The list of past events below is not comprehensive, but indicates some of the breadth of support and types of events that can be done. For upcoming events, click here.

2007 –– see below for 2008 and 2009

• The premiere of the video Legacy of Torture was held January 28, 2007 at the Roxie Cinema in San Francisco – see reviews.
• Ithaca, Jan. 31, video sponsored by the Prison Activist Coalition, Africana Students Association, and the Africana Studies and Research Center of Cornell University.
• The Boston premiere was held Feb. 1 by the Boston Chapter of the Jericho Movement.
• First SF8 court appearance Feb. 14, 2007.
• Eugene, Feb. 17, video shown in the Revolutionary Film Festival: Civil liberties in a time of crisis sponsored by the Civil Liberties Defense Center; American Constitution Society (U of Oregon chapter); and the National Lawyers Guild (Eugene chapter).
• The Los Angeles premiere was held Feb. 17 by the Jericho Amnesty Coalition - L.A.
• Portland, Feb. 18, video presented by Portland Indymedia and The Committee for the Defense of Human Rights with Floyd Cruse, former Minister of Information of the Portland Chapter of the Black Panther Party, and Kent Ford, former Portland Panther.
• Williamstown, Feb., at Williams College; video with discussion with Wayne Thompson and Soffiyah Elijah.
• Boston, Feb. 20 at Northeastern University School of Law.
• Free Speech TV, Feb. 20, broadcast of video with additional dates to be announced.
• Berkeley, Feb. 25 at The Long Haul. A screening of Legacy of Torture was followed by the classic Battle of Algiers and an update on Eric McDavid.
• San Francisco State University, Feb. 26, video screening.
• NYC, March 2, with speakers Kathleen Cleaver, Soffiyah Elijah, Iyaluua Ferguson, and others speaking on Whitewashing the Panthers: Can the Government Prosecute Black History? sponsored by Center for Constitutional Rights, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, National Lawyers Guild NYC, NYC Jericho, NY Taskforce on Political Prisoners, Resistance in Brooklyn, Immigrant Justice Solidarity Project.
• Washington DC, March 10, video at the National Conference on Organized Resistance with panel including Wayne Thompson, Soffiyah Elijah, and Claude Marks.
• Philadelphia, March 12, sponsored by Scribe Video Center; part of Delaware Valley Justice Month.
• Monterey, March 13, video sponsored by the Monterey Peace & Justice Center. Mel Mason, former member of the Black Panther Party, spoke.
• Tempe, March 20, video sponsored by the Phoenix Anarchist Coalition.
• Berkeley, March 23, video screened at CopWatch Movie Night.
• Montreal, April 2, Concordia University, video presented by Certain Days (QPIRG-Concordia), Kersplebedeb, 2110 Centre, Montreal ABCF, and COBP.
• Los Angeles, April 10, at USC with panelists Bilal Ali of the Jericho Movement and UNITY Mission to Free the SF8, Phyllis Boudreaux (activist and wife of SF8 Ray Boudreaux), Macarena Gómez-Barris (Asst. Prof. Sociology), Yusef Omowali (Director of the Southern CA Library), and Janice Willis (activist and sister of SF8 Ray Boudreaux).
• Houston, April 11, video screening sponsored by Indymedia.
• New Orleans, April 13, part of the 4th Annual New Orleans International Human Rights Film Festival, co-presented by Critical Resistance.
• San Francisco, April 22, screening and discussion sponsored by All of Us Or None and California Coalition for Women Prisoners.
• 
  SF8 court appearance April 27.
• Philadelphia, April 19, at the Uhuru Solidarity Center.
• Storrs CT, April 24 at University of Connecticut.
• Louisville, April 26 at the Louisville Free Public Library, sponsored by the Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and the Kentucky ACLU. Screening followed by discussion with Soffiyah Elijah and King Downing.
• Cleveland, May 3, ABC Movie: Legacy of Torture sponsored by the Cleveland Anarchist Black Cross.
• Los Angeles, May 18 featured video, speakers, and organizing sponsored by the Pan-Afrikan Student Collective (P.A.S.C) at CSULA.
• San Francisco, June 2, NCORE: National Conference on Race & Ethnicity in American Higher Education, "Torture and Human Rights" panel with Soffiyah Elijah, Danny Glover, and Claude Marks, screening of Legacy of Torture.
• Berkeley, June 3, Statements of the People: An Evening of Music and Poetry in Support of the SF8. La Peña Cultural Center.
• The San Francisco Black Film Festival, June 16, Legacy of Torture: The War against the Black Liberation Movement.
• San Francisco, June 16-17 Juneteenth Celebration: Free The SF8 information booth.
• Oakland, June 17, Legacy of Torture: The War Against The Black Liberation Movement, Parkways Theater, presented by African American Studies at Merritt College and Malcolm X Grassroots Movement.
• Los Angeles, June 21. The SF8: A Discussion about the Government Persecution of the Black Panthers presented by The Next Generation Committee and The United People Of Color Caucus (TUPOCC) of the Los Angeles Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild at Eso Won Books. Speakers included Carol Smith, former attorney for the Black Panthers, Kwaku Duren, chair of the New Panther Vanguard Movement and Chairperson, Board of People's College of Law, and Family Member of the SF 8.
• Atlanta, June 28. U.S. Social Forum panel – Legacy of Torture: the War Against the Black Liberation Movement. Panel including Cynthia McKinney, Kathleen Cleaver, Soffiyah Elijah, and Claude Marks.
• San Francisco, July 1. Derrick Jensen in a night of solidarity with the SF8. Women's Building.
• "My Country" TV program, August 2. SF Cable Channel 76, featuring Gray Panther support for the SF8. Available on Google Video (20 min).
• Boston, August 6. Community Action for the SF8. Jericho Boston put out the word and gathered signatures for a petition demanding their release under the banner: "COAST TO COAST SOLIDARITY ... FREE THE SAN FRANCISCO 8!"
• Oakland, August 4, Legacy of Torture at SOUL, (School Of Unity and Liberation), hosted by: Malcolm X Grassroots Movement.
• Boston, August 18, BLACK AUGUST: HONORING OUR FREEDOM FIGHTERS, FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM, at Democracy Center, a day of education, struggle, and communion in commemoration of Black August with screening of Legacy of Torture, discussion with Ashanti Alston (former BLA political prisoner and Jericho Co-coordinator), collective action for the SF 8, ending with a fundraising dinner. Sponsored by Jericho-Boston.
• San Jose, August 29. Screening of Legacy of Torture with discussion at San Jose State University, sponsored by Malcolm X Grassroots Movement and the Hip Hop Congress.
• San Francisco, September 11. Hearing on discovery at the courthouse.
• San Francisco, September 15. Panel on the SF8 case at the "Stars and Bars: Radical Lawyering in Times of Crisis" event at Golden Gate University. Sponsored by the National Lawyers Guild.
• San Francisco, September 23, "Revolutionary Art: New work from the SF Print Collective" with former minister of culture for the Black Panther Party Emory Douglas, signing his new book, Black Panther: The Revolutionary Art of Emory Douglas.Sponsored by the Center for Political Education and the SF Print Collective.
• San Francisco, September 24. Demonstration and brief court hearing.
• London, England, September. Former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney speaks about the case.
• Berkeley, September 23. Bay Area Boricuas feature Francisco Torres of the SF8 as speaker at the annual celebration of El Grito de Lares.
• Lexington, Kentucky, September 26. Video screening followed by discussion with attorney Soffiyah Elijah sponsored by Martin Luther King Jr. Cultural Center.
• San Francisco, September 30, dead prez with Wale, Umi, Al B Back, Ras Ceylon & Fire Angel w/ DJ Mr E. Artwork by Tumis & Samurai Graphics.
• Hudson, NY, October 6 at Time & Space Limited, showing of Legacy of Torture with Cathy Wilkerson (former organizer with SDS/Weather Underground) reading from her new memoir.
• San Francisco, October 9. New College School of Law's National Lawyer's Guild chapter and the Black Law Students Association sponsored a showing of Legacy of Torture and discussion.
• Berkeley, October 18, screening of the new film Ghosts of Abu Ghraib featured SF8 member Richard Brown. Rory Kennedy's groundbreaking film asks the questions "How did torture become an accepted practice at Abu Ghraib? How could ordinary American soldiers come to engage in such monstrous acts?" by interviewing soldiers who participated and Iraqis who endured the torture. Richard Brown talked about their case and how it relates to the torture at Abu Ghraib and other U.S. facilities. Presented by Act Against Torture.
• Austin, TX, October 18 Legacy of Torture screening with guest speakers, sponsored by Movement for a Democratic Society.
• San Francisco, October 26, Discussion and book signing with Jules Boykoff, author of Beyond Bullets: The Suppression of Dissent in the United States. Sponsored by AK Press.
• San Francisco, October 27, "thousands of youth, students, workers and other anti-war activists took to the downtown streets ... to demand “No More War in Iraq.” The rally and march ... included a dramatic “die-in” on Market Street. Spirited feeder marches, including a large labor contingent, filled the Civic Center plaza. Speakers included Malik Rahim of Common Ground, who traveled to the demonstration with a group of Katrina survivors; Dennis Banks of the American Indian Movement; and Richard Brown of the San Francisco 8" (as reported in WW).
• Washington, DC, October 28, State Repression in the Era of the "War on Terrorism", a panel on the criminalization of animal and environmental activists and the continued war on the Black Liberation Movement featuring Ashanti Alston, former political prisoner and Black Panther, Ramona Africa of MOVE, Will Potter, journalist and creator of www.GreenIsTheNewRed.com. Cosponsored by the Brian MacKenzie Infoshop; Red Emma's Bookstore and Coffeehouse; Friends and Family of Daniel McGowan; and the Black August Planning Organization.
• Olympia, WA, November 2, SF8 benefit with Mark Gunnery (from Riot Folk!), My Baby's Got a Hard-On, Jesus Was a Slave Ship, Josh Rizeberg, Insubordinate, Ancient Head, Robin Byrd, Diatribe, Kusikia, Occido, and Aaron Dixon - former Captain of the Seattle Black Panther Party and Green Party candidate for US Senate. Sponsored by the Olympia chapter of Students for a Democratic Society.
• San Francisco, November 4, Community Speak out !!! Mos Def hosted a Q&A session with 3 of the SF8: Harold Taylor, Richard Brown, and Richard O'Neal as well as attorney Stuart Hanlon at the African American Art and Culture Complex; over 250 attended. See the KTVU report (video). Portions of this event will also be broadcast on KPFA's Hard Knock Radio – see above.
• Austin, TX, November 14, screening of Legacy of Torture with special guest speakers Robert "King" Wilkerson and Raul Salinas. "King" Wilkerson was a member of the Black Panther Party who spent 32 years in prison, 29 of them in solitary confinement in Angola Prison. A veterano of Chicano literature, Raul Salinas' writing and activism have earned him international recognition as a spokesperson for a diversity of political causes, ranging from prisoner rights and national liberation struggles to gang intervention and youth arts advocacy. Sponsored by Resistencia Bookstore and The Movement for a Democratic Society, Austin Chapter (MDS).
• Los Angeles, November 15, Hank Jones and Ray Boudreaux, two the SF8 who have been released on bond, spoke to the community at the Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research. Performances included Sadiki Bakari of Nappy Tongues a street theater skit on countering "Thanksgiving", and a song by Sister Somayah, former member of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense and survivor of the LAPD attack on the Panther offices,, plus a presentation about the police frame-up of LA activist Kahllid Al-Alim. Plans were made for a demonstration to free the Eight on the date of their next court appearance, Monday Dec. 3. Sponsored by Unity Mission to Free the Eight, Committee to Defend Human Rights, and Jericho Amnesty Coalition to Free All Political Prisoners.
• On the air November 15–16. Hard Knock Radio broadcast the recent Fillmore event with Mos Def and SF8 members Richard Brown and Harold Taylor and attorney Stuart Hanlon and an additional interview with Richard Brown and Anita Johnson. These programs are archived on the KPFA website under Hard Knock Radio for those dates.
• Amherst, MA, November 5, reVoltairine presented "The Green Scare and the SF8" program at Food for Thought Books, with Sarah Wald, Ashanti Alston, and others. Video of the event is on Active Ingredients media (search by date, raw footage, large file).
• San Francisco, November 26, "COINTELPRO Lives: Reflections on Government Repression Then & Now," with Ward Churchill and Richard Brown of the SF8 at New College. Sponsored by AK Press and The Freedom Archives.
• On the air and on the web, November 29, four of the SF-8 with their wives/partners, and attorney Soffiyah Elijah were featured on WBAI's Where We Live. Listen to the archived show at wbai.org
• On the air and on the web, November 30 the SF-8 and Soffiyah Elijah were interviewed on Democracy Now. Listen to the archived show at www.democracynow.org.
• NYC, November 30, "Defend the Legacy of the Black Panther Party. Speakers included Gil Noble (producer and host of ABC-TV’s Like It Is); Francisco Torres, Harold Taylor, Ray Boudreaux, and Hank Jones, SF-8 defendants; Soffiyah Elijah, attorney; alixa + naima/Climbing Poetree; Jamal Joseph and IMPACT! Sponsors included Al-Awda (Palestine Right to Return Coalition), Black Panther Commemoration Committee (NY), Campaign to End the Death Penalty, Center for Constitutional Rights, Frances Goldin, Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition (NYC), Friends and Family of Daniel McGowan, Friends of David Gilbert, Gabriela Network USA, The Jericho Movement, Malcolm X Commemoration Committee, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, NY State Taskforce for Political Prisoners, NYC Anarchist Black Cross, NYC National Lawyers Guild, ProLibertad, Resistance in Brooklyn, Safiya Bukhari-Albert Nuh Washington Foundation, and SEIU Local 1199.
• San Francisco, December 2, Human Rights Day with the SF8, Talib Kweli, and Martin Luther. African American Cultural Center.
  
  
  
  
  
• 2008
• Los Angeles, January 11, Legacy of Torture shown as part of MOCA film festival.
• Los Angeles, February 14, "Making the Connections: Honoring Black History Month" showcasing the work of Emory Douglas, the brilliant artist propagandist of the BPP plus a panel discussion about the BPP, COINTELPRO, and current issues with Hank Jones and Ray Boudreaux, two of the SF 8 as well as National Lawyers Guild members Carol Smith and Jim Lafferty. MOCA - Pacific Design Center, 8687 Melrose Avenue, West Hollywood, CA 90069.
  
• New York, February 16, Benefit performance of "John Brown:Trumpet of Freedom," at the Brecht Forum.
• San Francisco, June 5, From Black Power to Green Scare : The Criminalization of Dissent in the United States. Speakers included Sharana Kadidal, Center for Constitutional Rights, Managing attorney of the Guantànamo Global Justice Initiative; , Michel Shehadeh, Palestinian activist and one of the "Los Angeles 8," Palestinian and Kenyan immigrants targeted for political activity who won a historic victory in 2007; Andrea Lindsay, SHAC 7 Support Committee and an activist involved in combating the "Green Scare" against environmental and animal rights activists; Lauren Ornelas, Food Empowerment Project and environmental and animal rights activist.
• Manchester, England, November 23, Legacy of Torture was shown.

2009

• Chicago, Feb. 13, discussion with attorney Soffiyah Elijah, SF 8 member Francisco Torres, and film maker Claude Marks, whose Legacy of Torture was also shown. At the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum.
• San Francisco, Feb. 14, International Longshore and Warehouse Union sponsored a Black History Month rally entitled “Racism, Repression and Rebellion: The Lessons of Labor Defense” which included the SF 8.
• Ithaca, NY, April 10, the Prison Activist Coalition presented a discussion with attorney Soffiyah Elijah and SF 8 member Francisco Torres; Legacy of Torture was also shown.
• Bristol, England, May 10, the Bristol Anarchist Black Cross prisoner support group showed Legacy of Torture with a film on the protests in Greece of the December police shooting of a demonstrator.
• Pasadena, May 12, Public Forum with the ACLU: "Will we face the torture chambers in our cities as well as on Guantanamo?"
• Oakland, May 30, the 9th Annual Malcolm X Jazz Arts Festival.
• San Francisco, June 5, HOMEY Presents: By Any Means Necessary, Hands Off the SF8! Movie screening, discussion, and workshop with folks from the SF8.
• Philadelphia, June 9 at the Wooden Shoe Book Store. Coast2Coast Solidarity-Philly sponsored discussion about displacement, repression, and the San Francisco 8. June 10 at A-Space Coast2Coast Solidarity-Philly and Jericho Movement of Philadelphia showed Legacy of Torture, along with case up dates and discussion of the impacts of repression in today's movements. June 17 at LAVA SPACE Coast2Coast Solidarity-Philly sponsored a discussion about maximum security prisons, the impacts on communities outside of prison and a showing of Legacy of Torture.
  

Committee for the Defense of Human Rights
P.O. Box 90221
Pasadena, CA 91109

(415) 226-1120
E-mail:   freethesf8 [at] gmail [dot] com
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