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<font size=3>Dear friends and supporters.<br><br>
We recently learned that an intercepted email between us and Free Speech
TV from January 2007 regarding our agreement to air <b><i>The Legacy of
Torture </i></b>has appeared among the over 200,000 pages of discovery in
the case of the San Francisco 8. We have retained legal counsel in this
matter. It also appears that some significant number of letters to you,
our supporters, never made it to their destination. While this government
surveillance and "losses of mail" is not totally surprising, it
is always sobering to realize that our work is on the radar of the state.
As always, we rely on your support rather than on grants to maintain our
independence as well as our ability to produce work that challenges
government repression.<br><br>
<b>Pardon any duplicate requests</b>, but we hope you can send us a
contribution if you haven't already done so. Here is a version of the
letter we mailed. Thanks for your ongoing support!<br><br>
<br>
May 2007<br><br>
Dear Friends,<br><br>
Earlier this year the Freedom Archives produced an important film,<br>
<b><i>Legacy of Torture: The War Against the Black Liberation
Movement</i></b>.<br>
This film exposed the police brutality experienced by some Black<br>
activists following their arrest in 1973. The statements forced from<br>
some of these men who came to be known as the San Francisco 8<br>
were obtained under torture, and thrown out of court.<br>
As with all of our projects, we felt that this forgotten history had<br>
something important to share with today’s struggles for justice, and<br>
would reinvigorate the national conversation about racism, torture
and<br>
war. It is being well received in the US, Canada, Africa<br>
and everywhere it plays.<br><br>
But in a strange twist of fate, this film is taking on new meaning
and<br>
heightened importance in 2007.<br><br>
On January 23, those same men were arrested again along with several<br>
others, and now, more than 34 years later, the case has been
reopened.<br>
The film, including live interviews of some of the San Francisco 8,<br>
provides a rare glimpse into the hearts and minds of these men, and
the<br>
state of the justice system under which they suffered.<br><br>
We have partnered with the National Radio Project to release a radio<br>
version, now heard on radio stations throughout the US and Canada.<br>
And the momentum is building. This film, 28 minutes in length, is
also<br>
being used to spur fundraising for the defense of the San Francisco
8<br>
through house parties, campus showings and community gatherings<br>
nationwide.<br><br>
This film was produced with no major grants, but from donations of<br>
our best supporters, like you, who are committed to the idea that by<br>
understanding our past, we can affect our future.<br><br>
We thank you for your past generous support and ask you to help<br>
us again now, that we may update the film to reflect the current<br>
status of these men and to bring <b><i>Legacy of Torture </i></b>to more
audiences<br>
nationwide. Your gift now will also help us expand our reach to new<br>
communities, strengthen our youth programs, and to continue to<br>
preserve, protect and share the important lessons of our movement.<br>
Please take a moment to reflect on the voices of individuals,<br>
organizations, and events that have molded our movements for justice<br>
and human rights. We ask you to make the largest gift you are able,
and<br>
to share this letter with family and friends.<br><br>
In struggle, solidarity and peace,<br><br>
Claude Marks,
Director
Patricia Hemphill, Youth Program Director<br><br>
<br><br>
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<font size=3 color="#FF0000">Freedom Archives<br>
522 Valencia Street<br>
San Francisco, CA 94110<br><br>
</font><font size=3 color="#008000">415 863-9977<br><br>
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<a href="http://www.freedomarchives.org/" eudora="autourl">
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