Los Angeles, CA – A protest rally and get out the vote grassroots effort was done on October 25 in the East LA barrio of El Sereno by Centro CSO and Black Lives Matter-LA. Over 45 volunteers and families who have been victims of police killings participated call on all to vote November 3 to oust Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey and President Trump.

Chicano and Black working-class people and families impacted by police killings held the rally and GOTV effort to ask voters to oust District Attorney Jackie Lacey and Trump by voting on November 3. The rally was held in a predominately Chicano neighborhood in the beautiful community-built El Sereno Community Garden.

Protesting the killing of Blacks and Chicanos by LAPD and the LA County Sheriffs was the bulk of the rally. The protest, led by Sol Marquez and Lucia Torres, both members of Centro CSO, spoke of the need to prosecute police and denounced Lacey for her failure to prosecute killer cops. The event was co-sponsored and led by Black Lives Matter-LA, which has organized a campaign to denounce Lacey and get out the vote with regular canvassing, rallies and phone banking.

BLM-LA’s well known leaders like Melina Abdullah and Baba Akili and others attended and led the event. The unity of Black and brown was visible.

Several passionate talks were given by Melina Abdullah of BLM-LA, who spoke of the history of Blacks in Mexico and our common bonds. Carlos Montes of Centro CSO spoke about how the Black liberation movement has always inspired and united and supported the Chicano Movement. Montes pointed out the history of unity and struggles for equality and self-determination of Black and Chicano people in the belly of the beast – the U.S. empire.

The GOTV urged local registered voters to vote November 3, to stop police killings by ousting current DA Jackie Lacey and President Trump. Trump has repeatedly spoken in favor of police, states his support for ‘Blue lives’ and for more funding for police. The volunteers spent several hours walking and talking to local voters and got positive results, with most voters saying they would vote out DA Lacey, and not vote for Trump.

Cops from the LAPD Hollenbeck station and East LA Sheriffs have a long history of officer-involved shootings resulting in the deaths of young Chicano men. In the past years there have occurred many police killings leading to protests and lawsuits. LAPD Hollenbeck station in Boyle Heights officers killed: Jose Mendez February 6, 2016, Omar Gonzalez July 28, 2016, Jesse Romero August 9, 2016, Arturo Valdez April 10, 2016, Carlos Gonzalez February 16, 2017, Fred Barragan March 24, 2017, Christina Escobedo January 14, 2018. ELA Sheriffs killed: Edwin Rodriguez, February 14, 2016, Omar Garcia,July 28, 2016, Anthony Vargas, August 12, 2018, Paul Rea, June 27, 2019 and Jorge Serrano Jr. December 16, 2019. These killings have not stopped.

Orange is the New Black actress Diane Guerrero joined the rally and spoke about her own parents and brother who were deported to Colombia. Zada Música sang songs about the struggle for equality for all Latinos in the U.S.

Sol Marquez with Centro CSO spoke of the need to continue the struggle with the weekly rallies and protests at DA Lacey office and the call for a national action on November 4, to demand justice for victims of racist and political repression put out by NAARPR: National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. The event ended with chants of “Jackie Lacey must go, Jackie Lacey will go!” and “We vote, we organize!”

#LosAngelesCA #ChicanoLatino #CentroCSO #LAPD #GOTV #DianeGuerrero