[Cdhrsupport] Big Apple Shows Love for SF8

[SF-8 case]

Big Apple Shows Love for SF8
By:  Monique Code


A beautiful clear sky on a chilly Friday evening 
was the perfect forecast for a worthwhile cause.

The Community Church of New York became 
headquarters for New York City to show their 
solidarity fro the plight of the San Francisco 
8.  New York’s own Francisco Torres is one of 
them.  His court date on March 6th determined 
when he would be extradited to California for the trial.

At the event held on March 3rd, speakers like 
Kathleen Cleaver, Iyaluua Ferguson, Vincente 
“Panama” Alba and Attorney Soffiyah Elijah took 
the stage by storm by sharing their perspectives on the situation at hand.

In the beginning of the event, we saw the 
powerful documentary Legacy of Torture.  In 
addition, we were blessed to see the Starz in 
Black presentation of the interview legendary 
filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles did with warrior 
freedom fighter Herman Bell in Napanoch, New 
York.  To hear Herman’s story from his lips and 
the disgusting actions that took place in New 
Orleans in the 70’s was a powerful inspiration to 
all of us that more must be done to free our political prisoners.

Sis. Soffiyah gave us the latest updates 
surrounding the case thus far.  She also informed 
those who did not already know that Sekou Odinga 
has been transferred to a Supermax facility in 
Florence, Colorado.  She told us that the 
brothers held at 850 Bryant Street are on a 23 
hour lockdown status and their arms and legs are constantly shackled.

Sis. Iyaluua Ferguson exclaimed that this is déjà 
vu to her all over again.  She emphasized that we 
must build a mass movement to fight the war 
against Black and indigenous people in this 
country.  “We must have a national response to 
this.  The reason they have not killed Mumia nor 
captured Assata is because of the power of the 
people” she said.  She also spoke of the Jericho 
Movement calling on Congressional hearings on the 
plight of COINTELPRO.  As we all know, the 
Patriot Act is the new “legal” name for it and its actions are all legal.

Kathleen Cleaver spoke on the capture of Kamau 
Sadiki and Imam Jamil Al-Amin.  She also informed 
us that the powers-that-be have been searching 
for this “missing Panther” since 1999.  Then she 
blew our minds when she told us that the late 
freedom fighter Janet Cyril (R.I.P.) received a 
visit from the Feds while on oxygen.  They told 
her that “Assata Shakur said you have information 
on the Trooper Werner Forrester shooting (on the New Jersey Turnpike in 1973).

Finally, Panama Alba, a Young Lords Party member, 
spoke about his comrade and friend Francisco 
Torres.  He told us that Brother Torres became 
conscious while serving in the military and 
became politically active.  In terms of 
strategies, Panama recommends that you pick out 
what worked in the past and utilize those 
strategies today with an updated version of it.

The DVD of Legacy of Torture was being sold 
outside in the lobby and there were plenty of 
people who showed their love by purchasing 
one.  Overall, it was a great night of solidarity 
and love for the SF8 and we hope they will be 
vindicated of all charges.  Keep your head up 
souljahs!  The Big Apple stands with you!

FREE THE SAN FRANCISCO 8!  ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE!


The Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 863-9977
www.freedomarchives.org 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/cdhrsupport_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20070305/47263c2f/attachment.html