West Memphis 3 rally on Larry King Live, SIRIUS

September 1, 2010 in West Memphis 3, actor, justice, musician | No comments

NEW YORK - APRIL 04: Musician Eddie Vedder performs at the David Lynch Foundation 'Change Begins Within' show at Radio City Music Hall on April 4, 2009 in New York City. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images)

Eddie Vedder, joined by fellow musician/activist Natalie Maines, Damien Echols’ wife Lorri Davis and West Memphis 3 attorney Dennis Riordan, will discuss the WM3 case on Larry King Live tonight at 9 p.m. ET.

The group was interviewed during Saturday’s Voices for Justice rally in Little Rock, Ark., which drew about 2,500 people to raise legal funds and awareness about the WM3 case. See our blog preview about the event.

On death row for 16 years, Echols is now less than a month away from having oral arguments presented before the Arkansas Supreme Court, Sept. 30. With new DNA evidence and signs of jury misconduct, Echols’ defense team is advocating for a new trial.

To hear the Voices for Justice rally in its entirety, tune in to SIRIUS’ The Spectrum (SIRIUS 18 and XM 45) this Saturday, Sept. 4, at 7 p.m. ET.

You’ll hear acoustic sets by Vedder and Maines, along with special guests Johnny Depp, Patti Smith, Bill Carter and Lisa Blount, and the first-ever broadcast of Fistful of Mercy, a new band featuring Ben Harper, Dhani Harrison and Joseph Arthur. If you are not a SIRIUS subscriber, a free trial is available.

To learn more about the case and how to get involved, visit wm3.org.

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

‘Wo Ai Ni Mommy’ follows immigrant girl

August 31, 2010 in China, Korea, children, filmmaker, immigrant, orphaned child | No comments

In its second presentation this month about the identity struggles faced by a girl who is internationally adopted at 8 years old, PBS’ POV premieres Wo Ai Ni (I Love You) Mommy, tonight at 10 p.m. ET.

Directed by Stephanie Wang-Breal, the documentary follows Chinese orphan Fang Sui Yong, later known as Faith, and the Sadowskys, a Jewish family from Long Island, N.Y., who travel across the world to adopt her.

Tomorrow at 2 p.m. ET, you can take part in a live chat with Wang-Breal; Faith and Donna Sadowsky; and international adoption expert Dr. Amanda Baden.

On Aug. 10, POV featured another immigrant adoptee experience, re-airing First Person Plural (2000), a transfixing, intimate documentary by Deann Borshay Liem about the journey she undertook after being adopted from Korea by a California family in 1966. As an adult, bombarded by recurring dreams and the visit from what she described as the ghost of her Korean father, Liem began researching her past. The search led to the discovery of her Korean family members, who wanted very much to be part of her life, and the tragic events that led to her separation from them.

Liem’s new film, In the Matter of Cha Jung Hee, premieres on POV, Sept. 14. Can’t wait.

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Davis’ innocence claim denied by Georgia judge

August 26, 2010 in Troy Davis, justice | No comments

On Tuesday, United States District Judge William T. Moore, Jr., issued a 172-page opinion rejecting Troy Davis’ claim of innocence in a 21-year-old Savannah, Ga., murder case, ruling that Davis did not clearly establish his innocence.

The judge included in his opinion that it would be unconstitutional to execute an innocent person.

With the Davis family and legal team preparing for an appeal, Troy’s sister Martina Correia spoke with Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman about the latest on the case.

In addition, the Supreme Court of the United States SCOTUSBLOG provides coverage on the ruling, including links to Judge Moore’s opinion.

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

Tags: ,

Sierra Leone youth have a voice on WeOwnTV

August 20, 2010 in Maine, Sierra Leone, child soldier, children, donate, filmmaker, musician, orphaned child, refugee, sexual violence | 1 comment

With Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars performing tonight at Rockland’s Strand Theatre, we shine a light on WeOwnTV.

The organization was co-founded in 2009 by Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars musician Alhaji “Black Nature” Kamara and filmmakers Banker White and Zach Niles. The roots began when the three met in 2002 during the making of the award-winning documentary, Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars (2006).

The film follows Black Nature and five fellow Sierra Leonean musicians, who formed a band while living as refugees in the Republic of Guinea after devastating civil war (1991-2002) forced them from their homes. Find additional background on the film at POV.

WeOwnTV, which roughly translates into “our own TV” in native Krio, is a collaborative media education project that mentors youth and young adults in telling their own stories through film.

The program pairs heavy film production and computer training with instruction on narrative and self-expression. The result is powerful storytelling that impacts not only the filmmakers, but their greater communities. Students are encouraged to share their work with families and friends, and hold community screenings.

“We, the loose ends, the have-nots, the people living in the gutters, the people that will never make it in life, we have come together to create our own family, to have our own identity – to create our own space.”

– Arthur Pratt, mentor and manager, WeOwnTV

Be sure to check out the filmmakers’ work and learn more about the newly opened WeOwnTV Media Center.

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Vedder to perform at West Memphis 3 rally

August 17, 2010 in actor, advocacy, filmmaker, justice, musician | No comments

LOS ANGELES - SEPTEMBER 18: Composer Eddie Vedder arrives at the Los Angeles premiere of Paramount Vantage's 'Into the Wild' held at the Director's Guild of America on September 18, 2007 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/ Getty Imgages)

Musician and activist Eddie Vedder will give an acoustic performance during Voices for Justice: A Rally in Support of the West Memphis 3 in Little Rock, Ark., Sat., Aug. 28.

The event will also feature video messages from Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, known as the West Memphis 3, who were convicted more than 17 years ago for the murder of three 8-year-old boys, crimes they maintain they did not commit.

Arkansas Take Action (ATA) hopes to raise awareness about Baldwin and Misskelley, imprisoned with life sentences, and Echols, on death row.

“Voices for Justice … will also be a chance for supporters to reflect and collectively send love and support to Damien, Jason and Jessie,” Echols’ wife Lorri Davis said. “We hope this event will help us send the message to our political and judicial leaders that it is time to bring an end to this grave injustice.”

Echol’s appeal for a new trial, going before the Arkansas Supreme Court on Sept. 30, will bring forth recently obtained forensic evidence, including DNA results, as well as documentation of jury misconduct.

Echols may have already been executed were it not for awareness raised by “Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills” (1996) and “Paradise Lost 2: Revelations” (2000) by directors Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, who documented the trials and convictions of the then-teenagers. MTV News reports that the pair is working a third and, possibly, a fourth documentary. Tom Roston blogs about the film series and its subjects in Doc Soup.

The original films grabbed the attention of advocates, many of whom said they could relate, including Vedder and actor Johnny Depp, who told CBS’s “48 Hours Mysteries” of his parallels with Echols:

“He comes from a small town in Arkansas; I come from a relatively small town in Kentucky. I can remember being kind of looked upon as a freak or … different because I didn’t dress like everybody else. So I can empathize with being judged by how you look as opposed to who you are.”

For more information and to sign the petition to free the West Memphis 3, visit freewestmemphis3.org.

Thoughts go out to the families of the three boys who disappeared the night of May 5, 1993, Steve Branch, Christopher Byers and Michael Moore.

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

More aid sought as Pakistan flood crisis intensifies

August 17, 2010 in Pakistan, donate, humanitarian crisis | No comments


Today, Democracy Now featured a report from United Nations Humanitarian Chief John Holmes, along with Pakistani analyst Mosharraf Zaidi, on the massive devastation unfolding in Pakistan.

Perhaps the worst natural disaster in Pakistan’s history, the flooding has caused destruction and suffering for as many as 20 million people, as one-fifth of the country is affected, according to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

In addition, Oxfam America reported yesterday that more than 70,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed. Crops and livelihoods have been washed away.

Oxfam said more than 30,000 people are suffering from water- and hygiene-related infections. Such illnesses are treatable in good conditions, but could become fatal in such an emergency, as people are cut off from clean water and sanitation facilities.

For more information or to get involved, we recommend:

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

Tags: , , ,

Checking in on Lewiston’s Somali community

August 8, 2010 in Maine, Somalia, children, refugee | No comments

Today at 5 p.m. ET, MPBN’s Maine Watch with Jennifer Rooks is re-airing its Feb. 11 telecast of “Lewiston’s Somali Community Turns 10,” about the state of this Maine small city and its immigrant community, now a decade after thousands of Somali refugees first began to arrive.

The program features a panel with:

The program can also be viewed online at MPBN.net.

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

Tags: , , , , , ,

‘Impossible small evil choices’ of genocide: Myss

August 5, 2010 in Cambodia, Darfur, Sudan, author, genocide | No comments

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA - JULY 25: A Cambodian visitor walks past photos of victims on display at the Toul Sleng Genocide museum July 25, 2010 in Phnom Penh province. The UN -backed Khmer Rouge tribunal is set to announce its first verdict tomorrow against Kaing Guek Eav, also known as 'Duch' age 67, who was the prison chief and has acknowledged responsibility for overseeing the torture and execution of more than 15,000 people at the notorious S-21 prison known as Tuol Sleng. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/ Getty Images)

Author, teacher and speaker Caroline Myss discusses how she recently addressed anew a classic audience question: How can such bad things happen to good people – like the individuals who suffer and die in genocide?

She answered the man with another question: “Have you ever hurt someone you love?”

Read more of their conversation, including how the man replied, in Practices That Lead to Unimaginable Goodness at Myss.com.

“The truth is that the grand horror of Darfur or the Holocaust or other human massacres along with all the lesser-in-size (but no less evil) tragedies are the result of individual choices and not one great, big, huge choice made by one great, big, huge evil giant. Impossible huge evil events rely upon impossible small evil choices. They work hand in hand. One cannot exist without the other, and inevitably one generates the other.” – Caroline Myss

(PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA) A Cambodian visitor walks past photos of victims on display at the Toul Sleng Genocide museum in Phnom Penh province, July 25. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images.)

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

Tags: , , , , ,

Support women refugees in Portland this Friday

August 3, 2010 in Burma, Iraq, Maine, Somalia, Sudan, artist, refugee | No comments

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - JUNE 30: (EDITORS NOTE: A TILT AND SHIFT LENS WAS USED IN THE CREATION OF THIS IMAGE) Sculptures created from wire and beads are seen in the African Craft Market at Rosebank on June 30, 2010 in Johannesburg, South Africa. The market containing craftwork from all over Africa is located next to the Rosebank Mall and is said to be a must-visit for tourists. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

Artists of the International Women’s Craft Collective will be selling their textile crafts at the Meg Perry Center, 644 Congress St., Portland, Maine, this Fri., Aug. 6, from 5 to 8 p.m.

These women – refugees from Burma, Iraq, Sudan and Somalia – are hoping to find success in their new business venture; 100% of all proceeds go directly back to the refugee women hosting the event.

During the last six months, the Catholic Charities Refugee and Immigration Services had noticed that a large percentage of families they served were single women with small children. Many refugee women, including those who lost their husbands to war or other tragedies in their home countries, have been seeking a way to support their families while still being able to care for their children.

The collective was formed to help refugee women achieve self-sufficiency by selling their handmade crafts. The organization is supported by the Catholic Charities Maine Refugees and Immigration Services and the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation.

For more information about this event or how you can support the Greater Portland International Women’s Craft Collective, contact Aimee Bullard of Catholic Charities Maine Refugee and Immigration Services at (207) 523-2737.

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

Tags: , , , , , , ,

POV gives light to ‘Presumed Guilty’ of Mexico

July 27, 2010 in Mexico, filmmaker, justice | No comments

Award-winning documentary “Presumed Guilty,” about two young, married lawyers who turn their cameras on the Mexican justice system, makes its PBS POV debut tonight, 10 p.m. ET. The film is also available online through Aug. 3.

Toño Zúñiga was picked up off a Mexico City street and sentenced to 20 years for a murder that occurred while he was working blocks away from the scene, in view of several witnesses.

When Berkeley-based lawyers Roberto Hernández and Layda Negrete learn of his case, they team up with filmmaker Geoffrey Smith (The English Surgeon) to help find justice for Zúñiga, bringing their legal know-how and their cameras into the appeals process.

Featured on closing night of the 2010 Human Rights Watch Film Festival, Presumed Guilty is being televised tonight in a co-presentation with Latino Public Broadcasting.

After the film, check out POV’s interview with Hernández and Negrete. Also, independent journalist Tom Roston delves deeper into the documentary-film aspect in his interview with Hernández for his Doc Soup blog.

Please note: Trailer contains graphic and violent images.

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

Tags: , , , ,

« Older entries