[Ppnews] Solidarity to Sara Jane Olson/Kathleen Soliah

Tue Apr 8 17:45:33 EDT 2008

From: http://www.infoshop.org/inews/article.php?story=2008040614452369

Arise! Bookstore (Minneapolis) and RNC Welcoming Committee Extend 
Solidarity to Sara Jane Olson

Sunday, April 06 2008 @ 02:45 PM PDT

The RNC Welcoming Committee and the Arise! Books and Resources 
Collective would like to extend their sympathies and solidarity to 
former St. Paul resident Sara Jane Olson and her family. While some 
call into question the actions of the Symbionese Liberation Army, the 
only way to avoid criticism is to remain silent, and so we find the 
words and actions of the SLA inspirational. The everyday violence of 
the state, of which the murder of several SLA members was only a 
part, is immense. Sara Jane Olson spent and continues to spend her 
life in accordance with her conscience, bravely resisting systems of 
oppression. We regard her a hero and history will as well.

Between her involvement in the SLA and her arrest in 1999, Olson 
contributed immensely to radical and progressive causes, including 
being a founding member of the Arise! Books and Resources Center in 
south Minneapolis. She demonstrated that the vast majority of work 
undertaken by even the most militant radicals is nonviolent and 
community-focused, manifesting a diversity of tactics and strategies 
for radical change. As a compassionate and caring mother, wife and 
organizer in the Twin Cities, she shattered the demonizing media and 
government stereotype of radical activists, replacing a false 
impression of blind anger with an embodiment of righteous love.

It is clear that Sara Jane Olson's re-arrest was prompted by pressure 
from police unions and the political right. It is also painfully 
obvious that the state never takes such action under similar pressure 
from the communities most directly affected by the prison industrial 
complex. Therefore, it is vitally important for the radical and 
progressive community to support Sara Jane, realizing that an attack 
on one member of our movement is an attack on all of us. As we in 
Minnesota prepare to create our vision of resistance and direct 
democracy during the spectacle of the Republican National Convention 
this September and beyond, we will carry on Sara Jane's struggle and 
choose solidarity over divisiveness.

If there is any way our work can benefit the Olson/Peterson family, 
it would be an honor.

The RNC Welcoming Committee / www.nornc.org
Arise! Books and Resources Collective / www.arisebookstore.org / 2441 
Lyndale Ave S. Minneapolis

Background on Sara Jane Olson's rearrest:

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-me-olson23mar23,1,5137396.story
---------------------------

Write to Sara Jane Olson/Kathleen Soliah:

Sara Jane Olson
W94197
506-10-04L
C.C.W.F.
P.O. Box 1508
Chowchilla, CA 93610

Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/ppnews_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20080408/87f2614b/attachment.htm>