Reenacting The Liberation of Our People
From Archive.org: Artist Mark Tribe organised a public reenactment of a speech originally given by activist and Black Panther Party member Angela Davis at DeFremery Park in Oakland, California on November 12, 1969. Davis makes the case for a united movement that links imperialism abroad with domestic oppression. She calls for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Vietnam, for the release of domestic political prisoners, and for the defeat and humiliation of the US Government. Sheilagh Brooks, an Oakland-based actor and community organizer, delivered the speech on location in DeFremery Park on August 2, 2008.
Quotes:
“This whole economy in this country is a war economy. It’s based on the fact that more and more and more weapons are being produced. What happens if the war in Vietnam ceases? How is the economy going to stand unless another Vietnam is created, and who is to determine where that Vietnam is gonna be? It can be abroad, or it can be right here at home.”
“It’s evident that the terror is becoming not just isolated instances of police brutality here and there, but that terror is becoming an everyday instrument of the institutions of this country.”
Download or view this 85mb .ogv file
This reenactment is part of tribe’s The Port Huron Project, a series of reenactments of protest speeches from the New Left movements of the Vietnam era, staged by New York artist Mark Tribe between 2006 and 2008. Each speech took place at the site of the original event, and was delivered by an actor or performance artist to an audience of invited guests and passers-by. Videos of these performances have been screened on campuses, exhibited in art spaces, and distributed online as open-source media. This video includes excerpts from all six speeches as well as documentation of installations and public exhibitions.
Find here a 20 minute video that provides an overview:
http://www.archive.org/details/PortHuronProjectDocumentary
If you’re interested in some authentic Angela Davis footage, try this 1972 interview on 16mm from the San Francisco Bay Area Television Archive
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