Center for Healing of Racism Honors Phil Lane for Efforts to Heal Past Hurts, and Move a Proud People Forward

Houston, TX - The Board of Directors of the Center for Healing of Racism will present its annual Ally Award June 21 to Phil Lane Jr., a man who sought to discover and release his own shame and hurts, and lead others to do the same.

The sizzling Texas-style Juneteenth barbecue begins at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at the Cullen Oaks Community Center at 4600 Cullen Blvd. in Houston. Tickets are $35, and include the Juneteenth lunch and the Ally award program. Tickets are available at the door but RSVPs are requested at 713-520-8226.

Participants at the Center’s Dialogue on Racism view one of Lane’s films, Healing the Hurts. The documentary that chronicles efforts to help indigenous adults who were ripped from their families as part of a government-approved initiative to eliminate their culture.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper earlier this month delivered an apology to the tens of thousands of children sent to live in boarding schools, where many were abused as part of official government policy to "kill the Indian in the child.’ Harper said, “The government of Canada sincerely apologizes and asks the forgiveness of the aboriginal peoples of this country for failing them so profoundly. We are sorry."

 Legislation has been introduced in both the House and Senate to issue an apology to indigenous peoples in the U.S. for mistreatment by the government. Cherry Steinwender, co-director of the Center, which heals hurts rooted in racism said: “The 2008 Ally Award will be given to Chief Phil Lane for his leadership role in aiding Native-Americans heal the hurts and shame of Internalized Oppression, due to the resident schools in Canada and North America.”

 Phil Lane Jr., a member of the Yankton Dakota and Chickasaw tribes, is an internationally recognized leader in human and community development and is a traditionally recognized hereditary Chief. Since 1968, he has been working with Indigenous people in North, Central and South America, Micronesia, Thailand, India, Hawaii and Africa.