[Freethe SF8] LA - Invitation to Support the San Francisco 8

[SF-8 case]

Dear Los Angeles NLG members:

         The Executive Board of the Los Angeles 
Chapter is pleased to announce an event
supporting eight former members of the Black 
Panther Party (BPP).  Now known as the San 
Francisco 8, they have been targeted in a 
vindictive prosecution in San Francisco for their 
political activities of over 35 years ago.  At 
the NLG’s 70th Convention, a resolution calling 
upon the State of California to drop all charges 
against the SF 8 was enthusiastically adopted and 
each NLG chapter has been asked to adopt some activity in support of the SF 8.

         The program on February 14, 2008 at 
Museum of Contemporary Art, at the Pacific Design 
Center, not downtown, will showcase the work of 
Emory Douglas, the brilliant artist  propagandist 
of the BPP and will present a panel discussion 
about the BPP, COINTELPRO and current issues with 
Hank Jones and Ray Boudreaux, two of the SF 8 as 
well as NLG members Carol Smith and Jim Lafferty. 
A description of the full program is set out 
below. At 7:00 p.m., there will be a walk through 
of the Emory Douglas Exhibit, with Carol Wells of 
the Center for Political Graphics. The Panel 
discussion will begin at around 7:30 p.m. Those 
of us who have been to the Emory Douglas exhibit 
suggest that you arrive before the 7:00 p.m. walk 
through to immerse yourself in the history, art, 
grief, and remarkable period that unfolds in this exhibit.

         Ray Boudreaux and Hank Jones are elders, 
and defendants in the SF 8 that you will 
absolutely want to meet and hear.  They are two 
of the people who refused to testify in the SF 
grand juries two years ago, were imprisoned 
during the life of the grand jury for their 
principled refusal to cooperate with grand 
juries, and after their release were charged with 
the killing of a SF police officer in 1971 even 
though all of these charges were dismissed in 
1975. The charge is based upon false statements 
obtained by torture of three people in New 
Orleans in 1973.  The statements were determined 
to have been obtained by torture in 1974 in the 
Los Angeles Superior Court. Carol Smith was one 
of the NLG attorneys in the Los Angeles case, the 
other NLG attorney was Beth Livezey, a member of the Bar Sinister.

Please join us on February 14th.  A schedule of 
the evening’s events is set forth below.

Sincerely yours,


Jim Lafferty, Executive Director


FEBRUARY 14, 2008
MAKING THE CONNECTIONS
HONORING BLACK HISTORY MONTH

MOCA - PACIFIC DESIGN CENTER
8687 Melrose Avenue
West Hollywood, CA 90069

7 p.m. Exhibition Tour:  BLACK PANTHER: The 
Revolutionary Art of Emory Douglas.  Tour will be 
conducted by Carol Wells, Executive Director of 
the Center for the Study of Political Graphics.

7:30 p.m. Panel Discussion with the San Francisco 
8:  Panelists will include former BPP members Ray 
Boudreaux and Henry Jones of the SF 8, Carol 
Smith of the NLG LA Chapter, Craig Gillmore of 
the Prison Moratorium Project and No New Jails 
Coalition. Co-moderators are Jim Lafferty, NLG LA 
Executive Director and Mary Sutton of CSPG.

For more information, contact Carol Smith (818) 990-7722
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