Shailene Woodley Writes Essay About Her Arrest

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published 21 October 2016

In an essay for Time magazine (opens in new tab), Shailene Woodley tells her side of the story, AKA being arrested while peacefully protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline (opens in new tab).

After criticizing Americans for "romanticizing native culture, native art, native history...without knowing native reality," Woodley pointed out that much of the public had been ignorant of the issue at hand until she was brought in on charges of criminal trespass.

"So much so that it took me, a white non-native woman being arrested on Oct 10th in North Dakota, on Indigenous Peoples' Day, to bring this cause to many people's attention. And to the forefront of news publications around the world. The day I was detained, 26 others had to dress in orange as well, as they were booked into the Morton County jail. Did you hear about them?"

She concluded by thanking her fellow protestors and urging others to take up the cause. "To all the people who know that if not we, then who? And if not now, then when? Simply feeding off the hype of a celebrity's arrest ain't going to save the world. But, standing together will."

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Chelsea Peng is a writer and editor who was formerly the assistant editor at MarieClaire.com. She's also worked for The Strategist and Refinery29, and is a graduate of Northwestern University. On her tombstone, she would like a GIF of herself that's better than the one that already exists on the Internet and a free fro-yo machine. Besides frozen dairy products, she's into pirates, carbs, Balzac, and snacking so hard she has to go lie down.