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What: The Southern California Library will host a screening of the film The Angola 3: The Black Panthers and the Last Slave Plantation, which tells the story of three men who have endured solitary confinement longer than any known living prisoner in the United States. In 1972, Robert King, Herman Wallace and Albert Woodfox were targeted for organizing against institutionalized rape, murder, and segregation at Angola prison. They were in solitary confinement for over three decades, where two of them remain today. The film chronicles how the men were systematically isolated and silenced.
As part of the ongoing campaign to free the remaining two, a civil lawsuit is soon to come before the Supreme Court on the grounds of cruel and unusual punishment. The screening will be followed by a discussion with Robert King Wilkerson, one of the original Angola 3, who served 29 years in solitary confinement, winning his release in 2001.
Admission is free, and everyone is welcome.
Where: L.A. Grand Theater,400 W. Washington Ave., Los Angeles, CA, 90015
Who: This event is sponsored by the Southern California Library, a people's library located in South Los Angeles that offers historical and contemporary resources on community change; by CD Tech, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting economic opportunities and justice for low-income residents and communities throughout Greater Los Angeles; and by L.A. Trade Tech College.
Why: This screening provides an opportunity to break the isolation, to sign a petition on behalf of the remaining two prisoners, and to join in a conversation of change in community. In closed-cell restriction, prisoners are not allowed to speak, so talking to oneself or to other prisoners became a method of contestation and protest. "We weren't going to let anyone from keep us from talking, no matter how many times they'd write us up," said Robert King, speaking of his time in solitary confinement. It is time all of us start speaking up about the injustice of mass incarceration. Why: Many have been galvanized by the recent elections to have a renewed sense that change is possible in our communities. As we focus on the economy and the war in Iraq, we must include on our agendas for change the over 2 million people who are locked up in U.S. prisons, including the Angola prisoners. Prisons not only isolate those who are locked up, they also impact the lives of many millions more outside of the prison walls. As more people are ?disappeared? into cages, families and neighborhoods are fragmented, leaving our communities more destabilized.
To break free of the isolation that prisons bring requires building community among those locked up and those on the outside, recognizing that we are all impacted. If we don?t want to live in cities and neighborhoods where we feel increasingly isolated, alone, and in fear, then we need to practice coming together in ways that honor all of our humanity.
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