Category Archives: Justice

FBI calls Assata a terrorist and doubles the bounty to $2 million.

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Hands off Assata!

The FBI put a woman on its list of most wanted terrorists for the first time Thursday — a 1970s black radical who authorities say shot a New Jersey trooper, made a daring daylight escape from prison and fled to Cuba.

The agency and the state also doubled the bounty for her capture to $2 million.

The announcement was the latest turn in the 40-year saga of Joanne Chesimard — also known as Assata Shakur — who was part of the Black Liberation Army and became one of the most notorious fugitives in New Jersey history.

“While we cannot right the wrongs of the past, we can and will continue to pursue justice no matter how long it takes,” said Aaron Ford, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Newark office.

In a direct appeal to Chesimard, he said: “Give yourself up, come to America and face justice.”

via NBC news

Ron Finley: A guerilla gardener in South Central LA/TedTalk

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Ron Finley plants vegetable gardens in South Central LA — in abandoned lots, traffic medians, along the curbs. Why? For fun, for defiance, for beauty and to offer some alternative to fast food in a community where “the drive-thrus are killing more people than the drive-bys.”

Ron Finley grows a nourishing food culture in South Central L.A.’s food desert by planting the seeds and tools for healthy eating.

Via www.ted.com

Mumia: Long Distance Revolutionary coming to Los Angeles

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SYNOPSIS from the official website:

Before he was convicted of murdering a policeman in 1981 and sentenced to die, Mumia Abu-Jamal was a gifted journalist and brilliant writer. Now after more than 30 years in prison and despite attempts to silence him, Mumia is not only still alive but continuing to report, educate, provoke and inspire.

Stephen Vittoria’s new feature documentary is an inspiring portrait of a man whom many consider America’s most famous political prisoner – a man whose existence tests our beliefs about freedom of expression. Through prison interviews, archival footage, and dramatic readings, and aided by a potent chorus of voices including Cornel West, Alice Walker, Dick Gregory, Angela Davis, Amy Goodman and others, this riveting film explores Mumia’s life before, during and after Death Row – revealing, in the words of Angela Davis, “the most eloquent and most powerful opponent of the death penalty in the world…the 21st Century Frederick Douglass.”

Watch Democracy Now! interview with writer, producer and director Steve Vittoria and Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio

Check showtimes and buy tickets here.