http://blacklivesmatter.com/a-herstory-of-the-blacklivesmatter-movement/

And, perhaps more importantly, when Black people cry out in defense of our lives, which are uniquely, systematically, and savagely targeted by the state, we are asking you, our family, to stand with us in affirming Black lives.  Not just all lives. Black lives.  Please do not change the conversation by talking about how your life matters, too. It does, but we need less watered down unity and a more active solidarities with us, Black people, unwaveringly, in defense of our humanity. Our collective futures depend on it.

http://bostonschoolbus5.org/petition/steketee/

Please join the MLK Jr. Justice Coalition and the Coalition For Justice at the 14th Annual Martin L. King Jr. Birthday Celebration.

The ceremony will take place at St. Francis Church (1927 N. 4th St.) at 1pm. Following the ceremony there will be a short March to the MLK statue. Join us as we pay homage to one of the greatest fighters for justice the world has ever known.

To view for the event click here (no rsvp required to attend): http://tiny.cc/zkmbsx

EVENT: http://tinyurl.com/mytnc69

We’re calling for the injunction of the proposed 8 million dollars to study renovations or building of a new county jail. The PP&J needs to put a hold on the 8 million as a plan is put together to spend it for building people and not the jail; to reallocate it to Black community led programs. Sheriff Mahoney and County Exec. Joe Parisi have said they will not build a new jail. We are calling for the county to put in writing that they will never build a new jail.

The Dane County Board PP&J committee is meeting Tuesday, January 13th at 5:15 pm, we plan to show up and show out to call for this injunction. Please come to the city county building at 4:30 pm to rally before we go in and enter the meeting. The peoples voices will be heard. Show up and show out.

We demand for an injunction of the proposed 8 million dollars. And for said money to be relocated to Black community led resources

We demand the release of 350 Black people from the Dane County Jail

We demand the end of solitary confinement

We will not compromise on our demands. Build the people not the jail.

Meet us outside the City County Building at 4:30 pm to show that the peoples voices will be heard.

EVENT: http://tinyurl.com/ol2n76j

Free, public and participatory workshops that provide immediately practical techniques for combating power and supporting solidarity.

Schedule:
10:30-11:00 AM. “Building Life-Long Resistance.” Led by a member of the IWW.

11:00 AM-12:00 PM. “Supporting Sexual Assault Survivors: Resources, Community and Avoiding Victim-Blaming.” Led by Eva PenzeyMoog.

12:00-1:00 PM. Lunch, free food provided.

1:00-2:00 PM. “Tracking Behavior Patterns in the Milwaukee Police Department”. Led by Mary Watkins

2:00-3:00 PM. “Building Takeover: Reflections on Organization, Logistics, and Internal Tension”. Led by an IWW member, a past participant in the 2000 occuaption of the chancellor’s office at UW-Madision.

The event is located in the large meeting room of the Center Street Library, 2727 West Fond Du Lac Avenue, Milwaukee. It’s part of the Resistance Skillshare series, a monthly series of workshops, organized by the Milwaukee branch of the Industrial Workers of the World. To arrange childcare for this event, or if you have any questions, contact us at iww.milwaukee@gmail.com

Amistad Law Project
P.O. Box 9148
Philadelphia, PA 19139
267-225-5884
www.amistadlaw.org

For Immediate Release: January 8, 2015
Attn: News Desk

Continuing the Fight Against the Silencing Act, Prisoners and Advocacy Groups
Seek Injunctive Relief to Stop Enforcement NOW

A motion for a preliminary injunction was filed today in the ongoing lawsuit, Abu-Jamal v. Kane, challenging a Pennsylvania censorship law intended to silence Mumia Abu-Jamal and others convicted of personal injury crimes.

The Abolitionist Law Center, Amistad Law Project, and the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center at Northwestern University School of Law filed the preliminary injunction motion today to stop enforcement of the law. The law firms represent Mumia Abu-Jamal, Prison Radio, Educators for Mumia Abu-Jamal, Kerry “Shakaboona” Marshall, Robert L. Holbrook, Donnell Palmer, Anthony Chance, and Human Rights Coalition in the lawsuit filed November 10, 2014 against Attorney General Kathleen Kane and Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams. The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania (ACLU) filed a similar lawsuit and preliminary injunction today.

The Silencing Act, also known as 18 P.S. § 11.1304, allows the Attorney General, county District Attorneys, and victims of personal injury crimes to bring a lawsuit in civil court against the person convicted of the personal injury crime to enjoin conduct that “perpetuates the continuing effect of the crime on the victim”. The actions that could prompt a lawsuit include “conduct which causes a temporary or permanent state of mental anguish.”

“This law is unconstitutional,” said David Shapiro of MacArthur Justice Center. “The facts are on our side and the law is on our side. The Silencing Act targets a huge amount of constitutionally protected speech based on who is speaking.”

After a prerecorded commencement speech by journalist and prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal was played for graduates at Goddard College in Vermont, the Pennsylvania legislature passed and outgoing Governor Corbett signed into law the Silencing Act on October 21st, 16 days after the commencement speech.

Abu-Jamal has spent 33 years in prison, 29 of which were in solitary confinement on death row after being convicted at a 1982 trial that Amnesty International said “failed to meet minimum international standards safeguarding the fairness of legal proceedings.”

Robert L. Holbrook, who is serving a death by incarceration, life without parole, sentence he received as a child, had this to say about the law: “there are people in prison who will stop writing, stop publishing, stop speaking out because of this law.”

“Silencing prisoners is one more way of dehumanizing them,” said Amistad Law Project Policy Director Nikki Grant. “We need the voices of the marginalized to shed light on injustice.”

Contact:

Noelle Hanrahan globalaudiopi@gmail.com         415-706-5222
Bret Grote       bretgrote@abolitionistlawcenter.org    412-654-9070
Ashley Henderson ashley@amistadlaw.org          215-310-0424
David Shapiro david.shapiro@law.northwestern.edu        312-503-0711

###
Amistad Law Project is a West Philadelphia-based public interest law center.
Our mission is to fight for the human rights of all people by providing
legal services to people incarcerated in Pennsylvania’s prisons.

www.amistadlaw.org | @amistadlaw | 267-225-5884

Mr. Mumia Abu-Jamal

AUDIO COMMENTARY: http://tinyurl.com/l66qb2u

EVENT: http://tinyurl.com/nwubxmg

Join with freedom fighters from across the greater Milwaukee community to honor Dr. King, and pay homage to the movements for justice; past & present -1pm. (March to the King Statue @ 2:30pm.) – MLK Jr. Justice Coalition –

Dr. King day Jan. 16, 2012 Milwaukee.

http://wicuba.wordpress.com/

In addition to discussing what’s next for U.S. and Cuban relations, we will also be featuring a special report from a recent trip which focused on Organic Agriculture and Cooperatives in Cuba, by Mary Ann Ihm, a Wisconsin organic gardener for 35 years, who wanted to witness the transformation in Cuba after synthetic imports ceased. She was amazed at what she saw and will share her experiences with visuals. Mary Ann Ihm is the founder of Wellspring, Inc., a non-for-profit education and retreat center whose mission is to inspire and teach people to grow, as well as prepare and eat healthy food.

Our meeting will be held at the Central United Methodist Church 639 N. 25th St., at Wisconsin Ave. in Milwaukee, WI., with free off street parking south of the church.

http://www.thecuban5.org/

This January 6 at 8.30am, Gema Hernández Pérez, daughter of Gerardo Hernández Nordelo and Adriana Pérez O’Connor, was born in Havana, the fruit of the love of a couple who survived 16 years of separation and unjust imprisonment, according to Cubadebate.