LA - Invitation to Support the San Francisco 8

Dear Los Angeles NLG members:

         The Executive Board of the Los Angeles
Chapter is pleased to announce an event
supporting eight former members of the Black
Panther Party (BPP).  Now known as the San
Francisco 8, they have been targeted in a
vindictive prosecution in San Francisco for their
political activities of over 35 years ago.  At
the NLG’s 70th Convention, a resolution calling
upon the State of California to drop all charges
against the SF 8 was enthusiastically adopted and
each NLG chapter has been asked to adopt some activity in support of the
SF 8.

         The program on February 14, 2008 at
Museum of Contemporary Art, at the Pacific Design
Center, not downtown, will showcase the work of
Emory Douglas, the brilliant artist  propagandist
of the BPP and will present a panel discussion
about the BPP, COINTELPRO and current issues with
Hank Jones and Ray Boudreaux, two of the SF 8 as
well as NLG members Carol Smith and Jim Lafferty.
A description of the full program is set out
below. At 7:00 p.m., there will be a walk through
of the Emory Douglas Exhibit, with Carol Wells of
the Center for Political Graphics. The Panel
discussion will begin at around 7:30 p.m. Those
of us who have been to the Emory Douglas exhibit
suggest that you arrive before the 7:00 p.m. walk
through to immerse yourself in the history, art,
grief, and remarkable period that unfolds in this exhibit.

         Ray Boudreaux and Hank Jones are elders,
and defendants in the SF 8 that you will
absolutely want to meet and hear.  They are two
of the people who refused to testify in the SF
grand juries two years ago, were imprisoned
during the life of the grand jury for their
principled refusal to cooperate with grand
juries, and after their release were charged with
the killing of a SF police officer in 1971 even
though all of these charges were dismissed in
1975. The charge is based upon false statements
obtained by torture of three people in New
Orleans in 1973.  The statements were determined
to have been obtained by torture in 1974 in the
Los Angeles Superior Court. Carol Smith was one
of the NLG attorneys in the Los Angeles case, the
other NLG attorney was Beth Livezey, a member of the Bar Sinister.

Please join us on February 14th.  A schedule of
the evening’s events is set forth below.

Sincerely yours,


Jim Lafferty, Executive Director


FEBRUARY 14, 2008
MAKING THE CONNECTIONS
HONORING BLACK HISTORY MONTH

MOCA - PACIFIC DESIGN CENTER
8687 Melrose Avenue
West Hollywood, CA 90069

7 p.m. Exhibition Tour:  BLACK PANTHER: The
Revolutionary Art of Emory Douglas.  Tour will be
conducted by Carol Wells, Executive Director of
the Center for the Study of Political Graphics.

7:30 p.m. Panel Discussion with the San Francisco
8:  Panelists will include former BPP members Ray
Boudreaux and Henry Jones of the SF 8, Carol
Smith of the NLG LA Chapter, Craig Gillmore of
the Prison Moratorium Project and No New Jails
Coalition. Co-moderators are Jim Lafferty, NLG LA
Executive Director and Mary Sutton of CSPG.

For more information, contact Carol Smith (818) 990-7722
_______________________________________________
Please support these brothers by sending a donation. Make checks payable
to CDHR/Agape and mail to the address below or donate on line:

www.freethesf8.org/donate.html

Committee for the Defense of Human Rights (CDHR)
PO Box 90221
Pasadena, CA 91109
(415) 226-1120
FreetheSF8@riseup.net