{"id":565,"date":"2012-10-25T14:44:33","date_gmt":"2012-10-25T14:44:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/?p=565"},"modified":"2014-06-19T14:49:51","modified_gmt":"2014-06-19T20:49:51","slug":"in-tribute-to-russell-means-whose-spirit-shall-never-die","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/in-tribute-to-russell-means-whose-spirit-shall-never-die\/","title":{"rendered":"In Tribute To Russell Means Whose Spirit Shall Never Die!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Published in Issue 491 of The Black Commentator on October 25, 2012<\/a>
\nRepublished in Intrepid Report on October 30, 2012<\/a>
\nRepublished in Black Talk Sport on April 4, 2013<\/a>
\nBy Larry Pinkney<\/p>\n

\u201cA very great vision is needed and the man who has it must follow it as the eagle seeks the deepest blue of the sky.\u201d<\/strong>
\n-Chief Crazy Horse<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It is through boundless tears of enormous sorrow and simultaneously, with a renewed sense of determination that my column is written today. My sisters and brothers, another people\u2019s warrior has transitioned on to be nestled by the spirit of our precious Mother Earth in her strong, gentle and welcoming bosom.<\/p>\n

On Monday morning, October 22, 2012, Russell Means, our Indigenous Native warrior, passed on from his physical existence, leaving us a stalwart and exemplary legacy of unrelenting struggle and courage in the face of an increasingly avaricious, vampiric, and hypocritical U.S. Empire.\u00a0[Reference: republished in the, \u2018Russell Means Freedom\u2019<\/em>\u00a0site,\u00a0To Be Black and Head of the\u00a0U.S.\u00a0Empire-A Contradiction in Terms<\/a><\/em>].<\/p>\n

Our dear brother Russell has now joined with so many others of our heroes and sheroes\u00a0including Crazy Horse, Nat Turner, John Brown, Harriet Tubman,\u00a0Emiliano Zapata, Joe Hill, Rosa Luxemburg, Malcolm X, Fannie Lou\u00a0Hamer, Steve\u00a0Biko, Bobby Sands, Marilyn Buck, Geronimo\u00a0Ji-Jaga\u00a0Pratt, and countless others. He stands with and among them now – proud and free!<\/p>\n

Russell Means is perhaps best known as having been one of the leaders of the American Indian Movement (AIM). While Russell was indeed that, he was also so very much more. Russell\u00a0never ceased<\/strong>\u00a0to point out the chauvinism and arrogance of this nation, which fails to pay heed to the destructive seeds of its own internal and external hypocrisy. His \u2018Russell Means Freedom<\/span>\u2019 and \u2018Republic<\/span>\u00a0Of\u00a0Lakotah<\/span>\u2019 web sites constantly sounded the alarm in this regard. While sometimes scorned by the\u00a0U.S.corporate-stream media, he nevertheless,\u00a0did<\/strong>\u00a0not miss a beat<\/strong>\u00a0in exposing and demanding an end to\u00a0U.S.\u00a0hypocrisy and the exploitation and oppression of Indigenous Native peoples and all oppressed peoples. He tirelessly sought to raise the consciousness of the people – to get them \/ us to remember our roots and never lose sight of how valuable these roots are\u00a0to this very day.\u00a0<\/strong>Russell Means was both\u00a0a doer<\/strong>\u00a0and a visionary.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our brother, Russell Means, belongs to\u00a0all<\/strong>\u00a0of us who love freedom and justice – Red, Black, White, Brown, and Yellow people –\u00a0all of us<\/span>!<\/strong> We shall hold on\u00a0tightly<\/span>\u00a0to his spirit, and in so doing, we shall remember our\u00a0many<\/span>\u00a0political prisoners of all colors (including Leonard\u00a0Peltier,\u00a0Mumia\u00a0Abu-Jamal, and Lynne Stewart), in this nation and throughout Mother Earth. We shall intensify and carry on in the just and necessary struggle of\u00a0everyday people,<\/strong>\u00a0from here to\u00a0Palestine, to Haiti, to Asia, to Africa, and yes, to\u00a0Europe, and indeed throughout this planet.<\/p>\n

In the words of Black Panther Party veteran,\u00a0Kiilu\u00a0Nyasha, \u201cLong Live\u00a0The\u00a0Spirit of Russell Means!\u201d Do not doubt this, for the spirit of Russell Means shall never die!<\/p>\n

Remember: Each one, reach one. Each one, teach one.\u00a0Onward, then, my sisters and brothers.\u00a0Onward!<\/p>\n