Deere visually framed Indigenous sovereignty and Black liberation as paired struggles.

Evidence

When Deere spoke, he emphasized this spirit of allegiance and showed photographs of Native people marching, holding eye-catching signs, and packaging supplies during those protests. His remarks and those of his co-panelists garnered thanks in the conference chat, expressed in both English and Cherokee. “Spoken very well,” one audience member typed, adding a thank-you in Cherokee: “Wado.” Deere concluded his presentation with a slide that showed a drawing of two brown arms, one dark, one light, grasping hands against a vivid blue background. The tan arm had written across it, in artful lettering reminiscent of a tattoo, INDIGENOUS SOVEREIGNTY; the dark arm, a near–mirror image, answered with the inscription BLACK LIBERATION. — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project, 515