Civil Liberties

Some of you are familiar with this issue from the Indy: http://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/why-is-the-fbi-interested-in-the-anti-war-movement/Content?oid=1786829

Please come to this important conference against FBI and Grand Jury repression at the UNC School of Law. Visit the Committee to Stop FBI Repression website for the complete agenda: http://www.stopfbi.net/conference/north-carolina.

Southern regional organizing conference of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression. Read the press release here.

The conference will be held Saturday Feb. 19 at the UNC Law School in Chapel Hill, NC, from 10:00AM to 5:00pm. Please register now.

You can make an online donation to support the conference - please put "FBI Conference" in the "designation" section of the donate form.

Directions and parking information are available on the UNC School of Law website.

Registration

• Conference is free and open to the public, but we are asking for $5-20 sliding scale donation to help cover costs.
• Lunch is $5, no one will be turned away.
• Need childcare? Let us know the number of kids and their ages.
• Need housing? Contact housing coordinator ncstopfbi@gmail.com

Follow this link to register for the conference

Agenda

9:30am - 10:00am Registration and breakfast

10:00am - 10:10am Welcome to the conference, opening remarks from conference organizers

10:10am - 10:30am

Keynote address from subpoenaed activists

Subpoeaned activists Meredith Aby (Twin Cities Anti-War Committee) and Steff Yorek (Freedom Road Socialist Organization) provide an overview of the September 24 FBI raids on antiwar and solidarity activists.

10:30am - 10:45am Call for donations to the legal support fund

11:00am - 12:15pm

Panel: History of FBI and Political Repression Against People's Movements

• Moderated by Elena Everett from Raleigh FIST.
• Lewis Pitts; Raleigh NC.
• Efia Nwangaza, US Human Rights Network; Atlanta GA.
• Theresa El-Amin, Southern Anti Racism Network; Columbus GA
• Dianne Mathiowetz, International Action Center, Atlanta GA.

12:15 - 1:15pm Lunch (will be provided, please bring $5 donation if possible)

1:15pm - 2:45pm Panel

Panel: Grand Juries, Material Support of Terrorism, the Legal and Political Context of the September 24 Raids

• Moderated by Kosta Harlan, Triangle Committee to Stop FBI Repression
• Peter Gilbert, UNC Center for Civil Rights; Durham NC.
• Lela Ali of In the Name of Humanity; Rocky Mount NC.
• Khalilah Sabra, MAS Freedom; Raleigh NC.
• Maureen Murphy, Palestine Solidarity Group; Chicago IL.
• Meredith Aby, Twin Cities Anti-War Committee; Minneapolis MN.
• Jennifer Rudinger, ACLU; Durham NC.

2:45pm - 3:00pm Break

3:00pm - 3:45pm

Discussion: Organizing reports from around the South

Opportunity for activists to discuss the protests that they have held, outreach to legislators, building community support.

3:45pm - 4:30pm Discussion of a plan from the Committee to Stop FBI Repression for future actions and protests

4:30pm - 5:00pm Summing up the conference, led by Steff Yorek

Sponsors of this conference include

1. ACLU of North Carolina
2. Asheville Committee to Stop FBI Repression
3. Atlanta International Action Center
4. Balance & Accuracy in Journalism (BAJ)
5. Blackwater Watch
6. Durham Bill of Rights Defense Committee
7. Durham County Libertarian Party
8. Freedom Road Socialist Organization
9. Freedom Road Socialist Organization/Organización Socialista del Camino para la Libertad (FRSO/OSCL)
10. Green Party of the United States
11. In the Name of Humanity
12. Internationalist Books
13. Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD-USA)
14. Jews for a Just Peace
15. Libertarian Party of North Carolina
16. Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation
17. National Lawyers Guild at UNC Chapel Hill
18. NAACP--Chapel Hill/Carrboro Branch
19. NC Stop Torture Now
20. North Carolina Peace Action
21. Orange County Bill of Rights Defense Committee
22. Orange County Peace Coalition
23. Orange Chatham Progressive Democrats
24. Peace and Justice Committee, Community Church of Chapel Hill UU
25. Raleigh F.I.S.T.
26. Raleigh Fruitcakes
27. SDS - Asheville
28. SDS - Tuscaloosa
29. SDS - UNC Chapel Hill
30. Southern Anti-Racism Network
31. Triangle Committee to Stop FBI Repression
32. UE Local 150
33. US Human Rights Network
34. Veterans for Peace, Eisenhower Chapter
35. Women's International League for Peace and Freedom --Triangle Branch

Come out and watch the documentary "The Fourth World War," a film about the struggle of poor and working-class people all over the globe who must battle both large corporations and oppressive governments in order to survive and win basic human rights. Filmed in the streets of Mexico, Korea, Argentina, Palestine, Quebec City, and other locations all over the world, this is an emotional and very politicized look at glaring injustice and the emerging movements that seek to combat it.

(Excerpt from the film)
We walked and these moments changed us. We saw the buildings burning and the pain in our neighbor’s eyes. We rushed bayonets in the mountain and lines of police in the city.

We were touched by too much death. We loved and felt alive. We heard the echo of our word in other voices. We watched the moon rise over the barricades.

We were wounded by the courage of small children. This is not the whole story or the only story.

It is an introduction to some of the people with whom we share this planet.

A much greater story remains to be told. A story that we will write together.

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From the Orange County Human Relations Commission: 

Sunday, January 30th, 2011 from 3:00 to 5:00 pm 

A panel discussion will cover the topic “A Community Conversation on Immigration: What are the Implications for Orange County and Its Residents”.   

Panelists for the discussion - 

Keenon James is the Director of Special Projects at the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association (NCSA).  He oversees the Association’s law enforcement training and technical assistance projects as well as provides guidance on state and national criminal justice and law enforcement policies.

Cristina Marcela Rivera was born and raised in El Salvador and moved, with her family, to the United States when she was eleven years old.  She graduated from East Chapel Hill High School and now attending Meredith College on full scholarship.

Marty Rosenbluth is an immigration attorney and the Executive Director of the North Carolina Immigrant Rights Project.  He is a nationally recognized expert on Secure Communities and 287(g) and has attended meetings both at the White House and ICE headquarters to discuss these programs with government officials.

Zaragosa Vargas is a Kenan Distinguished Professor of History at UNC-Chapel Hill.  He has written extensively about the Mexican American labor history and the Mexican American civil rights movement, which focus on race relations, politics, and labor.

The event is free and open to the public.  For additional information, contact James Spivey, 245-2488.