Remembering the Women of Albuquerque's Mass Femicides

Women's/Human Rights News

Remembering the Women of Albuquerque's Mass Femicides

By Frontera NorteSur

Dr Irene Blea is one person who hasn't forgotten about the unsolved killings of 11 women and girls found murdered on Albuquerque's West Mesa in February 2009.  The author of a new novel based on the slayings, "Daughters of the West Mesa," Blea spoke about her book and the West Mesa case at a March 8 (International Women's Day) webinar sponsored by the Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP).

A sociologist by training, Blea was drawn to the case back in 2009 when she ran across news of the murders one evening on television and "saw a woman with a look I had never seen before."

The revelations of mass murder with signs of gender violence sent Blea on a long journey as a participant observer. Along the way she met or talked with victims' relatives and friends, women bikers and Albuquerque Police Department (APD) detectives assigned to the murder investigation, including Ida Lopez, the now-retired APD officer who was tasked with probing the case for many years. Diving into the lives and deaths of the West Mesa women, Blea participated in prayer vigils, Aztec ceremonies and funerals.

Photos Peltier Honored with Frantz Fanon Prize in Paris

Sylvain Duez-Alessandrini, chairman of CSIA, Mustapha Boutadjine, artist, Mireille Fanon Mendès France, Frantz Fanon’s daughter and founder and chair of the Foundation, Edith Patrouilleau, vice-chairwoman of CSIA and translator, Lenny Foster, George Aguilar, Yaqui/Apache actor.
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Photos by Theo Koppen

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Article by Christine Prat

http://www.chrisp.lautre.net

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Censored News

PARIS (Sunday March 6) -- Leonard Peltier was awarded with the Frantz Fanon Prize 2016. It happened in the context of the Anti-Colonial Week. Many people attended. There were delegations from many countries and associations (Algeria, Morocco, Chiapas, Peru, Africa, homeless people, undocumented immigrants, against French policy in Africa (including uranium mining by AREVA), and many more). The prize was awarded by Mireille Fanon Mendès France, Frantz Fanon’s daughter and chairwoman of the Frantz Fanon Foundation, and the artist who designed the Prize, Mustapha Boutadjine, and received in the name of Leonard by Lenny Foster, Diné, member of the AIM, representing Leonard Peltier. Mireille Fanon Menès France talked about the goals of the Foundation, about Leonard Peltier and the other political prisoners they support. Poems by Leonard were read and translated. This time Leonard was not allowed by the prison’s authorities to record a statement, thus his statement was read by Lenny Foster, member of the AIM, representative of Leonard Peltier, and translated in French by Edith Patrouilleau, vice-chairwoman of the CSIA-nitassinan (Committee for Solidarity with the Indians of the Americas).

Copyright Christine Prat, Censored News

Apache Stronghold 'Jane Sanders to visit Oak Flat: March 13, 2016'

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Photo by Sandra Rambler, San Carlos Apache

Respect our tribal elders! Hear their voices! They are our "walking dictionaries" and they speak the truth! They are preparing to meet with Jane Sanders, wife of U.S. Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders at Chi'Chil'Bildagoteel (Oak Flat). Some of these tribal elders have passed on and may rest in peace. Their voices are not forgotten...
(Picture: Apache tribal elders gathered at the Gila Pueblo College in Globe AZ in 2014 ready to set the record straight with Arizona Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick about her refusing and not Protecting Oak Flat) -- Sandra Rambler

Photo Apache Stronghold defending Oak Flat

Jane Sanders, wife of Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders to visit Oak Flat on Sunday, March 13, 2016

APACHE STRONGHOLD

POB 766 SAN CARLOS, AZ 85550

JANE SANDERS TO VISIT OAK FLAT

WHERE: OAK FLAT

(Hwy SO, 4 miles East of Superior, AZ)

DATE: MARCH 13, 2016

TIME: 4:00 pm

Oak Flat , AZ. March 7, 2016 -We are pleased to announce that Jane Sanders, wife of Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders, will be visiting Oak Flat on Sunday March 13, 2016.

Ms. Sanders will meet with the Apache Stronghold, a group of activists taking a stand to protect the sacred

land from destruction by Resolution Copper, a subsidiary of foreign mining giants Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton.

Oak Flat -- a site of immense religious and historical meaning, awe-inspiring scenery, and vital to the spiritual

life of the Apache people -- is of special importance to Senator Sanders.

In November he introduced a bill , the Save Oak Flat Bill, to repeal the land transfer to the mining

conglomerate, which was slipped in, through backroom deals, as a midnight rider to the must-pass NOAA in

the end of 201 4.

Ms. Sanders' visit comes just as the National Park Service announced Friday that it has listed Oak Flat on the

National Register of Historic Places.

The event will begin at 4:00 pm.

Ms. Sanders will meet the Save Oak Flat activists who have been occupying the site for more than a year, as

well as with Tribal Leaders, elders, and members to discuss the importance of the site and highlight to the

members of the press the need to pass the Save Oak Flat Bill that Sen. Sanders has introduced in the

Senate.

"I 'm so excited that presidential candidate Bernie Sanders' wife, Jane, has committed to visit Oak Flat to

discuss the occupation by the Stronghold," says San Carlos Apache Tribal Council Member Wendsler Nosie,

Sr.

"Federal policies must change for us and all Americans in this country in order to secure the future for those

yet to be born. We must not lose these holy places, for they are the fabric of who we are to Mother Earth."

The event will include a tour of culturally-significant sites, a discussion with stakeholders, and time to address

the members of the press.

For more information contact:

Wendsler Nosie, Sr.

Apache Stronghold

(928) 215-5812

apache.stronghold@gmail.com

Lian 0' Avignon

Apache Stronghold

(S02) 423-1591

Duke Romero

Apache Stronghold

(719) 415-0203

Flagstaff Council Vote on Indigenous Peoples’ Day Expected March 8, Support Rally

NEWS ADVISORY

Monday, March 7, 2016

Klee Benally
indigenousaction@gmail.com

Flagstaff Council Vote on Indigenous Peoples' Day Expected March 8
Support Rally to be Held

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Flagstaff City Council is scheduled to discuss and vote on an Indigenous Peoples' Day proposal Tuesday, March 8 at 6:00pm. A rally to address injustices facing Indigenous Peoples in Flagstaff in support of the proposal will be held prior to the Council session at 5:00pm outside City Hall on the corner of Rt. 66 and Humphreys.

What: Rally before Flagstaff City Council discussion and vote on Indigenous Peoples' Day proposal.

When: Tuesday, March 8 at 5:00pm.

Where: Outside Flagstaff City Hall on the corner of Rt. 66 and Humphreys.

Who: Native American community members, including Northern Arizona University students and faculty, will speak to why a meaningful process towards declaring Indigenous Peoples' Day is necessary in Flagstaff.

Why: Indigenous Peoples' Day has been declared throughout the country as a respectful replacement to offensive Columbus Day celebrations.
Native American residents and visitors to Flagstaff face disproportionate arrests, racial profiling, sacred sites desecration, homelessness, and other issues that rarely are addressed by the City of Flagstaff.

Background: Council member Eva Putzova initially proposed declaring Indigenous Peoples' Day in October of 2015 but withdrew her proposal after Indigenous community members called for meaningful action to address injustices faced by Native peoples. The proposal now includes a three step process with public hearings, reports, and a plan based on input from the hearings.

Last year nearly a dozen cities across the US including the entire state of Alaska renamed Columbus Day "Indigenous Peoples' Day."
A partial list of cities that currently celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day on the second Monday of October:

California: Berkely, Sebastapool, Santa Cruz and San Fernando
Minnesota: Minneapolis, St. Paul & Grand Rapids
New York: Newstead & Akron
Traverse City, MI
Portland, OR
Seattle, WA
Albuquerque, NM
Durango, CO
Carrborro, NC
Belfast, ME

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