What if you’re a young Native person who has NO interest in giving up ANY of your dreams—you plan to accomplish them all—who do you spend time with and emulate then??

I have an answer for you, young Native folks who want to accomplish everything: Wab Kinew. An Indigenous brother who DOESN’T KNOW how to NOT do what he wants.

Let me rephrase that: Wab Kinew is an Indigenous man who does EXACTLY what he wants to do. That’s powerful. Native people have been taught over and over again—through such devices as forcibly having our children removed and being prevented from practicing our religious beliefs at the risk of going to prison—that we have no control over our destinies. We are victims.

That is wrong. We are not victims unless we choose to be.

Folks like Wab Kinew show that this lesson, that we cannot determine our own fates, is false. We CAN be in control—we have every tool and ability to do so. It’s a matter of self-determination. It’s a choice.

This is Man Crush Monday and success is sexy as hell to me. Self-determination is sexy as hell. Ambition is sexy as hell. Most importantly, being successful, self-determining, and ambitious while CONTINUING to work hard for ALL Native people, instead of just a privileged few, is amazing.