Racism Militarism and Political Prisoners

February 2nd Saturday

6pm at the UJAMMA Collective 
in the Hill! 1901 Centre Ave. Suite 100

Racism - Militarism - Political Prisoners

We Have Not Been Moved: Resisting Racism and Militarism in 21st Century America is a just-published compendium addressing two leading pillars of U.S. Empire: racism and militarism. Inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s called for a “true revolution of values” against the racism, militarism, and materialism which he saw as the heart of a society “approaching spiritual death,” this book recognizes that the traditional peace movement has not been moved far beyond the half-century-old call for a deepening critique of its own prejudices. The book's chapters--including interviews, photographs, and poetry from the likes of Alice Walker, Sonia Sanchez, and others--contain both little-known historic writings (such as an exchange between Dr. King and Negroes with Guns author and nationalist activist Robert Franklin Williams), as well as contemporary pieces.

Senior editor Matt Meyer, an international spokesperson for the War Resisters League, is also author of the title piece detailing the need for growing solidarity and a commitment to self-determination; he will be joined by book contributor Fred Ho, author of the chapter Whiteness is not Inevitable! Why the Problematic of "Race" needs to be Replaced with the Restoration of the National Question(s). Ho, an internationally acclaimed baritone saxophone jazz composer, brings to the event his decades of experience as an activist building bridges between peoples of Asian and African descent. Theresa Shoatz, life-long Pennsylvania-based human rights and prison justice activist will be joining Meyer and Ho, discussing the crucial role which prison reform work must play in any current movement for peace with justice. Shoatz is also the daughter of political prisoner Russell Maroon Shoatz, who has spent more than thirty years in solitary confinement; all three speakers are active in a new, national campaign for Maroon's unconditional release. 

This interactive event will begin with brief presentations from the speakers, moving on to questions, answers, and collective discussion on how local coalitions can and must be built across sometimes unsettling divides. The presentations will spotlight ways in which they believe work on the Maroon campaign will benefit such alliances. They will suggest reasons why, in the words of Dr. Maya Angelou, "in this age and in this climate of political posturing and posing, this book's investigation of the moral issues of our time is so needed."