This article provides an example of a grass-roots, citizen organized media organization. I have often argued that a nationwide network of such organizations is essential to insure the dissemination of accurate information within our nation which is inundated with largely pro-ruling class propaganda from corporate media. Also I believe that the very operation of such an independent media would threaten the rule of the capitalist class and thereby function as the most promising catalyst to organize an effective revolutionary organization throughout the United States.
As you can see in this article, the Unicorn Riot media collective, which is based in Minneapolis, is providing ongoing coverage of the struggle waged by indigenous populations and other concerned citizens against the Dakota Access Pipeline just south of Bismarck, North Dakota.
Since April 1st, 2016, Unicorn Riot has been covering the Sacred Stone Spirit Camp, and the subsequent #NoDAPL movement, to stop construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) underneath both the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers.
Over three hundred tribes have come together to say no to the Dakota Access Pipeline. We’ve lived in a camp alongside these nations, sharing their culture and traditions and standing united in what some have called the largest gathering of Native people since 1898.
Over the last month, various law enforcement agencies, private mercenary organizations, and other DAPL assets, have expanded their aerial surveillance, “information” checkpoints, and use of heavily armed riot police backed by MRAP‘s and Bearcat armored vehicles. Amidst the militarized crackdown on demonstrations against the pipeline, hundreds of people have been arrested, including four Unicorn Riot journalists.
