Walk To Justice Rally, Cedar Park, Minneapolis, Minnesota: Photography by Darren Thomspon

“Great Spirit, grant me vision that I may not go wrong; Or find myself in prison of things I have not done; Teach me the secret that I might see; Fill my heart with compassion to love my enemy.”

— Lyrics from Prayer Song, written by Robby Romero & Bob Neuwirth

Clemency Now!

NOVEMBER 7, 2022 | By ROBBY ROMERO

On a warm summer evening. The time of the mandaamin giizis (corn moon) when the spirits are waiting to begin their walk on mother earth and prepare future generations. I was backstage at an American Indian Movement (AIM) grass-roots rally tuning up guitars with my kholá (brother) singer-songwriter Mitch Walking Elk. We were preparing to sing a few songs in honor of Leonard Peltier for the crowd gathered at Cedar Field, Little Earth, a Dakota/Ojibwe urban Indian community in Minneapolis. With the sacred smoke of cedar, sage, and sweetgrass lingering in the air, a soulful honor song blessed the gathering as the Bear Runner singers hit that last drumbeat.

Suddenly, through the solar-powered PA system, I heard the voice of Rachel Thunder, a young Warrior Woman in a new era of AIM, address the crowd. Ms. Thunder spoke of dreams about Peltier. "I would be in Leonard's prison cell with him. He'd be sitting there in bed with his face in his hands. He wouldn't say anything, but in each of these dreams, I would say, your people are coming to get you. We haven't forgotten you. Don't worry, we're coming."

Leonard Peltier, an Ojibwa Elder, incarcerated for more than four decades for his alleged role in the deaths of two FBI agents in 1975 on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, is the longest-serving Indigenous political prisoner in American history. Over the years, national and international petitions bearing millions of signatures have called for Peltier's release. Pope Francis, the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and former United States Attorney General William Ramsey Clark have all spoken truth to power on behalf of Leonard Peltier. Even the former United States Attorney James Reynolds, whose office prosecuted Mr. Peltier, wrote a letter to President Joe Biden requesting clemency. In his letter, Mr. Reynolds states,

“I have realized that the prosecution and continued incarceration of Mr. Peltier was and is unjust.” and “We are not able to prove that Mr. Peltier personally committed any offense on the Pine Ridge Reservation”

— Former United States Attorney James Reynolds

Some fifty members of Congress, Amnesty International, the United Nations Human Rights Council's Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the National Congress of American Indians, governments, dignitaries, celebrities, and human rights organizations around the globe have advocated for Peltier's release. Yet, Peltier remains a political prisoner in America's broken justice system.

In the early 90s, I played a concert with Mitch Walking Elk in honor of Leonard Peltier at the United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth, Kansas. Leavenworth was the first time I had seen Leonard since I was a teenager in the 70s. At the time, My mother had asked me to bring Hollywood's "Easy Rider" Dennis Hopper to the American Indian Movement encampment. And so Dennis, his assistant, my sister, and I traveled from Taos Pueblo to Dené Territory on the Navajo reservation to meet with the movement's leaders. It was there I was first called-up.

On August 31, 2022, Ms. Thunder's dreams were realized. Through ceremony, song, and dance, Leonard Peltier's "Walk To Justice" began with a rally and prayer in the light of hope that justice shall prevail. Indeed his people are coming to take him home.

In these days of prophecy and pandemic, I thought about walks conducted by the United States Government since its founding in 1776. Walks like the 1830 "Trail of Tears" and the 1863 "Long Walk Of The Navajo." These walks were part of the United States' mission to ethnically cleanse Indigenous Peoples. In a massive land and resource grab, the United States Congress, on May 28, 1830, passed the Indian Removal Act, beginning the forced relocation of tens of thousands of Native Peoples from their ancestral lands. Between 1830 and 1868, countless perished from starvation, disease, and brutal conditions on these unmerciful walks at the hands of the United States Government and its Army.

Following extradition from First Nations territories in Canada and the incarceration of Mr. Peltier in 1977, the American Indian Movement organized a different kind of walk — One of hope, celebrating the resilience of Indigenous Peoples. This was "The Longest Walk," and it addressed the many life-threaten injustices facing Indigenous Peoples, Mother Earth and Leonard Peltier.

“And what would you do; As you stare into the face of; The genocide of your people; Put yourself in the place of Leonard Peltier.”

— Lyrics from the song Leonard Peltier, written by Steven Van Zandt

On September 1, 2022, Leonard Peltier's "Walk To Justice," sponsored by the American Indian Movement Grand Governing Council, took its first step on a 1,100-mile spiritual walk from Cedar Field in Minneapolis and concluded at a Rally on November 13, 2022, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.

In a Call to Action, a Call for Compassion, I am reaching out to all who bravely stood for justice over the 46 years of Mr. Peltier's wrongful imprisonment. I am calling on the millions that have signed countless petitions here and abroad. Spiritual leaders, artists, musicians, politicians, and organizations, Native or not, who have peacefully and gracefully given their talent and time to this most worthy cause in the name of human rights. I am calling on the new generation of activists and leaders to unite for liberty and justice for all to bring Leonard home. There is strength in unity, power in truth. Please respectfully request United States President Joe Biden grant Lenoard Peliter CLEMENCY NOW!

From "The Longest Walk" to the "Walk To Justice," cries for freedom have rung out throughout the Americas. They have been carried across oceans in the rolling thunder and prayers of our ancestors. Leonard Peltier is a Prisoner of Conscience. Until there is freedom for Leonard Peltier and the endless number of political prisoners the world over, not one of us is truly free.