42nd Anniversary of AIM West Coast Conference Schedule

Hosted by AIM West:

42nd Anniversary of AIM
West Coast Conference

Censored News

http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com

Photo 2009/Brenda Norrell
November 22nd - 26th
Monday, November 22nd 10:00AM – 6:00PM

San Francisco City College, Mission Campus 1125
Valencia Street *
10:00am Welcoming ceremonies
Introduction; and theme, Climate Change, Land
and Self-Determination: topics to consider.
Guests speakers, Clyde Bellecourt and Yvonne
Swann.
10:30am Press Conference
11:00am Panel on regional reports; and
state of the nation.
12:00pm Lunch (Bring or purchase
your own). Short film on AIM.
1:00pm Panel on Treaties and Agreements
Ratified and unratified; Federally Recognized,
Unrecognized/Disenrollment
2:45pm Break
3:00pm Panel on Health issues,
Diabetes, obesity; (Film ) “Food Security and
Sustainability” and MLPA
5:00pm Panel Status on Implementation
of “UN Declaration on the Rights
of Indigenous Peoples”
Solidarity with International relationships & UN
activities
*location subject to change check website:
http://www.aimwest.info/
Tuesday, November 23rd, 10:00AM – 6:00PM
Again at Mission Campus 1125 Valencia Street*
A complete day of contemporary topics/issues of
concern in reservation, rural and urban inter-tribal
communities.
10:15am Panel on freedom of religion,
sacred sites
Mineral Resources and Mining Extraction-Mother
Earth under attack
12:00pm Lunch. Film: “Poison Wind”
1:20pm Panel on immigration and
border issues
Prisoner rights and strategy for Leonard Peltier’
Executive Clemency
2:45pm Break
3:00pm AIM women support network
Leadership and panel discussion led by Yvonne
Swan and with Corine Fairbanks; General
discussion, open for comments
4:00pm Providing basic support
Building AIM chapters/affiliates/defining role of
support groups
5:00pm Discussion on & revisit position on
electoral, registration and voting process.
Revisit position on electoral process/participation
Wednesday, November 24th, 10:00AM – 6:00PM
Bahai Center, 170 Valencia, SF (near 16th BART Station*
10:00am Preparations
Volunteers for turkey dinner are welcome, cooked
turkeys being prepared, arrangement of kitchen
12:00pm CEREMONY & FEAST
“Unthanksgiving” Potluck dinner, special program.
“”The Eagle invites the Condor”. With guest
speakers to be announced and special invited guest
Clyde Bellecourt, National Speaker and drummers
and singers, with dance & musical performances.
2:00pm Dinner & Film “Reclaiming Their
Voices: The Native American Vote in
New Mexico & Beyond” Plus Q&A
5:00pm Panel on institutional racism,
mascots; Youth and justice
system/incarceration
Thursday, November 25th, 4:00AM – 9:00AM
Alcatraz Island Annual Sunrise Gathering! AIM
Conferees welcomed all day to visit the Bay Area
community!
Leaving from Hornblower Tours at Pier #31
For advance tickets call (415)981-7625 or visit
www.alcatrazcruises.com
Friday, November 26th, 12:00PM – 12:00AM
*ALSO* Black Friday Emeryville Protest
For additional information on this day call:
Corrine Gould 510-575-8408
Meanwhile at Mission Campus*...
12:00pm Film: “The Fifth Gate”
with late great, Floyd Red Crow Westerman.
1:00 pm Discussion on Climate Change
COP-16; devise strategy with environmentalists,
allies and coalition building to contribute based on
the Bolivian Mother Earth Declaration April 2010
3:00pm Break
3:15pm Seek solutions to affects of REDD,
Developing strategies to challenge REDD advocates;
Social movements, coalition building vs. corporations.
5:00pm Announcements/closing prayer
And Later...
At the Bahai Center, 170 Valencia Street, SF*
6:00pm NATIVE AMERICAN DAY
With poets, Dr. Loco, local artists, hip-hop, youth
band “Savage” and “The Bob Young Project”, raffle,
refreshments, tickets $7-10 donation, slide scale,
support your local AIM!!
Also for housing call: Benny @ 415-200-6591 and
Felipe @ 925-219-2303
Webcasted by: http://www.earthcycles.net/
Also for additional information telephone 415-577-1492

Protest US Torture Training at Fort Huachuca Ariz. 2010

2010 Schedule for Southwest Witness Against Torture:Photo: Josh being carried away at Fort Huachuca main gate 2009/Photo Brenda NorrellSat., Nov 13, Southside Presbyterian Church
10th Ave. @ 22nd St, Tucson, AZ
6 PM, Lasagna Dinner (salad, lasagna, bread, drinks)
7- 9 PM Ritual for Preparing and Holding Peace Within
Southside Kiva
Sun, Nov 14, Noon - 2 PM, Ft Huachuca, Main Gate, Sierra Vista, AZ
Vigil of Peace and Demonstration Against Torture
Extending Peace Outward
using presence, silence, speaking, song
Note: The program is shorter than in previous years. Please join us at the start time at the Main Gate to Ft. Huachuca. Allow time for travel, parking,etc. There will be no procession to the
Fort. Please bring signs of peace with you. Volunteers needed: Br. David, 314-803-6735 needs volunteers for preparing, hosting, and cleaning up after the meal We may need more volunteers for reading at the Sat. ritual and Sun. vigil. If interested, (or with other questions) call Catherine 260-5254 or Br. David. Directions and parking info will follow soon - more info at http://southwestwitness.org

Tucson Hearing Puts Spotlight on Private Prisons in Arizona

Contact:Penny Pestle, (616) 340-2938, ppestle@cox.net Caroline Isaacs, (520) 256-4146, cisaacs@afsc.org

Tucson Hearing Puts Spotlight on Private Prisons in Arizona
Breaking News Highlights for-profit prison companies’ role in state legislation
Photo: Mike Wilson, Tohono O'odham who puts out water for migrants
.
TUCSON -- Wednesday night in Tucson, an overflow crowd heard testimony from experts and the public about the risks and suspect practices of the private prison industry across Arizona, the nation and internationally. The Hearing was presided over by a panel of Conveners representing a bipartisan spectrum of county, city and state elected officials.
Testimony was presented by a range of experts, including prison staff and administrators, attorneys, researchers, and even a real estate appraiser. Stephen Nathan, researcher and journalist, traveled all the way from London, England to lend his expertise on the practice of prison privatization worldwide. Members of the audience were also given the opportunity to present testimony to the panel, and included representatives of religious congregations, formerly incarcerated people, and an organization representing prisoners from Hawaii who are incarcerated in for-profit prisons in Arizona. Representatives of the private prison companies and the Arizona Department of Corrections, although invited, were noticeably absent at the event.

This important hearing, designed to prompt dialogue among policy-makers and the public, raised important questions about the perceived cost savings of private prisons, the safety of their facilities, the lack of accountability to the public of for-profit corporations, and the larger ethical concerns associated with profiting from incarceration.

From Mike Wilson of the Tohono O’odham Nation to Joe Glen of the Maricopa & Pima Juvenile Corrections Associations, the theme was the same: Companies such as Corrections Corporation of America, Management Training Corporation, and the GEO group consistently focus on profit over safety and rehabilitation of those who are incarcerated in their facilities.

Coming directly on the heels of the Tucson Hearing was a scathing report from National Public Radio exposing the influence that private prison corporations had in the development of Arizona’s controversial immigration law, SB1070. Corrections Corporation of America, which holds contracts with the federal government to incarcerate immigrants, was a key player in creating a law that would increase the number of immigrants in detention, thus representing the potential for tremendous corporate profits. The report describes how a shadowy organization called ALEC provided opportunities for corporations to meet with state legislators to draft model legislation, which those legislators later took back to their states.

What the NPR report does not reveal is that this practice dates back literally decades, and that ALEC was a driving force behind most of the “tough on crime” legislation passed by Arizona and other states in the 1990’s. These laws, such as truth in sentencing and mandatory minimums laws, sent state prison populations through the roof, and the resulting prison overcrowding crisis proved to be a golden opportunity for private prison operators in Arizona and elsewhere.

Arizona state legislators have been linked to ALEC and for-profit prison corporations for years. A 2006 report by the Institute for Money in State Politics tracks campaign contributions from the private prison corporations to various Arizona state legislators who were ALEC members, and links them to five pieces of legislation during the same period that sought modify Arizona’s sentencing laws, increase the number of private-prison beds in the state, and address overcrowding by requiring the Department of Corrections to transfer prisoners to private prisons.
The Tucson Hearing was the first in a series of statewide hearings on the issue. The next will be held in Kingman, the site of the recent escapes from a privately-operated prison, on November 8th.

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For more information on the hearings, background information on private prison companies, and materials on the issue of prison privatization, go to: www.afsc.org/tucson.

These materials, plus photos from Wednesday night’s hearing are on our blog, Cell-Out Arizona at: http://tucsoncitizen.com/cell-out-arizona/2010/10/28/130-crowd-tucson-public-hearing-on-prison-privatization-in-arizona

Larry Kibby, Wiyot: 'The Big Kettle Theory'

The Big Kettle Theory
by Larry Kibby
Wiyot Indian of California
People who employ the art of taking the American Indian and dumping them all into a big kettle and stirring it up and then calling them all one nation is just really senseless. People and even our own Indian people do this, stating how we are all united under one creator, one culture and one belief, that ladies and gentlemen is just extremely wrong.

Today, there are now 565 Federally Recognized Sovereign Nations, several hundred other Sovereign Nations that aren’t Federally Recognized, so we are talking about some 800 to 900 Sovereign Nations throughout these United States.

Once so very long ago, North American, Mexico and South America were lands that had a unique population of Indigenous People and I’’m talking about millions and millions of Indian People.

What does that mean? Primarily it means that there were millions of different Nations of Indigenous People. Millions of different forms of Customs and Beliefs. Yes, some were related in some fashion, however, these great Sovereign Nations were genuine and unique in their own Way of Life.

When people and governments decide to change history to suite their own needs, that present complications, complications that can create a severe portrayal of a people who may not be able to generate the truth and that truth is vital and essential for future generations.

The United States Government commanded a policy to propagate disharmony within the tribes of the American Indian, a reckless policy that would severely distort the customs and beliefs in any manner that would aid and assist the Governments effort to control and maintain discipline over the American Indian.

Another arrogant factor the Government developed was the endeavor to convert the Indian to Christianity and often the methods utilized were found to be severely Heartless, Barbarous, Heinous and Inhuman.

The Chronicles of American History in fact wrongfully portrayed the American Indian in every expression, simply eradicating the Culture the best it could, with the strongest attempt to Remove the Indian from the Man and turn the Indian into a Civilized Being.

The Indian was taught that the "Great Spirit" or "The Creator" would be generous to the Indian if he would concede to Christian Values and Principles, failing to do so would generate severe punishment in an Inhuman form.

For the most part, the Government won in assimilating the Indian, that is obviously seen in this day and age as we come to realize that folks, Indian and Non-Indian, continue to do the Governments "Dirty Work."

Traitors, Defectors, Turncoats, Saboteurs, however you may label such people that continue to cause discord, mayhem and chaos for the Sovereign Nations throughout Indian Country, they don’’t care and a lot of these types of people get acknowledged, recognized, blessed and even praised for helping the Government "Desecrate the Customs and Beliefs of their very own people.

The generations today do and say as they will and as for the times of yesterday, I’m afraid those days are lost, shoved aside, ignored or in some cases made a mockery of. The cultural philosophy that was preserved by our ancestors within their hearts and established in our hearts has now been exploited and annihilated, the authenticity of our ancestors forever disgraced and dishonored.

The hearts of tomorrow’s generations has been perverted through these modern times and by sophisticated technology, seduced by greed, their intelligence polluted through false testimony and their weakness has become a disease that will spread to generations to come.

Our Sovereign Nations never observed just one Sovereign Nation, Culture, Spirituality or Religious Belief. Nor did our people follow one Prophet, one Spiritual Leader or one Medicine person.

For centuries, not just decades or years, but centuries, the ancestors of our generations endured the worlds worst acts of inhumanity, their survival under such deadly and hateful conditions was courageous, but their hearts were severely dampened by racism and oppression, yet they would somehow prevail.

And like our ancestors, all our relations, such as the eagle, buffalo, wolf, deer, elk, raven, coyote, fox, cougar, magpie, beaver, antelope and so many others, would also face near extinction, senseless slaughters, an extermination policy to wipe out the harmony and unity, to destroy the way of life of the Indian and all his relations.

So how does our generation and the younger generation repay our ancestors significant survival?
And as I watch the severe rangeland fires, intense rainfalls, deadly tornadoes, critical hurricanes, fatal snowfalls, I somehow feel that our ancestors are expressing their discontent, that they are answering the question and I wonder if they will forgive us and our children.

I have a deep sadness in my heart for the future generations, yet a small form of joy exist, knowing that I won’t be here to observe the accomplished deterioration of the Sovereign Nations, the Ancient Custom and Belief’s of our Sacred Ancestors.

I fear, the final phase has begun, the closing of the door on the past, culture and beliefs of our people is near completion, the last chapter in a great and noble people, who were once full of pride, dignity and honor, will only be known in history books, novels and movies.

Yes, we have lost the war, we have lost the land and now we are losing the last of the authentic customs and beliefs.

In that, I sincerely, with the greatest amount of respect, apologize to my ancestors for not doing more, for not stepping up to make a stronger effort to preserve and protect their most Sacred Ancient Customs and Beliefs.

The End

The Big Kettle Theory
Prose Article - Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Composed by:
Larry Kibby - Wiyot Indian of California