Wyclef & Akon in Haiti | Contact numbers to demand justice for the Katrina victims and to protest arrest and treatment of Attorney Bill Quigley
18/12/07
_Contact numbers to demand justice for the Katrina victims and to protest arrest and treatment of Attorney Bill Quigley
- Wyclef, Akon put A Spotlight on Haiti’s Suffering And Beauty at Yele Festival
Ezili Danto Note:
Attorney Bill Quigley roughed up and arrested: Contact numbers to demand justice for the Katrina victims whose houses are being demolished and to protest the arrest of Bill Quigley
www.margueritelaurent.com/pressclips/whitesaviors.html#quigley
Watch this Video of Attorney Bill Quigley getting roughed up and arrested. What has become of the law in the U.S.? (OK, that was a rhetorical question.)
But folks, we simply cannot take this attack on a treasured and authentic friend to the poorest of the poor, without comment and strong protest. And so I write here to you about Bill Quigley, about this arrest. Because Bill Quigley is a man who shows up, time and time again, not to help us, but because he knows his liberation is bound up with that of the most disenfranchised. He is a man who, I do not hesitate to say, is one of the most honorable of attorneys and activists working in the Americas. He represents what HLLN wishes to see extended in this world. He does not extend dependency, struggle or talk FOR black or poor people. But, Bill Quigley has consistantly stood up for what’s just, humane and decent. Most often, he is the lone white guy taking abuse with and alongside his poor, underprivileged friends and clients, as you’ll see if you watch this video and as he did once in Haiti when a mob was beating down Father Jean Juste at Jacques Roches’ funeral. (See, “Priest Assaulted by Mob at Funeral and Arrested for Murder : Harrowing Hours in Haiti By Bill Quigley | www.counterpunch.org/quigley07232005.html ;) This New Orleans officer’s action here seems arbitrary, capricious and extremely violent without cause or defense. Charges seems to be in order against this arresting officer, NO? Someone needs to be fired immediately.
www.wdsu.com/video/14794232/index.html
Bill Quigley is a law professor as well as Director of the Law Clinic and the
Gillis Long Poverty Law Center at Loyola University New Orleans. ( For more
info on Bill and his work, go to: law.loyno.edu/faculty/bio/quigley ;;
law.loyno.edu/%7Equigley/ ;)
To learn more about the issue, which landed Bill Quigley in this danger,
please go to: Bulldozers for the Poor, Huge Tax Credits for Wealthy Developers
By BILL QUIGLEY
www.counterpunch.org/quigley12032007.html
************************
Appeal to the HLLNetwork: Please folks, make your voices heard. Here are the contact numbers to demand justice for the Katrina victims, all mostly very poor black women and children, whose right to return to their homes in New Orleans are being summarily denied, their homes being demolished. Call to loudly protest the arrest and assault on attorney Bill Quigley.
Contact numbers to demand justice for the Katrina victims whose houses are being demolished and to protest the arrest of Bill Quigley:
Contact Elected Officials to Stop Housing Demolitions in New Orleans
George Bush – President – 202-456-1111
Alphonso Jackson, Secy of HUD – (202) 708-1112
Sen. Mary Landrieu, 202-224-5824; Fax: 202-224-9735
Sen. David Vitter – (504) 589-2753, DC Office (202) 224-4623
Rep. William Jefferson Phone: (202) 225-6636; FAX: (202) 225-1988
Mayor of New Orleans Ray Nagin – 504.658.4900
New Orleans City Council Members:
Arnie Fielkow – (504) 658-1060 AFielkow@cityofno.com
Jacquelyn Clarkson – (504) 658-1070 JBClarkson@cityofno.com
Stacy Head – (504) 658-1020 SHead@cityofno.com
Shelley Midura – (504) 658-1010 SMidura@cityofno.com
James Carter – (504) 658-1030 JCarter@cityofno.com
Cynthia Hedge-Morrell – (504) 658-1040 CHMorrell
Cynthia Willard-Lewis – (504) 658-1050 CWLewis@cityofno.com
Dec 17 2007 6:43 PM EST
Wyclef, Akon Put A Spotlight On Haiti’s Suffering And Beauty At Yele Festival
‘Our music can change and influence the world,’ ‘Clef says of two-day event in his native country.
By Shaheem Reid, with reporting by Rahman Dukes
www.mtv.com/news/articles/1576585/20071217/jean_wyclef.jhtml#
Haiti’s most famous diplomat was very busy over the weekend in his native country. Wyclef Jean co-headlined the first Yele Festival with Akon; the event was the brainchild of the two recording artists and manager Jimmy “Henchman” Rosemond.
The two-day event included a tour of Haiti for journalists on Friday and a concert fundraiser Saturday.
“We cater to the press, answering questions, visiting the children’s prisons [in Port-au-Prince], the schools,” Rosemond said Friday. “ … There’s not too much stuff to do in Haiti. For it to be a two-day event is even big in itself. We’re trying to do something with Yele like how [Reggae] Sunsplash was for Jamaica. This will be a yearly event. In between, we’ll have smaller shows and cap off every year around this time with some of the biggest artists in the world.”
(Check out sizzlin’ photos from the fest right here.)
The Haitian-born Wyclef made a deal that he would perform in Senegal (Akon was born in St. Louis but raised in Senegal) sometime next year in return for ‘Kon performing in his homeland.
On Saturday, ‘Clef and ‘Kon rocked Haiti’s capital square, which Rosemond said is “as large as two football stadiums.” The trio are still awaiting final numbers as far as the size of the crowd and donations, which will go toward retaining counsel for inmates at Haiti’s children’s prisons and helping rebuild and provide supplies to schools damaged during the hurricane season.
“This has been an eye-opening experience for me,” Akon told MTV News via e-mail. “To meet the Haitian people in suffering and in celebration has made my mission clearer. I will use my blessings to help all impoverished people, and I know my people in Senegal will embrace Wyclef as his people did me.”
“The Haitian people came out in multitude, putting aside their suffering, politics and beliefs, to come see two of their favorite artists,” Wyclef said. “Akon is a true musician and artist, and I look forward to my journey to his native land of Senegal. … Not one person was hurt [at the concert]. This is proof to my fellow artists that our music can change and influence the world. Mission accomplished. The Haitian people have passed the test, and now we welcome you.”
“I am speechless from the overwhelming turnout for change in Haiti,” Rosemond said over the weekend. “We went back to the basics to prove a point: Music is a universal language. We know one free concert won’t change everything, but at least we’ve started something that may make a change. But I think what we all walked away with is a sense that it’s Haiti today, but it can easily be the world tomorrow.
“In order for us to heal the ills of Haiti, press have to know first that it’s safe to come there [to] document and expose the ills and the good stuff going on in Haiti,” he added. “The only thing you hear about Haiti is there’s a dictatorship. The only way we’re gonna get economic strength, we need the tourist dollars and for us to sell our art, sell our music. We need for people to see the wonderful country of Haiti. It’s been closed so long because of the bad press. We wanna expose some of the good stuff.
Forwarded by the Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network