BTL:Groups Campaign to End Veneration of Columbus and Transform Holiday

Groups Campaign to End Veneration of Columbus and Transform Holiday

Interview with Glenn Morris, of the Colorado American Indian Movement, conducted by Melinda Tuhus

The second Monday of October marks Columbus Day celebrations across the nation, which only became a national holiday in 1971. But as the full history becomes better known about the man who is credited with "discovering" America, protesters have called for the abolition or transformation of the holiday away from one that honors a man guilty of genocide against Native Americans to one that has a more inclusive narrative. Some cities and states have already renamed the holiday Indigenous People's Day or American Indian Day.

Denver, Colo. is at the forefront of this struggle. There, the Alliance to Transform Columbus Day, led by the Colorado chapter of the American Indian Movement, or AIM, has been challenging the Colombus holiday since 1989. On Oct. 7th, the Alliance will hold their All Nations Four Directions solidarity rally, and the next day the group will protest Denver's annual Columbus Day parade.

Solidarity actions are now held in many other cities, both in the U.S. and in Latin America and Europe. Last year, a statue of Columbus in Caracas, Venezuela, was toppled by protesters. Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with Glenn Morris of Colorado AIM about the history of the Columbus holiday and efforts now underway to transform it.

For more information, call the Colorado chapter of the American Indian Movement office at (303) 832-2544 or visit their website at http://www.transformcolumbusday.org

Related links:

"A People's History of the United States," book by Howard Zinn

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