Schedule for Black August 2011 presented by the Black August Planning Organization

For more info, black.august07@gmail.com. Find us on Facebook. Join our list-serv.  Follow us on Twitter @BlackAugust_DC.

Friday August 5^th at Ras Lounge & Restaurant (4809 Georgia Ave) 8pm-12am, Uptown Friday Nights at Ras presents: Fund-raiser for Sekou Odinga sponsored by the Black August Planning Organization. Suggested donation $10.

The event will feature Bilal Sunni Ali who will engage those present from 8-930. Bilal Sunni Ali was a childhood friend of Sekou, they came together in the movement from the Black Panther Party to the Republic of New Afrika and the Black Liberation Army. They were also co-defendants in the case for which Sekou has been in prison for almost 30 years. Bilal was also the saxophonist in Gil Scott-Heron’s Midnight Band; following his presentation on Sekou, he will offer a musical presentation dedicated to Gil, joined by Ka’ba of Precise Science and BlackNotes. From 10pm onward, we will enjoy roots reggae sounds courtesy of DJ Fiyaman. Last chance to hear him before he relocates to Georgia.

Special performance by Maimouna Youssef has been confirmed. The program will be hosted by Stef Is Dope, also performing.

People can write checks directly to the Malcolm X Commemoration Committee (with Sekou Odinga in the memo line) or for tax deduction purposes write it to NYC Jericho/IFCO (and write Sekou Odinga in the memo line.

Sekou Odinga-#09-A3775
Shawangunk C.F.
PO Box 700
Wallkill, NY  12589

More info on Sekou at: www.sekouodinga.com

Sunday August 7^th at Sankofa Video & Books (2714 Georgia Ave) 4-6pm, BAPO and Sankofa present a book signing featuring Kalonji Changa, author of How to Build a People’s Army. Kalonji is the Founder/National Coordinator of The FTP Movement and is the East Coast Coordinator Black August Organizing Committee.

How to Build a People’s Army is a guide to successful community organizing on a basic and practical level. Protocol, discipline, political education, loyalty and respect seem to be absent from today’s liberation struggle. The first edition of How to Build a People’s Army is designed to better the relationship between the movement and the masses.

Monday August 15^th at Watha T. Daniels/Shaw Library (945 Rhode Island Ave NW) 630-9pm, BAPO presents our annual CR Gibbs lecture in honor of Black August. This presentation is entitled:”Triumph of Freedom: Slavery, Emancipation, & the Civil War in the District of Columbia.”

In addition to the major themes embodied in its title, this presentation describes the special struggle by African Americans in the city to keep the memory of our own,unique freedom day (April 16,1862) alive, which at the height of the Jim Crow-era in D.C was not only a mark of self-affirmation and community liberation,but in itself also an act of resistance.

Sunday, August 21, 4pm, at Sankofa Video & Books Cafe (2714 Georgia Ave). Book signing and discussion with Herman and Iyaluua Ferguson on AN UNLIKELY WARRIOR: THE EVOLUTION OF A BLACK NATIONALIST REVOLUTIONARY A bio/memoir of the life of Herman Ferguson written by Iyaluua Ferguson with Herman Ferguson.

Herman Ferguson, 90 years young, was a dedicated colleague of Malcolm X. Unlike the stereotypical Malcolm X devotee, painted by the media of the time as a ghetto dwelling sub-working class malcontent, Ferguson was the example of a successful, well-educated suburban family man who gravitated to Malcolm X in the social ferment of the early 1960s. In the process, he self-consciously sacrificed his American dream for a Black revolutionary vision. This biography/memoir, An Unlikely Warrior, is directed at students of the civil unrest of the 1960s and particularly to young readers eager to explore the history of the Civil Rights Movement and the rise of the separatist ideology in the United States, the growth of the Republic of New Afrika, and the turbulent days of the late 1960s. Moreover, it speaks to the emotional cost of political activism, its impact on families and supportive friends in the face of government repression.

More info on the book at www.anunlikelywarrior.com

Saturday August 27^th 5^th Annual Pilgrimage to Richmond and Happily Natural Day, The Black August Planning Organizations makes its 5th Annual Pilgrimage to Richmond, Va and visit Happily Natural Day. This will be an all-day trip in honor of the slave rebellion organized by Gabriel [Prosser]. Leaving DC at 7am, we should be back by 10pm.

First, led by Janine Bell of the Elegba Folklore Society, we will travel to the James River where the slave ships came in. … From there we will walk the route that the enslaved Africans took to the slave auction block into downtown Richmond, followed by a visit to historic Shockoe Bottom and the reclaimed [enslaved] African burial ground. We will visit Happily Natural Day for a few hours to eat lunch patronize the event. Finally, We will visit Spring creek where it was to begin and this portion of the tour will be provided by Ana Edwards of the Richmond Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality.

TRANSPORTATION TICKETS FOR THE PILGRIMAGE ARE $35 AND CAN BE PURCHASED ONLINE AT: https://www.brownpapertick​ets.com/event/189105. FOR MORE INFO, CALL 908-296-5397 OR EMAIL BLACK.AUGUST07@GMAIL.COM.

OTHER EVENTS

The Dream City Collective is holding a Screening of the film, ‘Black August’ on August 3 at 8pm, 5525 Illinois Ave NW. See an important review of the film here.

And the UNIA-ACL will be hosting Bilal Sunni-Ali in concert at the B Davis Dance Center (6218 3rd Place, NW) from 6-11pm on August 6.  Bilal will be commemorating the lives of Geronimo ji Jaga and Gil Scott-Heron; He will also be sworn in as an Ambassador of the UNIA-ACL government.

DONATE TO BAPO: http://www.chipin.com/widget/id/ba7bb4670a52a14b

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