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Critical Resistance Day 1
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Critical
Resistance Day 1
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Thousands
Demand: "Shut it Down!"
NEW YORK -- (IMC) Activists from as
far away as California assembled in Columbia University's Miller
Theatre this 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. Organizers assure us,
however, that there will be plently of space tommorow and Sunday;
Over 100 workshops and caucuses scheduled, as well as an
interfaith breakfast, a plenary at Riverside church, and an
action in a South Bronx Youth Detention facility.
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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
Attica Rebellion
(PHOTO: CRITICAL RESISTANCE)
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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 no one left
sitting.
face="Verdana">Fred Ho (r.), David Bindman ,
and Salim Washington (not pictured) play
"Remember Rockefller at Attica,"
by Charles Mingus.
(PHOTO: PETER HOLDERNESS)
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Emani
Davis (pictured) reads a letter from her
father, talks about her involvement with prison
activism, and introduces Attica brothers and
others at CRE's opening session.
(PHOTO:
PETER HOLDERNESS)
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. Daughter of Attica survivor Jomo
Davis, Emani Davis, overwhelmed with emotion, read to the
diverse audience a message from her father. Jomo Davis called on
the youth to carry on the Resistance.
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color="#FF8000" size="2" face="Verdana">George Che Nieves
(l.) describes his work organizing with the black panthers and
the young lords inside prisons, culminating in his involvement in
the attica uprising.
face="Verdana">
(PHOTO: PETER HOLDERNESS)
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.
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face="Verdana">Nieves 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.
David
Johnson (right), one of the San Quentin Six, described the
atmosphere of anger and hope that gripped California prisons as
he and others organized against inhumane conditions and coerced
labor.
(PHOTO: PETER HOLDERNESS)
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face="Verdana">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.
Youth
from Impact (r.) performed songs and dance routines they created
in response to the world around them. This performance ended the
night with hope.
size="1" face="Verdana">(PHOTO: PETER HOLDERNESS)
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. href="http://nyc.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=2644"> face="Verdana">You can listen to exerpts from The
Attica Rebellion: Roots of Resistance.
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(ILLUS. COURTESY: CRITICAL
RESISTANCE)
All Photos Courtesy href="mailto:ramona_ramona@yahoo.com"> face="Verdana">Peter Holderness size="2" face="Verdana">. Illustrations Courtesy href="http://www.criticalresistance.org/creast"> face="Verdana">Critical Resistance East size="2" face="Verdana">.