Shalom! When the Anti Injustice Movement hosted the Capital X & Jehuniko "I Want Justice Tour" in October, we stayed at a hotel in Tavistock place... just around the corner from Tavistock Square, the site of the bus bombing on 7/7. On the morning of our London show a few of us set out to film some footage at a few of the locations of the bombings on 7/7... here is a take from Russell Square tube station.
Brent Lee Regan performs a verse from Bin Laden 7/7 off his False Flags & Patsies EP outside Russell Square. This video is dedicated to all of the victims and families affected by the tragedy of July 7th, 2005 and to the family and friends of Jean Charles de Menezes.
More info @ http://www.JulySeventh.co.uk - http://www.Justice4Jean.org
On July 15, 2010, Marilyn Buck was released from the federal prison medical center in Carswell, Texas. She is paroled to New York.
More news will be posted as it becomes available.
political prisoner
Marilyn Buck began her antiracist activism as a teenager in Texas. As a college student, she organized against the war in Vietnam and in solidarity with the Black liberation movement. “After less than a decade as a political activist,” she writes,“I went to prison, convicted of procuring firearms for the Black Liberation Army. I faced 10 years in prison—a very long time for a young woman."
After serving four years, Marilyn was granted a furlough from prison and did not return. She spent the next eight years in clandestinity. Marilyn was recaptured in 1985. In addition to charges related to Assata Shakur’s escape, she was convicted of conspiracy to protest government policies (the invasion of Grenada and military intervention in Central America) through the use of violence against government property. Her total sentence was 80 years.
poet, writer
“The trials, those years of intense repression and US government denunciations of my humanity had beat me up rather badly. Whatever my voice had been, it was left frayed. I could scarcely speak.” Instead, Marilyn wrote. “For prisoners, writing is a life raft to save one from drowning in a prison swamp. I could not write a diary or a journal; I was a political prisoner. Everything I had was subject to investigation, invasion and confiscation. I was a censored person. In defiance, I turned to poetry, an art of speaking sparely, but flagrantly.”
Marilyn’s poems can be found in many collections, in her chapbook, Rescue the Word, and on her CD Wild Poppies. She has been awarded three prizes by the PEN Prison Writing Program, including first prize for poetry in 2001. Some of her poems are online here.
translator, teacher
Marilyn has long translated for Spanish-speaking women held in prison, and she is now translating Spanish literature to English. In 2009 City Lights published her translation of Uruguayan poet-in-exile Cristina Peri Rossi’s extraordinary collection, State of Exile. Read more about her publications.
She has also taught writing, GED preparation, history, and yoga inside.
imagination
One of more than 100 political prisoners in the United States, Marilyn is proof that imagination and solidarity can’t be stifled, no matter how many prisons or patriot acts we face.
more
Read a recent profile of Marilyn by a long-time activist friend at Austin's Rag Blog.
There have been a number of radio shows recently featuring The AIM and a previous blog has covered these. Tonight sees another installment of AIM president AK47 hitting the airwaves, this time with Wisdom Supreme of Supreme Entertainment on Blog Talk Radio. The show is on air from 8 til 10pm EST (that's 1-3am BST) so be sure to tune in or even call in if you can.
We're back for season 3 of Supreme Entertainment on BTR! This season promises to continue to showcase incredible talent while providing thought provoking commentary, credible newsworthy segments on social issues and current events, classic music segments (that our old school hip-hop fans have come to know and love) all in the cutting edge, informative and personable style that makes Supreme Ent so unique!
This year we set things off for season 3 with our beloved Artist/Interview Spotlight segment, which has in the past showcased both old and new artists and introduced or strengthened their presence to the BTR masses! From Sun of Man, Eryk Moore, Taalam Acey, Georgia Me, Maximus Parthas, D-Black, Rock WILK, Shanelle Gabriel, Monte Smith & more have all blessed the Supreme Ent. showcase!
Our segments caliber of talent is no less this time around as we have 2 incredible guests joining us for our premier. First up is not only someone who is a hot spoken word Poet, but a passionate Activist who is head of the A.I.M. organization (the Anti-Injustice Movement) named AK47! Here what she has to say about her latest projects, how she got the A.I.M. group started, and what plans they have for the future. Our next guest will be business entrepreneur Portia Chandler. This forward thinking individual has the vision and ambition to get behind and invest in a health product that she believes will revolutionize the way you people utilize and invest in health products! So don't miss out on what it is, and how you can become an active participant!
We also have a new lineup and co-host to introduce to our listeners as well. As most of you may know Miss T. had to take a leave of absence to pursue her higher learning academic affairs! We wish her nothing but the best, support and love for that! So rejoining the Supreme Ent fam will be Poet/Author Enchantress! So stay tuned for more updates TBA!
And speaking of radio shows, our good friend Curry Kid of Off The Top Radio (OTTR) has been working on some promotion for the upcoming 'Lyrical Warfare Volume One'. AIM artists have been discussing their tracks with Curry Kid and a segment about the mixtape will air during this weekend's show (00:00 - 06:00 EST Sunday). Also, listen out for some AIM members featuring in a Father's Day special! As well as promotion during this weekend's show, Curry Kid is also working on a special segment about the mixtape that will not be aired and will be used by both Curry Kid and The AIM in some way as yet undecided. Perhaps it will be made available as an exclusive download? Perhaps it will be given as a prize or reward. Perhaps it will be auctioned? Keep an eye on this space here to find out.
Our sincerest thanks and appreciation go out to Curry Kid for taking the time to work with The AIM and our artists to promote the mixtape in this way. He is a pleasure to work with and the conversations between recording have been awesome. We at HQ are already big fans of him and his show so we have loved this opportunity to work with him on this. We are excited to hear the show and it'll be a great chance for listeners to get a sneak preview of some of the tracks so be sure not to miss it!
In case any of you have forgotten 'Lyrical Warfare Volume One' will be available online for download from July 1st 2010 at all the coolest online music stores!
The AIM has introduced me to so many inspiring and passionate people, and one of my very favourite of these is a street poet named Monte Smith. He hails from North Carolina, USA and as well as being a street poet he is also a rap journalist, community based educator and anti-racist activist. He is the creator and producer of the world's biggest street poetry competition 'The Red Bull Word Clash' and he also has a book called 'Don't Shoot The Hostages' which is available for sale now so check it out while you're having a look at his website.
He recently performed a show in his local area (a pretty rare thing actually) and we are all thrilled to have some footage to watch. Please have a look and also check out some of his other clips on his YouTube page.
We are also hoping that he will be able to make it to the UK in November for The 5 Elements event and the Lyrical Warfare UK Tour. We love having him as a member of the team, he is completely committed and massively talented. I love just talking to him - and we talk to him for hours at a time. He is so sincere, so passionate, so determined. As a white man fighting for equal rights for blacks he for some reason takes a lot of stick. Many people believe that he should not be fighting against racism because he is white which I think is frankly ridiculous. Just because most people are only concerned with fighting the inequalities that relate to them, it doesn't mean that everyone is like that. Even with all the hassle he gets, he still continues because he believes in doing what is right, not what is easy.
If you like what you see in this clip then you should definitely have a look round his site and get yourself a copy of his book because it really is a masterpiece. Hard-hitting, honest, educational, inspiring. Totally real.
The Anti-Injustice Movement (aka The AIM) is a global movement of activists, political emcees and street poets who are fighting together to achieve the slow but steady destruction of global injustice.
We struggle via non-violent and creative means against injustices perpetrated by corrupt governments, political and fundamentalist factions of organized religion, and corporate vampires.
To do this we utilize the Five Elements of hip-hop (knowlege being the fifth), street poetry, and grassroots campaigning as a means of awareness raising and political revolt.
We are against Western Militarism, Political Islam, and Zionism in equal measure and will combat them all because we refuse to choose between three evils.
We struggle for both human and animal rights.
To find out more about the campaigns we are involved in check out our Grassroots Campaigning section.
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