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Subject: Political Prisoner Speaking Event June 10<br>
Political Prisoner Speaking Event<br><br>
<a href="http://www.freefreenow.org/june05sf.html%3Ehttp://www.freefreenow.org/june05sf.html" eudora="autourl">
http://www.freefreenow.org/june05sf.html>http://www.freefreenow.org/june05sf.html</a>
<br><br>
<br>
Friday June 10th 6:30pm<br>
New College Cultural Center<br>
766 Valencia Street in San Francisco<br>
Donations requested no one turned away.<br><br>
This speaking event will focus on the importance of prisoner support and
<br>
what it means to be a political prisoner in the US. We will hear
from former <br>
prisoners as well as prisoner support activists.<br><br>
This event is inspired by our fallen friend Jeff ‘Free’ Luers who is
currently<br>
serving his 5th year of a 22 year and 8 month sentence for an action that
did<br>
not hurt or threaten anyone. He burned 3 SUVs to make a statement
about<br>
increased environmental destruction caused by fuel inefficient vehicles.
It is<br>
believed and obvious that it is Jeff’s political beliefs that landed him
this<br>
unjust sentence.<br><br>
Former Political Prisoner Speakers:<br><br>
Luis “Bato” Talamantez is a human rights activist and artist who speaks
on the<br>
prisonindustrial complex. A former political prisoner (one of the San
Quentin<br>
6 whose trial gained international attention during the 70s), Talamantez
was<br>
acquitted and released in 1976. Drawing on his experiences of 30 years
behind<br>
bars, he works to expose conditions at maximum security prisons like<br>
California’s infamous Pelican Bay, Corcoran State Prison and Valley
State<br>
Prison for Women. Talamantez is co-founder of California Prison Focus
and<br>
currently pens a column for their publication. He has published two books
of<br>
poetry and is an accomplished visual artist.<br><br>
Rita ‘Bo’ Brown: Former political prisoner of the George Jackson
Brigades,<br>
founder of the Out of Control Lesbian Committee to Support Women in
Prison,<br>
Prison Activist Resource Center community advisor, and regional
representative<br>
of the Eddie Hatcher Defense Committee.<br><br>
Claude Marks: Claude is the Project Director of The Freedom
Archives, a<br>
political, cultural oral history project in San Francisco. He is a
former<br>
political prisoner who served time for a conspiracy to break two Puerto
Rican<br>
and Black political prisoners out of Leavenworth. Claude taught
ESL, <br>
literacy, writing and history inside. Claude remains a prison activist
and uses media to<br>
educate, advocate for prison abolition and the freeing of all
political<br>
prisoners.<br><br>
Rahula Janowski: Rahula Janowski spent 4 and a half months in jail
for her <br>
part<br>
in the pie-ing of then San Francisco mayor Willie Brown.
Politicized in the<br>
anarchist community centered around Food Not Bombs in the early 1990’s,
Rahula<br>
now works with the Heads Up Collective, a group of white antiracists
whose<br>
focus is on anti-war and anti-imperialist organizing in the bay area. She
has<br>
spent the past 10 years working for radical social change, writing and,
more<br>
recently, raising an amazing child.<br><br>
Prisoner Support Speakers:<br>
Kiilu Nyasha: Kiilu Nyasha is a revolutionary artist, activist and
journalist<br>
in the liberation struggle for over 35 years. A former Black Panther, she
is a<br>
radio and newspaper journalist who has done much to keep political <br>
prisoners in the public eye.<br><br>
CAPS-California Anarchist Prison Solidarity: CAPS formed in
September 2004 to<br>
support those who face incarceration as a direct response to their
beliefs or<br>
actions which challenge the oppressive nature of the state, the
injustices <br>
that exist due to class, racism, sexism, and homophobia, or the
destruction of the<br>
earth and the species who inhabit it. We recognize that the plight of
political<br>
prisoners is only a small part of the sprawling injustice of the global
Prison<br>
Industrial Complex. We seek the abolition of prisons as part of a
dismantling<br>
of all repressive state apparatus and also extend our solidarity to
those<br>
imprisoned around the world. However, we have so far chosen to focus most
of<br>
our limited resources on political prisoners in California and
neighboring<br>
Mexico with the idea that if we do not fight locally for those who suffer
as a<br>
result of our common struggle then our beliefs themselves become
meaningless.<br>
Through corresponding with prisoners, fundraising on their behalf, and
<br>
building public awareness by circulating information on their situations,
we hope to<br>
remind those on the inside that they are not alone, while helping to
break down<br>
the bars that separate us from them and inspiring those on the outside
to<br>
continue their battle.<br><br>
There will also be a short speech written by Jeff ‘Free’ Luers.<br><br>
For more information:
<<a href="http://www.freefreenow.org/" eudora="autourl">
http://www.freefreenow.org</a>
><a href="http://www.freefreenow.org/" eudora="autourl">
http://www.freefreenow.org<br><br>
<br>
</a>
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<br><br>
June 10-12, 2005 "Weekend of Resistance" for Political Prisoner
Jeff 'Free'<br>
Luers<br><br>
June 2005 marks the five-year anniversary of the imprisonment of our
friend <br>
and<br>
comrade: Oregon environmental political prisoner, Jeff "Free"
Luers. Jeff was<br>
sentenced to more than 22 years in prison for burning three Sport
Utility<br>
Vehicles (SUVs) at a car dealership in Eugene, Oregon, and on attempted
arson<br>
charges. Jeff set fire to SUVs to call attention to climate change and
to<br>
protest oil wars and environmental destruction. Jeff was motivated
by<br>
compassion and a desire to protect life, not to harm it, despite what
some<br>
might think of his tactics. Prior to his arrest, Jeff was a popular
community<br>
activist in Eugene. He was well-known to law enforcement because of
his<br>
involvement with national forest protection (starting an occupation of
a<br>
controversial old-growth timber sale in 1998), anti-police brutality
activism<br>
(documenting rampant police abuse in Eugene), free food programs in a
local<br>
park and his teaching of self-defense to women. Since his imprisonment,
Jeff<br>
has continued to be extremely active in prison and fight oppression with
his<br>
words and inspiration.<br><br>
On June 12, 2004, social and environmental activists in the US, Canada,
<br>
England, Scotland, Norway, Finland, Australia, and Russia participated in
an<br>
"International Day of Action" with Jeff by organizing
non-violent protests and<br>
community events to show their support for him and their disgust for his
cruel<br>
sentence. The FBI responded by creating a real 'Green Scare', sending a
<br>
memo to businesses, corporate media, and government agencies warning of
planned<br>
"terrorist attacks" by the "Earth Liberation Front"
on June 12. Of course, no<br>
"terrorist attacks" ever occurred. All of the events were
peaceful and public,<br>
ranging from concerts and demonstrations, to video showings and dinner
<br>
parties. Even some mainstream media outlets recognized the FBI memo for
what it was - a<br>
manipulative, dishonest attempt to incite fear- and criticized them for
that.<br>
Some participants in the June 12 day of action withstood intense
harassment<br>
including being photographed, videotaped and questioned with one group
<br>
actually being evicted due to the hysteria from the FBI.<br><br>
Since the June 12, 2004 Day of Action, support for Jeff has continued to
grow<br>
and strengthen. People all over the world see Jeff as a political
prisoner and<br>
acknowledge that his sentence is meant as a deterrent to increased
resistance<br>
to oppression. Overall however, the political climate in the US and
abroad has<br>
become more corrupt and repressive. On the home-front, the prison
industrial<br>
complex continues to expand, repressive laws and legislation continued to
get<br>
pushed by lying politicians, political prisoners are denied parole as the
real<br>
criminals receive little or no punishment, and the already weak laws that
<br>
exist to protect the environment are quickly being eliminated by
blood-thirsty<br>
industry and the Bush administration. On the international level, the
Bush<br>
regime is intensifying military aggression in Iraq, planning future
actions in<br>
Iran and the proposed Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales is attempting
to<br>
undermine the Geneva Convention to justify the torture tactics used by
US<br>
soldiers and prison guards at Abu Gharib and Guantanamo Bay. The
conditions <br>
are ripe to expose the hypocrisy of the system. Opposition and dissent is
<br>
needed now possibly more than ever before.<br><br>
During the weekend of June 10-12th, 2005, social justice activists from
across<br>
the world are called upon again to organize and show their outrage about
<br>
Jeff’s imprisonment and the continued abuse and isolation of dissident
prisoners <br>
across the globe. State repression is meant as a deterrent to social and
<br>
environmental movements all over. Jeff received a sentence of over 22
years for an action<br>
that harmed no one except for the pocketbook of a local car dealer.
Typical<br>
arson charges in Oregon result in sentences less than five years. The
Judge in<br>
Jeff's case sentenced a man to 18 years last year for child
molestation.<br>
Charles Graner Jr, responsible for the brutal torture and sexual
harassment of<br>
Iraqi Prisoners of War at Abu Gharib received only ten years! Every day
in<br>
every city, cops receive little or no punishment for crimes against the
<br>
public.<br><br>
This cannot be tolerated! Fight for the political prisoners because they
have<br>
fought for you, against racism & poverty, war & imperialism, and
the pillaging<br>
of the natural world. They’re in there for us - we are out here for
them!<br><br>
Read more about Jeff’s case at
<a href="http://www.freefreenow.org/" eudora="autourl">
www.freefreenow.org</a> Read more<br>
about political prisoners at
<a href="http://www.thejerichomovement.com/" eudora="autourl">
www.thejerichomovement.com</a>. Plan an action that<br>
makes sense for your area: a demonstration, treesit, music festival,
teach-in,<br>
stenciling campaign, rally, protests at an American consulate/embassy
overseas<br>
or public forum. Circulate petitions. Write letters to the Governor of
Oregon<br>
asking him to look into Jeff's case. Contribute to Jeff's legal defense.
Do<br>
what you think is appropriate. But please remember when planning an
action or<br>
event think about how it could affect Jeff’s upcoming appeal. Ask
yourself:<br>
does this help or hurt Jeff? Does this strengthen the movement or weaken
it in<br>
the long-term?<br><br>
Download a PDF of this call here.<br>
East Coast contact:<br>
Friends of Jeff 'Free' Luers-freefreenow@mutualaid.org<br><br>
West Coast contacts:<br>
Break the Chains-PO Box 12122, Eugene, OR 97440,
breakthechains02@yahoo.com<br>
San Francisco Jeffrey Luers Support Network-
freejeffreyluers@resist.ca<br><br>
European contact:<br>
Brighton Anarchist Black Cross- PO Box 74, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1
4ZQ, UK,<br>
mail@brightonabc.org.uk<br><br>
***************************************************************<br>
Free the Land!<br>
Free Jeffrey Luers!<br>
Free all Political Prisoners!<br>
Show your Solidarity!<br>
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<font size=3 color="#FF0000">The Freedom Archives<br>
522 Valencia Street<br>
San Francisco, CA 94110<br>
(415) 863-9977<br>
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