Los Angeles celebrates Indigenous People's Day this Monday
LOS ANGELES, CA (FOX 11) - This Monday, Los Angeles will be observing Indigenous People's Day.
Last August, councilman Mitch O'Farrell led the initiative to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous People's Day. The result is that the city council chose to abolish Columbus Day, and on Monday, the inaugural Indigenous People's DAy event will be held at LA City Hall and Grand Park.
On Good Day LA Friday morning, O'Farrell joined us along with Taboo from Black Eyed Peas.
Taboo says, "This is something that has been in the works for many years. This amazing man being a voice to Indian county and to native folks as I am made this happen with this team and for me as an Indigenous person."
"The history of what happened through colonization is unambiguous, so we knew that we wanted to find a place of honor," says O'Farrell. "We knew that we had this falsehood in celebrating Christopher Columbus -- a man who never set foot on what's know as the continental US -- but what he did do to the entire western hemisphere was set in motion centuries of atrocities and genocide. So, we want to celebrate in a proper way."
Join Councilmember Mitch O'Farrell and the Los Angeles City/County Native American Indian Commission in celebrating with art, music, culture, unity, food, and more. This major day-long event starts at 7am at Civic Center in downtown Los Angeles, 200 N Spring Street, Los Angeles, 90012. Both Grand Park and City Hall public spaces will be utilized for activities planned throughout the day, including: a sunrise ceremony, 5K run, parade of nations, Native American powwow, panel sessions on trending topics related to Native Americans and the community, a fashion show, and a grand finale that will include a performance by critically acclaimed Native American rock group Redbone. For more information, visit their event page on Facebook.
We also asked Taboo about their new song Stand Up and it's political message. You can watch that video here:
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