Indigenous Citizens. Sovereignty, Land, and the Fight for Native Rights #TheBlackTable

5.8.2026 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Indigenous Citizens. Sovereignty, Land, and the Fight for Native Rights

Dr. Greg Carr sits down with Professor Paul Rozier of Villanova University to discuss Indigenous Citizens: Native Americans Fight for Sovereignty, 1776–2025 and the long struggle over land, citizenship, treaty rights, and Native sovereignty in the United States.

The conversation traces how Native nations fought forced assimilation, land theft, broken treaties, and voter suppression while continuing to defend their political and cultural sovereignty. Rozier explains how Native communities used American citizenship as both a tool of survival and a way to protect tribal sovereignty, even as federal and state governments repeatedly attempted to limit Native rights and erase Indigenous identity.

Dr. Carr and Rozier also examine the role of treaties, the violence of allotment policies, Native resistance to colonial expansion, and the continuing battles over voting rights and citizenship. The discussion connects Native struggles for sovereignty to broader global movements against colonialism and highlights how Indigenous communities continue organizing to defend land, identity, and political power today.

Throughout the conversation, one theme remains constant: Native nations never disappeared, never surrendered their identity, and never stopped fighting to preserve sovereignty on their own terms.

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