Help Bring Clean Water to Native Communities

#BrightPathStrong honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. today, who advocated for the rights of all marginalized people, including Native Americans. Together, we continue the fight for equality in the United States and worldwide. 🤝 #MLKDay 

#MLKday2022 #MLK #jimThorpe #racismstopswithme #equality #equalityforall #WhyWeCantWait #IHaveADream #LettersFromBirminghamJail #NativeAmerican #mlkdayofservice ...

Among the clear and tangible challenges facing Native Americans today, there are factors not as evident that are just as important, like the issue of invisibility. Invisibility occurs when marginalized people are systematically separated, neglected and overlooked by society. As a result, their basic needs are ignored, and society may question their very existence. Unfortunately, this is problem Native Americans face daily.

On rare occasions when Native stories ARE told, they're often told and depicted from the perspectives of non-Natives in Hollywood, in textbooks designed to rewrite history, in popular culture that distorts our sacred traditions and through the lens of racist mascots and other depictions. But it's finally time to stop being invisible and start telling the truth. ✊

We started Bright Path Strong to keep Jim Thorpe's amazing story of strength and resilience alive and correct the Olympic records to reflect the true history -- he was the sole champion of the 1912 Decathlon and Pentathlon and the greatest athlete in the world.

But our secondary mission is to tell the truth and fight the stigma of invisibility that plagues Native Americans and our tribal communities. We're doing that by uplifting Native people, amplifying Native voices, and telling Native stories, which are essential to our survival as Indigenous people. 💪

This #GivingTuesday, which is also the last day of #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth, we hope you'll join us in this mission so we can continue our path of purpose and passion. #BrightPathStrong is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, so your donation is fully tax-deductible.

Learn more about our mission, our board of directors and our fight to include Native American voices at the table at https://brightpathstrong.org/about/. Thank you! ⚡️

#JimThorpe #BrightPathStrong #BrightPath #Wathohuk #SacAndFox #potawatomi #NativeAmerican #nativeamericanheritagemonth #NAHM #NAHM2021 #givingtuesday #GivingTuesday2021 #RepresentationMatters #NotYourMascot #invisibility #InvisibilityNoMore #NativeStories #Indigenous #GOAT #cantonbulldogs #carlisle #carlisleindianindustrialschool ...

Today kicks off #RockYourMocs week to promote pride in your Native American heritage! 🙌 In this famous photo of Jim Thorpe from the 1912 Olympics, you can see he's wearing mismatched shoes. 👟 👞 One was too large, the other too small! They may not be moccasins, but Jim had to dig deep that day and harness the strength and fortitude of his Sac & Fox and Potawatomi ancestors to finish the day's events strong. 💪

That's because just before Jim was about to cinch the most unprecedented win in Olympic history by winning both the men's #Decathlon and #Pentathlon, his shoes mysteriously went "missing!" 😼 Never deterred and always the competitor, Jim borrowed one shoe from a teammate and found another discarded in a trash can. He used one thin sock and one thick sock to make the shoes fit, winning the Decathlon, the ultimate test of athletic ability.

That moment made Jim Thorpe the most famous athlete in the world and one of the most famous Native Americans in history. And it may not have happened if he wasn't able to rock that pair of shoes! Follow the hashtag #RockYourMocs this week to find events and ways to celebrate your Native heritage in your own unique way! ⚡ #BrightPathStrong ...