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</font><font face="georgia" size=3><b>Press Release<br><br>
<br><br>
For Immediate Release<br><br>
<br><br>
Maafa 2005: Hurricane Katrina<br><br>
"A Poetic Protest Fundraiser"<br><br>
</b> <br><br>
Oakland, CA – Join poets, artists and activists in a show oof support for
the sick, disabled and elderly victims of Hurricane Katrina survivors,
Tuesday, September 20, 2005, 7-10 p.m. at La Pena Cultural Center, 3105
Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, CA, (510) 849-2568. The suggested
donation is $5-$25, although no amount is too small.<br><br>
<br><br>
What is evident since Hurricane Katrina hit the southern states is how
the most vulnerable populations are often the first forgotten: the
elderly, the disabled, and the young. Many wheelchair users drowned,
while others died in the ensuing days from an inadequate continuum of
care.<br><br>
<br><br>
There will be a fine art silent auction beginning at 7 p.m., along with a
screening of ANSWER Coalition filmmaker, Gloria La Riva’s recently shot
short video of Katrina’s aftermath in Louisiana
(<a href="http://answerla.org/" eudora="autourl">http://answerla.org/</a>
.) This will be followed by performances of some of the San Francisco Bay
Area’s most exciting poets and performance artists, interspersed with
updates by service providers and survivors now living here.<br><br>
<br><br>
Confirmed artists: Charles Hawkins Jr., (a Katrina survivor), Lee
Williams, devorah major, Karla Brundage, Charles Blackwell, Paradise,
Hassaun Ali Jones Bey, Leroy F. Moore, Jr., Wanda Sabir, Kaylah Marin,
Kim Shuck, Robert Henry Johnson, Reggie James, Shaka Jamal, Larry Ukali
Johnson-Redd.<br><br>
<br><br>
Proceeds will go to the Center for Independent Living, Inc. (Berkeley)
for use with survivors here and for their affiliate organizations in
Houston, Texas and Jackson, Mississippi. There will also be information
about other grassroots organizations assisting survivors here and
elsewhere.<br><br>
<br><br>
For more information e-mail:
<a href="mailto:wanda_sabir@yahoo.com">wanda_sabir@yahoo.com</a>.<br><br>
<br><br>
*Maafa is a Kiswahili term which means great catastrophe or reoccurring
disaster and is often used to reference the Transatlantic Slave Trade or
Middle Passage. <br><br>
<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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<a href="http://www.freedomarchives.org/" eudora="autourl">
www.freedomarchives.org</a></font></body>
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