Canada's not as nice as you thought

Canada's land situation is royally screwed, literally

View this email in your browser Sponsor spotlight: Carbon Collective Rolling over my 401(k) into Carbon Collective wasn't just an environmental decision for my retirement funds; it was also financially smart. Carbon Collective's portfolio last year collectively outperformed similar benchmark allocations from SP500 for stocks and Barclays Aggregate for bonds We have the tech we need to solve climate change, but we're running out of time: we need to divest from fossil fuels NOW. Listen: royally effed Estimated reading time: 3 minutes November Topic: #LandBack This week's module: 1. ✅  READ | 2. 🎯 LISTEN | 3. ACT | 4. REFLECT Welcome back to Changeletter by Soapbox Project. I'm the author, Nivi Achanta, and I make it easy for you to fight climate change in 3 minutes every week.   From the Soapbox All these events are members only; y'all know the deal Soapbox Santa - opt in by 11/13. What better way to bond than low-waste gift giving? If you're a Soapbox member, opt in by Friday. The form is pinned here.   11/16 @ 4pm EST - Sustainable gifting workshop led by Gabrielle Nebeker. We'll identify a couple people on our gifting list, how we can make the holiday season happy and waste-free, and swap ideas on what to give.   11/17 @ 5pm EST - Our last virtual community gathering of 2021. We meet every month in our online lounge to catch up and it's one of my favorite activities. Join our community to get all our weekly events for free, make new friends, find sustainable product recs, look for jobs, and more. We have events to match time zones from all around the world, and you can reply to this email if you have any questions about our community. No knowledge required to join!   What's up this week Ok so maybe everyone knew this except for me, but today is the first day of my life that I knew Canada is actually a constitutional monarchy. Queen Elizabeth II calls the shots (ok not really because that's not how things work. But still...).   The video I'm sharing in our LISTEN module today dropped such shocking knowledge in just 4 minutes, and it's helping me understand the extent of the problem that #LANDBACK is trying to solve.   If you didn't read last week's module introducing Land Back, catch up here.   Reply to this email telling me whose land you're on — you can use whose.land or native-land.ca to figure it out. P.S. Don't forget to check out Carbon Collective today - divest your retirement from fossil fuels.   Your bite-sized actions Today, watch this 4 min video explaining why LANDBACK matters. This vid focuses on Canada, but I chose it because it's a solid, historically-based explanation for how big of an issue land theft is. It's time for #LandBack   3 key takeaways from today's vid: Indian reserves (Native land that Canada formally recognizes) accounts for only 0.2% of Canada. For perspective, the Navajo Nation, one of the US's Indigenous reservations, is larger than ALL of Canada's reserves combined.   Nearly all of Canada is OWNED BY THE BRITISH MONARCHY! Sorry if I'm just ignorant, but I actually had to pause the video and gasp upon learning that 89% of Canada's land is "Crown Land." The. queen. is. the. landlord.  Dear Canadian Soapbox subscribers, I apologize if this is a fact even babies know. But I DID NOT?   The government's own royal commissions support calls for #LandBack. Even Canada's Supreme Court has ruled in favor of "Aboriginal Title", which recognizes Indigenous land sovereignty. Buuut, the Canadian government refuses to implement these court decisions. They're openly defying their own laws. So to summarize, Canada is owned by the queen basically and land theft is still ongoing. What a world we live in! Less cynically, our fireside chat speaker, Sara Calvosa Olson, who's a Native food writer in California, said the #LANDBACK movement is the biggest source of hope and optimism for her. Next week, we'll talk more about the actions we can take. What did you think about the video? Are these Canada facts shocking or basic knowledge? Whose land do you live on? I can't wait to hear from you, and I'll see you next week. Upcoming   Next week, it's time for action. We'll unpack the concrete steps we can take for #LANDBACK.   Don't forget to create your Carbon Collective account today so that your retirement isn't funding climate destruction by investing in fossil fuels. You can defs get a human on the phone, which was the most important thing for me. Copyright © 2021 Soapbox Project, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you signed up for our free action plans via social media, Tech Ethics Coalition, a meeting with Nivi, or our website! Our mailing address is: Soapbox Project 415 Mission St. San Francisco, California 94105 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.