A Good Day to Die

This was a very informative documentary about the connection between the American Indian Movement members and the heritage of Wounded Knee. The interviews are straightforward, not overly dramatic -- even nervous, or plainly unrehearsed; and the Indian people share their personal feelings, even bringing in the lawmen on the opposite side of the standoff to recount what they saw.

The history here is worth knowing, and I'm glad to be a part of the people who have seen this film.

If one thing struck me, even though it was not the only part of what he was saying in that sentence, it was Dennis Banks turning to the camera and saying, "Go to Wounded Knee."

The U.$. $y$tem of "Ju$t U$" is a veritable labyrinth with no Exit- and, once you're caught up in it, you're doomed. The bottom line is, invariably, The Bottom Line. It's CHEAPER, for instance, to dump toxic waste on a Reservation than to try to find a sensible way to get rid of it. (The "spent" radioactive waste dumped in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, for instance, is the same kind of poison that's been buried on reservations in this company for decades.) In the documentary American OUTRAGE, we find out that the U.$. government, peeved that Natives would decry the government's charges of trespassing against them (they were charged with trespassing ON THEIR OWN LAND and their horses rounded up and starved to death), actually threatened to detonate an Atomic Bomb on the Native land in retaliation. How's THAT for inJu$tU$...?

I was fortunate to be invited to a private pre-release showing in San Francisco in June 2010. Dennis flew out to show it to about 50 friends.

Its hard for me to say much about this film besides what I said to Dennis just after seeing it. "Dennis, I hope I'm not saying this because I've worked on projects with you, but it's a Masterpiece!"

This film isn't so much just about Dennis Banks, a co-founder of AIM, the "American Indian Movement", it's about the movement itself, from the children dragged off to Boarding School to the various occupations such as Wounded Knee and Alcatraz. It's a major slice of the whole rise of the "Red Power" movement.

It would be great if this could be shown to EVERY History class in Junior and Senior High School and would help greatly in reducing prejudice in young people against Indians and at the same time create an awareness in Native Americans that they have much to be proud of in their heritage.

Well done, my friend Mister Banks, as well as the Producers and Directors. You have done a great service to this country in bringing this film to the public.

I saw this eye-opening film at the Twin Cities Film Festival tonight and it was tremendous. It follows the life of Dennis Banks, one of the founders of AIM, the American Indian Movement and their efforts to make the American public and politicians aware of the difficulties Native Americans have had over the centuries. The broken treaties have led to the movement's activities, climaxing with Wounded Knee. Many people are interviewed, including Banks, his daughter, many of the people who were involved in the movement. We get both the Native point of view and that of the politicians who have resisted their requests for the past 40 years.

The discussion following the film merited discussion, including the lack of true curriculum for the Public Schools regarding Native history.

The movie hasn't found a distributor yet, but it's a Must See!!!