x
Breaking News
More () »

Member and advocate for Maine's Passamaquoddy Tribe expresses solidarity with BLM movement

Michael-Corey Francis Hinton says, "Our people, we understand, we understand where the black community's anger and frustrations are coming from."

PORTLAND, Maine — "I am proud to be descended from ancestors who sacrificed their lives so that I could be here today to deliver my message to you," Michael-Corey Francis Hinton said to a crowd of cheering protesters at Portland's Deering Oaks Park on Friday, June 5. 

More than 2,000 people turned out for the anti-racism rally which spanned from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. 

Hinton, a lawyer, and advocate for the Passamaquoddy Tribe in Maine, was asked by organizers to speak to the crowd. 

"I am a native person of this land, but I'm more than that. I'm a father, a husband, a son, and a brother... I'm a survivor on both sides of my family of genocide and systematic racism. My mother is Jewish and my father is Native," Hinton said.

Watch the full speech here:

Speaking to NEWS CENTER Maine on Thursday, June 11, Hinton said, "The fight to make black lives matter is applicable to Native Americans in so many ways." 

"There are many unfortunate incidents in Maine and around the country of police brutality against Native Americans."

Furthermore, Hinton says Native Americans have been subject to unjust legal proceedings. 

It's an issue that's personal to his family. 

Speaking to the crowd of protesters, Hintons said, "On November 14, 1965, five white hunters murdered my great grandfather and mercilessly beat another man and his young child."

The story, reexamined by the Portland Press Herald in 2014, ends with the five hunters acquited by an all-white jury, never serving time in jail.

"Our people, we understand. We understand where the black community's anger and frustrations are coming from. We share those frustrations," says Hinton. 

Hinton says educating people about our state's history is imperative to creating change. 

"Maine is and always will be a place that was founded on the backbone of indigenous people, that was built by people of color."

RELATED: Portland City Council begins discussions of police policies

RELATED: Black Lives Matter protest schedules

RELATED: Massive Black Lives Matter protest is largest yet in Portland

Before You Leave, Check This Out