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<font size=3><br>
</font><font size=4 color="#0000FF"><b>Two Great Haiti Events in
Oakland <br>
</b></font><div align="center"><font size=4> <br>
</div>
<b>1.</b> <b>An evening of Resistance, Solidarity & Song with So An
-</b> 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.<br>
</font><font size=5 color="#FF0000"><b>Come welcome So An - Saturday,
March 10th, 7PM at The Uptown, 401-26th St</b></font><font size=4> [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.<br>
</font><font size=3> <br>
</font><font size=4>2. <b><i>Haiti: We Must Kill the Bandits</i></b> -
Premiere of the explosive new 90-minute film by Kevin Pina, introduced by
So An.<br>
</font><font size=5 color="#FF0000"><b>Wednesday, March 14th, 7PM, Grand
Lake Theater, 3200 Grand Ave.,
Oakland.</font><font size=4 color="#FF0000"> </b></font><font size=4>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.<br>
</font><font size=3> <br>
</font><font face="Gautami" size=4><b>REZISTANS</b>
</font><font face="Gautami" size=3>(Lyrics to So An's song, translated
from Kreyol) <br><br>
<b>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<br>
We spent days without food. We crossed the desert on foot. We spent
nights without closing our eyes. We are a people with
resistance.<br><br>
</font><h6><b>Chorus:<br>
</i>Resistance o resistance o we are a people who have resistance.
(4x)<br><br>
<br>
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]</i> but can’t swallow us. We are hard as a
rock. We are a people with resistance.<br><br>
<br>
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.<br><br>
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.<br>
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.<br>
Chorus:<br>
</i>Resistance o resistance o we are a people who have resistance.
(4x) <font face="Gautami" size=2>Copyright 2003
Annette Auguste; Lyrics by Serge Madhere<br><br>
<br>
<br>
</font><font face="Gautami" size=3>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.
</i></b></font></h6><font face="Gautami" size=3><i>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].<br><br>
</font>"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."</i> - Annette Auguste, Petionville
Penitentiary, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, May 23, 2004<br><br>
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.<br><br>
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."<br><br>
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.<br><br>
Join Haiti Action Committee in welcoming this courageous Haitian leader
to the Bay Area!<br><br>
<b>DONATION: $5-50 no one turned away for lack of funds. For more
information, phone (510) 483-7481<br><br>
</b>**********<br><br>
<font size=4><b>Wednesday, March 14th, 7PM<br><br>
"Haiti: We Must Kill the Bandits"<br>
powerful new film by Kevin Pina <br><br>
Introduced by Annette Auguste "So An"<br><br>
Grand Lake Theatre, 7:00 3200 Grand Avenue, Oakland<br><br>
<br>
</b></font><font size=3>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.<br><br>
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.<br><br>
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.<br><br>
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.<br><br>
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.<br><br>
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.<br><br>
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.<br><br>
<br><br>
<br>
</font><x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<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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