When the Red Nation released their call for a Red Deal, it generated
coverage in places from Teen Vogue to Jacobin to the New Republic,
was endorsed by the DSA, and has galvanized organizing and action.
Now, in response to popular demand, the Red Nation expands their
original statement filling in the histories and ideas that formed it and
forwarding an even more powerful case for the actions it demands.
One-part visionary platform, one-part practical toolkit, the Red Deal is
a platform that encompasses everyone, including non-Indigenous comrades
and relatives who live on Indigenous land. We--Indigenous, Black and
people of color, women and trans folks, migrants, and working
people--did not create this disaster, but we have inherited it. We have
barely a decade to turn back the tide of climate disaster. It is time to
reclaim the life and destiny that has been stolen from us and rise up
together to confront this challenge and build a world where all life can
thrive. Only mass movements can do what the moment demands. Politicians
may or may not follow--it is up to them--but we will design, build, and
lead this movement with or without them.
The Red Deal is a call for action beyond the scope of the US colonial
state. It's a program for Indigenous liberation, life, and land--an
affirmation that colonialism and capitalism must be overturned for this
planet to be habitable for human and other-than-human relatives to live
dignified lives. The Red Deal is not a response to the Green New Deal,
or a "bargain" with the elite and powerful. It's a deal with the humble
people of the earth; a pact that we shall strive for peace and justice
and a declaration that movements for justice must come from below and to
the left.
