30136: Haiti action (announce) Haiti events in Oakland: So An, Sat March 10/Kevin Pina film Wed, March 14 (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: haiti action <action.haiti@gmail.com>

PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY

*Saturday , March 10th, 7PM*


*Resistance, Solidarity and Song: Bay Area welcomes "So An" *


 *Annette Auguste "So An," Haitian grassroots activist, ex-political
prisoner, musician*


*Pierre Labossiere, Haiti Action Committee*

*MUSIC by **Vukani Mawethu, Freedom Song Choir and So An herself*



*LOCATION: The Uptown Garage, 401 Twenty Sixth Street, Oakland [Between
Telegraph and Broadway. Six blocks north of 19th Street BART]*


*"I send you all my blessings as a free Haitian woman fighting for the
rights of the impoverished majority in my homeland. They may imprison my
body but they will never imprison the truth I know in my soul. I will
continue to fight for justice and truth in Haiti until I draw my last
breath."* - Annette Auguste, Petionville Penitentiary, Port-au-Prince,
Haiti, May 23, 2004

Six months ago, grassroots activist and singer Annette Auguste, known as So
An, won her release from a Haitian jail over two years after her violent
arrest by US Marines on Mother's Day, 2004 during Haiti's US-backed coup
d'etat.

Weekly grassroots mobilizations in Haiti called for her freedom and her
courageous resistance won widespread international support. Her consistent
message was, "I am in jail for no other reason than I am perceived as a
leader and member of Fanmi Lavalas. I am in jail because I was defending the
vote the people of Haiti gave to Jean-Bertrand Aristide in the elections of
November 26, 2000."

Since her release, So An has fought tirelessly to advocate for the release
of hundreds of Haiti's political prisoners, to denounce ongoing UN military
ssaults on Haitian popular neighborhoods and to sustain her community under
the US/UN occupation.

Join Haiti Action Committee in welcoming this courageous Haitian leader to
the Bay Area!

*DONATION: $5-50 no one turned away for lack of funds. **For more
information, phone (510) 483-7481*


**********

*Wednesday, March 14th, 7PM*


*"Haiti: We Must Kill the Bandits"
*

*powerful new film by Kevin Pina
*


*Introduced by Annette Auguste "So An"*


*Grand Lake Theatre, 7:00 3200 Grand Avenue, Oakland
*


Blood literally runs in the streets through the chronicle of Feb. 2004's
forced ouster of Haiti's elected President Jean Bertrand Aristide and the
terror of its citizens that followed.

Aristide and his Lavalas political party were democratically elected in 2000
by Haiti's poor majority. The film shows thousands of Aristide supporters
gathered to celebrate his inauguration; he promised political and social
change, better education, food, and healthcare for the masses.

But not everyone was in favor of change. Haiti's business community and
intelligentsia worked against Aristide from the very beginning. And they
wouldn't accept, it seems, that a poor man's vote is worth as much as a rich
man's.

Internationally, most mainstream media reported only negatively on Aristide.
At his ouster, they gave the impression that Aristide fled to South Africa
out of concern for his safety.

A transitional government was put in place as tens of thousands of
pro-Aristide people took to the streets to demand his return. Over and over
again the film shows marches and rallies of hope-filled people uniting in
peaceful protest. Their voices fell on deaf ears.

Calling the demonstrators bandits, the Haitian police commit well-documented
shootings, arrests and killings. Ironically, members of the UN are filmed
telling people to listen to and respect the police.

Although this documentary is a chronicle of oppression, the courage and hope
of the poor masses of the Haitian people is by far the most unforgettable
element of the story.

* *