she said. 'Right now, in this area, we are getting push back from a lot of school districts in which we can't go and teach this history,' Tovar said. 'We are a museum where we can at least be a hub, where we can invite the community regardless of what districts say, invite them to learn it and do what we can do the outreach to continue to teach honest history.' Advertisement Historians scrutinize reclamation motive Beyoncé's recent album 'Act II: Cowboy Carter' has played on a kind of American iconography, which many see as her way of subverting the country music genre's adjacency to whiteness and 'The Buffalo Soldiers play this major role in the Black ownership of the American West,' said Tad Stoermer, a historian and professor at Johns Hopkins University. 'In my view, (Beyoncé is) well aware of the role that these images play. This is the 'Cowboy Carter' tour for crying out loud. The entire tour, the entire album, the entire piece is situated in this layered narrative.' But Stoermer also points out that the Buffalo Soldier have been framed in the American story in a way that also plays into the myths of American nationalism. As Beyoncé's use of Buffalo Soldiers imagery implies, Black Americans also use their story to claim agency over their role in the creation of the country, said Alaina E. Roberts, a historian, author and professor at Pittsburgh University who studies the intersection of Black and Native American life from the Civil War to present day. 'That's the category in which she thought maybe she was coming into this conversation, but the Buffalo Soldiers are even a step above that because they were literally involved in not just the settlement of the West but of genocide in a sense,' she said. Online backlash builds ahead of Houston shows Several Native influencers, performers, and academics took to social media this week to criticize Beyoncé or call the language on her shirt anti-Indigenous. 'Do you think Beyoncé will apologize (or acknowledge) the shirt,' an Indigenous news and culture Instagram account with more than 130,000, asked in a post Thursday. Advertisement Many of her critics, as well as fans, agree. A flood of social media posts called out the pop star for the historic framing on the shirt. 'The Buffalo Soldiers are an interesting historical moment to look at. But we have to be honest about what they did, especially in their operations against Indigenous Americans and Mexicans,' said Chisom Okorafor, who posts on TikTok under the handle @confirmedsomaya. Okorafor said there is no 'progressive' way to reclaim America's history of empire building in the West, and that Beyoncé's use of Western symbolism sends a problematic message. 'Which is that Black people too can engage in American nationalism,' she said. 'Black people too can profit from the atrocities of American empire. It is a message that tells you to abandon immigrants, Indigenous people, and people who live outside of the United States. It is a message that tells you not only is it a virtue to have been born in this country but the longer your line extends in this country the more virtuous you are.'
Winnipeg Free Press
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Fans criticize Beyoncé for shirt calling Native Americans ‘the enemies of peace'
A T-shirt worn by Beyoncé during a Juneteenth performance on her 'Cowboy Carter' tour has sparked a discussion over how Americans frame their history and caused a wave of criticism for the Houston-born superstar. The T-shirt worn during a concert in Paris featured images of the Buffalo Soldiers, who belonged to Black U.S. Army units active during the late 1800s and early 1900s. On the back was a lengthy description of the soldiers that included 'Their antagonists were the enemies of peace, order and settlement: warring Indians, bandits, cattle thieves, murderous gunmen, bootleggers, trespassers, and Mexican revolutionaries.' Images of the shirt and videos of the performance are also featured on Beyoncé's website. As she prepares to return to the U.S. for performances in her hometown this weekend, fans and Indigenous influencers took to social media to criticize Beyoncé for framing Native Americans and Mexican revolutionaries as anything but the victims of American imperialism and promoting anti-Indigenous language. A publicist for Beyoncé did not respond to requests for comment. Who were the Buffalo Soldiers? The Buffalo Soldiers served in six military units created after the Civil War in 1866. They were comprised formerly enslaved men, freemen, and Black Civil War soldiers and fought in hundreds of conflicts — including in the Spanish-American War, World War I, and World War II — until they were disbanded in 1951. As the quote on Beyoncé's shirt notes, they also fought numerous battles against Indigenous peoples as part of the U.S. Army's campaign of violence and land theft during the country's westward expansion. Some historians say the moniker 'Buffalo Soldiers' was bestowed by the tribes who admired the bravery and tenacity of the fighters, but that might be more legend than fact. 'At the end of the day, we really don't have that kind of information,' said Cale Carter, director of exhibitions at the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum in Houston. Carter and other museum staff said that, only in the past few years, the museum made broader efforts to include more of the complexities of the battles the Buffalo Soldiers fought against Native Americans and Mexican revolutionaries and the role they played in the subjugation of Indigenous peoples. They, much like many other museums across the country, are hoping to add more nuance to the framing of American history and be more respectful of the ways they have caused harm to Indigenous communities. 'We romanticize the Western frontier,' he said. 'The early stories that talked about the Buffalo Soldiers were impacted by a lot of those factors. So you really didn't see a changing in that narrative until recently.' There has often been a lack of diverse voices discussing the way Buffalo Soldiers history is framed, said Michelle Tovar, the museum's director of education. The current political climate has put enormous pressure on schools, including those in Texas, to avoid honest discussions about American history, she said. 'Right now, in this area, we are getting push back from a lot of school districts in which we can't go and teach this history,' Tovar said. 'We are a museum where we can at least be a hub, where we can invite the community regardless of what districts say, invite them to learn it and do what we can do the outreach to continue to teach honest history.' Historians scrutinize reclamation motive Beyoncé's recent album 'Act II: Cowboy Carter' has played on a kind of American iconography, which many see as her way of subverting the country music genre's adjacency to whiteness and reclaiming the cowboy aesthetic for Black Americans. Last year, she became the first Black woman ever to top Billboard's country music chart, and 'Cowboy Carter' won her the top prize at the 2025 Grammy Awards, album of the year. 'The Buffalo Soldiers play this major role in the Black ownership of the American West,' said Tad Stoermer, a historian and professor at Johns Hopkins University. 'In my view, (Beyoncé is) well aware of the role that these images play. This is the 'Cowboy Carter' tour for crying out loud. The entire tour, the entire album, the entire piece is situated in this layered narrative.' But Stoermer also points out that the Buffalo Soldier have been framed in the American story in a way that also plays into the myths of American nationalism. As Beyoncé's use of Buffalo Soldiers imagery implies, Black Americans also use their story to claim agency over their role in the creation of the country, said Alaina E. Roberts, a historian, author and professor at Pittsburgh University who studies the intersection of Black and Native American life from the Civil War to present day. 'That's the category in which she thought maybe she was coming into this conversation, but the Buffalo Soldiers are even a step above that because they were literally involved in not just the settlement of the West but of genocide in a sense,' she said. Online backlash builds ahead of Houston shows Several Native influencers, performers, and academics took to social media this week to criticize Beyoncé or call the language on her shirt anti-Indigenous. 'Do you think Beyoncé will apologize (or acknowledge) the shirt,' an Indigenous news and culture Instagram account with more than 130,000, asked in a post Thursday. Many of her critics, as well as fans, agree. A flood of social media posts called out the pop star for the historic framing on the shirt. 'The Buffalo Soldiers are an interesting historical moment to look at. But we have to be honest about what they did, especially in their operations against Indigenous Americans and Mexicans,' said Chisom Okorafor, who posts on TikTok under the handle @confirmedsomaya. Okorafor said there is no 'progressive' way to reclaim America's history of empire building in the West, and that Beyoncé's use of Western symbolism sends a problematic message. 'Which is that Black people too can engage in American nationalism,' she said. 'Black people too can profit from the atrocities of American empire. It is a message that tells you to abandon immigrants, Indigenous people, and people who live outside of the United States. It is a message that tells you not only is it a virtue to have been born in this country but the longer your line extends in this country the more virtuous you are.'
The Age
2 hours ago
- General
- The Age
This habitat is more diverse than a rainforest. Yet people drive over it
Last month the Victorian Conservation Regulator said Powercor's vegetation management and maintenance activities in 2023 and 2024 had impacted habitat with high conservation values in south-west Victoria. In a statement, the regulator said Powercor's enforceable undertaking committed the company to improving its environmental performance and repairing previous damage. Powercor will have to remediate 32 sites and report on its progress until the undertaking ends in 2028. The conservation regulator said Powercor had cooperated throughout the investigation. Powercor service delivery and vegetation management general manager James Walker said the company's work to keep the electricity network safe meant its teams regularly needed to quickly access sites in parks, grasslands and other sensitive areas, including along roadways. But Walker said Powercor had identified how it could better preserve the environment. 'We will be improving how we identify and protect flora and fauna, enhancing staff training and remediating impacted sites,' he said. But there's hope, despite the enormous damage inflicted on these sensitive habitats since European settlement. Landcare groups, researchers and private landowners are rehabilitating grasslands, harvesting and germinating native seeds and replanting Indigenous grasses and wildflowers in places where they have disappeared. The roads at Woorndoo, between Warrnambool and Ararat in western Victoria, still have healthy tracts of kangaroo and wallaby grasses and other grass species. Native grasses also thrive in a four-hectare tract of public land called the Woorndoo Common, which erupts in colour with chocolate lilies, everlasting daisies, geraniums and sun orchids in spring. Now, the grasses are a light tan colour with the stubby green shoots of native flowers between the tussocks. But Woorndoo Chatsworth Landcare Group chair Susan Bosch said the area would undergo its annual transformation after winter. 'If you come back at the end of October it will be a sea of colour,' she said. The Glenelg Hopkins Catchment Management Authority is working with La Trobe University and Regional Roads Victoria to replant native grasses on roadsides in the Victorian volcanic plains region in south-west Victoria. Stevenson said the project involved 'scalping' weed-dominated roadsides after controlled burns and replanting the areas with native grasses. She said the replanting project had already delivered results, with animals found at some sites, including the striped legless lizard, which is listed as endangered by the Victorian government. The grasslands' rehabilitation initiative also involves working with farmers who have remnant native grasses on their land. Controlled burns conducted by the Country Fire Authority have also been crucial in preserving remnant grasslands and controlling weeds. Stevenson said 60 per cent of grasslands' biomass – the total quantity of the living organisms – was below ground. 'A lot of species need that disturbance regime from fire. So they come back when we get the first rain,' Stevenson said. 'Without CFA brigades doing burns we would definitely be losing these grasslands.' Melbourne University honorary fellow John Delpratt said Indigenous people had managed the grassy plains for food and hunting before Europeans arrived. 'Then the sheep and cattle came in and that very rapidly degraded that vegetation system because we now had large flocks of hard hoofed animals,' he said. 'The vegetation had grown for a very long time with soft-footed animals.' Delpratt said exotic species of grass and fertilisers resulted in the grass areas becoming highly modified. Arthur Rylah Institute director James Todd said that due to historic land clearing the best examples of grasslands in Victoria's south-west now occurred on narrow strips of public land along roadsides and train lines and pockets of private land. He said the state government was working to increase protection of native grasslands of the Victorian volcanic plains in the south-west from 2 per cent to 20 per cent of what remained of the critically endangered ecosystem. Grassy Plains Network facilitator and grasslands expert Adrian Marshall said the diverse ecosystems had once provided habitat for many medium-sized creatures, including potoroos, bilbies and bandicoots. 'They would have been everywhere,' he said. 'There would have been amazing sweeping plains, ephemeral wetlands and tree-lined creeks.'
