4th Friday Flicks & Potluck

Event Description:

Honor Black History and join us Friday, Feb. 23 for refreshments and a visit with other activists, followed by the screening of the new documentary, 3 Black Panthers and the Last Slave Plantation.  Learn about a history effectively erased from discourse.

Help us spread the word and invite your friends and family to come along. Fliers for distribution are linked below.

6:30 PM - social, potluck refreshments -- bring something to share, or more importantly just show up

7:30 PM - movie showing

9:00 PM - discussion, more refreshments 

The Havens Center is located at 1827 W. Alabama. Parking available in lot next to Divino’s, or in St. Stephen’s parking lot, just east of the Center. 

Film info below from www.3blackpanthers.com:

This feature length documentary film tells the story of three former members of the Black Panther Party incarcerated in the Angola Louisiana State Prison known as the Angola 3 . We will focus on the issues that have surrounded and clouded their cases since the 70s. In addition our film explores the political climate of the 60s and 70s that produced "political" prisoners in America. By presenting a meticulously researched portrait of these men, their circumstances as well as the context of the times, we want to encourage viewers to think critically about history, racism, the prison system and to actively engage in making changes.

Angola State Penitentiary in northern Louisiana was once a group of slave plantations. It earned its name from the region of Africa where black slaves were taken from to work in Louisiana's fields. Angola was transformed from slave plantations into a "hard labor" prison after the Civil War. Little has changed in the intervening years. 1970s Angola , with it's white guards and largely black population, earned the reputation as the "most brutal " and segregated prison in the United States.

The late 60s-early 70s were a turbulent time in American culture and politics. From "black power", and Puerto Rican independence movements to protest against the Vietnam war and prison conditions around the country many people, especially youth, were working to change culture and politics. From these unsettling times emerged groups like the Black Panther Party, American Indian Movement , Students for a Democratic Society, and many others working for social change.

Our film focuses on the Angola 3 , three men, Robert King Wilkerson, Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace who each came into Angola prison as young men under various circumstances in the late 1960's. Through contact with members of the Black Panthers, while inside prison, they became "politicized" and in 1971 organized a prison chapter of the Black Panther Party, an astonishing feat given the history of this brutal institution. Under these circumstances these men organized prisoners to build a movement within the walls to de-segregate the prison, to end systematic rape and violence, for better living conditions and worked as "jail house lawyers" helping prisoners file legal papers.

Robert Wilkerson details a seven-day dining hall strike that had the support of almost all of the prison population. In telephoned prison interviews from solitary confinement, Albert Woodfox recalls the organized protection of new inmates from prison rape and Herman Wallace describes a 45 day hunger strike for sanitary food service.

During this time around the country the Black Panther Party, the anti-war movement, and many "leftist "organizations were targeted by the F.B.I. for "political disruption and neutralization" through programs like Counter Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO). (cointel2.jpg) Interviews with former Panthers including Geronimo Ji Jagga ( Pratt) and David Hilliard will contextualize the dangerous climate that these men organized under at Angola.

Evidence indicates that they were each charged with crimes they did not commit and have been held in solitary confinement since 1972 because of their political activities and beliefs. After organizing multiple "strikes" and "sit-ins" for better conditions they were each taken out general prison population, charged with murders and put into solitary confinement. They remained in solitary confinement virtually forgotten, until another former panther Malik Rahim ( of Common Ground Collective), and a young law student discovered that these men were still locked up in 1997. They began digging up evidence that questions the original "facts" of the investigations at Angola, raised questions about their original trials and shows proof of their innocence.

There has been a large amount of evidence uncovered over the years showing they were targeted for being "black militants". Facts indicate that they were victims of among other things, COINTELPRO tactics, fabricated evidence, and coerced witness testimony in their original trials.

One of them, Robert King Wilkerson was exonerated by the state in 2001 and released after 29 years in solitary confinement. Herman Wallace and Albert Woodfox are still prisoners in solitary confinement working to get released after being nearly forgotten.

Their cases have gained international notoriety and interest over the last few years. Since his release, Robert King Wilkerson has helped build international recognition of the Angola 3. He has spoken before the parliaments in the Netherlands, France, Portugal, Indonesia, Brazil and England on the A3 and political prisoners in the U.S. King was received as a guest and dignitary by the African National Congress in South Africa and has spoken with Desmond Tutu. Amnesty International has added them to their 'watch list' of 'political prisoners' / 'prisoners of conscious'. Through this and the wide support network for the Angola 3 from international human rights groups in many countries Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace receive hundreds of letters every month.

They have a pending civil suit Wilkerson, Wallace and Woodfox vs. the State of Louisiana which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled has merit to proceed to trial based on the fact that their 30+ years in solitary confinement is "inhumane and unconstitutional". The outcome of this landmark civil case could eliminate long term solitary confinement in U.S. prisons.

We want 3 BlackPanthers and the L.S.P. to shed light on these men's stories, as well as those of other "political" prisoners in the U.S. In spite of virtually living in a 6 x 9 cell for the last 30+ years with little human contact or freedom these men's compassion, and spirits have not waned. They have faces, families, stories, beliefs and names.

We want to raise questions by exploring this controversial subject with depth, balance and humanity. Does our justice system work? Who are the victims of dissenting views? How have people been targeted for the political beliefs? We want people to think about incarceration in the U.S. and the way the justice and prison systems work.

The movie is being funded by private donations and money from grants. Funding for highly political and controversial projects such as 3 Black Panthers & the Last Slave Plantation must come from non-traditional sources due to the subject matter. As a supporter of alternative visions, the money you donate would be used to offset the cost of production, post production and distribution of this one of a kind film.

Event Sponsor:
Progressive Action Alliance

Event Contact Name:
Art Browning

Event Phone Contact Information:
713.528.6665

Event Email Address:
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Event Fee:
Free. Please bring refreshments.