On the Road Again…Part Three
Part Three of Three Parts
As part of the schedule of events for the conference, participants were invited to make posters that would be used at the community protest of the Washington Redskins who were playing he Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on Sunday, October 14th. Since DeLanna and I agreed to participate in the protest, we also spent some time with folks making large, hand-painted posters with powerful statements. The plan was to have three groups of people protest at three key locations: 1) The Paper Mill Hotel in Appleton where the Washington Redskins players and management would load up on buses to depart for Lambeau Field, 2) Oneida’s Parish Hall where the buses would actually pass en route to Lambeau Field, and 3) the parking lot at Lambeau Field.
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| A sample of the more than 20 signs that were hand-painted at the “Examining Choices That Harm Our Children: Why We Should Question the Washington Redskins, Stories About Columbus, and Other Race-Based Entertainment and School Traditions” conference. | ||
DeLanna and I joined the group at the hotel in the hopes of giving pamphlets to the Redskins players and their management so we gathered early in the morning (7 AM to be exact!) in the cold and drizzle. We were unsuccessful in distributing our materials however; we did get a lot of attention with our posters and our chants “No more Indian mascots!”
The Washington Redskins buses never made their way past Oneida’s Parish Hall (who knows what route they ended up taking to Lambeau Field) so that was unfortunate for the group that was gathered there in the cold and drizzle. Our group at Lambeau Field was much more successful! They got a lot of attention from Packers and Redskins fans alike, although it was mostly negative. But, they did get media attention, which is great when thinking about exposing this issue to a larger audience. Check out the following video news clip.
DeLanna and I had wonderful trip and we are thrilled about how “Kick” was positively received by all of our audiences. We sincerely look forward to the opportunity to travel back to Wisconsin to see and work alongside all of our dear friends and colleagues who are there.
ENCOMPASS would like to extend a very special thanks to (in no particular order):
DeLanna Studi, Actor
Barbara Munson, Facilitator (WIEA, Indian Mascot and Logo Taskforce)
Bob Munson, Tour Manager (WIEA, Indian Mascot and Logo Taskforce)
Christine Munson, Facilitator (WIEA, Indian Mascot and Logo Taskforce)
Cliff Morton (Wisconsin State Human Relations Association)
Barbara Miller (University of Wisconsin Oshkosh)
Keary Mattson (Gresham Elementary and High School)
J.P. Leary (Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction)
Dr. Stephanie Fryberg (University of Arizona)
Richie Plass (Changing Winds Advocacy Center)
Ruth Gudinas (Full Circle)
Dorothy Davids (Full Circle)
Carol and Leroy Cardinal
Carol and Harvey Gunderson
Lily Antone-Plass
Ken, Christine and Archer Munson
Brett Munson
John, Brittney and Rio Elise Greendeer
Matt and Song Stewart
The Oneida Nation
The Oneida drum circle and dancers
The Green Bay Packers (for winning Sunday’s game against the Redskins – Go Packers!)
Cheese Curds, black coffee, Grama’s homemade blackberry pie, The Apollan and Famous Dave’s BBQ (mmmmmm)
And the many others whose names I have omitted and with whom we had the pleasure of interacting with on the Wisconsin Fall 2007 “Kick” tour.
Until next time!