Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz: Loaded: A Disarming History of the Second Amendment

“She meticulously and convincingly argues that U.S. gun culture-and the domestic and global massacres that have flowed from it- must be linked to an understanding of the ideological, historical and practical role of guns in seizing Native American lands, black enslavement, and global imperialism.”- Clarence Lusane

The U.S. loves guns. From Daniel Boone and Jesse James to the NRA and Seal Team 6, gun culture has colored the lore, shaped the law, and protected the market that arms the nation, and the world. In Loaded, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz peels away the sacred myths of Americans’ “right to bear arms” to expose the true origins of the Second Amendment, specifically, the connection between the arming of the earliest Anglo settlers, modern-day policing, and the persistence of white supremacy as a political force. From the nation’s origins in slavery and colonization to today’s right wing “gun lobby,” Loaded presents a U.S. history of firearms that will be invaluable for anyone interested in understanding the interconnected histories of racism and gun violence in the United States.

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz grew up in rural Oklahoma, the daughter of a tenant farmer and part-Indian mother. She is the author of many books, including Outlaw Woman, a memoir of her time in an armed underground group, Red Dirt: Growing up Okie, and Blood On the Border: A Memoir of the Contra War, and the recent, widely acclaimed An Indigenous People’s History of the United States.

Presented by KPFA Radio 94.1FM

Host Joanna Manqueros worked as a therapist at Kaiser Hospital, where she has been co-chair of the Diversity Committee in Psychiatry for many years. In addition, she has been a host of KPFA’s Music of the World since 2005.

advance tickets: $12, 800-838-3006 or independent bookstores, $15 door, KPFA benefit more info: kpfa.org/events, wheelchair access