Mr. President: While commuting the 46 drug sentences, you might have also freed Leonard Peltier [View all]

[Algernon Moncrieff]

On Monday, President Obama commuted the sentences of 46 nonviolent drug offenders, citing inequities in our criminal justice system, saying the system can “work smarter and better.”

Obama hasn’t issued many pardons during his time in the White House. But his recent actions have left one group with renewed hope that the president will free one of their own, a man they call a “political prisoner.”

In 1975, during a confrontation on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation located in the U.S. state of South Dakota, two FBI agents were shot and killed.

Leonard Peltier, a Native American activist and member of the American Indian Movement, was arrested for the shootings despite providing alibis.

Read more: http://bluenationreview.com/the-native-american-man-obama-should-absolutely-pardon-from-prison/#ixzz3gak87hnP

And after all that I have seen in these 40 years behind bars, I was still shocked to see what they are trying to do to the Apache people at Oak Flats. This cannot be tolerated. It is not only a blatant money grab at the expense of a tribe’s Sacred site, but it is an effort to push us back in the direction of termination by ignoring our rights as sovereign nations. This we will not tolerate. Nothing is sacred to these people and they will continue to try to bulldoze us out of the way without even a single thought to our coming generations if we do not continue to stand up and oppose them. We must be ready for anything or we will lose all that we have gained in the last 40 years.

The continued use of racist mascots is something that we can never accept as Indigenous peoples and we need to all continue to push to end that racist practice.

Time is something I have learned a lot about in these years in prison. And now I can see that time is slipping away from me and I know that if I do not get out under this President I will almost certainly die here in prison.

I have been able to survive with the hope you have given to me and your prayers and I am grateful for that support from all of you.


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In the Spirit of Crazy Horse.

Doksha,
Leonard Peltier

http://www.workers.org/articles/2015/07/01/fortieth-anniversary-of-oglala-incident-free-leonard-peltier/

Leonard Peltier, now an elder, has already spent nearly 40 years behind bars. His next parole hearing is set for July 2024, over a decade from today. Without parole or Presidential clemency, Peltier won’t be released until 2040. He maintains his innocence.

Madiba is Nelson Mandela’s clan name, so taken from an 18th century Thembu chief. Mandela understood the complex Indigenous and colonial dynamics at play in the Peltier case. He knew that Leonard should be freed, and said so.

President Obama, photo ops and handshaking at the White House Tribal Nations Conference is a nice gesture of solidarity, but for true healing and reconciliation to begin, we must acknowledge our painful history and set about fixing those injustices.

Like Malcolm X said, “You don’t stick a knife in a man’s back nine inches and then pull it out six inches and say you’re making progress…”

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/12/08/mr-president-honor-nelson-mandelas-wishes-and-free-leonard-peltier