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06-02-2005
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 Hands Off Assata!!! Mass Demonstration
WHEN: SATURDAY, JUNE 4TH, 11:30AM WHERE: 5 POINTS TRAIN STATION (WE WILL MARCH DOWN PEACHTREE TO M.L.K. JR DR, THEN BACK UP PEACHTREE AND RALLY AT WOODRUFF PARK)  The U.S. Justice Department has raised the bounty on Our Warrior Queen, Assata Shakur, to $1 Million to get mercenaries to go to Cuba and kidnap her. They have also placed her on the Terrorist Watch List. She had been wrongly convicted of killing a New Jersey State Trooper but she was Liberated from prison by a courageous band of African Freedom Fighters. She was granted political asylum by Castro in Cuba and has been there ever since. But Assata is innocent! The only thing she is guilty of is taking a Stand against this dirty oppressive system on behalf of African People. We're calling on all Africans to come out in Mass and make a strong statement to the U.S. government to keep their grimy hands off Our Warrior Queen! FOR MORE INFO: What Is The Hands Off Assata Shakur Campaign? Self-Determination is the Highest Expression of Democracy! http://inpdum.org http://burningspearuhuru.com http://asiuhuru.org/ http://apspuhuru.org http://www.handsoffassata.net http://www.ftpmovement.com http://www.pocconline.com http://www.thetalkingdrum.com Contact: 404-454-5422 uhuru_atl@yahoo.com or 678.643.0034 webbrother@thetalkingdrum.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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06-03-2005
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Hands Off Assata, Hand Over Posada! Demo and Press Conference Friday, June 3rd, 12 Noon Oakland Federal Building, 1301 Clay Street, Downtown Oakland Hands Off Assata, Hand Over Posada! Demo and Press Conference Friday, June 3rd, 12 Noon Oakland Federal Building, 1301 Clay Street, Downtown Oakland Educational Program With Clips from "Eyes of the Rainbow" and "Posada's Victims Families Demand Justice" 6 PM Saturday, June 4th, 411 2nd St. (Near Jack London Square) Oakland Program Speaker: Walter Turner, Hands Off Assata Campaign and KPFA's "Africa Today" On May 2nd the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) put a $1 million bounty on the head of Assata Shakur and placed her on the domestic terrorist list under the Patriot Act. Assata is a former member of the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army falsely accused of murdering a New Jersey State Trooper on May 2nd, 1973. In 1979 Assata escaped prison and was given political sanctuary in Cuba. The aim of the FBI's attack on Assata is to eliminate the domestic resistance of the Black Liberation movement, undermine the sovereignty of Cuba and Venezuela and set the stage for the possible invasion of these two nations. The FBI escalation at this time is also meant to divert attention from Luis Posada Carriles, an anti-Cuban terrorist wanted by Venezuela on charges of blowing up a Cuban airliner, who recently came to the United States seeking political asylum. We must defend Assata, our right to resist, and the sovereign rights of Cuba and Venezuela! Organized by the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, the Jericho Amnesty Movement, Hands Off Assata Campaign, the Prisoners of Consciousness Committee, the Black Radical Congress, the ANSWER-SF Coalition, and the National Committee to Free the Cuban 5 . For more information contact MXGM at (510) 220-1100 or MXGMOakland@hotmail.com. Also visit http://www.handsoffassata.org. Standing with Assata On May 2, 2005, the United States Justice Department announced it was raising its bounty of $100,000 for the capture of Sister Assata Shakur to $1,000,000. For over two decades, Sister Assata has been living as a political exile in the Republic of Cuba. This is part of a long campaign to capture or kill Sister Assata since her escape in 1979, and part of the historical assault against the Black Liberation Movement. Who is Assata Shakur? Assata Shakur, born Joanne Deborah Byron in July 16, 1947, in Wilmington, North Carolina, grew up in the segregated South. When she was a college student in New York she decided to participate in the freedom movement of people of African descent against racism and white supremacy. Her thirst to do something for her people led her to the Black Panther Party (BPP) in New York City. She participated in a program teaching Black youth their culture and history and other service programs of the BPP. In 1969, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director J. Edgar Hoover labeled the BPP "the greatest threat to the internal security of the country." Through its counter-intelligence program, COINTELPRO, the FBI and other police agencies waged a low-intensity war on the BPP and other Black freedom organizations. Activists were assassinated, incarcerated and forced into exile. When New York Panthers came under attack Assata went into hiding and joined the underground movement called the Black Liberation Army (BLA). She became one of the major targets of the United States government. On May 2, 1973, Assata and two other Panthers forced underground, Zayd Shakur and Sundiata Acoli were stopped by New Jersey Highway patrolmen on the New Jersey Turnpike. At the stop a shoot out ensued and Zayd Shakur and one of the highway patrolmen, Werner Foerster, were killed. In spite of that fact she had not fired a weapon and was paralyzed through the entire gun battle, she was convicted by an all-white jury in Middlesex County, New Jersey and sentenced to life plus sixty-five years for the death of Zayd. [...] Instead of seeking reconciliation of political conflict, the attempt to re-capture Assata only exacerbates political and racial conflict in the United States and internationally. In other countries around the world, including South Africa, Turkey, Morocco, Ukraine, Peru, Sierra Leone, East Timor, Ghana, Belgium, governments have established a review of the abuses of their police agencies on opposition movements in their countries as a gesture towards reconciliation. The United States has never sought reconciliation with the targets of COINTELPRO. The pursuit of Assata promotes more conflict in that rather than choosing an alternative dispute mechanism it chooses to continue the criminalization of the Black Liberation movement. Moreover, it encourages the mercenary invasion of a sovereign nation, the Republic of Cuba, and encourages global conflict. We oppose the sending of mercenaries and bounty hunters to apprehend Sister Assata Shakur. The United States government must acknowledge its abuses and grant amnesty to political prisoners and exiles. As supporters of Human rights, we call for: 1) The end of the pursuit of Assata Shakur by immediately removing her name from the domestic terrorist list and repealing the bounty placed on her head. 2) The rejection of mercenary attacks on the sovereign nation of Cuba 3) The de-criminalization of the Black Liberation movement, particularly given the political nature of the conflict of the 1960s and 70s, and the abuses of COINTELPRO. 4) Congress to impanel an independent Truth Commission as an alternative dispute mechanism, to finish the mission of the Church Committee and of the cases of political prisoners and exiles, including Assata Shakur, Sundiata Acoli, Mutulu Shakur, Sekou Odinga, Kamau Sadiki and Marilyn Buck. 5) That the United States Congress implement remedies and restitution for the communities, organizations and individuals who were targeted and whose human rights were violated due to COINTELPRO. 6) The repeal of the Patriot Act. www.EastBayNews.org
__________________ Thirty eight years ago on 12/04/2007 the united snakes murdered Fred Hampton & Mark Clark, this date also marks the 4 year anniversary of the launching of this site in solidarity of these martyrs. |
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06-04-2005
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The horrors perpetrated by the US government against the black community today are no different from the days of slavery. Assata Shakur was not even convicted of murder but of being an accomplice to murder, that is at the scene of the crime, which is not a crime. The government admitted at their frame-up trial that she was to seriously injured by the police to have killed anyone. She was simply "guilty" of "driving while black." The horrendous treatment of Shakur at trial and in prison is described at: http://www.sf.indymedia.org/news/2005/05/1715150.php and is below: Why is Assata Shakur really wanted in the US? What another exile has to say abou it. by Aisha Tuesday, May. 31, 2005 at 9:11 AM soulful_expression@yahoo.com This article discusses some facts of Assata Shakur's case not often talked about. It is a conversation between her former prosecutor and an exiled African-American Human Rights Defender. The case of Assata Shakur has been talked about extensively on the Internet. This makes people think that they know something about the person and the case. And they might know “a little”. But a little knowledge is dangerous. What people have been reading on-line, for the most part, is American Government propaganda in the form of press releases about Ms. Shakur, as well as other confusion. Most information to which people are exposed about the legal case of Assata Shakur as well as her personal situation, to is actually put out by the “very credible” US State. The same state, which lied about the war in Iraq, the Gulf war, agent orange and Gulf War Syndrome. The same state which has published volumes of lies and disinformation the world over, about the legitimate struggles of African and Native peoples in America for more than 500 years. Her lawyers and supporters are in many cases unable or unwilling to clear up things and speak out on the facts. This makes the situation even more complicated. It’s insane and criminal to accept as “fact” or “truth” anything that the US State Department, it’s corporations, “intelligence community”, various police “officers” and departments, their relatives, and cooperating “Americans” calling themselves activists have to say about the struggle of African and Native peoples in the United States. To do so is aiding and abetting the very system, which people say that they are against. So, today, we make a move towards setting the record straight. Now that we’ve talked about what people are reading let’s talk about what people should be reading. What should be published and read on-line by people with a conscience and a brain which is not absolutely crippled by ignorance and racism, are words from Ms. Shakur’s lawyers about the facts of the case, as well as the other side of what the police themselves say. Why is it that the views of the Cuban State are missing? Have you asked yourself that? First I would like to quote Fidel Castro on why he will not extradite Assata Shakur from Cuba. "HAVANA, Cuba (AHN) - President Fidel Castro has rejected calls to hand over a fugitive that U.S. officials put on a terrorism list this month, saying she is an innocent victim of racial persecution. In a television address Tuesday, Castro claimed the U.S. 'wanted to portray her as a terrorist, something that was an injustice, a brutality, an infamous lie.' Bigger than that, he applied the international scope to her case. "Castro referred to her as a victim of 'the fierce repression against the Black movement in the United States' and said she had been 'a true political prisoner.' To read the article in it’s entirety follow this link http://www.azcentral.com/news/articl...tive11-ON.html This is it in a nutshell, and is the point of view that not only “African-Americans” should have, but all people in the world of conscience…it’s the simple truth. She is “a true political prisoner” whom the state wants to kill. Next, I would like to quote the press release that people are reading on-line and explode what seem to e the outright lies in it. The latest US Government press release about Ms. Shakur’s case says: “The reward will be announced by Attorney General Peter Harvey and State Police Superintendent Rick Fuentes at the State Police headquarters in West Trenton today,-- the 32nd anniversary of the slaying of state Trooper Werner Foerster during a gunfight on the New Jersey Turnpike. Chesimard was convicted of murdering Foerster by shooting him twice as he lay wounded. The $1 million will be the largest reward ever set by the federal government on a New Jersey fugitive, state…” Is what’s being said here true and factually accurate? First of all they claim... “Chesimard was convicted of murdering Foerster by shooting him twice as he lay wounded.” According to the lawyers, Assata Shakur was never convicted of murdering Foerster! It was proven at the trial in 1973 that it was physically impossible for her to fire the murder weapon, because she herself had been shot and injured. A bullet had shattered her Clavicle making it physically impossible for her to raise her arm. Three neurologists testified at the trial that gunshot wounds had severed her median nerve, rendering her unable to pull a trigger. It is my understanding from reading the legal summary, she was convicted as “an accomplice to the murder of State Trooper Werner Foerster and of atrocious assault on James Harper ith the intent to kill.” SHE WAS NOT CONVICTED OF MURDER!!!! Because the state could not prove its murder case against Ms. Shakur in 1973 they invented blatant lies. This has continued. It’s a fact that during the same period in which she was tried for this case, both the State of New Jersey and the State of New York accused Ms. Shakur of robbing places that didn’t even exist. When that didn’t work (thanks to her brilliant aunt, Evelyn Williams) the US state resorted to torture, both physical and psychological, which rivalled that complained about internationally in any of the world’s worst human rights abusing countries. It was unspeakable. During her stay in the hospital the police tried to murder her, several surrounded her bed pointing guns at her head constantly for at least the first 24 hours. (It took a court order to make them stop. And when the lawyers got Black radio stations across the US to talk about it, they were brought before the State Bar for misconduct!) The police made death threats and tried to carry them out right there in the hospital. A German nurse ended up saving Ms. Shakur’s life. Some other atrocities included her being beaten in open court for refusing to pose for mug shots placing her at supposed crime scenes for places which didn’t exist, or where it had been already proven that she couldn’t have been. Male court “officials” drug her by the hair, punched and kicked her in the face and body. When she protested verbally, they beat her until she was severely bruised and suffered from internal injuries. This went on in open court! They then forced her to pose for the photos beaten and bruised! When her aunt, the lawyer, protested, she too was beaten and put in prison! Also during and after the trials (there were dozens of fabricated cases), prisoncrats refused to feed her and her unborn childe in an attempt to kill them both. They imprisoned her in the basement of an all men’s prison where they kept the lights on in her cell 24 hours a day, made her sleep in a bed nailed to the floor in the middle of a large room with vermin all over, in solitary confinement for so long that she forgot how to speak. If you have any vision of an America that has a court system that is something other than a holding place designed for the persecution, prosecution and detention of actual and potential run-away or rebellious “slaves” forget it! The US courts are every bit as brutal, laden with torture and without any regard for the human rights or lives of African and Native people as those any other fascist state. If you find this hard to believe, or think it happened 1,000 years ago, just look at the treatment of Black women in prison today in America. On Riker’s island n New York, there are entire communities of women n prison with their children. These women are chained to their beds during child labor. During the same period as Assata Shakur’s many trials, Bobby Seale was bound, gagged and tied to a chair in court. People may ask, why is the issue of being “an accomplice to murder” really important? Here’s where the meeting with one of Assata’s prosecutors comes in. How does this relate to the desire of the US State to exradite Ms. Shakur from Cuba? Is this extradition legal under US domestic and International law? Are here really grounds for it based on her “murder conviction”? The truth is that it appears that the only crime that the State of New Jersey was ever able to pin on Ms. Sakur was being “an accomplice to murder”… something which they themselves no longer consider a criminal offense. At the time that Ms. Shakur was being tried for killing Foerster, getting convicted as “an accomplice to murder” carried the same penalty as murder. So, since the state could not get a murder conviction, they basically sentenced and imprisoned Ms. Shakur for merely being at the scene of the crime, in essence being “an accomplice”. The incident happened in 1973 and legal appeals on Assata Shakur’s behalf continued for 6 years while she languished in a men’s prison, being beaten, tortured, denied the right to see her child, put in solitary confinement under the most horrendous conditions, as well as being moved from prison to prison and placed in cells with whites from the Aryan Nation, Ku Klux Klan, Nazis and other violent white hate groups. Members of these groups threatened to throw gasoline, fire and rags in her cell to burn her alive. This went on for OVER SIX YEARS while her aunt and other lawyers were appealing the case. She was given the chance to escape from the torture and terror so she did! It’s important to note here, that in the state of New Jersey a person can no longer be convicted, sentenced and held in prison for being an “accomplice to murder”. This has been the case since at least 1989. It is also important to note here tthat this is not the first time that the State of New Jersey or the US government has issued a large reward for Ms. Shakur’s capture and return to America “dead or alive”. There was a $100,000 reward issued for her return many years ago. The first woman governor of New Jersey, Christy Todd-Witman, said that this money should be given to anyone who could bring Ms. Shakur “back in chains”. This was despite that fact that there were no legal grounds for her to want to bring Assata Shakur back to the United States. What did her former prosecutor say about all of this? This is where my surprise meeting with her prosecutor comes in. In 1989 or 1990 I was taking a Criminal Law class in New Jersey and I got the rare chance to speak with one of her former prosecutors. I was busy taking notes during my usual evening criminal law class lecture when the subject came up of convicting someone for being “an accomplice to murder” in New Jersey. The lecturer was commenting on how it was no longer possible to convict, try or imprison someone for just being at the scene (being “an accomplice to murder”), the law had been changed. This made me curious, so during the lecture, I raised the issue Ms. Shakur’s case with my instructor. My question to him was simple, “If being an accomplice to murder is no longer a crime in the State of New Jersey, wouldn’t Assata Shakur have to be freed if she was returned to America? After all, would there not be any legal grounds to hold her in prison, since the law had been repealed?” The answer from my instructor shocked me! “I was one of her prosecutors…and yes, that’s correct!” I believe that his name was “Cohen”. So, in essence it seems that Ms. Shakur isn’t wanted for MURDER. Her crime is, like she said, being a “run-away slave.” I was satisfied with the answer from the former prosecutor and didn’t get into the “why then” of it, because I instinctively knew that it had nothing to do with the legality of it all. Her case was what, those of us who are legal professionals and “para-professionals” have come to term “extra-legal”. In other words, having nothing to do with laws, or legalities, but is instead based on political persecution while refusing to apply existing laws. This can be seen in Mumia Abu Jamal’s case. A clear example of this was when the person who confessed to the murder of the policeman came orward and the judge refused to hear the testimony, illegally ignored the evidence and still kept Mr. Jamal in prison! Why does the US State really want Assata Shakur to be returned to America? According to what I have read from the lawyers, there are no legal charges for murder against Ms. Shakur in New Jersey, so, why does the US state want her so badly that they would issue “…the largest reward ever set by the federal government on a New Jersey fugitive, state…” ($1 million!) And why is there such a huge reward being issued for the return of someone who is now the citizen of another country, hasn’t lived in America for at least 20 years and is not even wanted on criminal charges in the United States? There are a few main reasons that the US State really ants to bring Ms. Shakur back to the shores of America. 1. They never forget! She is considered a run–away slave, and the State never forgives someone who gets away, they will pursue them no matter how long it takes, how much it costs and how many lies they have to tell! They want to kill her. Why such a big bounty now? There are a few reasons: What’s Pork, Beef, more than $1.3 billion, Alabama & Jesse Jackson got to do with it? 1. Trade considerations: The United States is now in the process of making good on more than $1 billion (US) worth of contracts for Alabama-grown foods (which I might add, are more than likely genetically modified) to be sold to the Cuban State. These deals are being brokered through a third, supposedly neutral country. Recently Granma, Cuba’s newspaper, published an article about Jesse Jackson’s planned trip to the island. “…in support of unrestricted trade relations between Cuba and the United States, it emerged during the signing of an agreement between the Calhoun Foods company and the Cuban Alimport enterprise for an initial sum of $14.3 million worth of pork and chicken…” They also interviewed a man from the Alabama food company with whom they are doing the trade. according to Granma “…Contracts established with US enterprises have amounted to more than $1.32 billion since 2001, according to the Alimport director. Of that total, $1.15 billion has already been paid.” What better time to apply pressure for the return of “fugitives” than when you are secretly violating your own trade embargo by selling more than $1.15 billion in pork, chicken and other foodstuffs to the country which you maintain a trade embargo against! The US talks trash about human rights violations in Cuba, but the fact of the matter is that they need the trade, the US economy isn’t so hot and nobody in Europe really wants the GM, hormone-laced food! Beyond that, it’s another exercise in trading human lives. The US figures that now that they have secretly opened up trade with Cuba what better time than the present to ask that people like Ms. Shakur to be handed over in exchange for trade considerations. After all, Cuba needs some form of trade with the US, like virtually every other country on the face of the earth. There is no mistake that they would put Jesse Jackson up to be the legitimate face on it. The role of Black politicians in America is no better than in Africa nations or other places on the earth where corruption reigns supreme. Congressional Black Caucus members as a body have refused to help Ms. Shakur. And now you have Jesse Jackson going to Cuba to promote “unrestricted trade” between the US and Cuba. The role of Black politicians in America regarding Ms. Shakur was discussed in a Newspaper article entitled “Selling out Assata” published by San Francisco Bay View National Black Newspaper Written Sept. 30, 1998 by: Mumia Abu-Jamal “On Sept. 14, 1998, the House of Representatives passed a resolution (HCR 254) calling on the Cuban government to return former Black Political Prisoner Assata Shakur. What makes this resolution remarkable, other than its obvious political hypocrisy, is the action – or lack of action – taken by Black politicians in the House. There is something sickening about Black Congresspersons swarming to the defense of President Clinton, who has built his political career on the skillful manipulation and timely betrayal of Black interests to appeal to his party’s – and the majority party’s right-wing – so-called “centrists,” while selling out one of Black America’s most celebrated and respected fighters for Black liberation.” It’s a wicked exercise in “divide and conquer” by using those who look alike to participate in the destruction of each other. That’s how we got to America in the first place during recent history. With the world actually believing that we actually have some type of representation, what better time to use the fake opposition to help sell out one of our own. The full article on Jesse Jackson’s planned visit to Cuba can be read in the on-line English version edition of Granma, Cuba’s newspaper. http://granmai.cubaweb.com/ingles/20...6alabam-i.html 2. The Issue of our people (African-Americans) being an unrecognised national minority and “non-persons” before the law guarantees the use of torture, “extra-legal” activities by governments and their agents, arbitrary exile, imprisonment and persecution. The Human Rights Committee of the UN calls for every Human being to be recognized. Specifically: “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.” And it states that no one is to be considered a “non person” before the law. Because none of our people have ever been recognized under he Geneva Convention in any country as “Convention Refugees”, laws regarding the safety of people involved in the Black Movement who have been forced to leave America and are in exile are applied in a manner which is completely arbitrary and extra-legal. Our people in exile are, in most cases, just like Assata Shakur. That is, depending on the good will of some head of state to keep them safe. This is because we don’t have the protection of the United Nations. This is the case with other less known African-American exiles in Sweden, France, Cuba, Canada and Tanzania as well as other countries. Today people are living under assumed names and underground all over the world, because there is no hope of getting asylum or recognition. No African or Native American person has ever been recognized in the history of the Geneva Convention, largely because of trade considerations. I say that our people are being treated as “non-persons” before the law (both domestic and internationally), because many states, especially Canada, refuse to recognize our humanity and need for asylum under the Geneva Convention due to racism, and trade considerations with America. Most people in America have no knowledge or understanding of the Geneva Convention, so I will spell it out. When people are tortured like Ms. Shakur was, they are entitled to go to a second country and be given protection from the agents of persecution in the state from which they fled. If they cannot be safe in the second country, they can be re-located to a third country. These are some of the provisions made by the United Nations. Many of these laws came into existence in 1948. Paul Robeson submitted a paper to the United Nations charging America with genocide against African people as early as the 1950’s. When a person is not recognized as “convention refugee” it’s more difficult for the United Nations’ committees to act and give protection, even if the nation-state has given the person their version of “political asylum”. Many people from African countries are able to stay in European and other countries in the world, gain citizenship and be given protection because they are recognized as ‘convention refugees.” Although she as probably not been given “convention refugee status” Ms. Shakur should still have her human rights respected and protected! It should also be said here that it is an outrage that the persecuting agent is calling for her to be returned, “in chains”, even though a second country has given her political asylum! This leads to my next point. 3. The refusal of the United States to honor the sovereignty of other nations, such as Cuba is also a tremendous problem. I have witnessed this first hand myself. Our situation as exiles is different than that of other people. Like I said before, they never forget. So, even if you are able to leave America you cannot get the proper international recognition and the US state has the means, motive and opportunity to harass us as exiles wherever we are in the world. Another huge problem is the absolute refusal of the US State and Americans in general to recognize the humanity of Native and African people, our need for self-determination, as well as political and cultural rights. I believe that it’s much worse than the situation was in South Africa under apartheid, because the US State has never been made to look at itself under an international light, and our people in the United States are not on their own land. We have no country! Being recognized as a Convention Refugee protects fleeing exiles from further political persecution such as being extradited or victimized abroad by the persecuting agent or state. That’s a big part of what is missing in this case. The other problem is the general lack of accountability internationally regarding the actions that the US is doing to people and countries all over the world. The US States feels that it is now free to do anything to anyone whom they want – without consequence! Even the lawyers representing our exiles seem to think that the entire solution for Black People can be found “on Capitol Hill”. (In other words, America holding itself accountable, rather than the international organizations which are set up to do so). Whites and even some Black people in America just don’t take the issue of the Native people’s human rights seriously! Most people look at the terrible situation as if it’s a joke. As I said earlier, it’s an issue of treating entire nations of people as “non-persons’. In South Africa you have Black people living in Bantu Stans and in Townships. You have almost the same situation in America, with Native people living on reservations, and Black people in Townships and in prison with no rights. And who will help us? The most important thing is not for people to have endless discussions and debates about this on the Internet! We are asking for is at least a cultural NGO to address the needs for protecting African-American culture in the world. We must have all of our rights respected just as other peoples do. This includes our cultural rights. People should not view Assata Shakur’s case as an individual one. What is happening to her is symptomatic of a larger problem. Her case represents the trouble that we have getting any type of real recognition in the world and international bodies for our legitimate, 500 year-old legitimate, human rights struggle! NGOs, which are organizations set up to help individuals and groups with these issues are not doing what they can and should do to help Assata Shakur, myself, Mumia Abu Jamal and the many other people who languish in prison and suffer from have a status which is unrecognised in exile. Will you make the time to do more than talk about Assata, Mumia, and me? You can help by signing our petition to the UN. There have been petitions to the UN charging the US with human rights violations, but never one about the way that African-American exiles are treated internationally. Please do so! Don’t wait! Do it today! When presented with solutions, you should act, don’t just type, don’t just chat! Act! Today it’s me, it’s Assata Shakur, it’s Mumia Abu Jamal and others, tomorrow, it WILL BE YOU! Aisha Irungu 19 May 2005 From Exile About Aisha: Aisha Irungu is an African-American woman. She is also a Human Rights Defender and cultural worker in the African-American musical tradition. She is a traditional singer and musician who gives performances and teaches masterclasses & workshops on the sociology of African-American music related it to the political struggle of her people. As a musician and singer, she faces a “black-list” worldwide because of her cultural work, which includes teaching that the musical traditions of African people from America represent the unique African cultural experience of her people, who are an oppressed national minority, not conveniently “American”. She says her music is African-American not “American”. She also writes and speaks out on political issues affecting her people, such as the case of Assata Shakur. Despite being exiled, without a country, and kept from her audience, she has produced 6 CDs on her own label “The Soulful Expression”, and remains committed to her cultural work. Her uncle (Talley Beatty) toured with Duke Ellington in the 1950’s. She is also a paralegal. Her and her husband, Bankole Irungu, a writer, won a case against the US government and Charlottesville, Virginia Public Schools on behalf of African-American children in 1997. Strictly because of their cultural and political views Aisha and Bankole have been banned from the United States. In 2000, they were told, “DO NOT RETURN TO THE UNITED STATES WITHOUT PERMISSION…nor should you transit through there to go to another country…” Since that time she and Bankole have been without a country. The Irungus are making a petition to the United Nations demanding that they be given a state, that their individual rights as cultural workers and human rights defenders be protected, as well as those of African-American people as a group. They are seeking recognition of their people’s cultural and political rights, as well as an NGO to help protect and preserve the music and culture. You can read about Aisha Irungu and sign a support letter to be sent to the UN cultural and civil & political rights committees on-line by visiting her & Bankole's website. It’s important that you support! http://www.geocities.com/exiledone2002 Here are some other interesting links & books for you to read: The injustice of the trial By Atty. Lennex Hinds A Legal Summary of Assata Shakurs case http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/45a/097.html Covert Action Quarterly, [26 October 1998] http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/45a/097.html Seven Years in Exile An Interview with Aisha & Bankole Irungu, Stateless Africans from America. Banned by the US & Canadian States. Today’s Political Exiles. http://www.geocities.com/exiledone2002/ Assata Shakur An Autobiography Amazon.com Evelyn Williams Inadmissible Evidence: The Story of the African-American Trial Lawyer Who Defended the Black Liberation Army Amazon.com Still Black, Still Strong Dhoruba BinWahad, Assata Shakur, Mumia Abu-Jamal amazon.com ExiledOne an African from America and US Political Refugee Bankole Irungu (ExiledOne) Volumes 1:1 & 2:1 http://www.geocities.com/windparade2005/ Aisha & The Soulful Expression Aisha Irungu’s Music & Cultural Work for African-American traditional music on an International Level http://www.geocities.com/realsoul_music/ Various other writings Assata Shakur http://www.google.com Open letters from Assata Shakur Assata Shakur http://www.allhiphop.com/editorial/?ID=257 “Thinking of Assata” Common (music) http://www.google.com Vibrations, On-Line Magazine of The Soulful Expression Aisha Vibrations http://www.geocities.com/soulful_expression/ Statement to the Human Rights Conference on Torture Sundiata Acoli Greetings, IHRI (International Human Rights Initiative) conference! http://www.sfbayview.com/042705/humanrights042705.shtml Visit Aisha and Bankole’s Website Human Rights Defenders for African people from America & Political Exiles http://www.geocities.com/exiledone2002
__________________ Thirty eight years ago on 12/04/2007 the united snakes murdered Fred Hampton & Mark Clark, this date also marks the 4 year anniversary of the launching of this site in solidarity of these martyrs. |
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06-04-2005
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Revolutionary Greetings The Hands Off Assata March / Rally/ Teach in went well we want to give a special asante sana to the Organizations who represented such as The International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement, The New Black Panther Party, The Prisoners Of Conscience Committee, The All African People's Revolutionary Party, The FTP Movement, The Talking Drum Collective and many other organizations. This is just the first of many more Rally, Marches and Teach ins in regards to our Sister Queen's struggle to remain free, we also want to say asante sana to Philly, Oakland, Camden, London and Zimbabwe for heeding the call we put out on short notice 3 weeks ago words can not describe the solidarity that was displayed by our Sisters and Brother all over the world we can't and won't let up until our demands are met!! PS July 4 London will have a Rally, March and teach in, here in the states we will have our second Hands Off Assata Shakur Rally, Teach In and March on July 17 2005,Assata's 58th earthday!! I want to give a special shout out to the forum members who made it a point to be present at the Atlanta Hands Off Assata Campaign, members such as, Im The Truth, Nisa Shabazz, Kamia X, Okulaja, Mukassa Dada & Jacuma 
__________________ Thirty eight years ago on 12/04/2007 the united snakes murdered Fred Hampton & Mark Clark, this date also marks the 4 year anniversary of the launching of this site in solidarity of these martyrs. |
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06-06-2005
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UHURU on that Comrade!!! Pigs were trying to roll up on us on the motorcycles with their blue lights going trying to intimidate. They leaned the fuck back when they saw we weren't going to back down. JOB WELL DONE! This is just the beginning!
__________________ Self-Determination is the Highest Expression of Democracy!  http://inpdum.org http://burningspearuhuru.com http://asiuhuru.org/ http://apspuhuru.org Contact: 404-454-5422 uhuru_atl@yahoo.com |
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06-10-2005
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the vast majority of articles that were at http://www.hartford-hwp are now on the www.assatashakur.org site
__________________ All is Well. Workin' Hard - Tryin' to Save Time for Fam. Check in Periodically. Photos of members wearing Hands Off Assata Shirts 6/3/06 Buy: Afrikan Spirituality Books & Videos (300+ in stock) Meaningless Blog #1 | Blog # 2 |
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06-10-2005
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__________________ Learn Twi, Yoruba and Wolof ||| Live Interactive Online  Abibitumi Kasa Afrikan Liberation Institute Abibitumi Kasa Ning Network |
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06-21-2005
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I'd like to hear other reports about Assata Rallies. Where yall at? Quote:
__________________ "If the enemy is not doing anything against you, you are not doing anything" -Ahmed Skou Tour "speak truth, do justice, be kind and do not do ev |
DJ RBG
TOTW/F/M Award(s): 1
OKULAJA
