Triangle Fire Commemoration Tonight, Lenny Weinglass

Hi.  Tonight’s event is detailed  much more fully in the notice which follows this deserved encomium to Lenny Weinglass.

Ed

 

http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2011/03/24-1

National Lawyers Guild Mourns Passing of Leonard Weinglass

NEW YORK - March 24 - The National Lawyers Guild mourns yesterday’s passing of an extraordinary criminal defense and civil rights attorney, Leonard I. Weinglass. A long-time member of the Guild, he now joins the pantheon of great lawyers who have devoted their careers to making human rights more sacred than property interests.

Weinglass graduated from Yale Law School in 1958 and went on to defend some of the most significant political cases of the century. He represented Tom Hayden of Students for a Democratic Society when Hayden was indicted in the Newark riots. During the Vietnam War, he represented Anthony Russo in the Pentagon Papers case, and in 1969 he co-counseled in the Chicago Seven case, with the eventual overturning of the guilty verdicts. He also represented Jane Fonda in her suit against Richard Nixon, Puerto Rican independence fighters Los Macheteros, and eight Palestinian organizers facing deportation known as the LA 8.

When he represented Amy Carter in 1987 after her arrest for protesting CIA recruitment, Weinglass told the Hampshire County District court, “the students’ reaction in that incident was the reaction any right-thinking American, peace-loving American, would have in the face of the serious harm the agency has done.”

Weinglass served as lead counsel for Mumia Abu-Jamal, who has been on death row for nearly 30 years. Other well-known clients included former Weatherman Kathy Boudin, Angela Davis when she was charged with murder for the Marin County shootout, and Antonio Guerrero, one of the Cuban Five. He also represented Bill and Emily Harris, members of the Symbionese Liberation Army who were charged with the kidnapping of Patricia Hearst.

The National Lawyers Guild honored Weinglass on several occasions, including at its 2003 national convention with the Bill Goodman Award. “For most lawyers, the work that Len did on any one of countless cases would be the achievement of a lifetime, not just for the brilliance of his advocacy but also for the causes he espoused and the passion with which he fought,” said Guild President David Gespass.

###

The National Lawyers Guild is dedicated to the need for basic and progressive change in the structure of our political and economic system. Through its members--lawyers, law students, jailhouse lawyers and legal workers united in chapters and committees--the Guild works locally, nationally and internationally as an effective political and social force in the service of the people.

 

---

From: Greygoosemusic@aol.com [mailto:Greygoosemusic@aol.com]
Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2011 10:31 AM

Subject: Triangle Fire Commemorative Event, March 25, 7:30 PM

 

                                FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 22, 2011

                                                                                                                                   

Contact:          Andy Griggs                                                   Cherri Senders

            310/704-3217                                                  818/422-2787 

                   lalaborfest@gmail.com                                        cherri@sendersgroup.com

 

The Triangle Fire, 100 Years Later

LA Laborfest to hold benefit for LA Garment Worker Center Mar. 25

 

Who:               LA Laborfest

What:                         Triangle Fire commemorative event

Why:               to remind today’s audiences that workers rights are still an issue

Where:           Echo Park United Methodist Church, 1226 N. Alvarado, LA 90026

When:             Friday, Mar. 25 at 7:30 pm

 

Friday, March 25, 2011 marks the 100^th Anniversary of the tragic Triangle Factory Fire, which took the lives of 146 workers who were locked behind the doors to their 9^th floor sweatshop in New York City. To commemorate the event, LA Laborfest will present an evening of poetry, music, film, spoken word, and theatre not only to remember those who died, but to remind audiences today of the shocking ongoing struggles that workers still experience daily just for their basic rights and safety. The event is a benefit for the Los Angeles Garment Workers Center, and will be held near downtown LA at 7:30 PM.

 

The evening will include musical presentations by Jack Landron, Ross Altman, and the Voices of Conscience Chorus, poetry and spoken word by Julia Stein, Emma Rosenthal, and MaryAnn Waits, and theatrical excerpts by Lee Boek and Elaine Ocasio. A representative from the LA Garment Workers Center will speak on current conditions in the local garment industry, and the evening will conclude with a showing of the HBO produced film, TRIANGLE, Remembering the Fire by Daphne Pinkerson.

 

The Triangle Fire galvanized a national movement to protect workers’ rights and safety. Now, 100 years later, attacks are increasing not only on the rights of workers to safe working conditions (Rep. Issa is leading the Republican charge in Congress to gut OSHA), but even on workers’ right to collective bargain in Wisconsin, Ohio, and other states. This evening’s presentation will make the connections between the fire and the current struggles of workers against attempts to strip them of their rights.

 

LA Laborfest is requesting a $10 donation, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds. The event is wheelchair accessible and disability affirmative.

 

 

 

Endorsers/Sponsors

AF3IRM – LA * AFT 1521 Community College Guild * Arbeter Ring/Workmen’s Circle - Southern California * California Teachers Association * California Faculty Association, Cal State Los Angeles * California Faculty Association, Cal State Dominguez Hills * California National Organization of Women * Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE– LA) * Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW – LA) * Dolores Huerta Labor Institute * Echo Park United Methodist Church * Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR – LA) * Global Women’s Strike * Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace (ICUJP) * International Association of Machinists, Local Lodge 1484 * Jewish Labor Committee * Latino Committee, SEIU Local 721 * Los Angeles County Federation of Labor * MLK Coalition for Jobs, Justice and Peace * Progressive Jewish Alliance * Public Works Improvisational Theatre * Sholem Community * UCLA-LOSH * UNITE HERE Local 11 * United Steel Workers Local 675 * United Teachers Los Angeles * The WE Project * Workers United, SEIU * Yiddishkayt