[spectre] One day/ All day: April 27
Trebor Scholz
treborscholz@earthlink.net
Mon, 18 Mar 2002 00:57:28 +0800
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>=20
>>>>> (apologies for cross-posting)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Right2Fight=20
>>>>>=20
>>>>> A cross-disciplinary initiative on the theme of police violence.
>>>>>=20
>>>>> One day, all day.
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Sarah Lawrence College, New York
>>>>>=20
>>>>> 27 April 2002
>>>>>=20
>>>>> http://www.molodiez.org/right2fight/slc.html
>>>>>=20
>>>>>=20
>>>>> BROOKLYN, NY: A Haitian New Yorker named Abner Louima is tortured by
>>>>> members of the NYPD.
>>>>> A broken broomstick is shoved into his rectum and mouth while his
>>>>> attackers scream racist epithets. The crime takes place on August 9, =
1997.
>>>>> Four officers are convicted. On February 28, 2002, three of the four
>>>>> convictions are overturned. One officer is granted a new trial; two o=
thers
>>>>> are set free outright.
>>>>>=20
>>>>> As weapons and methods of surveillance become more sophisticated and =
grass
>>>>> roots dissatisfaction with political and economic systems grows, in m=
any
>>>>> parts of the world policing is becoming increasingly brutal and intru=
sive.
>>>>> From 80s video surveillance, alarming in its own right, we have moved=
on
>>>>> to far more invasive forms of policing: automated face recognition
>>>>> technologies in use on the streets of London; iris scans imposed on H=
adj
>>>>> pilgrims arriving in Mecca; techniques elaborated to spy on the most
>>>>> private exchanges online and off; =B3Echelon,=B2 an espionage system devi=
sed
>>>>> to scan vast quantities of e.mails and telephone calls worldwide, in =
real
>>>>> time=8A
>>>>>=20
>>>>> From a world best described as an analog panopticon, we have moved in=
to
>>>>> what independent curator Inke Arns calls a pancodicon* : a world of
>>>>> digital surveillance and electronic space in which our most intimate
>>>>> thoughts can be charted. In this world, what few protections were aff=
orded
>>>>> those who stand in opposition to the status quo are lost, snatched ba=
ck by
>>>>> systems of policing -- local, national and global -- bent on breaking=
all
>>>>> but the tamest forms of resistance.
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Such attacks on liberty are, needless to say, not new. Entire systems=
of
>>>>> economic and political domination have been built upon policing at on=
ce
>>>>> extraordinarily violent and intrusive. Among these, one might cite th=
e
>>>>> very system on which the country we live in was founded. From the arr=
ival
>>>>> of the first slave ship at Jamestown Harbor in 1619 to the contempora=
ry
>>>>> streets of our largest cities, from the era of Jim Crow lynchings to =
the
>>>>> beating of Rodney King and the killing of Amadou Diallo, the United S=
tates
>>>>> has been a place of violence meted out at the hands of a few bent on
>>>>> controlling and silencing the many.
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Once, men and women of African descent, in this land, were deemed 3/5=
th of
>>>>> a human being; today, so many men of African heritage -- one in every=
ten
>>>>> -- are behind bars or otherwise ensnared in the criminal justice
>>>>> juggernaut** that one can legitimately speak of a genocide under way=
. In
>>>>> Atlanta, Detroit, Los Angeles, women and men of Native American, Lati=
no
>>>>> and, increasingly, Asian heritage are questioned, arrested, incarcera=
ted
>>>>> at rates in no way commensurate with their representation in the
>>>>> population at large. Post 9/11, over a thousand Arab men are in US ja=
ils,
>>>>> still waiting to be charged with a crime; in many cases, their own
>>>>> families have not been told where they are.
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Elsewhere too, state violence has broken and continues to break lives=
,
>>>>> spirits, entire peoples. Violent repression was the cornerstone of th=
e
>>>>> colonial project, in Africa and Asia alike. Patrice Lumumba of Congo=
,
>>>>> murdered by Belgian-trained gunmen mere months after his country gain=
ed
>>>>> independence; Ruben Um Nyobe, heartbeat of Cameroon=B9s struggle for
>>>>> self-determination, killed in a French ambush in 1958; Steve Biko, b=
eaten
>>>>> to death by South African police in 1977... Theirs are but the best k=
nown
>>>>> names -- a paltry few =B3history=B2 deigns to recall among those of hundr=
eds
>>>>> upon hundreds of thousands who died, many resisting, killed by author=
ities
>>>>> in power only because they had the means to destroy.
>>>>>=20
>>>>> In Europe, as the industrial age emerged, workers died by the thousan=
ds.
>>>>> In Napoleonic Paris, boulevards were cut through the city in wide swa=
ths
>>>>> to make the task of shooting discontented factory hands easier, shoul=
d
>>>>> they take to the streets en masse. As the 19th century drew to a clos=
e, in
>>>>> the UK and US, strikers seeking better wages were clubbed and shot. I=
n the
>>>>> wake of a May Day protest that brought 80,000 workers to Chicago=B9s
>>>>> Michigan Avenue, police violence exploded. Within days, eight men wer=
e
>>>>> arrested. A trial was held, centering on a bomb all agreed none of =
those
>>>>> indicted had planted. Five of the men were sentenced to death; the th=
ree
>>>>> others were remanded to prison for life.
>>>>>=20
>>>>> One would like to think that such excesses are a thing of the past. T=
hey
>>>>> are not:=20
>>>>>=20
>>>>> ABNER LOUIMA
>>>>>=20
>>>>> AMADOU DIALLO (1)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> LUC BENOIT BASILEKIN (2)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> SUSANA GOMEZ, RONALD RAUL RAMOS (3)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> SEATTLE, QUEBEC CITY, GENOA (4)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> SEOUL, JAKARTA, BRISBANE (5)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> JOHANNESBURG, PARIS (6)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> BULGARIA, ALGERIA (7)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> VIRGINIA (8)
>>>>>=20
>>>>>=20
>>>>> (1) THREE YEARS AGO, A GUINEAN IMMIGRANT NAMED AMADOU DIALLO WAS STRU=
CK
>>>>> DOWN IN A HAIL OF BULLETS FIRED BY NEW YORK CITY POLICE. HE WAS REACH=
ING
>>>>> FOR IDENTIFICATION; THE OFFICERS ASSUMED HE WAS REACHING FOR A GUN. T=
HEY
>>>>> FIRED FORTY-ONE BULLETS. NINETEEN HIT THE TARGET.
>>>>>=20
>>>>> (2) IN FEBRUARY 2001, THE GOVERNMENT OF CAMEROON INSTITUTED THE
>>>>> OPERATIONAL COMMAND, A PARAMILITARY TASK FORCE BRINGING TOGETHER MEMB=
ERS
>>>>> OF THE LOCAL AND NATIONAL POLICE AND THE ARMY. THE C.O.=B9S OFFICIAL PU=
RPOSE
>>>>> WAS TO END A CRIME WAVE IN THE CITY OF DOUALA; IT WAS MEANT IN FACT T=
O
>>>>> BRING TO HEEL SECTORS OF THE POPULATION OPPOSED TO THE REPRESSIVE RUL=
E OF
>>>>> THE GOVERNING PARTY. IN ITS FIRST SIX MONTHS, THE C.O. PERPETRATED 50=
0
>>>>> EXTRA-JUDICIAL EXECUTIONS; BY YEAR=B9S END, 1000 PEOPLE HAD DIED. ONE =
OF
>>>>> THE FIRST WAS LUC BENOIT BASILEKIN.
>>>>>=20
>>>>> (3) IN APRIL 1996 IN GUATEMALA CITY, SUSANA GOMEZ WAS RAPED BY TWO
>>>>> NATIONAL POLICE OFFICERS; SHE WAS SIXTEEN YEARS OLD. IN SEPTEMBER 199=
6,
>>>>> RONALD RAUL RAMOS WAS SHOT AND KILLED BY A TREASURY POLICE OFFICER; H=
E TOO
>>>>> WAS SIXTEEN. MORE THAN TEN OTHER STREET CHILDREN WERE MURDERED THAT Y=
EAR,
>>>>> LIKELY BY POLICE. TWELVE MONTHS LATER, NONE OF THE PERPETRATORS IN TH=
ESE
>>>>> CASES HAD BEEN APPREHENDED.
>>>>>=20
>>>>> (4) IN SEATTLE, QUEBEC CITY AND GENOA, OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS, UNARM=
ED
>>>>> WOMEN, MEN AND CHILDREN CALLING FOR A MORE MEASURED APPROACH TO
>>>>> GLOBALIZATION THAN HAS BEEN PROPOSED BY SUCH BODIES AS THE WTO AND WO=
RLD
>>>>> BANK WERE ATTACKED BY POLICE WIELDING BATONS, RUBBER BULLETS, WATER C=
ANONS
>>>>> AND TEAR GAS. SIMILAR VIOLENCE GREETED UNARMED PROTESTERS AT MAY DAY
>>>>> RALLIES THROUGHOUT ASIA AND THE PACIFIC IN 2001, FROM SIDNEY AND BRIS=
BANE
>>>>> TO KARACHI, SEOUL AND JAKARTA.
>>>>>=20
>>>>> (5) IN FEBRUARY 2002, A COLONY OF SQUATTERS WAS VIOLENTLY DISPERSED I=
N
>>>>> CENTRAL JOHANNESBURG. THE POLICE LEVELED THE INHABITANTS=B9 MAKESHIFT H=
OMES
>>>>> AND DESTROYED THEIR BELONGINGS. THE SQUATTERS WERE MADE TO BOARD BUSE=
S AND
>>>>> WERE DRIVEN OUT OF THE CITY, WHERE THEY WERE UNCEREMONIOUSLY DUMPED, =
MILES
>>>>> FROM FRIENDS AND FAMILY. THE METHODS EMPLOYED IN THIS DISPERSAL WERE
>>>>> SIMILAR TO THOSE USED IN FORCED REMOVALS OF THE APARTHEID ERA.
>>>>>=20
>>>>> (6) ON SUNDAY OCTOBER 17, 1961, ALGERIANS LIVING IN PARIS ORGANIZED A
>>>>> PEACEFUL MARCH TO PROTEST A CURFEW ON PERSONS OF ARAB DESCENT. THE PO=
LICE
>>>>> MOVED IN. THEIR COMMANDER WAS MAURICE PAPON, WHO DURING WWII HAD OVER=
SEEN
>>>>> THE REMOVAL OF 1560 FRENCH JEWS TO GERMAN CONCENTRATION CAMPS. TWO HU=
NDRED
>>>>> UNARMED ALGERIANS WERE SHOT, BLUDGEONED AND DROWNED. PAPON REMAINS F=
REE.
>>>>> DAILY, FOR NO REASON BUT THE COLOR OF THEIR SKIN, PERSONS OF NORTH AF=
RICAN
>>>>> DESCENT ARE DETAINED, ARRESTED, BEATEN AND SHOT ON FRENCH STREETS.
>>>>>=20
>>>>> (7) SINCE 1994, RACIALLY MOTIVATED VIOLENCE AGAINST ROMA GYPSIES IN
>>>>> BULGARIA HAS INCREASED DRAMATICALLY. MUCH OF THIS VIOLENCE IS PERPETR=
ATED
>>>>> BY POLICE AND PRIVATE SECURITY FIRMS. IN THE COURSE OF ONE WEEK, IN A=
PRIL
>>>>> 2001, EIGHTY YOUNG PEOPLE WERE KILLED BY THE POLICE IN KABYLIA, IN
>>>>> NORTH-EASTERN ALGERIA. ALL WERE MEMBERS OF THE MINORITY BERBER ETHNI=
C
>>>>> GROUP.
>>>>>=20
>>>>> (8) ON MARCH 1, 1999, A SEVERED HEAD WAS FOUND IN A RICHMOND, VA PARK=
.
>>>>> THE VICTIM WAS A GAY MAN. THE PARK HAD BEEN THE SITE FOR SEVERAL MONT=
HS OF
>>>>> A POLICE =B3STING=B2: UNDERCOVER OFFICERS HAD BEEN APPROACHING GAY MEN,
>>>>> PROPOSING SEX, THEN PROMPTLY ARRESTING THOSE WHO SHOWED INTEREST. THE
>>>>> ARRESTS WERE WIDELY REPORTED. THE PUBLICITY GIVEN THEM MAY WELL HAVE
>>>>> ENCOURAGED THE MURDERER. WHY THE MANY PLAINCLOTHES OFFICERS PRESENT =
IN
>>>>> THE PARK ON THE NIGHT OF THE MURDER FAILED TO SEE ANYTHING IS ANYONE=B9=
S
>>>>> GUESS.
>>>>>=20
>>>>> IN CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA, IN NORTH AFRICA AND EUROPE, AMNESTY
>>>>> INTERNATIONAL AND THE INTERNATIONAL GAY AND LESBIAN HUMAN RIGHTS
>>>>> COMMISSION REPORT CASE AFTER CASE OF RAPE, TORTURE AND MURDER INVOLVI=
NG
>>>>> TRANSGENDER AND BISEXUAL, LESBIAN AND GAY PERSONS, ALL TOO OFTEN BY
>>>>> POLICE.
>>>>>=20
>>>>> From Cape Town to Ramallah and Queens, this state of affairs is drawi=
ng
>>>>> the attention of artists. In an age of mass media and cleavage to the
>>>>> status quo, voices, images, sounds are emerging that speak of this
>>>>> violence with power and outrage. Right2Fight showcases an important
>>>>> international group of cultural producers whose work stands at the
>>>>> forefront of this movement.
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Right2Fight is an emphatically cross-disciplinary undertaking: from
>>>>> web-based projects to graffiti, from sculpture to video, installation=
s to
>>>>> street wear, Hip Hop to posters, experimental music and photography t=
o
>>>>> performance poetry. The event's contributors speak as few can to the
>>>>> social and ethical costs of police violence, to the dangers inherent =
in
>>>>> allowing such violence to proliferate, and to the responsibility we s=
hare,
>>>>> as individuals and communities, to denounce and battle it in all its
>>>>> manifestations.
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Right2Fight is not a symposium. It is a constellation of spoken word
>>>>> interventions, performances, film and video screenings, installations=
,
>>>>> showings of net art and web-based pieces intended to prompt dialogue =
and
>>>>> questions.
>>>>>=20
>>>>> This day-long collision of ideas, technologies and images seeks to
>>>>> transcend mere catharsis. The goal is not to satisfy neo-liberal guil=
t but
>>>>> to engage in concrete action. Activists and representatives of human
>>>>> rights organizations dedicated to ending police violence will be pres=
ent
>>>>> to explain their work. Those who wish will learn, here, how they can
>>>>> become actively involved in the fight, channeling their emotions into
>>>>> actions, their words into deeds.
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Right2Fight is not an indictment of all police officers. It does, how=
ever,
>>>>> condemn the brutality to which more than a few law enforcement commun=
ities
>>>>> resort. In light of recent events, the organizers hold, it is more
>>>>> important than ever to address issues of intolerance, prejudice and
>>>>> violence.
>>>>>=20
>>>>> In the US and abroad, these have a disproportionate impact on the poo=
r and
>>>>> marginalized. Millions suffer, die, are broken daily. Against this, i=
ts
>>>>> dehumanizing effects and causes, Right2Fight takes aim.
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Contributors include:
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Pam Africa (Philadelphia)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Chris Bratton (Chicago)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Camerata New York
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Robbie Conal (San Francisco)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Adam de Croix (Brooklyn)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Dee Curry (NewYork)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Graff (New York)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Ashley Hunt (Brooklyn)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Emily Jacir (Bethlehem/Brooklyn)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Carol Jacobsen (Ann Arbor)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Richard Kamler (San Francisco)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Jared Katsiane (Boston)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Deborah Kelly (Sydney)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Goddy Leye (Amsterdam/Yaounde)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Mr. Lif (Boston)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Malam (Douala)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Brad McCallum and Jacqueline Tarry (Brooklyn)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Julia Melzer and Liz Canner (Los Angeles/Boston)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> No One Is Illegal (Germany)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Sally O=B9Brien (New York City)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Pass-Fix (Munich)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Horit Peled (Tel Aviv)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Jenny Perlin (Brooklyn)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Picture Projects (New York City)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Lesego Rampolokeng (Soweto)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Oliver Ressler (Vienna)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Martha Rosler (Brooklyn)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Jayce Salloum (Vancouver)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Dread Scott (Brooklyn)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Sara Scully and Jessica Rockstar (New York City)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Trebor Scholz (Berlin/Brooklyn)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Gregory Sholette (Chicago)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Merian Soto and Pepon Osorio (Bronx)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> DJ SKI HI (Bronx)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Stolen Lives Project (USA)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Herve Yamguen (Douala)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Herve Youmbi (Douala)
>>>>>=20
>>>>> The event's organizers are an urban historian who works in Central Af=
rica
>>>>> and teaches at Sarah Lawrence College (Dominique Malaquais) and a Bro=
oklyn
>>>>> based, East Berlin-born interdisciplinary artist whose work has been
>>>>> extensively shown in Europe and the Americas (Trebor Scholz). The two
>>>>> share a commitment to tactical media, street activism and visual cult=
ure.
>>>>> Both curate, speak and publish widely, focusing on issues of social
>>>>> concern and the everyday.
>>>>>=20
>>>>>=20
>>>>> * Inke Arns, posting to the =B3Spectre=B2 online mailing list, 3/9/02.
>>>>>=20
>>>>> ** Neil Websdale, Policing the Poor. Boston: Northeastern Universit=
y
>>>>> Press, 2001.=20
>>>>>=20
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Contact: Dominique Malaquais <malaquais@yahoo.com>
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Trebor Scholz <treborscholz@earthlink.net>
>>>>>=20
>>>>>=20
>>>>>=20
--B_3099257848_1105960
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<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>One day/ All day: April 27</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<BLOCKQUOTE><FONT FACE=3D"Verdana"><BR>
</FONT><BLOCKQUOTE><BLOCKQUOTE><BLOCKQUOTE><BLOCKQUOTE><FONT FACE=3D"Arial">(=
apologies for cross-posting)<BR>
<FONT SIZE=3D"7"><BR>
Right2Fight <BR>
</FONT><BR>
<FONT SIZE=3D"5">A cross-disciplinary initiative on the theme of police viole=
nce.</FONT> <BR>
<B><BR>
One day, all day. <BR>
<BR>
Sarah Lawrence College, New York <BR>
</B><BR>
<B>27 April 2002<BR>
<BR>
http://www.molodiez.org/right2fight/slc.html<BR>
<BR>
<I><BR>
BROOKLYN, NY: A Haitian New Yorker named Abner Louima is tortured by member=
s of the NYPD.<BR>
A broken broomstick is shoved into his rectum and mouth while his attackers=
scream racist epithets. The crime takes place on August 9, 1997. Four offic=
ers are convicted. On February 28, 2002, three of the four convictions are o=
verturned. One officer is granted a new trial; two others are set free outri=
ght.<BR>
</I></B><BR>
As weapons and methods of surveillance become more sophisticated and grass =
roots dissatisfaction with political and economic systems grows, in many par=
ts of the world policing is becoming increasingly brutal and intrusive. From=
80s video surveillance, alarming in its own right, we have moved on to far =
more invasive forms of policing: automated face recognition technologi=
es in use on the streets of London; iris scans imposed on Hadj pilgrims arri=
ving in Mecca; techniques elaborated to spy on the most private exchanges on=
line and off; “Echelon,” an espionage system devised to scan vas=
t quantities of e.mails and telephone calls worldwide, in real time…<B=
R>
<BR>
>From a world best described as an analog panopticon, we have moved into wha=
t independent curator Inke Arns calls a pancodicon* : a world of digit=
al surveillance and electronic space in which our most intimate thoughts can=
be charted. In this world, what few protections were afforded those who sta=
nd in opposition to the status quo are lost, snatched back by systems of pol=
icing -- local, national and global -- bent on breaking all but the tamest f=
orms of resistance.<BR>
<BR>
Such attacks on liberty are, needless to say, not new. Entire systems of ec=
onomic and political domination have been built upon policing at once extrao=
rdinarily violent and intrusive. Among these, one might cite the very system=
on which the country we live in was founded. From the arrival of the first =
slave ship at Jamestown Harbor in 1619 to the contemporary streets of our la=
rgest cities, from the era of Jim Crow lynchings to the beating of Rodney Ki=
ng and the killing of Amadou Diallo, the United States has been a place of v=
iolence meted out at the hands of a few bent on controlling and silencing th=
e many. <BR>
<BR>
Once, men and women of African descent, in this land, were deemed 3/5th of =
a human being; today, so many men of African heritage -- <I>one in every ten=
</I> -- are behind bars or otherwise ensnared in the criminal justice jugger=
naut** that one can legitimately speak of a genocide under way. In Atl=
anta, Detroit, Los Angeles, women and men of Native American, Latino and, in=
creasingly, Asian heritage are questioned, arrested, incarcerated at rates i=
n no way commensurate with their representation in the population at large. =
Post 9/11, over a thousand Arab men are in US jails, still waiting to be cha=
rged with a crime; in many cases, their own families have not been told wher=
e they are.<BR>
<BR>
Elsewhere too, state violence has broken and continues to break lives, spir=
its, entire peoples. Violent repression was the cornerstone of the colonial =
project, in Africa and Asia alike. Patrice Lumumba of Congo, murdered =
by Belgian-trained gunmen mere months after his country gained independence;=
Ruben Um Nyobe, heartbeat of Cameroon’s struggle for self-determinati=
on, killed in a French ambush in 1958; Steve Biko, beaten to death by =
South African police in 1977... Theirs are but the best known names -- a pal=
try few “history” deigns to recall among those of hundreds upon =
hundreds of thousands who died, many resisting, killed by authorities in pow=
er only because they had the means to destroy.<BR>
<BR>
In Europe, as the industrial age emerged, workers died by the thousands. In=
Napoleonic Paris, boulevards were cut through the city in wide swaths to ma=
ke the task of shooting discontented factory hands easier, should they take =
to the streets en masse. As the 19th century drew to a close, in the UK and =
US, strikers seeking better wages were clubbed and shot. In the wake of a Ma=
y Day protest that brought 80,000 workers to Chicago’s Michigan Avenue=
, police violence exploded. Within days, eight men were arrested. A &n=
bsp;trial was held, centering on a bomb all agreed none of those indicted ha=
d planted. Five of the men were sentenced to death; the three others were re=
manded to prison for life.<BR>
<BR>
One would like to think that such excesses are a thing of the past. They ar=
e not: <BR>
</FONT><FONT FACE=3D"Verdana">
</FONT>
<P ALIGN=3DCENTER>
<FONT FACE=3D"Arial"><B>ABNER LOUIMA<BR>
<BR>
AMADOU DIALLO</B> (1)<BR>
<B><BR>
LUC BENOIT BASILEKIN </B>(2)<BR>
<B><BR>
SUSANA GOMEZ, RONALD RAUL RAMOS</B> (3)<BR>
<B><BR>
SEATTLE, QUEBEC CITY, GENOA </B>(4)<BR>
<B><BR>
SEOUL, JAKARTA, BRISBANE</B> (5)<BR>
<B><BR>
JOHANNESBURG, PARIS </B>(6)<BR>
<B><BR>
BULGARIA, ALGERIA </B>(7)<BR>
<B><BR>
VIRGINIA</B> (8)<BR>
</FONT><FONT FACE=3D"Verdana"><BR>
</FONT>
<P>
<FONT FACE=3D"Arial"><B>(1) THREE YEARS AGO</B>, A GUINEAN IMMIGRANT NAMED AM=
ADOU DIALLO WAS STRUCK DOWN IN A HAIL OF BULLETS FIRED BY NEW YORK CITY POLI=
CE. HE WAS REACHING FOR IDENTIFICATION; THE OFFICERS ASSUMED HE WAS REACHING=
FOR A GUN. THEY FIRED FORTY-ONE BULLETS. NINETEEN HIT THE TARGET.<BR>
<BR>
<B>(2) IN FEBRUARY 2001</B>, THE GOVERNMENT OF CAMEROON INSTITUTED THE OPER=
ATIONAL COMMAND, A PARAMILITARY TASK FORCE BRINGING TOGETHER MEMBERS OF THE =
LOCAL AND NATIONAL POLICE AND THE ARMY. THE C.O.’S OFFICIAL PURPOSE WA=
S TO END A CRIME WAVE IN THE CITY OF DOUALA; IT WAS MEANT IN FACT TO BRING T=
O HEEL SECTORS OF THE POPULATION OPPOSED TO THE REPRESSIVE RULE OF THE GOVER=
NING PARTY. IN ITS FIRST SIX MONTHS, THE C.O. PERPETRATED 500 EXTRA-JUDICIAL=
EXECUTIONS; BY YEAR’S END, 1000 PEOPLE HAD DIED. ONE OF THE FIR=
ST WAS LUC BENOIT BASILEKIN. <BR>
<BR>
<B>(3) IN APRIL 1996</B> <B>IN GUATEMALA CITY</B>, SUSANA GOMEZ WAS RAPED B=
Y TWO NATIONAL POLICE OFFICERS; SHE WAS SIXTEEN YEARS OLD. IN SEPTEMBER 1996=
, RONALD RAUL RAMOS WAS SHOT AND KILLED BY A TREASURY POLICE OFFICER; HE TOO=
WAS SIXTEEN. MORE THAN TEN OTHER STREET CHILDREN WERE MURDERED THAT YEAR, L=
IKELY BY POLICE. TWELVE MONTHS LATER, NONE OF THE PERPETRATORS IN THESE CASE=
S HAD BEEN APPREHENDED.<BR>
<BR>
<B>(4) IN SEATTLE, QUEBEC CITY AND GENOA</B>, OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS, UNAR=
MED WOMEN, MEN AND CHILDREN CALLING FOR A MORE MEASURED APPROACH TO GLOBALIZ=
ATION THAN HAS BEEN PROPOSED BY SUCH BODIES AS THE WTO AND WORLD BANK WERE A=
TTACKED BY POLICE WIELDING BATONS, RUBBER BULLETS, WATER CANONS AND TEAR GAS=
. SIMILAR VIOLENCE GREETED UNARMED PROTESTERS AT MAY DAY RALLIES THROUGHOUT =
ASIA AND THE PACIFIC IN 2001, FROM SIDNEY AND BRISBANE TO KARACHI, SEOUL AND=
JAKARTA.<BR>
<BR>
<B>(5) IN FEBRUARY 2002</B>, A COLONY OF SQUATTERS WAS VIOLENTLY DISPERSED =
IN CENTRAL JOHANNESBURG. THE POLICE LEVELED THE INHABITANTS’ MAKESHIFT=
HOMES AND DESTROYED THEIR BELONGINGS. THE SQUATTERS WERE MADE TO BOARD BUSE=
S AND WERE DRIVEN OUT OF THE CITY, WHERE THEY WERE UNCEREMONIOUSLY DUMPED, M=
ILES FROM FRIENDS AND FAMILY. THE METHODS EMPLOYED IN THIS DISPERSAL WERE SI=
MILAR TO THOSE USED IN FORCED REMOVALS OF THE APARTHEID ERA.<BR>
<BR>
<B>(6) ON SUNDAY OCTOBER 17, 1961</B>, ALGERIANS LIVING IN PARIS ORGANIZED =
A PEACEFUL MARCH TO PROTEST A CURFEW ON PERSONS OF ARAB DESCENT. THE POLICE =
MOVED IN. THEIR COMMANDER WAS MAURICE PAPON, WHO DURING WWII HAD OVERSEEN TH=
E REMOVAL OF 1560 FRENCH JEWS TO GERMAN CONCENTRATION CAMPS. TWO HUNDRED UNA=
RMED ALGERIANS WERE SHOT, BLUDGEONED AND DROWNED. PAPON REMAINS FREE. =
DAILY, FOR NO REASON BUT THE COLOR OF THEIR SKIN, PERSONS OF NORTH AFR=
ICAN DESCENT ARE DETAINED, ARRESTED, BEATEN AND SHOT ON FRENCH STREETS.<BR>
<BR>
<B>(7) SINCE 1994</B>, RACIALLY MOTIVATED VIOLENCE AGAINST ROMA GYPSIES IN =
BULGARIA HAS INCREASED DRAMATICALLY. MUCH OF THIS VIOLENCE IS PERPETRATED BY=
POLICE AND PRIVATE SECURITY FIRMS. IN THE COURSE OF ONE WEEK, IN APRIL 2001=
, EIGHTY YOUNG PEOPLE WERE KILLED BY THE POLICE IN KABYLIA, IN NORTH-EASTERN=
ALGERIA. ALL WERE MEMBERS OF THE MINORITY BERBER ETHNIC GROUP.<BR>
<BR>
<B>(8) ON MARCH 1, 1999</B>, A SEVERED HEAD WAS FOUND IN A RICHMOND, VA PAR=
K. THE VICTIM WAS A GAY MAN. THE PARK HAD BEEN THE SITE FOR SEVERAL MO=
NTHS OF A POLICE “STING”: UNDERCOVER OFFICERS HAD BEEN APP=
ROACHING GAY MEN, PROPOSING SEX, THEN PROMPTLY ARRESTING THOSE WHO SHOWED IN=
TEREST. THE ARRESTS WERE WIDELY REPORTED. THE PUBLICITY GIVEN THEM MAY WELL =
HAVE ENCOURAGED THE MURDERER. WHY THE MANY PLAINCLOTHES OFFICERS PRESE=
NT IN THE PARK ON THE NIGHT OF THE MURDER FAILED TO SEE ANYTHING IS ANYONE&#=
8217;S GUESS.<BR>
<BR>
IN CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA, IN NORTH AFRICA AND EUROPE, AMNESTY INTERNATI=
ONAL AND THE INTERNATIONAL GAY AND LESBIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION REPORT CA=
SE AFTER CASE OF RAPE, TORTURE AND MURDER INVOLVING TRANSGENDER AND BISEXUAL=
, LESBIAN AND GAY PERSONS, ALL TOO OFTEN BY POLICE.<BR>
<BR>
>From Cape Town to Ramallah and Queens, this state of affairs is drawing the=
attention of artists. In an age of mass media and cleavage to the status qu=
o, voices, images, sounds are emerging that speak of this violence with powe=
r and outrage. <B>Right2Fight</B> showcases an important international group=
of cultural producers whose work stands at the forefront of this movement.<=
BR>
<BR>
<B>Right2Fight</B> is an emphatically cross-disciplinary undertaking: from =
web-based projects to graffiti, from sculpture to video, installations to st=
reet wear, Hip Hop to posters, experimental music and photography to perform=
ance poetry. The event's contributors speak as few can to the social and eth=
ical costs of police violence, to the dangers inherent in allowing suc=
h violence to proliferate, and to the responsibility we share, as individual=
s and communities, to denounce and battle it in all its manifestations. <BR>
<B><BR>
Right2Fight</B> is not a symposium. It is a constellation of spoken word in=
terventions, performances, film and video screenings, installations, showing=
s of net art and web-based pieces intended to prompt dialogue and questions.=
<BR>
<BR>
This day-long collision of ideas, technologies and images seeks to transcen=
d mere catharsis. The goal is not to satisfy neo-liberal guilt but to engage=
in concrete action. Activists and representatives of human rights organizat=
ions dedicated to ending police violence will be present to explain their wo=
rk. Those who wish will learn, here, how they can become actively involved i=
n the fight, channeling their emotions into actions, their words into deeds.=
<BR>
<BR>
<B>Right2Fight</B> is not an indictment of all police officers. It does, ho=
wever, condemn the brutality to which more than a few law enforcement commun=
ities resort. In light of recent events, the organizers hold, it is more imp=
ortant than ever to address issues of intolerance, prejudice and violence.<B=
R>
<BR>
In the US and abroad, these have a disproportionate impact on the poor and =
marginalized. Millions suffer, die, are broken daily. Against this, its dehu=
manizing effects and causes, <B>Right2Fight </B>takes aim.<BR>
<BR>
<B>Contributors include:<BR>
</B><BR>
<B>Pam Africa</B> (Philadelphia)<BR>
<BR>
<B>Chris Bratton</B> (Chicago)<BR>
<BR>
<B>Camerata New York<BR>
</B><BR>
<B>Robbie Conal </B>(San Francisco)<BR>
<BR>
<B>Adam de Croix</B> (Brooklyn)<BR>
<BR>
<B>Dee Curry</B> (NewYork)<BR>
<BR>
<B>Graff</B> (New York)<BR>
<BR>
<B>Ashley Hunt </B>(Brooklyn)<BR>
<BR>
<B>Emily Jacir </B>(Bethlehem/Brooklyn)<BR>
<BR>
<B>Carol Jacobsen </B>(Ann Arbor)<BR>
<BR>
<B>Richard Kamler</B> (San Francisco)<BR>
<B><BR>
Jared Katsiane</B> (Boston)<BR>
<BR>
<B>Deborah Kelly</B> (Sydney)<BR>
<BR>
<B>Goddy Leye</B> (Amsterdam/Yaounde)<BR>
<BR>
<B>Mr. Lif </B>(Boston) <BR>
<BR>
<B>Malam </B>(Douala)<BR>
<BR>
<B>Brad McCallum</B> and <B>Jacqueline Tarry </B>(Brooklyn)<BR>
<BR>
<B>Julia Melzer </B>and <B>Liz Canner</B> (Los Angeles/Boston)<BR>
<BR>
<B>No One Is Illegal </B>(Germany)<BR>
<BR>
<B>Sally O’Brien</B> (New York City)<BR>
<BR>
<B>Pass-Fix </B>(Munich)<BR>
<BR>
<B>Horit Peled</B> (Tel Aviv)<BR>
<BR>
<B>Jenny Perlin</B> (Brooklyn)<BR>
<BR>
<B>Picture Projects</B> (New York City)<BR>
<BR>
<B>Lesego Rampolokeng </B>(Soweto)<BR>
<BR>
<B>Oliver Ressler </B>(Vienna)<BR>
<BR>
<B>Martha Rosler</B> (Brooklyn)<BR>
<BR>
<B>Jayce Salloum</B> (Vancouver)<BR>
<BR>
<B>Dread Scott</B> (Brooklyn)<BR>
<BR>
<B>Sara Scully and Jessica Rockstar</B> (New York City)<BR>
<BR>
<B>Trebor Scholz</B> (Berlin/Brooklyn)<BR>
<BR>
<B>Gregory Sholette </B>(Chicago)<BR>
<BR>
<B>Merian Soto and Pepon Osorio </B>(Bronx)<BR>
<BR>
<B>DJ SKI HI </B>(Bronx)<BR>
<BR>
<B>Stolen Lives Project </B>(USA)<BR>
<BR>
<B>Herve Yamguen </B>(Douala)<BR>
<BR>
<B>Herve Youmbi </B>(Douala)<BR>
<BR>
The event's organizers are an urban historian who works in Central Africa a=
nd teaches at Sarah Lawrence College (<B>Dominique Malaquais</B>) and a Broo=
klyn based, East Berlin-born interdisciplinary artist whose work has been ex=
tensively shown in Europe and the Americas (<B>Trebor Scholz</B>). The two s=
hare a commitment to tactical media, street activism and visual culture. Bot=
h curate, speak and publish widely, focusing on issues of social concern and=
the everyday.<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
* Inke Arns, posting to the “Spectre” online mailin=
g list, 3/9/02.<BR>
<BR>
** Neil Websdale, <I>Policing the Poor</I>. Boston: Northeaster=
n University Press, 2001. <BR>
<HR ALIGN=3DCENTER SIZE=3D"3" WIDTH=3D"95%"><BR>
<I>Contact</I>: Dominique Malaquais <malaquais@yahoo.com><BR>
<BR>
&nb=
sp; Trebor Scholz <treborscholz@earthlink.net><BR>
<BR>
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