ONE DOWN, THREE TO GO:

an update from the Media as the Judge speaking tour

Hello everyone! It's surprising to believe that it has been a week now since we left the beauty of Halifax and started out on this four-week national speaking tour. The talk, entitled 'Media as the Judge: the case of accused 'Eco-Terrorist' Tre Arrow' has been a huge success. We began the tour in Charlottetown on Thursday January 13th and have since then held speaking events in Fredericton, Montreal, Ottawa, Sudbury and Winnipeg. We have been able to speak with so many great people, and have received enthusiastic and sympathetic responses. All have been extremely receptive to Tre's case and the issues surrounding the plight of Political Prisoners and the condemning messages that corporate media has produced. We have been speaking with university classes, student organizations and community members in progressive cafes and classrooms. As well, we just held a benefit for Political Prisoner Tre Arrow in Winnipeg which drew a huge crowd, including the local CBC Televison.

We have been bringing greetings from the members of the Tre Arrow Collective across Canada, the United States and Germany, who have helped to make it possible for us to maintain support and encouragement along the way. Focusing on the reasons that Tre is being targeted by the corporate media, the American Government, multi-national conglomerates and other members of the powerful elite, we have attempted to bring awarenes not only to the case of Tre Arrow, but also to all community members, activists and dissidents who have chosen to challenge the current structure of our culture and society. In Tre's words, “...for decades the FBI has targeted and persecuted countless others who dared to challenge the power structures in this world.” There are many vehicles that the oppressive powers have chosen in order to accomplish this, namely implementing a system in which the governing authorities are allies with the profit-centred media and corporate powers. We have been highlighting the dependence of private corporate powers on Public Relations groups such as 'Stop Eco-Violence', whose agenda encompasses spreading propagana to disable the environmental movement. Finding ourselves embedded in a culture of fear, the use of the word Eco-Terrorist in relation to Tre attempts to both indict and convict Tre of crimes that he has not committed, even before the trial has begun.

We have been fortunate enough to have been able to set up a table at all of the speaking events, and have received much support to help us on our way across the country. Thanks to the help of many others, we are able to sell popular spoken word CDs, patches, stickers and pins. We will do our best to keep you all updated as the tour progresses. Thank-you to everyone who has contributed and supported the 'Media as the Judge' tour, and to those who continue to fight for freedom, peace and justice for all.

In solidarity,

Mynah and Ben

For Tour Dates: http://trearrow.blogspot.com/