[MKE - Indymedia] Rep. Moore to honor Atty. Art Heitzer on Sat., May 6th

[NLG Milwaukee Chapter]

Rep. Gwen Moore to honor Atty. Art Heitzer on Sat., May 6th  at Benefit for
Peace Action of WI

On Saturday, May 6th at Turner Hall, 1034 N. 4th St., U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore
and many others will honor Art Heitzer's 40 years of advocacy for civil
rights, peace and justice in Milwaukee. The event starts at 5:30pm, and is a
benefit for Peace Action- WI, 1001 E. Keefe, with advance tickets available
at 964-5158.

Though a civil rights and employment lawyer since 1975, Heitzer's commitment
to social justice began by 1967 while a student at Marquette University. "I
cut my political teeth at MU, fighting for the rights of free speech,
educating about and then protesting the war in Vietnam, and particularly
challenging institutional racism at Marquette," he stated recently. He
explained that a year long movement finally had to shut the school down,
until the administration was willing to negotiate in the spring of 1968. The
result was MU's Educational Opportunities Program, and among the stars in
its first class was Gwen Moore. Heitzer was the project coordinator of
Students United for Racial Equality (SURE), which was then headed by Gregory
Stanford another undergraduate and now a prominent journalist.

Though his professional focus has always been on issues of job rights and
discrimination, Heitzer has also monitored police issues, and served on the
steering committee of Coalition for Justice for Ernie Lacy, which turned out
over 10,000 people in the streets in 1981 protesting the innocent young
Black man's asphyxiation by Milwaukee police, which helped end the era of
police chief Harold Brier. Recently, Heitzer has publicly commented on the
history of inequities in the Milwaukee county criminal justice and jury
system which produced the all-white jury that acquitted the police charged
with beating Frank Jude, including the similar 1990  exoneration of police
officers who were sued for the beating of Bobby Felder by an all-white jury,
after the County's jury selection system had been altered to decrease
minority participation.

Heitzer also has a strong international commitment, believing that people in
the US can learn much from the experiences of those in other countries,
including Cuba and Venezuela which he visited recently. He represented the
Milwaukee "Methodist 3," the first U.S. travelers to Cuba whose charges were
completely dropped after the U.S. government had filed civil charges against
them. He is on the board of Peace Action - Wisconsin, and has been involved
in the referendum campaigns to allow residents of Milwaukee and the state to
vote on bringing home the troops from Iraq.

Tickets to the event, which will feature appetizers and Latin & Caribbean
Music, are $30, or $15 for low income and students, through Peace Action, or
at the door.  Call (414) 964-5158 for details.

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