Richard Oakes, born on this day in 1942, was a Mohawk indigenous activist and leader within the Red Power movement, playing a prominent role in the 19-month occupation of Alcatraz Island from 1969 - 1971.

Oakes promoted Native American studies in university curricula and is credited for helping to change U.S. federal government “Termination” policies (policies regarding assimilation of indigenous people into the culture of the colonizer) of Native American peoples and culture.

In 1969, Oakes led a 19-month occupation of Alcatraz Island with LaNada Means, approximately 50 California State University students, and 37 others. On January 5th, 1970, Oakes’ 12-year-old daughter, Yvonne, fell to her death from concrete steps. After her funeral, Oakes left the island.

In 1972, Oakes was shot and killed in Sonoma, California, by Michael Morgan, a YMCA camp manager. Allegedly, Oakes violently confronted Morgan, and Morgan responded by drawing a handgun and fatally shooting Oakes.

Oakes was unarmed when he was shot. Morgan claimed he acted in self-defense, and was acquitted on charges of voluntary manslaughter.

“We do not fear your threat to charge us with crimes on our land. We and all other oppressed peoples would welcome spectacle of proof before the world of your title by genocide. Nevertheless, we seek peace.”

Richard Oakes

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  • buh [any]@hexbear.net
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    1 month ago

    I work at a small no name company and they listed a job opening for an entry level marketing job – it got over 4,000 applicants in less than a week

    Folks, the econony is cooked ☹️

    • hexaflexagonbear [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      1 month ago

      Generally agreed, but the entry level job market is always crazy starting in may. When the job market was hot a few years ago I remember simultaneously getting solicited to interview for R&D and quant positions I probably didn’t qualify for and getting ghosted on jobs with 1000 applicants.

  • someone [comrade/them, they/them]@hexbear.net
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    1 month ago

    I changed all my dating app profiles to basically say that I will enthusiastically help potential cheaters cheat on their partners, with the utmost discretion.

    I am getting some fascinating replies. It’s about a 1:3 ratio of people furious that I would do such a vile thing, compared to people venting to me about how they want out of their relationships and want to hook up ASAP for revenge.

  • Darthsenio_Mall [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    1 month ago

    found a cool ass pepper dude that sells a bunch of neat pepper plant varieties out of his house yesterday. i’ve been wanting to try a habanada plant (it’s a habanero that doesn’t make capsaicin!) but while you can find em online pretty easily no nurseries around here have them with the exception of this guy’s driveway pepper operation. got to his place and he’s like “wassup yeah you can just have the habanada, kind of a small plant this year so i don’t wanna charge you.” hell yeah dawg fuckin righteous. i ended up buying an aji lemon and a sugar rush peach stripey plant from him too, those were my backups in case he was out of the habanadas. so I’ve got those three and tobascos goin’ this year.

    anyway i wanna make a super flavorful habanero sauce that’s only a 🤏 spicy, I’ll let you know if it works out in like three months.

    also

  • GeorgeZBush [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    1 month ago

    It’s weird, it’s like a switch in my brain flipped and now I’m just motivated. I want to go back to school, find a new job, try new shit, etc. Been doing a lot of research in the past few days. Time to fucking move my life along.

  • CommunistBear [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    1 month ago

    American lawn culture is deeply fascist and disgusting. I do not want a sterile monoculture of a lawn. I do not want to exterminate native species. I do not give a single shit about how “presentable” it looks. I do not give a shit about “weeds”. I do not want to dump poison on the place both wild and domestic animals enjoy.

    Where once I had an oasis of beauty; filled with birds and bugs and chipmunks and rabbits. I now have a decapitated husk of it’s former self.

  • AlicePraxis [any]@hexbear.net
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    1 month ago

    why does lemmy not have a “hide post” button? how are you gonna emulate the worst site on the internet but not implement its best feature?

  • SSJ2Marx@hexbear.net
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    1 month ago

    Why do dogs like tennis balls so much? Is it their slightly furry texture reminding them of catching a small prey? Or is it the fact that small, spherical, bouncy things don’t exist in nature that makes them such an appealing toy?

    Or maybe they don’t care for tennis balls either way, and their true motivation is the fact that playing with one is a surefire way to entice a human into playing with them.

  • ClimateChangeAnxiety [he/him, they/them]@hexbear.net
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    1 month ago

    I truly, deeply hate car alarms. I think they should be fully illegal. I want a world where if your car gets broken into, if your car screams about it you get in more trouble than the thief.

    A car thief only harms one victim. A car owner with an alarm harms everyone within half a mile. Fuck. You.

    Honestly if cities enforced their laws equally they would already be illegal in most cities. They certainly break the noise ordinance here, but that’s only enforced against people enjoying things, not against property.

    It’s such America brained bullshit. Why do we think we have the right to piss off everyone in a half mile radius on the tiny chance we might be able to protect our property. As always in this country, property has more rights than people.

    • Do they even stop theft? I genuinely can’t imagine a car alarm going off has ever once stopped something from being stolen. If I hear a car alarm my first thought is never “Oh no, someone’s car is being broken into!” my first thought is “Ugh who set off their car alarm by accident fuck you and your car”

      • GalaxyBrain [they/them]@hexbear.net
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        1 month ago

        If I hear one go off I hope it’d getting broken into. Cause also, usually they’re not gonna steal the entire car, just whatever might be inside.

      • Frank [he/him, he/him]@hexbear.net
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        1 month ago

        I have a book from, idk, twenty years ago? Called “where the wild things were” and it’s all about the ecological damage wrought by light pollution, twenty years ago. Pretty grim.

    • Rojo27 [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      1 month ago

      I’m too lazy to check now, but I’m pretty sure car alarms are banned in my city and every once in a while I’ll think about how weird [and good] it is not to hear car alarms anymore.