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> Thur., Nov. 27, 2003
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Today on Flashpoints:
We Go To Alcatraz Island For a Celebration of Indigenous Ancestors;
and Military Families Speak Out Against the Latest Bush Publicity
Stunt
5:01 PM PST
Reclaiming the Heritage of Alcatraz: Early this Thanksgiving
morning thousands of people gathered before sunrise to board
a ferry to Alcatraz Island. Once a home to Ohlone Indians,
Alcatraz was stolen from the indigenous tribes of California
and turned into the home of one of the most notorious prisons
in the world. Many
indigenous people were incarcerated at Alcatraz, in a
disturbing symbol of a people usurped of their land and then
stripped of their rights.
The ghosts of Alcatraz were tangible, as though they were
welcoming us all through the whispers of the rusted bars still
clinging to the cement buildings. In November of 1969, five
years after a group of Sioux Indians reclaimed Alcatraz in
a four-hour protest, a group of college students returned
to Alcatraz in what was to become a 20-month resistance occupation
and reclamation of the island. The Federal government immediately
began attacks on the group. shutting off water and electricity
and rejecting Indian demands of cultural heritage centers
and a deed to the island.
To this day the indigenous peoples of California still have
no deed to Alcatraz. Yet even though their demands were not
met, the occupation of 1969 brought public attention to the
struggle of the Indians, and in turn, to all occupied people
all over the world.
Associate Producer Nora Barrows-Friedman joined today's reconnection
with the island and speaks with members of the American
Indian Movement which mirrors the struggles of ethnic
groups around the world.
5:35 PM PST
In a highly kept secretive visit, George Bush flew into Baghdad
today to have Thanksgiving dinner with US troops. He glad-handed
the crowd, served some turkey, and left. This comes at a time
when attacks on the occupying forces are a daily occurence,
and many families today have Thanksgiving dinner without their
loved ones who seem to be marooned in Iraq. Joining Nora Barrows-Friedman
to talk about this sleazy maneuver by Bush are Nancy Lessin
and Charlie Richardson of Military
Families Speak Out
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