Björk shared a note of solidarity with the people of Greenland after Donald Trump and his admin revived threats of taking over the country following the capture of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro.
“I wish all Greenlanders blessing in their fight for independence,” Björk wrote on Instagram Monday (Jan. 5), adding: “Colonialism has repeatedly given me horror chills up my back, and the chance that my fellow Greenlanders might go from one cruel colonizer to another is too brutal to even imagine. ‘Úr öskunni í eldinn,’ like we say in Icelandic.” (That phrase translates to “From the ashes into the fire.”)
Though the Icelandic musician’s allusion to the U.S.’s threats was clear, much of Björk’s note actually focused on Greenland’s relationship with Denmark. Greenland hasn’t been a Danish colony since the 1950s, but it’s still a semi-autonomous district of Denmark, with its own local government and two representatives in Danish parliament. Denmark also continues to control Greenland’s foreign affairs and defense, and contributes more than half the country’s public budget.Iceland, Bjök’s home country, also has a colonial past with Denmark, dating back to the first half of the 20th century. Iceland became independent in 1944, with Björk writing that her fellow citizens are “extremely relieved that they managed to break from the Danish” and “didn’t lose our language.”
She went on to share two harrowing stories about Denmark’s control over Greenland. One referred to a lawsuit over 140 Greenlandic women filed in 2024, accusing Denmark of fitting them with IUDs without their consent or knowledge in an effort to reduce Greenland’s population. It’s believed that nearly 4,500 women and girls were affected between 1966 and 1970.
“They are my age and younger … childless,” Björk wrote.She also mentioned the “parenting competency” tests that Denmark subjected Greenlandic people to for years, until they were finally banned last May. These tests, though frequently used in Denmark as part of child protection investigations, were criticized as inappropriate and unsuitable for the people of Greenland and other minorities. Björk’s post mentioned a Greenlandic mother who saw her daughter taken from her just two hours after her birth in 2024; despite the tests being banned since then, mother and child still have not been reunited.
In closing her note, Björk wrote, “Dear Greenlanders, declare independence !!!! Sympathetic wishes from your neighbors. Warmthness.”
Steve Cohen*
