This event will feature the following panelists:
Frank Chapman was wrongfully convicted of murder and armed robbery in 1961 and sentenced to life and 50 years in the Missouri State Prison. His case was taken up by the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR) in 1973, and in 1976 he was released. He had been incarcerated for 14 years. In 1983, he was elected executive director of NAARPR. He worked with Charlene Mitchell, who preceded him as executive director of NAARPR, on building an international campaign to free Rev. Ben Chavis and the Wilmington Ten, Joann Little, and others falsely accused and politically persecuted. He was a part of the international campaign to free Nelson Mandela. He has been a part of leading the struggle in Chicago for the past seven years to stop police crimes — especially murder, torture, beatings and racial profiling. He is presently co-chair and educational director of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. In addition to being a community organizer, Frank is also a published writer since 1971, when he first published “Pages from the Life of a Black Prisoner” in the Fall 1971 edition of Freedomways magazine. He became a contributing editor of Freedomways magazine in 1981-83.
Max Rameau is a Haitian born Pan-African theorist, campaign strategist, organizer and author. While a student in the Washington, DC area, Max was introduced to Black Nationalist and Pan-Africanist theory. After moving to Miami, Florida in 1991, he began organizing around a broad range of human rights issues impacting low-income Black communities, including Immigrant rights (particularly Haitian immigrants), economic justice, LGBTQ rights, voting rights, particularly for ex-felons and police abuse, among others. In October 2006, Take Back the Land seized control of a vacant lot in the Liberty City section of Miami and built the Umoja Village, a full urban shantytown, addressing the issues of land, self-determination and homelessness in the Black community. In October 2007, Take Back the Land initiated a bold campaign that sparked a national movement: "liberating" vacant government owned and foreclosed homes and moving homeless families into them. Max is an organizer with Pan-African Community Action and travels the country facilitating workshops, engaging in campaign strategy sessions and developing models for community control over land and the human right to housing. Max Rameau continues to develop movement theory and is currently working on a book on Community Control Over Police.
L. Gato Martinez-Bentley is a native Washingtonian who’s an integral part of the revolutionary socialist movement. He’s a proud father of two daughters and two granddaughters. He’s taught locally, as well as internationally, working with children's theater, and professional community collaborations for well over 30 years. He's a rebel with a cause, who believes in and teaches the importance of all history regarding people of color. He’s a Nubian Warrior / Olmec Spirit. His accomplishments are being a teacher for more than 30 years. As well as being a conductor of a children's choir. He's an accomplished contract negotiator, organizer, and co-founder of the Rosemount Childcare Workers Union and the sole creator of Return To Salt Of The Productions. He’s a passionate believer for people's rights, who began his activist journey at the tender age of 14. He's an accomplished, credited teacher, playwright, producer, director, actor, and social activist. He epitomizes what it means to be a griot, who fully embraces the meaning of keeping an oral history, to educate and entertain with stories, poems, songs, dances, and more.
The event will be moderated by:
Dr. Marsha Coleman Adebayo is the author of the Pulitzer Prize nominated: No FEAR: A Whistleblowers Triumph over Corruption and Retaliation at the EPA. She worked at the EPA for 18 years and blew the whistle on a US multinational corporation that endangered South African vanadium mine workers. Marsha's successful lawsuit led to the introduction and passage of the first civil rights and whistle-blower law of the 21st century: the Notification of Federal Employees Anti-discrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002 (No FEAR Act). Marsha was inducted into the Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame, March 2017. Currently, she is working to stop the Housing Opportunities Commission (HOC) and the Bethesda Self-Storage Company/1784 Holdings from its continue desecration of Moses African Cemetery in Bethesda, Maryland.
Luci Murphy is a singer, political activist, community organizer, and language interpreter. Since the 1950s, she has been a featured vocalist at progressive events leading group singing. She has performed internationally such as in Cuba, China, Brazil, Palestine and elsewhere and can also sing in ten different languages. She is a native from Washington D.C. whose insights are informed by the movements and folkways of people across the globe. She currently sings with the D.C. Labor Chorus and the ONE DC Black Workers Center Chorus and in 2007 she received the Paul Robeson Award for Peace and Justice from the Friends of the People’s Weekly World. Queshia Bradley is a global public health and new business development leader with over 14 years experience. Her expertise is in designing, developing, managing, and implementing a diverse range of programs for international and national NGOs. She is also an accomplished grant and proposal writer, effective capacity building/ training specialist, proficient researcher and strategic analyst. Queshia holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in International Business with a concentration in Marketing from Howard University in Washington, D.C. She enjoys travelling abroad, dancing, speaking Portuguese, learning about esoteric teachings from around the world, and debating foreign policy and geopolitics. Queshia serves on 3 Boards, and lends her expertise to 11 community organizations, whose missions range from adult workforce development, youth development, immigration rights, supporting returning citizens, anti-war efforts, expanding political education in underserved African-American communities, to promoting international solidarity, fostering collaboration across the Afrikan Diaspora, and advancing the role of women of color working in peace and security fields.
Our co-hosts are the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (http://www.naarpr.org) , Pan African Community Action (https://pacapower.org/index.php?page=community-control-over-police-2) , and DC Metro CPUSA (https://cpusa.org) . ASL interpretation will be provided. In Solidarity, Claudia Jones School for Political Education Donate (https://claudiajonesschool.org/donate/)