BY MICHAEL PENNOCK

ST. PAUL, Minnesota - "If I think of a warrior in the working-class fight, I think of Mark Curtis," said Native American activist and artist Chris Spotted Eagle. He was the lead-off speaker at the Militant Labor Forum celebrating the release of Mark Curtis from prison. Over 40 people attended the August 17 event.

"I've never had a chance to meet Mark," he continued, "but when I do I plan to present him with an eagle feather. It is a high honor from our people to a warrior."

Spotted Eagle pointed out he was wearing a T-shirt supporting death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal. "Mark's struggle and the support he gets gives me the courage and inspiration to fight on for justice." He concluded with an appeal to keep up the effort to free Native American activist Leonard Peltier from his 20 years behind bars.

Maria Teresa Tula spoke of her experiences in the 1980s struggle in El Salvador and her fight in this country for immigrant and Hispanic rights. She is helping to build the October 12 national march for immigrant rights in Washington, D.C.

She noted that Curtis's troubles with the law began as he was helping defend undocumented workers at an Iowa packinghouse. She pointed out that political activists do not stop their struggles when they find themselves behind bars. Tula, who was in prison herself in El Salvador, remarked, "We never stopped fighting for human rights, just like Mark did when he was in prison."

Paul Pederson spoke as a person new to politics. He heard of Curtis's fight while a participant on the U.S.-Cuba Youth Exchange that visited Cuba in July. He came to the Pathfinder bookstore in St. Paul a week before the forum and bought the pamphlet Why Is Mark Curtis Still in Prison? He wanted to be familiar with the details when he attended the forum. Then he was asked to speak.

"I'm a newcomer to politics," Pederson said, "and I want to share my solidarity and my joy with this celebration.

"Cuba totally changed my view of the world and my role in this country. For me, this pamphlet is full of good lessons as I enter the fight. And I welcome Mark Curtis back to the struggle outside the walls of prison."

Also speaking at the event were Kipp Hedges, a union activist at Northwest Airlines, and Jennifer Benton, Socialist Workers Party candidate for U.S. House of Representatives. More than $400 was raised to continue the work of the Political Rights Defense Fund, which has agreed to accept responsibility for any legal expenses that arise during Curtis's parole. The evening ended with a champagne toast. BY VED DOOKHUN

SAN FRANCISCO - On August 18 some 40 people attended a celebration of Mark Curtis's release from prison here. Curtis is a union and political activist and member of the Socialist Workers Party. He was framed up by the police in Des Moines in 1988 on false charges of rape and burglary, in the middle of a fight to defend 17 coworkers from Mexico and El Salvador who had been arrested in an immigration raid at the Swift meatpacking plant in Des Moines. He was released on parole to Illinois in June.

Featured speakers were Puerto Rican author and poet Piri Thomas; Bruce Valde, a commentator and radio show host on Radio Free Berkeley; Steve Gordon, representing the Young Socialists; and Norton Sandler, a member of the SWP National Committee.

In introducing Piri Thomas, who is the author of Down These Mean Streets, chairperson Kathryn Crowder noted that Thomas had been a partisan of Curtis's fight for freedom since the beginning and that he had spoken at a large international rally held in Des Moines on the eve of Curtis's trial.

Thomas explained that at that September 1988 rally, participants were preparing for Curtis's likely conviction at his frame-up trial that was scheduled to being in a few days. "That day in 1988, Mark and I talked about what it is like in prison," said Thomas who spent seven years behind bars. That experience is described in Thomas's novel Seven Long Times. "Now," Thomas continued, "we're are celebrating our brother's return to the struggle, and I am glad to be part of this today."

Thomas read a poem describing the oppression of Puerto Ricans in the United States and concluded by saying, "Viva Puerto Rico Libre (Long live a free Puerto Rico), Welcome back Mark!"

YS activist Gordon drew a comparison between the time Curtis spent in prison and what has faced other revolutionists. Gordon explained that many members of the Bolshevik Party spent time in prison prior to the 1917 Russian Revolution.

Messages to the meeting were received from Patsy Behrend, a relative of Curtis and local Cuba solidarity activist, and from Ron Lind, director of union organizing for the United Food and Commercial Workers in San Jose, California.  
 
 
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