Nick Estes: "Our History is the Future" & Revolutionary Certainty

In this episode, I sit down with Nick Estes, our comrade from The Red Nation! We had a lot to talk about, as expected, but I was especially excited to talk to Nick about formative moments in his life that have shaped how he maintains militant alignment with anti-imperialist politics despite the extensive pressures to disidentify from this struggle. We also into his incredible book, "Our History is the Future"; the pitfalls to be aware of as revolutionary energies are siphoned off by systems of power; and, importantly, the commitment to our future as clearly as our present. The conversation felt like a balm, and I hope it wil feel the same to you! Nick Estes is an enrolled member of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe and is an Associate Professor in American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota. He studies colonialism and global Indigenous histories, focusing on decolonization, oral history, U.S. imperialism, environmental justice, anti-capitalism, and the Oceti Sakowin. Estes is the author of the award-winning book Our History Is the Future: Standing Rock Versus the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the Long Tradition of Indigenous Resistance (2019), which places the Indigenous-led movement to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline into historical context. He co-edited with Jaskiran Dhillon Standing with Standing Rock: Voices from the #NoDAPL Movement (2019), which draws together more than thirty contributors, including leaders, scholars, and activists of the Standing Rock movement, for a reflection of Indigenous history and politics and on the movement's significance. Estes was the American Democracy Fellow at the Charles Warren Center for Studies in History at Harvard University (2017-2018), the Lannan Literary Fellow for non-fiction (2019), and a Marguerite Casey Foundation Freedom Fellow (2020-2021). He is a National Archives Distinguished Scholar at Boston University (2022-2023). Estes co-hosts the Red Nation podcast and is the lead editor of Red Media, an Indigenous-run non-profit media organization that publishes books, videos, and podcasts. Don't forget to subscribe to our comrades' channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TheRedNation and our channel: https://www.youtube.com/@PsychicMilitancy For exclusive pre-releases and other content, consider joining as a paid member at: www.patreion.com/psychic militancy. You can find us on IG: @psychicmilitancypod