News shared by Nube Brown, Managing Editor of the San Francisco BayView Newspaper. Posted Courtesy of Wright Enterprises Community Spotlight~~~
SF Public Defender Mano Raju stands with Malik Washington: “We continue to witness GEO Group’s pattern of deceit and neglect in its response to the COVID pandemic. We must protect the health and dignity of the people living at 111 Taylor and invest in future reentry care that is community-based and focused on the needs of individuals, not the profits of GEO Group. I stand in solidarity with Malik Washington and for his rights as a member of the Black press to speak out and protect his community.”
What: Pre-hearing rally calling for freedom of speech and of press for the San Francisco Bay View National Black Newspaper and Editor Malik Washington and to support their lawsuit taking on GEO Group ICE facility and for-profit prison corporation and the Bureau of Prisons.
When: 12:00 p.m. Sunday, March 7, 2021
Where: 111 Taylor St. Re-entry Facility, San Francisco, CA, and streaming live instagram.com/sfbayview
Who: SF Bay View Editor Malik Washington and SF Bay View National Black Newspaper
Contact: Nube Brown (707) 601-2901, nube@sfbayview.com
Photos and more information: https://www.facebook.com/malikdefensecommittee
***PRESS RELEASE***
RALLY FOR BLACK NEWSPAPER EDITOR SUPPRESSED BY FOR-PROFIT PRISON CORP. GEO GROUP, THREATENED WITH RE-IMPRISONMENT
Pre-hearing rally planned for March 7, 2021, 12-2 p.m. at 111 Taylor St. re-entry facility
“This is not just a fight against my First Amendment rights – this is an attack on the rights of Black newspapers and Black journalists. We have to create a space for Black media to speak truth to power without being subjected to oppression or censorship by those who seek to silence our voices because it’s inconvenient for them to listen to Black struggles.” – SF Bay View Editor Malik Washington
This Sunday, March 7, 12-2 p.m. at 111 Taylor St. in San Francisco, come on out to our socially distanced rally, featuring speakers and music, calling for SF Bay View National Black Newspaper Editor Malik Washington’s freedom and support prior to his March 10 hearing on a lawsuit filed by Malik and the SF Bay View against GEO Group and the Bureau of Prisons. PPE will be provided.
Rally sponsors include ACLU of Northern California, Critical Resistance, No Justice Under Capitalism, Asians 4 Black Lives, Haiti Action Committee and more. Speakers include SF Bay View Managing Editor Nube Brown, D6 Sup. Matt Haney, Min. King of CA Prison Focus, trans rights historian and filmmaker Susan Stryker, Arieann Harrison of the Marie Harrison Foundation, Centro Legal de la Raza, Sandy Valenciano of Immigrant Legal Resources Center, LSC, POOR Magazine and more!
Malik is being severely retaliated against for releasing a public memo documenting a preventable COVID outbreak at 111 Taylor, a reentry facility run by the $2 billion for-profit prison corporation GEO Group in San Francisco’s Tenderloin. For information on the lawsuit please go to: http://www.sfbayview.com/2021/02/san-francisco-for-profit-halfway-house-detains-black-newspaper-editor.
SF Public Defender Mano Raju stands with Malik Washington: “We continue to witness GEO Group’s pattern of deceit and neglect in its response to the COVID pandemic. We must protect the health and dignity of the people living at 111 Taylor and invest in future reentry care that is community-based and focused on the needs of individuals, not the profits of GEO Group. I stand in solidarity with Malik Washington and for his rights as a member of the Black press to speak out and protect his community.”
The Public Defender’s Office recently released the documentary short “One Eleven Taylor (During a Pandemic),” which exposes lax health and safety protocols at the Taylor Center in Spring 2020.
With the service of attorney Richard Tan, Malik Washington and the SF Bay View have filed suit against the BOP and GEO. A hearing, presided over by Judge Jon S. Tigar, will be held online Wednesday, March 10 at 2 p.m. PST. Access it here: https://www.cand.uscourts.gov/judges/tigar-jon-s-jst/.
The results of this hearing will determine whether Malik continues on the road to quasi-freedom or is brought back to federal prison, shackled for speaking the truth.
GEO Group is not only fighting Malik – they are also currently litigating against AB 32, which would ban private detention facilities in California, arguing that they would lose $15 million per year in revenue, with a large portion coming from caging our siblings in abusive ICE Detention Facilities across the state.
Join us for this masked up, socially distanced rally to demand Malik Washington’s freedom, to stop the attack on Black journalism and to shout to the rooftops: “FREE MALIK! GEO OUT OF CALI!”
#FREEMALIK!GEOOUTOFCALI!
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