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Benefit show October 5th at The Proletariat On October 5th The Proletariat will host a benefit show to raise money for the October 27th March. This will be an early show starting at 7pm. It will be all ages and the cover is only $6. The bill includes The Dimes - voted best indie band, best new act, AND winning song of the year honors in this year's Houston Press Music Awards, Wicked Poseur - voted most likely to have released a "a measurable, pleasurable magic gall stone" by The Skyline Network and, opening the show, Program - voted most likely to have released a "nicely woozy concoction that blends Wolfie's manic energy and synths with Material Issue's more deliberate songwriting" by Space City Rock. As you can see, this will be an amazing show! Come out, see some good music, and support a good cause!!
Remembering Innocent Executed People
Remembering the Innocent - at Paradise Cemetery on Sunday, 2007-09-09: Friends and supporters joined the families for a graveside commemoration for Shaka Sankofa, Frances Newton, Joseph Nichols.
Friends and supporters joined the families for a graveside commemoration, bringing memories, songs, photos, and poems to share, honoring the memory of these three innocent people who were taken from us by the state of Texas: Shaka Sankofa (Gary Graham), Frances Newton, and Joseph Nichols. Early September is significant for each of these families. Shaka's birthday was September 5; he would have been 47, had he not been executed on June 22, 2000. Joseph's birthday was September 8; he would have been 46, but was executed last March 3. Frances was executed at the age of 40, two years ago on September 14. All three were the victims of a racist and vicious system that seeks convictions at the expense of truth. Prosecutors and judges alike seem hell-bent on vengeance rather than justice. Evidence gets twisted and/or lost; witnesses, unreliable to start with, are harrassed and/or coached; trials are repeated with multiple people accused of the same crime, and appeals are summarily denied for the least excuses and arbitrary rules. When will the killing stop? The tide of public opinion has turned, as shown by the recent, if reluctant, addition by lawmakers of Life Without Parole as an option to be given to jurors. And the conservative US Supreme Court has lately handed down restrictions, as against execution of juveniles and mentally impaired people. Even in Harris County, capital sentences decline, yet executions mount in number: 5 last month (August), 5 this month. JOIN the MARCH to END EXECUTIONS: October 27 in Houston. Ester King pours a libation
Brother Kenyha drumming
Conrado Acevado singing
Graveside gathering
Remembering
Six strong women
Three mothers
Protests at Death Row Come out to Livingston (location of Texas' death row) and Huntsville (location of Texas' execution chamber) to protest in support of Kenneth Foster and of John Amador. Both men are from San Antonio and have been protesting together by refusing to comply with their executions. Livingston, Wednesday, August 29, 1:00 - 4:00 PM
Huntsville, Wednesday, August 29, 4:00 - 7:00 PM
Huntsville, Thursday, August 30, 3:00 - 7:00 PM
Governor Perry Greeted By Protestors At Church Today
A group hoping to change Governor Rick Perry's mind about an execution, met him at his Tarrytown church today. Ariel Kay with 'We The People' says Kenneth Foster should not be executed for driving a car during a botched robbery in 1997. Kay says Foster was sentenced to death under the Law of Parties - because he was present during a crime, he was just as guilty as the person who actually committed the crime. Fosters' family is participating in today's protest. He is scheduled for execution by lethal injection August 30th.
Wednesday, Aug. 22 -- Protest Texas' 400th Execution, 5:00-6:15 @ Houston's Old Hanging Tree, Corner of Capital and Bagby Downtown On August 22 Texas will carry out its 400th execution since 1982. Johnny Conner is scheduled to be executed at 6:00PM if he does not get a stay. Meet us at the Old Hanging Tree behind Bayou Place and across from the Hobby Center for a press conference and protest. This is a milestone in Texas history that must be condemned!
For Immediate Release August 21, 2007 Media Contact: Njeri Shakur 713-237-0713
On August 22 Texas Will Execute the 400th Person Since Executions Resumed in 1982; A Houston Protest to Condemn This Milestone will be at Houston’s Old Hanging Tree Johnny Conner is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday, August 22, in Huntsville at 6:00 PM. Conners’ execution, if carried out, will be the 400th in the state of Texas since executions resumed on Dec. 7, 1982. The United States has executed 1,090 people since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976 and executions resumed on January 17, 1977, when the state of Utah’s firing squad killed Gary Gilmore. Houstonians will protest the 400th execution at 5:30 at Houston’s Hanging Tree on the corner of Capital and Bagby. Protests will also take place around the state on Wednesday, including at the governor’s mansion in Austin. “We will protest at the 200-year-old oak tree where Black people were illegally lynched many, many years ago. Today lynching in Texas is legal and it is done by the government in Huntsville. But Texas does not have the moral authority to execute anyone. The death penalty is used only against the poor and is a racist attack on the African American and Latino communities,” stated Njeri Shakur, a spokesperson for the Texas March Against Executions Committee, which is organizing Wednesday’s protest in Houston. The death penalty is losing favor around the world. Even in the US there are fewer people being sentenced to death and fewer executions are being carried out. Because over 120 people have been released from death row for reasons of innocence, people sitting on juries are more reluctant to condemn a defendant to death. Only in Texas are executions continuing at a fast pace. On Tuesday, the European Union issued a statement directed at Texas, saying, “The European Union notes with great regret the upcoming execution in the State of Texas and strongly urges Governor Rick Perry to exercise all powers vested in his office to halt all upcoming executions and to consider the introduction of a moratorium in the State of Texas.” Texas has 3 more executions scheduled for the next week, including one of an innocent man, Kenneth Foster. Foster’s family will be in Houston to speak on Saturday at 2:00 PM at St. Saviour Baptist Church at 5202 Tronewood in N. E. Houston. ( www.freekenneth.com )
Sat.,Aug., 18 -- A Night of Solidarity with Kenneth Foster in San Antonio Saturday, August 18, 2007, 5:00 PM at the Carver Community Center in San Antonio at 226 N. Hackberry (between Commerce and East Houston). Doors open at 5pm. Admission is $5. The main speaker will be Mario Africa with the MOVE organization in Philly. Musical performers will be Get Money Click, SLYKAT, Precise of Throedville Entertainment, Bubble Rap Inc., and Kenneth's wife Ja'vlin, featuring his daugher Nydesha Foster. |
