Anti-Kolumbus Day 2010

Anti-Kolumbus Day 2010

(www.raimd.wordpress.com)

Kolumbus Day, amongst Amerika’s quaintest celebrations of its founding genocide, rolled through again throughout Occupied North America. In Denver, the usual crowd of fake Italians and flag-waving crackers put on another grosteque display of parasitism and reaction. In absence of any evident protest plans, RAIM put a call-out to protest against the chauvinist Killumbus celebrators.

Behind the scenes we discussed the issue with interested parties and decided two protests were a good idea: first a rally and demonstration against the parade itself; then a protest across the street from their after-parade lunch.

Our efforts resulted in around 50 protesting the celebration of conquest and genocide. RAIM made a number of signs and banners. Some examples included, “End Amerika’s Longest Running Genocide: 1492-2010,” “I Hate the USA (there, I said it),” “Kick Cracker Bum$ Off Stolen Indian Lands,” and “No Amnesty for Pilgrims or Their ‘Anchor Babies.”

The protest slowly warmed up and was diverse and energetic, especially as the plunder parade drew near. There was no shortage to opposition this blatant display of reaction.

The actual Kolumbus Day parade was as trashy as usual.  It was both a celebration of past imperialism and genocide and a reflection of that which goes on today.  As usual, the parade was made up of motorcycles, muscle cars, some Hummers, and semis with empty flatbed trucks: all toys for Amerikan parasites. The parade featured Amerikan military troops, who are imitating Kolumbus in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere today.

Tom Tancredo, who was scheduled to appear in the convoy of conquest, didn’t show because he supposedly had a cold. The popular right-wing candidate in Kolorado’s 2010 governor campaign, his politics include: defining unborn Amerikans as living people and abortion as murder; advocating bombing Mecca and other Muslim holy sites; describing Spanish-speaking migrants as “illegal;” and claiming that Hezbollah has activist “terrorist” cells in Mexico. Even though Tankkkredo was too sick to sit in the passenger seat of a slow moving vehicle for 40 minutes, plenty of his racist supporters were there to represent.

The protesters’ chants included “Kolumbus Go to Hell,” “Kolumbus Go Home” “Yankee [and Gringo] Go Home,” and “Face It, You’re Racists, Your Claims On This Land Are Baseless.” These chants reflected the fact that Amerika is in fact a settler-empire founded on stolen land. Many of the protesters wanted to change that.  Many people took the opportunity to give the parade-goers  history lessons. Some suggested a wider range of other Italian history figures to celebrate besides Kolumbus.  RAIMers asked through megaphones, “Where are your hoods, you racists?”

The second protest was even more charged. This was the first year that protesters showed up to the Kolumbus beneficiaries’ after-party. There, many of racists tried to piggishly provoke fights with protesters in front of the cops. Others challenged protesters to back-alley brawls. Some asserted we were lucky the Denver police were near by, suggesting we would be physically harmed if not. For the protesters, this merely confirmed the Kolumbus Day gathering was just another lynch mob.

Some of the krackers called protesters ‘faggots.’ This was met by a wide range of responses. Some protesters admitted to not conforming to traditional gender or sex roles. Others suggested the krackers themselves might by projecting their own repressed desires onto the anti-imperialist opposition before them. George Vendegnia, head of the ‘Sons of Italy,’ with all the grace of a drunken date-rapist at a honky-tonk bar, gestured simultaneously to his genitalia and various protesters numerous times.

A moment of comedy for the protesters occurred when some of the racists again tried to look tough. A large groups of biker-krackers pulled near the intersection next to the protesters and began revving their obscenely loud engines. The protesters’ chants of “Pigs On Hogs” were muffled out by the noise. However, when the biker klan was order by the cops to move along, one kracker’s bike slid out from underneath him, resulting in him dropping it and scratching his multi-thousand-dollar custom paint job. Laughter largely overtook the protest crowd. However, one protester’s effort to help the pig recover his motorcycle from the pavement sent 10 or so more racists running over expecting a fight.

 

After a time of letting the paraders know they were racists, we headed out, fired up from confronting racial hate in the town. Over the course of the day, RAIMers had handed most of the protesters copies of the ‘Troublemaker’ DVD, from which we still get positive feedback, and our recent programmatic statement, ‘The Anti-Kolumbus Day Manifesto.’

Some local media made note of the declining number of protesters at the first protest, but failed to report on the second protest, which drew additional people. The media also noted the declining participation of the parade.  Even with the better weather from last year, the parade was still pathetic at barely 200 participants.

The Kolumbus myth is a center of the official narrative of Amerika as a beacon of freedom and democracy, and glosses over the legacy of imperialism that is at the heart of Amerika. Beginning after the anti-colonial movements, this narrative has been challenged internationally. In many countries and regions, Indigenous Peoples Day or Indigenous Resistance Day has replaced Kolumbus Day: a step in the right direction. Kolumbus Day is not part of a celebration of Italian or Italian-America history or heritage. It is a celebration of US and Western supremacy based on aggression and exploitation. It must be opposed along with imperialism itself.

It is worth noting that in Occupied America, anti-imperialist forces are a vast minority. We are ‘behind enemy lines.’ This was evident at the second protest, which was more of a stand-off at times. The racists were correct in one clear sense. Were the cops not present, they could have easily overran the diverse, smaller crowd of protesters. The 200 or so krackers present represented 200 or so potential modern brownshirts in a future fascist movement; 200 out of many more. To underscore the fascistic nature of the Kolumbus Day paraders and the danger they represent would be an error of underestimating the nature of the enemy. Already, Kolumbus Day has become a rallying cry for those who champion the reassertion of global Amerikan supremacy. (1)

Kolumbus Day, like imperialism, will come to an end. However, it will not be through the singular efforts of a small minority of anti-imperialists in western, First World countries. It will only end when the exploited masses of the Third World stand up, assert control over their own lives, beat back the First World and build a world free from imperialism. Standing against our material interests and becoming a traitor to one’s exploiter background; siding with the world’s exploited majority and supporting national liberation for captive, oppressed nations; opposing Amerikan chauvinism and overt celebrations of genocide and supremacy: these things are the least we can do here.

Notes:
(1) http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/28647

This is not your land, white man

Anti-Kolumbus Day Protest Flyers

The Anti-Kolumbus Day Manifesto

The Anti-Kolumbus Day Manifesto

(www.raimd.wordpress.com)

Every year in October, in cities throughout the US and occupied America, celebrations and parades are held on Kolumbus Day, in honor of Khristopher Kolumbus. And every year, though in fewer cities, these celebrations are met with resistance by those concerned with indigenous sovereignty and colonialism. This year, the protests continue.

We oppose Kolumbus Day because it is a de facto celebration of conquest, including the genocide and land theft waged against First Nations. Upon arriving in modern-day Haiti/Dominican Republic and viewing the native Tainos, Kolumbus remarked, “with fifty men, we could subjugate them all.” Thirty years after his arrival, the island’s Native population had declined by 90%. This pattern would be recreated across the Americas, particularly in the United States, where a campaign of genocide was waged against First Nation peoples by White settlers. Kolumbus would also pioneer slavery in the Americas, a phenomenon that would officially last nearly 400 years yet remains in the form of exploitation of the masses south of the militarily-imposed US-Mexico border and throughout the Third World.

We oppose Kolumbus Day because it is a de facto celebration of imperialism, the exploitation of subjugation of many peoples by a handful. Kolumbus’s original voyage was a landmark of Spanish imperialism, yet Kolumbus Day transcends this original meaning. Today, the United States stands above the rest of the world, dominating various peoples, in part by operating over 700 military bases around the globe. Today, over a billion people are faced with undernourishment, yet virtually every Amerikan is part of the world’s richest 15%. Kolumbus Day is a celebration of this ongoing imperial legacy.

We oppose Kolumbus Day because it is a celebration of parasitism and imperialist decadence. The ritualistic Kolumbus Day parade, usually consisting of closing roads for slow-moving processions of large vehicles filled with flags-waving crackers, is one made possible only through the exploitation of various countries, including their oil resources, for benefit of a decadent First World population. We protest Kolumbus Day in solidarity with those who suffer for the luxuries Amerikans receive 365 days a year, not just on this or that imperialist holiday.

Though a good start, ending Kolumbus Day alone doesn’t cut deep enough into the problem. Therefore, The Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist Movement presents the following program:

1) The end of all US territorial claims; national liberation for oppressed nations. Return of land to First Nations throughout the US and Klanada. National liberation for Mexicanos on both sides of the militarily-imposed border and reunification. National liberation and sovereignty for Puerto Rico and for the Kanaka Maoli of Hawai’i. National liberation and self-determination for the Black nation. The surrender of all US-controlled land throughout the world.

2) The imposition of a globalized democracy of the world’s oppressed and exploited masses upon the United States and First World. The creation of zones throughout the current US and elsewhere to be used as the global proletariat sees fit.

3) The massive payment of reparations from Amerikans to the Third World, to be accomplished through the redistribution of land, capital and through labor.

4) Relocation of many Whites, including to the Third World, and reeducation for all Amerikans, resulting in the liquidation of much of the White nation and eradication of their parasite culture.

These are the demands of a world that suffers from deep problems and requires truly revolutionary solutions. Until these demands are met, resistance will continue.

The Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist Movement-Denver

The Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist Movement-Seattle

October 1st, 2010

Protest KKKolumbus Day in Denver

Protest KKKolumbus Day:

Saturday, October 9th 9am
Gather at the west steps of the Capitol for a rally followed by a protest of the Kolumbus Day parade

Meet for lunch

11:30am
Gather at 38th and Shoshone to protest their after party

No Kolumbus Day! No Celebrations of Genocide!

Video: Immigration Check Point

We at RAIM support the crackdown on all these damn illegal Europeans.

May Day 2010 Denver

May Day 2010 Denver

(raimd.wordpress.com)

This year the May Day events in Denver, as elsewhere in occupied Amerika, were about migrant rights and were influenced by the recent passage in Arizona of SB1070 that would further criminalize migrants without documents.  There were two different events in Denver, each illustrating the different politics around the most recent struggle for migrant rights.

The first event was one RAIM participated in and helped organize.  The May Day March for Social Justice, Human Dignity, and Self-Determination was made up of a loose coalition of more radical and independent tendencies.  RAIM Denver marched with our allies Resistencia Mexicana, with banners featuring Mexican revolutionary leader Emiliano Zapata.  At least 500 people participated in this march, which went from the State Capitol through downtown, ending in Skyline Park for a rally.  A Mexica/Aztec dance group performed a ceremony and led the march.

photo by Shareef

This particular march was unique with respect to the diverse makeup of the participants, who had a more clearer understanding of the repressive character of the state’s response to the “immigrant rights” movement.  It showed that there is a progressive sector in Denver that is against reform oriented liberal politics and for more radical change.  There were many beautiful banners and signs, good chants, and a more liberatory attitude. The rally included music, food, tables of the participating groups, and speakers.

photo by Resistencia Mexicana

photo by Resistencia Mexicana

photo by Shareef

The first speaker was Ricardo Romero, a long time Chicano/Mexicano human rights organizer and a leader in the Mexican National Liberation Movement, who brought up the ongoing war against the Mexican people exemplified by the anti-migrant movement.  Romero pointed out that there is a coming fascist offensive against the Mexicano peoples on their own occupied homeland, and highlighted the need to get educated, organized, and prepared for self-defense and national liberation.

Antonio spoke on behalf of RAIMD, stating that the recent struggle in Arizona is only one of many that has happened since 1848 when the U.S. settler empire invaded Mexico and imposed a border on its northern half. Today, the fight continues on many fronts with Third World peoples fighting against the exploiter countries of the First World. Antonio pointed out that it is important to support the struggles against imperialism everywhere.

RAIMD also brought a pinata for the festivities, in the form of Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer as a pig.  The elementary school-aged children at the rally enjoyed participating in the beating of the pig Brewer, and tore it open for the candy and toys inside.

Kids getting candy and toys from "Jan Brewer" pinata. Photo by Resistencia Mexicana

At the rally at Skyline RAIMD and other organizations had tables and distributed information.  Here many groups handed out a wide range of literature outside of mainstream discourse.  Our own materials were well received by the participants there.  We distributed: over two hundred of our program in support of Mexican nation liberation; around 75 new and old RAIM Global Digests; dozens of Troublemaker DVDs; copies of chapter eight from Lin Biao’s ‘Long Live the Victory of People’s War’ and some interviews with J. Sakai, author of ‘Settlers, the Mythology of the White Proletariat;’ even some child-sized t-shirts. Our material sparked many conversations and drew both nods of approval and skeptical looks.

The rally ended later that afternoon with some good music and on a positive note.  Despite our real political differences with many of the groups there, overall it showed that there is an organized progressive sector in Denver that is nominally against reform oriented liberal politics and for more radical social change, no matter how small that sector is.

The Other Rally

We should note the other event that went on that day, which was much larger for many reasons.  It was organized by Reform Immigration for America, a liberal reformist group that steers the migrant rights struggle into the safe hands of the Democratic Party realm.  To illustrate their strategy, at their massive immigration reform rally in Washington back in March of this year, they ended it with a televised speech by President Obama promising reform.

While the coalition that did the May Day March for Social Justice was planning this march months in advance, the liberal groups did not want a march at all.  Their last minute changes in response to our organizing and to a changing public opinion show their opportunistic nature.  Their original event for May 1st was going to be a “Grade Your Senators” event at Sunken Gardens Park, where participants would fill out faux report cards on legislators.  Basically directing people into electoral work, using Latinos as another interest group to gain leverage on the legislative level.  The response to Arizona changed this.  The days before there were many school walkouts organized in protest of the law in Arizona.  In Denver on April 30th many schools walked out and ended at a rally at the Capitol that day.  The energy level on May 1st was high, people wanted to march.  Also, the legislative campaign would not appeal to the mostly youth and non-citizens that were mobilized.  So the liberal non-profits changed plans at the last minute and tailed where the mass movement was going in order to regain leadership.

This is what awaited marchers at the reformist event at Sunken Gardens Park

The resulting march that went from Sunken Gardens through downtown and back to the park turned out about 10,000 people at its height.  Their larger turnout was due to the liberal groups larger resource base.  They purchased advertising on Spanish television and radio the day before.  The organizers brought several pre-printed signs and Amerikan flags to promote “We Are America.”  The crowd was encouraged to chant “USA, USA.”

The liberals did what they are expected to do, channel discontent into safe and controllable arenas.  In this case promoting assimilationist and reformist messages.  Their hope is that mainstream Amerika will see that immigrants are “Americans” too.  In the end this strategy, which denies the people the right to their identity, culture, and land, will weaken the necessary independent struggle that is needed to build power to fight against repression.  The non-profit industrial complex serves those that use it to continue to get grant funding and patronage, not the people itself.

Our comrades at Monkey Smashes Heaven said this of May Day:

“May Day, May First, or International Workers Day, originally was a day to commemorate the victims of the Haymarket Massacre in Chicago in 1886.  Chicago workers had called a general strike for the eight-hour workday.  The peaceful strikers were fired on by police. A bomb exploded.

Several deaths of strikers and police occurred. Some of the police deaths were a result of their own hand, “friendly fire.”  [Eight organizers were tried and wrongfully convicted, with some getting the death penalty before they all were exonerated (RAIM)].  Since then May Day has been embraced by revolutionaries and reformists in the labor movement alike.  However, May Day means nothing to the vast majority of First World peoples who have no interest in building socialism or ending imperialism. May Day when celebrated by First Worldists is nothing but a parody.”

This march we participated in gave some mixed messages too,  but created a space where RAIM, Resistencia Mexicana, and others presented alternatives to Amerikan assimilation and to build real power to bring national liberation.

On Stolen Land and Borrowed Time

RAIM Protests Teaklanners and Amerikkka

RAIM Protests Teaklanners and Amerikkka

(www.raimd.wordpress.com)

The Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist Movement has always been in the lead of militantly opposing the most reactionary aspects of Amerikan society while bringing to bear larger contradictions. This was certainly the case during the ‘Tea-Party Tax Day Protest’ and concurrent ‘Tea Party Against Amnesty,’ held at the Colorado State Capitol on April 15th, 2010.

RAIM was the first in Denver to put out a call to oppose the Tea Party rally.

Our call-out attracted country-wide attention. Right-wing blog and media personality, Michelle Malkin, quoted our call-out on her website and highlighted the sentence, “Cut loose and let these racist crackers know they’re opposed.” Some find the phrase “racist crackers” to be an oxymoron or ironic. Really though, it’s just redundant. The plug drew thousands of visitors to the RAIM-Denver blog over a period of a few days. Most of these people were racist crackers themselves or of a similar mindset.

The day of the protest was sunny and warm. An estimated 1,500-2,000 crackers and some ‘fort Indians’ gathered to show support for the Republican Party and other reactionary causes. The gist of the Tea Klan Rally was simple: while they don’t mind paying taxes to bomb people halfway around the world, they’re angry about paying taxes to provide services for people perceived as poorer than them (often Blacks, Mexicans, Native Americans, etc). Whereas Obama’s election can be seen as opening up the door for a few others to join the labor aristocracy, the Tea Party Movement is one to contract the labor aristocracy to its core constituents (i.e. Whites).

RAIM isn’t about picking sides in a debate about how to divide up stolen wealth. Our message that day, while including many things, highlighted two points: restorative justice and destroying imperialism and hence the USA.

The night prior, RAIM prepared an awesome and on-point, 50-foot banner which read: ‘TYRANTS, YOU STOLE THIS LAND AT GUNPOINT’. This simple statement was meant to juxtapose the Tea Party’s national and class-centric demands for ‘freedom’  and ‘liberty’ against the reality of the situation.

View of of the Tea Klan Rally, as seen from near the speakers podium.

Another view from the Tea Cracker side.

The counter-protest of around 50 gathered across the street from the Tea Party Rally and berated the racists through two bullhorns. Terryn, a Denver RAIMer, told the racist crowd they were on “stolen land and borrowed time.” She explained numerous times why they are racists: “Colorado is a Spanish word…You stole the land at gunpoint and killed the people. You stole everything you have. You steal the resources and labor from Africa, Asia and Latin America. You bomb people half-way across the world and you don’t fucking care. You don’t have empathy and that is why you’re racists.”

Nick Brown praised those resisting imperialism worldwide, shouting through a bullhorn, “God Bless Iran. God Bless Ahmadinejad. God Bless Venezuela and Bolivia.” RAIMers led chants such as, “Who do we love? Mexicans! Why? ‘Cause they’re people! Who do we hate? Racists! Why? ‘Cause they’re evil!” and, “No love for land-grabbers, deport the teaklanners.” Chants such as “Viva Mexico” and “Sí se puede” also rang out. RAIMers insisted the racists’ grandchildren would learn Spanish and they themselves would be deported to the Third World to “learn some empathy.” One woman even jeered the teaklanners in Lakotah.

In many ways, this is all standard stuff for RAIM. We bring out contradictions and conflicts. It’s what we do; nothing unusual.

However, the real high point was a group of local high school students who were bussed in to do interviews during of the tea klanner rally. The students, who were mainly Chicano, Mexican or Black, found the Tea Party repulsive and chose to hang out on our side. Many RAIMers refused to talk to the pig-media, but we gladly spoke with the youth who found themselves alienated by the pasty patriots. RAIMers explained why the Tea Party Movement is racist, including the real motive behind their anti-tax politics, the role of overt and covert US interventions worldwide and our message of militant global equality and solidarity with the Third World. Many of the students explicity identified as Mexican and were visibly turned off by the crackers, even without RAIM having to make the case. At one point, a racist cracker came over to our side of the street and smugly stated, in front of the students, the US should nuke various countries in the Middle East. A RAIMer called the guy a “fascist cracker” through a bullhorn and encouraged the students to do the same, but this was harshly discouraged by a nearby teacher. Nonetheless, RAIMers got plenty of time to talk with the students, passing out dozens of RAIM Global Digests and Troublemaker DVDs.

Heated exchanges between racist crackers and anti-racists.

Numerous times, racists came over to our side of the street, causing some minor altercations. About 20-30 pigs remained behind the anti-racist counter-protest, preventing more serious fighting from breaking out. No arrests were made.

RAIM’s message, both rhetorically and in practice, is clear: it’s right to hate the USA.

***

Also, check out RAIM-Denver agitating and educating in the first part of this video, exclusively at Denver Open Media.

***

Update 1:

After Michelle Malkin, the concentration camp loving right wing hack, linked us on her blog, we got the biggest number of hits ever.  We were inundated with comments, many with bad spelling, grammar, and logic.  There was the common refrain that we use cracker to describe racist crackers.This just goes to show that Amerika has a lot of crackers out there.

Malkin later went into a tizzy over the term “Tea-Klanner” to refer to her teabagging minions. (http://michellemalkin.com/2010/04/15/tea-klanner-the-lefts-shameless-new-smear/)

Of course this is after this of many comments went up on her board.  Here was an interesting one:

On April 15th, 2010 at 11:06 am, Ignatius Reilly said:

So the commies wanna rumble, eh? I say, Bring it on! and Remember Greensboro! (They need a little booster shot.)

Of course Greensboro refers to the massacre in 1979 in Greensboro NC where a Nazi and Klan death squad shot dead 5 communists and anti-racists at an anti-Klan rally.

This is the common refrain from Tea-Klanners, they are not racist.  Yet it is all there exposed when really pressed.  No one should be fooled.

Update 2:

Along with RAIM many other radicals in the Denver area responded to our call.  There was also a bunch of liberals and Democrats who were there for different reasons.  With much less people and resources RAIM called the action and others responded while highlighting our anti-imperialist, anti-settler, pro-national liberation, pro-migrant and Third Worldist messages.  This is significant because many groups there have hopes that the Amerikan labor aristocracy can be moved for progressive social goals.  We at RAIM factually see the majority of Amerika as benefiting from imperialist exploitation and shaping their politics to it.  This has been the interests of the majority White Amerikan Nation, and also creeping into the captive nations of the United Snakes.  The captive nations are still nationally oppressed although growing economic integration leads to a decline in national consciousness in favor of Amerika.  The Tea Party phenomena visibly shows that privileged White Amerikans when organized go into a right wing and proto-fascist direction.

All Out to Oppose the ‘Tea Party Against Amnesty’

On April 15th, the Tea Party Movement is planning major rallies throughout the country, including one in Denver. Part of this year’s convergence is a blatantly anti-Mexican ‘Tea Party Against Amnesty.’

The Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist Movement is calling on all radicals – anarchists and communists, Mexican and Black nationalists, Third Worldists and Indigenists, students, social critics and anti-racists – to come out and oppose this vile, hateful message in the midst of the Tea Party Movement. Bring signs, bullhorns, props, a hat and sunglasses, etc. Cut loose and let these racist crackers know they are opposed.

What: Oppose the racist ‘Tea Party Against Amnesty’
When: Thursday, April 15th; 10am-1pm
Where: Across the street from the Capitol building

Northwestern Shoshone Nation Marks Anniversary of Bear River Massacre

Northwestern Shoshone Nation Marks Anniversary of Bear River Massacre

(raimd.wordpress.com)

A few weeks ago this year many Native people gathered at the burial grounds of Bear River in Idaho, near the city of Preston, to remember and honor their ancestors who were murdered by Amerikan soldiers.  147 years ago, on January 29 1863 the Amerikan military massacred hundreds of indigenous peoples in Bear River, Idaho.  A great many of them were women and children.  This massacre was one of the bloodiest massacres of indigenous peoples in Amerikan history, yet it is little remembered as it happened during the Civil War, and Amerika is not too concerned with examining its sordid history.

Other massacres of indigenous peoples were Wounded Knee in South Dakota, where some 146 Lakotah were shot dead in 1890, and Sand Creek here in Colorado which 150 Cheyenne and Arapaho were murdered in 1864.

The number of dead at Bear River is disputed.  The commanding Army officer stated 220 to 270 dead, the tribe estimates 400 were killed, white settlers who moved into their land estimated up to 500 dead, a figure cited by the National Park Service.  There was never an official count of the victims, as their bones were often left scattered in the surrounding hills.

On this fateful day the Northern Shoshone were encamped along the Bia Ogoi, or Bear River for the Warm Dance, a yearly ritual in winter to drive away the cold.

A collection of sources, including Army reports, historical tracts, and oral histories from the tribe, describe what happened.  Col Patrick Conner and 200 soldiers from the 3rd California Infantry attack at daybreak the encampment.  There was rising tensions between the Natives and white settlers, with attacks and deaths on both sides leading up to the day of the massacre.  The Shoshone were blamed for thefts of horses and cattle, and the deaths of three settlers, although other tribes were likely at fault.

What followed was a day of savagery on the part of the Amerikans, with soldiers smashing infants’ skulls, raping dying women, and ending the lives of the wounded with bullets, clubs and axes.  The federal government designated the Bear River Massacre site as a National Historic Landmark in 1990, having admitted many of the victims were women and children.

The effect of the massacre has had long-lasting effects on the Northwestern Shoshone.  The killings virtually wiped out the tribe, which today numbers around 500.  Many of the survivors in the years after the massacre were taken up by the Morman church, and others dispersed into other Shoshone reservations in the area.  The small number of Northwestern Shoshone prevented them from obtaining a reservation of their own.

The policy of Amerikan expansion was one of extermination and genocide of the indigenous peoples.  What smallpox and other diseases did not complete, the US military attempted to finish.  Many nations were wiped out of existence altogether, and those remaining were subject to brutal national oppression.  Yet many indigenous nations survived and continue to fight for their existence.

The fact that it is up to the ancestors of the surviving tribes to continue the memory of these atrocities shows how Amerika is a nation of Holocaust deniers.  Its professed values of freedom and democracy are nothing but shallow doctrines to mask a nation founded by murder and genocide.  History lessons are not enough to correct these injustices.  The ultimate correction for this history of oppression is the return of land and resources to those it was taken from, in the United Snakes and the rest of the world.

Source:

Bonner, Jessie L. “Tribe marks massacre with burial ground gathering.”  Associated Press, linked at

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100207/ap_on_re_us/us_bear_river_massacre_3

Video: RAIM Confronting Tea Party Racists

On November 14 2009 there was a nationwide “Tea Party Against Amnesty”,  to spew hate against,  and promote violence against, non-white migrant workers. RAIM Denver went to confront these racists a few months back (see here). Someone sent a video from their side to us, here it is with some added comments.  RAIM pointed out that these crackers are on stolen land, that this is not only Mexican land but Cheyenne land and other indigenous lands.  We urged youth liberation by urging their youth to marry non-white people to piss off their parents.  Also, the tea-crackers claimed not to be racist; yet their racism comes out and is exposed, as they shout wetback, puta, and sneaks at us.  Crackerdom should be confronted whenever it pops up, and RAIM stands against settler Amerikkka.

RAIM-Seattle: Thankkksgiving reportback on Olympic resistance organizing

(http://raims.wordpress.com)

In the name of troublemaking on the settlers’ gorge-fest known as Thankkksgiving, RAIM-S now gives a reportback on a recent presentation by representatives of No2010.com and the Olympic Resistance Network (ORN) in downtown Seattle*. The presentation was promoting the Anti-Olympic Convergence in Vancouver in February, 2010. The speakers from the ORN and No2010.com filled the room with inspiration as the crimes of past and continued Kanadian settlerism against the First Nations** of so-called “British Columbia” were thoroughly exposed:

(Image courtesy of No2010.com)

A Hi$tory of British KKKolumbia and KKKlanada: False Entities Legally, Real Oppressor-Nations Materially

The underlying historical theme of the speakers goes beyond the parameters of the slogan, “No Olympics on Stolen Native Land”. In fact, as one of the speakers pointed out, the First Nations covering most of the territory within the legally fake borders so-called “B.C.” never surrendered their land and never signed treaties in the first place! All of the so-called “Land/Indian Acts” of the late 1800’s/early 1900’s were duly never recognized. The resulting land grabs, dislocations, the resource stealing, the massive Indigenous child abuse, the poisoning of the Earth, the sexual assault and murder of Indigenous women, and the outright genocide of the First Nations were righteously resisted by the Indigenous Peoples’ Warriors, as they do to this day. As far as the history of white settler nations go, there doesn’t seem to be a treaty they sign with First Nations that they don’t break. If there’s no treaty for Crackers to break to begin with, them RAIM-S sees this contemporary position as bringing a radical, “no compromise” progressive nationalist spirit to the Indigenous Peoples. This revolutionary spirit gives strength to their righteous struggle against these imperialist settler states, and in particular, the upcoming genocidal First Worldist “Five-Ring Circus” known as the Olympics.

The 2010 Olympic Game$ as a concentrated imperialist campaign of land stealing and genocide against the First Nations

The speakers laid out for the audience the ongoing conquest of Native land by the capitalist-imperialists backing the 2010 Olympics. One of these latest settler assaults on the First Nations is the ravaging of Eagleridge Bluffs by contractors for the expansion of the Route 99 “Sea-to-Sky” highway leading to Whistler ski resort. In 2006, about two dozen protesters were arrested blocking the highway expansion, including Native elder Harriet Nahanee. B.C. Supreme Court pig “Justice” Brenda Brown gave Harriet Nahanee an effective death sentence for contempt of “court” for her righteous defense of Native land, and was subsequently martyred on February 24, 2007.

Harriet Nahanee died fighting the devastation to the Earth wrought to Eagleridge Bluffs and the surrounding area, and in the interest of preserving the land and traditional Native culture for these and coming generations of First Nation youth. The resulting deforestation from the continued cracker Olympic onslaught led to an alarming increase in the deaths of black bears and other land mammals, as well as disrupted bird habitats. Concurrently, the gravel and sand mining to supply some of the materials for the highway expansion and other Olympic kkkonstruction projects has resulted in the deaths of 2 million salmon in 2006.

The toll of the Olympic fiasco on women that happen to be involved with the sex trade will also be magnified. Male tourists from the First World flip their polite “p.c.” patriarchal inhibitions with privileged white females into crude patriarchal privilege of sex slavery, rape, and murder upon many Native women in the B.C. area. National oppression seems to connect itself to gender oppression here in such a way as to show where the priorities of real feminists should be; fighting imperialism. The speakers touched on the horrific numbers of Native women gone missing, not all of whom were even involved in the sex trade per se, but were nevertheless kidnapped, tortured, raped, and murdered. Some of these women heroically escaped or survived their ordeal to tell their horrific accounts of the ways these vicious, male Cracker Klanadians and Amerikkkans perpetrated their sexual assaults on Native women. The following from “Why We Resist” on No2010.com explains the current situation and its prospects best:

Events such as the Olympics draw hundreds of thousands of spectators and cause large increases in prostitution and trafficking of women. In Vancouver, over 68 women are missing and/or murdered. Many were Native, and many were reportedly involved in the sex trade. In 2007, the trial of William Pickton occurred for six of these murders, and he is to be tried for an additional 20 more. In northern B.C., over 30 young women, mostly Native, are missing and/or murdered along Highway 16. The 2010 Olympics and its invasion of tourists and corporations will only increase this violence against women.

What’s different about RAIM from other groups is that we recognize that, like what is stated above, its not just the corporations but the tourist “mASSes” that will contribute to this patriarchal assault on Native women. By attacking this aspect of gender oppression at the node, RAIM-S believes that national oppression can be attacked at the same time! The all-round global approach utilized by RAIM makes tackling the main enemy, imperialism, as principal. By smashing imperialism, the “node” at which gender and national oppression seem to meet, there’s no telling how far humanity can go in saving the Earth and eliminating ALL exploitation and oppression.

Fascist KKKrap a hallmark of Olympic Game$’ past

The two following excerpts from No2010.com exposes the history of these Olympics as being consistent with the current atrocities being committed today:

1. Massacres and Concentration Camps: The Bloody History of the Games

The modern Olympics have walked hand-in-hand with political repression and violence. The 1936 Olympics in Berlin (held despite a call from the Jewish community to boycott the games) actively promoted the Nazi regime. IOC members who opposed holding the Games in Berlin were dropped from the organization. Witnesses reported that there were more swastikas on stage at
the opening ceremony than Olympic flags. By the time the Games opened, a concentration camp was operating just half an hour’s journey from the Olympic site. As well, the Nazi regime initiated the modern Olympic torch relay as a way of promoting fascism throughout Europe.
Hundreds of people (mostly students) were massacred by a special forces unit called the Olympia Brigade in the Tlateloco Plaza in Mexico City ten days before the Olympics began in August 1968. A recently declassified document written to President Lyndon Johnson reported that “… the current tensions in Mexico City point toward the possibility that the Olympic games will be used as a focal point for demonstrations and actively favoring leftist, subversive, and militant radical elements.” Other documents show how the US Government directed the FBI to actively investigate any Americans planning to go to Mexico to protest the Olympics. These documents show that there was active pressure on Mexican President Diaz Ordaz to quell any student rebellion before the start of the Games.

Repressive laws and security build-ups are hallmarks of recent Olympic Games. The Games have been used as a convenient cover for permanent repressive laws and to create new police and military units. In Sydney there were four cops for each athlete at the Games for a total of 35,000 police and security guards, 4000 troops and elite commando units, and Black Hawk helicopters.

The Sydney Olympics were also used as a pretext to allow the Australian government to introduce permanent legislation that allows the military to be called out to quell domestic unrest. Steve Martin, the Labour Party’s Defense Critic, called the Olympics the “catalyst” for the bill. The Olympics Arrangements Act was passed giving the police the unfettered use of cameras and recording devices, and the powers to prevent the distribution of materials, and the powers to search and detain people in both Olympic and public spaces…

2. Racism and Racial Profiling

Increased Olympic security has also led to the increased racial profiling of immigrants and people of colour by both police and immigration authorities.
During the 1984 Games in Los Angeles, police cordoned off the mostly black neighborhood surrounding the Olympic Village and required identification from everyone entering or leaving the area. There was a similar lock-down of the Black community in Atlanta during the 1996 games.

During the 2004 Athens Olympics, Islamic communities in Greece were subjected to state surveillance of places of worship, and mass document-checks and inspections. A spokesman for the Greek branch of Amnesty International warned that “security for the 2004 Olympics is used in Greece as a pretext to systematically break international treaties on the right to refugees.”

This from the No2010.com FAQ:

FAQ: Why don’t they just leave the Olympics in Greece, where they started?

Good question… Although that would be unfair to the people of Greece. It is interesting to note that the Olympics are an archaic European tradition that have only become a global phenomenon due to the expansion of Western Civilization through colonialism and imperialism. Maybe the Olympics should just be abolished!

RAIM-S would add to that: “…and abolish KKKlanada and AmeriKKKa while we’re at it!”

Good News For First Nations

The speakers brought up a couple great points about the prospects of First Nations resistance:

1. The Native Youth Movement (NYM) is spreading among Indigenous Peoples worldwide, including solidarity with the Zapatistas in Chiapas, Mexico. Recent actions by NYM supporters include interrupting Olympic schmooze-fests with “native” sellouts like AFN Grand Chief Phil Fontaine, protesting the 2010 Cracker invasion and in honor of elder Harriet Nahanee. Other heroic acts by NYM supporters of the Native Warrior Society include the taking of the Olympic flag from its flagpole at Vancouver City Hall, and releasing a statement honoring Harriet Nahanee and in defense of the Native land and Mother Earth.

2. The other good news for the First Nations 2010 Olympic Resistance is that, today, most Natives are under the age of 25! Let the IOC and the First World tremble…

The RAIM (Seattle) Conclusion – Resist the Five-Ring Circus!

A recent report from the Vancouver Sun reprinted on No2010.com says the following:

VANCOUVER — B.C. residents are more skeptical than average Canadians about the potential benefits of the 2010 Olympics, but a majority still believe the Games will have a positive impact on the province, according to an Angus Reid survey.

The online poll found that 57 per cent of British Columbians expect the Olympics will benefit B.C., compared with 76 per cent of all Canadians who feel the province will gain from hosting the Games.

Twenty-eight per cent of B.C. residents feel the Olympics will have a negative impact on B.C., more than triple the nine per cent of Canadians who feel that way.

The heroism of NYM against the 2010 Olympics is obviously demoralizing the local B.C. Cracker population vis a vis the Klanadian population at large, but there are still a majority of those settler descendants who support the ongoing “Whiter Games” genocide against the First Nations. This polling information above confirms RAIM’s point about the overwhelming majority of Klanadians and Amerikans being the enemy of the world’s oppressed.

A RAIM-S comrade asked the speakers after the event what they believed would make these settlers realize the human cost of their consumerist circuses like the Olympics, and their continued privilege from stolen land and labor. The speaker’s response was absolutely righteous with regard to the RAIM view on First World settlerist privilege (here paraphrased): If the descendants of settlers could imagine a great tidal wave, earthquake, or some great force of nature wiping out all the privileges from stolen land they live on, perhaps then they would become conscious of how to live without exploiting humanity, other living things, and Earth itself.

RAIM also believes that justice for Indigenous Peoples ultimately relies upon the elimination of First World privilege. The resistance to imperialism worldwide is itself like a great tidal wave that sweeps across the globe. Ending the settler mythology around Thankkkstaking and the Olympic Game$ are two great starts to this global movement to eliminate the AmeriKKKan and KKKlanadian scourge from the Planet.

Join the convergence in Vancouver, Feb. 10-15, 2010!

* Kudos to Common Action and Democracy Insurgent for hosting this outstanding event!

** Terminology Clarification: First Nations = (Indigenous or Native Peoples/Oppressed Nations/Friends); First World = (White Settler Crackertopian Scum/Oppressor Nation/Enemies) Crackers are good with tomato ketchup on Thankkksgiving…

No thanks, AmeriKKKa

image courtesy of Shubel Morgan

Denver Kolumbus Day Reportback

from http://www.examiner.com/x-3907-Downtown-Denver-Examiner~y2009m10d11-Marchers-police-protesters-outnumber-spectators-at-Denvers-Columbus-Day-Parade

Denver Kolumbus Day Reportback

(raimd.wordpress.com)

On Saturday October 10, 2009 there was another wack ass parade of white settlers celebrating Columbus Day, disrespecting Native peoples, and engrossing themselves in settler parasitism. Denver has been an epicenter of resistance to this celebration of genocide and racism, as Colorado was the first state to officially celebrate Columbus Day over 100 years ago.

This year’s protest was different, as the official organized opposition to the parade, Transform Columbus Day, did not put out a call to protest the parade this year.  Colorado AIM put out an advisory for Native elders and children to avoid downtown Denver and the parade.  Nevertheless the controversy over the parade stayed in the news, mainly because of an attempted media prank by a Columbus Day opponent where a press release was sent out saying the parade was canceled. This later turned out to be a hoax.

We at RAIM thought that a bunch of cracker settlers celebrating being cracker settlers couldn’t go off without an anti-imperialist response.  So we issued a call to be out to confront the parade, not to take over leadership of this protest but to show that settler colonialism would not go off in Denver without resistance.  RAIM, along with about 20 other activist allies and others who came to protest the parade, made their presence known.

All of us gathered in this freezing Saturday morning to show opposition.  We chanted “Down With Columbus Day, Settlers (and Occupiers) Go Away!”  To liven up the anti-colonial festivities we brought a pinata of Uncle Sam.  Protesters had whacks at it with a shoe, in honor of Al-Zaidi in Iraq.  The media and parade pigs made a big deal about dwindling numbers at the protests, but the parade itself had fewer numbers too, even factoring in the weather.  As usual, it was made up of mostly gas-guzzling Hummers and empty flat bed semis.  There was lots of pigs out.  Some group of right wing assholes in camo gear stood across the street, one was visibly carrying a sheathed knife.

It seems that the celebration of Columbus Day overall is declining.  A corporate media report states the declining interest in Kolumbus Day, of course not all for reasons of celebrating the beginning of the largest genocide in history.

Despite the smaller turnout at the protest, the parade organizers were spurred to respond to it this year.  From http://www.columbusdayparade.org:

” Columbus Day Parade – Denver, CO

A Message from the President

Written by Richard SaBell

Sunday, 11 October 2009 18:15

Thank you all for your support and participation! The parade was a success despite the weather and the weak attempt at cancellation. The October newsletter will be out shortly with a full recap of the day. The following is copy of the letter sent to all the same people that received the phony cancellation email.

Letter to the Media October 11, 2009

As evidenced by the wonderful but cold Columbus Day Parade on Saturday, the parade was not cancelled and was never in danger of being cancelled. Some have called the attempt to disrupt the parade a hoax but in truth the criminal impersonation of anyone is a serious matter. Denver Police have informed me the investigation is ongoing. As a private citizen, as President of the Columbus Day Parade committee, and as a member of the National Order Sons of Italy in America and Grand Lodge of Colorado, I will pursue this matter to the fullest extent of the law.

It is important to remember that in addition to honoring a brave explorer and acknowledging Italian American contribution to this country, Columbus day commemorates the beginnings of America itself. A National American holiday of great importance. I feel it is long overdue for a close look at who and what opposes this celebration. We have multimedia documentation of protestor signs reading “I hate the U.S.A.,” “Victory to Afghanistan,” “Death to Empire,” and an effigy of Uncle Sam used as a pinata and beaten with a shoe. Shouted slogans over a loudspeaker of “occupier go away,” and “hey little kid, your dad is a racist.” This yearly abuse of the Italian American community at the hands of individuals with no regard for the law of the land or the rights of their fellow citizens is a disgrace. Know that the Columbus Day Parade will take place next year despite any opposition, even Mother Nature.

To avoid any confusion or misunderstanding in the future I suggest you check ou! r website for up to date info and a full contact list of anyone you may need. You may also call me direct 720-323-4260. If you reach my voice mail, please leave a message and I will return your call directly.

G. Richard SaBell

President

Columbus Day Parade Committee”

Sabell does accurately reflect the signs and pinata that were at the protest.  He is wrong to say that all who oppose the parade are against Amerika, but we at RAIM definately are.  He is accurate in saying that the Columbus Day holiday commemorates the legacy of Amerika, that of racism, colonialism, and genocide.  He attacks the supposed unsavory characters who protest the parade but ignores the shady supporters of the celebration that include white supremacists, neo-Nazis, the John Birch Society, and those who honor bringing Western civilization to the so-called New World because it is a “superior culture,” no matter the atrocities it brought.

This year’s protest kept alive a tradition of resistance to the racist parade and holiday, which started in Colorado over 100 years ago.  Worldwide this resistance continues.

Call Out to Oppose KKKolumbus Day and Settler Colonialism

Join RAIM-Denver and other Denver activists as we oppose the annual celebration of genocide, Kolumbus Day.

Saturday, October 10th, 9:30 am

West Steps of the State Capitol building

Sacred, Indigenous Site Made Into Fill-Dirt for New Sam’s Club, Revolution Needed

https://raimd.wordpress.com

In Oxford, Alabama something awful is happening. A hill, on top of which lies a Native American rock mound, is being destroyed in order to procure fill-dirt for a new Sam’s Club a few miles away.

The rocks were arranged on the 200 foot (60 meter) rise over a millennium ago. The site was fundamental in Indigenous rituals and gatherings in the area. According to Oxford head racist, mayor Leon Smith, the site is the “ugliest old hill in the world.” “Just a pile of old rocks,” he added about the mound. City officials plan to in the future remove the top of the hill, including the rock mound, to create an elevated, eight acre (3.25 hec) commercial development site that will overlook the Choccolocco Valley and city of Oxford. Sam’s Club, a division of Walmart Stores Inc, which is carving into the hill right now, is a growing chain of wholesale megastores. Like Walmart, Sam’s Club markets itself as increasing the purchasing power of First World consumers through low prices.

Oxford, Alabama is one locality in an entirely stolen continent. Since 1492, all ‘development’ in Amerika has occurred hand in glove with the protracted genocide of Indigenous peoples. This genocide continues today. Those few Native Americans left which still have ties to the land are finding their historic claims increasing threatened by the federal and state governments and private interests. In the realm of ideas, Native identity and culture continue to be wiped out by Amerika. In Denver and elsewhere, the Sons of Italy and other racists conduct Kolumbus Day parades: celebrations of their 500 year conquest and occupation of the North American continent. Now in Oxford, Alabama, a clearly sacred site of an all but exterminated people is being destroyed with the intentions of creating more shopping opportunities at discount prices for Amerikans.

More significant is the connection between Amerika’s founding genocide and the system which fuels today’s consumerism: imperialism. It was in fact Amerika’s genocidal occupation of North America which provided a social, cultural and material launching pad for U.S. aggression abroad. It is no coincidence that during the 1890’s, after the ‘closing of the frontier,’ Amerika initiated a war with Spain and acquired through military occupations the colonies of Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Guam. Today this system is still in place and the U.S. virtually occupies the world. And it is precisely this history of aggression towards the Third World– and the resulting militarily imposed exploitation upon Third World peoples– which compels Sam’s Club and Walmart to bring ultra-low prices to ever more First World consumers, even at the cost of a clearly significant site for Native Americans.

While the outgoing scarification of the hill will likely continue, because of the extreme cultural chauvinism at a time when Amerika is attempting to re-invent itself as multi-cultural and pluralistic, the removal of the actual rock mound may be halted through effective campaigning at the reformist level. However, the real solution to this problem is nothing short of revolution. That is because the destruction of the site has a deeper cause than simple racism or cultural chauvinism. Consumer culture, rapid environment degradation, continued annihilation of Indigenous heritage, wars of aggression and systemic Third World poverty are all connected through capitalist-imperialism. Those who want to truly end Amerika’s continued genocide against Indigenous peoples and culture, as well as those who oppose consumerism, poverty and ecocide, should single out First World imperialism as the principal enemy in their related struggles. Those who truly want to create a new, better world must unite with and promote the struggle of the world’s exploited and oppressed majority against the capitalist-imperialist system.

Sources:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2009507533_apusindianmounddispute.html?syndication=rss
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/21/AR2009072100460.html

Robert Robideau – A True Defender of Indigenous Peoples Passes On

From the American Indian Movement of Colorado:

http://colorado-aim.blogspot.com/2009/02/robert-robideau-true-warrior-passes-on.html

It is with sadness that we report the passing of our brother and friend Bob Robideau to the Spirit World. Many people talk about what it is to be a “warrior,” and what it is to fight for the freedom of indigenous people — Bob Robideau lived it. Bob was a great role model for AIM members everywhere. He epitomized what it was to be a member of AIM, not through posturing, not through rhetoric, but in action. He put his life on the line, and he was relentless in his defense of Indian people everywhere. He will be very deeply missed, and will always remembered

This is Bob’s description of himself from his MySpace page:

I am a member of the Turtle Mountain and White Earth Ojibwa tribes.

I have been an active member of the American Indian Movement (AIM) since 1973.

A member of Northwest AIM, Dakota AIM in the 1970s, today I am a member of Autonomous AIM.

I served as AIM spokesman for New Mexico from 1993-94.

Darrell (Dino) Butler, and I were acquitted in the deaths of two FBI agents in 1976 on grounds of self defense. The charges arose after a shootout with the FBI on Pine Ridge reservation in June of 1975 that left two FBI agents and an Indian man dead. This period known as the reign of terror, in which 60 AIM members were killed and hundreds more assaulted in a government sponsored action to destroy AIM. These killings and assaults came in the aftermath of the Wounded Knee takeover by AIM in 1973.

I have served twice as National-International Director for the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee (LPDC). Leonard Peltier, is an internationally known political prisoner who has served more then 32 years in prison for the same alleged offense as I was charged and acquitted.

I have appeared on 60Minutes, West 57th Street, EDJ and in other major television documentary programs. I have also appeared in the documentary film, Incident at Oglala and other major documentaries relating to AIM, Anna Mae Aquash and Peltier.

I have spoken extensively on AIM,Leonard Peltier and the Anna Mae Aquash cases both in the States and Europe. I have written extensively on the Peltier case and on Native American Indian issues.

I am the founder and director of the American Indian Movement Museum in Barcelona, Spain, where much of the history of AIM and my art work remains on display. http://www.AmericanIndianM.org/

An Inventory of work with the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee and the American Indian Movement, from 1973-1994 is located at the University of New Mexico, Center for Southwest Research. http://rmoa.unm.edu/docviewer.php?docId=nmu1mss557bc.xml

My art can be found at the Bonnie Kahn Gallery: http://www.bonniekahngallery.com

Boulder Peltier Events

Friday Febuary 6th 2009:

Rally for Leonard Peltier

Noon @ Boulder City Council Building

followed by:

Leonard Peltier: 33 years behind bars, 33 years looking for justice

an educational event presented by ISN, LPDOC, and 180-11

7pm @ Room 100, Mathematics Building of DU

KKKolumbus Day 2008: Fight Racism and National Oppression

Transform Columbus Day has several events coming up this week in the Denver area. RAIMD encourages participation against this white supremacist holiday. We will post more info as we get it.

Saturday:

Monday:

Racism 101

Student’s Walkout On Racism!

Join us on the 101^st Anniversary of Columbus Day and make a stand against RACISM!

What: Racism 101 – A street view of history: join the Rally & March through Denver‘s racial history.

Where: Walkout on Auraria Campus Plaza Building Lawn

When: Columbus Day, Monday October 13 at 12:00 noon.

http://www.myspace.com/walkoutonracism

walkoutonracism@gmail.com

History of Amerikkka – Rev. Wright is Right!

Benefit for Big Mountain/Black Mesa Resistance

the Strength of the Earth
is my strength
the thoughts of the Earth
are my thoughts

-traditional Dine ‘song of the Earth Spirit’

Benefit will be held at the Mercury Cafe
2199 California Street
May 15th, 2008, Beginning at 9PM
Art raffle, free literature, and giveaway items included!

Hektor Munoz, Performance Artist
Sarah Morelli and gueass, traditional classical dance/music from North India
Zay and guests with World Percussion
The Asia Jazz Project
Poetry by Ted Vaca and Renee Fajardo
Raffled Art by Estevon Lucero and Eric “Elfego” Baca

Speakers include:

Elder Keith Johnson (Plingit-Alaska)
Antoinette Redwoman (Northern Cheyenne)
Glenn Morris (Prof. at UCD and AIM Activist)
Sarah Graves, member of the Villa Vilekulla collective speaking about her recent trip to Chiapas

Hosted by Big Mountain Friends and Supporters

Benefit for Big Mountain at the Merc. Cafe

Benefit for Big Mountain at the Merc. Cafe

May 15th

9:30 PM

Longest Walk

RAIMD denounces senseless killing of 30 Buffalo

RAIMD denounces the senseless killing of 30 Buffalo near Fairplay Colorado. (1) RAIMD suspects that Amerikkkans with no respect for life are involved in this incident. This senseless act is an attack on Native peoples, the environment, and human decency.

Notes.

1. http://cheyennefreedom.wordpress.com/2008/03/20/in-the-denver-news-buffalo-shot-killed-in-park-county/

Northern Cheyenne Freedom Movement: Camp Freedom

The Northern Cheyenne (Tsisistas and Suhtaio) Nation Camp Freedom was established on Medicine Wolf Paradise Acres on January 30, 2008. Camp Freedom will open on April 4th, 2008 in conjunction with Great Grandfather Chief Little Wolf’s Homecoming Pow-Wow and Festival! By honoring our Great Chief we are honoring ourselves as the Great Cheyenne (Tsisistas-Suhtaio) People! We will never forget that he and Great Grandfather Chief Dull Knife brought us Home to our Beloved North Country! We welcome ALL People who seek Freedom and Independence to come join us! Contact us at cheyennefreedom@yahoo.com if you would like to help.

Check out cheyennefreedom.wordpress.com for updates

Northern Cheyenne meeting with Russell Means

Announcing grassroots Northern Cheyenne meeting with world renown activist/actor Russell Means, Oglala Lakotah, Director of the Treaty School Ranch POB 99 Porcupine South Dakota.

January 29th and 30th

Charging Horse Casino

Lame Deer Montana

HWY 212

Calling all Northern Cheyenne to attend. Come hear, listen and learn about our treaties with the United States government. We invite all surrounding tribes to join us, the Assiniboine/Souix (Nakota) of Ft. Peck, Mt. and the Crow (Apsalooka) tribe of Crow agency, Mt.

Absolutely no drugs or alcohol.

For more information contact:

Tim “Nightbear” Lamewoman Sr.

406-477-6062

406-592-3854

Antoinette “Morningstar Woman” Red Woman

720-229-7190

wosidah@yahoo.com

fastthundermedia.com/cheyenne.html

Isadore White Wolf, Elk Horn scrappers warrior society

Volunteers needed for events

Send all monetary, food, etc. donations to Tim “Nightbear” Lamewoman, Sr. POB #628 Lame Deer, Montana 59043

Refreshments and traditional meals will be served at the Charging Horse Casino. Elders need scarfs and gloves. Children need warm clothing and coats.

Sponsors: General Council, Wild Hog Legal Services, Cheyenne Country tours

Graphic flyer/Source: http://www.fastthundermedia.com/cheyenne.html

National Liberation and Anti-Imperialism

By Nick Brown

The Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist Movement- Denver is a movement for global equality. We stand for the end of the imperialist system: the system whereby a handful of powerful nations exploit the peoples of the world. We see the termination of imperialism as a necessary first step to a world of lasting peace and real equality.

Anti-imperialism is foremost a fight for national liberation. Most broadly construed, national liberation is the struggle to not be exploited by outside oppressors, but to exist as a self-determining, free nation.

National liberation struggles happen throughout the world on a variety of levels. Venezuela is an example where a progressive section of the ruling class is now leading a campaign for national salvation; providing much needed reforms for the masses while challenging U.S. supremacy on a regional level. There are the numerous armed groups in Mexico, numbering in the mid-teens (not just the Zapatistas), who are fighting a comprador government. Hezbollah, the patriotic Islamic party in Lebanon, has challenged Western influence in the country, provided social welfare for the people and aligned with various Lebanese parties [including Christian ones] in their struggle against Amerikan/Zionist aggression. And we cannot forget the heroic Iraqi resistance.

These forces, taken together, form a worldwide movement against Western imperialism. These diverse individual movements, insofar as they are challenging imperialism, should be supported by freedom and peace loving peoples everywhere.

If Third World anti-imperialist struggles are capable of cutting vital lifelines [of wealth and resources] to imperialism, national liberation struggles internal to the U.S. are capable of delivering blows from within. In the grand scheme of things, within the worldwide movement towards anti-imperialism, these national liberation movements represent a mighty ally, behind enemy lines, within what is geographically called the United States. Because of this, and because these struggles are so close to home, national liberation for internally oppressed nations hold a special significance for us.

While national liberation is not currently the dominant trend amongst oppressed nations within Amerika, national struggles themselves are part of the dialect of everyday life. These struggles manifest in a variety of ways but carry common themes.

For Mexicanos, Indigenous Peoples and Blacks, theirs is the struggle not to be criminalized and disproportionately held captive in White-Amerika’s prison system. It is the struggle to not have their cultures mocked, repressed, co-opted and whitewashed. It is the struggle to not have the lowest life expectancies within the United States. It is a struggle to practice one’s national culture with pride; to be treated as equal members of society; to exist free from the oppression leveled on them by Amerika.

Typically, national struggles take one of two routes: one, the route of liberation as a nation, and the other, integration into the imperialistic, Amerikan oppressor society.

The latter, integration into the Amerikan oppressor society, is the main trend today. This is the path favored by poverty pimps, white chauvinists and the state. The integration route was made widely available through the widening and deepening of exploitation abroad while given impetus by the explosive successes of national liberation struggles during the 1960s and 70s. The reformist integrationist route, while also a national struggle, is antithetical to revolutionary national liberation. Ending oppression through integration means being absorbed into Amerika’s “multi-cultural” oppressor society. It is the democratization of imperialist privilege and the diversification of the labor aristocracy. Integrationism is not revolutionary and is not in the least bit anti-imperialist.

For oppressed nations inside Amerika, the struggle for national liberation is mainly tied to the struggle for a territory on which a free nation can exist. Without such a land, oppressed nations are doomed to live within White-Amerika–forced to suffer oppression while at the same time being lured by trickle-down imperialist privilege. While the goal of national liberation struggles is the creation of sovereign national territories, the planting of seeds for such political power is a necessary first step.

While full-blown national power will not develop quickly or easily, national liberation movements themselves are of utmost importance today. The strengthening of national liberation movements, the expansion of networks and the creation of independent spaces from which these networks and broader movements can operate is a task for which the outcome will weigh heavily on the future.

As success for peoples of the Third World build up, national liberation struggles inside the U.S. can become a destabilizing force within the heart of imperialism. This will make the prospects of revolution greater. At the same time, national liberation struggles will be a focal point of revolutionary gravity within the First World. In the long term, successes made today in creating the basis for independent national power [for oppressed nations within the U.S.] will translate into much wider successes for all people oppressed by U.S. imperialism further down the road.

It is with these considerations in mind that we champion national liberation struggles within United States. We do so not to advance ourselves or to look edgy. We do so from our general anti-imperialist perspective. For us, any single movement for national liberation here is part of the broader international revolutionary struggle to end oppression once and for all.

Pack your bags, settler..

Source: Shubel Morgan

Freedom! Lakota Sioux Indians Declare Sovereign Nation Status

More info: Lakota Freedom Delegation

Source: Lakota Freedom Delegation media page

MEDIA ADVISORY Immediate Release: 19 December 2007 Media Contacts: Naomi Archer, Communications Liaison (828) 230-1404 lakotafree [at] gmail.com Freedom! Lakota Sioux Indians Declare Sovereign Nation Status Threaten Land Liens, Contested Real Estate Over Five State Area in U.S. West Lakota Satisfies Treaty Council Mandate of 33 Years, Drafted by 97 Indigenous Nations Dakota Territory Reverts back to Lakota Control According to U.S., International Law Washington D.C. – Lakota Sioux Indian representatives declared sovereign nation status today in Washington D.C. following Monday’s withdrawal from all previously signed treaties with the United States Government. The withdrawal, hand delivered to Daniel Turner, Deputy Director of Public Liaison at the State Department, immediately and irrevocably ends all agreements between the Lakota Sioux Nation of Indians and the United States Government outlined in the 1851 and 1868 Treaties at Fort Laramie Wyoming. “This is an historic day for our Lakota people,” declared Russell Means, Itacan of Lakota. “United States colonial rule is at its end!” “Today is a historic day and our forefathers speak through us. Our Forefathers made the treaties in good faith with the sacred Canupa and with the knowledge of the Great Spirit,” shared Garry Rowland from Wounded Knee. “They never honored the treaties, that’s the reason we are here today.” The four member Lakota delegation traveled to Washington D.C. culminating years of internal discussion among treaty representatives of the various Lakota communities. Delegation members included well known activist and actor Russell Means, Women of All Red Nations (WARN) founder Phyllis Young, Oglala Lakota Strong Heart Society leader Duane Martin Sr., and Garry Rowland, Leader Chief Big Foot Riders. Means, Rowland, Martin Sr. were all members of the 1973 Wounded Knee takeover. “In order to stop the continuous taking of our resources – people, land, water and children- we have no choice but to claim our own destiny,” said Phyllis Young, a former Indigenous representative to the United Nations and representative from Standing Rock. Property ownership in the five state area of Lakota now takes center stage. Parts of North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming and Montana have been illegally homesteaded for years despite knowledge of Lakota as predecessor sovereign [historic owner]. Lakota representatives say if the United States does not enter into immediate diplomatic negotiations, liens will be filed on real estate transactions in the five state region, clouding title over literally thousands of square miles of land and property. Young added, “The actions of Lakota are not intended to embarrass the United States but to simply save the lives of our people”. Following Monday’s withdrawal at the State Department, the four Lakota Itacan representatives have been meeting with foreign embassy officials in order to hasten their official return to the Family of Nations. Lakota’s efforts are gaining traction as Bolivia, home to Indigenous President Evo Morales, shared they are “very, very interested in the Lakota case” while Venezuela received the Lakota delegation with “respect and solidarity.” “Our meetings have been fruitful and we hope to work with these countries for better relations,” explained Garry Rowland. “As a nation, we have equal status within the national community.” Education, energy and justice now take top priority in emerging Lakota. “Cultural immersion education is crucial as a next step to protect our language, culture and sovereignty,” said Means. “Energy independence using solar, wind, geothermal, and sugar beets enables Lakota to protect our freedom and provide electricity and heating to our people.” The Lakota reservations are among the most impoverished areas in North America, a shameful legacy of broken treaties and apartheid policies. Lakota has the highest death rate in the United States and Lakota men have the lowest life expectancy of any nation on earth, excluding AIDS, at approximately 44 years. Lakota infant mortality rate is five times the United States average and teen suicide rates 150% more than national average . 97% of Lakota people live below the poverty line and unemployment hovers near 85%. “After 150 years of colonial enforcement, when you back people into a corner there is only one alternative,” emphasized Duane Martin Sr. “The only alternative is to bring freedom into its existence by taking it back to the love of freedom, to our lifeway.” We are the freedom loving Lakota from the Sioux Indian reservations of Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana who have suffered from cultural and physical genocide in the colonial apartheid system we have been forced to live under. We are in Washington DC to withdraw from the constitutionally mandated treaties to become a free and independent country. We are alerting the Family of Nations we have now reassumed our freedom and independence with the backing of Natural, International, and United States law. For more information, please visit our new website at http://www.lakotafreedom.com. ##

TCD covered in Egypt

Egyptian Weekly Newspaper, Al-Ahram, covers KKKolumbus Day:

Burying Columbus in Palestine

Indigenous movements in the 21st century understand that the struggle is not about gaining access, but defeating domination. Will the Palestinians take heed, asks Bassem Ahmed*

---

For more than a decade now, thousands of people in Denver, Colorado, have been spending the first weekend of October in the streets both celebrating and protesting. This year was no exception. Crowds from different national and ethnic backgrounds came out to participate in the Four Directions March; a celebration organised by the Transform Columbus Day Alliance (TCDA), an umbrella group of grassroots organisations that envision a world freed of Columbus’s legacy. Afterwards they took to the streets to protest and block the “Convoy of Conquest”, the name they use to label the Columbus Day Parade, and demand a change of the name of this official holiday. As usual, scores of protesters were arrested for violating the legally sanctioned “right” of the parade organisers to “honour their hero”.

What is this fuss all about? After all, wasn’t Columbus, as we were all (mis)educated, a great explorer who “discovered” the “New World” in 1492, the same year that Arab rule in Andalusia came to an end? It is quite striking that Arab commentators who lament the latter often celebrate the former without trying to further interrogate the significance of this coincidence. “Objective” history books usually focus on Columbus’s skills (didn’t he think he was sailing to India?) and resilience. The ensuing systematic destruction of indigenous societies, the establishment of a transatlantic slave trade, and the exploitation of the wealth and resources of the so-called New World are minor details that more often than not go unmentioned.

It is precisely this marginalised narrative that the TCDA wants to bring to the fore. For protesters in Denver, Columbus’s trips and crimes were the opening act in the process that led to the crystallisation of a system of domination that subjected non-white peoples to the power of Europeans…

Read More

KKKolumbus Day: White trash spectacle opposed, over 80 arrests

RAIM-D report from Transform Columbus Day

The AIM/TCD march kicked off once again in Denver, the birthplace of the KKKolumbus Day holiday. This being the 100th anniversary of the celebration of genocide against the native peoples, all out efforts were made for this protest. And it came off as one of the more militant demonstrations against the holiday since protests against it began in the 90’s.

Start off, early morning, Saturday

The demonstrations began early in the morning with the Four Directions March. RAIM-Denver was in the West end of Four Directions March at Auraria campus, with a couple hundred others. All the directions had a color. RAIM-D and their allies were at this direction with a sizable contingent, with banners and sky blue and Mexican flags, including our new one “Turn the World Upside Down.” Pigs were there on red dirtbikes, possibly purchased by Homeland Security money coming for the DNC next year. These dirt bikes gave them great mobility.

The other directions converged at the State Capitol building for a short rally. Over 1000 people showed up to oppose Kolumbus Day. Glenn Morris and Russell Means, among others, spoke to the crowd. Then the march proceeded to downtown to confront the Kolumbus Day parade.

[The above video provided by FeistyAphrodite]

And It’s On!!!

From the capitol steps, the march proceeded down 16th Street Mall stopping one of the bus lanes. At the intersection of Stout and 15th St. the rally gathered to oppose the parade in the streets. The Denver Pig Department and the piglets of the Sheriff’s Department were out in force, many in riot gear. There were also pigs in tan uniforms. Perhaps state police? SWAT-type teams were present as were pigs with some new kind of gun that looked like a modified AR-15 with a bulge on top and a non-standard ammo clip. It may have been some kind of “non-lethal” modification to the weapon. They looked like the occupying army that they are.

[The above video provided by some idiot white trash racist blogger.]

Shortly after gathering at 15th and Stout, there was an odd incident. One participant was almost arrested. Another person was arrested and taken away. Undercover police were seen in the area. They were plain clothed, in bandanas and sunglasses. The undercovers were filmed talking on police radios. We later found out that this was the first arrest of the day.

A bucket of fake blood with baby doll parts was thrown into the street where the “Convoy of Conquest” was to come through.

For those that have not seen the Convoy, it is a sight to see. It is a spectacle of white trash.

The Kolumbus Day parade, supposedly a celebration of “Italian Pride,” is symbolic of the parasitism of cracker Amerikkka. It began with the Sons of Italy on motorcycles, racist bikers (it was nice that they found time between beating their wives and cooking meth to attend the parade), followed by Denver cops on their motorcycles. How appropriate, pigs on hogs. Then it followed with a procession of gas-guzzling Hummer vehicles and other cars that looked right off the dealership. Lots of flat bed semis with empty floats and shitty cover bands. A handful of paraders with signs of cities named after Kolumbus was led by two people dressed like a mascot Indian, with feathers and dress, and a Spanish conquistador — how nice. There were U$ military personnel and/or ROTC there. And, the libertarian party was there to defend white property rights. The many vehicles were needed to make up for the lack of actual people for this pathetic white garbage dump of a parade. If you needed any more reason to hate Amerikkka, this parade will do it. Most of the paraders were very old, so it is encouraging sign to know that these crackers will leave this earth very soon.

Several people placed their bodies between the Convoy and the parade route. There were several groups of people and many random individual acts to stop the racist parade. The Denver pigs used pain compliance methods against the protesters who blocked the street. In one instance, pigs may have sprayed mace into some of the arrestees eyes at close quarters — we are not sure about this yet. The pigs also beat and manhandled many individuals.

[Demented and abusive pigs smile. Photo from The Metropolitian, October 11, 2007.]

RAIM-D did not witness every brave act of that day. RAIM-D did see one woman in the first circle of arrestees badly hurt by the pigs. Her arms were twisted very badly. Another woman was hit in the face. In another group of arrests, two women got manhandled and hurt with pain compliance by the demented pigs. One of these women was dropped on her head. She looked injured. Russell Means and Glenn Morris were arrested in the streets. One elder in a wheelchair was arrested. The pigs took the AIM staff from one person in the streets. Individuals with a banner walked into the street and were arrested. The police arrested another pile of people who put their bodies on the line. One Indian had his face smashed up, swollen and bloodied by the pigs’ use of force. Pigs refused this individual medical treatment. The favorite tactics of the Denver pigs were pain compliance and dog piling the protesters with brute force.

[Photo provided by the Colorado Daily]

These brave efforts delayed the parade for over an hour.

A white-trash blogger or similar scum was in the protest crowd trying to stir up people. RAIM-D members and others confronted them many times. RAIM-D did its share of agitation to give balance to the regular liberal sentiment and chants. RAIM-D is tired of the lame “hey hey ho ho chant fill-in-the-blank has got to go” and tried to mix it up a bit with “down with all settler states, down with the united snakes.” Many asked us to tone it down, but many others appreciated our efforts.

[Photo provided by RAIM-D, please credit when using.]

After the parade, the marchers went to the City and County building to await word on their comrades arrested earlier. While gathered there, a number of people took down the Amerikan flag flying above and turned it upside down and secured it in its new position with a lock. It was flying that way for hours.

We later regrouped at the county jail awaiting releases. The sheriff piglets were dragging their feet in releasing people, even those that made bail. RAIM-D and others marched around all sides of the jail. We signaled to our comrades and friends with flags, signs, and our hands. People released said it was a big morale boost seeing us from the jail windows.

Everyone was finally released by the end of Sunday, 88 people were arrested last time we checked. Much abuse went on. Those with injuries did not receive medical treatment. One blind detainee had his cane taken away and was left without assistance. Many detainees reported their property stolen by the jailers. Lawsuits against the city and police are planned by the arrestees.

RAIM-D was happy that so many people of good conscience took a stand. We saw many of our friends and allies there.

Overall, this event was more confrontational than those of previous years. The pigs were taken by surprise by the actions of the demonstrators, not expecting this level of protest. The pigs had lots of new toys and techniques, likely to prepare them for the DNC next year. The media coverage was abysmal, no surprise to anyone here. As tryworks reported, the pig media released the arrest reports, making it easier for vigilantes to harass people. Typical.

The celebration of Kolumbus Day is one symptom of Amerikan imperialism, and the only way to end Kolumbus Day is to end Amerika.

Check out tryworks’ excellent coverage here and here.

Support the Denver 88 by TCD on Fire Witch Rising’s blog.

RAIM-D will eventually try to put up some of our video of the events.

Update 1: A video featuring Savage Family on TCD, click here

Update 2: Westword slideshow of the TCD events, click here

A Bunch of Eichmanns Put on Notice That They’re A Bunch of Eichmanns

In a very special event celebrating the two-faced “humanitarianism” that comes hand in hand with amerikan imperialism, Wayne ‘Dirty’ Murdy was given an “International Bridge Builders” award by the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver. There to present the award was none other than Madeleine ‘Worth It’ Albright. So of course, there was a protest.

Around 100 people showed up to protest the eco-terrorist Wayne Murdy and the crazed old butcher Madeleine Albright. Of course many of the protesters wouldn’t have framed their reasons for being there in quite this manner. Needless to say, RAIM-Denver has its own politics.

RAIM-Denver upholds radicalism not liberalism. We don’t fight “opponents,” we stand against oppressors. So right from the get go we entered the protest not thinking we had to adhere to the status quo of amerikan activism. However, this mindset spilled over and altered the entire tone of the protest when someone early-on gave Nick, a RAIM-Denver member, the biggest megaphone on the block. Oh ya, it was on.

Wasting no time, this opportunity was quickly seized upon to speak some truth. Agitating to the extreme, Nick pulled no verbal punches. Among other truths, these Eichmanns were told straight up that they were Eichmanns. This of course irritated some. But Nick knew this wasn‘t the time to “tone it down.” Instead, to both the ire of Eichmanns and to the liberals, he boomed “I have the megaphone.”

A guest appearance was made by liar extraordinaire Omar Jabara, the head of public relations for Newmont Mining. Omar actually slithered up with his wife to the protesting crowd and shook the hand of this vocal RAIMer. Asked if the crowd could throw Wayne Murdy off a bridge and Madeline Albright off a taller one, a slightly overwhelmed Jabara didn’t really have an answer but instead nervously offered a fake smile. Not real smooth for a public relations department head. Needless to say, Omar didn’t stick around long.

Madeleine Albright, the mad queen of state sanctioned terror, even appeared before the crowd. This came as a shock to RAIM-Denver since we thought she was allergic to sunlight. Nick, by this time really amped up, had already encouraged the valets to slam the car doors on the arriving Eichmanns. The necessity of such an action became apparent as she arrived. Nick later said, “When she looked into my eyes I could feel the souls of half a million dead Iraqi children.” Chilling indeed.

For being such humanitarians, Dirty Murdy and Mad Madeleine sure did need a lot of security. The entire perimeter of the Marriot was guarded. A big deal was made about protestors not being on Marriot property. At one point an Indigenous womyn near the RAIM-Denver agitator was told to go back to the sidewalk by a pig. Nick pointed out that the cop was on her property and told him to get off. He didn’t listen.

It should be mentioned that not everyone was displeased by RAIM-Denver’s amplified presence. Nick drew nods and laughs from many of the protesters. Those who did express contention with Nick were all white liberals. That’s not to say that we didn’t have support from white protesters, just that those whites probably weren’t liberals. On the other hand, not a single Indigenous persyn seemed displeased. In fact, the aforementioned womyn even thanked Nick for his remarks about amerika being built on land stolen from her ancestors.

All and all it was a great event. RAIM-Denver put the spotlight on radical politics and in the process made people on both sides of the sidewalk uncomfortable. Needless to say, we don’t necessarily consider this a bad thing. And, despite Newmont’s PR campaign against RAIM-Denver leading up to the event, we are happy to report that we have not lost a single grant or big donor. Omar, you failed.

[Photo from the kind folks at tryworks.org]

Omar, you can send your resume to RAIM-Denver. We promise to read it. But don’t call us, we’ll call you.

Throwing Wayne Dirty and Madeleine Albright off bridges

RAIM-Denver mentioned by Newmont PR

With the recent news of Newmont Chair Wayne ‘Dirty’ Murdy getting a humanitarian award despite the mining company’s numerous human rights violations, and the outrage it has generated, in some of this coverage our own blog has received attention.

From the blog of Al Lewis, who wrote an article giving fair time to activist criticisms of Newmont:

Some of these activist complaining about Newmont are reasonable. Some are not. Like the Anti-Imperialist Movement of Denver (sic), which refers to Albright as a “mass murdering lunatic hiding behind the ‘legitimacy’ of the United Snakes.”…(I guess, being a proud American, this makes me a snake, too. Slither. Slither.) (1)

First of all, Lewis can’t even get the name of the group right, the “Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist Movement of Denver.” For making an accusation that we are “unreasonable” he should at least get our name right! And in being unreasonable about Newmont, he focuses on what we said about Madeleine Albright.

This is in reference to when she was UN Ambassador, in a widely quoted remark on 60 minutes, where she responded that even though the sanctions killed 500,000 children they were ultimately “worth it.” A year later she was confirmed as Secretary of State under Clinton, which continued genocidal sanctions imposed on the people of Iraq. She sort-of apologized for the statement in her memoir “Madam Secretary”, but that apology was hardly adequate.(2)

Two days after Al Lewis’ snide comment, the main Public Relations guy of Newmont wrote in, and here’s what he had to say:

Deserving of DU award?

Re: “Not all that glitters is good,” Aug. 5 Al Lewis column

I believe your readers should judge for themselves if Newmont Chairman Wayne Murdy is deserving of the University of Denver’s International Bridge Builders Award. The stated purpose of the award is to recognize people who have “distinguished themselves as builders of ties between Colorado and the world beyond our national frontiers.”

As such, I invite your readers to visit our 2006 sustainability report at: http://www.BeyondTheMine.com. This report is compiled as part of our ongoing obligations under the United Nations’ Global Compact (www.unglobalcompact.org) and in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative’s guidelines(www.globalreporting.org). In addition, World
Monitors Inc. (www.worldmonitors.com) provides independent assurance of the objectivity, materiality and credibility of the report.

Also, I invite your readers to visit the Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist Movement of Denver’s Web page describing why they think Wayne Murdy should not receive the award: https://raimd.wordpress.com/2007/08/05/pre-tcd-2-for-1/

Omar Jabara
Senior Director of Communications and Media Relations
Newmont Mining Corporation
Denver”

Mr Jabara urges people to judge for themselves whether Wayne Murdy should be honored for “building bridges,” while he gives a link to Newmont’s whitewash website and at the same time he urges people to visit RAIM-D on what we think about Wayne Murdy.

It would be a great stretch to think that Newmont’s PR department would want people to get into revolutionary politics. Rather both Lewis and Jabara are engaged in classic PR tactics against radical activists. Here is an article from Covert Action Quarterly(4) that describes these tactics:

Ronald Duchin, senior vice-president of another PR spy firm Mongoven, Biscoe, and Duchin …. A graduate of the US Army War College, Duchin worked as a special assistant to the secretary of defense and director of public affairs for the Veterans of Foreign Wars before becoming a flack. Activists, he explained, fall into four categories: radicals, opportunists, idealists, and realists. He follows a three-step strategy to neutralize them: 1) isolate the radicals; 2) cultivate the idealists and educate them into becoming realists; then 3) co-opt the realists into agreeing with industry.

According to Duchin, radical activists:

want to change the system; have underlying socio/political motives [and] see multinational corporations as inherently evil….These organizations do not trust the… federal, state and local governments to protect them and to safeguard the environment. They believe, rather, that individuals and local groups should have direct power over industry. … I would categorize their principal aims right now as social justice and political empowerment.

The article continues:

“Idealists are also hard to deal with. They want a perfect world and find it easy to brand any product or practice which can be shown to mar that perfection as evil. Because of their intrinsic altruism, however, and because they have nothing perceptible to be gained by holding their position, they are easily believed by both the media and the public, and sometimes even politicians. However, idealists have a vulnerable point. If they can be shown that their position in opposition to an industry or its products causes harm to others and cannot be ethically justified, they are forced to change their position…. Thus, while a realist must be negotiated with, an idealist must be educated. Generally this education process requires great sensitivity and understanding on the part of the educator.”

Opportunists and realists, says Duchin, are easier to manipulate. Opportunists engage in activism seeking visibility, power, followers and, perhaps, even employment. … The key to dealing with [them] is to provide them with at least the perception of a partial victory. And realists are able to live with trade-offs; willing to work within the system; not interested in radical change; pragmatic. [They] should always receive the highest priority in any strategy dealing with a public policy issue. … If your industry can successfully bring about these relationships, the credibility of the radicals will be lost and opportunists can be counted on to share in the final policy solution.

By bringing attention to RAIM-D and labeling us “unreasonable,” they are first attempting to isolate the radicals. The rest of the strategy dealing with the idealists and realists is with their “social responsibility” facade.

Newmont Mining and companies like it exploit the resources of the Third World for profit. Newmont itself has left a trail of ecological destruction in places like Peru(5), Indonesia(6), Ghana(7) and in the Western Shoshone nation(8) Despite how badly Al Lewis and Newmont’s Public Relations hack would like to portray this as a RAIM-Denver vs. Newmont issue, those with brains know that it is not the real issue. The real issue is between Newmont and the affected populations. While Newmont enriches itself and raises its credibility amongst amerikans, the people of Peru, Indonesia, Ghana and the Shoshone nation remain in poverty and are often times poisoned by such operations.

The main opposition to Newmont Mining and companies like it are not First World radicals but rather the people they oppress. RAIM-Denver isn’t going to chase Wayne Murdy down with sticks and rocks, but Newmont employees have met similar opposition from the local population of places where they do business. (9) Radicals, on the other hand, whole heartedly stand up with and lend support to the struggles of oppressed peoples.

In the case of this particular protest, even without Al Lewis and Omar Jabara mentioning RAIM-Denver, it is unlikely many “realists” or “opportunists” will show up. Instead, Lewis and Newmont’s PR puppet gave more publicity to us and this protest than otherwise would have been received. For our part, we’re going to be working overtime to promote this protest and we’ll be putting in an extra effort to radicalize the idealists once they are there.

1)http://blogs.denverpost.com/lewis/2007/08/07/gold-miners-academicians-and-activists/
2)http://www.fff.org/comment/com0311c.asp
3)http://blogs.denverpost.com/eletters/2007/08/09/newmont-deserving-of-du-award/
4)http://mediafilter.org/CAQ/CAQ55prwar2.html
5)http://www.csrwire.com/News/9314.html)
http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/peru404/
http://www.foe.org/WSSD/newmont.html
6)http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=14481
7)http://www.24hgold.com/printarticle.aspx?pagedest=98854&langue=en
8)http://www.wsdp.org/minewatch.htm
9)http://www.minesandcommunities.org/Action/press698.htm