Community, Park Forest

Angela Davis to Greet Freed Political Prisoners June 17

Angela Davis
Angela Davis ((Photo by Amy Sussman/Invision/AP)
CHICAGO—(ENEWSPF)—June 12, 2018
By: Frank Chapman

Renowned activist and scholar Angela Davis will greet the scores of people released from Illinois prisons after their wrongful convictions were overturned, at a celebration called a “Welcome Home Rally for the Victims of Police Torture”. The event will take place Sunday, June 17 at 2:00 pm at the Trinity United Church of Christ at 400 W. 95th St. in Chicago.

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Among those participating with Prof. Davis will be Jaime Huad, Howard Morgan, Esther Henandez (mother of Rosendo Hernandez), and Armanda Shakelford (mother of Gerald Reed). A day earlier, on Saturday afternoon, many more victims of police crimes and wrongful conviction, and their families, are expected to testify at a People’s Forum on Police Crimes, also at Trinity UCC.

The release of so many wrongfully convicted people in the past few years is a direct result of the movement to end police crimes. The Alliance organized 21 families of torture victims who met with the newly elected Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx. During her campaign Foxx endorsed the ordinance creating an ell-elected, all-Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC). Over 50,000 people have signed petitions and postcards to their aldermen urging passage of the CPAC ordinance.

The rally is hosted by the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (“the Alliance”) and Trinity UCC. It’s been endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union, Black Lives Matter Chicago, the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns, the U. S. Palestinian Community Network, the Pilsen Alliance, The Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and the UIC Graduate Employees Organization, and Trinity UCC, all of which have also endorsed CPAC.

In addition, the Alliance is circulating a petition demanding that the Governor pardon the hundreds of men and women in prison today who falsely confessed to crimes under police torture. Over 500 people have signed that petition so far.

At a recent series of hearings called by Ald. Ariel Reboyras (30th Ward), Chairperson of the City Council Public Safety Committee, the number of people calling for passage of CPAC far outweighed those speaking for any other proposal. Not a single person spoke in favor of either of the two ordinances sponsored by Reboyras. Reboyras acknowledged that there was robust support for CPAC in the Daily Line.

Source: www.naarpr.org

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