Defending Our Communities from Federal Repression

Thursday, Dec 10th at 6:30pm
Lewis Room, Cambridge Public Library
45 Pearl St. Central Sq, Cambridge


What do you do when the FBI comes knocking at your door? Do you know what your rights are and how to assert them?

Join us for a discussion of federal repression in the Muslim and Arab communities, with a focus on the case of Tariq Mehanna.

Panelists will also discuss the history of repression against the Black Liberation and Puerto Rican independence movements, highlighting strategies of self defense that have worked in the past.

This event will include video excerpts with legal information on how to protect yourself, your family, and your community.

**Co-sponsored by the Free Tariq Committee and Jericho Boston**

*The Cambridge Public Library is not a sponsor of this event.*

Running Down the Walls

5K Run in Solidarity with Political Prisoners

WHEN: Saturday, September 12, 10:00 am

WHERE: Jamaica Pond Boathouse (Jamaica Plain, MA)

On Saturday, September 12, people across the country--both inside and outside of prison--will be running to call attention to the plight of political prisoners and prisoners of war held captive by the US government. This will be the 8th annual Running Down the Walls event organized by the Anarchist Black Cross Federation of Los Angeles, with solidarity runs in other cities, and the 4th annual run held here in Boston. Our yearly 5K is a non-competitive run, walk, or roll, held to raise awareness and to raise needed funds.

This year, Running Down the Walls will take place on Leonard Peltier's 65th birthday, his 33rd year in prison for defending the rights of his people. Because Leonard was recently denied parole--and given a 15 year hit until his next possible hearing--solidarity actions on his behalf will be held in DC and across the country on the same day (more information at http://www.whoisleonardpeltier.info/ ).

**Members of the Mashpee Wampanoag community will be holding a drum circle in honor of Leonard as part of the event.**

Proceeds from this year's annual 5K run will be divided between the Leonard Peltier Defense/Offense Committee (LPDOC) and Ojore N. Lutalo, a New Afrikan anarchist prisoner of war who has just been released.

We are suggesting a $15 donation to register for the run; participants are invited to gather pledges and donations to help support the event.

Jamaica Pond is located on the Jamaica Way in Jamaica Plain. The run will start at the Boathouse, near the intersection of Jamaica Way and Pond St. The closest T stations are Green St. on the Orange Line and Heath St. on the Green Line; the closest bus route is the 39. Please call Jericho Boston if you need more detailed directions.

A flyer for the event is available here.

JERICHO - BOSTON
jerichoboston.org

Keep in touch and stay informed. Subscribe to our low volume, announcement listserv. We will let you know about current campaigns in support of progressive activists imprisoned by the U.S. and those who have been forced into exile, locked up or come under attack because they struggled for the liberation of oppressed peoples, for a just world, and to save our planet.

Sometimes the state seems all powerful. However, we should never lose sight of what we can win when we work together.

The Puerto Rican people have worked hard to generate the political and moral pressure necessary to free two generations of political prisoners from U.S. prisons. In 1979, Irving Flores Rodriguez, Lolita Lebron, and Rafael Cancel-Miranda were freed after spending 25 years in prison for struggling to end U.S. colonial rule of Puerto Rico. In September 1999, eleven younger independentistas were freed after almost twenty years in prison.

Today New Afrikan activist and former political prisoner Assata Shakur lives freely in Cuba despite the efforts of some within the U.S. to have her killed or imprisoned.

We celebrate the release of Linda Evans in Jan. 2001, Black Panther Robert "King" Wilkerson in Feb. 2001, Juan Segarra Palmer's release to Puerto Rico in January 2004, and the eleven Puerto Rican independentistas in Sept. 1999. Yet we know that close to 100 women and men remain in U.S. prisons because they have dared to struggle for the liberation of oppressed peoples.

When we support these political prisoners we defend our own right to struggle for justice. This is especially crucial since the passage of the "USA-Patriot Act" and other unconstitutional assaults on dissent in the name of the "war on terror."

"Love of people and belief in life lead us to resist imperialism, always striving to find the methods that are most effective and most consistent with our underlying humanism. An important way to reaffirm the history of struggle and to contribute to the spirit and energy of today's movements is to never forget, and to actively support, political prisoners around the world."

David Gilbert

anti-imperialist political prisoner

statement for International Day of Solidarity with Political Prisoners

12/3/05:

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Here in Massachusetts we are trying to build our local chapter of the Jericho Movement. We will continue our work to free those activists imprisoned for political reasons.

In April 2004, we held a working conference at UMass Boston entitled "Set the Captives Free." The working conference began with an evening of cultural edutainment with special musical guests Dead Prez, The Foundation, VCR, Blackout Boston, Iyeoka Ivie Okoawo, FTP, Reflect & Strengthen, Curtis King, Simon & Wagner, and PRESENTE! on April 16, 2004. The following day we held workshops on Political Prisoners, Prisoners of War, and Racially Profiled Detainees in the U.S with Pam Africa (MOVE), Jean Day (AIM), Fred Hampton Jr.(former political prisoner), Linda Evans(former political prisoner), Russell Shoats Jr., Netdahe Williams, Rod Coronado(former political prisoner, animal rights activist), Mike Duan (South Asian Coalition,) Rawan Barakat(New England Committee to Defend Palestine), Lourdes Lugo (National Boricua Human Rights Network), Attorney Soffiyah Elijah, Attorney Nancy Murray (ACLU, NLG), and Nalda Vigezzi (Cuban 5 Coalition).

In May 2005, we held a second working conference and concert at the historic Strand Theater in Dorchester, Massachusetts. Speakers and performers included Dead Prez, The Last Poets, Attorney Lynne Stewart, Dhoruba Al Mujahid Bin Wahad (former political prisoner and Panther 21 defendant), Alicia Rodrà guez (Puerto Rican Independentista and former political prisoner), Rafael Cancel Miranda (Puerto Rican Independentista and former political prisoner), Kazi Toure (former political prisoner), Queen Godis, Boston City Councilors Felix Arroyo and Chuck Turner, The Foundation, Nasim Abdul Malik, Reflect and Strengthen, PRESENTE, Russell Shoats Jr., Netdahe Williams, and Rick Laaman. Throughout the year we also organize film screenings, discussions, demonstrations, celebrations and other events in Jamaica Plain, Roxbury, Dorchester and elsewhere.

We also have traveled to Philly, New York, and other places to participate in other events.

This is the website for the New England chapter of the Jericho Movement, an international movement to free those progressive activists held by the government of the United States because of their actions, beliefs or affiliations.

This movement grew out of a call put out in the fall of 1996 by New Afrikan political prisoner Jalil Muntaquim and former New Afrikan political prisoners Herman Ferguson and Safiya Bukhari. As Sister Safiya frequently reminded us during her lifetime, 'soldiers get captured...they do time...then they pick up the work.' If those behind bars, and those who have spent years locked up before being released can continue the work, can we do any less? Thousands of activists responded to their call, and came to Washington DC on March 27th 1998 for demonstrations aimed at exposing the fact that there are political prisoners in the U.S. and to call for their release. They marched from Malcolm X Park to the White House, circled it and then listened to speakers from a wide spectrum of radical organizations. Geronimo Ji Jaga, a former Black Panther imprisoned by the U.S. government for 27 years, told the crowd, "This is a dream come true for many brothers and sisters who are behind those walls, who for years have struggled to try and get the message out to everyone that this country does in fact have political prisoners and prisoners of war." There was also a rally of several hundred in Oakland, California and one in Los Angeles as well. Two hundred students walked out of their classes at Berkeley High and marched almost ten miles to join the Oakland rally.

Today, the Jericho Movement works toward these same goals...

Jericho Boston is transitioning it's website into a blog in order keep the people better informed about the movement to free all political prisoners and prisoners of war.