3/10+14: Haiti Events in Oakland

Forwarded from Haiti Action Committee:

Subject: 2 Great Haiti events in Oakland -Mar.10-Hear So An, a hero of the Haitian Resistance - Mar.14-Explosive new Pina film premiere -
Date: March 4, 2007 10:12:00 AM PST


Two Great Haiti Events in Oakland

1. An evening of Resistance, Solidarity & Song with So An - A hero of the Haitian Resistance, singer and grassroots organizer, Annette Auguste ("So An") was seized from her home by US Marines as part of the 2004 coup d'etat in Haiti, and held as a political prisoner for over 2 years. Jail did not stop her from organizing or from singing, and she's still doing it today.
Come welcome So An - Saturday, March 10th, 7PM at The Uptown, 401-26th St [a welcoming, intimate space betw B'way & Telegraph, nr 19th St BART, Oakland]. Music by Vukani Mawethu Freedom Song Choir, by So An herself and by her husband Wilfrid, a master drummer. Don't miss this rare moment; in this fleeting world, it's one you will remember.

2. Haiti: We Must Kill the Bandits - Premiere of the explosive new 90- minute film by Kevin Pina, introduced by So An.
Wednesday, March 14th, 7PM, Grand Lake Theater, 3200 Grand Ave., Oakland. In a just world, this riveting documentary would get an Oscar. It shows how foreign occupiers -- from the US Marines 1915-34 to the US, France, Canada and the UN in the present day -- have tried to demonize and kill the popular movement in Haiti for freedom, sovereignty and democracy. And it tells the story of the Haitian Resistance that will not die.

REZISTANS (Lyrics to So An's song, translated from Kreyol)

I. We have endured thirty seasons of pain. We are trapped in a tornado of danger. We are bent but have not broken. We are a people who have resistance
We spent days without food. We crossed the desert on foot. We spent nights without closing our eyes. We are a people with resistance.
Chorus:
Resistance o resistance o we are a people who have resistance. (4x)

II. We have learned to walk underground. Hold our breath under the sea. Defend ourselves against evil spirits. We are a people who have resistance. They have stepped on us but can’t squash us. They have moistened us [in their mouth] but can’t swallow us. We are hard as a rock. We are a people with resistance.

III. They have made us know the way to jail. Shut us in concentration camps. But we have not lost our objective. We are a people who have resistance. Slavery or occupation, nothing has eliminated us. We have escaped under all maneuvers. We are a people who have resistance.

IV. We went to hell even though we are not dead. We came and butted our heads with Lucifer. We told him we believe in paradise. We are a people who have resistance.
We have endured 30 seasons of pain. We have been taken by a tornado of danger. We are bent but have not broken. We are a people who have resistance.
Chorus:
Resistance o resistance o we are a people who have resistance. (4x) Copyright 2003 Annette Auguste; Lyrics by Serge Madhere


ANNETTE AUGUSTE (So' Anne) is a FANMI LAVALAS organizer and musician who was arrested by US Marines after the Feb 29, 2004 coup d'etat and kidnapping of President Aristide. US Marines, in Haiti as an occupation force, attacked her home with guns and grenades in the middle of the night, killing and beheading her dogs and putting a plastic bag over the head of her small grandchild and her husband, who were also arrested with So' Anne. She was illegally imprisoned in Haiti, from 17 May 2004, until her release 14 August 2006 after an international campaign.

For copies of her CD "Rezistans" send a donation of $15 to Haiti Action Committee, P.O. Box 2218, Berkeley, CA 94702 [all proceeds directly benefit the popular movement in Haiti].


"I send you all my blessings as a free Haitian woman fighting for the rights of the impoverished majority in my homeland. They may imprison my body but they will never imprison the truth I know in my soul. I will continue to fight for justice and truth in Haiti until I draw my last breath." - Annette Auguste, Petionville Penitentiary, Port-au- Prince, Haiti, May 23, 2004
Six months ago, grassroots activist and singer Annette Auguste, known as So An, won her release from a Haitian jail over two years after her violent arrest by US Marines on Mother's Day, 2004 during Haiti's US-backed coup d'etat.

Weekly grassroots mobilizations in Haiti called for her freedom and her courageous resistance won widespread international support. Her consistent message was, "I am in jail for no other reason than I am perceived as a leader and member of Fanmi Lavalas. I am in jail because I was defending the vote the people of Haiti gave to Jean- Bertrand Aristide in the elections of November 26, 2000."

Since her release, So An has fought tirelessly to advocate for the release of hundreds of Haiti's political prisoners, to denounce ongoing UN military ssaults on Haitian popular neighborhoods and to sustain her community under the US/UN occupation.

Join Haiti Action Committee in welcoming this courageous Haitian leader to the Bay Area!

DONATION: $5-50 no one turned away for lack of funds. For more information, phone (510) 483-7481


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Wednesday, March 14th, 7PM

"Haiti: We Must Kill the Bandits"
powerful new film by Kevin Pina

Introduced by Annette Auguste "So An"

Grand Lake Theatre, 7:00 3200 Grand Avenue, Oakland

Blood literally runs in the streets through the chronicle of Feb. 2004's forced ouster of Haiti's elected President Jean Bertrand Aristide and the terror of its citizens that followed.

Aristide and his Lavalas political party were democratically elected in 2000 by Haiti's poor majority. The film shows thousands of Aristide supporters gathered to celebrate his inauguration; he stood for political and social change, better education, food, and healthcare for the masses.

But not everyone was in favor of change. Haiti's business community and intelligentsia worked against Aristide from the very beginning. And they wouldn't accept, it seems, that a poor man's vote is worth as much as a rich man's.

Internationally, most mainstream media reported only negatively on Aristide. At his ouster, they gave the impression that Aristide fled to South Africa out of concern for his safety.

A transitional government was put in place as tens of thousands of pro-Aristide people took to the streets to demand his return. Over and over again the film shows marches and rallies of hope-filled people uniting in peaceful protest. Their voices fell on deaf ears.

Calling the demonstrators bandits, the Haitian police commit well- documented shootings, arrests and killings. Ironically, members of the UN are filmed telling people to listen to and respect the police.

Although this documentary is a chronicle of oppression, the courage and hope of the poor masses of the Haitian people is by far the most unforgettable element of the story.