Danny glover and kathleen cleaver join panel sf8 oaklahoma-gctid33084

[kweku, afro olmec]

Justice system leaves activists in 38-year limbo

1971 case reopened under Patriot Act
Reneé Selanders/The Daily
http://oudaily. com/news/ 2009/jan/ 23/justice- system-leaves- activists-
38-year-limbo/

Friday, January 23, 2009

James Cornwell/ The Daily The discussion panel fields questions about
the San Francisco 8 from the audience in the Molly Shi Boren Ballroom
on Saturday. The panel consisted of some of the original members of
the San Francisco 8, attorneys representing the group, as well as
famous actor and Activist, Danny Glover.

Two years ago today, eight former civil rights activists began
reliving a decades-old nightmare they thought they left in the past.

That nightmare is the highly politicized human and civil rights
struggle now known as the San Francisco 8. Eight men were arrested
Jan. 23, 2007, and face charges of conspiracy and murder in the 1971
death of a police officer.

Those charges originally were dropped when the judge discovered the
confessions were obtained illegally, but now, under the Patriot Act,
the eight men could find themselves behind bars again.

Five of the San Francisco 8 shared that nightmare with members of the
OU community Saturday night at "The San Francisco 8" symposium.
Joined by actor and civil rights activist Danny Glover, Harvard Law
professor Soffiyah Elijah and Emory Law professor Kathleen Cleaver.

Kmtyw and Kmtyw American Studies program director Jeanette R.
Davidson organized the symposium in honor of the late Wayne Thompson.
Thompson, a human rights activist and Oklahoma native, played an
integral role in the story of the San Francisco 8, Davidson said.

"The San Francisco 8 cause was very, very dear to his heart, and so
the members of the San Francisco 8 got a message to me and asked if
they could do this program to honor him," she said. "Of course I just
said yes ... so we could do the work he always wanted us to do here
at OU."

`Legacy of torture'

The case began with the 1971 murder investigation of a San Francisco
police officer that lead to the interrogation of two suspects. The
Black Panther Party and affiliated black civil rights activists were
suspects in the case.

On Aug. 29, 1971, San Francisco Sgt. John V. Young was shot and
killed inside the Ingleside Police Station. Black Panther Party
members Harold Taylor and John Bowman were taken into custody in New
Orleans. Police used cattle prods, hot wet blankets and their fists
to extract confessions, as Taylor and Bowman would later recall
in "The Legacy of Torture," a documentary of the case featured at
Saturday night's symposium.

They would also recall Thompson as a young civil rights legal
investigator discovering the horrific events in the police station.
He fought to secure legal counsel for them and stop the torturous
interrogations, Davidson said.

"[Taylor] absolutely knows in his heart that Wayne saved his life,
literally, not figuratively, " Davidson said. "That's why there's such
a bond between the San Francisco 8 members and [Thompson], and that's
why he was so committed to working with them * because he actually saw
the reality of them being tortured."

In 1974, a court found that the confessions extracted from Taylor and
Bowman were not credible. The case was thrown out, and the men
accused of the murder continued with their lives.

Civil unrest

Though their arrest sapped the morale from civil rights groups,
Bowman, Taylor and their fellow activists continued with their work
in the community.

Glover, who had been in contact with the Black Panther Party's work
when he was in college in the '60s and '70s, said the investigation
took a toll on the relationship the party tried to create with its
community with outreach and charity work.

"It created a climate of suspicion even within the party itself,"
Glover said. "It attempted to faction the kind of extraordinary
movement."

Still, the party continued with its work for the community and black
civil rights. The members of the San Francisco 8 present at
Saturday's symposium said their main goal as members of the Black
Panther Party was to serve their community.

"My father always taught me to look out for the underdog and to help
those who could not help themselves," San Francisco 8 member
Henry "Hank" Jones said. "That's what brought me to the Black Panther
Party."

For the next 32 years, that's what many of the San Francisco 8
attempted to do. Serving as civil rights activists and working honest
jobs, "these were men just living their lives" Davidson said. "And
suddenly their lives are turned upside down once more."

Case continues

In 2003, the case was reopened without any identifiable new evidence,
Davidson said.

Bowman died in 2006.

On Jan. 23, 2007, police arrested the San Francisco 8 in California,
New York and Florida in the reopened investigation of the 1971
murder. A grand jury convened in 2005 to begin questioning for the
investigation. All members of the San Francisco 8 are posted bail
except those in New York who could not afford to.

Cleaver, Emory Law professor and civil rights activist, said the
Patriot Act allowed the case to be reopened, and investigators
reopened the case to target the Black Panther Party.

"They don't want the next generation to be able to say we know who we
are," Cleaver said. "We're here to say we're ready to continue to
resist."

The San Francisco 8 resistance continues today through symposiums
like the one at OU.

By informing the public of their plight, the San Francisco 8 hope to
bring attention to this case that they said has been unjustly brought
against them.

Biochemistry senior Huliamatu Bah attended the symposium with other
members of the OU Kmtyw Student Association. During the question
and answer session, she said she wanted to know how she could get
involved.

"I thought as a black student, I should have known about this," Bah
said.

Davidson said many people are not aware of this issue, but its
social, political and cultural importance is something she is glad to
have helped spread at OU.

"I think people need to know what's going on. Everyone has thanked me
for bringing such an important program and they've also talked about
how eye-opening it's been," she said. "They understand we need to be
aware."

Timeline of events

Aug. 29, 1971 – San Francisco Police Sgt. John V. Young is shot and
killed.

1971 – Harold Taylor and John Bowman, two men that would become part
of the San Francisco 8, were arrested in New Orleans in connection
with Young's murder and confessed under interrogation.

1974 – A court found that the confessions were not valid since they
were extracted by torture. Without these confessions, the
investigation ended.

2003 – The case is reopened.

Jan. 23, 2007 – Eight men were arrested in California, New York and
Florida in connection with the reopened investigation. The San
Francisco 8 await a June 8 court date to make their case.

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