Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Drinan Chair in Human Rights: Eric Rosenthal

DRI's Eric Rosenthal Appointed Georgetown University Law School 2015-2016 Drinan Chair in Human Rights 
 
Washington, DC -- November 4, 2014 -- Georgetown University Law Center today announced the appointment of Eric Rosenthal, Disability Rights International's (DRI) founder and executive director, to the 2015-2016 Robert F. Drinan, S.J. Chair in Human Rights.

"This appointment recognizes Eric Rosenthal for his invaluable contributions to international human rights," said Georgetown Law Dean William M. Treanor.  "We are very pleased that it will allow the Law Center to continue Fr. Drinan's extraordinary legacy."

As the Drinan Chair holder, Rosenthal will teach a course during the fall semester of 2015 focused on international human rights advocacy for children and adults with disabilities - allowing J.D. and LL.M. students to benefit from his expertise as a leader in the global disability rights movement.

DRI Founder and Executive Director Eric Rosenthal
Rosenthal, who was featured in the spring 2013 issue of Georgetown Law magazine, is the founder and executive director of DRI, one of the world's first and leading advocacy organizations dedicated to the protection and full inclusion of children and adults with disabilities under international human rights law.

Recognizing and protecting the human rights of persons with disabilities was the topic of a seminar paper Rosenthal wrote as a student at Georgetown Law. Since establishing DRI a year after graduation, in 1993, he has trained human rights and disability activists and provided assistance to governments and international development organizations worldwide.  Rosenthal helped establish six independent disability rights organizations run by people with disabilities around the world. He has served as a consultant to the U.S. National Council on Disability, UNICEF, the World Health Organization, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and the UN Special Rapporteur on Disability. 

In 2008, Rosenthal received the Henry A. Betts Award from the American Association of People with Disabilities for his role in helping to inspire and build support for the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In 2013, he was the recipient of the Charles Bronfman Prize, which "celebrates the vision and endeavor of an individual or team under fifty years of age whose humanitarian work, combined with their Jewish values, has significantly improved the world."

"We are delighted that Eric - an alumnus who created a very effective human rights organization to address a major gap in international law in order to protect a very vulnerable group of people - will be teaching our students next fall," said Georgetown Law Human Rights Institute Director Andrew I. Schoenholtz.

"Fr. Drinan was my first human rights professor in law school," said Rosenthal. "But he was much more than a law professor. He was the embodiment of what it is to be a human rights activist - someone who stands up for his values and for people who are downtrodden around the world - whatever others may think. I have always sought to live up to that standard, and I am deeply indebted to Fr. Drinan for his mentorship, friendship and support. It is a true honor to serve as a human rights professor in his name."

Rosenthal received a B.A. from the University of Chicago and a J.D. cum laude from Georgetown Law, where he has also served as an adjunct professor, teaching courses in public interest advocacy. 

The Drinan Chair was established in 2006 in honor of Professor Robert F. Drinan, S.J. Drinan was a professor at Georgetown Law from 1981 until his death in 2007, as well as a priest, scholar, lawyer, politician, activist, ethicist and one of the nation's leading advocates for international human rights. He dedicated his life to humanitarian causes and to improving the legal profession.  

See Georgtown's announcement on Rosenthal's appointment, here.


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Friday, October 31, 2014

Black Is Back: March, Rally, Teach-in Nov 1-2


Announcing "Peace through Revolution" rally and march
November 1, Malcolm X Park in Washington, DC
Teach-in focusing on organizing
November 2, Howard University

From Glen Ford, of Black Agenda Report:

Well, the fog is lifting, people are once again trying to get in motion, and the Black Is Back Coalition returns to Malcolm X Park, in Washington, for a rally and march on the White House, on Saturday, November 1, under the theme “Peace through Revolution.” Then, on Sunday, November 2, the action shifts to Howard University, for a teach-in where activists and strategists will tackle the problems of organizing for the battles that have already begun. Speakers at the rally will include New York’s fighting city councilman and former Black Panther Charles Barron, Philadelphia’s Pam Africa, a prime mover in the campaign to free Mumia Abu Jamal, Omali Yeshitela, veteran organizer and chairman of the African Socialist Party – and I’ll have a few things to say, as well.

The teach-in will bring together some of the freshest young minds and seasoned veterans of the liberation struggle. So, now you know: November 1st and 2nd is an important time to be in Washington, where the Black Is Back Coalition and its allies will chart a path to “Peace through Revolution.” The Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, the Hands Up Coalition, United Against Police Terror, Friends of Congo, former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, NCOBRA, and both the ANSWER Coalition and the United National Anti-War Coalition have all endorsed the march, rally and teach-in. On November 1st and 2nd, Black Is Back!

“The Black Is Back Coalition held firmly to its founding principles of unity in struggle against imperialism, white supremacy and the rule of the rich.”

For Black Agenda Radio, I’m Glen Ford. On the web, go to http://www.blackagendareport.com . And, while you’re there, sign up for free email notifications of our new issues, each Wednesday.

BAR executive editor Glen Ford can be contacted at 
Glen.Ford@BlackAgendaReport.com.

For more information on the Black Is Back Coalition march, rally and teach-in call:
224-572-9887 or call 727-821-6620, or visit blackisbackcoalition.org

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Wednesday, October 22, 2014

October 22 Coalition Demonstrations



The October 22 Coalition to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation has been mobilizing every year since 1996 for a National Day of Protest on October 22, bringing together those under the gun and those not under the gun as a powerful voice to expose the epidemic of police brutality.

The Coalition also works on the Stolen Lives Project, which documents cases of killings by law enforcement nationwide. The second edition of the Stolen Lives book documents over 2000 cases in the 1990s alone. Volunteers are needed to help with the research and editing of cases since then. Please contact oct22national@gmail.com for more information.

Contact October 22 Coalition:
Address: P.O. Box 2627, New York, NY 10009
E-mail: 
oct22national@gmail.com
To donate, write tax-deductible checks out to "IFCO/October 22"

Atlanta, GA
4:00PM Demonstration and speakout at Woodruff Park 
(Edgewood and Peachtree), followed by a march
~ 770-861-3339

from: MaryLovesJustice Neal marylovesjustice@gmail.com
to: oct22national@gmail.com,
 stopmassincarcerationatl@gmail.com,
 October 22nd Coalition ,
 Mary Neal
date: Wed, Oct 22, 2014 at 11:46 AM
subject: Oct 22 - Stop Police Violence Against the Mentally Ill
mailed-by: gmail.com

I helped to advertise the October 22 Coalition meetings today in two of my blogs:
http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/2014/10/oct-22-coalition-against-police.html
http://hreventsbymlj.blogspot.com/2014/10/october-22-coalition-demonstrations.html

As the director of Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill, I certainly looked forward to the October 22 Coalition protest in Atlanta today. Unfortunately, my elderly mother is unwell and I may not be able to attend. Therefore, I ask that organizers please be mindful that over 50 percent of police violence victims are people with a history of mental illness. They are attacked and often killed by police in their homes, on our streets, and behind bars. The mentally ill also comprise over half of America's prisoners: 1.25 million sick people are wrongly incarcerated rather than treated in their communities or mental hospitals. Budgets for mental health care were cut in order to arrest sick people and start America's private jail and prison system. In Atlanta, homeless shelters are being closed so that more of these people will be arrested than before. Two homeless shelters already closed, and the Atlanta Task Force, which houses some 900 people, is fighting in court to survive. Mercenary people want the prime Midtown Atlanta property where the Task Force sits, and prison investors want the homeless jailed.

In 2014, we were made aware of numerous murders against people with mental illness, including Jerome Murdough, who was baked to death in Rikers Island, Darren Rainey, who was boiled to death in Dade County Correctional Facility, and too many more to name. Recently, Milwaukee's police chief fired an officer who picked a fight with a mentally ill teenager in the park then shot him 14 TIMES. Police aggression is directed mostly at black people and the mentally ill of any race. We need to talk about this and make sure everyone is aware of the numerous assaults on society's most vulnerable members. As usual, the victims are mostly people who are black, brown, or poor.

I would be grateful if you mention the fact that most victims of police violence and brutality behind bars are also mentally ill people. There are approximately 80,000 inmates in cruel solitary confinement today, and over 60 percent of them are mentally ill. Approximately 80 percent of inmates in SHU are black. There seems to be no attempt on the government's part to end torture of American prisoners. In fact, Solitary Watch revealed that in the U.S. report to the United Nations that will be filed in November denies that solitary confinement is systemically used against juveniles and the mentally ill in America.

These are a few of the concerns that I wanted to address today at the October 22 Coalition protest in Atlanta, but I must ask that you do this instead. Please don't let oppression of our people who experience mental disabilities go without mention. AIMI plans an International Court action for 2015, when we will take such murders as my own disabled brother suffered before the United Nations and the world. Learn about it at http://aimi-humanrights.blogspot.com

I am very grateful to the sponsors and organizers of the October 22 Day of Remembrance and protest against police violence. It means a great deal to me as the sister of a man who was secretly arrested for 18 days and murdered in jail, especially since Larry Neal's murder was covered-up. Cover-ups of jailhouse murders are possible to a greater degree than murders that happen in public where people film police violence. I am thankful that due to many news reports, especially by the Miami Herald, many jailhouse murders of mentally ill people and others are being revealed to a greater extent than before despite cover-ups.
Please send me a report after today's protests in Atlanta. See more information in the four links below, the final one being to my brother's website. Blessings.

Milwaukee Police Chief Fired Officer Who Shot Man in Park
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/milwaukee-police-fire-officer-shot-man-park-26224595
UN investigates US Systemic Prison Torture
http://dogjusticeformentallyill.blogspot.com/2014/10/un-investigates-usa-re-systemic-prison.html
2 years later, Florida keeps lid on prison death details
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/article1966016.html
Wrongful Death of Larry Neal

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Thursday, October 16, 2014

Dr. Joy De Gruy at Clark Atl Univ Oct. 16

Dr. Joy De Gruy authored a book called "Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome (PTSS)." She will be at the Clark Atlanta University Library in Atlanta at 4pm on Thur., Oct. 16, 2014. http://youtu.be/MH7tpAK8APY See a lecture by Dr. De Gruy embedded below.

WHAT IS P.T.S.S.? P.T.S.S. is a theory that explains the etiology of many of the adaptive survival behaviors in African American communities throughout the United States and the Diaspora. It is a condition that exists as a consequence of multigenerational oppression of Africans and their descendants resulting from centuries of chattel slavery. A form of slavery which was predicated on the belief that African Americans were inherently/genetically inferior to whites. This was then followed by institutionalized racism which continues to perpetuate injury. More info http://joydegruy.com/resources-2/post-traumatic-slave-syndrome/


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SEND YOUR ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR FREE PUBLICATION
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Sunday, October 12, 2014

Rev. Pinkney's Trial Oct. 27, 2014


From the desk of Rev. Edward Pinkney
Benton Harbor, MichiganFor Immediate Release
http://www.bhbanco.org/2014/10/why-im-charged-with-election-fraud.html

Why I'm charged with election fraud

Please attend my trial on Monday Oct. 27 at 8:30am in the Berrien County Courthouse, MI
(Trial time has been corrected above - 8:30, not 10am)

"With absolutely no evidence, I was charged with voter fraud and bound over for trial."

The USA proclaims itself the "land of freedom," but the reality is we live under the world's most corrupt legal system. It has rigged courts, bribed judges, phony trials, extortion by lawyers, and over two million prisoners. More prisoners than any other country, in real numbers and proportionately.
You can be sent to prison and even put to death with absolutely no evidence. The truth is hidden by America's corporate owned media, and by Berrien County media. They are afraid to tell the truth about Michigan's Emergency Manager system where rule is without the consent of the governed.

Benton Harbor now has four Emergency Managers. They are called a Transitional Team. Appointed by the governor, they are direct representatives of the corporate giant, Whirlpool, that runs Benton Harbor. This team can overrule decisions made by the democratically elected city council. They can sell off public assets to private interests. The team includes two former Whirlpool employees, one county treasurer, and a member of the State Treasury Department. This is what fascism in Michigan looks like-the merger of government with private corporations.

Within this dictatorial political environment, the Benton Harbor community exercised their democratic right to recall the Whirlpool-allied mayor. With absolutely no evidence, I was charged with voter fraud and bound over for trial.

This attack was intended to stop the community's recall election from going forward. In a hearing to determine if there was evidence to take me to trial, Mark Goff, a forensic document examiner with the Michigan State Police testified that changes to the election petitions were made with different ink, but he could not determine who made the changes, when they were made, or whether the person who signed the petition changed it.

His testimony provided no evidence against me, however Judge Sterling Schrock, Judge Charlie LaSata and Prosecutor Mike Sepic all stated that you do not need evidence to go to trial in Michigan. The government is counting on an all-white jury, that may be motivated by something other than the truth, to convict me.

Soon after, in a momentary victory for the people, Judge John DeWane ruled that the contested mayoral recall election should be placed on the November ballot -- upon the first Amendment's political core Freedom of Speech. The issue boiled down to admitting 21 duplicate signatures that had been invalidated based upon faulty practice by the Berrien County Clerk's Office.

Attorney John LaPietra stated that the Berrien County clerk, armed with $20,000.00 in funding from the County Board, appealed (that ruling) with support from two major law firms and the Attorney Generals office, representing the Secretary of State and the Board of Elections.

The court of Appeals reversed Judge John DeWane's favorable ruling, and it was essentially upheld by the state's Supreme Court. This scenario once again shows the unity
of government and corporations.

Democracy has been stolen from the people. Water rights have been stolen. Poverty is growing. We the people have nothing in common with the billionaire's, their corporations, and their government. We must stand together.

Nobody in the world has ever gotten anything by appealing to the moral sense of the people who were oppressing them. We must stand together and fight back.

Rev. Edward Pinkney
http://www.bhbanco.org/
Pinkney to Pinkney show
blogtalkradio.com
Every Sunday 5pm ET
Burn Baby Burn
Burn all NAACP Membership Cards


Former congresswoman Cynthia McKinney wrote: Why is the Congressional Black Caucus silent on the persecution of Benton Harbor leader, +Rev Edward Pinkney, who is being maliciously prosecuted AGAIN? What has happened up there in DC to eliminate all heart, backbone, and guts? What's left without that???
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SEND YOUR ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR FREE PUBLICATION
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email address in order to be considered for publication in this "Human Rights Events by MaryLovesJustice" blog. Political and Christian announcements are usually welcome. If you do not receive a confirmation within 48 hours, please re-send the announcement, and call (571) 335-1741 for Mary Neal or 678.531.0262.

Saturday, September 20, 2014

Kasim Reed: No Water for Homeless People

Kasim Reed, Atlanta's Mayor
Prison investors say, "Hurry and evict Atlanta's homeless people. Arresting them for vagrancy increases our prison profits!"
Georgia Supreme Court Takes Homeless Task Force Case, as City Threatens Water Shut-off Again
By Matthew Charles Cardinale, News Editor, The Atlanta Progressive News (September 20, 2014)
View the article on our website and post comments by clicking HERE.

(APN) ATLANTA -- On August 29, 2014, the Supreme Court of Georgia issued a ruling in two related emergency appeals brought by the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless. The court accepted the Task Force's direct appeal; and dismissed the other appeal, an application for immediate review, as duplicative. The appeals case going forward is S14M1956.

  

Meanwhile, the City of Atlanta has again threatened to turn off the Task Force's water due to unpaid bills that the City claims amount to approximately 580,000 dollars, unless the Task Force pays the amount purportedly due by Monday, September 22, 2014.

Yesterday, Friday, September 19, the City refused to accept a cashier's check from the Task Force for 100,000 dollars, or to make a payment plan for the past amounts owed.

Atlanta's corporate media, particularly the "Fresh Loaf" blog, have predicted the Task Force may have to close, even quoting the United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta as saying they have an alleged transition plan in place for the homeless men, women, and children at the shelter.

However, the Task Force tells Atlanta Progressive News that they have emergency plans to transition to an independent water supply, which includes a rainwater catchment system and contracting with a private entity to ship in water.

"The rainwater catchment system we're already done implementing. In the meantime, we have private resources coming in with water on Monday. We expect to have alternative sources of potable water, and we're asking people to bring water," Anita Beaty, Executive Director of the Task Force, told APN.

"The main thing is, right now, this is part of our plan to become sustainable, and not to depend on funding, public or private, but to be sustainable in this building, with our residents. This could be a model project. This is our first step toward that," Beaty said.

"If anybody [such as the United Way] has alternative space, we've needed to know it every single day. Now they say they are going to open up 150 beds at Springdale, we say hallelujah, where have they been?" Beaty said.

"We don't expect to go anywhere, there's no eviction order. The sharks are swimming, the sharks are circling. They smell blood, but we say, wait a minute, you're a little premature. They can turn off our water. If we have... alternative sources for potable water, we cannot be evicted. It would take a process that really belongs to Fulton County. We have to have potable water available - it has to be drinkable. That's what we're planning to do," Beaty said.

SUPREME COURT OF GEORGIA TAKES DIRECT APPEAL

The Supreme Court of Georgia accepted the Task Force's direct appeal of an order by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Craig Schwall, dated August 08, 2014, in the Task Force's litigation with Premium Funding Solutions (PFS), Central Atlanta Progress, Manny Fialkow, and other co-conspirators in the effort to sabotage the homeless shelter.

As previously reported by APN, that August 08 order allowed PFS to file a dispossessory action against the Task Force in Superior Court, lifting a stay that has been in place for four years.

Presumably, the dispossessory action would have been transferred to Schwall, where it would have been stayed.

PFS did not even wait one day, filing their dispossessory action onAugust 08, following up with a Motion to Compel Payment of Rent on August 11, 2014.

The Task Force then filed a notice of appeal in Superior Court, giving notice of its plans to undertake a direct appeal to the Supreme Court.

On August 25, 2014, the Task Force filed a Motion for Stay/Supersedeas, asking the Supreme Court to stay the lower court's proceedings; and on August 26 the Task Force filed an Interlocutory Application with the Supreme Court.

The Task Force enumerated several errors in its Motion, including:

"1. Having all of the parties before it and jurisdiction to hear all claims, the Court erred in finding it was compelled to authorize one party to bring a separate dispossessory action over the same transactions and occurrences. Continue reading at "Atlanta Progressive News," which is having a fundraiser at this time:

We are now in our 2014 fundraising cycle. Our goal is to raise 5,000 dollars throughout the year in 2014. So far, we've raised $2,329.98, with only $2,670.02 left to go! Can you help us reach our goal for the year with a donation of five dollars or more? Thank you to our readers for your support!

http://atlantaprogressivenews.com/interspire/donate.html

Atlanta plans a big, beautiful new stadium that will cost billions. Atlanta opened its new Center for Civil and Human Rights this spring, which cost roughly $2 million. But the city will turn off the WATER at the homeless center. Good job, Reed and prison investors. See photographs below. 



“Woe to those who scheme iniquity, who work out evil on their beds! When morning comes, they do it, For it is in the power of their hands. They covet fields and then seize them, and houses and take them away. They rob a man and his house, A man and his inheritance.” ~Micah 2:1-2
From Dr. Jim Beaty's Website
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Friday, September 12, 2014

Wells Fargo Protest September 13


MEDIA ADVISORY

WHAT:     Protest at Wells Fargo
WHERE:   40 Journal Square in Jersey City
WHEN:     Saturday September 13th, 2014, from 9:00 am until 2:00 pm


Contact: Cynthia Johnson (862) 237 1311
Savemyhome7@verizon.net
Wellsfargosuck4@yahoo.com

Grandmother’s Supporters to Hold Protest at Wells Fargo 
40 Journal Square Plaza in Jersey City

Orange, NJ – More than twenty years ago Susie Johnson – affectionately known as “Grandma Susie” – purchased her home in Orange, NJ. She instantly fell in love with the home and the neighborhood, frequently hosting barbeques and spending her days sitting on her front porch talking to neighbors. Now, more than 20 years later, Grandma Susie is elderly, disabled, and has been evicted from her home by Wells Fargo.

In addition, Wells Fargo has been torturing Ms. Susie with their cruel and unnecessary behaviors to cause her more distress. Chris Beck, owner, Express Asset Recovery, scrapped her cars including her deceased husbands’ custom van. They stole her appliances and broke and damaged many of her antiques and destroyed televisions and her refrigerator. Stephanie Soondar, their attorney, has been calling Grandma Susie's attorney threatening to dispose of her belongings even after the title and contract had been turned over to Grandma Susie.

We will be protesting the continued abuses of Susie Johnson, 80, an elderly and disabled woman who did not and does not deserve this abuse. All she says she wants to do is go home! Allow Susie to go home!

Mrs. Johnson is being represented by Jon Rory Skolnick, an attorney located in Springfield, N.J. The interesting part of this case is that Mrs. Johnson was foreclosed by Washington Mutual Bank, then J.P. Morgan Chase Bank. The foreclosure and sheriff sale was illegal, as three years prior to the commencing of foreclosure, Mrs. Johnson's loan was sold to Mass Mutual Insurance Company. Throughout the foreclosure proceedings, Washington Mutual, then J.P. Morgan misrepresented to the Court that they owned the note and mortgage, when in fact they had no interest by reason of the prior sale to Mass Mutual.

SPONSORED BY:
People’s Organization for Progress, Urban Communities United, Recovering and Rebuilding, Inc., Irvington NAACP, National Million Woman Movement, National Black Women’s Defense League

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SEND YOUR ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR FREE PUBLICATION
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