Arif Michael Vega, Staff Writer
The Forum, Jan. 2016
Dennis Banks came to PVCC to speak on his life and actions with the American Indian Movement Oct. 26. Topics were covered from homesteading, the 1973 Siege of Wounded Knee, to life at compulsory boarding schools for Native Americans.
Native American time was also covered, with local speakers providing stories, speeches and a Q&A for the audience while they waited.
When Banks arrived, students were encouraged to put away cell phones and notebooks and instead listen from the heart. “You will hear what you need to hear,” said his sister, Sheila, “and you will remember when you need to remember, perhaps a month or even a year from now.”
Banks is a decorated activist, the co-founder of the American Indian Movement as well as the author of “It’s a Good Day to Die,” an autobiography.