It's a major historical commemoration ... for many groups, for many reasons, but perhaps most of all for the anarchist community. If you would like to contribute your ideas, work, skills & talents to mounting an event around the 75th anniversary of the executions of Sacco and Vanzetti, come to the Libertarian Book Club planning meeting on Thur., April 4, at 8pm. Location: The Muste Room, 339 Lafayette St., in Manhattan. We'll be starting the planning process there, including: * Permitted space for a rally on Fri., August 23rd * A day of education/teach-ins on issues that connect the death of Sacco and Vanzetti to our current struggles * Other ideas Background: Aug. 23, midnight, will be the 75th anniversary of the executions of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, two anarchists (of the Galleanist persuasion) who had been charged with murder. Their beliefs as much as their actions were on trial and they were convicted by an extraordinarily biased court. Their 7-year ordeal captured international attention, attracting many famous writers, artists to champion them. On Aug. 23rd, a crowd of over 1 million, watched over by a rooftop ring of machine-gun-armed police, gathered in NYC's Union Square to protest the legal lynching of Sacco and Vanzetti - essentially for the crimes of being foreigners, of not speaking good English, and of being self-identified anarchists. 75 years later, hundreds of people from the Middle East are languishing in INS detention centers. Some will no doubt be dealt even more harshly - essentially for the crimes of being foreigners, of not speaking good English, and of being self-identified Muslims. How little has changed - and that's just one example. Aug. 23 is a major occasion for highlighting the issues surrounding Sacco and Vanzetti that are still with us today. Accordingly, the LBC is planning to hold a rally on Friday, Aug. 23rd at the south end of Union Square, to provide a space for protest, political theater, and education around the issues raised by the 75th anniversary of S&V's deaths. Please come to the LBC planning meeting Apr. 4 to help build for this event and to discuss further ways of making S&V's anniversary an opportunity for carrying forward our current struggles against state-sponsored war, violence, repression, racism, racism, and economic servitude!* Solidarity Eric from ACC
