Report-Back: Caravan to Florida, Free Marissa Alexander

Gray Panthers of SF Meeting
Report-Back: Caravan to Florida, Free Marissa Alexander
Tuesday, June 16, 1 PM - 3 PM
Fireside Rm, Unitarian Center
1187 Franklin St. (at Geary Blvd)
# 38 bus. (not 38L)
Map of location: http://goo.gl/maps/bpGft

Marissa Alexander, a black Florida woman, was given a 60-year prison term for firing a warning shot to deter an assault on her. The Florida Stand Your Ground defense, which freed the murderer of black youth Trayvon Martin, did not work for Marissa Alexander. The Bay Area women who caravanned across country to Jacksonville Florida, educating and agitating for Justice for Marissa will be at our General Membership meeting, and will bring stories from their journey. Following national outrage, Marissa was eventually released under restrictive conditions.

The mass incarceration of black women is increasing faster even than black men now. In San Francisco black women are arrested at a rate 13 times higher than women of other races, and are stopped for traffic violations 17 times more than white women.


Gray Panthers stand for age and youth working together to make the world a place where the young can look forward to growing old. We believe all people are entitled to certain fundamental rights:

* Meaningful employment.
* A country free from racism.
* Economic security.
* Decent and affordable housing and healthcare.
* A world in peace.
* A life of dignity from birth to death, free from fear and abuse.

We meet on the third Tuesday of the month as described above.

Our website: http://graypantherssf.igc.org/index.html
Our calendar: http://graypantherssf.igc.org/calendar.htm
Our blog: http://mlyon01.wordpress.com/