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New Black Panther Party vs NYPD at 9am [NYC]
(You're not gonna hear about this on the news, but you know that ain't nothing new... what the proverb say... "Until lions have historians, hunters will always be heroes.")
I was marching with the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement (MXGM) prior to The New Black Panther Party's (NBPP) participation this past Sunday at the African Parade in Harlem. Everything was going beautifully; it was well-organized, and alive with festivities rich in Pan African culture.
All the sudden, a brutal attack on several NBPP members was carried out by the NYPD.
Now, let me make this clear about the NYPD's purpose at the parade: Participants in the parade were in the middle of the street and the police are required to stay on the sidelines to keep audience out of the street, not run in the middle of the street and start beating people who are part of the parade.
Apparently, they had a different agenda as we were nearing the end of our march. An NYPD officer was literally stomping on a NBPP member's head while other members were trying to save him but ended up catching the similar fate while the NYPD simultaneously began knocking cameras down, forming a circular blockade around the beatings, doubling the latter block up again to prevent clear composed shots of the incident for witnesses to this atrocity.
Juxtaposed to this scene, a group of kids started dancing, shouting "Black Power", obviously not fully understanding that these human beings are unjustifiably receiving capital punishment for representing the continuing effort for Black empowerment at this parade. It dawned on me at that moment, that this brutal treatment is not abnormal for them (and I'm sure for many others) rather a joke to be danced around. It wasn't fully their fault; I can go on all day about the factors that lead to this mentality and I'm sure you can too but watching them carry on made me feel helpless, angry and determined to keep pushing at the same time...we are in a lot of trouble and incidents like this definitely calls for a mass movement to uproot. There were 20,000 people at the parade, marching peacefully, not effectively prepared to protect ourselves legally and physically from the NYPD's lashing out. With their guns ready, Billy clubs and combat boots, the NYPD threw some of the NBPP members in the police van. 20,000! I cannot stress enough the need to organize as a continuing process!
After the police took off with the publically victimized NBPP members, the remaining NBPP members along with the MXGM headed straight for the nearest precinct to see about the members' welfare (and in case you're wondering, the parade continued, while the police were all over the place looking for more "work" and yes, they brought out the dogs too; it was chaotic but apparently not "abnormal" for others, as more chaos ensued).
The NBPP lined in front of the precinct as we waited on the side. Yes, 20,000 people were there but only a handful of us and the remaining NBPP were concerned about this issue enough to walk away from the festivities and silently post in front of the 32nd precinct.
Alarmingly, we encountered two passersby who wanted to put their two cents(less) in saying," Ya'll wilding out yo, what? This ain't no Malcolm X movie, ya'll lining up like this is the movie or somethin', ain't no cameras out here son, ya'll wilding out."
So if you are in NY this Friday and can free yourself briefly from your morning responsibilities, please come and "wild out" in concern for these young political prisoners at 100 Centre st, Part F, Manhatten/ 9 a.m. These are hard times not just for us as a people but for this country as a whole. This country is reaping what it has sown; we must persistently build, edify, (re)define and strengthen our support for one another en route for liberation on all fronts.
Peace. (You're not gonna hear about this on the news, but you know that ain't nothing new... what the proverb say... "Until li... more -
Open Letter to Barak Obama from Leonard Peltier
August 28, 2008
An Open Letter to Barack Obama
Symbolism Alone Will Not Bring Change
By LEONARD PELTIER
I have watched with keen interest and renewed hope as your campaign has mobilized millions of Americans behind your message of changing a political system that serves a small economic elite at the expense of the peoples of the United States and the world. Your election as president of the United States, where slaves and Indians were long considered less than human under the law, will undoubtedly constitute a historic moment in race relations in the United States.
Yet symbolism alone will not bring about change. Our young people, black and Native alike, suffer from police brutality and racial profiling, underfunded schools, and discrimination in employment and housing. I sincerely hope your campaign will inspire some hope among our youth to struggle for a better future. I am, however, concerned that your recent statement on the Sean Bell verdict, in which the New York police officers who fired 50 shots at a young man on the eve of his wedding were acquitted of criminal charges, displays a rather myopic view of the law. Until the law is harnessed to protect the victims of state violence and racism, it will serve as an instrument of repression, just as the slave codes functioned to sustain and legitimize an inhuman institution.
As I can testify from experience, the legal institutions of this nation are far from racial and political neutrality. When judges align with the repressive actions and policies of the executive branch, injustice is rationalized and cloaked in judicial platitudes. As you may know, I have now served more than three decades of my life as a political prisoner of the federal government for a crime I did not commit. I have served more time than the maximum sentence under the guidelines under which I was sentenced, yet my parole is continually denied (on the rare occasions when I am afforded a hearing) because I refuse to falsely confess. Amnesty International, South African Bishop Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama of Tibet, my Guatemalan sister Rigoberta Menchu, and many of your friends and supporters have recognized me as a political prisoner and called for my immediate release. Millions of people around the world view me as a symbol of injustice against the indigenous peoples of this land, and I have no doubt that I will go down in history as one of a long line of victims of U.S. government repression, along with Sacco and Vanzetti, the Haymarket Square martyrs, Eugene Debs, Bill Haywood, and others targeted by for their political beliefs. But neither I nor my people can afford to wait for history to rectify the crimes of the past....
Continued in comments below. August 28, 2008 An Open Letter to Barack Obama Symbolism Alone Will Not Bring Change By LEONARD PELTIER ... more -
Documentarian Held in Nigeria
NEW YORK, September 3, 2008 – Andrew Berends, an established, award-winning American filmmaker and journalist from New York, was detained Sunday August 31st by the Nigerian military along with his translator, Samuel George. Andrew entered Nigeria legally in April 2008 to complete a documentary film.
Andrew was held in custody without food, sleep, or representation, and with limited water for the first 36 hours. He has been questioned by the army, the police, and the State Security Services in Port Harcourt. The State Security Services has confiscated his passport and personal property. Andrew has been returned to sleep in his rented room each night after the initial 36 hours, but then re-detained each morning. Andrew's translator, Samuel George, has not been released at night and has remained in custody since Sunday.
The US State Department is aware of the situation, and an attorney has been retained on Andrew's behalf. Reporters without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists have issued statements condemning Andrew's arrest. We, Andrew's friends, family, and colleagues, are deeply concerned that he has been held without cause and are calling for his safe treatment and immediate release. NEW YORK, September 3, 2008 – Andrew Berends, an established, award-winning American filmmaker and journalist from New York, was detai... more -
It can't happen here? It already has/DNC & RNC suppression of liberty
As I write this, the precise authority under which members of the Ramsey County Sheriff's Department participated in raids of houses and private buildings in St. Paul and Minneapolis this weekend is unclear to me. I have heard from a very harried friend at the National Lawyers Guild that the break-ins and arrests of RNC protestors took place under the auspices of the Secret Service and Justice Department apparently FBI members participated in the raids.
But under whatever authority and in the name of whatever statutes at this point, the cause for detentions in Minneapolis has been given as conspiracy to commit riot, as flimsy and ad hoc a rationale as the infinitely elastic Homeland Security Offense listed on a police report to justify the detention in Minneapolis of independent journalists earlier last week which resulted in the seizure of their equipment and personal belongings it should be obvious that concerns about this country turning into a police state, a corporation-friendly fascist nation like Singapore or the People's Republic of China, are greatly misplaced. There's no need to worry about this happening in the United States.
It already has.
It should also be clear that both the wish list of expanded powers to spy on, arrest, and detain suspects without charge that got dropped into the Patriot Act and the whole War on Terror have as their ultimate objective not to make life difficult for terrorists. No. Like the equally bogus War on Drugs, they are designed to make it easier for law enforcement personnel at every level as always the chief line-of-defense of the propertied classes to terrorize American citizens. Citizens who should perhaps henceforth more properly be referred to as American subjects.
The erosion of civil liberties and constitutionally guaranteed rights in this country an erosion that, it cannot be emphasized enough, did not begin with George W. Bush but has proceeded apace under a succession of Administrations, both Democratic and Republican makes all the eloquent calls we heard from Denver for unity and restoring the American Dream little more than hollow rhetoric. At the national level, both major parties are knee deep in creating and nurturing the military-industrial-congressional complex the genesis of the national security state that Eisenhower warned more than 50 years ago posed the gravest threat of all against democracy and the rule of law.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
What we see unfolding in Minneapolis now is courtesy of both parties in our Congress. Those who voted for the Patriot Act and its reauthorization along with the Military Commissions Act, and those who recently voted to allow more spying on American citizens and immunity to those doing it. After eight years of protesting this regime, trying to hold Democrats to a higher standard, and spending countless hours standing up to the murdering traitors that subverted our White House, I feel empty looking at all of this. I feel as if my country is no more. What Democrats will now come out and decry the constitutional abuses going on during this RNC convention? Kudos to the American ctiizens standing up for our freedoms. They are the reason the coward Bush won't show up at the convention, but is speaking via satellite. He is afraid to come close to the American people because he knows he is a criminal who should be arrested, tried, and convicted for crimes and misdemeanors against the constitution and crimes against humanity. So, Nancy Pelosi, how do you like what you and your party have enabled?
cont. As I write this, the precise authority under which members of the Ramsey County Sheriff's Department participated in raids of hou... more -
"Democratic National Committee creates secret concentration camp in Denver fo...
Denver officials weren't planning to reveal details about where activists would be detained in the event of mass arrests during the Democratic National Convention until after the event had started, but those plans were quickly dashed this week when CBS 4News reporter Rick Sallinger not only revealed that protesters would be locked up in a city-owned warehouse, but he also obtained clear video footage inside the facility, a building that includes barbed wire-topped cages and signs warning of stun-gun use. Denver officials weren't planning to reveal details about where activists would be detained in the event of mass arrests during t... more
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Free Leonard Peltier - A message from Leonard Peltier
Go to link to read news and most recent letter from American Indian Imprisoned Leader Leonard Peltier who reminds us,
"Our people have told them from the very beginning about the consequences of mistreatment of individuals and mistreatment of Mother Earth.
There are history books that quote our chief headmen and medicine people cautioning
them about there destruction of the earth and nature.
We know the first concentration camps America ever had held Indian prisoners.
The first biological warfare was used on our people with poisonous blankets.
The first atomic bomb dropped was dropped on Indian land in Nevada.
Today there are abandoned uranium quarries in
Navajo country that cause genetic defects on a lot of their people.
When you look into the past, America has used us Indians as their social experiment.
They tried to destroy us with boarding schools,
relocation, and even the first slavery practice was with American people."
________________
From TouchArt.net and OneEarthBlog.blogspot.com Go to link to read news and most recent letter from American Indian Imprisoned Leader Leonard Peltier who reminds us, ... more -
China urged to free Tiananmen prisoners
Activists mark the 19th anniversary of the bloody crackdown with renewed calls for prisoners' release.
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France Pressures China about Tibet
Using the Olympics as a precedent, France urges China to work things out with Tibet and the Dalai Lama. It has been said that "Sarkozy would only attend the opening ceremony if China opens dialogue with exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and frees political prisoners." Effective strategy? Using the Olympics as a precedent, France urges China to work things out with Tibet and the Dalai Lama. It has been said that "S... more
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Irish Freedom Committee
The Irish Freedom Committee® is a Nation-wide, Registered Not-for-Profit, wholly U.S.- based organization with no Foreign Principal. We are dedicated to education on the true root causes of the 850-years war against British occupation, and to the humanitarian and charitable support of the dependents of anti-Treaty Irish Republican Political Prisoners. We publish news from Occupied Ireland that is ignored or censored by the mainstream press, and we work to expose continuing human rights abuses under British military rule. The Irish Freedom Committee® is a Nation-wide, Registered Not-for-Profit, wholly U.S.- based organization with no Foreign Principal. ... more
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Detainees have rights, Department of Defense says
A new Defense manual on Detainee Operations claims that detainees now have human rights (imagine that!). You can download the manual from the link above.
"Common Article 3 to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, as construed and applied by US law, establishes minimum standards for the humane treatment of all persons detained by the United States and coalition and allied forces. It is a war crime to undercut or violate these standards. Common Article 3 prohibits at any time and in any place: ‘violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture; taking of hostages; outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment; the passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court, affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples’." A new Defense manual on Detainee Operations claims that detainees now have human rights (imagine that!). You can download the manual ... more -
FARC Releases 2 Hostages
The FARC has been promising this release since Christmas, and they finally delivered, hopefully they will release more, including Ingrid Betancourt. The FARC has been promising this release since Christmas, and they finally delivered, hopefully they will release more, including Ingr... more
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C.I.A.=L.I.E. Lets Solve The Puzzle For Them!!!
Hey Folks...Lets unravel this puzzle. Maybe you're (water) board today. So lets play a game.... Some things really stand out. They stink to high heaven. So...Each person leave a comment here on one point in this story that stinks to high heaven. I'll put my one point in to start and you take it from there.
OK, my ONE point:
In this article it says the CIA was afraid that the tapes would reveal the identities of some of their covert agents.
My Analysis:
Excuuuuuse me! Every time I see a video on tv or on the Internet that needs to protect the identity of whomever, there's a gray disc or a fuzz-out over their faces so you CANNOT identify the person in the video.
Whats up with that? Their employees don't have the ability to do this? This is a LAME excuse if I ever heard of one. They should lock em up just for being lame.
OK People..now your turn.... Hey Folks...Lets unravel this puzzle. Maybe you're (water) board today. So lets play a game.... Some things really stand out. Th... more -
Bush and Cheney To Be Indicted For War Crimes? In Vermont The Wheels Are In Motion
There's a group in Brattleboro Vermont that has a petition ready to put an item on the town meeting agenda in March that would make Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney subject to arrest and indictment for war crimes if they come trotting through this Vermont community.
I'm not gonna hold my breath, but if this DOES happen, what jurisdiction would be in place? Would they have to move the Hague over there? Would Cheney not be allowed to hunt there? Would Mr. Bush be stripped of his right to pour Vermont maple syrup on his pancakes?
I don't know. What do you think? Read the article and let me know. Meanwhile, I'm going to google google. There's a group in Brattleboro Vermont that has a petition ready to put an item on the town meeting agenda in March that would ma... more -
History and Obituary of Benazir Bhutto
This NY Times piece gives an excellent outline of this lady's life. When I found out she was gunned down, I must say I was angry that people use violence again to get their point across. When is the world going to wake up and realize that violence only begets violence. This senseless act only make Ms Bhutto's life and works bigger.
My message for the people that think violence is the only way would be to smarten up and use the system that is in place to legally challenge whatever grievances you may have. Put your money into gathering supporters and bringing it to the courts and speaking up instead of using that money for guns, human bombs or any other type of violence. Approaching it this way will make more people see your points of views and your arguments against what you think is unfair and why you think your nation, peoples and/or families are being taken advantage of. Speak up, we want to know why. There are better ways to get your points across.
The bloodshed has to stop.
Reporting for the linked article was contributed by David E. Sanger, Jane Perlez, David Rohde and Helene Cooper. This NY Times piece gives an excellent outline of this lady's life. When I found out she was gunned down, I must say I was angry... more -
Swiss Chris' Drum Solo With Electrifying Effects: A tribute to Aung San Suu K...
Swiss Chris is no ordinary drummer. This video is his tribute to Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize recipient that is in jail for speaking of freedom and democracy in Burma.
Who is Aung San Suu Kyi?
* Known to much of the world as "Asia's Nelson Mandela", she currently leads a popular, nonviolent freedom struggle in Burma.
* In 1990, the year of Burma's last democratic election, her political party, the National League for Democracy, won 82% of the seats in parliament; however the ruling military regime refused to recognize the results.
* One year later, in 1991, while still under house arrest and leading a non-violent struggle for democracy she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
* The regime has kept her imprisoned for 11 of the past 16 years.
* She has won over 70 major international awards for her work on behalf of the people of Burma, including: the Nobel Peace Prize, Sakharov Prize (from the European Parliament) and the US Presidential Medal of Freedom.
In an increasingly jaded world of political apathy and power-hungry institutions, Aung San Suu Kyi is truly that rare heroine of legend - a symbol of hope - championing the rights of individuals in the face of human rights violations and dictatorial oppression. Suu Kyi continues to stand alone in defiance of an unjust and brutal military regime with grace and Gandhi-like resolve.
Throughout 11 of the past 16 years, she has struggled in obscurity, with little or no contact with the world. Due to her perseverance amid growing concern for health and well-being, a determined community of individuals from around the world have rallied in support of Suu Kyi and the plight of the Burmese people.
The video displays his innovative techniques and electronic know how along with his passion for the plight of Aung San Suu Kyi. Besides the ordinary drum kit, Swiss Chris adds electronic pads that when hit with his drumsticks, triggers a multitude of sounds and video that he's prerecorded into his mixing unit. The result is a sound thats like having a backing band, including a vocalist if he wants as well as various video of current news, historic news and just about anything he wants that he gets clearance for.
Swiss has used this technology mainly for his human rights efforts for the Freedom campaign as well as his own organization, Saving With Instruments Samples and Soundz (SWISS). Swiss Chris is also the Music Director and Drummer for 5 time Grammy winner John Legend.
More info on Swiss can be found at: www.myspace.com/swisschristhemanonthedrums Swiss Chris is no ordinary drummer. This video is his tribute to Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize recipient that is in jail for ... more -
Ramadan in London
We follow Haidar and his young British Muslim friends as they finish 30 days of fasting from sunrise to sunset. We observe them talking about their experience of fasting over the previous month and about what its like to be an observant young Muslim in British society. We follow Haidar and his young British Muslim friends as they finish 30 days of fasting from sunrise to sunset. We observe them talkin... more
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Un-edited statement by jailed American Indian rights activist Leonard Peltier
National Day of Mourning Statement from Leonard Peltier:
November 22, 2007
Greetings my Relations, As I sit here in my cell, thinking about you, and gathering my thoughts, I can't help but appreciate you remembering me.
I was told just the other day that people in Oklahoma protested Oklahoma's 100 year celebration of its statehood.
They protested or demonstrated and also celebrated their 100 years of survival of an adversed government that has violated all treaties and has gained control of most of their land.
I support those Indian people.
It also brings to mind those who - like Columbus came and did the same, take our lands, and also what has happened to all people all over the world- the Jews, the Palestians, as well as other indigenous countries and peoples.
Yet I have to say that America shares most of the responsibility to do the right thing.
What happened to the teachings or commandments of: Thou shall not lie Thou shall not kill Thou shall not steal
I can't remember all the commandments but what I do know is They have lied They have killed They have stolen.
They have mistreated our Mother- our Mother Earth, our rivers, our land, the air we breathe and the water we drink.
I consider global warming the wrong that has been done to our people.
Even the Mexican people state in their own way, "We did not cross the border, the border crossed us". The Mexican people are Indian people.
I have no doubt the Indian people of South America, North America, Central American will join in unison to make all the America's better.
A circle of Life is what dictates that the earth shall renew itself every spring.
We have said this for generations.
Go back and read our Elders sayings as we have been trying to tell Europeans that came here- to honor our traditional ways and to honor our Mother Earth and keep the Circle of Life.
Chief Seattle said: "Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect." Chief Seattle, 1855
This is just one of the many quotations from our ancestors.
Now today we have global warming.
We take no pride of solace in saying " We told you so."
But we do hope that the people of Europe and all around the world will start looking at the Native way of life.
Our Elders teach us that when we take from this earth, we must give back.
There is no greater resource on the face of this earth than our children.
America is leading in the wrongful influence of our youth.
Wrong medicine is being offered to our youth, commonly called alcohol and drugs.
It is up to each one of us, to get involved and make a difference in a positive way.
It is time to give back to our children.
I encourage each of you to take it upon yourself to stand up and find someway to help our youth.
The youth of the world are in jeopardy; let us not rob future generations of their future.
The greatest symbol of the Creator is the circle.
I encourage each of you to make the circle complete- the sacred cycle of the family, the cycle of the seasons, your personal cycle of life make them as strong as possible spiritually, mentally and physically.
Stay strong and never, never give up.
I can not say it enough or express my appreciation to each of you how much I appreciate those of you who came here today to remember me and to listen to what this prisoner has to say.
Again I simply say,
Thank you In the Spirit of Crazy Horse, Leonard Peltier
#89637-132
USP Lewisburg PA
PO BOX 1000
Lewisburg ,PA 17837
---
Leonard Peltier Defense Committee
Toni Zeidan-Co-director LPDC
Website:
http://www.leonardpeltier.net
email:
info@leonardpeltier.net National Day of Mourning Statement from Leonard Peltier: November 22, 2007 ... more -
Government exploiting terrorist scare
Environmentalis protestors have been arrested as terrorists
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Guantanamo Cover-Up
The U.S. government has for years had secret evidence that could help a young Canadian prisoner defend himself in the Guantanamo war crimes tribunals, a military defense lawyer said on Thursday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071108/ts_nm/guantanamo_ca... The U.S. government has for years had secret evidence that could help a young Canadian prisoner defend himself in the Guantanamo war c... more -
Ghosts of Abu Ghraib
Ghosts of Abu Ghraib is one of the most compelling documentaries I have seen to date, and it is currently airing on HBO / HBO On Demand. Produced by acclaimed filmmaker Rory Kennedy, it is equally intriguing and heartwrenching. Kennedy manages to juxtapose the overall impunity enjoyed by high ranking military officials with the extensive punishment and consequences faced by the low ranking Military Police, who carried out and/or photographed the incidents. It is an insightful look at the predisposition of human beings to follow orders, regardless of the content of those orders, when such commands come from positions of supposed authority and respect.
I HIGHLY recommend seeing this film, and would also love to hear your own perspectives and opinions on this highly contentious issue. Ghosts of Abu Ghraib is one of the most compelling documentaries I have seen to date, and it is currently airing on HBO / HBO On Deman... more
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Political Prisoners
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Political Prisoners
