Silver Threads
Still walking, still waking
Poetry as Ammo — Mark k. Tilsen
Show Description:
“We need to let our comrades be as brave as they wanna be, as brave as they can, and sometimes braver than us, and hopefully they inspire us.”
Mark k. Tilsen is an Oglala Lakota Poet Educator from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. He joins the show to share poetry, the necessity of cynicism, what we’re willing to give up, and more.
Mutual Aid:
Solidarity Funds go to Camp Mniluzahan & Creek Patrol (https://www.mllegalfund.org/). This is an invitation to you, dear listener, to engage in mutual aid with each of our guests! If you enjoyed the show, and you have the means, please consider donating—thank you!
BIO
Mark k. Tilsen is an Oglala Lakota Poet Educator from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. He comes from activist families long steeped in the struggle for liberation for all people and the long term survival of the Lakota Nation. At Standing Rock he stepped into the role of a direct action trainer and police liaison. Since then he has led trainings and teach ins about the lessons learned from Standing Rock. He has spent months at the L’eau est La Vie Camp helping fight against the Bayou Bridge Pipeline which is the tail end of the Dakota Access Pipeline ending in Louisiana. His first book of poetry, It Ain’t Over Until We’re Smoking Cigars on the Drill Pad recalls the struggle against the pipeline through a blend of journal entries and poems.
About Silver Threads: still walking, still waking
carla bergman and Eleanor Goldfield interview long term organizers about their watershed moments, what they have learned along the way, and how they maintain their hope on this path; dreaming and building emergent worlds for a present and future that is anchored in justice and freedom for all.