Black August 2010 in DC

sponsored by the Black August Planning Organization (BAPO) For More INFO: 202-271-7763, Facebook, or black.august07@gmail.com

8/1 Black August Unity Reception co-sponsored by the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement (MXGM) beginning at 5pm at Sankofa Video & Books 2714 Georgia Ave NW, Washington, DC

Beginning at 5 o’clock, this gathering will coincide with the film showing of Finally Got the News, part of the Black August Sunday Film Series at Sankofa. Members of BAPO and MXGM will be on hand to engage in lively and politically educational discussion. All are encouraged to join. Refreshments will be available.

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

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 2-430 at MLK library room A-10.  901 G st NW, WDC

Earlier this year, Standish Willis and others submitted a report to the United Nations Human Rights Commission to outline the string of human rights abuses related to political prisoners and political repression in the United States.  This submission was a stakeholders report to the Universal Periodic Review which is a mechanism used by the UN to evaluate member States regarding there adherence (or lack thereof) to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and related treaties.  Through this mechanism citizens and NGOs (e.g. stakeholders) are able to participate in this evaluation process.

The work of Stan, and others, follows in the footsteps of Malcolm X, who advised that we should not diminish our struggle by settling for civil rights, but should take our grievances to the world stage as part of a demand for the respect of our human rights.  We want to support this effort and do what we can to raise awareness and encourage involvement.  BAPO intends to join the many other organizations within the US Human Rights Network (www.ushrnetwork.org).

Read the report at http://www.ushrnetwork.org/sites/default/files/US_Political_Prisoners_Joint_Report_USA.pdf.

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.

8/14 Book Showcase and Discussion 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 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 Bowles, 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.

To help make this program a success:  http://bapo.chipin.com/black-women-and-the-prison-industrial-complex

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.  Dr. Gibbs is an internationally noted lecturer, exhibitor of historical artifacts, and historian of the African Diaspora. He is the author/co-author of six books including “Black Explorers, 2300 B.C. To The Present,” “Black Inventors: From Africa To America,” and “Black, Copper, & Bright: The District of Columbia’s Black Civil War Regiment,” the subject of an upcoming documentary by Three Dimensional Publishing.

8/28 Happily Natural Day and 4th Annual Pilgrimage to Richmond, VA in honor of Gabriel’s Rebellion. All Day (7a-8p) bus trip to RVA. $35. For ticket info contact 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 including Spring Creek, where the rebellion was planned and Shockoe Bottom, the major slave market in Richmond. 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.  The tour guides for the pilgrimage will be Ana Edwards, Chairperson of the Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project and co-founder of the Defenders for Freedom, Justice, and Equality and Janine Bell, founder and director of the Elegba Folklore Society.

TENTATIVE ITENERARY: http://legacybookclub.wordpress.com/2010/07/26/tentative-itenerary-for-pilgrimage-to-richmond/

Sankofa Sunday Sunday Film Series for Black August

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.