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By Anonymous (not verified) , 10 March, 2001

Author

Aries

A brief piece on the first day of CR East

Thousands Demand "Shut it
Down!"

NEW YORK -- (IMC) Activists from as far away as
California assembled in Columbia University's Miller Theatre
yesterday evening, the site of the opening events of Critical
Resistance Eastern Conference. So many showed up, unfortunately,
that organizers of Critical Resistance began turning people
away thirty minutes after the doors opened.

There will be plently of space today and Sunday, as there are
over 100 workshops, plenaries and caucuses scheduled, an
interfaith breakfast, as well as an action in a Bronx Youth
Detention facility tommorow. The opening session for Critical
Resistance East titled The Attica Rebellion: Roots of
Resistance, concluded a few hours ago.

It began with a screening for a powerful film made by New
York-based filmmaker Ashley Hunt and Brad Lichenstein
specifically for Critical Resistance East about the Attica
Uprising; The evening continued with a spectacular jazz
presentation by Fred Ho, a noted composer and musical innovator
in the activist community, David Bindman and Salim Washington.
They performed Charles Mingus' Remember Rockefeller at Attica
and Fred Ho's The Underground Railroad to My Heart
which Fred described as "an anti-bourgeosy Boogie
Woogie," to a standing ovation.

Kai Lumumba Barrow kicked off the evening, which was a
celebration of the spirit of the Attica Rebellion, and
the unity and self-determination of the Attica brothers, by
asking political prisoners to stand up; She then asked everyone
who has been in jail to stand; Then, she asked everyone who has
ever been harassed or threatened by a police officer to stand. To
the delight of the crowd, she asked everyone who has ever had a
traffic ticket or watched a cop show to stand. In the end, there
was not one left sitting. Daughter of Attica survivor Jomo
Davis, Emani Davis, who was overwhelmed with emotion,
gave the crowd a message from her father. Jomo Davis called
on the youth to carry on the Resistance. Manny, a young father of
2 from Boston, Massachusetts, who was formerly incarcerated,
spoke about the need to change the Prison system, and how it
unfairly targets the youth and minorities.

George Che Nieves, who organized for the Young Lords, an
organization of Puerto Rican revolutionaries who was part of a
Rainbow coalition during the 70s with the Black Panthers, and the
Young Patriots Organization, a former street gang of white
youths-turned political, also spoke. He and other speakers like
Danny Meyers, the attorney for the Attica brothers, and David
Johnson of the San Quentin 6, cited startling statistics about
the Prison-Industrial Complex. Approximately 30 years ago, there
were 12 prison facilities in New York City. Today there are 72.
They equated Corrections with corruption, they called for an end
to sensory deprivation; They argued that impeding a prisoner from
touching their loved one, which they termed "sensory
deprivation," was an atrocious act. They placed blame of the
39 deaths attributed to the Attica Rebellion, some of which
included state employees, to former New York Mayor John D.
Rockefeller.

Higlights of the evening included a musical performance by the
IMPACT Repertory Group, which boasts a membership of 80 youths
based in Harlem, "not Morningside Heights," they
emphasized. They sang songs about self-empowerment, the
disenfranchisement of young people, and about their feelings on
the Central Park Puerto Rican Day parade "wilding"
incidents.

Critical Resistance is an organization founded in 1998 to
increase public awareness and activism around what they call
the Prison-Industrial Complex. New York City Independent Media
Center has teamed up with Critical Resistance East and Riptide
Communications to bring you extensive coverage of the Conference.
Keep checking New York City IMC for continous updates.