Blauvelt Dominican Sister Ceil Lavan will be traveling North Dakota to join Dominicans in Solidarity. Below is a letter that she wrote to share with the community.
Dear Associates and Sisters,
I am leaving tomorrow morning to join Dominicans in Solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux and thousands of other Native Americans and their supporters who are taking a stand to protect water by opposing the Dakota Access Pipeline. Sadly there has been a violent military response from local police against the water protectors.
In our 2015 OPSCC Corporate Stance on Climate Change, we committed to “joining like-minded groups to mobilize awareness and action toward a more sustainable future by working for systemic change and legislation to protect the environment and the community of life.”
LCWR has a 2014 resolution, which calls us to “commit ourselves to use our spiritual, social, and educational resources and our public credibility to promote the national transition from fossil fuel energy sources to renewable energy sources as quickly as possible.” This resolution also challenges us to take action, “We cannot remain bystanders as extractive industries destroy forests, wildlife, and flora and pollute land, air, and water all around us. We reject corporation tactics that threaten, exploit, and coerce landowners and residents and risk public health and safety.”
New pipelines, like the Dakota Access Pipeline and the local AIM pipeline which runs dangerously close to the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant, escalate the use of fossil fuels which are a major cause of climate change devastation.
While I have the opportunity to be in solidarity with the Water Protectors on Standing Rock Reservation along with Dominicans from Sinsinawa and Adrian, there are many ways to express our solidarity. Prayers for and donations to the water protectors and investments in alternative sources of energy are ways of taking a stand in Solidarity with Standing Rock. Blauvelt has generously donated to the legal defense fund for the many peaceful indigenous people who were arrested during their public times of prayer for their sacred water and land.
Contacting mainstream media to ask why they are not paying more attention to Standing Rock and writing to your congress people to challenge the use of eminent domain for pipelines when we should be investing in alternative energy sources are wonderful expressions of solidarity.
The social justice committee is organizing a local Standing Rock Solidarity Event. On Nov. 20th at 1:00 PM, we will gather for a water ritual at the Hudson River in Nyack’s Memorial Park. Rides will be provided for those needing transportation.
More information on this action is forthcoming.
Our sacred land and water are being sacrificed for private companies’ profit; we, in our Corporate Stance, have committed to take action to prevent this.
Please keep our Dominican delegation and the cause of the Standing Rock Water Protectors in your prayers.
Thank you,
Ceil
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