[act-ma] TWO BIG EVENTS SATURDAY FEB.23!

[Sandra Rosen]

Special CME event on Robert F. Williams and the Deacons for Self- 
Defense, with James Smethurst, African-American Studies, UMass-Amherst

Time: 3-5pm

Place: The Center for Marxist Education, 550 Mass. Ave. 2d Fl., in  
Cambridge near the Central Square MBTA Station on the Red Line



Massive racist violence challenged the Civil Rights Movement in the  
1950s and 1960s. Robert F. Williams, leader of the NAACP in Monroe,  
NC, and a WWII and Korean War veteran, organized and advocated armed  
defense of the Movement against this racist violence, which emanated  
not only from the Klan but from police and sheriff departments (often  
closely connected to the Klan).



Williams placed a special emphasis on recruiting veterans. The NAACP  
removed him from his position, and the federal government persecuted  
him, forcing him into exile, first in Cuba then in China. From Cuba  
and China, he edited the radical black newspaper, The Crusader, and  
broadcast the radio show, Radio Free Dixie. He had a profound  
influence on the Black Liberation movement. Excerpts from a recent  
documentary on Williams will also be shown.



The speaker, Jim Smethurst, teaches African-American Studies at the  
University of Massachusetts-Amherst and has written many articles and  
books on the African-American struggle and culture. Don't miss this one!



Also on Saturday February 23:

PROTEST 1,000 DAYS OF DETENTION OF US ARMY PRIVATE BRADLEY MANNING

Time: 1-2pm

Place: Pardon Bradley Manning Square, Park Street MBTA Station-Boston  
Common, Boston, Ma

Organized by the Bradley Manning Support Network  
(www.bradleymanning.org) who reports:

When he returns to court in Fort Meade, MD, for a pretrial hearing  
from February 26 to March 1, Judge Denise Lind will rule on the  
defense’s motion to dismiss charges for lack of a speedy trial.  
Defense lawyer David Coombs has laid out the ways in which the  
government has violated the 5th and 6th Constitutional Amendments,  
Rule for Court Martial 707, and Uniform Code of Military Justice  
Article 10 in taking this long to try Bradley Manning. Prosecutors  
were supposed to arraign Manning within 120 days but took well over  
600. They’re also supposed to remain actively diligent throughout the  
proceedings, but Coombs has showed substantial periods of their  
inactivity and needless delay. Bradley’s due process rights have been  
clearly violated, and the only legal remedy is to dismiss charges.
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