Director of First Amendment Foundation in Santa Cruz 5/16

WILPF General Meeting
Tue, May 16, 2006, 7:00pm
Friends' Meeting House
225 Rooney, Santa Cruz

Kit Gage; Director of National Committee Against Repressive Legislation

Kit Gage, director of the Washington, D.C.-based National Committee Against Repressive Legislation and the First Amendment Foundation, will speak to WILPF at the general meeting scheduled for May 16, 7 p.m. at the Friends' Meeting House, 225 Rooney, Santa Cruz (Morrissey exit from Highway 1).

The program will focus on protecting freedom of speech and the right to dissent. Ms. Gage is currently on a national book and organizing tour, highlighting the recent publication of ìFirst Amendment Felonî, Robert Sherrill's book about Frank Wilkinson and the fight to protect dissent from the House UnAmerican Committee (HUAC) and the FBI. In the bicentennial issue of Life magazine published in 1991 (discussing the 200 year history of the Bill of Rights), Wilkinson (who passed away earlier this year) was described as one of our country's greatest defenders of the First Amendment.

In addition to Kit Gage's presentation, the video ìThe Price of Freedomî, issued by the First Amendment Foundation, will be shown. The video, with Ed Asner as host, tells the story of the epic struggle engaged in by Frank Wilkinson and others. Local groups that have experienced police surveillance recently, including the DIY New Year's Eve parade organizers and UCSC Students Against the War will also be present to participate in the evening's discussion of protecting political freedom.

Kit Gage has directed the First Amendment Foundation and the National Committee Against Repressive Legislation (NCARL) since April 2001, and worked with the two groups since 1987. She is also president and founder of the National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom, founded in 1997 following passage of the 1996 Antiterrorism act. Ms. Gage writes regular newsletters and articles, is a frequent public speaker, has worked extensively with the media and in coalition with many civil liberties, civil rights and immigrant rights groups in the U.S. In 2003 she helped coordinate the Grassroots America Defends the Bill of Rights First National Conference to bring together activists and experts working on Bill of Rights resolutions and defense. Ms. Gage has been active with the National Lawyers Guild for several decades and was also on the board of the Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA.

The First Amendment Foundation focuses on educating people about the history of political dissent and has published three books: FBI vs. the First Amendment (by Richard Criley), Terrorism and the Constitution (by James X. Dempsey and David Cole),
and First Amendment Felon.

NCARL started as the National Committee to Abolish HUAC (the House UnAmerican Activities Committee), and has since worked to defend the right of political expression, particularly from government abuses.

Ms. Gage is available for press phone interviews while on tour.

For Information: Celia Scott- (831) 423-0796, Sheila Payne- (831)469-3306

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For a recent interviews,

http://www.progressive.org/radio_gage06

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5126639