Documentary: AWAKE, a Dream from Standing Rock

Corporate and U.S. government power is arrayed against unarmed protesters of the Dakota Access Pipeline in “AWAKE, a Dream from Standing Rock.” The film will be shown November 11 at 1:30 pm as part of the Second Saturday Documentary Series at Niles Discovery Church, 36600 Niles Blvd., Fremont, at the corner of Nursery Ave. The screening is free and open to the public.

Led by youth and young adults of the Standing Rock Tribe (part of the Lakota Sioux people), Native Americans and environmentalists from across the country and around the globe gathered, starting during the summer of 2016, to protest the building of an oil pipeline under Lake Oahe and the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. The rivers provide drinking water to millions of Americans, and the Missouri is the sole drinking water source for the Standing Rock Reservation. The Dakota Access Pipeline was conceived to carry half a million barrels of oil a day from western North Dakota to Southern Illinois.

Peaceful protesters, concerned about oil leaks into water sources and the desecration of native sacred sites, occupied a sprawling camp near the Cannonball River. Protest victories, including a stay of construction in the last days of the Obama administration, were up-ended in the first week of the Trump administration when construction was ordered to proceed. Finally freezing weather, the National Guard, and law enforcement cleared the camp last February. Construction resumed while legal challenges continue.

There will be a moderated discussion after the screening.

The Second Saturday Documentary Series is co-sponsored by Niles Discovery Church and the San Jose Peace and Justice Center. Learn more about the series at http://bit.ly/1711ssds.