Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, a writer, teacher, historian, and social activist, is Professor Emeritus of Ethnic Studies and Women’s Studies at California State University, East Bay, and author of many articles and books, including Blood on the Border: A Memoir of the Contra War (South End Press, 2005), Outlaw Woman: A Memoir of the War Years, 1960-1975 (City Lights Books, 2001) and Red Dirt: Growing Up Okie (Verso, 1997). Her most recent book is Roots of Resistance: A History of Land Tenure in New Mexico (University of Oklahoma Press, 2007).

In this interview, Dunbar-Ortiz talks about her new book, Roots of Resistance, indigenous land revolts in the US, international solidarity and the importance of learning about the history and current issues of Native Americans.

Toward Freedom: Please tell us a little about how you came to write the first version
of Roots of Resistance in 1980?