[Ppnews] Hands Off Assata Call to Action for NY!

[Political Prisoner News]

Hands Off Assata Campaign Call to Action:
Support the students and organizers of the Morales/Shakur Community Center!

Background:
The Guillermo Morales/Assata Shakur Community 
Center at New York City College has existed for 
the past 17 years as a result of struggles waged 
by student freedom fighters that chose to honor 
two significant activists and NY City College 
alumni-- Assata Shakur and Guillermo Morales.
And last week, as a result of a slanderous, 
misinformed, and politically charged editorial in 
the New York Daily News, the chancellor of CUNY, 
Matthew Goldstein, ordered the sign with the 
Center's name to be taken down--without any 
consultation or regard for the students' interests.
The Hands Off Assata Campaign stands in full 
support and solidarity with the students, staff, 
and supporters of the Guillermo Morales/Assata 
Shakur Community Center and their right to honor 
the struggle, efforts, and legacy of freedom 
fighters Guillermo Morales and Assata Shakur.

We urge all sponsor organizations, members and 
supporters to join the call to action and support 
the students, community, organizers and 
supporters of the Morales/Shakur Community Center.

CALL TO ACTION:

What:  Call chancellor Matthew Goldstein's office 
non-stop at 212-794- 5311 and express your 
solidarity with the student's right to maintain 
the name of the Morales/Shakur Community Center.
When: Call non-stop: Wednesday, Dec. 20th, 2006 
at 1 p.m. (EST), 2 p.m. (EST), 3 p.m. (EST), and 4 p.m.
Also on Wednesday, Dec. 20th, community leaders 
and supporters will demand a meeting with City 
College President Gregory Williams to express 
their support for the students and the 
Morales/Shakur Community Center. There will be a 
rally in front of the City College Administration 
Building at 138th Street and Convent Avenue at 
the same time. For those unable to attend the 
rally, be sure to call non-stop to express your 
full support for the students and community leaders.

It is important that we speak out against these 
attacks, stand strong in solidarity, and demand justice now.

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For more information about the HOA Call to 
Action, please call the Hands Off Assata Campaign at 877-244-4708.
For more information about the Morales/Shakur 
Community Center, please call 212-650-5008.

-----------------------------------

Following is a statement issued by the Morales/Shakur Community Center:

Assata Shakur/Guillermo Morales Press Release
We know that many Black people who fought for 
better conditions in the 1970’s were framed. We 
consider Assata Shakur to be one of the people 
who were wrongfully and purposefully framed for 
her activities. And we consider her a hero and 
role model for standing up for our people and 
putting her life on the line. We commend City 
College for asserting out right to have this room 
and use it to serve the community in Assata and Guillermo’s names.

I will now read from the 5 proofs that Assata 
Shakur is innocent, given by Evelyn Williams of 
the NJ crime labs in Trenton NJ and the FBI crime labs in Washington D.C.:

The finger print analyses of every gun and every 
piece of ammunition found at the scene showed 
that there were no fingerprints of Assata found on any of them.
Neutron Activation Analysis showed there was no 
gunpowder residue on her hands effectively 
refuting the possibility that she had fired a gun.
Assata was shot under her armpit by NJ State 
Trooper James Harper, severely wounding and paralyzing her.
A surgeon testified that “it was anatomically 
necessary that both arms be in the air for Ms. 
Chesimard [Assata Shakur] to have received the wounds that she did.

The Guillermo Morales/Assata Shakur Community 
Center was named in 1989 by students who 
successfully countered a tuition hike. For the 
last 17 years we’ve been a valuable resource for 
the college community ­ from providing lower-cost 
textbooks to mentoring to making printing 
available, to running soup kitchens. We run 
classes and workshops on political education and 
the history of City College and CUNY. We retell 
the struggles for open admissions that our people 
have fought and won. We would like to thank City 
College for their rational and level-headed 
response. The college is a space for questioning 
and explorations of myriad opinions and perspectives.

We would like to close by saying that the 
American people have a right and a duty to find 
out the facts about this situation for themselves 
before they judge it. And Assata, we wish you a happy birthday and love you.

The Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 863-9977
www.freedomarchives.org 
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