FYI: 9/28: Book Talk: Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971

From: Letwin, Michael
Sent: Thursday, September 21, 2017 10:17 AM
Subject: FYI: 9/28: Book Talk: Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971

Join us on [Thursday] 9/28 when @hthompsn presents
“Blood In The Water: The #Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and its Legacy”:
$5 tix:  http://bit.ly/2i6auA5
https://twitter.com/brooklynhistory/status/909896109681672193
@brooklynhistory http://twitter.com/brooklynhistory 718.222.4111 www.brooklynhistory.org
Winner of the 2017 Pulitzer Prize in History, Heather Ann Thompson shares the complicated and gripping tale of the five-day prison uprising, as well as the muddied investigations, lawsuits, and untold stories that followed.

Book Talk: Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971
Thursday, September 28
Doors: 6:00 pm
Event: 6:30 pm
$5 General Admission / Free for Members

BHS Members: to reserve tickets at the member price, click on “Tickets” and enter your Member ID on the following page after clicking on “Enter Promotional Code.”

REFUND POLICY Brooklyn Historical Society requires 24 hours notice before the date of the event to refund a ticket. No refunds are provided after that point. No refunds are provided on the day of the event and all subsequent days.

Thu, September 28, 2017
6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
Brooklyn Historical SocietY
128 Pierrepont St
Brooklyn, NY 11201

Organizer of Book Talk: “Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971”

Founded in 1863, Brooklyn Historical Society (BHS) is a library, museum, and urban education center dedicated to the people of Brooklyn, providing opportunities for civic dialogue and thoughtful engagement.

. Transparency, Journalism, and the White House tickets
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Tue, Oct 3 6:30 PM
Transparency, Journalism, and the White House

. Criminalizing Poverty, Community Organizations, and Fighting Back tickets
Free
Thu, Oct 5 6:30 PM

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FYI: Palestinian Prisoners Hunger Strike in Day 39

From: Torres, Azalia
Sent: Thursday, May 25, 2017 6:07 PM
Subject: FYI: Palestinian Prisoners Hunger Strike in Day 39

On March 15, 2017, the Legal Aid Society and Attorneys of Color of Legal Aid jointly said:“[F]or as long as The Legal Aid Society exists, we will stand in solidarity with marginalized communities in their fight for equal justice and racial equity.” Today, in the very same spirit, people around the world are standing in solidarity with 1,500 Palestinian political prisoners now in their 39^th day of a hunger strike against conditions that Amnesty International calls “unlawful and cruel.”

Hunger strikes, like that held by U.S. prisoners last fall, are part of a long international tradition of resistance to injustice. But the Israeli government — which receives $3.8b/year in U.S. weapons, and closely coordinates with the NYPD and other police agencies that systematically target Black, Brown, and Native communities in this country — has branded the strikers “terrorists,” just as the South African apartheid regime once labeled Nelson Mandela.

Despite threats of force-feeding, the prisoners remain steadfast: “Our chains will be broken before we are, because it is human nature to heed the call for freedom regardless of the cost.”

With our own government funding this injustice, the prisoner strike concerns us all. Dr. Martin Luther King, while himself a political prisoner in Birmingham Alabama, put it best: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

*Legal Workers, Legal Organizations and Law Students Letter of Support for Palestinian Hunger Strikers (National Lawyers Guild, April 2017)

*An Injury to One is an Injury to All: Workers Support Palestinian Prisoners on Hunger Strike (Labor for Palestine, May 21, 2017)

In addition, there is a NYC solidarity protest for the prisoners, 5:30pm tomorrow (Friday) in Union Square. Legal observers needed.

FYI: Occupied Youth: Palestine and Black America (No CLE credit)

From: Letwin, Michael
Date: Wed, Apr 27, 2016 at 12:48 PM
Subject: FYI: Occupied Youth: Palestine and Black America (No CLE credit)

Criminal justice parallels. Panel includes various attorneys, including former LAS colleague and current CCR executive director Vince Warren.

———–

FB: https://www.facebook.com/events/1168099009881576/

Occupied Youth: Palestine and Black America

Thursday, April 28 at 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM in EDT

Wollman Hall at the New School

66 W 11th St, New York, New York 10011

Details

This round-table conversation will examine the impact of prolonged military occupation on Palestinian youth and draw connections with the struggles for human rights in the United States for communities of color. Palestinian and American civil society leaders will discuss parallels between Israeli military law, and discrimination, police violence, surveillance and systemic injustice in the US.

Participants:

Sahar Francis is a Palestinian lawyer and general director of Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association. Francis became director in 2005, and has been a human rights legal advocate since 1994. She specializes in issues of Palestinian political prisoners, including ill-treatment and torture, administrative detention, prison conditions, and prisoners’ rights. She has extensive experience litigating in the Israeli Supreme Court and Israeli military court system.

Thenjiwe McHarris is currently working with a team called Blackbird, which is focused on movement building in this current historical moment that centers anti-black racism, state violence and black resistance as part of the ongoing struggle to transform the country. She is also currently working with a number of social justice organizations and movements in the US and is helping to establish a collective for organizers engaged in movement building work around the world. Thenjiwe has spent her entire political and professional career challenging the injustices that imprison people and their communities in a life of poverty and/or one behind bars. She began her political career calling for an end to policies and practices that contributed to acts of torture committed by law enforcement. Most recently, Thenjiwe worked for the U.S. Human Rights Network where she helped coordinate efforts to hold the U.S.G accountable for its human rights violations when the United States was up for review by specific UN Mechanisms.

Khaled Quzmar is a Palestinian lawyer and general director of Defense for Children International – Palestine. Quzmar joined DCIP in 1995 as a lawyer representing Palestinian children in Israeli military courts. He specializes in issues of juvenile justice and grave violations against children during armed conflict, and earned an LL.M in International Human Rights Law from the Irish Centre for Human Rights at the National University of Ireland Galway.

Vincent Warren is an American lawyer and executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York. He oversees CCR’s groundbreaking litigation and advocacy work, which includes using international and domestic law to hold corporations and government officials accountable for human rights abuses, and challenging racial and gender injustice. CCR is committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change by combining cutting-edge litigation, advocacy and strategic communications in work on a broad range of civil and human rights issues.

Mohammad Rozzi is a Palestinian scholar from the Gaza Strip who is currently completing his PhD studies in Switzerland. He holds degrees in Childhood Studies and Occupational Therapy, and has worked with a number of organizations operating in the Gaza Strip, including Mercy Corps, Norwegian Refugee Council, Terre de Hommes Lausanne, UNICEF, and World Vision.

FYI: Vigil Tuesday for NYPD Entrapment Victim, Now in Coma

From: Letwin, Michael
Date: Mon, Apr 11, 2016 at 11:32 AM
Subject: FYI: Vigil Tuesday for NYPD Entrapment Victim, Now in Coma

https://www.facebook.com/events/1735738103322377/

 

 Targeted & Entrapped: Ahmed Ferhani fights for his life 

Vigil, Press Conference
Tuesday, April 12th
1 Police Plaza
3:00 pm  

NYPD Undercover Detective Ilter Ayturk & his CIA Trained Handler, Detective Steve Pinkall infiltrated our community organizations with the intent of entrapping those organizing for the human rights of Palestinians. They failed miserably.  

They would instead target, Ahmed Ferhani, a young man, son, who escaped civil war and has been enduring life-long mental illness and poverty.  

Ahmed attempted suicide in prison last week and remains in a coma. 

Join us in vigil to support our brother Ahmed and to express our anger at the NYPD for their complicity. 

_______________

Press Release: 

A coalition of civil rights and human rights and community based groups across New York are hosting a rally and vigil for Ahmed Ferhani outside One Police Plaza on Tuesday April 12, 2016 at 3 p.m. to rally against the pervasive abuse of Ferhani, and other inmates by the Department of Corrections, and to pray Ferhani’s recovery. 

Ahmed Ferhani, who was prosecuted by way of an embarrassing entrapment case run by the NYPD’s secret surveillance unit is in the Intensive Care Unit of the Eerie County Medical Center after attempting suicide while in the custody of the infamous Attica Prison in Buffalo New York. After months of complaining of abuse at the hands of Attica to the DOC’s Superintendent and to the Attorney General, Ferhani threatened to and did attempt to take his own life to end the abuse.

Ferhani had not been placed on suicide watch but had made prior attempts to harm himself, while he was in custody and before he was entrapped by the NYPD. Ferhani’s attorneys maintain that Ferhani was targeted specifically because he struggled with mental health issues since he was a child. “When the NYPD had so miserably failed to find any unlawful activity after years of pouring countless resources into an illegal surveillance project they sent an undercover to manipulate and essentially bribe the young Ferhani into parroting the words they needed to justify the sham and unconstitutional investigation.” The actions of the NYPD have come under heavy attack since AP leaked the details of the secret surveillance unit and the NYPD now faces litigation brought by victims of the mass surveillance project post 9-11. 

“If it were not enough that he was targeted and preyed upon by the NYPD, the Department of Corrections unleashed its worst predatory practices against Ferhani. Ferhani was repeatedly harassed, abused and beaten by his jailers who believed he was a terrorist without having the facts of his case. He was neither protected nor acknowledged by the Department, now he is dying at the tender age of 30, after a lifetime of hardship and abuse. It is an outrage and justice will be served. It may be late, but it will be had.” Said counsel for Ferhani’s family, Lamis Deek. 

The Press Conference is expected to start at 3pm outside One Police Plaza and will be followed by a vigil. 

Media Inquiries Contact: Lamis Deek, 917-607-0072, 212-226-3999; Fahd Ahmed 917-744-5526 and Gideon Oliver 1646-263-3495, Dima Abi Saab 646-920-7114

4pm Today at the UN: #UNDropG4S: Tell the United Nations to cut ties with Israel prison contractor G4S

From: Letwin, Michael
Date: Mon, Nov 23, 2015 at 10:32 AM
Subject: 4pm Today at the UN: #UNDropG4S: Tell the United Nations to cut ties with Israel prison contractor G4S

#UNDropG4S: Tell the United Nations to cut ties with Israel prison contractor G4S
Monday, November 23
4:00 PM
Dag Hammarskjold Plaza
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1634714110122391/

United Nations agencies hold contracts worth over $22 million annually with G4S, a British-Danish company that is both the world’s largest security firm and its second-biggest private employer.

G4S also equips and maintains Israeli detention centers and jails where Palestinians are held and tortured, as well as training facilities that prepare occupation forces for their attacks on Palestinians.

The Palestinian prisoners’ movement recently issued an unprecedented appeal for escalated boycotts ofG4S over its participation in Israel’s colonial policies off occupation and repression.

As the UN marks its official International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, join us as we answer the prisoners’ call by launching a global wave of action demanding the UN end its contracts withG4S.

Organized by:

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network

Endorsed by:

Al-Awda NY: The Palestine Right to Return Coalition
BMCC Students Without Borders
CCNY Students Without Borders
International Action Center
Jews for Palestinian Right of Return
Labor for Palestine
Neturei Karta International
NYC Students for Justice in Palestine
NYU Students for Justice in Palestine
Students for Justice in Palestine at Brooklyn College
Students for Justice in Palestine at College of Staten Island
Students for Justice in Palestine at Hunter College
Students for Justice in Palestine at John Jay College
Students for Justice in Palestine at Pace University NYC
Students for Justice in Palestine at St. Joseph’s College

Background information:

“UN faces pressure over contracts with G4S”
http://www.bdsmovement.net/2015/un-faces-pressure-over-contracts-with-g4s-13291

“Over 220 Palestinian and international organizations demand United Nations cancel G4S contracts”
http://samidoun.net/2015/09/over-220-palestinian-and-international-organizations-demand-united-nations-cancel-g4s-contracts

“Palestinian Boycott National Committee calls for action, responds to prisoners’ movement call”
http://samidoun.net/2015/08/palestinian-boycott-national-committee-calls-for-action-responds-to-prisoners-movement-call

“Stop G4S: A call to the global boycott movement from Palestinian political prisoners”
http://samidoun.net/2015/08/stop-g4s-a-call-to-the-global-boycott-movement-from-palestinian-political-prisoners/

“Why does UN hire G4S, accomplice to Israeli torture?”
https://electronicintifada.net/content/why-does-un-hire-g4s-accomplice-israeli-torture/14661

“Why is the United Nations doing business with G4S, notorious prison supplier?”
http://mondoweiss.net/2014/09/business-notorious-supplier

FYI: 12:30 PM Saturday in Union Square: Free Rights Defenders in Egypt

From: Letwin, Michael
Date: Thu, Nov 12, 2015 at 2:04 PM
Subject: FYI: 12:30 PM Saturday in Union Square: Free Rights Defenders in Egypt

https://www.facebook.com/events/1511782065785681/

Free Rights Defenders in Egypt

UPDATE: SATURDAY IN UNION SQUARE. 12:30PM

Hossam is released but there are still thousands more in jail, imprisoned for years for expressing their opinions or doing their jobs as journalists.

We were going out to protest for Hossam and he’s now been released. But instead of quietening down, let’s keep the momentum up. Those of us in New York are able to protest freely and should let the governments of both Egypt and the US that we have not forgotten Shawkan or Alaa or Maheinour or any of the other human rights activists and journalists in jail in Egypt now.

So, see you on Saturday at Union Square for one hour. Let’s make this a bigger protest. We will prepare for some human rights defenders to speak and advocate on the draconian crackdown on activism and freedom of speech in Egypt. It is also good for all of us to meet and see how we can work together.

See you then.

**This action is endorsed by the following solidarity organizations**

National Lawyers Guild -MENA Solidarity
MENA Solidarity Network – US
al-Awda NY
Samidoun NY
Labor for Palestine
NYC Solidarity with Palestine/Palestine Direct Action Front
NYC Students for Justice in Palestine
International Socialist Organization

RE: NYTimes: Elizabeth M. Fink, a Lawyer for Attica Inmates and Radicals, Dies at 70

From: Letwin, Michael
Date: Fri, Sep 25, 2015 at 2:19 PM
Subject: RE: NYTimes: Elizabeth M. Fink, a Lawyer for Attica Inmates and Radicals, Dies at 70

On her left in the NYT photo below is Akil Al-Jundi (1940-1997), Attica Brother, Legal Aid staff member in Manhattan Criminal, 1199 senior delegate, and “a rock on whom both unions came to depend.”

2013.09.20: 7 p.m. Tonight: I Am Troy Davis: 2 Years Later

From: Michael Letwin
Sent: Friday, September 20, 2013 11:08 AM
To: 1199 Members; ALAA MEMBERS
Subject: 7 p.m. Tonight: I Am Troy Davis: 2 Years Later

I Am Troy Davis: 2 Years Later

On September 21, 2011 Troy Anthony Davis was put to death by the State of Georgia.

On the eve of the second anniversary of Troy’s execution, the Davis family, AI USA, NAACP, EJUSA, NCADP, and Haymarket Books (Endorsed by: NCBL, CENJC, IAC, NLG (NY) and others) invite you to join the Davis family at St. Mary’s in Harlem, where the community came together two years ago in the hope that Troy’s life would be spared.

We will reflect on Troy Davis’ legacy, remember Martina Davis-Correia, discuss the movement to abolish the death penalty, and launch the book “I Am Troy Davis”, co-authored by Jen Marlowe and Troy’s sister Martina Davis-Correia, with the participation of Troy himself.

Participants include (list in formation):
*Kimberly Davis (Troy’s sister)
*Jen Marlowe (author of “I Am Troy Davis”)
*Eve Ensler (playwright & activist)
*Yusef Salaam (Central Park 5 and death penalty abolitionist)
*Lawrence Hayes (death row exonoree)
*Cherrell Brown (Equal Justice USA)
*Wende Gozan Brown (formerly from AIUSA)
*Laura Moye (AIUSA former death penalty abolition campaign director)

and emcee Thenjiwe McHarris (AIUSA).

**Endorsing Organizations (list information):

* * *

About the stunning new Haymarket title, “I Am Troy Davis”:

“Here is a shout for human rights and for the abolition of the death penalty. This book, I Am Troy Davis, should be read and cherished. It will inspire courage in the heart of those who are willing to use their efforts to save lives and increase the quality of life for all people.”
—Maya Angelou

“Like Trayvon Martin’s monumental murder, the execution of Troy Davis was a historic awakening for this country — an awakening of the deadly consequences of white supremacy. Don’t miss this book!”
—Cornel West, Professor of Philosophy and Christian Practice, Union Theological Seminary

* * *

More on the new book, “I am Troy Davis”: http://bit.ly/1fCxNUR <http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F1fCxNUR&h=7AQEvy908&enc=AZOCAhvBzsAOQR7HzpADu3It7PXHoMXs_yDv9UCyj5qNGzRJeD2SId8-tTrwD5OlB0I&s=1>

2013.07.09: Happy Hour for Pelican Bay 7/11 6:30 at the Magician

From: Nora Carroll
Sent: Tuesday, July 09, 2013 2:55 PM
To: ALAA MEMBERS; 1199 Members
Subject: [non-work] Happy Hour for Pelican Bay 7/11 6:30 at the Magician

Hi LAS – as you may know, there are thousands of inmates in California prisons on hunger strike as of yesterday, July 8, in protest of conditions. There is doing a fundraiser/happy hour/petition-signing party at the Magician this Thursday; come on out and support! Sorry for the last minute notice, but this was thrown together at the last minute. Details here:

Here’s the facebook event page… https://www.facebook.com/events/152670888253135/ And here are the details:

This iteration of NextGin happy hour will also be an opportunity to donate and sign the petition in support of the Pelican Bay State Prison hunger strikers in California! (More on the strike here: http://prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/)

Join the young (at heart) lawyers, legal workers, future lawyers of the National Lawyers Guild and ALL supporters of the Pelican Bay strikers for:

NextGin: Happy Hour with the Next Generation Committee of the NLG-NYC!

Please join us for a good cause, good company, friendly faces, radical lawyering talk, cheap drinks.

When: Thursday July 11th from 6:30pm to 10 PM!

Location: The Magician – 118 Rivington st. Manhattan!

Hope to see you there and bring/invite others!

In solidarity,

Your NLG-NYC Next Generation Committee

Co-sponsored by the Mass Incarceration Committee (NYC-NLG) &

The Anti-Racism Committee of the NYC-NLG &

The NYC Jails Action Coalition &

The New York State Prisoner Justice Network

2013.06.18: Emergency Alert: Lynne Stewart In Grave Danger

From: Michael Letwin
Sent: Tuesday, June 18, 2013 1:54 PM
To: 1199 Members; ALAA MEMBERS
Subject: Emergency Alert: Lynne Stewart In Grave Danger

From: Lynne Stewart Defense Organization [mailto:ralph.poynter@yahoo.com]
Sent: Tuesday, June 18, 2013 1:05 PM
To: Rosenberg, Mimi
Subject: VIGIL FOR LYNNE IS GROWING -UPDATE#2

While there is a lower class, I am in it;
while there is a criminal element, I am of it;
while there is a soul in prison, I am not free.
– Eugene Debs

TAKE ACTION NOW!

Sign The Petition!

Please take a moment to join Pete Seeger, Desmond Tutu, Dick Gregory and thousands of others. Get ten of your friends to sign the petition for compassionate release today.

It is devastating, totally unbelievable. Is this in a democracy, the only superpower? I am sad. I will sign. Praying God’s blessing on your efforts.
“- Desmond Tutu

Lynne Stewart should be outa jail.
– Pete Seeger

Write Lynne today, and visit
lynnestewart.org

Lynne Stewart
53504-054 CARSWELL
FEDERAL MEDICAL CENTER
P.O. BOX 27137
Fort Worth TX, 76127

To Donate please send your gift to:
Lynne Stewart Organization
1070 Dean St.
Brooklyn NY 11216
(for gifts that need to be tax deductible call or email
ralph.poynter@yahoo.com 917-853-9759

Emergency Alert: Lynne Stewart In Grave Danger

The warden of Carswell FCI agreed to forward the compassionate release petition to the DOJ. The time to increase the heat is now.
White House vigil for Lynne Stewart’s compassionate release started Monday, June 17 and is GROWING.

KEEP THE PRESSURE ON.

Media Contact: Ralph Poynter: 1-917-853-9759
}LynneStewart.org

The continuing campaign to gain Compassionate Release for Lynne Stewart — the grievously ill, imprisoned human rights attorney — is headed to Washington, D.C.

Despite being approved for compassionate release, Stewart continues to be held in Carswell Federal Prison in seriously deteriorating health.

Lynne Stewart’s spouse, the 79-year-old social justice activist Ralph Poynter, will lead a continuing vigil in front of the White House starting on Monday, June 17.

Poynter urges all those concerned with justice, compassion and basic human rights to join him whether they are available for an hour, for the day, or for the duration. He will be at the White House and making visits to the Federal Bureau of Prisons several blocks away, at 320 First St. NW, Washington D.C., 20534.

Lynne Stewart, age 73, is suffering from stage 4 cancer in her lungs. The cancer has metastasized rapidly to her lymph nodes and shoulder. She has lost 60 pounds and her condition is deteriorating rapidly. Stewart’s condition is well-known and medically documented.

As Poynter explains: “Lynne has passed all of the legalities of compassionate release and qualifies for release as the bill was written. The prison warden at Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas, has signed for her release, and so has the director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Charles R. Samuels. Probation officers charged with inspecting Lynne’s future residence approved her housing. All that is required by the statute of compassionate release has been done. Yet Lynne is still in jail! Every day that her release is postponed makes treatment of her cancer more difficult.”

The national campaign for Stewart’s Compassionate Release started more than three months ago, in early March. Thousands of petitions were sent and thousands of phone calls made urging her release. The warden at Carswell Federal Prison recommended her immediate compassionate release six weeks ago.

As the Lynne Stewart Defense Committee has explained, Stewart is not guilty of any crimes. In representing a prisoner charged with terrorism, Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, Stewart was unjustly convicted of delivering a simple press release for her client.

All those who are concerned with Lynne’s health and unable to get to Washington, D.C., are urged to continue calling the White House, Attorney General and Federal Bureau of Prisons and sending petitions.

CALL: White House – President Barack Obama 1-202-456-1414

Attorney General Eric Holder – 1-202-514-2001

Federal Bureau of Prisons

Director Charles Samuels – 1-202-307-3250

Sign petition at IACenter.org/LynneStewart or at LynneStewart.org

TAKE ACTION NOW!

Sign The Petition!

Lynne Stewart Must Be Free! Lynne Stewart and her husband Ralph Poynter.

Compassion demands that Lynne Stewart be released immediately from prison so she and her family can fight for her life. Lynne Stewart, is political prisoner and a renowned human rights lawyer who is currently serving a ten year sentence at FMC Carswell TX.

Please go to lynnestewart.org get active and sign the petition for compassionate release.

Lynne Stewart Defense Organization
1070 Dean St. Brooklyn NY 11216 917-853-9759 , ralph.poynter@yahoo.com

Over 20,000 and counting sign the petition! Please add your voice!

If you have already signed the petition, please write a letter. They have the power to release Lynne now and must be encouraged to do so. Please write to:

Mr. Charles E. Samuels, Jr., Director
Federal Bureau of Prisons
320 First Street, NW
Washington, DC 20534

Re: Lynne Irene Stewart, #53504-054 Compassionate Release

Lynne Stewart Defense Organization
1070 Dean St. Brooklyn NY 11216, 917-853-9759,
ralph.poynter@yahoo.com
http://www.lynnestewart.org