A National Speaking Tour of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty

Presenting the CEDP's National Speaking Tour for 2009 - 2010. Join this teach-in tour in cities around the country this fall and spring. This year's tour looks at the historic link between the death penalty and lynching in the United States. Hear from those who have been freed from death row, activists and scholars on the role of racism in our criminal justice system and why the death penalty and unjust sentencing need to be abolished.

For More Information

If you are interested in hosting a tour stop at your school or in your community, or if you have any questions please contact:

UPCOMING TOUR STOPS

Exciting events are in the works for this spring.

Highlights include:

San Jose, California - Tuesday, May 25th at 7PM at the San Jose Peace and Justice Center. Speakers include Cephus Johnson, uncle of Oscar Grant, who was murdered by the BART police in Oakland. Also featuring Jack Bryson, whose sons were with Oscar during the shooting, and Veronica Luna, whose uncle is on CA death row.

North Carolina. In conjunction with the North Carolina Coalition for a Moratorium— Two dates left:

NC A&T University (NC Agricultural and Technical State University), Greensboro - April 16 with Guilford County Public Defender David Clark and Rep. Alma Adams.

Campbell Law School, Raleigh - Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law, Spring 2010, co-sponsored by Juvenile Justice Program.

Texas. One date left:

University of North Texas, Denton - April 29th. With Alan Bean and Rodrick Reed.

Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey - April 16th. In conjunction with Rutgers Law Review 2010 Symposium: "Righting the Wronged: Causes, Effects and Remedies of Juvenile Wrongful Conviction". With Bryan Stevenson, Yusef Salaam and others.

Illinois. One date left:

Chicago - April 28th at Harold Washington Library Center. With Mark Clements, Marvin Reeves and Marlene Martin.

New York -

City College of New York - April 21.

John Jay College/Cuny - April 22

Monday, March 29, 2010

Bay Area tour stop a great success!


The Bay Area tour stop of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty national speaking tour, "Lynching Then, Lynching Now," was a great success! We were honored to have Lawrence Hayes join us from New York. We kicked off his trip to the Bay Area by having Jack Bryson and Lawrence on the KPFA Flashpoints show (you can listen here: http://kpfa.org/archive/id/59610 - the last 20 minutes of the show). They also stopped by a meeting of All of Us Or None, discussing the "gang injunctions" and met up with great activists, including Sister Beatrice.

On Wednesday, March 24th, Lawrence spoke at two classes at Merritt College, where the Black Panthers started, and was able to have an engaging discussion with the students and with chair of African-American studies, Dr. Siri Brown. That evening, our main tour stop event, drew 50 people at Laney College, another community college in Oakland. The speakers were: Lawrence Hayes, Barbara Becnel, Kevin Cooper (calling in live, from death row), Jack Bryson and Jabari Shaw of the Laney College Black Student Union, moderated by Michelle Simon of the CEDP. The speakers used the theme of the tour to analyze and discuss the history of racism and of fighting racism, and racism today/struggles against racism, the death penalty and the criminal (in)justice system.

Lawrence Hayes spoke about the history of lynching in this country, and the audience heard his peronal and powerful story.
Barbara Becnel spoke about what it is to be "on the front line" of this struggle, how coming to the event and learning about these issues is the first step to being on the front line. Jack Bryson picked up on this theme and talked about how CEDP joined with him in his fight for justice for Oscar Grant so how could he not be on the front line against the death penalty and for freedom for Kevin Cooper. Kevin called in from San Quentin, and made connections between his struggle, the fight against education cuts, and many other issues. The audience got to ask great questions to Kevin. One audience member, after the event came to a close, asked us to deliver a message to Kevin: she said to tell him "he is beautiful, innocent and must be freed." Jabari Shaw gave a passionate speech about racism, fighting racism and bringing our social justice movements togethers. We were also fortunate to have a recorded message from Mumia Abu Jamal. If you are interested in having a copy of the recorded message to play at a tour stop event, contact Crystal at crystal@nodeathpenalty.org.

The CEDP worked with the Kevin Cooper Defense Committee, the Laney International Socialist Organization, the Laney Black Student Union, and the Labor Action Committee to Free Mumia Abu Jamal. We met a lot of great activists, community members, and students. We hope to build on the success of the tour and continue our fights for justice for Kevin Cooper and the other issues we are working on today.
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