[News] Haiti events in Oakland - 3/10 - Hear So An - 3/14 - Explosive new Pina film premiere

[Anti-Imperialist News]

Two Great Haiti Events in Oakland

1. An evening of Resistance, Solidarity & Song with So An - A hero of 
the Haitian Resistance, singer and grassroots organizer, Annette 
Auguste ("So An") was seized from her home by US Marines as part of 
the 2004 coup d'etat in Haiti, and held as a political prisoner for 
over 2 years. Jail did not stop her from organizing or from singing, 
and she's still doing it today.
Come welcome So An - Saturday, March 10th, 7PM at The Uptown, 
401-26th St [a welcoming, intimate space betw B'way & Telegraph, nr 
19th St BART, Oakland]. Music by Vukani Mawethu Freedom Song Choir, 
by So An herself and by her husband Wilfrid, a master drummer. Don't 
miss this rare moment; in this fleeting world, it's one you will remember.

2. Haiti: We Must Kill the Bandits - Premiere of the explosive new 
90-minute film by Kevin Pina, introduced by So An.
Wednesday, March 14th, 7PM, Grand Lake Theater, 3200 Grand Ave., 
Oakland. In a just world, this riveting documentary would get an 
Oscar. It shows how foreign occupiers -- from the US Marines 1915-34 
to the US, France, Canada and the UN in the present day -- have tried 
to demonize and kill the popular movement in Haiti for freedom, 
sovereignty and democracy. And it tells the story of the Haitian 
Resistance that will not die.

REZISTANS  (Lyrics to So An's song, translated from Kreyol)

I. We have endured thirty seasons of pain. We are trapped in a 
tornado of danger. We are bent but have not broken. We are a people 
who have resistance
We spent days without food. We crossed the desert on foot. We spent 
nights without closing our eyes. We are a people with resistance.


Chorus:
Resistance o resistance o we are a people who have resistance. (4x)


II. We have learned to walk underground. Hold our breath under the 
sea. Defend ourselves against evil spirits. We are a people who have 
resistance. They have stepped on us but can't squash us. They have 
moistened us [in their mouth] but can't swallow us. We are hard as a 
rock. We are a people with resistance.


III. They have made us know the way to jail. Shut us in concentration 
camps. But we have not lost our objective. We are a people who have 
resistance. Slavery or occupation, nothing has eliminated us. We have 
escaped under all maneuvers. We are a people who have resistance.

IV. We went to hell even though we are not dead. We came and butted 
our heads with Lucifer. We told him we believe in paradise. We are a 
people who have resistance.
We have endured 30 seasons of pain. We have been taken by a tornado 
of danger. We are bent but have not broken. We are a people who have 
resistance.
Chorus:
Resistance o resistance o we are a people who have resistance. 
(4x)     Copyright 2003 Annette Auguste; Lyrics by Serge Madhere



ANNETTE AUGUSTE (So' Anne) is a FANMI LAVALAS organizer and musician 
who was arrested by US Marines after the Feb 29, 2004 coup d'etat and 
kidnapping of President Aristide. US Marines, in Haiti as an 
occupation force, attacked her home with guns and grenades in the 
middle of the night, killing and beheading her dogs and putting a 
plastic bag over the head of her small grandchild and her husband, 
who were also arrested with So' Anne. She was illegally imprisoned in 
Haiti, from 17 May 2004, until her release 14 August 2006 after an 
international campaign.

For copies of her CD "Rezistans" send a donation of $15 to Haiti 
Action Committee, P.O. Box 2218, Berkeley, CA 94702 [all proceeds 
directly benefit the popular movement in Haiti].

"I send you all my blessings as a free Haitian woman fighting for the 
rights of the impoverished majority in my homeland. They may imprison 
my body but they will never imprison the truth I know in my soul. I 
will continue to fight for justice and truth in Haiti until I draw my 
last breath." - Annette Auguste, Petionville Penitentiary, 
Port-au-Prince, Haiti, May 23, 2004

Six months ago, grassroots activist and singer Annette Auguste, known 
as So An, won her release from a Haitian jail over two years after 
her violent arrest by US Marines on Mother's Day, 2004 during Haiti's 
US-backed coup d'etat.

Weekly grassroots mobilizations in Haiti called for her freedom and 
her courageous resistance won widespread international support. Her 
consistent message was, "I am in jail for no other reason than I am 
perceived as a leader and member of Fanmi Lavalas. I am in jail 
because I was defending the vote the people of Haiti gave to 
Jean-Bertrand Aristide in the elections of November 26, 2000."

Since her release, So An has fought tirelessly to advocate for the 
release of hundreds of Haiti's political prisoners, to denounce 
ongoing UN military ssaults on Haitian popular neighborhoods and to 
sustain her community under the US/UN occupation.

Join Haiti Action Committee in welcoming this courageous Haitian 
leader to the Bay Area!

DONATION: $5-50 no one turned away for lack of funds. For more 
information, phone (510) 483-7481

**********

Wednesday, March 14th, 7PM

"Haiti: We Must Kill the Bandits"
powerful new film by Kevin Pina

Introduced by Annette Auguste "So An"

Grand Lake Theatre, 7:00 3200 Grand Avenue, Oakland


Blood literally runs in the streets through the chronicle of Feb. 
2004's forced ouster of Haiti's elected President Jean Bertrand 
Aristide and the terror of its citizens that followed.

Aristide and his Lavalas political party were democratically elected 
in 2000 by Haiti's poor majority. The film shows thousands of 
Aristide supporters gathered to celebrate his inauguration; he stood 
for political and social change, better education, food, and 
healthcare for the masses.

But not everyone was in favor of change. Haiti's business community 
and intelligentsia worked against Aristide from the very beginning. 
And they wouldn't accept, it seems, that a poor man's vote is worth 
as much as a rich man's.

Internationally, most mainstream media reported only negatively on 
Aristide. At his ouster, they gave the impression that Aristide fled 
to South Africa out of concern for his safety.

A transitional government was put in place as tens of thousands of 
pro-Aristide people took to the streets to demand his return. Over 
and over again the film shows marches and rallies of hope-filled 
people uniting in peaceful protest. Their voices fell on deaf ears.

Calling the demonstrators bandits, the Haitian police commit 
well-documented shootings, arrests and killings. Ironically, members 
of the UN are filmed telling people to listen to and respect the police.

Although this documentary is a chronicle of oppression, the courage 
and hope of the poor masses of the Haitian people is by far the most 
unforgettable element of the story.





The Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 863-9977
www.freedomarchives.org 
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