Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights

May 2, 2012

Photo: AIM leadership with Sen. Abourezk


Russell, Dennis and Clyde then and now!
Thanks to Pearl Means for sharing this photo with Censored News!
AIM Leadership Russell Means, Dennis Banks, former US Senator James Abourezk, and Clyde Bellecourt!
The photo was taken April 28, 2012, at Augustana College, at "Wounded Knee 1973: Forty Years Later." Means lecture was "Wounded Knee, Before, During and After."


Clyde Bellecourt, Dennis Banks, Russell Means and Carter Camp as a prayer was being said in Wounded Knee 1973.
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And for a moment in history from Censored News
Senator Abourezk and the Denver spy files
Senator Abourezk made unique history in the 1990s when it was discovered that the Denver police had been spying on the senator, along with AIM, and most Native activists from as far away as Big Mountain for years. Even the attorneys at the Native American Rights Fund were spied on, as revealed in the Denver police spy files. Denver police also had one grandmother in her 80s under surveillance. Her only "crime" was to have a Leonard Peltier bumper sticker.
Here's an excerpt from an article that I wrote after the spy files resulted in changes for Denver police:
Denver police also spied on American Indian attorneys at the Native American Rights Fund and a senator who worked for Native American rights. South Dakota Sen. James Abourezk, who once headed the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, was spied on. Abourezk obtained a copy of his spy file and said he still didn't have a clue why he was targeted. Abourezk said he hadn't been in Denver in 15 years. The Abourezk spy file just said the Denver police were watching him.
Anyone helping Navajos at Big Mountain or Zapatistas in Chiapas in Denver was under Denver police surveillance.
The Quakers, it turned out, were among the most spied on in the US, revealing the insanity of US police probes of the peace-seeking.
In the end, after a lawsuit was filed against the Denver Police Department by American Indians, the ACLU and others, the spied-upon could go and retrieve their spy files in Denver. However, this required updating Denver police records with current IDs and personal information, so many passed.
Now, years later, spy files are worming their way out of police file cabinets everywhere, like maggots in wait, feeding on the dark and decaying fecal matter of failed trust.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Ha, no comment?! I say, "that Pic with Russ, Dennis, the Senator, and Clyde is not only Classic but is an 'awesome kick-ass photo!'" Thanks for sharing. -Kat of Big Mtn.