Idle No More, Hollywood style

My own article on the Idle No More movement--from my Los Angeles-based perspective, of course:

Idle No More, Hollywood Style

By Rob SchmidtWhen Pamela J. Peters and Shawn Imitates-Dog attended a recent Idle No More rally in downtown Los Angeles, they were surprised.

The crowd was small—odd, considering LA County has the largest urban population of Indians. No media representatives were present. And the signs addressed immigration, racism and other issues not directly related to the protests sweeping Canada.

Idle No More’s message was being lost, they realized. Onlookers weren’t sure what the movement was about. Reporters didn’t know how to cover it.

They decided to hold their own rally to raise awareness of Idle No More and what it stands for. At its core, said Peters, the movement is about “the sovereign rights that we as tribal people have. We have rights to protect our water, our air and our land for future generations.”

There was one major obstacle. Many activists were planning to attend a big rally in Sacramento in two weeks. That gave Peters, a Navajo media consultant, and Imitates-Dog, a Lakota HR professional, less than seven days to organize and implement their idea.Below:  "Model and actress Shannon Baker at the Idle No More rally in Los Angeles."



Read the rest of the article to see how it turned out.

More photos from the rally:

Scenes from the Idle No More Protest at The Grove in Los Angeles

Comment:  For more on Idle No More, see Young People Lead Idle No More and Morris Mirror: Natives = Terrorists."

Below:  "Actress Q'orianka Kilcher and musician Quese IMC at an Idle No More rally in Los Angeles." (Nia MacKnight)