Us Too Advocacy mourns the loss of a great Indigenous Warrior. A Warrior who brought the plight of Indigenous abuses to the forefront through his undying activism. We at Us Too Advocacy can only stand in the shadows of this Great Warrior in our ongoing fight for Indigenous Rights throughout Turtle Island.<\/p>\n
Originally published Jan. 11, 2022 MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) <\/em><\/p>\n “He co-founded the American Indian Movement (AIM) in 1968 to help advocate for tribal sovereignty and other Civil Rights. And his life\u2019s passion and work extended well beyond his home state of Minnesota.<\/p>\n A ceremonial fire burns as people grapple with the loss of a legend. To Lisa Bellanger, Bellecourt was \u201cuncle.\u201d A man known worldwide, but like family to so many.<\/p>\n \u201cI hear him called uncle all over the world,\u201d Bellanger said. \u201cI really wouldn\u2019t be who I am without him.\u201d<\/p>\n Bellanger is now AIM\u2019s executive director.<\/p>\n \u201cAIM created an awakening, you know, on a national level of our people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Bellecourt\u2019s early days were spent patrolling neighborhoods trying to stop police brutality. He eventually co-chaired the Police Community Relations Council. From education and job training, to medical care and legal advice, Bellecourt travelled near and far pushing for change and equity.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was never just a job for him, it was a way of life,\u201d Bellanger said.<\/p>\n One of his latest pushes was to rid sports teams of racist mascots \u2014 something Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan highlighted in her statement to WCCO about him.<\/p>\n \u201cIndian Country benefited from Clyde Bellecourt\u2019s activism,\u201d Flanagan said. \u201cHe cleared a path for so many of us.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAt the end of the day, it\u2019s about his grandkids, you know, and ensuring that their kids and their grandkids will have equity,\u201d Bellanger said.<\/p>\n Bellecourt told Bellanger to carry on this message.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2019Stay at the table. You gotta keep working. You can\u2019t give up,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cWe can\u2019t just be a silent voice. We have to be out there.\u201d<\/p>\n Bellecourt also met with world leaders and spoke at the United Nations.<\/p>\n Bellanger says he died at home with family after a long cancer battle.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Us Too Advocacy mourns the loss of a great Indigenous Warrior. A Warrior who brought the plight of Indigenous abuses to the forefront through his undying activism. We at Us Too Advocacy can only stand in the shadows of this Great Warrior in our ongoing fight for Indigenous Rights throughout Turtle Island. Originally published Jan. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10222,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archive"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/ustooadvocacy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/snapshot-6.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustooadvocacy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustooadvocacy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustooadvocacy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustooadvocacy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustooadvocacy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10243"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ustooadvocacy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10243\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustooadvocacy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustooadvocacy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustooadvocacy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustooadvocacy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}