Rethinking the Red Power Movement examines Red Power ideology with a focus on its many forms of solidarity with African Americans, the role of gender in shaping the movement, its international expansion, and its current meaning in contemporary activism.
The Red Power Movement is often considered the apex of Indigenous activism in the twentieth century. While diverse, the movement is typically told through four actions. Beginning with the occupation of Alcatraz in 1969, followed by the Trail of Broken Treaties in 1972, Wounded Knee in 1973, then culminating with the Longest Walk in 1978, there is a clear jumpstart, middle, and end to the Red Power Movement. Through a chronological approach, this study makes the case that Red Power never died—and neither did Indigenous activism. Instead, it shows how Indigenous peoples found many ways to push forward Indigenous sovereignty and continue to call on the United States to value Indigenous possibilities for justice, freedom, and power.
This book is useful for students and scholars interested in twentieth century America, social movements, and the history of Indigenous activism.
Introduction
- Origins, contexts and the First Wave of Red Power
- Rethinking the classic (Second Wave) Red Power Movement
- Rethinking the contexts of Red Power
- The Third Wave of Red Power
Conclusion: Red Power to the Future
Red Power Timeline
Biography
Sam Hitchmough is an Associate Professor of Modern U.S. History at the University of Bristol, UK. He is a scholar of Indigenous history, particularly activism since 1944, as well as being interested in memory, national narratives, counter-narratives, and popular culture.
Kyle T. Mays (Saginaw Chippewa) is an Associate Professor of African American Studies, American Indian Studies, and History at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is a scholar of Afro-Indigenous history, urban studies, and contemporary popular culture. He is the author of City of Dispossessions: Indigenous Peoples, African Americans, and the Creation of Modern Detroit (2022).
Matching the foundational work of Smith and Warrior, Hitchmough and Mays’ book robustly advances the field of Red Power studies.
Hitting virtual and physical shelves over the 50th anniversary of some of the most famous Red Power protests, this book will change for ever the way you think about this important indigenous rights movement, and related struggles - in the past, present and the future.
Hitchmough and May’s critical intervention into Red Power studies and history will change the way we think about this movement, and its relationship with black civil rights and the US as a nation.
Gyorgy Toth, author of From Wounded Knee to Checkpoint Charlie.
