My name is Dennis Banks, I am the leader of the American Indian Movement, or AIM
Who are you?
We seek to correct and change the circumstances of Native American living situations and quality of life by gaining control of schools and out own communities in order to have input in matters like city planning. Our main goal is to bring an end to the slum-like conditions that most natives are living in and generally to help the people that are left on the sidelines that no one else will help (Mueller Salt).
AIM? I've never heard of it. What do you do?
Yes we do! We were formed when we demanded that we be given more money to work on our own solutions to our problems (Kehoe 73). I personally was inspired by the African American Civil Rights protests in the 1960s and the group banded together in response to recent events, particularly rise in police indifference and even brutality (Mueller Salt). Raymond Yellow Thunder was tortured and murder outside a reservation, but the police refused to get involved, claiming it was and Indian matter, and the man who stabbed Wesley Bad Heart Bull was not charged with murder (Kehoe 80, Mueller Salt).
Wow, that's great! So you started in urban cities and deal with Federal Government Spending issues? How did you form this group? (Kehoe 73).