Distinguished activist and scholar Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz shares her latest work, Not "a Nation of Immigrants": Settler Colonialism, White Supremacy, and a History of Erasure and Exclusion, in conversation with activist Brandon Benallie, a cofounder of the K’é Infoshop.

Whether in political debates or discussions about immigration around the kitchen table, many Americans, regardless of party affiliation, will say proudly that we are a nation of immigrants. Dunbar-Ortiz asserts this ideology is harmful and dishonest because it serves to mask and diminish the US's history of genocide, white supremacy, slavery, and structural inequality, all of which we still grapple with today.

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz grew up in rural Oklahoma in a tenant farming family. She has been active in the international Indigenous movement for more than 4 decades and is known for her lifelong commitment to national and international social justice issues. Dunbar-Ortiz is the winner of the 2017 Lannan Cultural Freedom Prize, and is the author or editor of many books, including An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States, a recipient of the 2015 American Book Award. She lives in San Francisco. Connect with her at reddirtsite.com or on Twitter @rdunbaro.

Brandon Benallie is of the Towering House Diné born for the Badger Clan of the Hopi. He was raised by strong Diné women and femmes in Dził Yizhiin (Black Mesa, Arizona) and T’iists’óóz Ńdeeshgizh (Crownpoint, NM). Brandon has spent most of his life involved with the protection and restoration of lands and water harmed by capitalism and settler colonization. He is a founding collective member of the K’é Infoshop Collective, which is based in Tséghahoodzaní (Window Rock, AZ), and is a radical anarchist and communist collective raising awareness for Black and Indigenous liberation.