Court Support info for Greensboro
From the ALKQN Support Coalition:
Hello all! The first week of trial has passed. Check our website for updates from court, and updates on support needs: http://alkqnsupport.com. For updates on proceedings in court, you can also read the Yes! Weekly blog www.yesweeklyblog.blogspot.com. There has been some in-depth recording of trial here. On the first day of trial, we learned that many of the core supporters who have been active in the support coalition and had planned to frequently be in court will be unable to sit in the courtroom during trial, because several of us are potential witnesses for the defense. This has impacted our ability to have strong court support, so please consider this an impetus to help motivate other folks to show up when possible. For the coming weeks, we are asking people to focus on Mondays and Fridays as high priority days for court support, so that the men on trial will have a morale boost at the beginning and ending of these long weeks. We'll keep in touch with more ideas for support and ways to plug in. Below is the information about getting to the courthouse and general information about court support again so that everyone will be sure to have that information, and so that you can easily share it as you spread the word about court support to friends and networks! With love, The ALKQN Support Coalition GETTING TO THE COURTHOUSE Trial is going to be held at the Winston Salem Federal Courthouse. The address for the courthouse is 251 N. Main Street, Winston-Salem, NC 27101. Parking: There is metered street parking all around the courthouse complex. Be prepared to pay for parking. This link shows the city's parking map for downtown, if this will help you plan: http://www.cityofws.org/Assets/CityOfWS//Documents/forms%20and%20reports/Transportation/downtown_parking_2008.pdf Getting into court: To be admitted into the courthouse building, you will need a photo ID. There is a security checkpoint at the entrance to the building where you will show your ID, put all bags/jackets/etc through an x-ray, and walk through a metal detector. Cell phones with camera functions are not allowed in the building. They will not allow you to turn them off and take them in, and they will not hold them for you at the desk - leave it at home or in your car, or with friends outside. COURT SUPPORT: FOOD, BANNERS AND OTHER THINGS TO BRING TO TOWN If you are planning to come for court, we are asking folks to bring food. There will be a lunch break in the court day, and since people doing court support will be in downtown Winston Salem all day, having snacks and lunch food will help keep everyone healthy during long days. We would ideally like to have folks both inside and outside the building. Especially at the end of the day when the defendants are being transported back to jail, we would love for you to come with banners or signs to stand outside the building. We have banners in town, and we are asking for folks who are coming to bring banners and signs expressing support for the members of the ALKQN facing trial. Please feel free to ask us for ideas for what these could say! We have different literature available about the case. It would be great if folks could make copies of these for us to distribute. If you are interested in receiving .pdfs, please let us know! WAYS TO HELP FROM AFAR: Can't come to trial? Can come, but want to know more ways you can support our friends? We've come up with a list of things we are asking folks for: - Fundraising: We are raising money to help friends purchase court clothing, and we constantly need funds to keep our phone accounts active, for postage, and for canteen money. We have a We Pay account that you can donate through here: https://www.wepay.com/donations/jorge-cornell-and-the-nc-alkqn-defense-coalition. Host a movie night, throw a benefit show, pass a hat. - Food & Banners: We are asking folks coming to town to bring food and support banners. Even if you can't travel, you can send food and banners with your friends who do! - Write the defendants: Send letters and notes of encouragement. Watch alkqnsupport.com for updated address info as people are moved for trial. - Publicity: Please watch our site, alkqnsupport.com, the Chapel Hill Prison Books blog, prisonbooks.info, and local news outlets for stories about the trial. Please share these with your local and national networks. Visibility is crucial, as is support from communities across the country.
