Welcome to Episode 128 of Ramping Up your English. While this episode has not yet been finalized, I’ve included the two featured videos below:
Sneak Preview
This episode includes two videos about Justice in Indian Country. Click here to see the video about Leonard Peltier.
Click here to see the video about Standing Rock Pipeline Protest.
Episode Summary
The title of Justice in Indian Country sets the theme for Episode 128 of Ramping Up your English. The whole legal saga of Leonard Peltier illustrates the often winding road of justice as experienced by Native Americans.
Leonard’s son Chancy shares his thoughts and struggles in a celebration of his father’s release from prison. President Biden commuted Peltier’s sentence as his last act as President of the United States.
Perhaps not as directly reflective of the Justice system, the Dakota Pipeline protest ten years ago sheds light on how decisions are made without consent by Native Americans, decisions that effect American Indian communities. While private security carried out much of the cruelty against protestors, law enforcement was also involved and criminal charges and arrests took place.
Notwithstanding all that, the featured interview focuses on the strength and spiritual power that moved the protestors to persevere. Participants share their own inner connection that goes back generations, finding joy and power in their collective and individual actions to protect the water.