On the 29th of September, the Party for Socialism and Liberation announced our candidates for the 2020 election. Like in 2016, longtime anti-war activist and union leader Gloria La Riva is our presidential candidate, and this year American Indian Movement veteran and political prisoner Leonard Peltier will be running for Vice President. La Riva is a familiar face in the Party. I met her in Washington DC last year, and she was one of the warmest people I have ever met. After giving me a hug, she told me that it is my generation who must carry on the struggle and liberate all of humanity. It is important that youth our age, who are just gaining our right to vote this year, understand that they are not obligated to vote for either the overtly fascist Republican Party or the opportunist, covertly fascist Democratic Party. In fact, I implore teens our age who will be able to vote in 2020 to understand the need for revolution and vote socialist.
However, the point of this article is not to convince you to vote PSL (though if you would like more reasoning for why you should vote socialist, please feel free to contact me either via my email, Maxherschman@gmail.com, social media or in person!). The point of this article is to bring attention to the plight of our Vice Presidential candidate: Leonard Peltier.
The following statement has been circulated by Paulette Dauteuil, Director of the International Leonard Peltier Defense Committee:
“Greetings Friends and Family,
I received a legal mail letter from Leonard yesterday. It is hard on his health to have no exercise and the lighting is so weak that reading and writing are hard on his eyes. He also said it looks like the lockdown won’t be lifted until sometime in Dec. This lockdown is so intense that even his Elder unit is confined to their cell 24/7 and allowed a half-hour to shower every 3 days. He would like you to write to the warden of Coleman 1 and ask why Leonard & the Elder unit is under such a strict lockdown? You would send your letters to:
Warden Cheatham
U.S. PENITENTIARY Coleman 1
P.O. BOX 1023–COLEMAN, FL 33521”
For context, let’s examine why Peltier is imprisoned in the first place. Peltier has been imprisoned for over 43 years. He was born into the Anishnaabe, Dakota, and Lakota nations in the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in 1944. He was affected profoundly by racism, and poverty, which he was surrounded by growing up. He joined the American Indian Movement or AIM in 1972. AIM was originally founded in 1968 as a means of combating police brutality against indigenous people, but it soon became an all-encompassing indigenous rights organization. Along with the Black Panther Party (BPP), AIM was a target of heavy FBI repression during the time of COINTELPRO. AIM had begun to work with the Black Panthers and their “Rainbow Coalition” alongside other revolutionary groups of the time, like the Young Lords, the Brown Berets, and the White Panther Party. This “Rainbow Coalition” was a means of uniting revolutionary organizations of all races to fight against the common enemies of capitalist oppression and white supremacy. A coalition of this type, free of racial infighting and fueled by camaraderie and unity of goals, posed a real and legitimate threat to the U.S. establishment.
However, due to the immense revolutionary potential coursing within this coalition, it instantly found itself a target of state repression. On the 26th of June, 1976, the FBI raided Jumping Bull Ranch on Pine Ridge Reservation. Peltier and other AIM activists Dino Butler and Bob Robideau had been camped there to protect the residents of the reservation from constant police violence against them. Two FBI agents in plain clothes and unmarked cars invaded the reservation and a shootout ensued. Both agents were killed, not by Leonard, but by Butler and Robideau.
Butler and Robideau were arrested immediately. In their trial, they were declared innocent by way of self-defense. Peltier, however, fled to Canada, (reasonably) fearing the wrath of the FBI. The FBI decided to retaliate, falsifying the evidence against Peltier and bullying witnesses, an outright violation of court proceedings. Peltier was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, despite the fact that prosecutors in later appeals would admit they had no idea who even fired the shots in the first place, or if Peltier was even armed!
Leonard Peltier is not alone, there are many figures and organizations that acknowledge his innocence. Amnesty International placed his case under the “Unfair Trials” category of its Annual Report: USA 2010. Nelson Mandela and Jesse Jackson have been two significant supporters of Peltier’s struggle, as well as various indigenous-led governments.
As non-indigenous people in the United States, we have an obligation to stand in complete support of Peltier against these attacks by the racist prison system he is being imprisoned in. I implore all OA students and staff to write a letter to the warden of the prison in which Peltier is being held and demand an end to the lockdown! Anyone interested in writing a letter should meet in the library at 3 PM on Thursday, November 21st. Here we will learn about Peltier’s struggle in his own words, and write our letters. Afterword, I will collect all the letters and bring them to the post office myself. Peltier is 75 and a true veteran of the indigenous liberation movement. He does not deserve this kind of treatment!
Another way you can help Leonard Peltier is by casting your vote for the Party for Socialism and Liberation and using the ballot to raise awareness of his plight. Learn more about our campaign at LaRivaPeltier2020.org.