To the editor:

All things are connected, but some folks don’t get it.

Recently, the trail of broken promises continues despite Gov. Brownback’s short-lived “apology.” The Kansas Department of Transportation promised not to proceed with the South Lawrence Trafficway until after all litigation is settled. That promise, like so many made before, is broken the moment that keeping it inconveniences those in power. It took barely a week for Brownback’s pledge of a new day in state relations with us to recede back to business as usual.

As a Haskell student, I view the SLT as a hideous wall physically dividing us from a place that I consider sacred. To me, it is the latest in a long history of abuse against the Native American community.

Wall Street takes its name from a wall that was constructed to keep Indians out. It has become a symbol of greed and deafness. The SLT brings similar feelings.

So, I refuse to leave this call for action to the next generation. I take full responsibility for what my generation should be doing now! No longer can I sit on the outskirts of this dominant society and let them destroy our sacred sites in the name of progress and productivity.

The Haskell Wetlands are but one piece of land that is calling for help, but all of this land, all over the world, is asking for representatives. The Trail of Broken Promises Walk is committed to addressing these cries!