#pineridge — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #pineridge, aggregated by home.social.
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#Wikipedia - #UnitedStates
See also: #Superfund"Perhaps the best-known sacrifice zone in the United States is '#CancerAlley' in #Louisiana, an 85-mile stretch of land along the #MississippiRiver containing over 200 #petrochemical plants. Serious air and water quality violations have been documented since the 1970s, and elevated #cancer risk has been found. The region's population is disproportionately #Black and #LowIncome.
"Commentators including Chris Hedges, Joe Sacco, Robert Bullard and Stephen Lerner have argued that #corporate business practices contribute to producing #SacrificeZones and that these zones most commonly exist in low-income and minority, usually #AfricanAmerican communities. Sacrifice zones are a central topic for the graphic novel #DaysOfDestructionDaysOfRevolt, written by Hedges and illustrated by Sacco.
"In 2012, Hedges stated that examples of sacrifice zones included #PineRidge, South Dakota and #CamdenNJ. In 2017 a #WestCalumet public housing project in East Chicago, Indiana built at the former site of a lead smelter needed to be demolished and soil replaced to bring the area up to residential standards, displacing 1000 residents. In 2014, Naomi Klein wrote that 'running an economy on energy sources that release poisons as an unavoidable part of their extraction and refining has always required sacrifice zones."
Related link:
The Spread of Sacrifice Zones
By David Swanson, June, 2012
https://cdn.countercurrents.org/swanson090612.htm#BigOil #BigOilAndGas #SacrificeZones #SEZs #HumanRights #HumanRightsFreeZone #Pollution #EnvironmentalDegradation #EnvironmentalRacism #EconomicSacrificZones #WaterIsLife #Industries #IndustrialUse #PollutionSacrificeZones
#GlobalSacrificeZones #CorporateColonialism -
"In his first extended broadcast interview since he was released from prison, #LeonardPeltier talks about adapting to life outside, the remaining restrictions on his freedom, learning to paint while incarcerated and more."
https://www.democracynow.org/2025/9/19/leonard_peltier_interview_democracy_now_exclusive
#LeonardPeltierFree #Indigenous #NativeAmericans #decolonialStruggles #AIM #PineRidge #politicalPrisoners #stateRepression #USpol #USpolitics -
The new '#FreeLeonardPeltier' film tells the history of The Trail of #BrokenTreaties and #BIATakeover in Washington. '#Resistance is a responsibility,' says #MadonnaThunderHawk.
April 14, 2025
Film screenshots / collage #CensoredNewsDates of Free Screenings of the New 'Free Leonard Peltier' Film on the #RezTour2025
April 21 | #BelcourtND, #TurtleMountain Band of #Chippewa
April 22 | #FargoND
April 23 | #FortYatesND, #StandingRock
April 24 | #EagleButteSD, #CheyenneRiver
Apirl 26 | #RapidCitySD
April 27 and 28 | #KyleSD, #Oglala5
April 29 | #ValentineNE, #RosebudSioux
May 1 | #SiouxFallsSD
ALL SCREENINGS ARE FIRST COME FIRST SERVED - no tickets necessary.Each screening will feature an in-person Q&A with the film team.
Source:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/04/free-screenings-of-new-free-leonard.htmlMore upcoming screenings nationwide and globally: Boston, Mass., Milwaukee, Wisconsin, San
Rafael, California, Dallas, Texas, and Warsaw, Poland
https://freeleonardfilm.com/screenings/Read More at Censored News:
The new film shares deep history of the movement. 'Standing Ovations and Global Awards for New
'Free Leonard Peltier' Film.
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/04/free-leonard-peltier-film-shows-in.html#AIM #NativeAmericanHistory #PineRidge #LeonardPeltierIsFree
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#Taos #ReggaeBand #IrieBellion Releases Powerful Single Advocating #ClemencyForLeonardPeltier
By Native News Online Staff
January 07, 2025"Six-piece reggae band IrieBellion, based in #TaosNewMexico, has released a new single to advocate for the release of #LeonardPeltier, a #NativeAmericanActivist who has been imprisoned for nearly 50 years.
"'Leonard Peltier’s Song' features Grammy-winning flutist #RobertMirabal of Taos Pueblo and a traditional drum group composed of singers from several Indigenous nations. Through this collaboration, the band hopes to amplify calls for President Joe Biden to grant clemency to Peltier.
"The song blends IrieBellion’s reggae-inspired rhythms with Robert Mirabal’s signature flute playing and the traditional Indigenous drumming and singing of #JohnSwiftbird (#Lakota), #ChaskePacheco (#Dakota / #SantaDomingoPueblo), and #BrysonSanchez (Dakota / #SanFelipePueblo).
"The song makes a direct #PleaForJustice, with Davis crafting a chorus —'Do the right thing, let freedom ring/ It's been so long, let's right this wrong' — that appeals to #PresidentBiden to take action and right what the band views as a longstanding wrong.
"The musical advocacy for Peltier's case has a rich history in popular music. #RobbieRobertson (Mohawk), the legendary guitarist and songwriter of The Band, created a particularly powerful statement with his song 'Sacrifice', which incorporated Peltier's own voice through a recorded prison phone call with Robertson. Little Steven (#StevenVanZandt), known for both his work with Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and his solo career, also contributed to this musical legacy with his own 'Leonard Peltier,' which, like IrieBellion's new release, used Caribbean rhythms to carry its message of justice.
"Peltier, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of #Chippewa Indians, became involved in the American Indian Movement (#AIM) in the 1970s, a time of tension between Indigneous communities and the U.S. government.
AIM advocated addressing issues such as police brutality, treaty violations, and systemic inequality affecting Native Americans.
"Peltier’s case comes from a 1975 shootout on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, where two FBI agents and a young Native man were killed. The shootout occurred during a period of violence on the reservation, often referred to as the '#ReignOfTerror,' when residents faced threats and attacks for their ties to AIM.
"Peltier was convicted in 1977 of killing the agents, but his trial has been widely criticized. Key evidence was withheld by the prosecution, including ballistics reports that could have supported his defense.
"Eyewitness testimony used to extradite Peltier from Canada was later recanted, with the witness stating they were coerced by the FBI. Even the U.S. attorney who handled the case has since admitted that no one knows who fired the fatal shots.
"Peltier has maintained his innocence for nearly five decades, and his case has been condemned by numerous human rights organizations, including #AmnestyInternational. Calls for his release have grown in recent years, with Peltier now in his late seventies and facing health challenges.
"'Leonard Peltier’s Song' is available on streaming platforms, including Spotify and Apple Music, and can also be found on IrieBellion’s HearNow page. The band encourages listeners to not only enjoy the song but also take action by learning about Peltier’s case, signing petitions, and contacting officials to advocate for his release.
"For those who want to learn more, organizations such as the International #LeonardPeltierDefenseCommittee provide resources and updates on efforts to secure his freedom."
https://nativenewsonline.net/arts-entertainment/taos-reggae-band-iriebellion-releases-powerful-single-advocating-clemency-for-leonard-peltier
#ACAB #FBI #AmericanindianMovement #PineRidge #FreeLeonardPeltier #AmnestyForLeonardPeltier #ClemencyForLeonardPeltier -
How #LeonardPeltier has unjustly spent forty years in prison — and why it’s time to change that
Mike Baughman July 20, 2016
"So much time has passed that many Americans have forgotten, if they ever knew, what happened to an American Indian named Leonard Peltier, who has spent more than 40 years confined in various federal penitentiaries. This summer, a group of his family members and friends are traveling the country in an attempt to salvage what remains of his life, and to remind us all that no statute of limitations pertains to the application of justice.
"Peltier’s ordeal began when two FBI agents, Ron Williams and Jack Coler, were shot to death on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Reservation in 1975. No one familiar with the details of the case believes that Leonard committed the murders, and Peter Matthiessen explored this miscarriage of justice in his 1983 book In the Spirit of Crazy Horse. Dee Brown, author of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, called Matthiessen’s book 'the first solidly documented account of the U.S. government’s renewed assault upon American Indians that began in the 1970s.'
"The plain truth is that with two FBI agents shot dead on an Indian reservation, the government needed a conviction. At Peltier’s trial before an all-white jury, prosecutors used false testimony against him, some of it obtained through torture. One particularly repugnant example: The FBI produced affidavits by a woman named Mabel Poor Bear, who said she was Leonard’s girlfriend and claimed to have seen him shoot Williams and Coler at close range. But Poor Bear had never met Leonard, didn’t even know what he looked like, and was proved to have been nowhere near the scene of the murders. When she tried to recant her testimony, claiming that the FBI had threatened to take her child away if she didn’t sign the affidavit, the judge refused to hear her testimony.
"Amnesty International classifies Leonard as a political prisoner. Some of his other defenders include Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Robert Cantuar, a former archbishop of Canterbury. Michael Apted produced an acclaimed documentary film exploring the case, Incident at Oglala, which was narrated by Robert Redford.
"Despite the FBI’s fraudulent evidence and perjured testimony, Peltier remains in federal prison. He went in as a 31-year-old and is now 71. He’s been transferred often, from Leavenworth, Kansas, to Terre Haute, Indiana, to Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, to Canaan, Pennsylvania, back to Lewisburg, and finally to Florida. Everywhere he’s been, inmates have jumped and beaten him, likely with the collusion of guards. Now he is going blind from diabetes, suffers from kidney failure and is susceptible to strokes. Ed Little Crow, a Lakota living in Oregon, says that all Peltier wants 'is a chance to see his family and work on old cars. If that dignified black man who’s president doesn’t pardon him, he’ll die in prison. This is his last chance.'
"When Peltier was sentenced, the applicable law stated that an inmate with a good record should, after 30 years, be released. His record was good, but, instead of freedom, his parole board gave him another 15-year sentence. His next hearing is scheduled for 2024.
"Before his second term ended, President Bill Clinton, under pressure from Hawaii Sen. Daniel Inouye and billionaire philanthropist David Geffen, among others, was expected to grant executive clemency. But after several hundred FBI agents, along with the dead agents’ family members, demonstrated outside the White House, Clinton on his last day in office pardoned a financier named Marc Rich instead. Rich had been indicted for tax evasion and illegal oil deals, including a purchase of $200 million worth of oil from Ayatollah Khomeini’s Iran while 53 Americans were being held hostage there, and selling oil to the apartheid regime in South Africa despite a U.N. embargo. Geffen called Rich’s pardon 'a sign of corrupted values.'
"On my last trip to South Dakota, I visited the Pine Ridge Reservation. In the town of Pine Ridge, I talked to the man I’d come to see and then drove north to Wounded Knee, where I spent the long afternoon alone. There was a pleasantly cool north wind and a clear blue sky. I walked and thought. This quiet place was where, in 1890, the U.S. 7th Cavalry surrounded an encampment of Lakotas, and for no justifiable reason opened fire. By some estimates, as many as 300 Indian men, women and children were slaughtered by the time the firing finally stopped. To make a foul deed even worse, at least 20 of the soldiers who participated in this senseless massacre were awarded the Medal of Honor.
"There’s nothing anyone can ever do about what happened at Wounded Knee. But, though very belatedly, something can still be done about Leonard Peltier. I hope President Obama sets this man free. "
Original article:
https://www.hcn.org/issues/48-12/how-leonard-peltier-has-unjustly-spent-forty-years-in-prison-and-why-its-time-to-change-that/Archived version:
https://archive.ph/NPKLS#FreeLeonardPeltier #MabelPoorBear #PineRidge #WoundedKnee #PineRidgeReservation #FBI #ACAB #BuryMyHeartAtWoundedKnee #InTheSpiritOfCrazyHorse #PoliticalPrisoner #AIM #PerjuredTestimony