Ward Churchill to Speak at Benefit for Traditional O'odham Resistance

O’odham Voice Against the Wall
Press Release
Media Inquiries: Ofelia Rivas, 520-349-5484, alijegos@gmail.com
Dan Todd, 520-982-1835, langgore@hotmail.com
Additional Information: www.solidarity-project.org
www.dryriver.org

Ward Churchill, Professor Fired for 9/11 Remarks, to Speak at Benefit for Traditional O’odham Resistance
By O'odham VOICE Against the Wall
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com

Activist and scholar Ward Churchill will speak at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson, 4831 E. 22nd St., on November 13, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. to benefit O’odham VOICE Against the Wall, which since 2003 has organized and advocated for the traditional O’odham leaders and elders of the O’odham communities in the southern territory of the United States and northern territory of Mexico.
Professor Churchill’s talk is part of the “Apartheid in America: Surviving Occupation in O’odham Lands” gathering, which features a concert by Resistant Culture, a punk rock/metal band from Southern California. The event is dedicated to raising awareness of the connections between repressive border policies at home and abroad.
Ward Churchill is a prolific American Indian writer, a member of the Rainbow Coalition Council of Elders, and on the leadership council of the American Indian Movement of Colorado. In addition to his numerous works on Indigenous history, he has written extensively on U.S. foreign policy and the repression of political dissent. Five of his more than 20 books have received human rights writing awards.
Former Chair of the Ethnic Studies Department, until July 2007 Ward Churchill was a tenured full Professor of American Indian Studies at the University of Colorado/Boulder, where he received numerous awards for his teaching and service. In April 2009 a jury unanimously found that he had been fired by CU in retaliation for his observations on 9/11 and in violation of the First Amendment. Professor Churchill is currently litigating to have that verdict upheld.
Resistant Culture’s music is best described as tribal grind core -- weaving the indigenous flute, rattle, tribal drum, and chant into a backdrop of extreme punk and metal. The show will take place at Dry River, 740 N. Main (University and Main), November 13, at 10:00 p.m.
Both Professor Churchill’s talk and Resistant Culture’s concert will be broadcast live at www.livestream.com/earthcycles by Govinda Dalton and Brenda Norrell, who have each covered Indigenous news for over 25 years.
Other sponsors of the event include the Dry River Radical Resource Center, the Earth First! Journal, and Voices Against the Wall.
The event is open to the public. Donations of $10 to $20 are requested, but no one will be turned away. A delicious vegetarian meal will be served at 6:30 p.m.
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From Ofelia Rivas:
Hello Friends,
The Dry River Collective of Tucson, Arizona is hosting a benefit for O'odham VOICE Against the WALL.
We hope to raise funds to support our work on the impact of the border WALL on O'odham lands.
The WALL has destroyed the sacred resting places of our ancestors and has closed our ceremonial routes.
The O'odham are considered illegal undocumented persons in our own lands.
The policies of the WALL have criminalized O'odham. We are considered suspects in our own lands, interrogated and harassed.
O'odham VOICE is our resistance to continue our way of life, continue to maintain our Him'dag and continue to cross this illegal International Border across our lands.
Support us through donations and support by attending the event or just sending our press release forward.
Send donations to http://www.solidarity-project.org/.
-- Ofelia M.Rivas
Solidarity in Dignified Rage
O'odham VOICE Against the WALL
O'odham Rights Cultural & Environmental Justice Coalition