The Occupation encampment houses ironworkers, teachers, truck drivers, college students, clergy members, military veterans, job counselors, environmental activists, psychologists, homeless grandmothers in wheelchairs and a few Native Americans who say they traveled to New York in order to call attention to the various ways in which the current "recession" is making life hard for Indians in American cities and on reservations.
Question for Mr. Bird: Can we really hope to bridge the gulf between Indian society and the rest of America, in 2011? Isn't it too late for that now?
His answer: "I think we're going to have to bridge it, and soon -- if we're gonna survive. I'm very hopeful . . . but I also think it's our last opportunity, and we better not squander it!"
Editor's Note: Donald R. Soeken LCSW-C, Ph.D., a social worker in Washington, D.C., frequently counsels whistleblowers. www.whistleblowing.us Journalist Tom Nugent, the author of a book about coal mining in Appalachia (Death at Buffalo Creek, W.W. Norton) often writes about U.S. labor issues.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).