CENSORED NEWS

No History is Illegal! Teach it in February!

2012-02-02T17:37:00.000-07:00

No History Is Illegal
A Campaign to Save Our Stories
http://www.teacheractivistgroups.org/tucson

.
They say shut it down. We say spread it around!

As a network of Teacher Activist Groups (TAG), we believe that education is essential to the preservation of civil and human rights and is a tool for human liberation. In alignment with these beliefs, TAG is proud to coordinate No History is Illegal, a month of solidarity work in support of Tucson’s Mexican American Studies (MAS) Program. In January, 2011, state attorney general Tom Horne declared the Tucson Unified School District MAS program illegal. Over the past year, teachers, students and administrators have come together to challenge Horne’s ruling, but on January 10, 2012, the TUSD school board voted 4-1 to cease all MAS classes immediately for fear of losing state aid.

In the month of February we invite you to strike back against this attack on our history by teaching lessons from and about the banned MAS program. On this website you will find a guide that includes sample lesson plans from the MAS curriculum as well as creative ideas and resources for exploring this issue with students. Whatever happens in Arizona, we can keep the ideas and values of MAS alive by teaching about them in our classrooms, our community centers, our houses of worship, our homes.

February 1 is the first day on which TUSD must comply with this law. It is also the first day of African American History Month. And as Dr. King warned us, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” What is happening in Arizona is not only a threat to Mexican American Studies, it is a threat to our right to teach the experiences of all people of color, LGBT people, poor and working people, the undocumented, people with disabilities and all those who are least powerful in this country.

Our history is not illegal. Please join us by pledging to teach MAS.

Anons hack white supremacist network

2012-02-02T17:07:00.001-07:00

Anons hack white supremacist network

Jamie Kelso and American Third Position Hacked and Destroyed; Private Emails Expose Blatant Racism and Ties to Ron Paul
Reposted from:
http://pastebin.com/MCmzw7aR

#ANONYMOUS #ANTIFASCIST #OPBLITZKRIEG #OCCUPYWALLSTREET #ANTISEC

DISCUSS ON PIRATEPAD OR IRC.ANONOPS.LI #OPBLITZKRIEG

Fellow anons: we are pleased to bring you the dismantling of a major US-based
white supremacist network known as the "American Third Position"(A3P). These
racist losers have chapters across the US, operate several white power websites,
forums and online stores, and are even running a candidate in the 2012
elections. Although they try hard to maintain a professional public image to
camouflage their vile racism, we're now airing all their dirty laundry all over
the internet. Contained in this major dump are several thousand private forum
messages, personal emails, internal organization notes, names, phone numbers,
home addresses and other information on all of their members and supporters.
It’s time for these cowardly suit and tie white supremacists to sleep with one
eye open. Scared much?

In addition to finding the usual racist rants and interactions with other white
power groups, we also found a disturbingly high amount of members who are also
involved in campaigning for Ron Paul. According to these messages, Ron Paul has
regularly met with many A3P members, even engaging in conference calls with
their board of directors. Ron Paul's racist politics and
affiliations are already well known, being viciously anti-immigrant,
anti-abortion and against gay marriage -- not to mention having authored the
racist "Ron Paul Papers" and receiving financial support from other white power
groups (pictured with Don Black from stormfront.org). Hard to believe Ron Paul
draws some support from the left and the occupation movements, especially now
that it is confirmed Ron Paul hangs out with straight up racist hate groups.

We put extra effort in ruining the life of A3P webmaster Jamie Kelso. On top of
being on the board of directors of A3P, former $cientologist, and high ranking
Ron Paul organizer, he also is the account owner of german nazi forums and store
nsl-forum.org, rhs-versand.com. We went ahead and wiped those websites off the
internet as well, dumping private messages and order information. Aside from us
releasing his information such as his social security number, address, resume
and private discussions, we also heard some folks went on a joyride with Kelso's
credit card and made some lulzy purchases, including sex toy purchases and
making donations to the Anti Defamation League and many others. Oops.

We call upon not only other antifascists but all those opposed to white
supremacy to utilize this information and make hell for these white nationalist
scumbags. It is essential if we wish to live in a world free from oppression to
expose and confront racists at their jobs, their schools, at their homes and in
the streets.
No Dialogue! No sympathy! Destroy White Supremacy!
READ MORE: http://pastebin.com/MCmzw7aR
==================================================================
In the news ...
Hacked neo Nazi websites reveal Canadian connections:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/02/01/bc-canadian-nazis-exposed.html

Mohawk Nation News 'Four Directions'

2012-02-02T08:55:00.000-07:00

4 DIRECTIONS

Mohawk Nation News

http://www.mohawknationnews.co

MNN. Jan. 31, 2012. “The future ain’t what it used to be” [Yogi Berra].

White bankers being the bosses of the world is coming to an end. Their control and theft of Indigenous resources is over. Their fortunes are declining.

Salaries, social programs, benefits and pensions are being cut back. US elders, you may not see your pension until you are over 67 or more, if ever. Cost of living keeps climbing.

Signs of hysteria! New private prisons for those who don’t fall into line. New super duper fighter jets grace the bigger military. [A temporary fix.]

As Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in effect said in Davos Switzerland, “If we don’t put our act together, we’re in deep doo-doo. Europe and the West are not important anymore. [They’re going broke and lost their slaves.] Third world peoples have to do all the work cheaply and provide the resources to us. China is bigger. We have to push emerging economies into debt to us. We’ll just keep throwing paper money at them!” [Sounds like a quick fix!]

Indigenous have to be brought into line. White supremacists oppressing people of color is in peril.

The white race is being absorbed out of existence. In 2023 majority of 18 and under will be people of color in US and Canada, becoming a majority in 2042, or sooner.

Western nations will become third world countries. What will it mean to be white? No one seems to want to preserve them. They’re not steeped in any cool culture that we want. They’ve tried to destroy the world for the rest of us.

Four suggested scenarios.

1. White minority remains in charge. Bankers continue to rule everybody, keep stealing and pocketing. US remains the West’s attack dog.

2. Indigenous majority. White minority. Token whites created. Opportunists claim white grandmother to get jobs and scholarships meant for white minorities. Every child required to read, “Vanishing Whites”.

3. Mostly Indigenous. Hardly any whites, who voluntarily set up Department of White Affairs to run their closed communities. Create white culture villages [‘Touristans’] to show that once upon a time many white people lived on and dominated Great Turtle Island. Many white volunteers for us to study. Some return to their homeland and find them taken over by people of color.

4. Remaining Western countries with ‘chihuahua’ military. We give humanitarian aid and condoms. They try to continue white supremacy and divide and conquer tactics on their own people. They don’t know what peace is.

According to an old Indigenous story, a frog was about to cross a river. A poisonous brown spider asked if he could ride on his back. The frog said, “No, you’ll bite and kill me”. The spider said, “I won’t because then we’ll both die”. The frog said, “Okay”. As they crossed, the spider bit and poisoned the frog, who asked, “Why? Now we’re both drowning?” The spider replied, “Because it’s my nature.”

As our people saw in the beginning, it may be the invaders’ nature, tehotate’wara:ke, to [metaphorically] eat each other’s flesh.

MNN Mohawk Nation News Kahentinetha2@yahoo.com For more news, books, to donate to maintain the website [PayPal] and to sign up for MNN newsletters go towww.mohawknationnews.com More stories at MNN Categories “COLONIALISM/ART/CULTURE”. Address: Box 991, Kahnawake [Quebec, Canada] J0L 1B0

Store: Indigenous authors – Kahnawake books – Mohawk Warriors Three – Warriors Hand Book – Rebuilding the Iroquois Confederacy.

ategory: World – Colonialism - Great Turtle Island – History – New World Order – courts/police Economics/trade/commerce – Land/environment – art/culture.

Tags: North American Indians – Turtle Island – Indian holocaust/genocide – NAU North American Union – History Canada/US – United Nations – Cointelpro - colonialism.

Writers caravan smuggling banned books into Arizona

2012-02-02T01:43:00.002-07:00

CONTACT:
Tony Diaz, Nuestra Palabra Director
713-867-8943
AztecMuse@aol.com

Houston writers and activists organize a caravan of Librotraficantes to smuggle contraband books back into Arizona!

HOUSTON, TEXAS - Local literary nonprofit Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say is organizing The Librotraficantes Banned Book Caravan from Houston, Texas to Tucson, Arizona leaving Houston on Monday, March 12 and culminating in Tucson, Arizona Saturday, March 17.

The caravan will be filled with authors and activists who will be taking banned books back into Arizona, to give to students. The bus will include banned authors, new authors, as well as concerned advocates of First Amendment rights of Equal Protection and Freedom of Speech.

The Caravan will be making stops in Texas, New Mexico, and, of course, Arizona.

Banned writers have embraced the caravan and will participate along the route, including Mac Arthur Genius recipient Sandra Cisneros, who kicked off our fundraising efforts by making a generous donation; Guggenheim Fellow Dagoberto Gilb, whose work recently appeared in the New Yorker and Harpers; and best selling author Luis Alberto Urrea, who was the first to enthusiastically support the project through Twitter.

The caravan is intended to:

Raise awareness of the suspension of the Mexican-American Studies Program and the removal of banned books.
Promotion of banned authors and their contributions to American Literature, Non-Fiction and Poetry.
Celebrate diversity: Children of the American Dream must unite to preserve the civil rights of all Americans.

Founded in 1998, Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say has gone from the party hall of Chapultepec Restaurant to Exhibit Hall F of the George R. Brown Convention Center. Today, the entire city is our forum. When we began, we were told that there was not an audience for Latino literature. We are thrilled to say that today the largest book events in Houston are Latino events. We are proud to bring you Houston's contribution to the Latino Literary Renaissance. Wri

WEBSITES: www.Librotraficante.com and www.NuestraPalabra.org

ORGANIZERS: www.TonyDiaz.net, www.LianaLisa.com, www.youtube.com/HighTechAztec

Arizona targeted as private spy drone test site

2012-02-02T00:31:00.003-07:00

Benson, Flagstaff and Yuma areas targeted for dangerous private spy drone testing

Special Ops Hummingbird Drone

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com

TUCSON -- Arizona, already struggling to free itself from racist state officials, banned books and profiteering private prisons, is now targeted as the test site for private spy drones.

Arizona military profiteers are pushing for Arizona to become an expanded drone test site for "commercial and nonmilitary" uses of unmanned aircraft. The federal government announced it will set aside airspace.

The Arizona Daily Star in Tucson seems to think making Arizona an expanded base for drones is a good idea. This drone promotion by the Star magnifies how the Arizona media is part of the continued degradation of Arizona, as it cheerleads for the promotion of the militarization of Arizona. This agenda includes the criminalizing of people of color.

Drones are used worldwide by the US for targeted assassinations, without trials. The reckless murders carried out by drones worldwide, by soldiers seated at remote computers in Nevada, are often based on flawed intelligence.

The Arizona Daily Star proves to have a short memory about the danger of drones, forgetting that already a drone has crashed nearby in Nogales, Ariz.

Predator type drone
used along the Arizona border
and based in Sierra Vista, Ariz.

In southern Arizona, Sierra Vista has been used for a base for border drones. This is where the Army Intelligence Center at Fort Huachuca produced the School of Americas torture manual, made public in 1996. The US training of Latin American military using this manual resulted in the assassinations, torture and exile, of tens of thousands of Indigenous Peoples in the 1980s and 1990s in Central and South America, as corporations seized their homelands for mining, development and exploitation.

The Sanctuary Movement in Tucson was born from the results of these tortures and assassinations of Indigenous villagers. The result was an underground railroad that took Indigenous Peoples to safety. There is real history in Tucson, and the Arizona Daily Star doesn't have to prostitute itself with its advertisers like Raytheon Missiles.

Tohono O'odham Nation and Arizona universities co-opted in killing machine research

The drone promotion article in the Arizona Daily Star reveals how the universities have become co-opted in the agenda of militarization and criminalizing people of color. Arizona universities have become infested with global cyber spies and border training that targets people of color.

The University of Arizona in Tucson stands out for its human rights abuses regarding Native Americans. The primary example is the placing of telescopes on Mount Graham during years of protests by Apaches and other Indian Nations. Now, the University of Arizona is involved with the design and creation of drones, unmanned killing machines.

The drone creation at the University of Arizona was also part of Advanced Ceramics, the company that was initially accepted, then rejected by the Pascua Yaqui. After being rejected by the Yaqui, the Tohono O'odham's San Xavier District's Development Authority became partners in Advanced Ceramics. A portion of the company was later sold to BAE.

The small Silver Fox used by the Navy for aerial spying
was created by Advanced Ceramics in Tucson.

Although initially Advanced Ceramics Research was wrapped in secrecy, it is now known that it was creating drones at the site, on Tohono O'odham land near the Tucson International Airport.

Traditional Tohono O'odham oppose the use of drones and targeted assassinations, stating it is a violation of the O'odham sacred way of life, the himdag.

As the battles rage over the banning of Mexican American Studies, the seizure of books, the racial profiling by law enforcement, and the imprisonment of people of color for the profits of private prisons, Arizona is now targeted with private spy drone testing.

Under the National Defense Authorization Act passed in December, the Federal Aviation Administration must move to integrate unmanned aircraft systems, or UAS, into the National Airspace System.

The report says Arizona is under consideration as the private spy drone test site for these reasons:
• Fort Huachuca's status as a major UAS training center.
• Other military training such as a Marine Corps UAS squadron based in Yuma.
• UAS research and development by companies including Raytheon Missile Systems, BAE Systems, Boeing Co. - which makes its Hummingbird rotorcraft UAS in Mesa - and smaller firms.
• Academic research support including wind-tunnel and other test facilities at the University of Arizona, a UAS minor program at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, and an aerospace-defense research collaboration at Arizona State University.

Flagstaff, Yuma and Benson targeted

The article also reveals how the Flagstaff, Yuma and Benson regions have been targeted for this dangerous drone research.

The Star includes this nauseating quote: "We like to say, 'We were UAS before UAS was cool,' " said Robin Sobotta, chair of Embry-Riddle's aviation business program and

chairwoman of the UAS advisory committee.

The committee identified three prime locations for a UAS test range, including two

in "non-exclusionary," or unrestricted, airspace.

The report states that the highest-scoring site is at the Benson Airport, identified as San Pedro North, with airspace stretching northeast to the eastern slopes of the Santa Catalina Mountains.
The second-ranking site is around the Seligman airport, about 60 miles west of Flagstaff.
The committee also identified a third site, in exclusionary airspace at the edge of the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Ground. The Yuma site has served as a test site for UAS technology developed by Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems, including its bat-winged "Killer Bee."

As it turns out, Mesa, Arizona, in the Phoenix Valley, is the location of the top secret US research facility Arizona Labs.

Jip Ripley writing at the East Valley Tribue in Mesa, Arizona, reported on the meeting to bring the test site of spy drones to Arizona. It was held at Mesa Mayor Scott Smith's office on Jan. 4.

"According to my sources, those at the meeting included (retired General John) Regni; (Mesa Chamber of Commerce President) Sterling; William Harris, president of Science Foundation Arizona; Karrin Kunasek Taylor, executive vice president of DMB Associates Inc.; General Thomas Browning, who until funding expired last September headed up the Arizona Aerospace & Defense Initiative along with Regni; Brian Campbell, a Phoenix attorney who heads up the Arizona Labs oversight board; Nancy Cooke, an ASU professor who also runs a business called the Cognitive Engineering Research Institute; Steve Shope, a physicist who heads Sandia Research Corp.; Dane Mullenix of defense contractor Alion Science and Technology Corp., which manages the Arizona Labs; and Chuck Coughlin, founder of HighGround, an influential political consulting company," Ripley wrote.

ACLU files suit: Targeted killing

In related news on Wednesday, the ACLU filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act to demand that the government release basic — and accurate — information about the government’s targeted killing program.

The ACLU said, “Our government’s deliberate and premeditated killing of American terrorism suspects raises profound questions that ought to be the subject of public debate. Unfortunately the Obama administration has released very little information about the practice — its official position is that the targeted killing program is a state secret — and some of the information it has released has been misleading.” http://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/aclu-sues-us-information-targeted-killing-program

Copyright Censored News 2012

Tucson Schools Flagrantly violate Constitution and International Human Rights Treaties

2012-02-01T22:47:00.004-07:00

Photo: Fernanda Echavarri Arizona Public Media

TUSD flagrantly violates Constitution and International Human Rights Treaties

By Roberto Dr. Cintli Rodriguez, PhD
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com
"Instead of seeing Hispanics as outsiders who do not belong here, we need to start seeing them as ancestors of the original inhabitants of these lands. They are the living fulfillment of the Ghost Dance prophecy." - Chief Billy Redwing Tayac, Piscataway Nation
The above quote best contextualizes the battle in Tucson. Mexican American Studies, also known as Chicano/a Studies or Raza Studies, in effect, is the study of peoples who trace their lineage to this very continent, many thousands of years before the arrival of Columbus. There is no doubt that these peoples have mixture (like virtually every human being on this planet), however, the fact remains that their roots are Indigenous and part of daily, living maiz-based cultures. A primary objective of MAS has always been the recovery of those cultural roots that in the past have been denied. In Tucson, the teaching of these studies, of these roots have not just been outlawed, but, in effect, criminalized.
While TUSD continues to be under court orders to desegregate, and while the state is being sued (Acosta) in federal court over the 2010 anti-ethnic studies HB 2281 bill, both TUSD and the state are seemingly unaware that in passing and complying with HB 2281, they are in clear violation of at least 9 international treaties and conventions. These include the 1948 Declaration of Human Rights and the 2007 UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, all of which protect the right to culture, history, identity, language and education.
Below is a document containing 9 directives that is mind-boggling in its brazenness, one that reveals the manner in which the law is being flouted and how teachers and students are being subjected to abuse and repurcussions.
In close to 40 years of journalism and column writing, I have never seen anything quite like it. Initially, I picked this document up from one source, then several. It is undeniably authentic. This document was issued in mid-January by TUSD officials, given to MAS educators, instructing them as to what they can and can't teach and how, etc. The first thing I noted was that it was not on TUSD stationary. This is referred to as: "plausible denial." It intentionally leaves no fingerprints. To be sure, there have been other [verbal] directives regarding these same issues.
The context behind this document is that the MAS Department has been dismantled, the discipline thrashed and the curriculum banned (along with books, videos art, posters and other teaching materials). On top of this, the teachers and students have been demonized, and slandered. All this is due to HB 2281 – which as a community, we will never recognize as a law. The TUSD governing board, under the direction of the TUSD superintendent, rather than fight the unconstitutional HB 2281, buckled and ordered its suspension, and with it, ordered all MAS teaching materials out of the classrooms.
This issue is even more insidious than appears on paper. It is the result of a ferocious war against MAS and it is not an exaggeration to say that this is part of a 520-year battle. Or as former state schools' superintendent, Tom Horne, the author of the anti-Ethnic Studies bill refers to it, a civilizational war. His primary objection has always beenis that the MAS curriculum does not derive from Greco-Roman thought, and thus, un-American. He is right on the first count; the philosophical foundation of MAS is derived from the concepts of In Lak Ech (You are other my self) and Panche Be (To seek the root of the truth). The concepts are derived from a maiz- based philosophy, undeniably Indigenous to this continent, in origin./
It is precisely because of Horne's language that it is wrong to refer to his or his successor's actions (John Huppenthal), as McCarthy-esque or Nazi-esque. Instead, Horne provides the correct model… precisely stemming from the era of the Inquisition… it is a virtual "auto de fe" (a 1500's era religious edict authorizing the destruction of native culture, including books, etc)… It is also part of the 300-year program referred to as a "reduccion" in which the objective was to stamp out all things Indigenous. Below is the document and the dissection of each directive:
Guiding Principles for MAS Teachers
"Assignments cannot direct students to apply MAS perspectives."
The obvious problem here is that there is no consensus exists as to what constitutes a "Mexican American Studies" perspective, though it is clear that this is an attempt to eliminate the perspectives of a people. This directive alone appears to violate every international human rights treaty.
TUSD and the state have created a task for themselves; to enforce this directive, they will have to create a definition as to what constitutes a Mexican American [Studies] perspective. They then have to establish parameters of what can and cannot be taught and then they have to create an enforcement mechanism. Actually, this document appears to be the beginning of this process. One teacher, Norma Gonzalez, was specifically told after the TUSD vote, that she cannot teach the Aztec Calendar or anything related to Mexican culture and history. Ironically, the Aztec Calendar and its related philosophies, can and is being taught in a native class, but not through MAS. Here, TUSD is showing evidence that it is also involved in defining the boundaries of what is Mexican vs. what is native. A quote in The Progressive, from banned author Sherman Alexie is appropriate here: "Let's get one thing out of the way: Mexican immigration is an oxymoron. Mexicans are indigenous." One of his books, "The Lone Ranger and Tonto's Fist Fight in Heaven," is part of the MAS banned curriculum.
"The teachers cannot use the MAS curriculum designed individually or by MAS staff in TUSD."
Here, both the highly successful curriculum, which graduated nearly 100% of its students and validated by the 2010 independent Cambium Study, appears to have been invalidated by TUSD. Additionally, the teachers and staff have been determined to be incompetent. In the process, they have also been publically vilified and demonized.
"The focus of student learning must not exclusively trail back to MAS curriculum and issues." This is mind-boggling; no teacher teaches in such a manner. Beyond thought control, it appears to be an attempt to culturally restrict the parameters of Mexican American thinking – an attempt to by edict, to determine what Mexican Americans should be concerned with. An examination of the MAS curriculum will reveal that virtually every issue in the nation and world is an "MAS issue." "Teachers should balance the use of literature focusing on multiple perspectives and varied literature."
Here is an example of a directive in search of a problem. The MAS- TUSD Department is the epitome of a program that offered multiple perspectives. Witness the banned-books reading list, with authors from every culture represented. But also unstated is the notion that all perspectives are equal, even when it comes to issues such as land theft, etc. Utilizing such logic, would teachers have to provide arguments in favor of slavery, genocide and land theft and in favor of segregation and discrimination?
"Race can be taught and discussed. However, context is important and the focus should be on using literature content as the teachingfocus relative to race or oppression."
This is both oxymoronic and nonsensical. This smacks of "false generosity" – of giving teachers permission the right to teach about one of the most salient aspects of U.S. history. Regarding context, that at best is condescending; unlike letters to the editor, every teacher provides context.
"Visitations in class by an administrator will be frequent to insure compliance. (At least one visit per unit of lessons)."
Not sure that this merits an explanation. What's next… cameras in the classroom? And to be truthful, this was already proposed by Tom Horne two years ago.
"Teachers will write and submit a syllabus and/or a curriculum map that demonstrates adherence to common, standards based approach to the curriculum." Perhaps this is the least controversial, though this still smacks of micromanagement.
"Student work will be collected by the evaluator when he/she comes into the classroom."
This is the epitome of Big Brother in the classroom. That teachers and students are being closely monitored should raise two huge red flags. That teachers can be disciplined or fired depending on the thoughts/perspectives of their students should send a chill up everyone's spine.
"Teachers can choose to submit student work that would serve as evidence that curriculum is adhered to." See the above response, which in effect also encourages self-censorship.
These directives are on paper. They are actually even more onerous in the schools. The teachers of MAS-TUSD are my colleagues. I have been collaborating with them even before since the inception of the department in 1998, via shared curriculum. Without betraying privacy, I can reveal that "repression" (can I use that word?) in the classroom is not an exaggeration, nor is it hyperbole. I have spoken (I continually do so) to the teachers and have asked them about the environment they are now teaching in. In tears, they have relayed how they are being monitored and restricted. Aside from what has already been relayed here, several have told me in tears about their computers being wiped clean, which included many years of my columns. They have told me about artwork and posters being removed and about TUSD officials coming into their classrooms during class to remove teaching materials. One told me that the books that were ordered boxed were labeled "banned books" by school officials. Yet, through all this, TUSD claims there are no banned books.
I teach their former students at the University of Arizona. They are unquestionably my brightest students. For years I have spoken in their classrooms and we present together at conferences, at forums… and we even run together. So for me, this is personal and hits close to home. Unfortunately, this is not the end of this story. The one good news to report is that when students from Wakefield Middle School were suspended (along with one Pueblo High School student), they attended my classes at the University: The History of the Chicano Movement and Indigenous Thinkers/Indigenous Philosophers. They also held a teach-in that day. At the end of my second class, they were informed that their suspensions had been lifted. The MAS department, however, remains suspended and many of the books are being held hostage in the district's school depository building. "The knowledge," as the students say, "cannot be padlocked."
* Five of my books and a video are on the banned curriculum list. The video is: Amoxtli San Ce Tojuan. The books are: Justice: A Question of Race; Gonzales/Rodriguez: Uncut and Uncensored; The X in La Raza, Codex Tamuanchan: On Becoming Human… and Cantos Al Sexto Sol… this last book is a collection of more than 100 Raza/Indigenous writers, writing on the topic of origins and migrations, … In effect, virtually the entire cultural production of the past generation of Raza/Indigenous writers/artists has been criminalized.
** You can see the actual document, and the list of many of the banned books at: http://drcintli.blogspot.com/
Rodriguez can be reached at: XColumn@gmail.com or 520-626-0824

--
Thanks & Sincerely
Roberto Dr. Cintli Rodriguez
PO BOX 3812
Tucson, AZ 85722
520-626-0824

COLUMN: http://drcintli.blogspot.com/

Cintli don't tweet, text, facebook and is not linked... neither do I own a TV... but you can still email or call me.

VIDEO: Lakota Media Project

2012-02-01T22:31:00.001-07:00

'Gasland' The Dangerous Truth

2012-02-01T17:55:00.004-07:00

Published on Wednesday, February 1, 2012 by Common Dreams

'Gasland' Film Director Arrested at US Capitol Hearing

Republicans Bar Filming of Fracking Hearing

- Common Dreams staff

Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker Josh Fox was handcuffed and led away Wednesday while attempting to film a House Science Committee hearing on fracking .

The "Gasland" director was attempting to film the hearing which is looking into the EPA's investigation of water contamination from fracking in Pavillion, Wyoming. Josh was filming the hearing for his upcoming film "Gasland 2."

Subcommittee chairman US Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) objected to the presence of Mr. Fox and his crew as well as another crew from ABC.

“This is a public hearing!” Josh shouted as he was led away. “I’m being denied my First Amendment rights.”

Approximately 16 Capitol Hill police officers entered the hearing room and handcuffed Josh amid audible discussions of "disorderly conduct" charges, according to Democratic sources who spoke to the Huffington Post.

The filmmaker did not have "proper credentials", and an ABC News crew did not make the committee aware that they would be filming, according to the Capitol Hill newspaper The Hill.

UPDATE: STATEMENT ISSUED BY JOSH FOX FEBRUARY 1, 2012

I was arrested today for exercising my First Amendment rights to freedom of the press on Capitol Hill. I was not expecting to be arrested for practicing journalism. Today's hearing in the House Energy and Environment subcommittee was called to examine EPAs findings that hydraulic fracturing fluids had contaminated groundwater in the town of Pavillion, Wyoming. I have a long history with the town of Pavillion and its residents who have maintained since 2008 that fracking has contaminated their water supply. I featured the stories of residents John Fenton, Louis Meeks and Jeff Locker in GASLAND and I have continued to document the catastrophic water contamination in Pavillion for the upcoming sequel GASLAND 2. It would seem that the Republican leadership was using this hearing to attack the three year Region 8 EPA investigation involving hundreds of samples and extensive water testing which ruled that Pavillion's groundwater was a health hazard, contaminated by benzene at 50x the safe level and numerous other contaminants associated with gas drilling. Most importantly, EPA stated in this case that fracking was the likely cause.

As a filmmaker and journalist I have covered hundreds of public hearings, including Congressional hearings. It is my understanding that public speech is allowed to be filmed. Congress should be no exception. No one on Capitol Hill should regard themselves exempt from the Constitution. The First Amendment to the Constitution states explicitly "Congress shall make no law...that infringes on the Freedom of the Press". Which means that no subcommittee rule or regulation should prohibit a respectful journalist or citizen from recording a public hearing.

This was an act of civil disobedience -- yes done in an impromptu fashion -- but at the moment when they told me to turn off the cameras, I could not. I know my rights and I felt it was imperative to exercise them.

When I was led out of the hearing room in handcuffs, John Boehner's pledge of transparency in Congress was taken out with me.

The people of Pavillion deserve better. The thousands across the US who have documented cases of water contamination in fracking areas deserve their own hearing on Capitol hill. They deserve the chance to testify in before Congress. The truth that fracking contaminates groundwater is out, and no amount of intimidation tactics --either outright challenges to science or the arrest of journalists --will put the genie back in the bottle. Such a brazen attempt to discredit and silence the EPA, the citizens of Pavillion and documentary filmmaking will ultimately fail and it is an affront to the health and integrity of Americans.

Lastly, in defense of my profession, I will state that many, many Americans get their news from independent documentaries. The Hill should immediately move to make hearings and meetings accessible to independent journalists and not further obstruct the truth from being reported in the vivid and in-depth manner that is only achievable through long-form documentary filmmaking.

I will be thinking on this event further and will post further thoughts and developments.

I have been charged with "unlawful entry" and my court date is February 15.

Josh Fox
Washington D.C.
2/1/12
WATCH VIDEO OF ARREST AND SEE UPDATE:
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/02/01-4

ACLU Sues US for Information on Targeted Killing Program

2012-02-01T15:01:00.014-07:00

ACLU Sues U.S. for Information
on Targeted Killing Program

By ACLU
Posted at Censored News
Today we filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act to demand that the government release basic — and accurate — information about the government’s targeted killing program.
Our government’s deliberate and premeditated killing of American terrorism suspects raises profound questions that ought to be the subject of public debate. Unfortunately the Obama administration has released very little information about the practice — its official position is that the targeted killing program is a state secret — and some of the information it has released has been misleading.
Our suit overlaps with the one recently filed by The New York Times insofar as it seeks the legal memos on which the targeted killing program is based. But our suit is broader. We’re seeking, in addition to the legal memos, the government’s evidentiary basis for strikes that killed three Americans in Yemen in the fall of 2011. We’re also seeking information about the process by which the administration adds Americans to secret government “kill lists.” We think it’s crucial that the administration release the legal memos, but we don’t think the memos alone will allow the public to evaluate the lawfulness and wisdom of the program.
We know something about the fall 2011 strikes from media reports. On September 30, the CIA and the military’s Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) jointly carried out the targeted killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen born in New Mexico, using missiles fired from unmanned drones in Yemen. A second U.S. citizen, Samir Khan, was killed in the same attack. Two weeks later, Anwar al-Awlaki’s son, Abdulrahman, a 16-year-old U.S. citizen born in Colorado, was killed in another U.S. drone strike elsewhere in Yemen. The administration has not adequately explained the legal basis for these strikes, and it has not explained the factual basis, either.
Soon after the fall 2011 strikes, we submitted a FOIA request to the CIA, Department of Defense, and Department of Justice (DOJ). Three months later, we have yet to receive a single document in response. Outrageously, the CIA and the DOJ Office of Legal Counsel responded by refusing to confirm or deny the existence or nonexistence of records responsive to our request. Essentially, these agencies are saying the targeted killing program is so secret that they can’t even acknowledge that it exists.
This response is incredible, in the original sense of that word—it simply lacks credibility. The press has reported since early 2010 that Anwar al-Awlaki had been placed on “kill lists” maintained by the CIA and JSOC, and articles have discussed in detail the secret process by which he was placed there. After the killings of the three U.S. citizens last fall, newspapers reported extensive details about the strikes, including how the CIA and JSOC coordinated and the number of drones involved. The Times described a “secret” OLC memo that lays out the Administration’s legal justifications for placing al-Awlaki on the kill lists and killing him. Much of the reporting was based on statements by government officials, albeit officials who were unwilling to be quoted for attribution.
Some officials, including President Obama, have spoken on the record about the program. They have publicly claimed responsibility for killing al-Awlaki, and they have more generally defended the government’s right to kill citizens after a secret non-judicial process. Just last week, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta acknowledged on 60 Minutes that the U.S. can and does carry out targeted killings of U.S. citizens subject to the recommendations of the CIA Director and the Secretary of Defense and pursuant to the President’s authorization. And this week, President Obama publicly defended the CIA targeted killing program in alive internet interview [starts at minute 26:30].
The government’s self-serving attitude toward transparency and disclosure is unacceptable. Officials cannot be allowed to release bits of information about the targeted killing program when they think it will bolster their position, but refuse even to confirm the existence of a targeted killing program when organizations like the ACLU or journalists file FOIA requests in the service of real transparency and accountability. One news report indicates that the Obama administration may be planning to release more information about the targeted killing program. Let’s hope that’s true. The public has a right to know the evidence and legal basis for the deliberate targeted killing of U.S. citizens. So chilling a power must be opened to public scrutiny and debate.
Learn more about targeted killings: Sign up for breaking news alerts,

VIDEO: Indigenous Day of Resistance

2012-02-01T07:44:00.000-07:00

occupyvision on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free

From Quanah Parker Brightman at United Native Americans, Inc.

Elias Serna: Strange Rumblings: The Battle for Raza Studies

2012-01-31T19:01:00.002-07:00

Strange Rumblings in Arizona:
A Battle to Defend the K-12 Raza Studies Department at Tucson Unified School District from Racist Republicans

Editorial by Elias Serna
Posted with permission at Censored News
Elias Serna is an English PhD candidate at UC Riverside, President of AMAE Santa Monica-West LA Chapter, and co-founder of the comedy teatro Chicano Secret Service.

A tempest of epic proportions stirs darkly over the Southwest United States, reviving ancestral Indian spirits, splashing sand in shocked faces, and generally raining down onto our forehead and seeping into our eyes. While it may precipitate massive floods of students onto major metropolitan thoroughfares throughout the vast region of Aztlan, the eye of the storm hovers menacingly over the old Indian- Chicano town of Tucson, Arizona.
Presently, Tucson's amazing K-12 Mexican American Studies Program (MAS) is fighting a heroic battle, with students, community and teachers playing a decisive role. This educational war now has national implications-the Tucson 13 Case has gone to the 9th Circuit court, which includes California and the Southwest. Against the secessionist, visibly racist and evasive Republican state government (which denies that SB 1070 is racial profiling), MAS activists are fighting impressively on a legal, student activist, and cultural front.
On April 26, amidst an ongoing federal legal battle (Tucson 13), and constant State government attacks by Republicans, the middle-of-the-road Tucson school board decided to turn the MAS classes into vulnerable electives (which would slash enrollment), basically "taking the program outside and killing it" (in MAS director Sean Arce's words). Inside the overcrowded boardroom, minutes before the meeting started, UNIDOS (a group of MAS students and alumni) marched past security guards and chained themselves to the school board chairs in front of a screaming crowd, beginning their now anthemic chant: "When our education is under attack, what do you do?" The response resounded across the Southwest: "FIGHT BACK!!!"
The sit-in set off another wave of activism that calls attention to the struggle for Raza/Ethnic Studies and a brewing civil war over what education is supposed to do, how (and which version of) history should be taught, and who is an "American." This summer will witness a major chapter in the history and future of Chicano Studies. Raza Studies (MAS' former name) activists are calling on Californians (especially educators and artists) to participate actively, and support the cause by attending meetings and events in Tucson and Arizona. One can simultaneously support the economic boycott by staying over people's homes or on Indian Reservation hotels nearby, and patronizing mom-and-pop eateries and cultural centers.
Much like the 1960s Freedom Summers in Mississippi, this struggle may be decided by pressure from neighboring masses of liberation-minded fighters from the coastal states.
The subtitle of this article doesn't mean to be inflammatory. It is bases on my familiarity with the Chican@ Studies discipline (over 10 years college-level teaching), four years of studying Tucson's MAS Department, attending their Summer Institute, using their curriculum and methodology for West LA schools, and seeing how and why Republican state officials have attacked them. Below, I outline the history of this battle that is now in Federal courts, detail the Raza Studies program's many significant accomplishments, and emphasize student activism while covering some unique aspects of this discipline.
A CONCISE HISTORY ON THE ORIGINS OF THE RAZA STUDIES BATTLE
The first Raza Studies courses were weekend cultural instruction for at-risk community youth. In the mid 1990s a small group including Sean Arce, Agustin Flores and a few others leveraged a proposal for the first Raza Studies classes on a Desegregation Order from the Federal Courts; Tucson schools had been found in violation of civil rights laws. The program brought together dedicated and talented teachers. It also fused the ideas of Chican@ Studies scholars with groundbreaking theories on society and critical pedagogy by Paulo Freire, Henry Giroux, and Critical Race Theory scholars among others. An important, yet often overlooked factor here was love.
The teachers genuinely cared about the students, the community, and their profession. Although this isn't measured on any state test, the department flourished, spread to K-12, offered an impressive summer institute, and boasted amazing educational outcomes, especially for Latino students, that contrasted sharply with dismal national figures. According to an audit of the program, MAS program students were 5% more likely to graduate than their peers in 2005 and a whopping 11% more likely to complete high school in 2010. These outcomes and the struggle are captured eloquently in the recently released documentary film "Precious Knowledge," which will air on PBS nationally next spring.
In 2006, MAS invited national civil rights figure Dolores Huerta to speak. She had worked closely with Cesar Chavez (who was raised in Tucson and passed away there in 1994), and has stated that the iconic "Si Se Puede" chant had its origins in Tucson. Her response to a local who pessimistically rejected her ideas saying "No, Dolores, aqui no se puede"-it can't be done-was, "No! Si se puede!" Huerta's rhetoric again set off a political battle. During her speech, she called attention to the fact that "Republicans hate Latinos." In response, the State Superintendent of Schools at the time, Tom Horne (a native of Canada), sent a fellow Republican, to speak at a Tucson school. MAS students requested permission to ask her questions. They were rejected by school administrators. In protest, they taped their mouths and walked out. An infuriated Horne vowed to dismantle the Mexican American Studies Department in political retaliation. He attempted to pass a bill to destroy the program. It was challenged and defeated.

Why Do AZ Republicans Want to Keep Latino Kids From Graduating?
Raza Studies students in Tucson were 5% more likely to graduate than their peers in 2005 and 11% more likely in 2010. Some have suggested that perhaps the private, for profit prison lobby is sending rabid mad dog Tea Partiers after the successful Mexican American Studies program to keep a study supply of bodies for their tax payer funded prison beds. Educated Chicanos are less likely to end up in penal system.

In 2010, HB 2281, the Anti-Ethic Studies bill, passed and was signed into law by Republican governor Jan Brewer (originally from Orange County, California). Teachers countered with a lawsuit to challenge the constitutionality of the racist law (it only targets the Mexican American Department). Students held protests and walkouts to raise awareness and challenge state and district decisions. Later MAS alumni, teachers, community and Indigenous groups ran from Tucson to Phoenix, over 100 miles in 113 degree heat to protest the passage of the law.
This unique protest demonstrated the activists' conviction and brought national attention to Raza Studies. Throughout 2011, MAS teachers and students have been fighting incessantly against State attacks, countersuits, right leaning media, a flip-flopping school board, and a hegemonic conservative voting bloc.

The Anti-American History of Chicano Raza Studies
While most college grads move out of their old neighborhoods in exchange for careerist gain, Chicano Studies activism offered alternative viewpoints on education. To be precise, it was historians and other social scientists that broke ground in the university by challenging a one-sided version of history. The early years and historical context (Third World revolutions and a growing Civil Rights movement) influenced the idealism and some original tenets of Chicano and Ethnic Studies.
The first generation of Chicano and Ethnic students-influenced by the Third World Liberation Front in San Francisco and Berkeley-emphasized self-determination in staffing and defining of Chicano/Ethnic Studies epistemology, the necessity of "bridging" the university with the community. essentially, a major principal of Chicano/Ethnic Studies was to analyze and produce solutions to the oppressive conditions in the barrio enclaves. As a result, early agenda items created barrio centers and field studies (now called ethnography).
Tucson's MAS Department-from its humble beginnings to the outsanding academic statistics it has achieved in a short period-is a phenomena that inadvertently stands at the threshold of the entire discipline of Chicano Studies itself. MAS began when several former MEChA students and University of Arizona grads began offering supplementary Chicano Studies courses in the community on weekends.
They leveraged a federal desegregation order to implement Raza Studies classes in the schools that would take on the achievement gap that is the hidden shame of the nation. Raza Studies grew over a decade into a full-on academic department that offered over 60 courses throughout the school district at numerous schools.
MAS also boasted a high-powered summer conference to train teachers featuring prominent education professionals such as Peter McLaren and Pedro Noguera. Even more impressive were the transformations and practices happening in MAS classrooms.
Teachers innovated the classroom, profoundly impacting students and engaging them in school. Students initiated artistic and cultural events and programs themselves and went on to higher education. They practiced the early tenet, "taking the school/university back to the community, " in a dynamic fashion.
During the protests to defend Raza Studies against Horne's early attacks, students were articulate, once even conducting research on wealth disparities between school districts and how this reproduces privilege and inequality, attacking Horne's own unexamined white male privileges. They also began joining the "Barrio Runs" led by the Tucson Caluplli (an "indigenous school" in Nahuatl) as a way to come together spiritually and protest the Republican attacks.
In the process, they discovered that running strengthened their minds as well as their bodies, and that running in this way was itself another way of learning. A recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education explained running's role in generating new ideas. The more in depth journal articles of Dr. Roberto "Cintli" Rodriguez, explain how these ancient ceremonies contribute to a Chicano Studies epistemology (an established field of knowledge). It is important to emphasize that under the radar tracking the political storm, Tucson's Raza Studies program-its teachers, students and alumni--is making critical contributions to and generation unique innova-
tions within the entire discipline of Chicano Studies.
While Raza Studies at present has mobilized wide support in Tucson and beyond, their accomplishments are currently countered by malicious unfair edicts handed down by Republicans in the seats of power.
When Horne's successor, State School Superintendent Huppenthal (who vowed to "stop La Raza") forced an audit (at an expense to taxpayers of $170,000) of MAS by a Florida consulting firm of his choice, the results came back unexpectedly favorable to MAS. The Cambrium Report lauded MAS's achievements and suggested dialogue between parties and that the program be expanded. Huppenthal irrationally ignored his own report and concluded on his own that MAS was still in violation of HB2281 (ie. It still "taught oppression," was "revolutionary" and "promoted the violent overthrow of the government").
Community called for his immediate resignation. An order to quash the whole bill-which would be a godsend victory for Raza Studies-sits on the desk of a Japanese-American federal judge. Otherwise, proceedings begin in September; the Tucson 13 will likely continue fundraising to pay fees and education experts. The Bush-appointed conservative federal judge who sat on the 9th Circuit, was ironically killed by a right-winger during the shooting of Senator Giffords in January 2011. That same day, The New York Times ran a front-page article on Raza Studies. The Times failed to make a connection to it, and subsequently overshadowed the topic.
Three other state and federal cases revolve around Raza Studies. In recent days, district administrators have caved into State Republicans, cutting enrollment and courses in half, restricting teachers from advertising their classes, moving teachers to different schools, cutting their courseload, and often personally attacking the director of MAS, Sean Arce. Many have received anonymous death threats and threats to their families.
Regardless, MAS and the field of Chicano Studies remains a unique approach to instruction, which recognizes Chicano culture and Latino students as important sources of knowledge. Raza Studies will continue to produce new insights, alternative, effective ways of learning. Tomorrow's Chicano Studies will continue to matriculate scholars that will shed light a darkness that today looms dangerously over us all. But many in Tucson and here in LA proudly proclaim "Hasta la Victoria Siempre," and if past actions are any indication these Tucson Xicanos and their allies know the true path to victory.

Elias Serna is an English PhD candidate at UC Riverside, President of AMAE Santa Monica-West LA Chapter, and co-founder of the comedy teatro Chicano Secret Service.

O'odham Ofelia Rivas: URGENT Halt Gold Mining in Sacred Quitovac

2012-01-31T11:24:00.005-07:00

Ofelia Rivas, O'odham
Click arrow below to watch video.

URGENT: PROTECT SACRED QUITOVAC FROM GOLD MINING
O'ODHAM LANDS -- (Jan. 30, 2012) Ofelia Rivas, O'odham, speaks on the urgent need to protect Quitovac from gold mining. Quitovac is the sacred ceremonial community of O'odham south of the border in Sonora, Mexico.
Funds are needed now for travel in Sonora, and meetings with Sonoran officials, to halt this gold mining by Silver Scott Mines, Inc. Video by Censored News.
READ MORE on genocidal gold mining planned for Quitovac:
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/12/traditional-oodham-halt-mining-genocide.html
Donate to O'odham Solidarity Project:http://www.solidarity-project.org/
Direct cash donations are also essential! Please remember that every little bit helps! Donate to the O'odham Voice Against the Wall
Mail well concealed cash or money order to:Ofelia Rivas
PO. Box 1835
Sells, Arizona 85634
Ofelia Rivas e-mail: oodhamrights@gmail.com
O’odham Rights-Cultural and Environmental Justice Coalition
            oodhamrights@gmail.com
December 2, 2011
Lic. Rafael Carlos Quiroz Narváez
Delegado Regional de PROFEPA
Hermosillo, Sonora
Lic. Abigail Galvez
PROFEPA

Greetings,
On behalf of the O’odham (peoples) Sonora, Mexico and O’odham from Ali Jegk community of the Tohono O’odham Nation, I am writing to request your assistance to defend and protect our cultural significant and sacred ceremonial site located in Quitovac, Sonora, Mexico. The Silver Scott Mines Inc. proposed open pit mine operations will detrimentally impact not only the health of the O’odham but will also destruct the sensitive ecological environment within the area.
Quitovac is an ancient O’odham village and is the location of a profoundly sacred ceremonial site continually inhabited by our people for thousands of years. This site is also biologically sensitive significance, as it is a precious fresh water spring-fed lagoon in the middle of the Sonoran desert.
The impact of the water and air of this ceremonial site by an open pit mine and contamination from its operations would devastate the spiritual well-being of the O’odham and be a cultural and environmental disaster is an act of genocide.
As the PROFEPA is charged with the responsibility to upholding environmental justice and is entrusted by legal mandate to exercise its commitment to the natural environment and the Indigenous peoples are of the natural environment, we respectfully request that you do everything possible to stop this proposed open pit mine operations by Silver Scott Mines, Inc. and protect the traditional O’odham lands and sacred ceremony site.
Respectfully,
Ofelia Rivas, Cu:Wi I-gersk Community and Ali Jegk Community
O’odham Rights-Cultural and Environmental Justice Coalition
Bradley Angel, Executive Director
Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice
Traditional O’odham Leaders, Governors of O’odham communities in Sonora, Mexico
Ali Jegk community of Gu-Vo District of the Tohono O’odham Nation

cc.
C.P. Leonel Coronado Mendoza
Director de CCDI Caborca
Sonora, Mexico
L.C.I. Griselda Veronica Leyva Egurrola
Regidora Etnica Tohono O´otham
H. Caborca, Sonora
Attachments;
Traditional O’odham Governors Resolution
Ali Jegk Community Resolution
Articles of Silver Scott Mines, Inc

Mohawk Nation News 'White Famine Relief'

2012-01-31T11:04:00.001-07:00

WHITE FAMINE RELIEF

Mohawk Nation News

http://www.mohawknationnews.com

MNN. JAN. 30, 2012. Is white privilege ending - lower infant morality, easier bank loans, a white house, ivy league education, running the USA corporation, lolling in WASP culture!! Will they continue the lifestyle of injustice and racial categorization?

According to current stats, whites are becoming extinct. They will soon be the pissed off minority culture. They will not be colonized. They will be colorized?

Whites are declining in every city, becoming more infertile. In 13 years they will be a minority. In 20 states most babies under 2 years old are Indigenous.

12 states have white populations below 50%: Hawaii, California, New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, Nevada, Florida, Maryland, Georgia, New Jersey, New York, Mississippi. Soon to join are Illinois, North Carolina, Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, South Carolina and Delaware.

US Presidential candidate, Newt Gingrich, promises a colony on the moon. They better take all their junk with them, like those falsies for creating round bottoms, tanning salons, implants, toupees, injection machines to make fuller lips and cheekbones. [Love our looks, but hate our guts!]

US is sandwiched between Canada and Mexico. Canada will soon have a white minority population and Mexico already has an Indigenous majority.

Panic is pushing them to make up fake history, while living on the land whose history they’re faking.

Arizona wiped out the study of Indigenous culture and history, to be replaced by “white trash studies 101”. They’re trying to spark a white power movement. [Over there, COINTELPRO!]

The whites have caused a lot of confusion. Their religion justified slavery and genocide. They think they got away with it by saying “sorry’.

Advertising and marketing will change from a vessel of whiteness to a brown/black market.

Melanin gives skin, hair and eyes their color. Whites have low melanin content. The darker skinned have more and are less likely to be damaged from the sun’s rays. It gives the human being the connection to plants, animals and other people. The lessmelinated seem prone to destroy all these without remorse.

Nothing is more painful than to walk down the street and hear footsteps and start thinking, oh! oh! robbery, then turn around and see a white guy with dreadlocks!

It was wrong to beat us to death, starve us, rape us. They’re scared that we’re going to take all their jobs, food and treat them like they did us. They won’t be the boss anymore.

Whites make up 80% of older Americans over 65 years of age. Who’s going to take care of them?

We might have to play God and start missions to feed the hungry whites: “One dollar a day to save these poor starving people who have no food, no home, no one to love or understand them”.

Didn’t Charlie Brown once say something like, “Nothing takes the taste out of peanut butter like unrequited fake-American-Dream-kind-of love.

MNN Mohawk Nation News. Watch World Banker, James D. Wolfensohn, make stunning confession to back this up. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOwZwkhFemQ&feature=player_embedded#!

Store: Indigenous authors – Kahnawake books – Mohawk Warriors Three – Warriors Hand Book – Rebuilding the Iroquois Confederacy.

Category: World – Colonialism - Great Turtle Island – History – New World Order – courts/police Economics/trade/commerce – Land/environment – art/culture.

Tags: North American Indians – Turtle Island – Indian holocaust/genocide – NAU North American Union – History Canada/US – United Nations – Cointelpro - colonialism.

Sherman Alexie: Banned books are sacred documents now

2012-01-30T23:10:00.001-07:00

By Sherman Alexie
The Progressive
http://progressive.org/sherman-alexie

Let's get one thing out of the way: Mexican immigration is an oxymoron. Mexicans are indigenous. So, in a strange way, I'm pleased that the racist folks of Arizona have officially declared, in banning me alongside Urrea, Baca, and Castillo, that their anti-immigration laws are also anti-Indian. I'm also strangely pleased that the folks of Arizona have officially announced their fear of an educated underclass. You give those brown kids some books about brown folks and what happens? Those brown kids change the world. In the effort to vanish our books, Arizona has actually given them enormous power. Arizona has made our books sacred documents now.
Sherman Alexie is a poet, short story writer, novelist, and filmmaker. His book "The Lone Ranger and Tonto's Fist Fight in Heaven," was on the banned curriculum of the Mexican American Studies Program.

Banned Authors Respond
Sherman Alexie Rodolfo F. Acuña Jimmy Santiago Baca Bill Bigelow Ana Castillo Junot Diaz	Martín Espada Laura Esquivel Dagoberto Gilb Bob Peterson Luis Alberto Urrea

http://progressive.org/sherman-alexie

Urrea, banned by Tucson schools, to be featured at Tucson Festival of Books in March
http://tucsonfestivalofbooks.org/item/show/325474

Banned at Tucson Schools: Cesar Chavez, Sherman Alexie, Ofelia Zepeda

2012-01-30T20:49:00.005-07:00

Cesar Chavez

UPDATED
TUSD BANNED BOOKS LIST

By Roberto Rodriguez

Censored News

http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com

Also see: Sherman Alexie: Banned books are sacred documents now:

http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2012/01/sherman-alexie-banned-books-are-sacred.html

In checking to see how many books of mine have been banned, I stumbled upon more than I bargained for.

At the moment, here is what is banned by TUSD and the state:

Justice: A Question of Race.

The X in La Raza

Codex Tamuanchan: On Becoming Human

and

Cantos al Sexto Sol... this was co-edited by Patrisia Gonzales, Cecilio Camarillo, and me, Roberto Rodriguez.

But wait...

Cantos al Sexto Sol, akin to Rethinking Columbus, with the top native writers in the country, is a collection of some of the biggest names in Chicano/Chicana literature. It contains a who's who of Raza/Indigenous writers and literature.

Cantos is a book on origins/migrations.

But I also found that Amoxtli San Ce Tojuan -- a documentary also on origins and migrations -- by myself and Patrisia Gonzales -- is part of the MAS curriculum, thus banned.

And again, just the tip of the curriculum.

What is actually being banned is not 7 or 50 books, but hundreds of books and videos, etc.

But the story gets even bigger.

The MAS teachers have been issued directives on how to teach... and what they can teach... literally, the directives are right out of the Holy Office of the Inquisition.

The story here --as the architect of HB 2281 (Tom Horne) has long stated -- is that this is a civilizational war. The objective is to deny Mexican/Chicano/a peoples - the right to their Indigeneity... because it is not derived from Greco-Roman culture and according to Horne, lies outside of Western Civilization. Ironically, Mexican Indigenous culture can be taught through the native curriculum, but not through Mexican American Studies.

TUSD and the State: see you at the UN and the OAS. What is being violated by TUSD and HB 2281 is the right to culture, history, identity, language and education (CHILE). All of this is protected by at least 9 international treaties.

They want our souls... but akin to the line in La Otra Conquista -- they can never have them... and besides... they know not where to look.

Btw... Amoxtli X - The X Codex -- which explains In Lak Ech - Panche Be and Hunab Ku -- got under the radar, thus not banned (I hope).

I can be reached at: XColumn@gmail.com

Patrisia Gonzales can be reached at: patzin@gmail.com

Thanks & Sincerely
Roberto Dr. Cintli Rodriguez
PO BOX 3812
Tucson, AZ 85722
520-626-0824

COLUMN: http://drcintli.blogspot.com/

Cintli don't tweet, text, facebook and is not linked... neither do I own a TV... but you can still email or call me.

TUSD BANNED BOOKS LIST(s)

O'odham professor
Ofelia Zepeda

The lists of banned books comes from the Cambium report, which was gathered from MAS-TUSD. Searn Arce, director of MAS-TUSD affirms that all the books on the lists below have been banned.

In this format, they were compiled (the firt ones) by Manuel Hernandez at U of A, and the next part, by librarian and scholar, Debbie Reese. The story in Tucson is much bigger than banned books. This week, two more huge shoes will drop, as early as Tuesday... Stay tuned

These are the Arizonan Chican@ authors suppressed in TUSD: Dictionary of Latino Civil Rights History (2006) by F. A. Rosales, Codex Tamuanchan: On Becoming Human (1998) by R. Rodríguez, The X in La Raza II (1996) by R. Rodríguez, Let Their Spirits Dance (2003) by S. Pope Duarte, Mexican American Literature (1990) by C. M. Tatum, and New Chicana/Chicano Writing (1993) by C. M. Tatum.

Other suppressed authors are: Gloria Anzaldúa, César Chávez, Rodolfo Acuña, Tomás Rivera, Luis Valdez, and, believe it or not, many others.

Ironically, all banned authors from Mexican American Studies in TUSD write in English. Many have national and international prizes.

Please find below the list of books prohibited for students in MAS, an academically advanced program that successfully channeled 85% of its high school participants into college or the university:

Debbie Reese has compiled this list from the May 2, 2011 Cambium Report.

High School Course Texts and Reading Lists Table 20: American Government/Social Justice Education Project 1, 2 - Texts and Reading Lists

Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years (1998) by B. Bigelow and B. Peterson

The Latino Condition: A Critical Reader (1998) by R. Delgado and J. Stefancic

Critical Race Theory: An Introduction (2001) by R. Delgado and J. Stefancic

Pedagogy of the Oppressed (2000) by P. Freire

United States Government: Democracy in Action (2007) by R. C. Remy

Dictionary of Latino Civil Rights History (2006) by F. A. Rosales

Declarations of Independence: Cross-Examining American Ideology (1990) by H. Zinn

Table 21: American History/Mexican American Perspectives, 1, 2 - Texts and Reading Lists

Occupied America: A History of Chicanos (2004) by R. Acuña

The Anaya Reader (1995) by R. Anaya

The American Vision (2008) by J. Appleby et el.

Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years (1998) by B. Bigelow and B. Peterson

Drink Cultura: Chicanismo (1992) by J. A. Burciaga

Message to Aztlán: Selected Writings (1997) by R. Gonzales

De Colores Means All of Us: Latina Views Multi-Colored Century (1998) by E. S. Martínez

500 Años Del Pueblo Chicano/500 Years of Chicano History in Pictures (1990) by E. S. Martínez

Codex Tamuanchan: On Becoming Human (1998) by R. Rodríguez

The X in La Raza II (1996) by R. Rodríguez

Dictionary of Latino Civil Rights History (2006) by F. A. Rosales

A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present (2003) by H. Zinn

Course: English/Latino Literature 7, 8

Ten Little Indians (2004) by S. Alexie

The Fire Next Time (1990) by J. Baldwin

Loverboys (2008) by A. Castillo

Women Hollering Creek (1992) by S. Cisneros

Mexican White Boy (2008) by M. de la Pena

Drown (1997) by J. Díaz

Woodcuts of Women (2000) by D. Gilb

At the Afro-Asian Conference in Algeria (1965) by E. Guevara

Color Lines: "Does Anti-War Have to Be Anti-Racist Too?" (2003) by E. Martínez

Culture Clash: Life, Death and Revolutionary Comedy (1998) by R. Montoya et al.

Let Their Spirits Dance (2003) by S. Pope Duarte

Two Badges: The Lives of Mona Ruiz (1997) by M. Ruiz

The Tempest (1994) by W. Shakespeare

A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America (1993) by R. Takaki

The Devil's Highway (2004) by L. A. Urrea

Puro Teatro: A Latino Anthology (1999) by A. Sandoval-Sanchez & N. Saporta Sternbach

Twelve Impossible Things before Breakfast: Stories (1997) by J. Yolen

Voices of a People's History of the United States (2004) by H. Zinn

Course: English/Latino Literature 5, 6

Live from Death Row (1996) by J. Abu-Jamal

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven (1994) by S. Alexie

Zorro (2005) by I. Allende

Borderlands La Frontera: The New Mestiza (1999) by G. Anzaldua

A Place to Stand (2002), by J. S. Baca

C-Train and Thirteen Mexicans (2002), by J. S. Baca

Healing Earthquakes: Poems (2001) by J. S. Baca

Immigrants in Our Own Land and Selected Early Poems (1990) by J. S. Baca

Black Mesa Poems (1989) by J. S. Baca

Martin & Mediations on the South Valley (1987) by J. S. Baca

The Manufactured Crisis: Myths, Fraud, and the Attack on America's Public Schools (1995) by D. C. Berliner and B. J. Biddle

Drink Cultura: Chicanismo (1992) by J. A Burciaga

Red Hot Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Being Young and Latino in the United States (2005) by L. Carlson & O. Hijuielos

Cool Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Growing up Latino in the United States (1995) by L. Carlson & O. Hijuelos

So Far From God (1993) by A. Castillo

Address to the Commonwealth Club of California (1985) by C. E. Chávez

Women Hollering Creek (1992) by S. Cisneros

House on Mango Street (1991), by S. Cisneros

Drown (1997) by J. Díaz

Suffer Smoke (2001) by E. Diaz Bjorkquist

Zapata's Discipline: Essays (1998) by M. Espada

Like Water for Chocolate (1995) by L. Esquievel

When Living was a Labor Camp (2000) by D. García

La Llorona: Our Lady of Deformities (2000), by R. Garcia

Cantos Al Sexto Sol: An Anthology of Aztlanahuac Writing (2003) by C. García-Camarilo et al.

The Magic of Blood (1994) by D. Gilb

Message to Aztlan: Selected Writings (2001) by Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales

Saving Our Schools: The Case for Public Education, Saying No to "No Child Left Behind" (2004) by Goodman et al.

Feminism is for Everybody (2000) by b hooks

The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child (1999) by F. Jiménez

Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools (1991) by J. Kozol

Zigzagger (2003) by M. Muñoz

Infinite Divisions: An Anthology of Chicana Literature (1993) by T. D. Rebolledo & E. S. Rivero

...y no se lo trago la tierra/And the Earth Did Not Devour Him (1995) by T. Rivera

Always Running - La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A. (2005) by L. Rodriguez

Justice: A Question of Race (1997) by R. Rodríguez

The X in La Raza II (1996) by R. Rodríguez

Crisis in American Institutions (2006) by S. H. Skolnick & E. Currie

Los Tucsonenses: The Mexican Community in Tucson, 1854-1941 (1986) by T. Sheridan

Curandera (1993) by Carmen Tafolla

Mexican American Literature (1990) by C. M. Tatum

New Chicana/Chicano Writing (1993) by C. M. Tatum

Civil Disobedience (1993) by H. D. Thoreau

By the Lake of Sleeping Children (1996) by L. A. Urrea

Nobody's Son: Notes from an American Life (2002) by L. A. Urrea

Zoot Suit and Other Plays (1992) by L. Valdez

Ocean Power: Poems from the Desert (1995) by O. Zepeda

UPDATE, Monday, January 16, 2012

The list above is not complete. As I learn of other titles that have been boxed, I will add them to the list.

Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya

Yo Soy Joaquin/I Am Joaquin by Rodolfo Gonzales

Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea

The Devil's Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea

Thanks & Sincerely

Roberto Dr. Cintli Rodriguez

PO BOX 3812

Tucson, AZ 85722

520-626-0824

COLUMN: http://drcintli.blogspot.com/

ARCHIVED COLUMN OF THE AMERICAS

http://web.me.com/columnoftheamericas

Cintli don't tweet, text, facebook and is not linked... neither do I own a TV... but you can still email or call me.

Gila River against Loop 202: Pangea corporation exposed!

2012-01-30T12:54:00.000-07:00

Pangea Exposed!

Posted on January 23, 2012

by GILA RIVER AGAINST LOOP 202

The Pecos Landowners Association (PLA) has had longstanding ties to Pangea, but under a recent cloud of suspicion about business practices Pangea has used to get D6 landowners to sign away their lands for a 202 right of way, the PLA announced that they have broken ties with Pangea. A complaint was brought to D6 officals that Pangea went to the home of an elder with dementia, and acquired her signature on a contract authorizing Pangea to develop her lands for a 202 right of way.
The PLA and Pangea’s relationship has been under suspicion since its very beginning, not just from just GRAL202 but also from Community members who have received letters from Pangea they only have 30 days to sign a Pangea contract signing away their lands. When landowners need help understanding what that letter means to their land rights, the PLA is where they are directed. However, Community member Nathan Percharo was the PLA Chairman in 2011, when the 202 planning was almost all that the PLA worked on, and Percharo still provides consulting services to Pangea, as is stated on their website. Is that legal, for Percharo to be on Pangea’s payroll for consulting services, as he advises D6 landowners on zoning and land use issues?
Why is Pangea operating in the dark, and how did they become such a player in the issue, when we don’t know anything about them? Joey Perez is a Community member who says he owns Pangea, but he is not listed as the owner on the Pangea website. He is, however, listed as the owner of Initial Impressions, a casino marketing agency that has the same business address as Pangea. Initial Impressions boasts that they can “organize a covert invasion of a small or large country”. http://www.linkedin.com/pub/joseph-perez/19/3b2/42

Off Pangea's own website

Are those Pangea’s plans, to literally pave and bulldoze the way for yet another casino takeover in Gila River? When will our leadership move beyond casinos, and casino hotels to give us sustainable development and meaningful skills to pass down to our families? Joey Perez is from Blackwater, where he may not have learned much about the balance between Muhadag Do’ag and the Estrella mountain range in our west end. Do we want his money and power influencing the 202 issue? Do we Community members really believe we are just one casino away from solving all our economic problems?
We are a grassroots campaign against the freeway, and all of our flyers, pamphlets, zines etc are printed out of our own pockets, in black and white on plain paper, donated by Community members at times, other times paid for by us. We don’t have the money to do more than that. Where did the Pecos Landowners Association, a non-profit organization, get the money to print out full color handouts on thick cardstock? Those cost a lot of money. Where does the non-profit PLA get the money to offer rides to the polls on February 7^th? Pangea has money.

Hopi Vernon Masayesva: Coal fired power plants days are numbered

2012-01-30T11:52:00.000-07:00

Vernon Masayesva: Days are numbered for Navajo Generating Station's use of Black Mesa coal and water

Black Mesa Trust Calls on EPA to Help Put Navajo Generating Station on Sound Environmental Footing

By Black Mesa Trust
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com

KYKOTSOMOVI, Ariz., Jan. 30--Black Mesa Trust, an indigenous grassroots Hopi environmental, education and advocacy group serving the Native peoples of Black Mesa in northern Arizona, has called on Environmental Protection Agency Region 9 to support its efforts to require that the coal-based 2250-megawatt Navajo Generating Station in Page, Arizona, and the Central Arizona Project that carries water from the Colorado River to Phoenix and Tucson, operate in an environmentally sound and culturally equitable manner.

Black Mesa Trust Executive Director Vernon Masayesva said, "The good old days when NGS produced cheap electricity to pump water to Central and Southern Arizona, using coal from Black Mesa obtained at discounted prices from the Hopi and Navajo people, are numbered. Along with NGS, Peabody Coal is facing multiple problems, including growing opposition from Hopi and Navajo people to the world's largest strip-mining operation

"We feel NGS can be saved as a base-load generating station, using a mix of solar, natural gas, and hydro-electricity."

The coal, water and land leases that allow Navajo Generating Station to run are up for renewal in the next few years. As the leases are renegotiated, Black Mesa Trust has requested that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar consider these issues: the historic and long-term health, water and economic harms the Hopi and Navajo peoples have suffered from the generating station and the coal mines that fuel it; the Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation Enforcement actions that have allowed mining operations to contaminate and degrade surface and ground water in the region, diminish water flows from springs and washes to traditional Hopi farms and destroyed hundreds of ancient burial sites; and the development of a regional energy plan focused on developing clean energy resources to provide baseload power to operation the 336-mile Central Arizona Project, which since its inception has been totally reliant on power from the Navajo Generating Station.

Masayesva and Marshall Johnson, founder of To'Nizhoni Ani, a Navajo grassroots organization dealing with water issues, have enlisted experts from Black Mesa Trust's Circle of Advisors, the Grand Canyon Trust and the Center for Applied Research to assist with the effort, and will seek support from the governors of Arizona, New Mexico and California, Hopi and Navajo government leaders and other environmental organizations to develop a plan to safeguard, honor and preserve the land, waters and cultures of Black Mesa.

Black Mesa Trust is a grassroots Hopi environmental, education and advocacy group serving the Native peoples of Black Mesa in northern Arizona, has called on Environmental Protection Agency Region 9 to support its efforts to require that the coal-based 2250-megawatt Navajo Generating Station in Page, Arizona, and the Central Arizona Project that carries water from the Colorado River to Phoenix and Tucson, operate in an environmentally sound and culturally equitable manner.

Arizona School Censorship Hit with Protest from Organizations, Educators

2012-01-30T10:24:00.000-07:00

Joan BertinExecutive Director
National Coalition Against Censorship
bertin@ncac.org
212-807-6222 x 101
Michael O’Neil
Communications Coordinator
National Coalition Against Censorship
michael@ncac.org
212-807-6222 x 107
Chris Finan
President
American Booksellers Foundation For Free Expression
Chris@abffe.org
212-587-4025 x 301
Amy Long
Communications Coordinator
American Booksellers Foundation For Free Expression
amyl@abffe.org
212-587-4025 x 302

Arizona School Censorship Hit By Salvo of Protest
From Free Speech Orgs and Educators

Censored News

TUCSON, AZ—Dozens of national organizations have joined together to protest the banning of books used for the Mexican American Studies program in the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD).“This is censorship at its most brazen,” said Joan Bertin, Executive Director at the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC). “Officials at the state and local level are responsible for this unacceptable restriction on the educational opportunities of students and their ability to have discussion in school about historical and contemporary events touching on race and ethnicity.

“We call on them to restore the books and the topics for discussion in the district’s classrooms.”

The TUSD board ordered the books removed after State Superintendent of Public Instruction John Huppenthal threatened to withhold state funding pursuant to a recently-enacted Arizona law. That law is being challenged in court.

“We do not think the students of Tucson should have to wait for a federal court order to get the education they deserve,” said Chris Finan, President of American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE). “Regardless of the outcome of legal proceedings, this is harming students, whose education should be the primary concern of elected officials. Instead they are putting politics and ideology ahead of the well-being of young people.”

NCAC and ABFFE have jointly created the Kids’ Right to Read Project (KRRP), which offers support,education, and advocacy to promote the right of young people to read widely and to receive a high quality education that is challenging and relevant. KRRP provides direct assistance to students, teachers, librarians and others opposing book-banning in schools and communities nationwide, while engaging local activists to promote the freedom to read.

In the shocking case of Tucson, many national organizations dedicated to education and constitutional right shave organized to speak in one voice, calling on the appropriate authorities to correct what they see as an egregious abuse of power.

The joint statement to Arizona officials, with signatories including representatives from publishers, teachers, civil libertarians, and booksellers from the region, may be viewed at http://www.ncac.org and http://abffe.org.

Obama to Native Americans: The cost of access in the age of spying

2012-01-29T22:38:00.002-07:00

The Cost of Access in the Age of Spying

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com

While many Native Americans were cold and hungry this winter, President Obama charged $10,000 to $35,000 for American Indians to attend his fundraiser Friday targeting Native Americans. There was another charge of $10,000 to have one's photo taken with Obama.
Obama hoped to extract $1 million from Native Americans from the 70 expected to attend. This news came at the same time that the COINTELPRO type spying on American Indians, with its dangerous misinformation and hysteria, was exposed.
Anonymous hacktivists exposed the e-mails of the private global intelligence firm Stratfor, and the misinformed and absurd comments of Stratfor as it was spying on Occupy Austin and Deep Green Resistance.

Stratfor worked with Texas DPS to infiltrate activists. As they did, they targeted the Deep Green Resistance website, which has a 1973 photo of the occupation of Wounded Knee. The website also has Austin's Indigenous Struggle Solidarity Statement and links to Native American organizations.
Stratfor's false information, with its outdated information, exposed in the hacked files, is a good example of US flawed intelligence.
It is this flawed US intelligence that leads to innocent people being killed and tortured by the US throughout the world.
This type of false intelligence hype has far reaching consequences for those who are the victims of this type of self serving exaggerated info, outdated info, and lies -- the consequences are seen around the world, in the reckless use of drones to assassinate people by the US; the torture in secret prisons; and the creation of bogus wars.

Meanwhile, while US private intelligence spies on Native Americans, some American Indians paid between $10,000 and $35,000 to be at Obama's campaign fundraiser in DC on Friday. For another $10,000 they could get their photo taken with Obama.

Censored News urges President Obama, to do the right thing, and give the money directly back to Native Americans who are cold and hungry this winter.

Obama's campaign expected to extract about $1 million from Native Americans -- while many Native people do not have firewood, food, medicine, safe homes or safe drinking water.

This disparity between the haves and the have-nots in Indian country reveals a truth about the Indian "gaming" industry, an industry devised by non-Indians to profiteer in Indian country.

Today, millions of dollars in profits from Indian casinos go to non-Indian management firms, non-Indian attorneys, non-Indian lobbyists, non-Indian charities and to the states. While a few Native Americans profit, most of Indian country continues to live in desperate need of jobs, housing, firewood, clothing and even clean water and food.

In the slick campaign to create the illusion of Indian gaming, the word "gambling" was changed to "gaming" to make it palatable, and to hide the truth of gambling and its addiction.

The slick public relations campaigns continues to deceive. The media is now complicit in these crimes against humanity.

It was this chosen few "haves" in Indian country that President Obama targeted with his fundraising on Friday.

Who paid for those tickets and photos?

Did Native Americans attending pay with money from their tribe's general funds, funds that were meant for Americans who are desperately in need?

Who approved these expenses?

Remarks by the President at the fundraiser:

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you, everybody. Thank you. Please, please have a seat. It is wonderful to see all of you here this afternoon. Some old friends and some new friends.

As you know, I’m not here tonight just as President, but also as an adopted member of the Crow Nation. (Applause.) If my adoptive parents were here, I know what they’d say: Kids just grow up so fast. (Laughter.)

When I made that visit to Montana, I said that my job wasn’t just to win an election. It was to make sure that Washington started to focus on you. And I took that commitment seriously.

My commitment is deeper than our unique nation-to-nation relationship. It’s a commitment to making sure that we get that relationship right. Native Americans have to be full partners in our economy. Your children and your grandchildren have to have an equal shot at the American Dream.

And that’s why for three years in a row now, we’ve brought tribal leaders to Washington to develop an agenda that reflects your hopes and your aspirations and the needs of your tribes. I’ve appointed Native Americans to senior positions in my administration and in my White House. And many of you have had a chance to work with Kim Teehee, who does an extraordinary job coordinating our Native American affairs in the White House. (Applause.) And we’ve worked together to tackle some of the most difficult challenges facing Native American families.

And we should be proud of what we’ve done so far. But it should also sharpen our resolve to do even more.

As long as Native Americans face unemployment rates that are far higher than the national average, we’ve got more work to do. And I wake up every day focused on how do we restore America’s promise for all our people, including our first Americans.

So in my State of the Union address this week, I laid out my blueprint for an economy that’s built to last, an economy built on American manufacturing and American energy, skills for American workers and a return to American values of fair play and responsibility. And that’s what we’re fighting for.

And I want you guys to be full partners in that fight because I believe that one day we’re going to be able to look back on these years and say this was a turning point in nation-to-nation relations; that this was turning point when the nations all across the country recognized that they were full partners, treated with dignity and respect and consultation; that this wasn’t just a side note on a White House agenda, but this was part and parcel of our broader agenda to make sure that everybody has opportunity.

And it’s also a moment when we build a strong middle class in Indian country. It’s not simply a ward but is able to marshal the resources to create its own agenda and its own destiny and its own economic development and its own businesses. That’s what we’re looking for.

We want new businesses and new opportunities to take root on the reservation. We want to stop repeating the mistakes of the past and begin building a better future -- one that honors old traditions and also welcomes every single Native American into the American Dream.

We’ve done some great work together -- whether it’s making sure that Indian Health was permanently extended and that we were putting additional resources to make sure that we’re picking up the health of Native Americans all across the country. Whether it’s an executive order that specifies our focus on education with all of your tribes, whether it’s making sure that we are working hard to allow the expansion of land in trust on behalf of nations to go further, we’ve made some significant progress. But we’ve got a lot more to do.

And I’m going to need all of you to continue to consult with us, to continue to work with us, continue to partner with us. I guarantee you that the work we’ve done over these first three years is not the end, it’s just the beginning.

And if you stick with me, I promise you guys I’m going to be sticking with you. All right, God bless you. Thank you. Thank you. (Applause.)

Remarks by the President were provided by the White House Office of the Press Secretary

Beware of ripoff online company Laptoptown

2012-01-29T20:32:00.000-07:00

By Brenda Norrell Censored News
Beware of the online ripoff sales from www.latptoptown.com
Three weeks after purchasing a power cord from this company online, the wires frayed and the cord produced a dangerous spark.
Here is the fraudulent scheme used by this company, laptoptown.com, to prevent the return of this power cord for reimbursement:
--First, the company asked for photos (in order to delay return of the item)
--Then the company said they would send a replacement
--Then the company said the item was out of stock
--Then the company refused to provide the mailing address to return the item, refusing to respond with the address for another 10 days. The mailing address is not on the website.
These intentional delays made return of the item impossible in the required 30 days.
These intentional delays made it impossible to file a dispute in the required 45 days with PayPal.
Laptoptown.com is a fraudulent operation, which sends out dangerous, defective merchandise and then intentionally prevents the return of the item for reimbursement.
It is a horrible experience dealing with this company, laptoptown.com, beware and avoid this company.

Black Mesa: Navajo horses impounded being sold

2012-01-28T13:09:00.002-07:00

Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

Update Mon., Jan. 30, 2012
Black Mesa Indigenous Support sent this letter to the Hopi Chairman and Hopi Council:

Hopi Tribal Council
P.O. Box 123, Kykotsmovi, AZ 86039
Dear Honorable Chairman Shingoitewa,

It is with great concern that we write to you today, January 31 year 2012.
The undersigned are members of a group called Black Mesa Indigenous Support (BMIS) that exists to promote respect and support for the elders of Black Mesa/Big Mountain, specifically those living traditionally on the Hopi Partitioned Land (HPL). We write with support and encouragement from that community. As you know, many of these individuals are related to those of you directly. BMIS has worked with you at Hopi in the past on many issues, and have recently been honored to support your work and the work of others in protecting the sacred San Fransisco Peaks by stopping Snowbowl.
It has been brought to our attention that on January 25 and 27, Hopi rangers impounded animals belonging to Dineh families who live on HPL. These animals were rounded up by Hopi rangers using quads, on grazing districts 257 and 259.

According to acting chief Hopi ranger, Ronald Honyumptewa, the order to carry out these impoundments came directly from the Hopi tribal council chairman.
Mr. Honyumptewa stated that they have the right to confiscate these animals under ordinance 43 in the Accommodation Agreement (Public Law 104-301), and said further that the Hopi authorities are not obligated to hold on to impounded animals for owners to claim.

We are also very concerned to learn that a buyer of some of the animals was already identified directly before the impoundments had taken place, and that the animals were transported to Sun Valley for the purchase.

We understand that PL 104-301 authorizes such impoundments by Hopi rangers, however we are troubled at the manner in which they were carried out.

As we have understood it, the owners of these now impounded animals, were never given personal notice to sell or arrange for said unbranded animals, nor told in advance that these impoundments were going to take place. We have learned now, after the incidents, that notices were put up in the Rocky Ridge store and some local Chapter Houses five days before the impoundments took place. The residents report that being notified in such a manner is insufficient, considering that many of the elders cannot read English and/or speak English and do not frequent the Rocky Ridge store and Chapter Houses due to lack of transportation and funds. In the future, we, on behalf of the elders, urge you to employ direct, respectful, and personal communication with an aim to reach mutual understanding and solve livestock problems.

Again, our purpose in writing this letter is to encourage mutual respect, kindness, and moral responses to the issues that arise on the Hopi Partitioned Land. We received reports of Hopi rangers whipping livestock and speeding on all-terrain vehicles in sensitive environments in front of Dineh elders while rounding up livestock, and then laughing at the elders who expressed dismay at the abuse of their land and animals. As you well know, life on the Hopi Partition Land has its myriad difficulties, and we believe, as we know you do, that all people deserve respect and have the right to live their lives in dignity. We value your commitment to stewardship of the earth and respect your efforts at stewardship in various venues; it is our heartfelt hope that that commitment extends to the HPL.

The aforementioned act of selling the impounded livestock without due process that would allow for the retrieval of said livestock is viewed as disrespectful by the affected community and can be considered a violation of Human Rights and a specific violation of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as articulated by the UN Declaration for Indigenous Peoples’ Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

As you know, in that Declaration, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly on September 13th 2007, it is stated that:
Article 20
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and develop their political,
economic and social systems or institutions, to be secure in the enjoyment of their
own means of subsistence and development, and to engage freely in all their
traditional and other economic activities.
2. Indigenous peoples deprived of their means of subsistence and
development are entitled to just and fair redress
Article 22
1. Particular attention shall be paid to the rights and special needs of
indigenous elders, women, youth, children and persons with disabilities in the
implementation of this Declaration.
2. States shall take measures, in conjunction with indigenous peoples, to
ensure that indigenous women and children enjoy the full protection and guarantees against all forms of violence and discrimination
Article 24
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to their traditional medicines and to
maintain their health practices, including the conservation of their vital medicinal
plants, animals and minerals. Indigenous individuals also have the right to access,
without any discrimination, to all social and health services.
2. Indigenous individuals have an equal right to the enjoyment of the
highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. States shall take the
necessary steps with a view to achieving progressively the full realization of this
right.
Article 25
Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and strengthen their distinctive
spiritual relationship with their traditionally owned or otherwise occupied and used
lands, territories, waters and coastal seas and other resources and to uphold their
responsibilities to future generations in this regard.
Article 8
1. Indigenous peoples and individuals have the right not to be subjected to
forced assimilation or destruction of their culture.
Article 10
Indigenous peoples shall not be forcibly removed from their lands or
territories. No relocation shall take place without the free, prior and informed
consent of the indigenous peoples concerned and after agreement on just and fair
compensation and, where possible, with the option of return.
Article 12
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to manifest, practice, develop and
teach their spiritual and religious traditions, customs and ceremonies; the right to
maintain, protect, and have access in privacy to their religious and cultural sites; the
right to the use and control of their ceremonial objects; and the right to the repatriation of their human remains
In light of the information above, we the undersigned, urge you, the Hopi Tribal Council to consider:
1. An immediate return of the livestock confiscated on the aforementioned dates to the appropriate families.
2. As per all articles of the UN Declaration on Indigenous Peoples’ Rights and Fundamental Freedoms cited above, an immediate revocation of Public Laws 93-531 and 104-301, and an immediate end to the forced relocation and harassment of residents of the Hopi Partition Land.
3. That all future impoundments are preceded by notices in Dineh and English and are delivered in a personal manner at least three weeks prior to the beginning of the impoundments to the affected parties with clear proof that said parties understand and consent.
4. As per articles 20 (1, 2); 22 (1); and 24 (1) specifically of the UN Declaration on Indigenous Peoples’ Rights and Fundamental Freedoms cited above, an immediate end to limitation of livestock herd sizes for residents of the Hopi Partition Land.
5. An immediate end of the use of all-terrain vehicles for livestock roundups on the environmentally sensitive Hopi Partition Land.
6. An immediate assessment by the Hopi Tribal Council of the Hopi Rangers’ capacity for dealing with the problem of wild horse herds on the Hopi Partition Land before any further impoudments of livestock belonging to individuals are considered.
We thank you for your time and consideration and look forward to hearing a response within the next two weeks. Please contact us at blackmesais@gmail.com

Respectfully,

The Black Mesa Indigenous Support Collective: Derek Minno Bloom, Liza Minno Bloom, Hallie Boas, Berkley Carnine, Theresa Gigante, and Owen Johnson
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From Rachel Tso:
Impoundments are currently happening on the HPL
In a phone call, Hopi ranger Ronald Honyumptewa confirmed that animals were impounded from range units 257 and 259 of the HPL from Monday through Wednesday. He stated that all unbranded horses have already been sold, that a buyer was identified so they went out with quads to round them up, then sold them. He also said the order came down directly from the Hopi Chairman. They were all sold to Sun Valley. Ranger Honyumptewa said they have the legal right to confiscate them under ordinance 43 in the Accommodation Agreement and are not obligated to hold impounded illegal animals for the residents to claim. He also said they will be rounding up from the rest of the HPL range units.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From Black Mesa Indigenous Support:
In the last two days, livestock impoundment crews have confiscated calves and stolen and immediately sold horses belonging to several Dineh people of Big Mountain/Black Mesa, Arizona. These livestock impoundments constitute human rights violations against traditional Dineh (Navajo); they take away one of their major food sources and one of the main sources of their livelihood. This is a tactical move to further genocidal relocation policies.
Even though it is Saturday, call now and throughout the week and flood their lines and answering machines. Say that the elders need their animals to survive, these confiscations are WRONG, that we are watching, and that we see this ongoing harassment as part of cultural genocide. Also, make sure to ask that they stop driving quads illegally through sensitive environments.
Please Call The Hopi tribal chairman’s office @ 928-734-3102. Ask for the chair, LeRoy Shingoitewa who made the direct order for the impoundments and stolen horses.
We’re collecting funds to pay for livestock reclamation. We know it will be at least $500. The amount increases daily. You can go here to donate now: http://blackmesais.org/donate/
Many Thanks for Your Support. Stay in touch!

The BMIS Collective: Hallie, Berkley, Liza, Derek, and Tree

Tucson Schools: And then they came for the books!

2012-01-28T12:48:00.002-07:00

First they suspended MAS. Then they suspended the students. Now they've come after the books.

By Roberto Rodriguez
Censored News
If you missed Thursday's teach-in at the U of A by suspended Wakefield students, and one Pueblo H.S. student, watch the highlights here: http://tucsoncitizen.com/three-sonorans/2012/01/27/twisted-pedicone-logic-punishing-middle-school-students-that-walked-out-by-kicking-them-out-of-school/comment-page-2/#comments
Here's a link to story in the Arizona Daily Star: http://azstarnet.com/news/local/education/precollegiate/students-in-walkout-suspended/article_e63dcb6f-9954-5cd9-936a-0577e8ba7044.html
The students were suspended for walking out in protest of TUSD's decision to suspend the district's Mexican American Studies department. Because they were not permitted to return to their schools, they were at the UA, attending MAS classes there, plus conducting the teach in. After the last class they attended, they were notified that their suspensions were lifted. The classes they attended were: The History of the Chicano Movement and Indigenous Thinkers/Indigenous Philosophers. There is no word if their suspensions were rescinded or if there may be other suspensions of the other participating high school students from Tucson and Cholla High Schools.
Inspired by the teach-in, UA student officials are planning a much larger teach-in at the end of February where everyone will be invited, including TUSD and state officials.
Aside from dismantling the MAS program and thrashing the discipline, and despite denials from the district, as a result of HB 2281, books have also been banned/confiscated from the classrooms. Seven books were boxed, though teachers were instructed to remove all books, art, posters, etc from their classrooms. This includes some 50 book titles. The list can be accessed at: http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2012/01/mexican-american-studies-department.html
*** If you have not signed the petition re the TUSD book banning, you are welcomed to do so. Go to: https://www.change.org/petitions/tucson-school-board-dont-lock-up-knowledge-return-books-to-students-now
Not to be forgotten is that this is a direct attack on Indigenous knowledge and the attempts by state and local officials to deny Tucson students, primarily Mexican Americans, of that knowledge.
Thanks
Sincerely
Roberto Dr. Cintli Rodriguez
PO BOX 3812
Tucson, AZ 85722
For more in-depth stories on this topic, go to:
http://drcintli.blogspot.com/

For up-to-the minute stories, go to: http://tucsoncitizen.com/three-sonorans
Thanks
Sincerely

Roberto Dr. Cintli Rodriguez
PO BOX 3812
Tucson, AZ 85722

COLUMN: http://drcintli.blogspot.com
ARCHIVED COLUMN OF THE AMERICAS

http://web.me.com/columnoftheamericas

US spies focus on Wounded Knee 1973 photo and American Indian organizations

2012-01-27T19:13:00.011-07:00

Anonymous hacked e-mails reveal global security spies' paranoia over Indian movements, and De Occupy movement

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com

The files of a global security company, Stratfor, were hacked by Anonymous, exposing US spies at Stratfor were focused on a website with a photo of the Wounded Knee occupation of 1973. The website includes links to Indian organizations and movements, including the American Indian Movement, Indigenous Environmental Movement, the Zapatistas, Transform Columbus Day, Defenders of the Land, Waziyatawin, Unsettling America and Lakota Oyate.

The website is the Deep Green Resistance Austin.
http://deepgreenresistanceaustin.org/2011/10/09/occupy-austin%E2%80%99s-
The website includes the Indigenous Struggle Solidarity Statement.

The hacked e-mails reveal that the Texas DPS (Department of Public Safety) worked together with the private security firm Stratfor to spy on activists, including Occupy Austin and the Deep Green Resistance movement.

As usual with US spy files, the hacked e-mails of the security firm reveal a distortion of facts, misinformation, unreliable informants, confusion, and self-serving exaggeration that keeps security firms and intelligence operations lush with US funding.
The e-mail, released in what Anonymous called a "teaser" of more to come, is signed by the Watch Officer for Stratfor and states:

Early on in the Occupy movement, they got the group to support some
document called, "Indigenous Struggle Solidarity Statement" calling
Austin an occupied territory. It includes a picture of armed native
Americans.

In another e-mail hacked by Anonymous, the Stratfor director of operations had this to say about anarchists and Code Pink:

Is it worth talking about how the occupy wallstreet people are really just
retreads from the anarchist movement in the late 1990's early 2000's? It
also showed a little bit in the code pink anti war movement in the mid
200s.
So it is not a completely new phenomenon, it is just an older phenomenon
that is once again regaining strength.

Occupy Austin’s Indigenous Struggle Solidarity Statement

Approved by the Occupy Austin General Assembly (7pm) on 10/8/11

Occupy Austin recognizes that the land now referred to as Austin, Texas is already occupied. It was stolen from the indigenous peoples, including the Tonkawa and Apache, in a genocide against indigenous peoples that continues to this day.
Before colonization, this land was the home to several truly sustainable cultures; cultures that were integrated into the land-base, cultures that did not have to worry about corporate influence on the political process. These cultures were destroyed and are being destroyed by the corporate state, starting with Columbus’ state-sponsored invasion of North America more than five hundred years ago. This invasion is not something to celebrate.
Occupy Austin recognizes that the injustice of colonization by the culture of the corporate state is a wrong that must ultimately be righted, and as such we stand in solidarity with the struggles of indigenous peoples in North America and all over the world.

For more information on such matters, please check out: unsettlingamerica.wordpress.com, aimovement.org, defendersoftheland.org, ienearth.org, waziyatawin.net, lakotaoyate.net, enlacezapatista.ezln.org.mx, transformcolumbusday.org
Please note that the presence of this statement on the Deep Green Resistance Austin website does not imply that Occupy Austin supports the DGR strategy, analysis, statement of principles, or code of conduct.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Deep Green Resistance responds

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 26, 2012
Contact Deep Green Resistance:
Lierre Keith lierrekeith@yahoo.com Aric McBay aric@aricmcbay.org

View documents here.
View Deep Green Resistance response and picture of Stratfor employee here.

Computer hackers known as Anonymous leaked information obtained by hacking into private intelligence firm Stratfor’s computer network. The documents – what Anonymous is calling a teaser – suggest that from at least October to November 2011 Stratfor worked with Texas law enforcement to infiltrate the Occupy movement and spy on the Deep Green Resistance movement. The document contains emails in which Stratfor employees discuss Occupy Austin and Deep Green Resistance. Stratfor “Watch Officer” Marc Lanthemann writes about receiving information on Occupy Austin and DGR from a “Texas DPS agent.” The Texas Department of Public Safety is a statewide law enforcement agency that includes an Intelligence and Counterterrorism Division.
Deep Green Resistance condemns the surveillance and infiltration of activist groups by law enforcement and private corporations and calls on activists and their allies to expose and protest this violation of all of our constitutional rights.
“Law enforcement sharing information about local activism with private intelligence firms should be a huge scandal,” writes Rachel Meeropol, staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights. “Privately funded surveillance and infiltration of activist groups is especially chilling, as time and again we see such corporations operate as if they are above the law and accountable to no one.”
In the emails, Stratfor staff discuss how a Stratfor agent went undercover and tried to gather information from an Occupy Austin General assembly. They discuss DGR Austin holding a public meeting on what radicalism means for Austin (wrongly describing the purpose as “indoctrination”), they write about the book Deep Green Resistance, and they speculate about the relationship between DGR Austin and other groups. Comments in the email suggest that this surveillance was ongoing and continued past the incidents described.
Stratfor and law enforcement not only violated activists’ constitutional rights, they also were grossly incompetent. Their report is full of hasty generalizations and inaccuracies. They confuse members of the DGR action group in Austin (which does exist) with another group they call the “Phoenix commune” (which may or may not exist). And they allege a conflict between members of the DGR Austin group and Occupy Austin that doesn’t seem to have happened. It’s not clear if this is part of the strategy counterintelligence groups have used in the past to try to provoke conflict between different social movements—the FBI used this very effectively against groups like the Black Panther Party—or whether Stratfor is simply relying on unreliable or incompetent sources.
In addition, their claim that DGR is inspired by Nazism and philosopher Martin Heidegger is outrageous and obviously wrong. As is their claim that DGR “is focused on creating a situation where violent confrontation will be the ultimate outcome.” It doesn’t require an agent to get simple facts correct. Both of these assertions are just plain false.
In December 2011, Anonymous attacked the Stratfor website, allegedly stealing 200 gigabytes of data and shutting the site down for weeks. Anonymous has gone after such corporations before, such as internet security firm HBGary. They released private documents that included secret plans by HBGary and others to attack and discredit Wikileaks on behalf of big banks. There is a long history of clandestine groups releasing secret information about the surveillance of social movements. In 1971, and underground group called the Citizen’s Commission to Investigate the FBI broke into an FBI field office and released thousands of pages of secret information, revealing that the FBI had attacked 1960s social movements with methods ranging from surveillance and infiltration to targeted assassinations. Though we have no contact with Anonymous, their leak of information about government and corporate tactics of repression is part of an important tradition. More leaked information from Stratfor is presumably forthcoming.
2

Anonymous' Stratfor hack: 'COINTELPRO' spying on Occupy and Deep Green Resistance

2012-01-27T18:20:00.000-07:00

Press Release:

Anonymous Hacked Documents Reveal Law Enforcement Spied on Occupy and Shared Information with Private Intelligence Company, STRATFOR

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 26, 2012
Contact Deep Green Resistance:
Lierre Keith lierrekeith@yahoo.com Aric McBay aric@aricmcbay.org

View documents here.
View Deep Green Resistance response and picture of Stratfor employee here.

Computer hackers known as Anonymous leaked information obtained by hacking into private intelligence firm Stratfor’s computer network. The documents – what Anonymous is calling a teaser – suggest that from at least October to November 2011 Stratfor worked with Texas law enforcement to infiltrate the Occupy movement and spy on the Deep Green Resistance movement. The document contains emails in which Stratfor employees discuss Occupy Austin and Deep Green Resistance. Stratfor “Watch Officer” Marc Lanthemann writes about receiving information on Occupy Austin and DGR from a “Texas DPS agent.” The Texas Department of Public Safety is a statewide law enforcement agency that includes an Intelligence and Counterterrorism Division.
Deep Green Resistance condemns the surveillance and infiltration of activist groups by law enforcement and private corporations and calls on activists and their allies to expose and protest this violation of all of our constitutional rights.
“Law enforcement sharing information about local activism with private intelligence firms should be a huge scandal,” writes Rachel Meeropol, staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights. “Privately funded surveillance and infiltration of activist groups is especially chilling, as time and again we see such corporations operate as if they are above the law and accountable to no one.”
In the emails, Stratfor staff discuss how a Stratfor agent went undercover and tried to gather information from an Occupy Austin General assembly. They discuss DGR Austin holding a public meeting on what radicalism means for Austin (wrongly describing the purpose as “indoctrination”), they write about the book Deep Green Resistance, and they speculate about the relationship between DGR Austin and other groups. Comments in the email suggest that this surveillance was ongoing and continued past the incidents described.
Stratfor and law enforcement not only violated activists’ constitutional rights, they also were grossly incompetent. Their report is full of hasty generalizations and inaccuracies. They confuse members of the DGR action group in Austin (which does exist) with another group they call the “Phoenix commune” (which may or may not exist). And they allege a conflict between members of the DGR Austin group and Occupy Austin that doesn’t seem to have happened. It’s not clear if this is part of the strategy counterintelligence groups have used in the past to try to provoke conflict between different social movements—the FBI used this very effectively against groups like the Black Panther Party—or whether Stratfor is simply relying on unreliable or incompetent sources.
In addition, their claim that DGR is inspired by Nazism and philosopher Martin Heidegger is outrageous and obviously wrong. As is their claim that DGR “is focused on creating a situation where violent confrontation will be the ultimate outcome.” It doesn’t require an agent to get simple facts correct. Both of these assertions are just plain false.
In December 2011, Anonymous attacked the Stratfor website, allegedly stealing 200 gigabytes of data and shutting the site down for weeks. Anonymous has gone after such corporations before, such as internet security firm HBGary. They released private documents that included secret plans by HBGary and others to attack and discredit Wikileaks on behalf of big banks. There is a long history of clandestine groups releasing secret information about the surveillance of social movements. In 1971, and underground group called the Citizen’s Commission to Investigate the FBI broke into an FBI field office and released thousands of pages of secret information, revealing that the FBI had attacked 1960s social movements with methods ranging from surveillance and infiltration to targeted assassinations. Though we have no contact with Anonymous, their leak of information about government and corporate tactics of repression is part of an important tradition. More leaked information from Stratfor is presumably forthcoming.
2

Offshore Oil & Gas Activities Threaten Alaska’s Indigenous Peoples Cultural Survival

2012-01-26T20:27:00.001-07:00

Carlwassilie.acyn@gmail.com                                                                                                nikospastos@hotmail.com
http://akbigvillagenetwork.blogspot.com/                                                                                      www.centerforwateradvocacy.org

Beluga whales

Offshore Oil & Gas Activities Threaten Alaska’s Indigenous Peoples Cultural Survival

By Alaska Big Village Network
January 26, 2012
Anchorage, Alaska

As the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission meets with expert Scientific Advisors today to hear about the impacts of oil and gas development in the Arctic; Tribes, indigenous peoples and water advocates voice their opposition to offshore oil and gas activities. The scientists and traditional indigenous elders, and Tribal governments have clearly stated the need for more research to identify baseline information and cumulative impacts on the coastal and marine ecosystems. A precautionary approach is necessary when federal agencies such as National Marine Fisheries Service evaluate requests for incidental takes of endangered and threatened marine mammals such as the endangered Bowhead and Cook Inlet beluga whales

The groups are concerned about the adverse, disproportionate, cumulative impacts of oil land gas activities on indigenous peoples, tribal citizens and Alaska Native villages.   Federal Agencies are permitting offshore oil and gas exploration and development in science-deprived,marine ecosystems without addressing the cumulative impacts of oil spills,effluent discharge, drilling mud disposal, methane and other gas releases,physical habitat disruption, ship strikes, chronic acoustical impacts and other industrial associated activities that follow exploration, development and production of oil and gas.

The aggregated and chronic industrial acoustics are the least understood impacts onmarine sea life and subsistence species, such as the endangered bowhead whale,and critically endangered Cook Inlet beluga whale.   Hydrocarbon exploration and extraction activities offshore are too risky, because environmental impacts which are poorly understood or as yet unknown.

“Thewell-being and health of the plants and animals in the aquatic and marine ecosystem are related to the well-being and health of the indigenous peoples whose culture and identity are intrinsically connected with the traditional tribal economies derived from the ecosystem.” Carl Wassilie, Yup’iaq Biologist. “A large oil spill like the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill will severely disrupt and destroy cultural resources and cultural survival in such a sensitive environment like the Arctic and sub-Arctic.”

The actions by federal agencies to allow offshore drilling in the Arctic will cause irreversible harm to hundreds of indigenous communities with the inevitable harm upon subsistence resources by all phases of resource extraction.   The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill 22 years ago is a case example of an oil company telling folks that a very large oil spill will never happen; yet when it did, the people that survived the on-going catastrophe continue to suffer from lies, deceit and outright violations of human dignity and rights to subsistence.

Delice Calcote says, "Alaska Inter-Tribal Council has standing resolution 2005-08 opposing outer continental shelf oil and gas activities in the Outer Continental Shelf. Oil and gas mineral exploration & development activities pose an imminent threat to hundreds of coastal Tribal communities’ customary traditional cultural life ways of hunting, fishing, gathering, harvesting, barter, trade and navigation. The North Pacific Right Whale has been observed in lower Cook Inlet and no Oil and Gas Activities, including Lease sales should be permitted in Cook Inlet until the status of this whale is fully documented by Traditional Knowledge experts and independent assessments by experts."

Banned Books: Tucson Middle School Students Become Heroes

2012-01-26T19:33:00.001-07:00

Suspensions lifted for Tucson's "Niños Heroes" Wakefield M.S. students (And banned books petition)

Acoma Pueblo's Simon Ortiz speaks to students today

By Roberto Rodriguez
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com

Students who were suspended from Wakefield Middle School in Tucson for walking out earlier this week spent the day attending Mexican American Studies (MAS) classes at the University of Arizona. So did a suspended Pueblo High School student.

In the second class, they were treated to the words of world-renowned writer and poet Simon Ortiz. No sooner had they finished attending the last class of the day did the Wakefield students receive word that their suspensions had been lifted.

They walked out to protest the dismantling of the Mexican American Studies program.
Thanks to all who showed support for these courageous students. Separate from attending classes, they also presented at the Centro on campus, explaining why they walked out.
Another and bigger event is being planned on the UA campus to further educate the campus community re the dismantling of the Mexican American Studies --Tucson Unified District Schools program.

It's a small victory, though a victory nonetheless. Oddly, the board member (Michael Hicks) who introduced the resolution to dismantle the MAS prorgam, kept playing hide and go seek, not introducing himself to the students or anyone else. He would have been welcomed to speak to the students as they are powerful and would have been able to answer any of his questions.

There is also an ongoing petition re the TUSD book banning. It can be found at: https://www.change.org/petitions/tucson-school-board-dont-lock-up-knowledge-return-books-to-students-now
The thing to remember is that they have actually dismantled a program, thrashed a discipline and banned not just the 7 boxed books. The actual number of books in the curriculum number more than 50. For a list, go to: http://drcintli.blogspot.com/2012/01/undocumented-mas-books.html
Roberto Dr. Cintli Rodriguez
Assistant professor
University of Arizona
PO BOX 210023
Tucson Arizona 85721

San Francisco: Indigenous Unity March to the UN

2012-01-26T19:03:00.000-07:00

By Quanah Parker Brightman
United Native Americans,Inc
Unitednativeamericansinc@gmail.com
(510)672-7187

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Native American Community, with support from the Occupy Movement is taking action to demand President Obama to make law the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), to STOP the Home Foreclosures and to enforce a 30% Fair-Share Tax on millionaires. United Native Americans Inc. invites members of the press and community to join in
the Indigenous Unity March to the United Nations Plaza where we will present an Indigenous Rights March and Forum, Friday, January 27, 2012.

The Unity March and Rally begins at the Human Rights Commission, 25 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, to the United Nations Plaza. The Indigenous Forum at the UN Plaza echoes the world's support to recognize and protect all Indigenous communities and also demands reparations for the theft of Tribal Lands, ancestral remains, gold and other natural resources. Speakers to address unity to bring an end to civil rights violations, hate crimes, broken treaties, racial profiling laws like SB1070, the
desecration of our sacred sites and burial sites, as well as protecting ethnic studies and our traditional cultural teaching.

March rout in solidarity of the millions of families victim of home foreclosures targeting Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Chase Bank to STOP The Home Foreclosures and Echo the 30% millionaires fair-share tax addressed by Obama in the State of the Union to save homes and fund education and to keep promise of executive order, titled, “Improving American Indian and Alaska Native Education Opportunities and Strengthening Tribal Colleges and Universities.”

We are DEMANDING that President Obama recognize and sign into Federal Law, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People protecting Sacred Sites and Repatriation for stolen ancestral remains and resources.

We are DEMANDING that Governor Jerry Brown sign into California Law, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, making California the first state in the Union to adopt the UNDRIP.

We DEMANDING tha Obama pass the 30% FAIR-SHARE TAX ON MILLIONAIRS to fix broken economy and keep his promise of Improving American Indian and Alaska Native Education Opportunities and Strengthening Tribal Colleges and Universities.

We are DEMANDING that ALL treaties made with the Indigenous Peoples of the World be Recognized and Honored.

And We are In Solidarity with the 99% Movement, DEMANDING BAIL OUT FAMILIES! -- STOP THE HOME FORECLOSURES !

Oglala Vice President: Continued Resistance to Keystone XL Pipeline

2012-01-26T13:21:00.000-07:00

Oglala VP: Continued Resistance to Keystone XL Pipeline

Dineh Louise Benally: Arizona racism and coal fired power plants

2012-01-26T08:09:00.005-07:00

Louise Benally during Salt River Project protest,
speaking out against the coal fired Navajo
Generating Station. Photo: Resist ALEC

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News

On First Voices Indigenous Radio today, WBAI New York, Louise Benally, Dineh, resisting relocation at Big Mountain, described the detriment of coal fired power plants and racism in Arizona.

Louise said regardless of the struggles, Dineh living on the land still live in harmony with the land. Louise described the natural herbs and healing ceremonies that come from the wild, now being contaminated by pollution. "It is doing a lot of destruction." She spoke on the chemical trails settling in the water and environment.

"Those are real problems we are faced with now, because a lot of the vegetation is being wiped out." She said Peabody coal mine releases pollution to the regional watershed on Black Mesa. "It is just devastating," she said, to live in this situation.

Louise Benally confronts Salt River Project staff.
Photo Resist ALEC.

She also described the three coal fired power plants on the Navajo Nation. There are the two in the Four Corners area near Farmington NM which leave a grey haze over the skies. Then there is the Navajo Generating Station near Page, Ariz., producing more contamination. These coal fired power plants carry electricity to cities like Phoenix and Tucson while Navajos suffer with disease and pollution.

"We can't just continue to produce, produce and produce pollution," said Louise, adding that these coal fired power plants are making the ice melt in the Arctic.

Louise described the changes to the climate and how development is creating this. If the land is not healthy, then life is not healthy either, Louise said, describing the Navajos respiratory problems and cancer.

Describing how Arizona just banned ethnic studies, she said, "It is just really sad."

Radio show host Tiokasin Ghosthorse described how the scheme was to make it look like the so called land dispute was between Hopi and Navajo. This scheme kept people from getting involved because they were led to believe it was an internal dispute between the two nations, rather than what it was: A carefully designed scheme to remove thousands of Navajos from Black Mesa to make way for Peabody coal mining, which continues today.

Louise said, "They were pitting tribe against tribe to get at the resources," explaining how they did this to get at the coal and resources.

Louise said the Navajo tribe is not realizing the depletion of the resources, and what Peabody is doing. However, she said the Hopi tribe is beginning to realize the detriment to the natural resources.

She said Native people need to revitalize the old ways and sustainable food. "We can still use the earth as our healing substance."

Tiokasin closed by pointing out that in the city, people don't take responsibility for taking care of the land and say it is the US government's responsibility to deal with it.

Listen to archive later today, Thursday at:
http://www.firstvoicesindigenousradio.org/program_archives
.

Mohawk Nation News: Tok'ni:Kon That's It!

2012-01-26T07:10:00.001-07:00

TOK’NI:KON THAT’S IT!

Mohawk Nation News

http://www.mohawknationnews.com/

MNN. Jan. 25, 2012. That dance between Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his top Indian CEO, Shawn Atleo, at the phony First Nations Summit in Ottawa sends the same old “we’re-gonna-get-dem-Injuns” message.

This was the first public face-to-face meeting of Harper and his 400 corporate Injuns in Canada. Their job is to continue the illusion that Canada is a legal country while helping the corporation make money from the extraction of Indigenous resources.

Harper got his Indians to threaten an Arab Style uprising so the military can come in and keep us in line. Is Atleo, of the Assembly of First Nations, going to stand in the bush and start tweeting to get the revolution going? Canada wants someone to sell off our mother, Great Turtle Island, to the international bankers, pocketing the money, of course.

The Mohawk Crisis of 1990, a true resistance, is always trotted out as a threat. They want a controlled uprising “like the US Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s”. Are they kidding? It was anything but. AIM stopped the army bloodbath at Wounded Knee. Many went to jail, were killed, and Leonard Peltier has been in jail for 38 years.

Here’s the script. Harper, the foreigner, sets up the First Nations Land Management Act to privatize Great Turtle Island with the help of his fake Indians. Meantime Harper pushes third world living conditions on the rest of us. Out of desperation, we will be forced to sell our land to stay alive. Then they cry about the integrity of the Crown! What? The crown is a corporation that took over the monarchy in a hostile takeover bid. The first "reservations" were created in 1924 with the Ontario Indian Land Act; a backroom deal between the Minister of Mines in Ontario and the architect of the residential school holocaust, Minister of Indian Affairs D.C. Scott http://caid.ca/IndLanAct1924.pdf

As Etowokam said in 1710 when he returned from Queen Anne’s Court, England: “They rely on the written word. That is how they will be judged”. We rely on the wampum and the rule of law.

Harper left Tuesday night January 24th for the World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland. The world’s elite were anxiously waiting to hear that we had been put back to sleep so they can continue their theft. Instead we are louder than ever. Canada and the world should answer to us, as everything they want is ours.

Yes, let’s discuss our birthright and that Mother Earth cannot be sold. Sure, put an end to the illegal Indian Act. Then respect the real relationship between us and the foreigners. Instead the foreign usurpers are sitting in the high chairs like babies bawling at the land and resource owners. Their fake Indian idols complain we can’t use our land as collateral for loans from the foreign corporations that are squatting on our land. Yet the Canadian government and corporations use our unsurrendered land as collateral to raise money on the global stock markets. That’s theft, fraud and genocide. Everyone in the world is on to their bad act.

Those fake Indians who want to be part of this foreign entity cannot usurp our sovereignty. They have already signed on with the immigrants and became property of the shareholders of Canada, just like other Canadians.

There will be no “Aboriginal” Spring. Seasons change but not our minds or the dreaded truth.

As the song Waltzing Matilda portrays: all the women [fake Indians] are standing around waiting to dance with the jolly swagman [Harper}. “You’ll come a’waltzing, Malilda, with me!”

MNN Mohawk Nation News Kahentinetha2@yahoo.com For more news, books, to donate to maintain the website [PayPal] and to sign up for MNN newsletters go to www.mohawknationnews.com More stories at MNN Categories “COLONIALISM/ART/CULTURE”. Address: Box 991, Kahnawake [Quebec, Canada] J0L 1B0

Navajo Human Rights: Hate crime sentencing

2012-01-25T19:06:00.000-07:00

NNHRC witnesses Beebe’s and Sanford’s federal sentencing today
First defendants to be charged under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act

By NNHRC
Censored News
ST. MICHAELS, Ariz.—Earlier today, Navajo human rights official witnessed the sentencing of Paul Beebe and Jesse Sanford at the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico in Santa Fe for a hate crime the defendants committed against Vincent Kee, Navajo.

According to a press release issued by the U.S. Department of Justice today, “Beebe was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison followed by three years supervised release. Sanford was sentenced to five years in prison followed by three years supervised release.”

On August 18, 2011, Beebe entered a guilty plea to one count of violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention law and Sanford pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit a federal hate crime.

“During the plea hearing [on August 18, 2011], Beebe and Sanford admitted that Beebe took the victim to Beebe’s apartment, which was adorned in racist paraphernalia, including a Nazi flag and a woven dream catcher with a swastika in it. After the victim had fallen asleep, the defendants began defacing the victim’s body by drawing on him with blue, red, and black markers. Once the victim awoke, Beebe branded the victim, who sat with a towel in his mouth, by heating a wire hanger on a stove and burning the victim’s flesh, causing a permanent deep impression of a swastika in his skin. The defendants used a cell phone to create a recording of the victim in which they coerced him to agree to the brand,” according to a press release issued in August by the U.S. Department of Justice District of New Mexico Public Affairs Officer Elizabeth Martinez.

Moments before Beebe’s and Sanford’s sentencing, Kee’s mother Bernice Silversmith addressed the judge with a Navajo greeting of well wishes, “Ya’at’eeh abini,” explained she was as the mother of Vincent and said, “I would like to express my extreme disgust for the actions that Mr. Sanford and Mr. Beebe took against my son.”

Silversmith continued and said, “They took something from him that he can never fully recover. They took away his trust in people. Before these men manipulated and attacked Vincent he was like a butterfly. He fluttered along making friends with people, greeting and shaking hands never realizing that evil exists in certain people…

My son still cries when he has nightmare of this torture and as his mother I try my best to comfort him,” said Bernice Silversmith who lovingly adopted Kee when he was an infant. She continued and said, “However, I cannot give the type of comfort and security that you can Judge Black because I cannot make sure these men stay in a place where they cannot torture another person.”

Kee’s mother had asked for maximum time allowed by the law.

The staff and commissioners of the Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission would like to acknowledge the courage and integrity of Vincent Kee and his family in seeking justice in the federal court.

Another defendant William Hatch has not been sentenced yet, according to the U.S. Department of Justice press release issued today.

Next, the state court will be sentencing Beebe and Sanford at a time to be determined.

NNHRC staff would like ask for your continued support and prayers as Mr. Vincent Kee and his family continue on their path for justice.

Black Hills Treaty Council wins judgment against RainDancer Resource Management

2012-01-25T12:47:00.001-07:00

Treaty Council Wins Judgment Against RainDancer Resource Management

By: Natalie Hand
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

The Oglala Sioux Tribe’s Law and Order Code, Chapter 2, Section 122 False Pretenses states…(a)”It shall be unlawful to obtain, take, or receive any property of another by means of a trick or deception, or false or fraudulent representation, statement, or pretense with the intent to deprive the owner thereof..”

On Wednesday, January 18th, 2012, a judgment was issued in OST Court against RainDancer Resource Management/American Horse Ventures LLC, et al, essentially barring them from doing any and all business on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The suit, brought by Black Hills Sioux Nation Treaty Council Oglala Delegate Floyd Hand and Itancan Oliver Red Cloud, alleges that RainDancer’s ultimate goal is to commandeer, not only Tribal assets, but also private Tribal members’ allotted land assets.

According to their proposed partnership with the OST, they are seeking exclusive rights to allotted lands! This is what caught the attention of the Treaty Council. The Tribal Council has NO authority over individual tribal member’s allotted lands.

RainDancer Resource Management began soliciting the Oglala Sioux Tribe months before they were even a registered business. In fact, they were meeting with Tribal officials before they had possession of a valid Due-Diligent Pass, which is required under Tribal law. They were eventually granted a 30-day Due-Diligent Pass on September 15, 2011. However, they did not become a registered business in the State of Oregon until October 3, 2011. That is false representation.

The central figures of this organization are Raycen American Horse Raines, R. Dennis Ickes, Valerie Red Horse, Michael “Rawhide” Sierra, Todd Gandy, Stephen Gomes, and Stuart Cohen. Raines calls these individuals his mentors. However, when OST Attorney David Frankel conducted the due diligence on their company, his discovery raised eyebrows and more questions.

Mr. Raines states that he is an enrolled member of the OST. He uses the name American Horse. However, the American Horse Tiospaye has never heard of him. Ms. Red Horse, a financial broker and investment advisor, currently has a pending investigation against her and two other final judgment liens against her. Mr. Gomes and Mr. Sierra have had past dealings with the Tribe, having charged substantial amounts to the Tribe and then failed to produce results.

Let’s assume the Tribal Council turns a blind eye to all this and allows RainDancer the exclusive rights to economic development. In their proposed contract with the OST, Raines asserts that he has a partnership with Robert McKee of Native American Investment Group (NAIG). Not to be confused with NAEG. According to OST Council Resolution #11-164, McKee has expressed an interest in providing $20,000,000 to fund a tribally owned “central” bank, using the Tribe’s treaty rights and sovereign immunity. The Tribal Council and Executive Committee are not sovereign. They raise their hand to uphold the U.S Flag and Constitution. The Oyate have the sovereignty.

The Tribe’s own due-diligence attorney questioned the legality of the proposed “off shore” or “central” bank, calling it questionable and needing extensive research. The most alarming assertion that RainDancer/NAIG is making is that the Tribe assumes no risk and that the Tribe will not be subject to federal taxes, or the Patriot Act. Really? Really?! Tribal members cannot even grow industrial hemp on their so-called sovereign land without the DEA storming in, but McKee and Raines are confident that they can by-pass the Feds.

In a simple internet search, we discovered that Mr. McKee is party to a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Utah (Case # 2:06CV00109 PGC). McKee is listed as President of Native American Oil Refinery Company (NARCO) which is being sued for failure to produce the promised capital of $50,000,000 to purchase a chain of convenience stores. When NARCO did not come up with the money, they strung the plaintiff along by increasing the payment to $65,000,000, plus offering standby letters of credit from a supposed Indonesian bank partner (another defendant, Bank Negara Indonesia-BNI) in the amount of $25,000,000.

McKee’s NARCO/BNI never paid any of the amounts owed to the plaintiffs, thus forcing the plaintiffs to foreclose on their properties. To that end, the plaintiffs are seeking damages of $115,000,000 from NARCO/BNI for breach of contract. This case has not been settled to date. So how can Mr. McKee offer $20,000,000 in seed money to start a bank on the Pine Ridge Reservation? Through “letters of credit” from a rogue Indonesian bank? That is deception and false representation.

According to McKee’s bio, his background is in oil and gas mining. In fact, he is a proud member of the American Petroleum Institute and the American Gas Association. So while his front may be to help the Oglala Lakota have their own bank, in my personal opinion, NAIG is teaming up with RainDancer to have exclusive rights to the Tribe’s natural resources! It is actually stated in the preamble of the proposed agreement with the Tribe. The bank, wind/solar operation, etc. is just a front, in my own personal opinion. Just as infamous NAEG did a couple of years ago, promising to come in and “clean” our water. Where is NAEG today? Are they promoting their clean water technology on another rez? No, they are mining oil/gas in North Dakota and developing coal-bed methane in the endangered Cook Inlet Basin of Alaska.
RainDancer has also attempted to enter into a contract with the Wakpamni District Executive Board to create a pay day loan operation. This type of enterprise is known as a “predatory” lending operation and is notorious for setting up in low-income communities across the U.S., preying on the disadvantaged.

Although pay day loan businesses are legal, RainDancer’s proposed contract with Wakpamni District Executive Board is illegal, according to Treaty Council legal advocate Bill Bielecki. According to the most recent copy of the Wakpamni District’s Constitution & By-Laws, provided by the OST Secretary, the role of the District’s Executive Board is to simply carry out the wishes of its communities. There is a distinction to be pointed out here. The District Executive Board is not the District Council. The District Council is comprised of members from the 6 communities and must have at least 4 communities with a quorum of 5 members per community, present at a meeting for it to be a legal District Council meeting. When the quorum standards are met, they collectively can vote on issues and business proposals for the progress and welfare of its District’s membership.

Additionally, according to Article VI, Section 2 of the Wakpamni District’s Constitution states, “…Any resolution before the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council will be presented to the Wakpamni District by our Wakpamni District Representatives for discussion before they are voted upon.” Article VI, Section 3 states, “…Any resolutions that the Wakpamni District Representatives present to the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council must originate in the Wakpamni District Council.”

While RainDancer/American Horse/NAIG are courting our District elected officials, it is my understanding that there was never a legal Wakpamni District Council meeting, because they did not have a legal quorum of membership when discussing a joint venture with this group.

Importantly, why would the Wakpamni District want to partner with a group that has such a questionable performance history? Why was the OST due diligence attorney shut down when he began delving into RainDancer/American Horse group’s background? Why would the Wakpamni District Representatives offer a letter of support/endorsement for RainDancer even after the Treaty Council won a temporary restraining order against RainDancer? I would think that this action by our treaty elders would give them pause and encourage them to investigate RainDancer further.

Perhaps they were all blinded by the bright light of a few shiny coins. We all want progress, employment opportunities and economic growth on Pine Ridge. Today’s Treaty Council delegates are descendants of the original Treaty Council, the men that signed the 1851/1868 Ft. Laramie Treaties. It is their duty to uphold the rights that their ancestors fought and died for…to protect their homeland and its resources from being raped and pillaged by the fat takers. Exploiting what little land and resources that the Oglala Oyate have left is not progress or steps towards self-sufficiency. It will be the end of the Lakota way of life.

All of the information furnished herein, with the exception of my opinions, was sourced from public records. If you wish to have a copy of any of the federal court documents, Tribal documents, or state records that I have obtained, please feel free to contact me at 867-5762 or pteole@gwtc.net

VIDEO: Banned Books Tucson Students Speak Out!

2012-01-24T15:10:00.003-07:00

On Martin Luther King Day in Tucson 2012, Tucson students spoke out on the seizure of books from their classrooms and the decision to forbid Mexican American Studies. The public school district, Tucson Unified School District, voted in Jan 2012 to forbid the studies after Arizona threatened to extract millions of dollars. Rethinking Columbus was one of seven books moved to a depository by the schools. There are 50 books on the reading list. Read more at Censored News http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/
Closing music by Sharon Burch, Navajo
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Published on Tuesday, January 24, 2012 by Common Dreams

Students Step Up Tucson Walkouts

Protest School District Folly and Mexican American Studies Banishment

by Jeff Biggers

As the nation watches the Tucson Unified School District’s spiral into disarray, hundreds of students walked out of their Tucson schools Monday in a coordinated protest against the banishment of the district’s acclaimed Mexican American Studies program.(Photo: D.A. Morales)

Pouring into the downtown Tucson area from Pueblo, Cholla and Tucson high schools, among other institutions, the students brought their march to the offices of floundering Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) administrators. In recent days, administrators and board members have issued a series of conflicting and inaccurate statements and carried out the extreme actions of confiscating books in front of children. Last week, a recently hired assistant superintendent from Texas made a troubing call for the deeply rooted Tucson students–many of whom trace their ancestors to the town founders– to “go to Mexico” to study their history.
In a district with over 60 percent of the students coming from Mexican American backgrounds, the TUSD board “dismantled its Mexican-American studies program, packed away its offending books, shuttled its students into other classes,” according to an editorial in the New York Times on Sunday, because “it was blackmailed into doing so.”
The New York Times referred to the extremist measures of Arizona state superintendent of public instruction John Huppenthal on January 10th, who threatened to withhold millions of dollars if TUSD didn’t terminate the nationally acclaimed program immediately.
As her Tucson school district prepares to celebrate the 140th anniversary of its founding by Mexican American immigrant Estevan Ochoa, Cholla High School student Ahtziri Iñiguez noted that she was following the march in the footsteps of her brother, a graduate of the Mexican American Studies Program.
“I think it’s very unfair that people here don’t let us learn about our own culture,” she said. “My brother took (Mexican American Studies) classes his junior year and he would go home and discuss with my Mom and interested me in education, so I knew I wanted to take these classes.”
Less than two months away from the anniversary celebration of Arizona native and United Farm Worker leader Cesar Chavez, Iñiguez added: “We did this walk out to prove if you want something you should fight for what you believe in, because if you don’t do anything, nothing will change.”
Known as the “Sheriff Arpaio of Ethnic Studies,” Arizona education chief John Huppenthal defended his campaign slogan to “stop la raza” in an extraordinary Democracy Now debate on TV last week. The Tea Party activist Huppenthal has referred to Mexican American students as “Hitler Jugend,” and raised concerns across the nation about possible criminal behavior last summer when he openly misrepresented the results of an independent audit that praised the Mexican American Studies program and found it in compliance with Arizona’s bizarre Ethnic Studies law.
State Rep. Sally Gonzales introduced a bill to repeal the Ethnic Studies crackdown last week. A similar bill to repeal Arizona’s notorious SB 1070 immigration law was also being introduced.
Instead of surrendering to Huppenthal’s crackdown, many community leaders in Tucson called on the Tucson Unified School District board to join a federal court suit against the state and summon the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice to follow up their investigation of Arpaio and investigate Huppenthal for racial profiling, hate crimes, fraud and even extortion.
Last month, when the DOJ charged Arpaio with “chronic culture of disregard for basic legal and constitutional obligations” and a “widespread pattern or practice of…activities that discriminate against Latinos,” Tucson supporters of Ethnic Studies wonder if similar charges could be made for Attorney General Tom Horne and Superintendent Huppenthal, who have invoked violent imagery and pathologically singled out only Tucson’s Mexican American Studies program.

Jeff Biggers is the author of The United States of Appalachia, and more recently, Reckoning at Eagle Creek: The Secret Legacy of Coal in the Heartland (The Nation/Basic Books).

First Voices Indigenous Radio: Debra White Plume and Roberto Rodriguez

2012-01-24T14:45:00.001-07:00

Listen: Women of Vision gathering on Lakota land, and banned books in Tucson schools

First Voices Indigenous Radio
Host Tiokasin Ghosthorse, Cheyenne River Lakota
WBAI New York

Listen at: http://www.firstvoicesindigenousradio.org/program_archives

DEBRA WHITE PLUME: Manderson, South Dakota is the Director of Owe Aku or Bring Back the Way - a grassroots nongovernmental organization dedicated to the preservation of the Lakota Way of Life and Treaty Rights.

On Sunday January 15th, a group of powerful Native women held a day long conference called Winyan Ituwan or Women of Vision along with Kandi Mosset, Marie Randall, Tantoo Cardinal and many others to not only talk about women’s role in Native culture, but effects of oil and uranium effects of mining on water. We will be talking about the impacts of colonialism to Native Nations and how we will survive it. (http://www.oweakuinternational.org/)

DR, ROBERTO RODRIQUEZ - Tuscon, Arizona - http://drcintli.blogspot.com/ While TUCSON UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT claims that there are no banned books, the fact remains that administrators have come into Mexican American Studies classrooms (which no longer exist) and removed the MAS classroom materials, which includes books that were formerly utilized in the now suspended MAS program.

While TUSD claims that only 7 book titles were ordered boxed and carried off, the fact is that the confiscation, in some cases in front of the students, involved more than the 7 books that were listed by TUSD. 50 books (listed at the end of the Cambium report) are not banned, they are confiscated, or in the process of being confiscated... THUS THE BOOKS ARE NOW UNDOCUMENTED! They are as welcome in TUSD schools as undocumented migrants are welcome in this country.

Northern Cree @ Black Eagle Pow Wow - Santa Ana Star Center

Mighty Truck of Midnight - Bruce Cockburn

Winter Rain - Ferrodyne

Migrant death rate doubles on Arizona border as US expands criminal policies

2012-01-24T11:07:00.000-07:00

Photo Brenda Norrell Censored News
Remembering the migrants at San Xavier, on Tohono O'odham
Nation in southern Arizona

Migrant Death Rate on Arizona Border More than Double in Two Years while DHS Plans Expansion of Deadly Criminalization Policies

By Kat Rodriguez
Derechos Humanos
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com

Arizona- Despite continued claims by the Department of Homeland Security that the number of migrant deaths has reached an all-time low, data show that the actual rate of migrant death on the Arizona border has actually almost doubled in the last two years. This information comes as DHS announces plans to eliminate voluntary removals and criminally prosecute, incarcerate, and formally deport all apprehended immigrants, a move that is clearly spurred by the need to boost detention numbers to justify a grossly bloated DHS budget.

While apprehension numbers do not provide an exact number of immigrants attempting to cross the border, academic research has illustrated that apprehension are highly correlated and fluctuate with true unauthorized migration flows (1). Using the numbers of U.S. Border Patrol apprehensions as a proxy for migration flow, along with the number of human remains recovered on the border, we are able to generate an approximate "migrant death rate."

As a point of comparison, in 2009, the number of recovered human remains of those believed to be border crossers was 183. The number of apprehensions reported by the Border Patrol in the Tucson sector was 241,673. Thus, it can be said that for every 100,000 apprehensions, there were 75.72 human remains recovered on the Arizona border.

In 2011, the number of recovered human remains of border crossers was also 183. However, reported apprehensions for the Tucson sector dropped dramatically that year, to 123,285. Ultimately, for every 100,000 apprehensions, the remains of 148.43 migrants were recovered; nearly double the rate of 2009.

Since 2000, the remains of more than 2,300 migrants have been recovered on the Arizona, and at least 6,000 border-wide. The continued policies of criminalization of working men and women, coupled with the strategy of funneling migration further into the harsh Arizona desert, has resulted in a human rights crisis that has been denounced by local, national, and international communities.

Claiming credit for the decrease in migration, which is in fact the result of the poor economy, DHS's plan to dramatically increase the criminalization of migrant workers is irresponsible. Such a policy will ultimately result in forcing more people through non-regularized forms of migration while boosting the budgets of private detention centers such as CCA and contracted companies such as Geo Group, whose budgets depend specifically on the criminalization, detention and deportation of migrants, and who have long been included in the biggest lobbyists for longer and harsher sentencing for immigrants.

The failure of the Obama Administration to acknowledge the impact of deadly border policies and the appalling position of increasing the enforcement regime is reprehensible. In this heated election year, it is particularly insulting to Latino families that political leaders jockey to outdo each other on anti-immigrant and blatantly anti-Mexican rhetoric, while at the same time strategize on how to secure the Latino vote. Democrats and Republicans alike should be advised that this hypocrisy has not gone unnoticed by Latino communities, and they can expect no less than to harvest what the seeds of their xenophobia and racism will yield them.

Currently, the number of remains recovered in Arizona from October through December of 2011 is 45, already exceeding of the number recovered last year during the same timeframe. 82% are currently unidentified. 55% are of unknown gender, meaning that not enough of their bodies were recovered to establish gender. 73% are skeletal remains, a result of the federal border strategy of forcing them into the most isolated and remote areas of the border. While Arizona continues to be viewed as a "battleground state" by political and economic forces, the real battle is being waged around the issue of dignity and justice, with human beings as the casualties of greed and division.
Espenshade, Thomas J. (1995b). "Unauthorized Immigration to the United States." Annual Review of Sociology. Vol. 21, Pp. 195-216.

The complete list of recovered remains is available on the Coalición de Derechos Humanos website: http://www.derechoshumanosaz.net. This information is available to anyone who requests it from us and is used by our organization to further raise awareness of the human rights crisis we are facing on our borders.

Resistance: Darker Shade of Green on REDD

2012-01-24T10:58:00.000-07:00

Photo Council of Canadians

New Video Reveals Global Resistance to Forest-Carbon Projects
A Darker Shade of Green Documents Critical Perspectives on REDD

Orin Langelle, Co-director/Strategist
Global Justice Ecology Project
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com

Global Forest Coalition and Global Justice Ecology Project have produced a new video entitled A Darker Shade of Green: REDD Alert and the Future of Forests. The twenty-eight minute video, launched today, documents opposition among Indigenous Peoples, forest-dependent communities and environmental justice groups around the globe, to controversial programs that claim to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) by putting forests into the carbon market.

As REDD policies and programs are promoted around the world by corporations and governments, Indigenous Peoples and other forest-dependent communities are raising the alarm that these programs will have serious negative impacts - and will not mitigate climate change.

Clayton Thomas-Muller of Indigenous Environmental Network, featured in the video, declares, "We can take care of our own lands, we don't need agencies to do this for us. As Indigenous Peoples we want rights, and we don't want REDD."

Nnimmo Bassey, of Nigeria, Chair of Friends of the Earth International, also featured in the video, says, "The whole idea of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation is not about stopping deforestation. It's industry driven. It's driven by speculators who want to grab land in Africa, in Asia, in Latin America, and who don't really want to change the mode of economy we're living right now."

REDD has been hotly contested since it was first introduced into the climate mitigation package at the United Nations climate talks in 2007. Every year since, REDD has been pushed by those who wish to use the world's forests as carbon offsets and protested by Indigenous Peoples and forest dependent communities that face potential forced relocation if their forest homelands are "protected," under the REDD scheme. A Darker Shade of Green details the ideas behind REDD and the concerns being raised against it.

Following the UN Climate Conference in Durban, South Africa last month, global REDD projects are coming under even greater scrutiny. Simone Lovera, Director of Global Forest Coalition, said, "The outcomes of the Durban Conference in the field of REDD are generally seen as a major step backwards. The already unacceptably weak and non-binding social and environmental safeguards that were adopted previously were further undermined, and the vague guidance for reporting emission reductions allows cheating and exaggerations."

Subnational REDD programs such as the agreement between California, USA, Chiapas, Mexico, and Acre, Brazil - featured in the new video - are still set to more forward, though with carbon markets collapsing, grassroots resistance growing, and global climate agreements in deep-freeze, legislators may be hard-pressed to provide concrete footings for the complicated agreement.

A Darker Shade of Green: REDD Alert and the Future of Forests, produced in English and Spanish, features interviews and testimonies from Mexico, Brazil, Panama, Philippines, Indonesia, Nepal, Uganda, India, and California. It is available for viewing in English and Spanish on the Climate Connections blog.

The DVD version of the video contains two additional bonus films on REDD: Amador Hernandez: Starved for Medical Services by Global Justice Ecology Project and REDD: A Greed for Trees by the Chiapas-based NGO Otros Mundos. This DVD will be made available next week. Information on requesting the DVD can be found here.

A three-minute trailer is also available for viewing in English and Spanish by clicking here.

Orin Langelle
Co-director/Strategist
Global Justice Ecology Project

http://www.globaljusticeecology.org

http://climate-connections.org

Skype: olangelle
P.O. Box 412
Hinesburg, VT 05461 U.S.
+1.802.482.2689 ph/fax
+1.802.578.6980 mobile
GMT-5

Global Justice Ecology Project Mission Statement: Building local, national and international alliances with action to address the root causes of social injustice, economic domination and environmental destruction.

ntal destruction.

Mohawk Nation News: From Freedom to Sarcasm

2012-01-24T09:59:00.000-07:00

FROM FREEDOM TO SARCASM

MNN Jan. 22,2012.
http://www.mohawknationnews.com/

Freedom requires responsibility [Kaianerehkowa].

The unsurrendered land, water, air and resources above, beneath and on Great Turtle Island is the birthright of the Indigenous people. The bankers and their agents want to steal it all. Our resistance to genocide is causing panic. Here’s their plan. Lie about economic prosperity and ending mass unemployment. Increase military spending. Build more prisons. Set up secret police outside of civil authority.

Rescind habeas corpus and civil liberties. [US Defense Authorization Act; Canada Omnibus Crime Bill.] Bribe, destroy, kill, imprison opponents. Remove citizenship rights [US Enemy Expatriation Act]. Wear non-person ID in public. Send resisters back to country of origin! [Bye!] Special courts for death sentences. Execute soldiers for cowardice! [Or give them more meds.] Centralize power under one leader. Assassinations to restore order. Swear oath to leader like Canada to the Queen.

Control courts and civic organizations. Disband state and local governments. Appoint governors, premiers, mayors. Divide and rule. Rich fight the poor. Racial conflicts intensified. Religious-based parties control education and youth groups. Promote Pan Americanism based on white culture, to defend western civilization from ‘brown sub-humans’. Criminalize the truth. Ban questioners. Indigenous continue to be hated and feared [for existing]. Book burnings [Stop Arizona brown market in Indian books]. Teach race superiority dogma. [Guess which is at the top of the totem pole?]. Fire teachers who oppose.

Control mainstream media [A done deal]. Kill the internet [SOPA]. Produce entertainment, films, mass rallies and rhetoric to push corporatist ideology down our throats. Create economic depression. Then make up fantasies to restore fake national pride. Unreasonable foreign policy. Demand surrender or threaten war. No compromise. No reparation to peoples or countries attacked. Create enemies. Get another country to invade. Send ultimatums demanding all their power or face invasion. Step in. Bomb. Call for elections. Put in puppets. Set up quislings. Form alliances with dictators or replace them. Set up spies and informers. Install tribal/band council-like entities to control masses and report on them. Infiltrate and suppress labor unions and strikes. [If we’re lucky] The US might threaten to pull out of or destroy the UN if they can’t own it.

Form secret and illegal alliances like the North American Union NAU. Annex Canada and Mexico. Suppress revolts. Businesses owned by western interests. Native land and resource owners do menial work. Sign pacts to divide up world dominated by a small group of rulers. Create fear of travel, such as airport TSA groping of passengers and mysterious shipwreck in Italy. Heavy fines or long prison terms for crimes like parking tickets, spitting on the sidewalk or free speech. US and Canada are conservative authoritarian corporations. Their citizens are property of the corporations, squatting on a land they don’t own. The youth want their corporations to give them a piece of the Indigenous pie.

Over 100 million Indigenous were murdered in the attempt. They need to decolonize and respect the legal ownership of Great Turtle Island. The white house or congress or parliament could be graffitied to signal a civil unrest over something that doesn’t belong to them. Look for more false flags such as the World Trade Center and laws without parliamentary or congressional debate. Open attack on uncooperative Indigenous communities. Human rights violated. Deprivation of necessities of life. Canada’s Prime Minister Harper wants to revive the old ghetto policy to keep us in deplorable conditions to carry out the final solution. [Mother Earth segregated all of Great Turtle Island for us].

Death by warfare, genocide, reprisals, forced labor and starvation to carry out the Pan Americanisation of the western hemisphere. Dictators studied these US strategies [Wasichu] of atrocities, mass murders, concentration camps, ethnic cleansing and theft on a grand scale. The great natural power preserved us and continues to do so. We don’t have a standing army. We have the dreaded truth. As Oscar Wilde said: When liberty comes with hands dabbled in blood, [and a forked tongue] it’s hard to shake hands with her.

MNN Mohawk Nation News Kahentinetha2@yahoo.com For more news, books, to donate to maintain the website [PayPal] and to sign up for MNN newsletters go to www.mohawknationnews.com More stories at MNN Categories “COLONIALISM/ART/CULTURE”. Address: Box 991, Kahnawake [Quebec, Canada] J0L 1B0 Store: Indigenous authors – Kahnawake books – Mohawk Warriors Three – Warriors Hand Book – Rebuilding the Iroquois Confederacy. Category: World – Colonialism - Great Turtle Island – History – New World Order – courts/police Economics/trade/commerce – Land/environment – art/culture. Tags: North American Indians – Turtle Island – Indian holocaust/genocide – NAU North American Union – History Canada/US – United Nations – Cointelpro - colonialism.

Another First Nation Murder Witness Dies Suddenly

2012-01-23T10:13:00.002-07:00

Is it Nothing to You? Another Hero Falls

Ricky Lavallie: 1960-2012
By Kevin D.
Censored News

Ricky Lavallie is dead.

He was a 51 year old native man, and was the sole witness to the murder by three Vancouver policemen of another key aboriginal activist in our network, Johnny Bingo Dawson.

The sudden death of Ricky Lavallie on January 3 has wiped out the last of my original core supporters among urban native people in Vancouver and Winnipeg. Our original nucleus of the Friends and Relatives of the Disappeared (FRD) has been extinguished.

In barely two years, all of our strongest activists, and those who forced the missing residential schools children into national and world consciousness, have died: Chief Louis Daniels, Elder Phillipa Ryan, Johnny Bingo Dawson, William Combes, Harry Wilson, and now Ricky Lavallie.

These deaths follow on the earlier, equally sudden demise of key eyewitnesses to murders in Indian residential schools: Archie Frank, Willie Sport, Joe Sylvester, Virginia Baptiste, Nora Bernard, and Harriet Nahanee.

These witnesses, and the dead native leaders of our FRD, were instrumental in publicly naming the churches and government of Canada as being guilty of crimes against humanity. And they have all paid the ultimate price for doing so.

I charge these religious and state organizations with their murders.

I charge the E Division of the RCMP with complicity in these deaths, along with the head officers of the Roman Catholic, Anglican and United Church of Canada, and Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

In the case of Ricky Lavallie, I charge the Vancouver Police Department with complicity in his death. For I have two separate videotaped testimonies of Ricky from last August, in which he states that a Vancouver police sergeant threatened him with imprisonment and death if he continued to speak about his witnessing of the deadly beating of Bingo Dawson by the same sergeant and two other Vancouver cops on December 6, 2009.

I have written the following obituary and tribute to my friend Ricky, for his steadfast courage and devotion to the missing children. I hope and pray, as always, that some of the spirit of such a brave soul will pass into us, and help us all awaken from complicity.

Let us see and name the murders still happening, and bring down those responsible.

Otherwise, how are we any better than they are?

……………………………………………………………………..

Ricky Lavallie: May 20, 1960- January 3, 2012

His tears flowed so easily whenever he remembered how his five year old brother was killed by a catholic priest bearing an electric cattle prod at the Portage la Prairie residential school in 1968. He carried the terror of that day with him at every moment, for he refused to numbly forget. But nevertheless, Ricky Lavallie was always at my side at every rally and vigil outside churches across Vancouver, and he never wavered.

I lost more than a friend in Ricky, but a brother warrior: one who could have created the usual excuses of most people to stay away from all of our righteous confrontations with cops and priests down the years, as we battled impossibly for disclosure and justice. Rick more than anyone had enough cause to hide, but he never did.

I once marched with Ricky and only eight other people down one of Vancouver’s busiest streets during rush hour traffic, bearing the banner that he clung to like his memories: “All the Children Need a Proper Burial”.

As passersby gawked at our little army, and cars lurched to a stop to let us pass, I turned to Ricky and said,

“How are we doing, Rick?”

He smiled, which was rare, and shouted cheerfully,

“We’re doing great!”

Ricky was the one who walked with me to the front of a church sanctuary during a busy mass, as we occupied the main catholic cathedral in Vancouver on Palm Sunday in 2007. I recall how he gazed solidly at the priest who was berating and threatening us, and said quietly to the red faced idiot, “When are you gonna give me back my brother’s body?”

Before we were banned from the airwaves of the former “Vancouver Co-op Radio” now a muzzled subsidiary of the corporate Pattison Media Group – Ricky regularly regaled our listeners with life on the streets, his time in the death camp called residential school, and with his latest song, strummed out on a three strong guitar we kept lying around the studio. But his best moments were with his fellow survivors of church torture, when they faltered on the air and broke down in the flood of dark remembrances that he carried and endured so nobly.

“That’s okay, we’ll get those bastards” he’d say softly to a man or woman amidst their sobs, placing a large and tender arm around them. And then he'd shout into the microphone,

"Screw those churches!"

We did get those bastards, again and again, and Ricky showed me in the flesh how and why his kind are inheriting the earth. He was the kind of man who no bribe and no threat could stop: and so, even now, he hasn’t been stopped.

Ricky’s great joy, of course, was that he was a central character in our documentary film Unrepentant. Just to know that his story and that of his brother were now known to millions of people around the world seemed to make up for all that he had lost. Whenever he saw me on the grimy streets of East Hastings he’d lumber over to me and ask for another few copies of our film.

“They can’t ignore us anymore, right?” he’d exclaim.

The last time I ever saw Ricky was in October, during the Occupy Vancouver encampment. My friend spent his days there leafleting mostly indifferent occupiers about the residential schools genocide, and he never stopped talking about his murdered brother to anyone who would listen.

From there, one day, he led a dozen people on a Sunday morning to the same cathedral he had helped occupy that bright Sunday in 2007, and he stood almost alone in the face of dozens of burly Knights of Columbus and the usual brutal phalanx of cops who try so pathetically to guard the church from Judgement.

Ricky Lavallie left the world in such a spirit, as he had lived: resolute and unbroken and truthful, despite his scars, and his deep fears.

It’s never enough to write about another fallen hero, or to remember him, or even to continue on in the sacred work he died for. The long sadness, the lengthening shadow of aloneness among we fewer and fewer veterans of this campaign, is never lessened by the bright light of their example. But somehow we carry on anyway, like Ricky, remembering, as he always did, all of the little ones who suffered and died, and the ones who will tomorrow if we let go of our banner, or our memories.

Ricky Lavallie. He is present.

Read the truth of genocide in Canada and globally at:

http://www.itccs.org/

www.hiddennolonger.com (includes documentary film Unrepentant)

http://www.hiddenfromhistory.org/

http://www.kevinannett.com/

See this introductory video on The Canadian Holocaust:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqPIh-267fg&feature=related
This email is hosted by Jeremiah Jourdain on behalf of the International Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State (ITCCS) and Kevin Annett - Eagle Strong Voice (adopted May 2004 into the Anishinabe nation by Louis Daniels - Whispers Wind).
Kevin can be reached at hiddenfromhistory1@gmail.com or kevin_annett@hotmail.com - and phone messages can be left for him at 250-591-4573 (Canada).

Rodriguez: The 'Undocumented' Mexican American Studies Books

2012-01-22T15:44:00.000-07:00

THE "UNDOCUMENTED" MAS BOOKS

by Roberto Dr. Cintli Rodriguez
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

TUCSON -- The following list is what Tucson Unified School District claims are the Mexican American Studies books that "have not been banned." The list is taken from the 2010 Cambium report that gave MAS-TUSD two thumbs up and recommended expanding the program.

Regarding the list below, the context is that the list is not the biggest story; the story is that this discipline has been viciously attacked by state officials and MAS-TUSD has now been dismantled. It's is not an overnight story. The attack on the culture, history, identity, language and education -- of the people of Tucson, primarily the Mexican American community, has been ongoing since 2006. This act violates every international human rights treaty and convention.

When I asked my colleague Norma Gonzales, one of the MAS teachers at TUSD, what had been banned, she replied: "It's not just the books. It's everything we've ever created." This includes slide shows, art, posters, etc.

In fat, to clarify, she noted today that she was told that she cannot teach the Aztec Calendar to her students. "Nothing related to Mexican history or culture."

.The list can be found at: http://drcintli.blogspot.com/

Rodriguez can be reached at: XColumn@gmail.com

Cintli don't tweet, text, facebook and is not linked... neither do I own a TV... but you can still email or call me.

Censored News Passes 1 Million Hits Mark!

2012-01-22T08:56:00.004-07:00

Censored News Print Edition to include interviews with Mohawk Warrior Society at the southern border!

Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

Censored News, focused on Indigenous Peoples and human rights, passed the 1 Million Mark this week! Censored News page views passed the 1,050,000 mark, making more than one million views since it began five years ago. Thanks to all our contributors of articles and photos, and readers!

The Censored News upcoming print edition will include interviews -- never published before -- with members of the Mohawk Warrior Society, as they supported Indigenous at the southern border and the Zapatistas.

Those who make any donation to Censored News, to keep it going, will receive the first print edition. Donate by way of PayPal on Censored News, or mail to Brenda Norrell, PMB 132, 405 E. Wetmore Rd., Ste 117, Tucson, Ariz. 85705 Thank you! brendanorrell@gmail.com

Although Censored News is very popular, it receives very few donations. Please donate to keep it going!

Censored News is in desperate need of a laptop to continue! Thank you!

Thank you! Brenda Norrell, publisher
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

Censored News began five years ago when Brenda Norrell, a longtime staff reporter for Indian Country Today, was repeatedly censored, then terminated. After being warned not to write articles on grassroots Native Americans, or the genocide of Indigenous Peoples, Censored News was created to tell those stories and more.

Anonymous: Keep telling your story

2012-01-21T19:24:00.000-07:00

Anonymous

An open letter to the citizens of the World
Posted online Jan. 21, 2012

We stand at a unique time in our history, the rise of the internet and computer technology have contributed to an unparallelled rate of prosperity for the First World. We have created for ourselves and empire unlike any other, a global network of constant trade and communication, a new age of technological advancement. We have come a long way from our humble roots in the Industrial Revolution and the days of Manifest Destiny. We are now pioneers on new digital frontiers expanding our domain from the quantum world to the far reaches of space.

And yet, the empire faces a crisis, a global recession, growing poverty, rampant violence, corruption in politics, and threats to personal freedom. As it was before in other times of crisis, the old stories have begun to repeat themselves. The half truths, this time repeated nightly on cable news and echoed through a series of tubes onto the internet: the empire is strong, change is unwise, business as usual is the answer. In times of uncertainty there are those who seek to add to the confusion, to prey on our insecurities and fears. Those who would seek to keep us divided for their own gain. The pervasive strategy takes many very convincing forms: Liberals and Conservatives, Christians and Muslims, Black and White, Saved and sinner.

But something unexpected is happening. We have begun telling each other our own stories. Sharing our lives, our hopes, our dreams, our demons. Every second, day in day out, into all hours of the night the gritty details of life on this earth are streaming around the world. As we see the lives of others played out in our living rooms we are beginning to understand the consequences of our actions and the error of the old ways. We are questioning the old assumptions that we are made to consume not to create, that the world was made for our taking, that wars are inevitable, that poverty is unavoidable. As we learn more about our global community a fundamental truth has been rediscovered: We are not so different as we may seem. Every human has strengths, weaknesses, and deep emotions. We crave love, love laughter, fear being alone and dream for a better life.

You must create a better life.

You cannot sit on the couch watching television or playing video games, waiting for a revolution. You are the revolution. Every time you decide not to exercise your rights, every time you refuse to hear another view point, every time you ignore the world around you, every time you spend a dollar at a business that doesn't pay a fair wage you are contributing to the oppression of the human body and the repression of the human mind. You have a choice, a choice to take the easy path, the familiar path, to walk willingly into your own submission. Or a choice get up, to go outside and talk to your neighbor, to come together in new forums to create lasting, meaningful change for the human race.

This is our challenge:

A peaceful revolution, a revolution of ideas, a revolution of creation. The twenty-first century enlightenment. A global movement to create a new age of tolerance and understanding, empathy and respect. An age of unfettered technological development. An age of sharing ideas and cooperation. An age of artistic and personal expression. We can choose to use new technology for radical positive change or let it be used against us. We can choose to keep the internet free, keep channels of communication open and dig new tunnels into those places where information is still guarded. Or we can let it all close in around us. As we move in to new digital worlds, we must acknowledge the need for honest information and free expression. We must fight to keep the internet open as a marketplace of ideas where all are seated as equals. We must defend our freedoms from those who would seek to control us. We must fight for those who do not yet have a voice. Keep telling your story. All must be heard.

-V

Vi Waln: Winyan Ituwan Women of Vision

2012-01-19T21:34:00.003-07:00

Winyan Ituwan holds first of four gatherings

Photos and article by Vi Waln
Lakota Country Times Editor

Photos by Vi Waln: Top - Phyllis Young and Madonna Thunder Hawk; 2nd - Olowan Sara Martinez and Pte San Win; 3rd - Kandi Mossett, Marie Randall, Tantoo Cardinal and Tiana Spotted Thunder; 4th Members of the Cante Ohitika (Brave Heart Society) also attended the gathering in Porcupine, SD. Faith Spotted Eagle spoke about building young women through traditional ceremony. Pictured behind her are society members (L-R) Frances Bullshoe, Brittany Poor Bear, Alex Romero Frederick, Jennifer Takes War Bonnet, Jennifer Drapeaux and Theresa Hart. 5th: More than 200 men, women and children attended. 6th: Regina Brave. Arlette Loud Hawk spoke about being a female Tokala whip bearer. Thank you Vi for the photos!

PAHIN SINTE OWAYAWA – “This is a collective effort to bring women together to share experience, wisdom and vision; our Earth Mother needs us to stand up for her to be a voice for these young girls to walk in our path,” stated Pte San Win, one of the organizers of the initial Winyan Ituwan gathering. “We hope to inspire and encourage you to go home with lots of information for your family.”

Topics discussed at the gathering revolved around the desecration of Mother Earth and water, as well as mining issues facing the people living on the Great Plains of the United States. In addition, the traditional roles and responsibilities of Native women were presented. Over 200 people attended.

Lorraine White Face prayed with her macaw feather fan and blessed everyone with sage smoke. Opening prayer was offered by Esther White Face. Singing a beautiful opening song were duet Tianna Spotted Thunder and Autumn Two Bulls.

“Each and every one of us is special. Faith, hope and love will make a better generation for all of us,” stated Marie Randall. “As women we all carry the water of life and we must care for ourselves because of the children. We must have the courage to change because the gifts that were given to us by Tunkasila are suffering. I encourage all of you to teach the children to love and respect one another. I am not afraid to be Lakota.”

“Water is the first medicine,” stated Cordelia White Elk.

“Tunkasila gave us the guidance to do this,” Debra White Plume stated. “We want to share the love we have for Unci Maka, we are trying to live in a good way.

The power comes from love, the work we do comes from our love of Lakota ways. Pine Ridge has been fighting uranium mining being done south of us. We have challenged their right to mine uranium because we have scientific evidence that the mine site near Crawford, NE is linked to our drinking water. We have been fighting North Trend for 7 years now. We use water in every single ceremony. This is the same water that was here when the dinosaurs were here; it is our duty and privilege to fight for drinking water. These are issues that are genocidal to our people. If water is contaminated where are we going to get water for 50,000 Oglala? What about water for our horses and other animals?”

“We never started out to fight the biggest uranium mine under Cameco; we started out trying to find out why things were happening to our people. It doesn’t matter who tests the water, the results are always the same. We have to fight for the water to keep it clean and keep it good. We have to speak up, we have to take action. They may have a lot of money but we have a lot of love. There can be no more desecrating of Unci Maka; we are going to defend our sacred water. It’s hard to be Lakota because you have to stand up. Our courage is greater than the corporations and government who want to take our water.

“The Keystone XL pipeline expansion will cross the Lyman Jones Rural Water System in many places. It will cross the Mni Wiconi Water System in two places. We are trying to teach our non-Indian allies to call Earth our Mother instead of a planet,” stated White Plume.

The Keystone XL pipeline expansion consists of a 1,912-mile pipeline that would transport crude oil from Alberta, Canada to Texas. The proposed project could transport up to 830,000 barrels of dirty tar sands crude per day right through the Ogallala Aquifer which supplies drinking water to over 2 million people and countless animals, trees and plants. National lawmakers have used their power of politics to force President Obama to decide by February 21 if he will sign the permit needed for TransCanada to build the pipeline.

“Even in the 1800’s geologists in the area already knew what was in that land,” stated Tantoo Cardinal, a Cree actress who grew up near the Athabasca oil sands. “Everything that had to do with our culture was outlawed. I saw people who lived a life of strength off the bush. The outlawing of language and ways was an attempt to sever our connection to the Creator. This made us mean to each other too. When I was young we would go on berry picking trips and we could get our water out of the lake. Our children aren’t going to know that. Now, 10% of the fish coming out of the water are abnormal.”

“The people who come to Fort McMurray have no love for the land, they come for money. Even though we had no ceremonies we had medicine. There’s medicine on that land. A woman from Yellow Knife has medicine to doctor AIDS. There is medicine to doctor AIDS in that land they are killing. We were right from the beginning. Our treaties were established because we know our Mother. We have the blueprint. We have to discern who are allies are, defenders of the Earth come in all colors. In that knowing, in that teaching is where the women stand. Women’s place hasn’t been respected. The Earth is being treated the same way women are being treated.

“Sands are the grit that wears and tears on that pipe,” Cardinal continued. “All we have had are lies from this civilization, so why would they start telling us the truth now?”

“In 1947 the US Government built a dam,” stated Kandi Mossett, a Mandan/Hidatsa/Arikira tribal member who is currently employed with the Indigenous Environmental Network. “We were forced into a cash economy; it was like walking through door never to go back. When women eat mercury contaminated fish it affects our bodies. We are always told that we can’t eat the big fish we catch in Lake Sakakawea anymore. There are many flares or giant candles of natural gas now. Many tribal members were paid $34 an acre for their land versus the $5,000-$6,000 an acre paid to non-Indians.

“Now, every single place you go you see trucks hauling water in and hauling water out. Many people have died in head-on crashes with the trucks. It’s all for oil mining. It’s wrong. The tribally elected leaders at Fort Berthold are not my leaders. Women have to lead, let us show you how to lead. A Tribal Environmental Code was just passed last year. There are many open valves. There are 2,500 chemicals in that fracked water that leaks out of the valves on the trucks. Tribal police have no jurisdiction over the truck drivers. People are getting money now and they are happy because we’ve been poor for so long. Drugs are coming in worse than they were before. We need to stop it at all costs.

“Why should you care what is happening on Fort Berthold?” Mossett asked. People need to care because “it’s affecting you down here. Green water found in Lake Sakakawea was said to be a blue green algae bloom which is toxic.” Also, leakage that “cannot be seen with the naked eye but infrared cameras shows the constant smoke coming from pipes and those round storage tanks along with frack trucks around the reservation. People are not dumb. People just became complacent. I survived cancer when I was 20 years old. I refused chemotherapy, I refused radiation. There’s so much to fight for an as long as I have a breath in me I am going to go anywhere to lift people up. Forget the Keystone XL pipeline; we are going to kill it. As long as there are little kids running around we are going to fight.”

“Kandi Mossett is my hero,” stated Phyllis Young, a newly elected tribal council representative at Standing Rock. “She inspired me to pass legislation against fracturing. Demonstrations are significant; we need to have an Occupy Wall Street type of event in the Black Hills. We have the Standing Rock directors working to beef up the regulations we have. We are also trying to prohibit horizontal drilling. I have been on the tribal council for two months and we will do everything we can to stop the Keystone XL pipeline.”

“What is it going to take for activism in Indian Country?” Madonna Thunder Hawk asked. She is currently working on Indian Child Welfare Act violations in East River South Dakota. “Check the NPR.org website for documents about the Department of Social Services. Lean on your tribal councils because they have to make child welfare a priority. Not one tribe in the State of South Dakota has made child welfare a priority. Kids are kept in the system for the money. They are drugged up and then when they age out they dump them back into the Indian community. I’m hoping there will be younger women who will pick up this fight.”

."I love my people,” stated Regina Brave who is also a long-time activist for the Lakota. “This whole country still belongs to us; I want you to remember that. They want to build Keystone XL through here because they called this a sparsely populated area. We have farmers, ranchers and processing plants. 75% of the groceries people take for granted come from this sparsely populated area. We have a right to protest and shut down TransCanada, we have to stop it. We are a nation fighting for survival. 2012 is the beginning of a whole new era for Indian people, it’s time for women to stand up and start fighting. We waited for a long time for this to happen where we could stand together and fight.”

“I believe this is an historical gathering,” stated Faith Spotted Eagle. “We have a responsibility to recreate societies. In 1994 we revived the Brave Heart Society. We have to build these young women. There are 90 girls scattered across the country that have been through the Isnati ceremony.”

Brittany Poor Bear, a Brave Heart Society member, offered a prayer for the wamakaskan.

Russell Means’ recent bout with cancer “was a powerful and humbling experience,” stated his wife Pearl Means. “But the power of our ancestors and spirituality is hard to express. We are downwind from North Dakota which is where the largest strip mining in the country is taking place.”

Other speakers included Arlette Loud Hawk who spoke as the Whip Bearer for the Tokala Kit Fox Warrior Society. Troy Lynn Yellow Wood talked about the roles of women. Special guest speakers included Alex White Plume, Russell Means, and Lily Mae Red Eagle.

Winyan Ituwan is a collective effort to bring women together to share experiences, vision, and wisdom. There were many door prizes including propane and other gifts. Winyan Ituwan is the first of four women’s gatherings, with one set for spring, summer and fall. People can call 605-899-1419 or connect at Winyan Ituwan on Face Book for more information.

“Each of us has power in our thoughts and in prayer. When we think and pray in a good way that is what we add to the atmosphere,” stated Cardinal

Russell Means and Alex White Plume
Photo Vi Waln.

Debra White Plume: A Thread in the Beautiful Fabric of Resistance

2012-01-19T21:13:00.000-07:00

Photos by Vi Waln

A Thread in the Beautiful Fabric of Resistance
by Debra White Plume
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

Water is finite, and sacred. “Mni wicozani”, through water there is life. We must drink clean, nourishing water to live. Just as Mother Earth is made up of a lot of water, our human bodies are 70% water. That is why at Full Moon, and the tides change, some human beings have strong, unpredictable behavior. To our Lakota people, mni (water) is our first medicine, our first home. There are entire spiritual and social teachings that we learn as we grow up, our Lakota World View about water. Mni is our relative, and Lakota Law compels us to protect our relatives. Mother Earth is our relative.

This belief led our organization Owe Aku (Bring Back the Way), which is involved with cultural preservation and revitalization, Treaty Rights and Human Rights, to begin looking at disproportionate cancer and diabetes rates on the Pine Ridge Homeland. This research took us places we never thought we would be! We examined air and water quality studies, which led us to the Cameco, Inc. in situ leach uranium mine 30 minutes from our southern border. We learned that ISL uranium mining contaminates an incredible amount of water, on a daily basis. Cameco was up for license renewal and had submitted another application to open a second mine. We researched that process, and found we could submit interventions, based on science and law. We did that, and are now plaintiffs in the case against Cameco’s ‘right’ to poison our water. That was 7 years ago. This work continues.

Water protection work requires constant research, in doing so I learned about the tarsands oil mine in First Nations Territory in the Athabascan River Basin where Ft McMurry is, in Canada. Learning about that mine and its’ impacts to Mother Earth was mind jolting, so I began to speak out more about this horrendous desecration of Mother Earth and our First Nations relatives. The tarsands oil mine is decades old, and has become the dirtiest mining operation in the world. The corporations snuck in decades ago, fooling elected leaders into signing contracts of extraction, contracts that are resulting in increased forms of rare cancer, people are dying, so are fish, moose and other animals that the people depend on for food. It has become a food issue. Will it become a famine issue? The pristine Boreal Forest is being clearcut, the Amazon of the North is being destroyed, millions of birds and other animals have died, species have become extinct. The mine uses 3 to 4 barrels of pristine drinking water to create 1 barrel of oil, each day. It creates so much green house gases, the output can hardly be measured.

Studying the tarsands oil mine led to the discovery of TransCanada corporation’s intent to build and operate the Keystone XL oil pipeline from the tarsands oil mine into Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas where it would be refined and shipped out to who-knows-where. We learned the KXL oil pipeline was three feet in diameter, thin, and would high pressure slurry the heavy crude oil that had to be heated to 150 degrees F to liquefy it enough to push through that pipeline. There is a union worker who turned whistle blower when he was fired for declaring the pipe defective, which corporate workers would re-tag as approved. He gave up a lifelong career. I met him in DC.

The pipeline would cross our Rural Water pipeline, which transports drinking water from the Missouri River, 200 miles away, to our communities on the Pine Ridge. The KXL pipeline would cross 200 lakes and streams and rivers. It would be buried in the Ogllala Aquifer, which irrigates 30% of the food grown in the USA, and which provides drinking water for 2 million people, and for cattle, horses, buffalo and other four legged. Trans-Canada would use a lot of drinking water to mix with that heavy crude. Sacred and social teachings about water propelled me into devoting more and more time into fighting the life and death situation that this oil pipeline had become. I knew the threats to our ground and surface from uranium mining, and learning about this oil pipeline taught me that it threatens our very lives, for where would we get enough drinking water for the 50,000 Oglala Lakota people on the Pine Ridge when the pipeline spilled or leaked? Who would care enough to do something about it? The technology does not exist to clean up this kind of heavy crude. No pipe has been created that does not leak or spill.

Friends from the Indigenous Environmental Network contacted me, and we began a dialogue about water protection, contamination, a number of other topics. Tribes along the pipeline route took action to oppose the pipeline. Every Native Nation organization in the USA raised their voice to say No. I decided to go to Washington, DC to participate in a Senate Briefing Hearing, and meet with the State Department officials about Ft Laramie Treaty violations and violations of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples adopted by the United Nations in 2007. I traveled with others to Pierre, SD to testify at a State Dept hearing, but was not able to, as I was number 152. I saw drunken union workers testify about how they needed a job welding. They mostly came from out of state.

Then my family and I decided I would go to Washington DC. I participated in a civil disobedience direct action, trespassed at the White House and got arrested, along with 1200 other people who wanted to help get this issue into the minds of mainstream America and the attention of President Obama. There were a dozen of us Native Nations people who were arrested. The Lakota people on Pine Ridge hosted Tom Weis, who rode a solar powered bike from Montana to Texas to raise awareness along the KXL oil pipeline route. We hosted a Rally for Mother Earth in Pine Ridge, and a march. We hosted a Ride for Solidarity with ranchers, farmers, Lakota people, and an American movie star, Darryl Hannah. We had radio shows, wrote articles, attended events. Next thing I knew, I was on the Tour of Resistance, I flew 10,000 miles in 5 weeks. Halfway through, I lost my hairbrush, my comb, and only had one sock. Good thing it was almost over by then! On January 15, a group of us Lakota people hosted Winyan Ituwan, a women’s gathering with the focus on Mother Earth and Sacred Water, with guest speakers including Kandi Mosset of IEN and Tantoo Cardinal, a Cree movie star from Canada. All to raise awareness and resistance to uranium mining and the KXL oil pipeline and the tarsands oil mine, and protection for our sacred water.

Nebraska started out to protect the Ogllala Aquifer, but became involved in negotiations to allow the pipeline in along an undetermined route. South Dakota GAVE KXL $30 million in tax breaks to come here, Montana made concessions as well. However, individuals and groups got involved, big time. Environmental groups, many other civic groups, thousands of people on both sides of the Canadian/USA border spoke with the same voice, STOP THE PIPELINE. Nobel Laureates, Native Nation and First Nation Chiefs and Presidents, scientists, retired military, Olympic Medalists, Senators, Congressmen, actors, writers, students, people from all walks of life raised their voices and risked their freedom to stop the pipeline. Rarely did USA’s mainstream media cover any of this, but in the little towns and small cities, local newspapers and radio shows did. Word got out, numbers of resisters grew. The last time I went to DC, I spoke at a rally of 15,000 people, we circled the White House 4 times. People came from all over, to speak with one voice. We made friends and allies.

Nebraska politicians had a special hearing to allow KXL to come in, but the White House heard the message to protect the Ogllala Aquifer. Then TransCanada pushed the USA to make a decision, and elected politicians lifted their voices to support the KXL, attached a new bill as a rider to a jobs bill, gave the White House 60 days to let KXL in or to reject the pipeline as against the national interest.

On January 18, 2012, the State Dept and President Obama rejected the pipeline, as 60 days was inadequate to conduct environmental impact studies. However, TransCanada can still apply for a new permit.

Each of us who worked on this life and death situation, we are a thread in this fabric of resistance. Folks wrote letters, gave speeches, cooked food, wrote emails, tweeted, did FaceBook postings, made banners, pitched in gas money, made tshirts, made phone calls, did research, made copies, stood in line to testify, got arrested, lobbied Senators and Congressmen, babysat, loaned out their cars, offered a couch or a spare room, musicians/artists doing pro bono benefits, shared frequent flyer miles, took pictures, raised money, it was truly a collective action to protect our water and Mother Earth.

There is no one person, nor one organization, that stopped the pipeline, this victory that may be temporary, this partial victory, as the tarsands oil mine is still operating. It was the love of the many, for Mother Earth and coming generations, the many prayers and sacrifices that gave this movement its power. I believe love is stronger than greed. I believe that people working together can be just as effective as the world’s richest corporations. I believe Mother Earth wants to live, and we cannot live without Her. I believe our Lakota prophecy, “Someday the Earth will weep, She will cry with tears of blood. You must make a choice. You help Her, or She will die. When She dies, you too will die.”

All over the world, events are unfolding, 200 tornadoes in two days last summer? Earthquakes and shakes where there have been none for hundreds of years? Floods? Droughts? All common weather events, but uncommon in the repeated occurrences or place of occurrence. Every summer has been hotter than the last since 1996. Mother Earth is telling us something, She is crying, and She is rising. Crying Earth Rise Up! Whatever befalls Mother Earth, befalls the people of Mother Earth. Such a struggle is made up of many, many threads, together we form a beautiful fabric of resistance, and protection for our Mother, Mother Earth.

The last time we left DC, my friend and I saw a huge red tailed hawk, he swooped over us, and over the White House, and he flew to the west. The day of Winyan Ituwan Winter Gathering, we saw a bald eagle circle over us, and he flew off to the West. Sacred messages ... if we listen, we can hear, if we hear, we can understand. When we understand, we give thanks. Lila wopila iciciyapi. Hecetuye.