It makes many of us sad, unfortunately, that locally we have to put up with daily reminders of a similar individual in this New Mexico town which has a rich heritage of Native pueblo people as well as Earth-loving non-native refugees. A main central commercial street is Kit Carson Rd. (with the Carson home and museum). The main city park is Kit Carson Park where all public festivals and outdoor concerts are held (located next to the Kit Carson cemetery with his grave, which frequently smells of urine, LOL). The public utility is Kit Carson Electric Co-op. And so it goes. It's a tradition in USA to honor as many big wetikos as possible in every locale, and our town is by no means special. Carson liked to burn fruit trees. Ask a Navajo.
[The next town down the highway has lots of "Oñate"-named monuments and such. He was famous for chopping off feet. A few years back a Native with a sawzall removed one bronze foot from his statue, mailed it back after a couple years.]
Mickey Z. interviews Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
author of the new book AN INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES
"The whole country is a crime scene and should be marked with yellow tape."
"As the first chapter in the book, “Follow the Corn,” lays out, the multiple forms of democratic governance and social relations developed by Indigenous peoples in North America are breathtaking. For one thing, they are all rooted in matriarchy. Matriarchy is not the opposite of patriarchy, nor simply substituting female people for male people. Rather it is a profound comprehension of the biological factors that can lead to domination and authoritarianism."
"Native peoples built cities, towns, federations of towns, based on the common good. Indigenous socialism, as Evo Morales calls the phenomena, can provide both a goal and a practice, for survival and for defeating empire and structures of domination."
This is also relevant to our topic today:
"Before Columbus: How Africans Brought Civilization to America" - extremely fascinating and an important part of our 'hidden history'.
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I would like to acknowledge the passing of a celebrated and inspirational 4-legged being, photos and videos of whom gained world-wide attention in the Athens riots of 2008 against "austerity".
This is LOUKANIKOS, beloved "riot dog", who passed peacefully last week at the home of his caretaker after living in comfortable and well-deserved retirement. Unforgettable.
Thank you for blessing us with your presence |