[Bloquez l'empire!] 7pm Monday: So Ann & Kalmunity @ Bar Toc Toc

[Dru Oja Jay]

Haiti Action Montreal presents:

Sò Ann (with musical guests Kalmunity)
7pm Monday, January 29
Bar Toc Toc
6091 du Parc (corner, Van Horne)
$5-25 suggested donation
(*All proceeds go to Sò Ann's educational projects in Haiti)

“Even though they released me, I still am not free. There are other  
Sò Anns still in jail."

So Ann, the legendary Haitian folksinger, activist, grandmother, and  
recently released political prisoner, is touring Canada to talk about  
her ordeal and Haiti’s present political struggles.

The event will include a presentation by So Ann, a performance by the  
Kalmunity collective, as well as a short film and slideshow.

BIO:

Annette Auguste, 62, affectionately known as So Ann, was arrested by  
US Marines on May 10, 2004 (Mothers Day), who stormed her home in  
Port-au-Prince, destroying her property, killing her dogs, and  
arresting, hand-cuffing and head-bagging her entire household,  
including her 5-year-old grandson and 68-year-old sister.

Sò Ann spent the next two years and three months in a Petionville  
prison, becoming a symbol of the arbitrary and repressive fate that  
awaited Lavalas organizers. In January 2006, Amnesty International  
declared So Ann a political prisoner.

Her liberation last August--after a short trial where the judge  
dismissed the concocted charges against her--was greeted with  
jubilation in Haiti and the diaspora. Thousands turned out to parade  
in the streets of Cité Soleil when she visited the seaside slum, the  
capital’s largest, on September 4.

During the 29-year Duvalier dictatorship and succeeding military  
juntas, Sò Ann lived in New York, where she was a democracy activist  
and protest singer. She was usually called upon to lead the singing  
of the national anthem that traditionally opened the rallies and  
demonstrations at which she was a fixture.

Upon returning to Haiti in 1994, Sò Ann quickly became a prominent  
organizer and leader in the Lavalas Family party of President Jean-  
Bertrand Aristide, whom she helped get re-elected in November 2000.

US soldiers kidnapped Aristide and his wife from their home on  
February 29, 2004 and flew them into exile in Africa. US, French and  
Canadian troops occupied Haiti and installed a murderous coup regime,  
which drove many Lavalas Family leaders into exile. Sò Ann, however,  
remained. She was recovering from recent surgery and finishing a new   
album with her all-woman chorale.

For more information, see recent interview:
http://www.haitianalysis.com/2007/1/16/“i-still-am-not-free”-sò-Àn- 
meets-with-new-york’s-haitian-community

7pm Monday, January 29
Bar Toc Toc
6091 du Parc (corner, Van Horne)

For more information:
haitiactionmontreal at gmail.com
or (514) 618-2253