tune in for a mix of archived music and public affairs! We start tonights show with an archive recording of Lynne Stewart from 2003, and an archive recording of Robert Pete Williams, from 1970.
“Lynne Stewart vs John Aschroft Room” April 18th, 2003-Friday 7:30 PM, Portland State University. Lynne Stewart is a well-known human rights attorney, who has defended the poor and political prisoners, including those with “unpopular causes.” She was arrested and indicted for aiding terrorists (she was the attorney for Sheikh Abdel Rahman) and is facing 40 years in prison. The fact that Attorney General John Ashcroft personally traveled to New York to announce her arrest on the same day at a press conference led many to believe that she was targeted to silence her political beliefs and her outspoken defense of political people. She was convicted and is currently serving time in a federal prison in Texas, and has stage 4 Cancer.
Robert Pete Williams was a Louisiana bluesman who was discovered by ethnomusicologists in the Louisiana State Penitentiary. In 1964, Williams played his first concert outside of Louisiana, at the legendary Newport Folk Festival. Williams' performance was enthusiastically received and he began touring the United States. For the remainder of the '60s and most of the '70s, Robert Pete Williams constantly played concerts and festivals across America, as well a handful of dates in Europe. The guitarist died on December 31, 1980, at the age of 66. This recording was made October 2, 1970.
- KBOO