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<font size=3>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<br>
<br>
<b>Brutal Jasper Texas, Hate Crime<br>
Remembered Ten Years Later in San Francisco<br>
<br>
Herbst Theatre Event Honors James Byrd Jr., Who Was Chained To a Truck
and Dragged Three Miles to His Death by Three White Supremacists in the
Outskirts of Jasper, Texas, on June 7, 1998<br>
</b> <br>
<b>CONTACT:</b> Laurie Huff, 925-943-6388,
huff.laurie@gmail.com<br>
Lani Silver, 415-485-4208 byrdproject@aol.com<br>
<br>
<b> <br>
WHAT:</b> The 10th Anniversary Tribute to James Byrd
Jr.<br>
Working Together to Reduce Racism <br>
<br>
<b>WHEN:</b> 2 p.m. Sunday, June 22<br>
<br>
<b>WHERE:</b> Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco<br>
<br>
<b>WHAT:</b> Two of James Byrd Jr.'s sisters, Clara Byrd Taylor and
Louvon Byrd Harris, and his niece, Tiffany Taylor, will join in a tribute
to Byrd. The former Sheriff of Jasper County, Billy Rowles, will
join us. More than a dozen well-known Bay Area authors, politicians
and civic leaders will give short tributes to Byrd and his family,
leading the audience in a discussion about how racism affects each of us
and our community. <br>
<br>
Speakers include: San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi; author Susan
Griffin; dancer Justin Flores; Danish Holocaust rescuer Knud Dyby;
performer Rhodessa Jones; San Francisco Supervisor Jake McGoldrick, San
Francisco Board of Education member Eric Mar; Bill Hoskins, Executive
Director, African American Historical and Cultural Society; Oakland Post
Publisher Paul Cobb; Rabbi Michael Lerner; Donn Harris, Executive
Director, Oakland School for the Arts; James Bell, Executive Director, W.
Haywood Burns Institute; longshoreman and minister, the Rev. Ted Frazier;
Toni Gill, Dean, June Jordan High School; defense attorney and comedian
Aundre Herron; Willie Ratcliff, Editor, San Francisco Bayview; Jessica
Juarez, Program Director, James Byrd Jr. Racism Oral History
Project; China Galland, author of Love Cemetary, Unburying the
Secret History of Slaves and Martin G. Reynolds, Editor, Oakland
Tribune.<br>
<br>
Performances by: Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir and music
legend Bill Spooner.<br>
<br>
<b>TICKETS:</b> $10, $20 and $35 - City Box Office (415-392-4400 or
<a href="http://www.cityboxoffice.com/" eudora="autourl">
www.cityboxoffice.com</a>).<br>
<br>
<b>SPONSOR:</b> The San Francisco-based James Byrd Jr. Racism Oral
History Project, a project of the Houston-based Byrd Foundation for
Racial Healing, has conducted approximately 2,600 oral histories on
racism in America. Project Director Lani Silver says the tribute will
acknowledge how far we have come and how far we have to go to eliminate
racism in our communities. "What happened to James Byrd Jr. must
never be forgotten," Silver said. "To ensure this does not
happen again, our community needs to engage in the issue of racism and
share their experiences." Clara Byrd Taylor, the President of the
Byrd Foundation for Racial Healing said, "It's wonderful to feel the
outpouring of love and concern from the Bay Area."<br>
<br>
<b>Co-Sponsors:</b> ACLU of Northern California, Adopt International,
African American Historical and Cultural Society, American Friends
Service Committee, Burmese American Democratic Alliance, Equal Rights
Advocates, Freedom Archives, Equal Justice Society, Facing History and
Ourselves, Global Exchange, Holocaust Center of Northern California,
Dolores Huerta Foundation, Hunters Point Family, Japanese American
Citizens League, Japanese American Historical Society, Justice Matters,
National Center for Lesbian Rights, National Council of Negro Women
(Golden Gate), United Farm Workers of America, Women's Building,
Women's Intercultural Network and Youth Speaks. Interfaith
Co-Sponsors: First Baptist Church, Grace Tabernacle Community
Church, Islamic Society of San Francisco, Network of Spiritual
Progressives, Congregation Sha'ar Zahav, Temple Beth Israel and Voice of
Pentecost Church. Media Co-Sponsors: Asian Week, Bay Area Black
Journalists Association, El Tecolote, Hokubei Mainichi, Robert C. Maynard
Institute for Journalism Education, Oakland Post, Oakland Tribune, Radio
Bilingue, San Francisco Bay Guardian, San Francisco Bay View, Sun
Reporter, Tikkun and the Society of Professional Journalists (Northern
California).<br>
<br>
<b>Other National Tributes:</b> The San Francisco event follows two
programs in Texas. On June 2 in Houston, the Center for Healing Racism
will sponsor "Nooses, A History of Lynching, From Trees to
Trucks" at 7 p.m. at the Cullen Oaks Community Center, 4600 Cullen
Blvd. The event is co-sponsored by the Byrd Foundation for Racial
Healing, the Byrd family and the James Byrd Jr. Racism Oral History
Project, a project of the Byrd Foundation for Racial Healing. On June 7
in Jasper, Texas, exactly ten years after Byrd was murdered, a program
titled "Make a Difference" will take place at the James Byrd
Jr. Memorial Park. <br>
<br>
<b>MEDIA NOTE:</b> Byrd family members are available for phone interviews
prior to the event and will be in San Francisco from June 21 and June 26.
To reach Clara Byrd Taylor, call the Byrd Foundation for Racial Healing
at 888-654-6414. Lani Silver may be reached at 415-485-4208 or
byrdproject@aol.com. Additional information about the work of the James
Byrd Jr. Racism Oral History Project is available at
<a href="http://www.lanisilver.com/" eudora="autourl">
www.lanisilver.com</a>.<br>
<br>
<b>PHOTOGRAPHS:</b> Byrd photographs available upon request.<br>
<b> <br>
<br>
<br>
</b> <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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