BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
X-WR-CALNAME:www.indybay.org
PRODID:-//indybay/ical// v1.0//EN
BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:Indybay-67303
SEQUENCE:67303
CREATED:20050609T190800Z
DESCRIPTION:Political Prisoner Speaking 
 Event\nhttp://www.freefreenow.org/june05sf.html\n\nFriday June 10th 
 6:30pm\nNew College Cultural Center\n766 Valencia Street in San 
 Francisco\nDonations requested –no one turned away.\n\nThis speaking 
 event will focus on the importance of prisoner support and what it means to 
 be a political prisoner in the US.  We will hear from former prisoners as 
 well as prisoner support activists.  \n\nThis event is inspired by our 
 fallen friend Jeff ‘Free’ Luers who is currently serving his 5th year 
 of a 22 year and 8 month sentence for an action that did not hurt or 
 threaten anyone.  He burned 3 SUVs to make a statement about increased 
 environmental destruction caused by fuel inefficient vehicles. It is 
 believed and obvious that it is Jeff’s political beliefs that landed him 
 this unjust sentence.  \n\nFormer Political Prisoner Speakers:\n\nLuis 
 “Bato” Talamantez is a human rights activist and artist who speaks on 
 the prison–industrial complex. A former political prisoner (one of the 
 San Quentin 6 whose trial gained international attention during the 70s), 
 Talamantez was acquitted and released in 1976. Drawing on his experiences 
 of 30 years behind bars, he works to expose conditions at maximum security 
 prisons like California’s infamous Pelican Bay, Corcoran State Prison and 
 Valley State Prison for Women. Talamantez is co-founder of California 
 Prison Focus and currently pens a column for their publication. He has 
 published two books of poetry and is an accomplished visual artist. 
 \n\nRita ‘Bo’ Brown:  Former political prisoner of the George Jackson 
 Brigades, founder of the Out of Control Lesbian Committee to Support Women 
 in Prison, Prison Activist Resource Center community advisor, and regional 
 representative of the Eddie Hatcher Defense Committee.\n\nClaude Marks:  
 Claude is the Project Director of The Freedom Archives, a political, 
 cultural oral history project in San Francisco.  He is a former political 
 prisoner who served time for a conspiracy to break two Puerto Rican and 
 Black political prisoners out of Leavenworth.  Claude taught ESL, literacy, 
 writing and history inside. Claude remains a prison activist and uses media 
 to educate, advocate for prison abolition and the freeing of all political 
 prisoners.\n\nRahula Janowski:  Rahula Janowski spent 4 and a half months 
 in jail for her part in the pie-ing of then San Francisco mayor Willie 
 Brown.  Politicized in the anarchist community centered around Food Not 
 Bombs in the early 1990’s, Rahula now works with the Heads Up Collective, 
 a group of white antiracists whose focus is on anti-war and 
 anti-imperialist organizing in the bay area.  She has spent the past 10 
 years working for radical social change, writing and, more recently, 
 raising an amazing child.\n\nPrisoner Support Speakers:\n\nKiilu Nyasha:  
 Kiilu Nyasha is a revolutionary artist, activist and journalist in the 
 liberation struggle for over 35 years. A former Black Panther, she is a 
 radio and newspaper journalist who has done much to keep political 
 prisoners in the public eye.\n\nCAPS-California Anarchist Prison 
 Solidarity:  CAPS formed in September 2004 to support those who face 
 incarceration as a direct response to their beliefs or actions which 
 challenge the oppressive nature of the state, the injustices that exist due 
 to class, racism, sexism, and homophobia, or the destruction of the earth 
 and the species who inhabit it. We recognize that the plight of political 
 prisoners is only a small part of the sprawling injustice of the global 
 Prison Industrial Complex. We seek the abolition of prisons as part of a 
 dismantling of all repressive state apparatus and also extend our 
 solidarity to those imprisoned around the world. However, we have so far 
 chosen to focus most of our limited resources on political prisoners in 
 California and neighboring Mexico with the idea that if we do not fight 
 locally for those who suffer as a result of our common struggle then our 
 beliefs themselves become meaningless. Through corresponding with 
 prisoners, fundraising on their behalf, and building public awareness by 
 circulating information on their situations, we hope to remind those on the 
 inside that they are not alone, while helping to break down the bars that 
 separate us from them and inspiring those on the outside to continue their 
 battle.\n\nThere will also be a short speech written by Jeff ‘Free’ 
 Luers.\n\nFor more information: 
 http://www.freefreenow.org\n\n\n***************************************************************************************************************\nJune 
 10-12, 2005 "Weekend of Resistance" for Political Prisoner Jeff 'Free' 
 Luers\n\nJune 2005 marks the five-year anniversary of the imprisonment of 
 our friend and comrade: Oregon environmental political prisoner, Jeff 
 "Free" Luers. Jeff was sentenced to more than 22 years in prison for 
 burning three Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) at a car dealership in Eugene, 
 Oregon, and on attempted arson charges. Jeff set fire to SUVs to call 
 attention to climate change and to protest oil wars and environmental 
 destruction. Jeff was motivated by compassion and a desire to protect life, 
 not to harm it, despite what some might think of his tactics. Prior to his 
 arrest, Jeff was a popular community activist in Eugene. He was well-known 
 to law enforcement because of his involvement with national forest 
 protection (starting an occupation of a controversial old-growth timber 
 sale in 1998), anti-police brutality activism (documenting rampant police 
 abuse in Eugene), free food programs in a local park and his teaching of 
 self-defense to women. Since his imprisonment, Jeff has continued to be 
 extremely active in prison and fight oppression with his words and 
 inspiration.\n\nOn June 12, 2004, social and environmental activists in the 
 US, Canada, England, Scotland, Norway, Finland, Australia, and Russia 
 participated in an "International Day of Action" with Jeff by organizing 
 non-violent protests and community events to show their support for him and 
 their disgust for his cruel sentence. The FBI responded by creating a real 
 'Green Scare', sending a memo to businesses, corporate media, and 
 government agencies warning of planned "terrorist attacks" by the "Earth 
 Liberation Front" on June 12. Of course, no "terrorist attacks" ever 
 occurred. All of the events were peaceful and public, ranging from concerts 
 and demonstrations, to video showings and dinner parties. Even some 
 mainstream media outlets recognized the FBI memo for what it was - a 
 manipulative, dishonest attempt to incite fear- and criticized them for 
 that. Some participants in the June 12 day of action withstood intense 
 harassment including being photographed, videotaped and questioned with one 
 group actually being evicted due to the hysteria from the FBI.\n\nSince the 
 June 12, 2004 Day of Action, support for Jeff has continued to grow and 
 strengthen. People all over the world see Jeff as a political prisoner and 
 acknowledge that his sentence is meant as a deterrent to increased 
 resistance to oppression. Overall however, the political climate in the US 
 and abroad has become more corrupt and repressive. On the home-front, the 
 prison industrial complex continues to expand, repressive laws and 
 legislation continued to get pushed by lying politicians, political 
 prisoners are denied parole as the real criminals receive little or no 
 punishment, and the already weak laws that exist to protect the environment 
 are quickly being eliminated by blood-thirsty industry and the Bush 
 administration. On the international level, the Bush regime is intensifying 
 military aggression in Iraq, planning future actions in Iran and the 
 proposed Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales is attempting to undermine the 
 Geneva Convention to justify the torture tactics used by US soldiers and 
 prison guards at Abu Gharib and Guantanamo Bay. The conditions are ripe to 
 expose the hypocrisy of the system. Opposition and dissent is needed now 
 possibly more than ever before.\n\nDuring the weekend of June 10-12th, 
 2005, social justice activists from across the world are called upon again 
 to organize and show their outrage about Jeff’s imprisonment and the 
 continued abuse and isolation of dissident prisoners across the globe. 
 State repression is meant as a deterrent to social and environmental 
 movements all over. Jeff received a sentence of over 22 years for an action 
 that harmed no one except for the pocketbook of a local car dealer. Typical 
 arson charges in Oregon result in sentences less than five years. The Judge 
 in Jeff's case sentenced a man to 18 years last year for child molestation. 
 Charles Graner Jr, responsible for the brutal torture and sexual harassment 
 of Iraqi Prisoners of War at Abu Gharib received only ten years! Every day 
 in every city, cops receive little or no punishment for crimes against the 
 public. This cannot be tolerated! Fight for the political prisoners because 
 they have fought for you, against racism & poverty, war & imperialism, and 
 the pillaging of the natural world. They’re in there for us - we are out 
 here for them!\n\nJune 10-12th, 2005, is a Weekend of Resistance with Jeff 
 "Free" Luers. There is no central organizing body or group to check in with 
 but the Jeff Luers Support Network can help by providing you with flyers, 
 graphics, and merchandise such as videos, zines and stickers about Jeff and 
 allies in the struggle. Begin planning your event now. Read more about 
 Jeff’s case at www.freefreenow.org Read more about political prisoners at 
 www.thejerichomovement.com. Plan an action that makes sense for your area: 
 a demonstration, treesit, music festival, teach-in, stenciling campaign, 
 rally, protests at an American consulate/embassy overseas or public forum. 
 Circulate petitions. Write letters to the Governor of Oregon asking him to 
 look into Jeff's case. Contribute to Jeff's legal defense. Do what you 
 think is appropriate. But please remember when planning an action or event 
 think about how it could affect Jeff’s upcoming appeal. Ask yourself: 
 does this help or hurt Jeff? Does this strengthen the movement or weaken it 
 in the long-term?\n\nDownload a PDF of this call here.\nEast Coast 
 contact:\nFriends of Jeff 'Free' Luers-freefreenow@mutualaid.org\n\nWest 
 Coast contacts:\nBreak the Chains-PO Box 12122, Eugene, OR 97440, 
 breakthechains02@yahoo.com   \nSan Francisco Jeffrey Luers Support Network- 
 freejeffreyluers@resist.ca\n\nEuropean contact:\nBrighton Anarchist Black 
 Cross- PO Box 74, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 4ZQ, UK, 
 mail@brightonabc.org.uk\n\n 
 https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2005/06/09/67303.php
SUMMARY:Political Prisoner Speaking Event
LOCATION:New College Cultural Center  766 Valencia St near 19th
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2005/06/09/67303.php
DTSTART:20050611T013000Z
DTEND:20050611T033000Z
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR