some aspects of this schedule are subject to change....
Black
August 2010 in DC
sponsored by the
Black August Planning Organization (BAPO)
For
More INFO: 202-271-7763 202-271-7763, Facebook, or black.august07@gmail.com
http://legacybookclub.wordpress.com/2010/07/24/black-august-in-dc-2010/
8/7
African Heritage Festival
From noon to dusk at Roots Public Charter
School, 15 Kennedy St NW
The African Heritage
Festival will be an all day event featuring performances, food, vendors, info
booths, and community services. Free admission; bring the whole
family. For more info or vending opportunities, contact
202-256-2518 202-256-2518
8/8
Discussion with Standish Willis, Esq. regarding the report that he submitted to
the United Nations citing Human Rights violations as they relate to political
prisoners in the United States
from
5-8 at Sankofa Video & Books, 2714 Georgia Ave NW, WDC
Read the report at http://www.ushrnetwork.org/sites/default/files/US_Political_Prisoners_Joint_Report_USA.pdf.
This discussion will be a part of the
film showing of “Can’t Jail the Revolution/Break Down the Walls”. For
more info on the films, see below.
Also, see http://www.ushrnetwork.org/campaign_upr
8/12
Performance and Discussion with Bilal Sunni Ali
from 7-10pm at Roots
Activity Learning Center, 6222 North Capitol St NW, WDC
This program will feature Republic of New Afrika citizen and world-class
saxophonist, Bilal Sunni Ali. In the 1970s he was a member of Gil
Scott-Heron’s Midnight Band. In 1981, Bilal was charged in the
“Brinks Conspiracy” case along with Mutulu Shakur and his wife Fulani
Ali. Defended by Chokwe Lumumba, Bilal and Fulani were able to beat the
government’s trumped up case. He will speak from his perspective as a
life-long freedom fighter and musician. Tickets are $15; for more info
contact Baye Services at 202-256-2518 202-256-2518.
8/14
Book Showcase and Discussion [2-4p]
from
2-4pm at Sankofa Video & Books, 2714 Georgia Ave NW, WDC
The Greatest Threat by political prisoner Marshall Eddie Conway
The Greatest Threat puts the government’s war on the Panthers into historical
context. Marshall “Eddie” Conway, a veteran of the Black Panther Party
(and former Minister of Defense for the Baltimore chapter) who has been held as
a political prisoner for four decades, has compiled the available
documentation and research on COINTELPRO, and traced its dirty
history, from the active repression of the black revolutionary movement of the
1960’s and 1970’s, to the conditions of Black America today and the dozens of
political prisoners who remain in U.S. prisons on charges stemming from their
involvement in the Black liberation movement.
The Discussion will be led by Baltimore BPP veteran Rev. Ann Chambers
8/21
Black Women and the Prison Industrial Complex
from
3-6pm at Sisterspace & Books, 3717 Georgia Ave NW, WDC
Co-sponsored by Sisterspace and D.A.D.A Sister’s Circle, BAPO will host Theresa
Shoatz [daughter of Russell ‘Maroon’ Shoatz and Crystal Hayes [daughter of
Robert Seth Hayes] as they discuss the cases and conditions of their fathers,
as well as, how this relates to their own experiences. Also, as part of
the discussion, Monica X, an activist with ONE DC, will speak from her personal
experience as an ex-offender on the issue of the alarmingly high rise of
incarcerated Black women who now represent the fastest growing demographic
within the prison system.
8/26
“Let Your Motto Be Resistance”, Lecture by Dr. CR Gibbs
from
2-4pm at Sankofa Video & Books, 2714 Georgia Ave NW, WDC
Dr. Gibbs will give a historical account
of slave rebellions and other forms of resistance to slavery in the Western
hemisphere.
8/28
Happily Natural
Day and 4th Annual Pilgrimage to Richmond, VA in honor of Gabriel’s Rebellion.
All
Day (8a-8p) bus trip to RVA. $35. For ticket info contact
202-470-7780 202-470-7780
This year our annual pilgrimage will
coincide with Happily Natural Day. Participants will be exposed to the history
and landmarks of Gabriel Prosser’s attempted revolt in 1800. We will also
learn of the history of slavery as it relates to the area and visit the major
slave port of the James River. Catered lunch and a DVD featuring a panel
discussion on political prisoners will be included and before coming back to DC
we will stop at Happily Natural Day.
Sankofa
Sunday Sunday Film Series for Black August
co-sponsored by BAPO
Sankofa Video & Books, 2714 Georgia Ave, WDC
8/1 Finally Got
the News
FINALLY
GOT THE NEWS is a forceful, unique documentary that reveals the activities of
the League of Revolutionary Black Workers inside and outside the auto factories
of Detroit. Through interviews with the members of the movement, footage shot
in the auto plants, and footage of leafleting and picketing actions, the film
documents their efforts to build an independent black labor organization that,
unlike the UAW, will respond to worker's problems, such as the assembly line
speed-up and inadequate wages faced by both black and white workers in the
industry. Beginning with a historical montage, from the early days of
slavery through the subsequent growth and organization of the working class,
FINALLY GOT THE NEWS focuses on the crucial role played by the black worker in
the American economy.
8/8 Can’t Jail
the Revolution/Break Down the Walls
These
two 30 minute videos use footage compiled from over 40 social justice media
productions to chronicle the perspectives of political prisoners and of war
within the United States. Historical footage is combined with interviews of
activists from revolutionary movements waged by African Americans, Puerto
Ricans, Native Americans and Whites against oppression. The prisoners, victims
of government sponsored attacks on liberation movements in the United States
and its colonies, discuss how they and their companions have been murdered,
forced underground, driven into exile and unjustly imprisoned since the late
60s.
8/15 Chicago 10
At the
1968 Democratic National Convention, anti-Vietnam War protestors who were
denied permits for demonstrations repeatedly clashed with the Chicago Police
Department. Tensions mounted, and an already fraught week culminated in riots
broadcast live to a television audience of more than 50 million, further
polarizing the nation. Seeking a scapegoat for the riots, the U.S.
government held eight of the most vocal activists accountable for the violence
and brought them to trial a year later. A parable of hope, courage and
ultimate victory, CHICAGO 10’s unique and unconventional style uses
motion-capture animation to portray actual events from the trial, recreating
courtroom dramas based on transcripts and interviews. CHICAGO 10 moves from the
streets of Chicago to the courtroom at an accelerated pace, giving the audience
a ringside seat for one of the most controversial trials of the period.
8/22 Pete
O’Neil: A Panther in Africa
The
tumultuous period known as "the '60s" continues to cast a long shadow
across the contemporary American experience. Few, if any, of the seminal
conflicts that drove the era — civil rights, war and peace, racism, women's
liberation — have been fully resolved today. Nor have all the key players in
that national drama been tried, pardoned, punished, vindicated, or even allowed
to come home. A Panther in Africa is the story of Pete O'Neal, one
of the last exiles from the time of Black Power, when young rebels advocated
black pride, unity, community service and sometimes, violence. Facing gun
charges in Kansas City in 1970, O'Neal fled to Algeria, where he joined other
Panther exiles. Unlike the others, however, O'Neal never found his way back to
America. He moved on to Tanzania, where for over 30 years he has struggled to
continue his life of social activism — and to hold on to his identity as an
African-American.
8/29 Bastards of
the Party
BASTARDS
OF THE PARTY draws its title from this passage in “City of Quartz”: “The Crips
and the Bloods are the bastard offspring of the political parties of the ’60s.
Most of the gangs were born out of the demise of those parties. Out of the
ashes of the Black Panther Party came the Crips and the Bloods and the other gangs.”
BASTARDS OF THE PARTY traces the timeline from that “great migration” to the
rise and demise of both the Black Panther Party and the US Organization in the
mid- 1960s, to the formation of what is currently the culture of gangs in Los
Angeles and around the world. The documentary also chronicles the role of
the Los Angeles Police Department and the FBI in the evolution of gang culture.
During his tenure from 1950 to 1966, Chief Robert Parker bolstered the ranks of
the LAPD with white recruits from the south, who brought their racist attitudes
with them. Parker’s racist sympathies laid the groundwork for the volatile
relationship between the black community and the LAPD that persists today.
--
"I would like to leave behind me the conviction that if we maintain a
certain amount of caution and organization we deserve victory... You cannot
carry out fundamental change without a certain amount of madness. In this case,
it comes from nonconformity, the courage to turn your back on the old formulas,
the courage to invent the future. It took the madmen of yesterday for us to be
able to act with extreme clarity today. I want to be one of those madmen. We
must dare to invent the future."
-Thomas Sankara, 1985
"La ilaha ill Allah wa Muhammadan Rasulullah" (there is only one God
and Muhammad is his Messenger)
-25% of the world's population
--
The spirit of Black August moves through centuries of Black, Indian and
multi-cultural resistance. It is an emblem of the spirit of
freedom. It is a long smoldering spark of the fire in the hearts of a people,
hearts burning and yearning for freedom.
-Mumia abu Jamal
visit us at www.myspace.com/blackaugust_dc
and check out www.legacybookclub.com