Stolen Lives Induction Ceremony Highlights Post-9/11 Police Killings of Civilian

Stolen Lives Induction Ceremony Highlights Post-9/11 Police Killings of Civilians

The October 22nd Coalition to Stop Police Brutality (New York) announces the 2006 Stolen Lives Induction Ceremony on July 22, 2006 at 2:30PM at historic St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Harlem.

The Stolen Lives Project of the October 22nd Coalition to Stop Police Brutality is an effort to document the names and stories of people killed by law enforcement throughout the United States. Since Sept. ll, 2001, law enforcement agents (including border patrols) have been given greater license to increase and broaden repression, in their newly defined role given to them by the government and the media as "defenders against terrorism." The Stolen Lives Induction Ceremony is a solemn yet empowering event, where families of recent victims of police killings are joined and supported by other families of Stolen Lives and many others from all sections of the community. Since the last Stolen Lives Induction ceremony held in June 2004, police in New York and New Jersey have killed at least 71 more people. We come together to uphold the memories of those killed and to affirm our resolve to continue the struggle for justice and against the epidemic of police violence and murder.

At the ceremony, families of Stolen Lives and victims of police brutality reveal a "war memorial" that tells the stories of the mounting casualties of the vicious and escalating war this system is waging on poor people of color and our youth. The families erase the invisible lines of "justifiable homicide" and "isolated incidents" with the truth about how widespread police brutality and police murder are in our society.

Within the past ten years, the October 22nd Coalition to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation, along with family members of people killed by police have performed Stolen Lives Induction Ceremonies in cities across the country to give honor to the victims whose lives have been stolen by people sworn to "protect" them. As part of the ceremony, victims are ceremoniously inducted into the Stolen Lives Project and its documentation, the book, Stolen Lives: Killed By Law Enforcement, where they join the over 2,000 past victims of police murder nationwide from the 1990's.

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Activist parents Nicholas Heyward (father of Nicholas Jr., killed by a housing cop in 1994), and Juanita Young (the mother of Malcolm Ferguson, killed by a street crimes unit cop March 2000) are available for interviews and commentary about the Stolen Lives Project and the fight against police brutality.

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St. Mary's Episcopal Church is located at 521 West 126th Street between Amsterdam and Old Broadway in Harlem. Take the IRT #1 to 125 Street stop.

Please see below for a list of participating families and presenters.
2006 Stolen Lives Induction Ceremony



Families of the following inductees:

Alan Newsome, killed by NYPD January 2003
Donte Pomar, killed by NYPD July 2004
Gregory Chavis, killed by NYPD October 2004
Jamil Moore, killed by NYPD September 2002
Jason Remillard, killed by NJ police March 2002
Montique Smalls, killed by NYPD February 2005
Scott Eriksen, killed by Long Island police June 2005Silverio Del Rios, died under questionable circumstances at Elmira Correctional Facility

Families of previously inducted Stolen Lives:
Debbie Harris, mother of Andre "Woody" Harris (killed by NYPD November 2000)
Emma Jones, mother of Malik Jones (killed by New Haven police April 1997)
Jackie Nixon, aunt of Jamel Nixon (killed by NYPD January 2003)
Juanita Young, mother of Malcolm Ferguson (killed by NYPD March 2000)
Loretta Cerbelli, mother of Kevin Cerbelli (killed by NYPD October 1998)
Margarita Rosario, mother of Anthony Rosario, Jr., aunt of Hilton Vega (killed by NYPD January 1995)
Milta Calderon, mother of Anibal "Junior" Carrasquillo (killed by NYPD January 1995)
Nicholas Heyward, Sr., father of Nicholas Heyward, Jr. (killed by NYPD September 1994)
Yvonne Washington, widow of Calvin Washington (killed by NYPD June 2003)

Guest Presenters:
Dahoud Andre, Haitian community activist
Rev. Gerald Cantolupo of the Cuyler Warren Street United Methodist Church
King Downing, national coordinator of the Campaign Against Racial Profiling (ACLU)
Lynne Stewart, civil rights attorney, National Lawyers Guild
Nellie Bailey, co-founder and director of the Harlem Tenants Council
Roger Wareham, lawyer & political activist, December 12 Movement
Sally O'Brien, journalist and activist, WBAI

Performing artists:
Joyce Jones
Koba
Ngoma
Taiyo


Carl Dix, National Spokesperson, Revolutionary Communist Party

P.O. Box 941, Knickerbocker Station, New York, NY 10002-0900

866-841-9139 x2670 comradecarl [at] hotmail.com