Today marks the annual observance of “Columbus day”, a national holiday where the nation celebrates the “great navigator” Christopher Columbus. What is usually overlooked on this day is that aside from being a “simple seaman” who discovered a “new world” by accident, Columbus was the first in a long line of European exploiters who stole the wealth of the Americas while destroying the ingenious population and enslaving Africans for profit.
Yesterday in Denver, over 200 American Indian Movement members and their allies were arrested in a principled act of civil resistance to the “Convoy of Conquest” (aka: Columbus Day Parade). Stating that the “Convoy is a celebration of genocide against the indigenous peoples of the Americas”, the protestors blocked the parade route for over an hour. Despite the fact that their protest was non-violent and morally justified, the protestors were eventually arrested on charges of loitering and disobeying police orders.
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