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Angola 3 Newsletter: Waiting for Godot or Waiting for the 5th Circuit Court
by
International Coalition to Free the Angola 3 | 04.08.2010
The new issue of the Angola 3 newsletter has just been released, and is featured below.
Waiting for Godot or......
Waiting for the 5th Circuit Court
Join us in sending Albert all the love and patience we can muster as we continue to hold vigil with him awaiting word on the long overdue decision regarding the State's objections to the overturning of his conviction. Let Albert know we're sending all positive freeing energy to the court and to him.
The London premiere of "In the Land of the Free..." the new film by Vadim Jean was a HUGE success, bringing lots of extra attention and interest to the case.
Long time Angola 3 supporter and incredible ally, Jordan Flaherty's new book on the real deal in New Orleans is being released this summer with early rave reviews!
Keep the faith- Albert and Herman will be free!
 New Amnesty International Statement Supporting the Angola Three
On March 30, Amnesty International released an important new statement in support of the Angola 3, which builds upon Amnesty's previous release in 2007. The statement concludes by writing:
"Amnesty International is urging the Louisiana prison authorities to take immediate steps to remove Herman Wallace and Albert Woodfox from solitary confinement and to ensure that they are not subjected to conditions that constitute cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment or which violate other fundamental human rights. It is also urging that they are provided with, among other things, adequate opportunities for exercise and participation in prison cultural, recreational and work programs."
Read the full statement here.
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 Help Support Marilyn Buck's Fight Against Cancer
Political prisoner Marilyn Buck's release date is August 8, 2010, but she is being treated for cancer and is very ill. Following a visit, lawyer and Harvard professor Soffiyah Elijah sent a March 28 email to supporters, writing:
Yesterday I visited with Marilyn at FMC Carswell in Texas. We had a wonderful time together despite the fact that she is very sick. We are hopeful that her chemo treatment will start in the next day or so. This is essential. On Friday the port was inserted so it is likely that tomorrow or Tuesday, at the latest, the treatment will begin. She was in relatively good spirits despite her pain and overall condition. Marilyn asked that I thank all of you, and by extension, the many people that are not included in this list, for all of your cards, letters and expressions of support. At present she has over 100 letters and cards which she simply cannot respond to right now but she wants everyone to know that she deeply appreciates all the love.
She made one specific request... she would like all of her family, friends and supporters to join her in a daily meditation which will take place at 7 a.m. central time. I know that's very early for the west coast folks but it is the time that works best overall for her right now. The meditation need only last 5-10 minutes and the focus should be visualizing her healed, happy and healthy. It is her hope that as many people as possible will join this joint simultaneous effort every day for as long as it takes to heal her. Please spread the word and let's start the meditation tomorrow morning, Monday 3/29. Thanks for all of your love and support.
A3 NEWSLETTER NOTE: If you are unable to meditate, please send a card to:
Marilyn Buck
00482-285
FMC Carswell CC5
PO Box 27066
Ft. WORTH TX 76127
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 Flurry of Articles on the UK Release of 'In The Land of the Free...'
After debuting at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival in London on March 24-25, the new movie about the Angola 3 entitled 'In The Land Of The Free...' was released to the general UK public. Robert King and Vadim Jean appeared at many different events that week and many photos from these events are online at PM Press and Brightwide. In the photo to the right, King is shown with Bianca Jagger and Livia Firth. Articles were published by the New Statesman, The Independent, The Guardian (including a radio interview), and the London Evening Standard. Socialist Worker Online reviewed the movie and featured an interview with Robert King.
Angola 3 supporter Gordon Roddick was interviewed by The Scotsman and wrote his own article for The Big Issue in Scotland, where he reflected on the relationship that he and his late wife Anita formed with the Angola 3. Remembering their first visit at Angola Prison with Herman Wallace and Albert Woodfox, Gordon wrote: "The visit was peppered with laughter and good humour and I left Angola feeling uplifted by the few hours in their company, but shaken by the thoughts of what Herman and Albert have to deal with on a daily basis. I read most of the legal documents pertaining to their case; the more I read the more I was convinced of their innocence and the more I was determined to help Anita in her quest to set them free. These visits have since become an important part of my life and I have formed a deep and lasting friendship with Herman, Albert and Robert."
For more information, please visit the film's website here. 
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 A Suspicious (and Lonely) Death in Maine State Prison's Lockdown Unit
The new Solitary Watch website continues to publish excellent articles several times a week. Be sure to visit their website for more stories, but this one particularly caught our eye. A guest post by Stan Moody, entitled A Suspicious (and Lonely) Death in Maine State Prison's Lockdown Unit concludes:
The death of Sheldon Weinstein has changed my life remarkably. While both prisoners and guards cannot seem to get beyond his crime, I was confronted with a real life situation from which I could not in good conscience walk away. It has cost me dearly in terms of my political stature and will, I presume, continue to do so. It has opened my eyes to the fallacy that nearly all people in government, at the end of the day, are good people who really want to do the right thing. I have seen a level of contradiction that I could have gone on blithely the rest of my life without seeing.
Will Weinstein's death be subjected to the level of investigation it deserves? Will his death become a catalyst for addressing the system of favoritism and influence peddling that prevails at the prison? Who can know the answer to these questions? Thus far, there has been no indication of change to a system that mirrors the "blue line of silence."
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 New Orleans Angola 3 Support
A3 Activist Emily Posner continues to lobby against the use of solitary confinement in Maine's prisons. The bill, supported and influenced by Herman Wallace has been moving its way through the Maine State legislature. The bill was whittled down to Resolve on the house floor, approved by the Senate, and is awaiting a signing by the governor, Baldacci (read more here).
New Orleans based designer Maria Hinds presented a lecture to sculpture and design students in NCAD, Dublin, Ireland on the topic of Advocacy in Design, highlighting the role of graphic design in the A3 campaign. Maria will present a similar lecture to design students in Sydney on the 18th of April, which marks the anniversary of the 38th year Herman and Albert will have spent in solitary confinement.
 Herman Wallace, along with New Orleans based artist Jackie Sumell, is exhibiting a selection of books from his library to Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart, Germany, where it will reside until he is released or his dream house is built. The exhibit is accompanied by recent correspondence between Herman and the Akademie's Director Jean-Baptist Joly. Contextually, the library illustrates a portrait of a remarkable man and documents the tragic effects of torture. |
 Angola 3 News Interviews Tiny: Media Justice And The Crime Of Poverty
Our interview with Tiny, the co-founder of POOR Magazine, was featured at Truthout and other news websites. We asked Tiny how the anti-prison struggle relates to issues of poverty and houselessness. She answered:
It completely relates. It is why I was incarcerated in the United States and why I wrote the book "Criminal of Poverty: Growing Up Homeless in America." It is illegal to be houseless in the US and arguably it is illegal to be poor. We have modern-day apartheid and slave plantations called prisons, and they have to constantly feed this machine with fresh meat so the PIC industry can make revenue. Racism, poverty and disability are all linked and are alive and well.
Throughout my childhood - my poor mama of color and I were houseless and living in our car, and I was eventually arrested for those "crimes." I am light-skinned and look white even though my mama is Boriken, Taina and Afrikan. I look like my colonizer dad, so I could lie to a landlord about being a single adult with a job and the landlord would accept it rather than that my mama was a hard worker who was responsible. But it isn't just houseless folks. Its migrant workers, youth of color, people in poverty living with a mental disability, micro-business people, foster youth and on and on. Our struggles against racism and criminalization are linked.
Read the full interview here.
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 New Book by Jordan Flaherty--FLOODLINES: Community and Resistance from Katrina to the Jena Six
To be released this August, Floodlines is a firsthand account of community, culture, and resistance in New Orleans. The book weaves the stories of gay rappers, Mardi Gras Indians, Arab and Latino immigrants, public housing residents, and grassroots activists in the years before and after Katrina. From post-Katrina evacuee camps to torture testimony at Angola Prison to organizing with the family members of the Jena Six, Floodlines tells the stories behind the headlines, from an unforgettable time and place in history.
Read more here.
(Stay Tuned for Angola 3 News' exclusive interview with Jordan, to be released soon!)
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