On Friday, September 12, the Georgia Board of Pardon and Paroles voted to deny clemency for Troy Anthony Davis. Troy Davis is still scheduled to be executed by the state of Georgia on September 23, even though his serious claims of innocence have never been heard in court.

Urge the board to reconsider its decision today!

Troy Davis was convicted of murder solely on the basis of witness testimony, and seven of the nine non-police witnesses have since recanted or changed their testimony, several citing police coercion. Others have signed affidavits implicating one of the remaining two witnesses as the actual killer. But due to an increasingly restrictive appeals process, none of this new evidence has ever been heard in court.

Take action and then forward this action to ten friends!

The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles gave no reason for its denial of Troy Davis’ clemency petition, yet Board members do have the authority to reconsider their decision. On July 16, 2007, the Board did stay Troy Davis’ execution, stating that it would “not allow an execution to proceed in this State unless and until its members are convinced that there is no doubt as to the guilt of the accused” (emphasis added).

The failure of courts to hear the compelling evidence of innocence in this case means that massive doubts about Troy Davis’ guilt will remain unresolved.

Urge the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles to reconsider its decision and prevent this execution from proceeding!

In solidarity,

Sue Gunawardena-Vaughn
Director, Death Penalty Abolition Campaign
Amnesty International USA

Troy Davis is scheduled to be executed by the state of Georgia on September 23, even though his serious claims of innocence have never been heard in court.

Take action right now to stop this execution!

Troy Davis was convicted of murder solely on the basis of witness testimony, and seven of the nine non-police witnesses have since recanted or changed their testimony, several citing police coercion. Others have signed affidavits implicating one of the remaining two witnesses as the actual killer. But due to an increasingly restrictive appeals process, none of this new evidence has ever been heard in court.

Take action and then forward this action to ten friends!

On July 16, 2007, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles stayed Troy Davis’ execution, stating that it would “not allow an execution to proceed in this State unless and until its members are convinced that there is no doubt as to the guilt of the accused” (emphasis added). The failure of courts to hear the compelling evidence of innocence in this case means that massive doubts about Troy Davis’ guilt will remain unresolved.

Urge the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles to be true to its words and prevent this execution from proceeding!

In solidarity,

Sue Gunawardena-Vaughn
Director, Death Penalty Abolition Campaign
Amnesty International USA

We ask you once again to join Color of Change in it’s activism of behalf of our communities.

Three years after Hurricane Katrina, there’s finally a bill in Congress that will give all Katrina survivors a fair chance to rebuild their lives. But it won’t become law if your representative doesn’t stand up to support it.The Gulf Coast Civic Works Act would hire 100,000 Gulf Coast residents and evacuees, providing them with training and jobs to rebuild their homes and communities. It started as nothing more than a good idea, but after thousands of ColorOfChange.org members called on Congress to support the plan, and after years of persistent activism from students and Gulf Coast organizations, it now has a real chance of bringing some justice to the Gulf.

Even though it’s come this far, it will take massive public pressure on each member of Congress to get the bill passed. If we want justice for Katrina survivors, we need to make our voices heard now as the media focuses its attention on the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

Please join us and call on your member of Congress to co-sponsor the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act, then ask your friends and family to do the same:

http://www.colorofchange.org/gulfcoast/?id=1829-173305

It’s the right thing to do

The Gulf Coast is still struggling, suffering from a lack of jobs, affordable housing, and basic infrastructure.1

For the last three years, we’ve seen public officials accept–whether out of hopelessness or carefully concealed joy–that post-Katrina New Orleans will be a smaller, whiter and wealthier city. We’ve seen politicians support plans that will push Black and poor people out of the Gulf, amplifying race and class inequalities and permanently gentrifying the area.

The Gulf Coast Civic Works Act represents a powerful shift from that path. The plan calls for hiring 100,000 Gulf Coast residents to rebuild New Orleans and the surrounding region. They’ll be provided with temporary housing and job-training and will build and repair houses, schools, parks, and other civic buildings.2

It’s been done before

The idea behind the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project is not new. During the Great Depression, the federal government believed it had a responsibility to ensure that those hit hardest did not fall through the cracks.3 It also knew that those Americans wanted a hand up, not a handout. So, in 1935, Congress created a program to hire out-of-work Americans to get things done to benefit their communities. Within 2 weeks of launching this unprecedented project, over 800,000 people were hired; within 2 months, 4.2 million were working to build bridges, roads, libraries, schools and other public facilities. If we could put 4 million people to work in just 8 weeks in 1935, why can’t we immediately put 100,000 people to work rebuilding the Gulf Coast?

It’s a plan that makes sense–for displaced survivors, for the communities of the Gulf Coast, for the nation as a whole. It provides an opportunity to invest in Americans while reversing the most glaring problems that plague current rebuilding plans: gentrification, government waste, and massive corporate profiteering. It would revitalize the Gulf Coast’s economy while rebuilding its infrastructure, and it’s a model that could be applied to solve similar problems across the country.

ColorOfChange.org members should be proud that we’ve supported this plan since long before it was a bill in Congress. Getting it introduced as a bill was a great victory and a huge step forward, but it’s going to take even more public pressure to get it voted on and passed.

Please join us and call on your representative to co-sponsor the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act. It only takes a minute:

http://www.colorofchange.org/gulfcoast/?id=1829-173305

Thanks and Peace,

– James, Gabriel, Clarissa, Andre, Kai, and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
August 20th, 2008

References:

1. “Three Years After Katrina,” New York Times, August 11, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/5ahh23

2. “Gulf Coast Civic Works Project”
http://www.solvingpoverty.com/Project_Proposal.htm

3. “Works Progress Administration,” Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Works_Projects_Administration

Click for L.A. Times Story
The shootings occurred within the past two months. On Monday, Rep. Maxine Waters, supported by a group of protesters from the community, announced she is seeking a federal investigation.

“I don’t trust any police department to investigate itself,” Waters said Monday.

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The parents of LaVena were on Democracy Now! last week. There’s no way you can not take action after hearing this. Thanks to Color of Change for leading the way on this issue.  You can also visit www.lavenajohnson.com for more info.

LaVena Johnson was a 19 year old private in the Army, serving in Iraq, when she was raped, murdered, and her body was burned–by someone from her own military base. Despite overwhelming physical evidence, the Army called her death a suicide and has closed the case.¹

For three years, LaVena’s parents have been fighting for answers. At almost every turn, they’ve been met with closed doors or lies. They’ve appealed to Congress, the one body that can hold the military accountable. But, as in other cases where female soldiers have been raped and murdered and the Army has called it suicide, Congress has failed to act.

Will you join Mr. and Mrs. Johnson in calling on Congressman Henry Waxman, Chairman of the House Government Oversight Committee, to mount a real investigation into LaVena Johnson’s death and the Army’s cover-up²? Will you ask your friends and family to do the same?

http://www.colorofchange.org/lavena/

From the beginning, LaVena’s death made no sense as a suicide. She was happy and had been talking with friends and family regularly³–nothing indicated she could be suicidal. And when the Johnsons received her body, they noticed signs that she had been beaten.⁴ That was when they started asking questions.

After two years of being denied answers and hearing explanations that made no sense, the Johnsons received a CD-ROM from someone on the inside. It contained pictures of the crime scene where LaVena died and an autopsy showing that she had suffered bruises, abrasions, a dislocated shoulder, broken teeth, and some type of sexual assault. Her body was partially burned; she had been doused in a flammable liquid, and someone had set her body on fire. A corrosive chemical had been poured in her genital area, perhaps to cover up evidence of rape.⁵

Still the Army sticks by their story. They refuse to explain the overwhelming physical evidence that LaVena was raped and murdered and continue to claim that she killed herself.

For many Black youth, and working class young people of every race, the military is seen as an option for securing a better future. LaVena came from a deeply supportive family, and while the military wasn’t her only option, she was attracted by its promise to help her pay for a college education and the opportunity to travel around the world. She also thought that by joining she could continue her lifelong commitment to serving other people in need. She made a decision to serve in the military, with all its risks, and expected respect and dignity in return.

LaVena’s death is part of a disturbing pattern of cases where female soldiers have been raped and killed, and where the military has hidden the truth and labeled the deaths suicides.^6,7 In virtually all cases, Congress has been slow to investigate or hold the military accountable in any way. Unfortunately, most families simply don’t have the resources, time, and psychological strength to push back.

We can help the Johnsons, and other families, by holding Congress accountable in the LaVena Johnson case and by demanding it investigate the pattern of cover-ups by the military.

Please take a moment to join those calling on Congressman Waxman to investigate the cover-up of LaVena Johnson’s death:

http://www.colorofchange.org/lavena/

Thanks and Peace,

– James, Gabriel, Clarissa, Andre, Kai, and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
July 28th, 2008

References:

1. “The cover-up of a soldier’s death?” LavenaJohnson.com, March 6, 2007
http://www.lavenajohnson.com/2007/03/cover-up-of-soldiers-death.html

2. “Is There an Army Cover Up of Rape and Murder of Women Soldiers?” CommonDreams.org, April 28, 2008
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/04/28/8564/

3. Ibid.

4. Ibid.

5. “Suicide or Murder? Three Years After the Death of Pfc. LaVena Johnson in Iraq, Her Parents Continue Their Call for a Congressional Investigation,” Democracy Now!, June 23, 2008.
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/7/23/suicide_or_murder_three_years_after

6. See reference 2.

7. “2 Years After Soldier’s Death, Family’s Battle Is With Army,” New York Times, March 21, 2006.
http://tinyurl.com/mzcvh

Other References:

“Justice for Pfc. LaVena Johnson,” DailyKos, June 30, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/5bh73v

“Rapists in the Ranks, Los Angeles Times, March 31, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/2z2c8l

Nearly 18,000 homes faced foreclosure in the Atlanta area during the first quarter of 2008, an almost 40 percent jump from the first quarter of 2007. In Fulton County, which encompasses most of the city’s core and is heavily African-American, one in 122 homes was in foreclosure in the first week of April. A digest of Atlanta’s March 2008 “foreclosure starts” was as thick as the phone book, and the Mitchells’ 30310 ZIP code topped the list.

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Urgent!  Leonard needs a diabetes test kit now!

You may recall that Leonard suffers from diabetes.  To date,
his diabetes has been managed by diet but this is difficult to do
when the prison won’t give Leonard a test kit by which to monitor
his blood glucose level.  Two weeks ago, I wrote to the warden at
Lewisburg asking that Leonard be given a diabetes test kit. I even
offered to purchase an approved kit if the prison cannot provide
one. I haven’t received a response from the warden.

Yesterday, Leonard called–later than the norm. He’s suffering with
a severe headache and other symptoms and is in a bad way. When he
was finally able to get tested at the prison infirmary, his blood
sugar measured 300. The highest blood glucose reading should be
less than 180 mg/dL (and that only one to two hours after eating).

We have to see to it that Leonard gets a diabetes test kit so that
he can control his diabetes.  All supporters are urgently requested
to contact:

Warden
USP Lewisburg
US Penitentiary
2400 Robert F. Miller Drive
Lewisburg, PA  17837
Phone:  570-523-1251
Fax:  570-522-7745
E-mail: LEW/EXECASSISTANT@BOP.GOV

Also contact:

D. Scott Dodrill, Regional Director
Northeast Regional Office
US Custom House
2nd & Chesnut Street
Philadephia, PA  19106
Phone: 215-521-7301
E-mail: NERO/EXECASSISTANT@BOP.GOV

Harley G. Lappin, Director
Federal Bureau of Prisons
320 First Street., NW
Washington, DC 20534
Telephone: 202-307-3198

Be respectful, but firm.  The situation is life threatening.  After
many years of high blood sugar, Leonard is at serious risk for kidney
failure and the need for dialysis, blood vessel damage in the eyes
that can lead to blindness, and nerve damage in the feet that could
lead to the need for amputation. Supporters should also remember
that Leonard already suffers from a heart condition. Heart disease
is, in fact, the number one cause of death in people with diabetes.

Leonard needs our help.  Act now.  Write or fax a letter.  Make a
call. Send an e-mail.  Keep doing it until Leonard gets a diabetes
test kit.

Thank you.

Betty Ann Peltier Solano
Coordinator
Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee
PO Box 7488, Fargo, ND  58106
Phone: 701/235-2206
E-mail: contact@whoisleonardpeltier.info
Web: www.whoisleonardpeltier.info

Time to set him free… Because it is the RIGHT thing to do.

Friends of Peltier
http://www.FreePeltierNow.org

Peltier Statement for the 2008 Oglala Commemoration

June 26, 2008

Greetings my relatives,

I say relatives because you are all my family.  I am honored,
greatly honored today that you would listen to my words and come
together in this way so that our future generations’ will not forget
what happened here in this land.
Read the rest of this entry »

Forty-five years ago, civil rights leader Medgar Evers was assassinated outside his home in Jackson, Mississippi.

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We speak to Ohio Congress member and former Democratic presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich about his impeachment effort against President Bush. On Wednesday, Congress voted to send Kucinich’s bill to the House Judiciary Committee, where it’s unlikely to be considered before Bush leaves office.

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For 40 years, we have been waging a “war on drugs.” Families are being kicked out of housing when many have done nothing wrong. Drug addiction is bad. But the war on drugs is worse. Frances Johnson, a 68-year-old grandmother in Washington, D.C faced eviction simply because her grandson was arrested for possessing a small amount of marijuana.

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The United Nations is sending a special observer to investigate the role that racism plays in the ordinary life of the United States.

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The U.S. attorney is investigating his nonprofit group, a probe that an undeterred Sharpton brushes off as the kind of annoyance that civil rights figures have come to expect from the government.

“Whatever retaliation they do on me, we never stop,” he told the AP. “I think that that is why they try to intimidate us.”

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What a Nation gotta do to get some justice?

Civil rights leader the Rev. Al Sharpton was arrested Wednesday as he and hundreds of demonstrators blocked traffic to protest the acquittal of three detectives in the 50-bullet shooting of an unarmed black man on his wedding day.

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More than two decades after President Ronald Reagan escalated the war on drugs, arrests for drug sales or, more often, drug possession are still rising. And despite public debate and limited efforts to reduce them, large disparities persist in the rate at which blacks and whites are arrested and imprisoned for drug offenses, even though the two races use illegal drugs at roughly equal rates.

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This is an edited transcript of a speech given by Rev Jeremiah Wright at an event for the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People in Detroit from Guardian Unlimited UK.

I come from a religious tradition that did not hold slaves, but preached against slavery and worked to end slavery. I come from a religious tradition that fought against Lansing like the NAACP, fought against discrimination like the NAACP and fought against skin privilege, fought against apartheid, fought again unfair labour practices, fought against segregation, fought against Plessy versus Ferguson.

I come from a religious tradition that fought for desegregation like NAACP. Fought for equality, fought for human dignity, fought for civil rights, fought for equal protection into the law and fought for the right of every citizen to have quality education regardless of the colour of their skin. I also come from a religious tradition that says if you feel excited about something, be excited about it. Don’t stand there - he has hate speech. Listen to how bombastic he is. Isn’t he bombastic? He’s stirring up hate.

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The Rev. breaks some stuff down about everything from (mis)education to music to language to a legacy of resistance. Whatever the political consequences, the brother is speaking Truth to power and getting mainstream attention in a way that we haven’t seen recently. He’s saying things that others have been afraid to say in a manner that does not equivocate. And I say, “Amen!” The original message was a sermon delivered in sacred space, and not meant to be chewed up and spit out in a white corporate context (the mainstream media, y’all). But now that is has been, he has no choice but to respond. What did Bob say? “2000 years of history, could not be wiped away so easily.”

Always insightful Glen Ford has his say here.

The world views of Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Sen. Barack Obama were incompatible from the start, just as the mythical American Manifest Destiny world view is directly at odds with the facts as perceived by Blacks in the United States. Wright finally forced Obama to choose sides in the conflict of racial/historical visions, and in doing so, performed a service on behalf of clarity. Obama lashed out in a startlingly personal manner, calling Wright a “caricature” of himself and linking the minister to forces that give “comfort to those who prey on hate.” Rev. Wright exposed the flimsy tissues of so-called “race neutrality” in a nation founded on racial oppression.

read more

…and then I’m about done with this topic. But the reality is, this whole issue is about an attempt to redefine and re-frame issues of race from a Eurocentric viewpoint of history. We can understand Obama’s political need to “distance himself” but we can’t afford to lose sight of our historical struggles as a people in the meantime. How can we overcome American Imperialism in Iraq and forget American colonialism? And if we pretend that racism is a relic of a by-gone era in the hope of electing a Black president, we’re setting ourselves up for not having our issues addressed at all. And in light of the Sean Bell verdict, disproportionate incarceration rates, racist lending practices, etc, etc., we can’t afford that.

That’s what’s up.