Meet Janet Rogers, a leading voice in the indigenous community and a marvelous poet, media artist and much more. It is a great honor to feature her video poem, Ego of a Nation, in the new issue, along with a four page article. This poem deals with the murder of a 22 year-old Cree man named Colten Boushie who was shot to death by a white farmer in Saskatchewan after he and his friends had a flat tire and drove to the man’s farm. The farmer was acquitted and his community treated him like a hero. The indigenous community has much in common with the black community when it comes to the incessant stream of deaths and the subsequent character assassination of the deceased. This intense and gorgeous video puts the rage and pain to creative use.
If you would like to read more about Ego of a Nation and see the video, please subscribe or buy the issue: https://synkroniciti.com/the-magazine/
Janet Rogers is a Mohawk/Tuscarora poet, media artist, media producer, performance artist and radio gal.
She moved back home to Six Nations territory of the Grand River in June of 2019 after living as a guest on Coast Salish territory aka Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, for 25 years. Since being home, she sees people who look like her on the daily. The west coast offered many gifts for her creative practice including being the place where she began writing, but being home has offered her many blessings. She realizes this is a power place for her. To be a native artist in the rest of the mess that is the world, it’s simple; you just have to remember to be grateful.
Her new publishing house, Ojistoh (Mohawk for white Star or shining Star) Publishing, focusing on the work of indigenous writers, has just released its first book, Janet’s poetry collection Ego of a Nation. You can find spoken word poetry and music from Janet’s radio days on soundcloud.