Untangling the history of Black rights on Native land

Enlarge this image (from R to L) Michael Hill, Dietta Parker (Michael’s mom), and Ron Jones II (Michael’s attorney) outside of the Okmulgee County Courthouse after Michael’s final day in court Allison Herrera hide caption toggle caption Allison Herrera (from R to L) Michael Hill, Dietta Parker (Michael’s mom), and Ron Jones II (Michael’s attorney) outside of the Okmulgee County Courthouse after Michael’s final day in court Allison Herrera For many Americans, slavery is a white-Black issue: there were white slave owners, and Black enslaved people. But, on this episode we get into another history of enslavement — the fact that some Native American nations also enslaved Black people. We’re joined by Allison Herrera, a journalist who, along with Adreanna Rodriguez, spent almost two years making an audio documentary called Tribal Justice: The Struggle for Black Rights on Native Land. Herrera explains how the criminal legal system considers who is and isn’t Native, and what that means for the thousands of Black people who are members of tribal nations. Tribal Justice: The Struggle for Black Rights on Native Land is an Audible Original, you can listen to the full audio documentary here. Sponsor Message This episode was produced by Christina Cala and Adreanna Rodriguez, with help from Jess Berg. It was edited by Courtney Stein. Our engineer was Robert Rodriguez.