Civil Disobedience In Mary Crow Dog's Lakota Woman

Experience is the key to living life and helping others live a better life. It is important for a person to know that mistakes are what make people grow and understand things. There is saying that goes like this, “History will repeat itself” (unknown). This quote is an important message to the people of the world because one day, history will repeat itself and the world must be ready to face what is to come. With this in mind, people have to look over the history that is dark and that is rarely explained. Lakota Woman, a story by Mary Crow Dog is an autobiography of what an Indian woman went through during the times of discrimination and segregation of many people. Her story revolves around her life, her husband, and her traditions. Throughout …show more content…
I will define it as the deliberate violation of a law in pursuit of some social goal” (Zinn 125). While reading Lakota Woman, I realized that AIM was taking part of violating the law in order to give the government a message. AIM was seen as evil and dangerous to the whites, because the media and government portrayed them that way. For many Indians, it was a sign of hope and a sign of a new beginning. Yet once again, the government goes against the Declaration of Independence which states “that all men are created equal.” In which, the government put AIM leaders and Indians in jail for events that only happened because they wanted to be heard. Or they were falsely put in prison just for the sake that people wanted to see someone pay for the actions of another. This is what happened to Mary Crow Dog’s husband, Leonard when he was accused of knowing the location of Leonard Peltier, who has been considered a political prisoner. “There were a lot of things wrong with AIM” and Mary admitted that but it was still an organization that had a message worth fighting for (Crow Dog 277 of 971). There are a lot of things wrong with movements in the beginning, but throughout history, people see that the end result is usually good and the fight is worth …show more content…
Social media and the news always tries to pick a side and it is hard to tell what is the truth and what is a lie. The United States has hidden a lot of information from the public and it has changed the way people look at things, especially the government. People try and expose the faults in America’s democracy but it is hard because while people have the freedom of speech and press, they still are limited to things that go against what the public should and shouldn’t hear. Social justice figures are important because they stand for a cause. They want to make the world a better place with ideals that fit a lot of people’s needs. While things have changed over the past century, issues that were a problem back then, are still a problem now. People face discrimination, people face the unknown, and people face unsuppressed power within powerful corporations. In the end, the American people will stand for what they believe, even when most people will agree that it is not right or just. Something that should change is how people look at American history. America is seen as a model country with its motto, “land of the free, home of the brave.” Our history is praised for the good deeds of the people who rose against the evil and injustice in America and yet in today’s world, people are still discriminated against, people are still treated poorly, and people are still seen as underprivileged and poor. Our history has