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More than five million Native Americans call the United States home, but they are often overlooked. Council FIRE, founded by an IAM member, is an advocacy group conceived to change that.
WATCH: Leave No One Behind
“Every union in here has Native Americans that are members,” said IAM Grand Lodge Representative and founder of Council FIRE Kevin Cummings. “It’s just not something we talk about.”
Cummings recently spoke to a gathering of labor constituency groups at the AFL-CIO in Washington, D.C. to bring awareness of inequalities faced by Native Americans across the country to union sisters and brothers.
“We’re not calling that Council FIRE should move ahead of anyone. There’s no hierarchy in oppression,” said Cummings. “It’s going on and we are all called to do something about it.”
Council FIRE, the Council for First Inhabitants Rights and Equality, was created and is resolved to bring dignity, economic and political justice, and a decent standard of living to Native Americans and all oppressed people. The organization works to unite tribal members and leaders with labor, religious, and community groups.
