[Community News And Announcements]
1. On Sunday July 14th at 2:00 PM CEMOTAP will show the award winning film, “Mugabe Villain or Hero” at CEMOTAP CENTER located at 135-05 Rockaway Boulevard, South Ozone Park, Queens, NY, 11420.
Admission is Free but space is limited and seats are on a first come first serve basis.
2. SAVE THE DATE: 15th Annual Dr. John Henrik Clarke Tribute. “FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION”
Date July 28, 2013 2:00 PM, Place Boys & Girls High School, 1700 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, NY. Admission Free
Participants: Imhotep Gary Byrd; Regent Adelaide Sanford; Councilman Charles Barron; Assemblywoman Inez Barron; Reverend Herbert Oliver; Nana Camille Yarbrough; Newark City Councilman Ras Baraka; Sister Betty Dopson; and, Brother Bernard Gassaway – Principal BGHS.
3. DEMONSTRATE AGAINST PRICIPAL WHO CALLED AFRICAN AMERICAN TEACHERS BIG LIPPED…NAPPY HAIRED… GORILLAS”.
WHAT? Picket demanding an immediate, rapid and unbiased investigation by the Chancellor’s office into allegations that a Queens Principal called African American teachers she was firing “big lipped,” “nappy haired,” and “gorillas.”
WHEN? 12 noon, Monday July 8th.
WHERE? In front of Chancellor Walcott’s offices at DOE Headquarters in Tweed Courthouse, 52 Chambers St., Manhattan (4/5/6/N to City Hall)
ENDORSEMENTS Teachers and staff from PAIHS Elmhurst and around the city, Councilwoman Jullissa Ferreras, Kevin Powell and BK Nation [List of endorsements in formation].
CONTACT: Kevin Powell, [email protected], 718-399-8149
Peter Lamphere, [email protected], 917-969-5658 WHY? Pan American International High School will be without any African American teachers next year, because two teachers have been fired after a Queens Principal, Minerva Zanca, made racist comments about them in closed-door meetings with her assistant principal. The third African American teacher is leaving the school because of severe budget cuts to her hugely successful Theater program which were racially motivated.
We demand that there is a full investigation into these allegations and, if they are substantiated, that the DOE hold the principal accountable to its zero-tolerance policy against discrimination. We also demand that the discontinuances of the personnel involved (Teachers John Flanagan and Heather Hightower and AP Anthony Riccardo) be reversed.
Local Councilmember Julissa Ferreras says “The allegations brought against Ms. Zanca are very serious and concern me deeply. As a representative of an extremely diverse district, I cannot and will not stand for this type of behavior.”
Kevin Powell, president of BK Nation, adds “It is not only important to have high standards for our public school teachers but we must also support the good ones, like these teachers, who are completely dedicated to their young people. I find it unacceptable that a principal can engage in this kind of conduct without any repercussions. We are not going to stop until due justice and process is served here.”
See media coverage on WNYC and PIX11 News for more details.
4. MILLION YOUTH MARCH ORGANIZING RALLY —SAVE THE DATE, 12 NOON Friday, JULY 19, 2013. 15TH ANNIVERSARY
HARLEM STATE OFFICE BUILDING, 163 WEST 125TH STREET
5. DON’T FORGET OUR POLITICAL PRISONERS. DR. MUTLU SHAKUR HAS SUFFERED A STROKE AND NOT RECEIVED ADEQUATE MEDICAL TREATMENT AND REHAB NOW 3 MONTHS AFTER THE EVENT.
Write to Dr. Shakur. Dr. Mutulu Shakur 83205-012
Federal Correctional Complex,
P.O. Box 3900
, Adelanto,CA 92301
Family & Friends of Dr. Mutulu Shakur – IFCO/FFMS
418 W. 145 St.
New York, NY. 10031
Call the Warden and Fax your demands for decent medical treatment, physical therapy and rehab. Also demand that as long as he is held captive he be held at a place near to his family and friends and that his visits, emails, mail and calls be without restriction.
WARDEN’S PHONE 760-530-5000. WARDENS FAX 760-530-5102
6. The 42nd International African Arts Festival, Commodore John Barry Park, Brooklyn, New York, 11201.
7. Justice for Lynn Stewart
http://www.lynnestewart.org
Lynne Stewart: Fighting for Life (1:57) by Mumia Abu-Jamal http://bit.ly/16xH4uu
US occupiers stealthily privatizing Haiti water: HLLN on Haiti cholera case against the occupiers
http://bit.ly/19MKteo
How Food Aid Impacted Haiti By Mary Wentworth , Op ed news, 2/29/2013
http://bit.ly/1cJzoH4
Ezili Dantò’s Note: Justice for Lynn Stewart – Sign petition, make some calls, help save this grandmother’s life
“– How far can we let this go? when a 73-year old woman who IS dying of cancer (maybe not on their timetable,) her life of good works ignored, be shunted aside …” –Lynne Stewart
Folks, please take a moment to sign the petition asking for the immediate compassionate release of Lynne Stewart who was convicted for defending her client! In America! She has breast cancer, which had been in remission prior to her imprisonment, but has reached Stage Four.
According to the press release from her team: “The warden of Carswell FCI agreed to forward the compassionate release petition to the DOJ. But the Obama government has denied Lynn Stewart’s plea.
The time to increase the heat is now.
http://www.change.org/
Compassion demands that Lynne Stewart be released immediately from prison so she and her family can fight for her life. Lynne Stewart, is political prisoner and a renowned human rights lawyer who is currently serving a ten year sentence at FMC Carswell TX. Please go to lynnestewart.org get active and sign the petition for compassionate release.
CALL: White House – President Barack Obama 1-202-456-1414
Attorney General Eric Holder – 1-202-514-2001
Federal Bureau of Prisons,Dir. Charles Samuels 1-202-307-3250
Sign petition at IACenter.org/LynneStewart or at LynneStewart.org
TAKE ACTION NOW!
Sign The Petition! – Call the White House, the attorney general or the Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Ask for the immediate humanitarian release of Lynne Stewart.
Join Pete Seeger, Desmond Tutu, Dick Gregory and thousands of others. Get ten of your friends to sign the petition for compassionate release today.
“It is devastating, totally unbelievable. Is this in a democracy, the only superpower? I am sad. I will sign. Praying God’s blessing on your efforts.” – Desmond Tutu
Lynne Stewart should be outa jail. – Pete Seeger
Letter from Lynn Stewart to encourage her supporters:
Disappointed but Not Devastated
My Dear Friends, Supporters, Comrades: I know we are all disappointed to the marrow of our bones and the depths of our hearts by the news that the Bureaucrats, Kafka like, have turned down my request for compassionate release.
Let me say, that we are planning ahead. The letter from the BOP (soon to be posted on the website) is flawed, to put it mildly. Both factually and medically it has major problems. We intend to go to court and raise these in front of my sentencing Judge Koeltl. At the first sentencing he responded to a query by one of the lawyers that he didn’t want me to die in prison — we’ll see if he can now live up to that. He is of course the same Judge who increased my sentence to 10 years — but this IS very different and we can only hope that we can prevail. Stay tuned for what we need from you. We will never give up.
In the meantime, once again, I grieve for my children and grandchildren who love me so much and had such great expectations of enjoying life together again in our beloved NYC and not just trying to, in the prison visiting room.
My Ralph, too, whose dedication and love are only exceeded by the work he does on my behalf — but he is a born fighter and although he hurts, it all comes more naturally to him.
But for everyone else, I hope that your affront at this crass bureaucratic denial of the request which you by your signatures and letters and phone calls demanded — How far can we let this go? when a 73-year old woman who IS dying of cancer (maybe not on their timetable,) her life of good works ignored, be shunted aside … “she does not present circumstances considered extraordinary and compelling … at this time.” We must show them that I cannot be ignored, that YOU cannot be ignored.”
Fight On — All of Us or None of Us. An affront to one is an affront to all.
Love Struggle,
Lynne Stewart
Lynne Stewart: Fighting for Life (1:57) by Mumia Abu-Jamal http://bit.ly/16xH4uu
Forwarded by Ezili’s Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network
“Neither Oxfam, nor the World Bank are questioning that US Newmont mining, VCS Mining and Canada’s Eurasian, St Genieve, Majescor mining et al, have managed to get the puppet Haiti president to unlawfully WAIVE Haiti environmental and mining laws- its Constitutional laws – in order for Northern miners to do OPEN PIT mining in areas close to earthquake fault lines in the North, in a country devastated by the last earthquake and with its water table already poisoned with UN cholera.
The corporate media – liberal and conservative – are blithely writing PR articles about the World Bank “helping” Haiti draft new mining laws, conducting no investigation, ignoring the apparent suborning of local Haiti officials to do illegal and harmful acts more apocalyptic to Haiti and its people than the 2010 earthquake. There’s no outrage or concern that mining and oil drilling are known to cause earthquakes.” –Excerpt from US to Rewrite Constitution to Better Serve the One Percent, Part 2: The Haiti population must look out for itself
http://bit.ly/19MKteo
How Food Aid Impacted Haiti By Mary Wentworth , Op ed news, 2/29/2013
http://bit.ly/1cJzoH4
“food that had been shipped into the country under the aegis, for example, of a well-known NGO — CARE International — was routinely being sold at marketplaces throughout Haiti rather than being distributed free to hungry Haitians. Perversely, during the growing season or during recurring droughts, food aid was not available.Any first year economics student could predict the results of such a practice. With food flooding into the markets, there was an ensuing drop in food prices that put small peasant farmers out of business, forcing them sooner or later to seek work in the cities….the Agency for International Development (USAID) (a known CIA affiliate) was behind this scheme. Also funded by our tax dollars, USAID was helping to carry out the policies of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the InterAmerican Development Bank by contributing to the US NGOs. But the contributions were in the form of boxes of food produced by US farmers. The NGOs needed to turn the food into cash by selling it at markets. Since private donations were insufficient to meet CARE International’s operating costs as well as underwriting other projects, acceding to the demands of USAID not only solved that problem but also guaranteed continued funding by the US government.
… other US NGOs like Catholic Relief Service, World Aid, and Compassion International were also involved. In on the game for the same reasons were the UK’s British Child Care, the Bureau of Nutrition and Development from the Netherlands, and France’s InterAid. Germany was on board with PISANO and Agro Aleman Action. The United Nations had UNICEF and its World Food Program. At this point, NGOs with offices in Haiti number in the thousands. ” —How Food Aid Impacted Haiti By Mary Wentworth , Op ed news, 2/29/2013
http://bit.ly/1cJzoH4
