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Look at Us

John Trudell
Language: English


John Trudell

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[1992]
Parole e musica di John Trudell
Outtake dell’album “AKA Grafitti Man”, presente nel CD single “Rockin The Res”.

John Trudell negli anni 70, all’epoca della sua militanza nell’AIM
John Trudell negli anni 70, all’epoca della sua militanza nell’AIM


Già parecchi anni fa John Trudell - autore, poeta, musicista di origine Santee-Dakota, militante per i diritti dei nativi americani – dichiarò che “La terza guerra mondiale è già cominciata. E’ quella contro i poveri.”
Bisogna ricordare che negli anni 70, quelli dello scontro frontale tra governo federale e la parte più radicale della nazione indiana, John Trudell è stato per parecchi anni portavoce dell’American Indian Movement, fino al febbraio del 1979 quando, poche ore dopo un meeting in cui Trudell aveva bruciato una bandiera americana in segno di protesta contro il governo, un enorme rogo distrusse la sua casa nella Duck Valley Indian Reservation in Nevada. Nell’incendio perì l’intera famiglia di Trudell, la moglie Tina Manning – anch’essa un’attivista radicale – i loro tre figli piccoli e la suocera. L’FBI sostenne si fosse trattato di un incidente ma parecchie circostanze e testimonianze avvaloravano la tesi dell’attentato, ordito proprio da apparati governativi e realizzato dalla banda di Richard A. "Dick" Wilson, un collaborazionista nativo, boss della riserva di Pine Ridge, South Dakota, responsabile di decine di pestaggi ed omicidi di militanti dell’AIM e altre organizzazioni radicali indiane.

Incident at Oglala


Nel 1992 John Trudell ha collaborato alla realizzazione, alla produzione e alle musiche dei film di Michael Apted “Incident at Oglala” e “Thunderheart”, un documentario ed una fiction sulla vicenda dell’assassinio di due agenti federali avvenuto nell’estate del 1975 nella riserva di Pine Ridge, durante il durissimo confronto tra governo USA e AIM. Per quel duplice omicidio fu poi condannato all’ergastolo Leonard Peltier, mitante dell’AIM, nel corso di una vicenda processuale molto controversa. Peltier è recluso dal 1977, e sono ormai quasi 40 anni!
At times they were kind, they were polite in their sophistication, smiling but never too loudly acting in a civilized manner an illusion of gentleness always fighting to get their way. while the people see, the people know, the people wait, the people say the closing of your doors will never shut use out, the closing of your doors can only shut you in.

We know the predator, we see them feed on us, we are aware to starve the beast is our destiny. At times they were kind, they were polite, but never honest.

We see your tech no logical society devour you before your very eyes we hear your anguished cries exalting greed through progress while you seek material advances the sound of flowers dying carry messages through the wind trying to tell you about balance and your safety

But your minds are chained to your machines and the strings dangling from your puppeteers hands turning you, twisting you into forms and confusions beyond your control

Your mind for a job your mind for a t.v. your mind for a hair dryer your mind for consumption.

With your atom bombs your material bombs your drug bombs your racial bombs your class bombs your sexist bombs your ageist bombs

Devastating your natural shelters making you homeless on earth chasing you into illusions fooling you, making you pretend you can run away from the ravishing of your spirit

While the sound of flowers dying carry messages through the wind trying to tell you about balance and your safety.

Trying to isolate us in a dimension called loneliness leading us into the trap believe in their power but not in ourselves piling us with guilt always taking the blame greed chasing out the balance trying to isolate us in a dimension called loneliness

economic deities seizing power through illusions created armies are justified class systems are democracy god listens to warmongers prayers tyranny is here, divide and conquer trying to isolate us in a dimension called loneliness

greed a parent insecurity the happiness companion genocide conceived in sophistication tech no logic material civilization a rationalization replacing a way to live trying to isolate us in a dimension called loneliness

To god we hope you don’t mind but we would like to talk to you; there are some things we need to straighten out, it’s about these christians they claim to be from your nation but man you should see the things they do all the time blaming it on you: manifest destiny, genocide, maximized profit, sterilization, raping the earth, lying taking more than they need in all the forms of the greed. we ask them why, they say it’s god’s will.

Damn god they make it so hard. Remember jesus? Would you send him back to them, tell them how to kill him, rather they should listen stop abusing his name and yours.

We do not mean to be disrespectful but you know how it is, our people have their own ways we never even heard of you until not long ago, your representatives spoke magnificent things of you which we were willing to believe, but from the way they acted we know we and you were being deceived.

We do not mean you and your christian children any bad, but you all came to take all we had we have not seen you but we have heard so much it is time for you to decide what life is worth we already remember but maybe you forgot.

Look at us, look at us, we are of Earth and Water
Look at them, it is the same
Look at us, we are suffering all these years
Look at them, they are connected.
Look at us, we are in pain
Look at them, surprised at our anger
Look at us, we are struggling to survive
Look at them, expecting sorrow be benign
Look at us, we were the ones called pagan
Look at them, on their arrival
Look at us, we are called subversive
Look at them, descending from name callers
Look at us, we wept sadly in the long dark
Look at them, hiding in tech no logic light
Look at us, we buried the generations
Look at them, inventing the body count
Look at us, we are older than America
Look at them, chasing a fountain of youth
Look at us, we are embracing Earth
Look at them, clutching today
Look at us, we are living in the generations
Look at them, existing in jobs and debts
Look at us, we have escaped many times
Look at them, they cannot remember
Look at us, we are healing
Look at them, their medicine is patented
Look at us, we are trying
Look at them, what are they doing
Look at us, we are children of Earth
Look at them, who are they?

Contributed by Bernart Bartleby - 2015/9/23 - 10:28


Look at them... Who are they?

2020/3/23 - 12:33




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