Podcast appearances and mentions of kent blansett

For the past 45 years, Leonard Peltier has been behind bars for a crime he says he didn't commit.  The Native American activist was accused of killing two FBI agents during a shootout on Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota in 1975. Peltier was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, and he's been denied parole several times since.  Over the years, his imprisonment has been denounced by people like Pope Francis, Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama, and more. Many people expected former President Bill Clinton to grant him clemency, but he didn't — and neither have any subsequent presidents. The U.S. attorney who helped put Peltier in prison has even pleaded with President Joe Biden to grant him clemency. Now, Peltier is begging for help amid the COVID pandemic. According to reporting from the Huffington Post, he says quote “fear and stress” associated with his prison's COVID lockdowns are taking a toll on everyone, including himself. At 77 years old, Peltier has serious health problems including an abdominal aortic aneurysm and diabetes.  For more on Peltier and his activism, The Takeaway spoke to Kent Blansett, the Langston Hughes Associate Professor of Indigenous Studies and History at the University of Kansas and a Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Shawnee, and Potawatomi descendant. 

For the past 45 years, Leonard Peltier has been behind bars for a crime he says he didn't commit.  The Native American activist was accused of killing two FBI agents during a shootout on Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota in 1975. Peltier was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, and he's been denied parole several times since.  Over the years, his imprisonment has been denounced by people like Pope Francis, Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama, and more. Many people expected former President Bill Clinton to grant him clemency, but he didn't — and neither have any subsequent presidents. The U.S. attorney who helped put Peltier in prison has even pleaded with President Joe Biden to grant him clemency. Now, Peltier is begging for help amid the COVID pandemic. According to reporting from the Huffington Post, he says quote “fear and stress” associated with his prison's COVID lockdowns are taking a toll on everyone, including himself. At 77 years old, Peltier has serious health problems including an abdominal aortic aneurysm and diabetes.  For more on Peltier and his activism, The Takeaway spoke to Kent Blansett, the Langston Hughes Associate Professor of Indigenous Studies and History at the University of Kansas and a Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Shawnee, and Potawatomi descendant. 

For today’s podcast, I interviewed Kent Blansett, Langston Hughes Associate Professor of Indigenous Studies and History at the University of Kansas, on his book Journey to Freedom: Richard Oakes, Alcatraz, and the Red Power Movement. It’s a great book on one of the most important justice leaders of the 1960s and 1970s, someone who has […]

Fifty years ago this November, a group of Native Americans that came to be known as Indians of All Tribes began a 19-month occupation of Alcatraz Island. The takeover and occupation attracted a groundswell of interest from across the United States and the globe. The initial focus of the occupation was a protest against the U.S. government's policies that took aboriginal land away from Native Americans. The Alcatraz occupation is recognized today as one of the most important events in contemporary Native American history and one of the most important public displays of the Red Power movement, a social movement that demanded self-determination for Native Americans in the United States. The occupation helped bring Native American activism to the forefront of the consciousness of the American people. The 50th anniversary of this important event is being recognized throughout the Bay Area in an effort led by the San Francisco Arts Commission. The takeover and occupation was led, in part, by Richard Oakes, a charismatic student from San Francisco State. The first biography of Oakes, A Journey to Freedom, was published late last year. Its author, Kent Blansett, will make a special visit to Marin County to discuss Oakes, the role the occupation played in the Red Power movement of the 1960s and the ongoing legacy of Native activism that was spurred by the 1969 takeover. Kent Blansett is a Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Shawnee and Potawatomi descendant. Blansett will also discuss the role that Marin County residents played in the start of the Alcatraz occupation, including the role of the Sausalito-Indian Navy, which helped Oakes launch the occupation late in the evening of November 20, 1969. Join us for this special event. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Richard Oakes was a natural born leader whom people followed seemingly on instinct. Thus when he dove into the icy San Francisco Bay in the fall of 1969 on his way to Alcatraz Island, he knew others would have his back. Kent Blansett tells Richard Oakes’ story in wonderful detail in A Journey to Freedom: Richard Oakes, Alcatraz, and Red Power (Yale University Press, 2018). Blansett, an associate professor of history at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, argues that by understanding Oakes’ life and his movement across the United States in the 1960s, we can better understand the origins of the Red Power movement. Prior to landing in San Francisco, Richard Oakes lived in the Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne, a borderland region between Canada and the United States. From there he worked with other Mohawks in the ironwork trade, constructing the New York City skyline, and became a legendary figure in the Indian Cities of Brooklyn and Seattle. Although both his time on Alcatraz and his life ended in tragedy, Oakes’ legacy is lasting and undeniable, as Native people staged fish-ins and occupations across North America based on his inspiring leadership. As Oakes himself put it, “Alcatraz was not an island, but an idea.” Stephen Hausmann is a doctoral candidate at Temple University and Visiting Instructor of history at the University of Pittsburgh. He is currently writing his dissertation, a history of race and the environment in the Black Hills and surrounding northern plains region of South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Richard Oakes was a natural born leader whom people followed seemingly on instinct. Thus when he dove into the icy San Francisco Bay in the fall of 1969 on his way to Alcatraz Island, he knew others would have his back. Kent Blansett tells Richard Oakes’ story in wonderful detail in A Journey to Freedom: Richard Oakes, Alcatraz, and Red Power (Yale University Press, 2018). Blansett, an associate professor of history at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, argues that by understanding Oakes’ life and his movement across the United States in the 1960s, we can better understand the origins of the Red Power movement. Prior to landing in San Francisco, Richard Oakes lived in the Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne, a borderland region between Canada and the United States. From there he worked with other Mohawks in the ironwork trade, constructing the New York City skyline, and became a legendary figure in the Indian Cities of Brooklyn and Seattle. Although both his time on Alcatraz and his life ended in tragedy, Oakes’ legacy is lasting and undeniable, as Native people staged fish-ins and occupations across North America based on his inspiring leadership. As Oakes himself put it, “Alcatraz was not an island, but an idea.” Stephen Hausmann is a doctoral candidate at Temple University and Visiting Instructor of history at the University of Pittsburgh. He is currently writing his dissertation, a history of race and the environment in the Black Hills and surrounding northern plains region of South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Richard Oakes was a natural born leader whom people followed seemingly on instinct. Thus when he dove into the icy San Francisco Bay in the fall of 1969 on his way to Alcatraz Island, he knew others would have his back. Kent Blansett tells Richard Oakes’ story in wonderful detail in A Journey to Freedom: Richard Oakes, Alcatraz, and Red Power (Yale University Press, 2018). Blansett, an associate professor of history at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, argues that by understanding Oakes’ life and his movement across the United States in the 1960s, we can better understand the origins of the Red Power movement. Prior to landing in San Francisco, Richard Oakes lived in the Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne, a borderland region between Canada and the United States. From there he worked with other Mohawks in the ironwork trade, constructing the New York City skyline, and became a legendary figure in the Indian Cities of Brooklyn and Seattle. Although both his time on Alcatraz and his life ended in tragedy, Oakes’ legacy is lasting and undeniable, as Native people staged fish-ins and occupations across North America based on his inspiring leadership. As Oakes himself put it, “Alcatraz was not an island, but an idea.” Stephen Hausmann is a doctoral candidate at Temple University and Visiting Instructor of history at the University of Pittsburgh. He is currently writing his dissertation, a history of race and the environment in the Black Hills and surrounding northern plains region of South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Richard Oakes was a natural born leader whom people followed seemingly on instinct. Thus when he dove into the icy San Francisco Bay in the fall of 1969 on his way to Alcatraz Island, he knew others would have his back. Kent Blansett tells Richard Oakes’ story in wonderful detail in A Journey to Freedom: Richard Oakes, Alcatraz, and Red Power (Yale University Press, 2018). Blansett, an associate professor of history at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, argues that by understanding Oakes’ life and his movement across the United States in the 1960s, we can better understand the origins of the Red Power movement. Prior to landing in San Francisco, Richard Oakes lived in the Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne, a borderland region between Canada and the United States. From there he worked with other Mohawks in the ironwork trade, constructing the New York City skyline, and became a legendary figure in the Indian Cities of Brooklyn and Seattle. Although both his time on Alcatraz and his life ended in tragedy, Oakes’ legacy is lasting and undeniable, as Native people staged fish-ins and occupations across North America based on his inspiring leadership. As Oakes himself put it, “Alcatraz was not an island, but an idea.” Stephen Hausmann is a doctoral candidate at Temple University and Visiting Instructor of history at the University of Pittsburgh. He is currently writing his dissertation, a history of race and the environment in the Black Hills and surrounding northern plains region of South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Richard Oakes was a natural born leader whom people followed seemingly on instinct. Thus when he dove into the icy San Francisco Bay in the fall of 1969 on his way to Alcatraz Island, he knew others would have his back. Kent Blansett tells Richard Oakes’ story in wonderful detail in A Journey to Freedom: Richard Oakes, Alcatraz, and Red Power (Yale University Press, 2018). Blansett, an associate professor of history at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, argues that by understanding Oakes’ life and his movement across the United States in the 1960s, we can better understand the origins of the Red Power movement. Prior to landing in San Francisco, Richard Oakes lived in the Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne, a borderland region between Canada and the United States. From there he worked with other Mohawks in the ironwork trade, constructing the New York City skyline, and became a legendary figure in the Indian Cities of Brooklyn and Seattle. Although both his time on Alcatraz and his life ended in tragedy, Oakes’ legacy is lasting and undeniable, as Native people staged fish-ins and occupations across North America based on his inspiring leadership. As Oakes himself put it, “Alcatraz was not an island, but an idea.” Stephen Hausmann is a doctoral candidate at Temple University and Visiting Instructor of history at the University of Pittsburgh. He is currently writing his dissertation, a history of race and the environment in the Black Hills and surrounding northern plains region of South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Richard Oakes was a natural born leader whom people followed seemingly on instinct. Thus when he dove into the icy San Francisco Bay in the fall of 1969 on his way to Alcatraz Island, he knew others would have his back. Kent Blansett tells Richard Oakes’ story in wonderful detail in A Journey to Freedom: Richard Oakes, Alcatraz, and Red Power (Yale University Press, 2018). Blansett, an associate professor of history at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, argues that by understanding Oakes’ life and his movement across the United States in the 1960s, we can better understand the origins of the Red Power movement. Prior to landing in San Francisco, Richard Oakes lived in the Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne, a borderland region between Canada and the United States. From there he worked with other Mohawks in the ironwork trade, constructing the New York City skyline, and became a legendary figure in the Indian Cities of Brooklyn and Seattle. Although both his time on Alcatraz and his life ended in tragedy, Oakes’ legacy is lasting and undeniable, as Native people staged fish-ins and occupations across North America based on his inspiring leadership. As Oakes himself put it, “Alcatraz was not an island, but an idea.” Stephen Hausmann is a doctoral candidate at Temple University and Visiting Instructor of history at the University of Pittsburgh. He is currently writing his dissertation, a history of race and the environment in the Black Hills and surrounding northern plains region of South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices