FASTING FOR PELTIER-IGNORING US OUT OF EXISTENCE BY BRENDA NORRELL

Fasting for Peltier - Ignoring us out of existence

News blackout (whiteout): Fasting for Peltier at the White House

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/brenda-norrell/2009/09/news-blackout-fasting-peltier-white-house
By Brenda Norrell

Ben Carnes, Choctaw, and Rob Fife completed a week long fast at the
White House, to bring attention to President Obama of the long
standing injustice of the imprisonment of Leonard Peltier. But if you
check Google News this morning, you will see that there's only one
news article, the one posted by Narco News.

Since the columns here go directly to Google breaking news,
mainstream reporters can not claim that they were uninformed. It is
obvious that freedom for Leonard Peltier remains one of the most
censored issues in the media, even as Amnesty International calls for
Peltier's immediate release.

News reporters weren't the only ones ignoring this fast. So far,
there's been no word from President Obama, who could see the men
fasting from his window.

Today, Wanbli, at the Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee,
released a statement, "Ignoring us out of existence." It is
appropriate for these times, when censorship has increased to such an
extent that the US media is a mockery of the ethics of journalism.

Ignoring us out of existence

by Wanbli

"From the time the invaders have come to our Turtle Island they have
tried to murder the Indigenous Peoples out of existence . They have
tried to rape the Indigenous Peoples out of existence. They have
tried to poison us out of existence. They have tried to steal us out
of existence. None of it worked , completely. Although they did
manage to kill 40 million of us in 500 years.

We are still here.

Now they are trying to ignore us out of existence: Ignore their
broken treaties, ignore their theft of our land and the killing of
our women and children, ignore the medals of honor that the US
government awarded for the murders at Wounded Knee and Sand Creek,
ignore the infant mortality rate of our people, ignore our health
care. Ignore us till we disappear.

While our children aren't learning sign language but learning gang
signs. They aren't learning their language, but the language of the
larger culture. They are not learning their own peoples' spirit
tradition, but those of people who come from a different part of the
world. They are not learning the traditional songs, but learning gangster rap.

In the ignoring of us and the needs of our people they are ensuring
that our people blend into the melting pot.

I don't want to blend into the melting pot. I don't want my children
or grandchildren to be a part of the american way . It is a way of
disgrace and dishonor.

In the past couple of days people have said to me don't rock the
canoe, be nice and write letters and file things with them to get changes.

That doesn't work .

The canoe is sinking and we have a choice to sit quietly till we
drown or to rock hell out of it.

The only way we can get their attention is by embarrassing them or
irritating them .

They have proven with 8 years of george bush that they can't be embarrassed.

I've been told that we shouldn't irritate them.

We haven't irritated them enough ! Our only chance to regain our
peoples health as cultures is to irritate the hell out of the oppressor.

Make them make changes or make them spend so much time dealing with
us that they decide to do the right thing.

It's time for a new movement ... a movement that will not accept
appeasement. A movement that will not sit nicely and wait for
promised changes. It time for a new generation of warriors to step up
and defend our people against the continued cultural genocide while
there is still a people to defend.

Wanbli"

Listen online interviews with Ben Carnes, and Wanbli, during last week's fast:

<http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com>http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com