– FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE –  A Tale of Two Cities:  Black August B'Earthday Celebration Honoring Russell Maroon Shoatz's 70th Birthday Friday, August 23, 2013: 7PM to 9PM  The Union Project: 801 N Negley Avenue | Pittsburgh, PA $10 in advance, $15 at the door Saturday, August 24th, 2013: 7PM to 9PM The National Black Theatre: 2031 5th ave | New York, NY  $15 in advance, $20 at the door Tickets available at: www.scientificsoulsessions.com

On August 23 & 24th, 2013, from 7pm-9pm, the Campaign to Free Russell Maroon Shoatz, in collaboration with Scientific  Soul Sessions, Movement in Motion, and Human Rights Coalition-Fed Up! will be hosting events in Pittsburgh and New  York City to celebrate Maroon's 70th birthday. Maroon, who has spent close to 30 years in solitary confinement in the state of Pennsylvania, is a crucial symbol in the  growing movement against the long-standing practice of solitary, which amounts to unconstitutional torture under  international human rights law. His case, currently being reviewed by the United Nations, is under heavy scrutiny as he has been relocated to a lowersecurity facility at SCI-Mahanoy, whose administration has recommended that he be released into general population. It is  only Pennsylvania's Department of Correction (DOC) Secretary John Wetzel that stands in the way of Maroon's freedom  from torture. The dual-city event will feature artists and speakers from across the country committed to building a unified national  movement to end torture and solitary confinement. On Friday August 23rd at Pittsburgh's Union Project, Onxy Award-winning actress and nationally recording performance  poet Vanessa German will share the stage with koto master Yumi Kurosawa. New York City-based spiritchild of Zulu  Nation will also perform, along with baritone saxophonist and composer Benjamin Barson. Joyce Wagner form Iraq  veterans against the war, and Bret Grote of the Abolitionist Law Center, will lend commentary to the event. On Saturday August 24th at the National Black Theatre in Harlem, New York, guests will experience a special invited guest  poet, NEA award-recipient and American Book Award Winner Sonia Sanchez alongside the Grammy-award winning pianist and Latin jazz master-composer Arturo O'Farrill. spiritchild will return with his acclaimed hip-hop jazz outfit, Mental Notes, and the youth artists of Art Start. Award-winning hip-hop journalist Rosa Celemnte will be speaking as well. Finally,  movement in motion's and Zulu Nation's visual artists, ziedah diata and xen medina, respectively, will grace the theatre with aesthetic tributes to Maroon. The August 23rd and 24th events are sponsored by Scientific Soul Sessions, a multigenerational group united by the drive to pre-figure a new society free of imperialism, colonization, racism, heteropatriarchy, and capitalist exploitation. An explicitly revolutionary political/cultural organization, Scientific Soul stands against all forms of social inequality, and stands for the dignity and self-determination of oppressed peoples. The leadership for this movement will first and foremost be women and oppressed nationalities, and is based on both excellence and experimentation. For more information – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE –  A Tale of Two Cities:  Black August B'Earthday Celebration Honoring Russell Maroon Shoatz's 70th Birthday Friday, August 23, 2013: 7PM to 9PM  The Union Project: 801 N Negley Avenue | Pittsburgh, PA $10 in advance, $15 at the door Saturday, August 24th, 2013: 7PM to 9PM The National Black Theatre: 2031 5th ave | New York, NY  $15 in advance, $20 at the door Tickets available at: www.scientificsoulsessions.com

On August 23 & 24th, 2013, from 7pm-9pm, the Campaign to Free Russell Maroon Shoatz, in collaboration with Scientific  Soul Sessions, Movement in Motion, and Human Rights Coalition-Fed Up! will be hosting events in Pittsburgh and New  York City to celebrate Maroon's 70th birthday. Maroon, who has spent close to 30 years in solitary confinement in the state of Pennsylvania, is a crucial symbol in the  growing movement against the long-standing practice of solitary, which amounts to unconstitutional torture under  international human rights law. His case, currently being reviewed by the United Nations, is under heavy scrutiny as he has been relocated to a lower security facility at SCI-Mahanoy, whose administration has recommended that he be released into general population. It is  only Pennsylvania's Department of Correction (DOC) Secretary John Wetzel that stands in the way of Maroon's freedom  from torture. The dual-city event will feature artists and speakers from across the country committed to building a unified national  movement to end torture and solitary confinement. On Friday August 23rd at Pittsburgh's Union Project, Onxy Award-winning actress and nationally recording performance  poet Vanessa German will share the stage with koto master Yumi Kurosawa. New York City-based spiritchild of Zulu  Nation will also perform, along with baritone saxophonist and composer Benjamin Barson. Joyce Wagner form Iraq  veterans against the war, and Bret Grote of the Abolitionist Law Center, will lend commentary to the event. On Saturday August 24th at the National Black Theatre in Harlem, New York, guests will experience a special invited guest  poet, NEA award-recipient and American Book Award Winner Sonia Sanchez alongside the Grammy-award winning pianist and Latin jazz master-composer Arturo O'Farrill. spiritchild will return with his acclaimed hip-hop jazz outfit, Mental Notes, and the youth artists of Art Start. Award-winning hip-hop journalist Rosa Celemente will be speaking as well. Finally,  movement in motion's and Zulu Nation's visual artists, ziedah diata and xen medina, respectively, will grace the theatre with aesthetic tributes to Maroon.  (added Jasiri X to line up) The August 23rd and 24th events are sponsored by Scientific Soul Sessions, a multigenerational group united by the drive to pre-figure a new society free of imperialism, colonization, racism, heteropatriarchy, and capitalist exploitation. An explicitly revolutionary political/cultural organization, Scientific Soul stands against all forms of social inequality, and stands for the dignity and self-determination of oppressed peoples. The leadership for this movement will first and foremost be women and oppressed nationalities, and is based on both excellence and experimentation. For more information visit www.scientificsoulsessions.com