It has been an extraordinarily difficult time for our families. A difficult time for me. As I move through this grief and anger, I also uncover hope and I find myself returning to a question. How can we move together to make a better world? I believe small acts can create the critical mass that is needed for world building change. Right now, the Indigenous community needs and deserves care. We need action. We need the larger community to stand with us and surround us with support and love. And perhaps from this, something new can grow. So I now come to you and ask you to stand. #CalltoAction: Many have called for this July 1st to be different: cancelled, quieted, renamed, reimagined. We are feeling this too and we also see the necessity for a deep and seismic change. We need a #FullStop. Canadians cannot continue as normal and turn away from these truths. We at the International Indigenous Music Summit and Ishkode Records will not be celebrating Canada on July 1st. Instead, we are holding our communities and families close. We are taking time for ceremony and care. We are processing our grief and honouring our survivors and those who were never returned home. Murray Sinclair once said we must “...understand [the] truth of Canada’s Indigenous history if we truly want to move forward.” Our teachings speak about the seven generations and how every action or inaction we take right now impacts seven generations in the future. What future will we dream for those yet to come? We are calling on our friends, partners, allies and accomplices in the music industry to join us, and others, on July 1st, to take pause to reflect, honour, respect and remember all that we have lost and the incredible strength, brilliance and grace that remains. It is easy to fall into silence and inertia. This is a time for action, listening, compassion, and learning. We ask you to make space for Indigenous voices. Make space for change. There needs to be a #NewPathForward #HonourTheTruth This July 1st, stand with us in solidarity. Demonstrate your support by sharing the orange square attached, and amplifying Indigenous voices. #indigenouslivesmatter #cancelcanadaday