Etcetera
Landlords Who Discriminate Beware - The Fair Housing Center is Here! The Fair Housing Center (FHC) works for greater enforcement of laws against housing discrimination. The Center offers testing services when people call with discrimination complaints - testing provides supporting evidence for use in the courtroom. Testing evidence is the most effective way to turn a discrimination complaint into a winnable lawsuit for enforcement of the law and damages for the complainants. FHC's first case, a racial discrimination suit against an Ypsilanti Township landlord, ended in an out-of-court settlement of $15,000 awarded to the plaintiffs. Volunteers are needed to help gather evidence of discrimination (training is provided). For $25 you can become an FHC Founding Member. Call 994-3426 or write P.O. Box 7825, Ann Arbor MI, 48107.
Fund Drive Continues to Save Political Prisoner's Life Mumia Abu-Jamal is a political prisoner currently on death row in the U.S. As a teenager, Jamal was a member of the Black Panther Party. He later went on to become president of the Philadelphia chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists. In his position as a journalist, he was a rare news media friend of the MOVE organization.
Jamal, who was found bleeding from a gunshot in the stomach at the shooting scene, was accused of killing a Philadelphia cop. His conviction rested on a number of questionable factors. For instance, Jamal is tall and thin and wears his hair in dreadlocks, while an eyewitness described the gunman as heavy-set with an Afro hairstyle. The eyewitness who testified that Jamal killed the cop was a prostitute who had several charges against her dismissed in exchange for her testimony. And the gun which killed the cop was never found. The main subject at the penalty phase of Jamal's murder trial was his political past. For a trial in which his life was at stake, Jamal was given a court-ordered allowance of $I50 to hire an investigator.
Jamal's direct appeals are exhausted, and he could be executed by the State of Pennsylvania at any time. In order to renew his legal struggle for life, Jamal must find new evidence which was unavailable at trial. Thus his defenders have set out to raise $150,000, part of which is to hire famed criminal defense attorney Leonard Weinglass, but most of which is to hire private investigators. The effort has so far raised $50,000 toward the cause. To contribute to the effort to save Mumia Abu-Jamal, send your checks to the Black United Fund/M A Jamal Fund, 419 S.15th St., Philadelphia, PA 19146 or the Quixote Center at P.O. Box 5206, Hyattsville, MD 20782.
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Free HIV (AIDS) Antibody Testing Free, anonymous and confidential HIV counseling and testing is available at the Sexually Transmitted Disease Clinic, Washtenaw County Public Health Division, 555 Towner in Ypsilanti, 484-6760. Appointments are scheduled three weeks in advance (call Monday mornings) for their three testing times: Monday and Wednesday mornings and Thursday evenings. For University of Michigan students and University Health Service pre-paid plan members, free, anonymous and confidential HIV antibody counseling and testing is available at University Health Service (UHS). The fee for all others is $35 . Morning appointments can be made in advance between 9 am and 4:30 pm by calling 763-4511 or by stopping by the Nurse Clinic. Afternoon appointments are made on a first-come, first-served basis and must be made the same day at the Nurse Clinic. UHS recommends making the appointment as early as possible after 9 am since appointments for the day fill up quickly.
Michigan Survival Summit Conference May 22-24 The Baker-Mandela Center and Detroit Up and Out of Poverty Now! are hosting the weekend-long conference on the U-M campus. The goal of the summit is to establish a plan of action for the coming year that addresses housing, health care, welfare, hunger and other issues affecting poor people. There will also be a focus on youth and senior citizens. The weekend will consist of speakers, plenaries and workshops on topics such as "Building the Movement in Michigan," "The Recall Engler Campaign," "The War Against Genocide - Welfare Rights and Prison Issues," and "Collective Action Strategies." The registration fee is a sliding scale from 0-$20. For more information or to register, contact the Baker Mándela Center at 936-1809.
Prisoners' Rights Groups Target Control Units The Chicago-based Committee to End The Marion Lockdown and a number of other groups have scheduled protests in 17 different cities against control unit prisons. Typically, control units keep prisoners locked in their cells for 23 hours per day. Some experimental varieties use isolation or sensory deprivation techniques. Prison authorities claim that inmates are usually sent to such prisons for assaulting guards or other prisoners. More commonly, however, people are locked in these places for suing wardens or because their crimes have political implications. On Saturday, May 2, a bus caravan will leave Chicago to visit and picket three control unit prisons: Dwight, a state women's prison; Menard, a state men's prison; and the granddaddy of all control unit prisons, Marion Federal Penitentiary. For more information call the Committee to End the Marion Lockdown at (312) 235-0070.
To write to Ahmad Abdur-Rahman A misprint obliterated part of Michigan political prisoner Ahmad Abdur-Rahman' s address in last month's AGENDA. Write to Ahmad as follows: Ahmad Abdur-Rahman, #130539, 141 First St., Coldwater, MI 49036.
Free Self-Defense Class for Women On Sat. May 9 and Sat. May 16, women can take advantage of free self-defense classes. They will be held at Keith Hafner's Karate, 214 S. Main (below Expresso Royale) from 10 am to 11 am. Register May 6 in person, or call 994-0333.
Washtenaw Literacy Needs Tutors! There are 23 million adults in the United States who cannot read, and more than 1 2,000 of them live in Washtenaw County. Washtenaw Literacy, with the help of volunteer tutors, has been battling illiteracy since 1971. Tutors design and implement reading programs to fit individual students' needs. Volunteer tutors are needed. One must complete a 12-hour workshop to achieve certification as a Michigan Method tutor/trainer. If you are a good reader, enjoy working closely with others, and can make a one-year commitment, this may be for you. For more info. on becoming a tutor, donating money, or helping "behind the scenes," call 482-0565.
Art Fair Booths for Non-Profit Groups The Washtenaw Council for the Arts is sponsoring the non-profit booth section to be held during the Ann Arbor Art Fair July 22-25. To participate, a non-profit group must have a 501(c)(3) number and operate an office in Washtenaw County . Participants from last year will automatically be mailed an application. Pick up an application at the WCA office, 122 S. Main, Suite 240 or call 996-2777. Applications and fees are due May 15.
Tired of the War Hype? "The Gulf War: Many Perspectives" is a collection of "true experiences" shared through stories, essays, journal entries, letter excerpts and poetry. Ann Arbor resident Gregory Farnum and Lansing native Maria Bruno join feminists, children, Vietnam Vets, soldiers, and others in what the book's publisher, Vergin Press, calls "a book that will be impossible to forget and will likely be used in discussion groups for years to come." The book can be ordered at Borders and Little Professor.
Protest Material on Exhibit at Labadie Collection "They All Knew Each Other: Agnes Inglis and the Labadie Collection" is the title of an exhibit on view at the Harían Hatcher Graduate Library until June 30. The Labadie Collection of the Graduate Library is a vast array of books, handbills, pamphlets, posters, pins, minute books and more, representing social and political reform organizations of the 19th and 20th centuries. Agnes Ann Inglis, friend of Joseph Labadie (Labadie' s personal belongings made up the original collection which he donated to U-M in 1911), spent much of her life "building on what Labadie had begun, enlarging the Collection in both size and scope, almost entirely through solicitations, gifts, donations, and her own remarkable circle of correspondents." This exhibit features those correspondents, including editors and writers of radical books and journals and men and women associated with different reform movements. It includes anarchist, union, socialist and protest material collected by Inglis. This exhibit, free and open to the public, may be viewed on the seventh floor of the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library.
Divorce Kits Soundings, a center dedicated to promoting emotional and economic self-sufficiency of women, recently announced that its do-it-yourself divorce kit has been updated and re-formatted "to be even more user friendly." The kit - for those going through fairly uncomplicated divorces - can be purchased on a sliding-scale basis ($15-$75) by women and men. To see if the kit is for you, call Soundings' Divorce Kit Line at 663-2507.
WCA Mini-Grant Program Deadlines The Washtenaw Council for the Arts' MiniGrant Program offers matching grants to organizations presenting arts projects responding to local needs. Any Michigan non-profit organization, institution, school, association, or local government agency may apply. The maximum grant to any organization is $2,000. There is a June 12 deadline for projects beginning in October 1992. Call 996-2777 or visit the Council's new location at 122 S. Main, Suite 240 for application packets.