Trudell: Because Ward Churchill isn't radical enough anymore

Last night I went to a showing of Trudell, a film about John Trudell, the Native American poet/activist. He lead the Native American occupation of Alcatraz Island for 21 months, and, following that, was the National Spokesman of the American Indian Movement during the Pine Ridge Shootout. After burning an American flag on the steps of the J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building, his pregnant wife, three children, and mother in law were burned alive in a suspicious arson fire. In the words of the FBI “He’s extremely eloquent… therefore extremely dangerous.” Speaking of the FBI: he’s said to have one of the longest FBI files in history, at over 17,000 pages.

His music is interesting – it’s spoken word poetry set to traditional Native American music, with a little blues guitar thrown in for good measure.

He’ll be here speaking today, but I can’t go, as the pre-trip meeting for this weekend’s snowcamping trip is at the same time.