An hour after the banners were put up, campus police took down them down and put them in the trash, on the grounds that they were protecting state property. This is a blatant attack on the freedom of expression. PSU members will continue to exercise their rights on campus.

E.H Hereford was the former dean of UTA from 1949 to 1958 and was largely responsible for the pro-Confederate culture present on the campus at the time, as well as attempting to delay integration after Brown v. Board of Education was passed for as long as he was legally allowed to. This is a man that the UTA administration honors with a statue and a building named after him, while at the same time touting the racial diversity of the student body as a selling point to donors as well as incoming students. This hypocritical contradiction is one that PSU members have called to attention in the campaign to get Hereford’s name and statue removed from the University Center.

More than 1500 students have expressed the desire to remove Hereford’s statue, and with this growing support the students will not stop until their demands have been satisfied.

#ArlingtonTX #Antiracism #ProgressiveStudentUnion

Jacksonville, FL – On Monday, August 28, over 1000 community members and organizers hit the streets of Jacksonville to fight back against white supremacy and racially motivated hate crimes in the city. This emergency call to action arose after the murder of three Black Jacksonville residents – Angela Michelle Carr, Jerrald De’Shaun Gallion, and Anolt Joseph Laguerre Jr. – at the hands of a 21-year-old white supremacist on Saturday, August 26 at a Dollar General store.

A coalition of organizations such as Jacksonville Community Action Committee (JCAC) which is an affiliate of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR), UNF Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), Take ‘Em Down Jax, Jax Urban League Young Professionals, Florida Rising, Florida For All, Black Voters Matter, and the Florida AFL CIO gathered to speak out and march the streets of Jacksonville. State Representative Angie Nixon also spoke, along with Florida Democratic Party Chair and Agricultural Commissioner Nikki Fried. Other local city council persons also were in attendance.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the first occurrence of white supremacist terror in Jacksonville. August 27 marked 63 years since Axe-Handle Saturday. That day began in 1960 as a peaceful demonstration, led by Black organizers, to protest white-only counters in Jacksonville's downtown restaurants. As the Black organizers conducted sit-ins at downtown restaurants to fight back against segregation, they were faced with an attack of white mobs holding axe handles and bats as a reaction to the sit-ins. The white mobs attacked the Black organizers and anyone Black in the area, this became one of the most vicious and heinous racially motivated crimes in the city of Jacksonville.

After more than 60 years, Jacksonville is still facing acts and crimes of white supremacy. But community members vowed to not back down and will fight back! Jacksonville Community Action Committee ensured that the people have the power to say no to nazis and no to white supremacists.

The coalition of organizations and different speakers came up to denounce these hate crimes and uplift the people’s voices. Within these Representative Angie Nixon spoke out against Governor Ron DeSantis and his racist legislation such as eliminating Advanced Placement African American History, erasing books on Black struggles, banning diversity, equity and inclusion initiative programs in public universities, and much more.

Neal Jefferson with JCAC demonized DeSantis' recent legislation against Black people in Florida, “DeSantis’ legislation has served as a pathway for white supremacists to feel encouraged to commit acts of violence towards our people.” He continued, “What occurred on Saturday was a modern-day lynching for us Black folks.” Neal urged people to hold DeSantis and state officials accountable for their actions – emphasizing that the people have the power to stop and end these acts of terror.

The crowds marched the streets of Jacksonville chanting “Black lives matter!” and declaring that Ron DeSantis has no place as the governor of Florida. As Mike Sampson, lead community organizer of JCAC, stated, “The rhetoric we’ve seen from this governor and state leadership – folks are angry. It’s been a war on us and a war on our community.”

The people of Jacksonville, and of Florida, will not allow Ron DeSantis’ war on Black and oppressed people. Protesters uplifted demands for police accountability through a Public Safety Committee. Speakers spoke about the negligence of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office in stopping white supremacists in the city and demanded more action be taken. They also demanded the taking down of the remaining Confederate monument in Springfield Park, formerly Confederate Park, along with organizers demanding economic justice for the African Americans.

#JacksonvilleFL #Antiracism

Denver, CO – Family, friends and community supporters of Stephan Long rallied at the office of Denver District Attorney Beth McCann on Thursday, August 24 to demand his immediate release. This action follows a week of calls and emails to McCann’s office and a day before Long was scheduled to appear in court.

Stephan Long is charged with two counts of first degree murder for defending himself from violent attackers on Interstate 25 this June. With his family behind him in the car, Long was attacked by two men in ski masks who entered his car and, according to multiple eyewitnesses, began beating and choking him. Long, a Black man, legally defended himself against these two white assailants, using a registered firearm that he was licensed to carry. The charges against him are unjust and highlight the stark differences in how the law is applied to Black and white citizens of the city.

A crowd of 50 gathered in the sweltering heat outside of DA McCann’s office to demand Long’s freedom in person. They carried signs that said “Self defense is not a crime” and wore shirts that identified their support for Long. Just before the speakers began, Beth McCann herself came down from her office to witness the event. She exchanged pleasantries with Long’s family and even agreed to meet with them inside but, ultimately, offered no guarantees that she would reconsider the charges set by her office or the million-dollar bail that’s forcing Long to remain behind bars for the entirety of his trial process.

Long, who is 26-years-old, is described by many in the crowd as a “family man” who works hard to provide a good life for his wife and two young children. The youngest of those children, his son, is less than a year old. Long’s incarceration robs his family of a father and husband’s care while also robbing him of the irreplaceable experience of being present for a critical period of his childrens’ development. As Alexander Landau of the Denver Justice project put it, “You can’t give back time.”

This case shines a light on McCann’s and other local district attorneys’ racist discrimination in their application of the law. McCann, just a few months ago, refused to press charges against a white vigilante who murdered 12-year-old Elias Armstrong after tracking him from across the city. Similarly, neighboring Jefferson County DA Alexis King has thus far refused to press charges against Adam Fresquez’s killer, who used an unlicensed and unregistered firearm to shoot Fresquez twice in the back.

The Colorado legal system has a long history of practically deputizing white vigilantes to terrorize oppressed nationality communities and it’s clear that McCann and King are happy to continue that legacy. Meanwhile, self defense and Stand Your Ground laws are clearly not applicable in Black and brown communities.

Long’s mother, Stephanie Clifton, made her thoughts clear on the subject, saying, “If the races were reversed in this story, if my son was white and two non-white men attacked him, he likely would not be in jail. He might not have even been arrested.”

This disparity in how the city’s laws are applied on racial and national lines is what brought local activist groups like The Denver-Aurora Community Action Committee and the Denver Justice Project to work alongside the family to organize the week of action for Long. “What’s really frustrating is the differences in how laws are upheld in this state,” said Brandon Gehrke-Quintanilla, a representative from DACAC. “How is it that when a white man shoots someone in the back twice he’s let go while Stephan is facing murder charges for defending himself?”

These groups have been undertaking the task of reshaping and re-imagining policing in the Denver metro area and they see Long as a primary example of why such changes are necessary. “We’re here to build a movement so that things like this never have to happen again. So that the community has control over the police and over the legal system,” said Gehrke-Quintanilla.

The following day, Friday August 25, a similarly sized group supported Long by attending the preliminary hearing of his trial. The family of Long’s assailants also attended the trial along with nearly a dozen Denver Sheriffs. Unfortunately, the hearing was rescheduled for October 18, ensuring nearly two more months of incarceration should the DA continue to refuse a bail reduction.

The family of Long’s attackers were escorted to their vehicles by a security detail of Denver Sheriffs while Long’s family was harassed, herded about the building like cattle, and told they had to stand outside in the rain with their elderly and children while they waited for other family members to finish a meeting with their attorney.

”What we are here to do today is show Long that solidarity exists even when an attempt to erase you from the community is afoot,” Alexander Landau said in his Thursday speech. “Solidarity until the end. We will be here today. We will be here in court with you. We will not go away.”

#DenverCO #Antiracism

Orlando, FL – On Saturday, August 19, a panel of progressive organizations organized by Las Semillas was held at the Orange County Public Library. The purpose of this panel was for progressive organizations to network, present the work they are doing in their communities, and have a discussion about pressing political issues. All of these activities contribute to the goal of building a united front against the DeSantis administration and the deterioration of material conditions, especially for the working class of Central Florida. “Florida’s on fire in more ways than one, so we’re glad to be in concert with anyone trying to put the pieces together,” stated the social media post promoting the event.

The topics discussed at the panel ranged from economic and food justice to combating the assault on trans rights and how to move beyond 2024. One of the highlights of the panel involved a discussion on the current anti-trans legislation in the U.S. and contrasting it to the recently passed Family Code in Cuba. From the content of the laws, expanding the legal protections in Cuba, to the process of the actual drafting of the legislation, where thousands of meetings were held to discuss the thoughts of the Cuban people, Cuba is showing what a true democracy means for the people.

The organizations present were Las Semillas, March for Our Lives Pine Hills, Freedom Road Socialist Organization Orlando, The Umbrella Brigade, The All-African People’s Revolutionary Party, Black Men Build Orlando, FL Student Power, Orlando DSA, and Ladies In Full Effect (L.I.F.E.).

The next panel hosted by Las Semillas will be in October. As part of this panel series, the location changes neighborhoods for each event, allowing different voices and organizations to be highlighted. Seven Charlestin, an organizer with Las Semillas, stated, We’re in a political moment across the globe right now, and if we don’t fight back we risk incorrigible damage to our planet and our civil liberties.”

Follow Las Semillas at @las_semillas_20 on Instagram for more information.

#OrlandoFL #ImmigrantRights #WomensMovement #LGBTQ #Antiracism #Antifascism #GovernorRonDesantis #AbortionRights

Orlando, FL – On August 10, an emergency rally was held in Orlando to address Governor Ron DeSantis’ recent dismissal of State Attorney Monique Worrell.

The attacks came as an affirmation by the DeSantis camp that they are an enemy of oppressed nationalities, the working class, women and LGBTQ people.

At the rally, the charges against the Tampa 5 were discussed by Anna Eskamani as a part of DeSantis’s attacks on education and African Americans. Progressive forces attending the rally understand the need to develop a strong united front against DeSantis and his clique of reactionaries. When democratic rights are under attack, the people are becoming ready to organize and fight back.

#OrlandoFL #ImmigrantRights #LGBTQ #Antiracism #Antifascism #GovernorRonDesantis #AbortionRights

Baton Rouge, LA – On July 24, protesters from across Louisiana gathered outside Jones Creek Library in East Baton Rouge Parish. They chanted and waved signs, voicing their opposition to Louisiana Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley’s meeting with Moms for Liberty, a far-right national organization identified as an extremist group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The demonstrators marched around the library and received supportive honking from passing highway traffic. They chanted “Ban hate, not books!” and “Defend trans youth!”

Moms for Liberty was founded in Florida and was initially focused on supporting Governor Ron DeSantis’ in efforts against COVID 19 regulations. They have since spread across the country, taking advantage of pre-existing wealthy Republican funding infrastructure. They have shifted their goals to promoting censorship in schools, advocating for “Don’t say gay” bills and against “critical race theory.”

Moms for Liberty faced national condemnation earlier this summer, when one of its chapters used a quote from Adolph Hitler in its inaugural statement.

The protesters denounced Superintendent Brumley for meeting with the reactionary group. “When we look at the power, the control and the influence this individual has on our education system, even sharing beliefs with a group like this becomes very dangerous for the people who live here. My hope is that groups that spout and spew and condone hateful rhetoric in their speech don’t have an ear when it comes to our education system,” said Pearl Ricks of the Reproductive Justice Action Collective.

The demonstrators then sat in the meeting, which Moms for Liberty hosted. Protesters held signs and submitted questions for the superintendent, but the hosts discarded their questions.

After answering a series of preselected questions, the chair attempted to close the meeting. One demonstrator tried to ask the superintendent if he would field more questions from his concerned constituents. Brumley then abruptly rushed out of the room to get to his car.

Some protesters attempted to engage him as he walked to his car. They told him how disappointed they were with his conduct in the meeting. Activists said they will continue to pressure him to represent all Louisiana students, regardless of the “culture war” politics sweeping the country.

#BatonRougeLA #Antiracism #Antifascism #GovernorRonDesantis

Milwaukee, WI – The people’s movements mourn the loss of veteran activist George Martin, who passed away on July 16th, 2023. Martin was a well respected leader in local, national, and international anti-war, environmental, and social justice movements who had a great impact on many people over his life-long service to the cause of peace and justice.

In Milwaukee, Martin helped lead Peace Action Wisconsin and its anti-war coalition for many years. Martin and his partner, Julie Enslow, played a leading role in organizing the large upsurge of the movement during the criminal U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. Martin mentored many new activists, offering advice and support to nurture a new generation of anti-war activists.

Martin co-led Milwaukee’s Martin Luther King Justice Coalition that has organized an annual MLK Day ceremony and march for over 20 years, honoring King’s vision for radical change.

Martin participated in the coalition to organize the massive march on the RNC in St. Paul, Minnesota in 2008, and helped organize busloads of protesters from Wisconsin.

After 23 Midwest anti-war activists and Freedom Road Socialist Organization members were targeted with FBI raids and Grand Jury subpoenas, Martin participated in the successful defense movement to stop FBI repression against the activists.

In recent years Martin organized primarily in the environmental justice movement, including with 350.org.

Martin’s death is a heavy loss for the people’s movements, but his innumerable contributions to the cause of peace and justice will live on.

¡George Martin, Presente!

#MilwaukeeWI #AntiwarMovement #EnvironmentalJustice #Antiracism #PoliticalRepression #GeorgeMartin

Minneapolis, MN – 30 protesters gathered in front of Mayday Books in the West Bank neighborhood on July 8 to oppose the recent U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) decisions that end affirmative action, enable LBGTQ discrimination, and block student loan forgiveness.

Activists also commemorated the first anniversary of the June 24, 2022, overturn of Roe v. Wade by the SCOTUS in the Dobbs v. Jackson decision. In the year since, 14 states now have near, or total, abortion bans while six states have gestational restrictions.

“When Roe was overturned, many activists sensed that this was only the beginning. Unfortunately, their intuition was correct,” remarked Sarah Murphy, a member of the Minnesota Abortion Action Committee (MNAAC).

Murphy continued, “Just last week, they ruled that acknowledging unequal access due to race through affirmative action is unconstitutional. Literally the next day, they ruled that discriminating against queer and trans people is totally acceptable as long as you say it's because of Jesus.” Murphy referenced the court case of 303 Creative v. Elenis, in which the SCOTUS ruled in favor of a Colorado-based web designer who stated that her Christian faith requires her to turn away LGBTQ clients.

Carolyn Handke, speaking on behalf of Period Wellness, stated, “Periods and abortions are a normal part of healthcare for people who menstruate. Everyone needs access to safe and healthy menstrual cycles and abortion care. Not just those who can afford it.”

Handke expressed the need to expand abortion access in Minnesota, as it has become an abortion safe haven for people in surrounding states. Abortion is illegal in neighboring states North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin, and Iowa voted to implement a six-week abortion ban on July 11.

“The Supreme Court has not stopped its assault on the democratic rights of the people; from allowing businesses to sue unions for losses in strikes, to allowing LGBTQ people to be discriminated against by businesses, to attacks on the rights of Black and native people,” said Siobhan Moore of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

“At the U of M, the administration wants to cut budgets for already underfunded gender and ethnic studies departments,” remarked Sorcha Lona, a member of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at the University of Minnesota. She continued, “These departments that the student movement fought so hard for will be devastated by this decision.”

SCOTUS rulings are hitting students and higher education hard. On June 29, in the case Students for Fair Admission v. Harvard, the SCOTUS ruled that race-based admissions for schools were discriminatory, overturning affirmative action. In another blow to students, the SCOTUS ruled in Biden v. Nebraska against the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness. This plan would have delivered up to $20,000 in student loan forgiveness for about 43 million people living in the U.S.

Rachel Storm, also with MNAAC, spoke about political repression by the FBI, saying, “Just recently, one of our comrades from SDS, Gillian [Rath], was contacted by the FBI, and asked about the anti-CPC work we’ve been doing.”

The FBI questioned her about abortion rights activism and her work in opposition to anti-abortion centers, despite not having done anything illegal. Anti-abortion centers, alternatively known as crisis pregnancy centers or CPCs, will no longer receive state funding in the state of Minnesota thanks to the passing of state legislation this spring. However, most CPCs still receive funding from right-wing evangelical organizations with deep pockets. CPCs outnumber legitimate abortion clinics 11 to 1 in the state of Minnesota.

Storm continued, “According to an internal report from the FBI, they’ve opened ten times as many investigations into ‘abortion-related terrorism’ cases than they had in 2021. And this uptick in FBI investigations comes directly from pressure by Republican congresspeople, urging the FBI to investigate charges of 'pro-abortion terrorism.'”

Targeting abortion clinic staff and abortion rights activists, anti-abortion advocates have committed at least eleven murders since 1993. There were 26 attempted murders in the same time period.

Storm concluded, “Does it make any sense for the FBI to target pro-abortion activists when it's abundantly clear who is perpetuating the violence here?”

The Abort the Court protest was organized by the Minnesota Abortion Action Committee, Students for a Democratic Society, Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar, and Taking Back Pride.

#MinneapolisMN #Labor #LGBTQ #PeoplesStruggles #abortion #Antiracism #AbortionRights #SCOTUS

Milwaukee, WI – Thursday, May 25 marked the three-year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder by killer cop Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis. George Floyd’s murder sparked a rebellion in which millions took to the streets in the U.S. and around the world. His murder resonated in Milwaukee, a city with countless victims of police crimes. To commemorate George Floyd and all victims of police crimes in Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (MAARPR) organized a vigil.

“May 25, 2020 was a day that changed many of us,” said Femi Akinmoladun, member of the Milwaukee Alliance. Tens of thousands of people in Milwaukee poured into the streets to demand justice for George Floyd and other victims of police crimes in the city. Milwaukee has a long history of police crimes, many of which involved officers or racist vigilantes choking a Black or brown man to death.

Speaking to this history, Brian Verdin, education chair of the MAARPR, said, “When I saw the footage of George Floyd’s murder, I couldn’t help but think about the people in Milwaukee who have been killed in similar ways – choked to death. I think about Ernest Lacy in 1981. Derek Williams in 2011. Corey Stingley in 2012. Joel Acevedo in 2020, one month before George Floyd.”

Three years have passed, and although the streets aren’t filled with thousands of people, the organizing has not stopped. As Lo Cross, co-chair of the MAARPR, stated, “There’s a lot of work to be done. It’s a long struggle. It has been three years since George Floyd was murdered, but the struggle continues. We’re only going to win what we’re organized to take. We can’t wait for the next spontaneous event to set off another wave of struggle. We must build up our organization and be ready.”

The struggle continues, and in Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Alliance has been diligently building partnerships with other community organizations to push for progressive changes. Speaking to this, Donyae Robinson, organizer with Black Leaders Organizing Communities, said, “If we stand up together, I feel like nothing can stop us.”

#MilwaukeeWI #OppressedNationalities #PoliceBrutality #PeoplesStruggles #AfricanAmerican #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #Antiracism #GeorgeFloyd #MilwaukeeAllianceAgainstRacistAndPoliticalRepression

Kaufman, TX – On May 13, a rally was held at the Kaufman County Courthouse in remembrance of Aaron Martinez a man who was viciously murdered by his neighbor Trevor McEuen in Forney, Texas.

Aaron Martinez was a resident of Forney and worked as a horse trainer and was 35 years old when Trevor McEuen shot him to death.

Friends, family members, community members and organizers gathered to show solidarity towards Martinez and his family. In total 150 people came to the rally, many holding signs, and pictures demanding justice for Aaron Martinez and his family.

Carlos Quintanilla, one of the organizers of the event, said “Trevor McEuen was a man who had hate in his heart, and he killed a hardworking Latino man because of the color of his skin.”

Priscilla Martinez, the wife of Aaron Martinez, said “It took a lot for me to come up here and speak today, but I'm angry, the $2 million bond should be raised, because no amount of money will bring my husband back.”

The daughter of Aaron Martinez said, “Thank you everyone for coming out today it means a lot for me and my family.”

Xavi Velasquez an organizer with La Frontera Nos Cruzo said, “Many of us are immigrants, we come here seeking a better life. Many of us are not immigrants but were born here and can trace our people back to before this was the U.S. We of the Chicano and Latino community have every right to live here, without fear of violence. Immigrant or not. We have every right to live here in peace. To make a living and to raise our families in peace. We should not have to be here today.”

The crowds rallied with chants saying “Justicia por Aaron!”

At the end of the rally the people present pledged to continue the fight for justice.

#KaufmanTX #Antiracism #PoliceCrimes

By Destiny Spruill and Jacob Buckner

Chicago, IL – Two factors have made public safety a lynchpin issue in the upcoming mayoral election between Brandon Johnson, former teacher supported by the Chicago Teacher’s Union, and Paul Vallas, former CEO of Chicago Public Schools, backed by the Fraternal Order of the Police (FOP). First is the rise in the crime rate in the city in recent years. The second, and principal, reason is the law-and-order backlash that followed the historic protests of the George Floyd Rebellion.

Groups like the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) are fighting to make sure that the city’s supposed concern for public safety prioritizes police accountability for its Black, Latino, indigenous and working-class residents. These residents face the highest rates of incarceration and violent police raids and have been the most likely to face the full force of the police state.

You can’t discuss public safety without discussing the struggle for community control of the police – a struggle for democratic rights.

“This mayoral election is historic. It is the first time in four decades that we’ve had a truly progressive candidate for mayor – Brandon Johnson. For the first time in history, the people of Chicago have a real choice between the old reactionary, recycling of the status quo and taking a progressive road towards advancing the democratic right of the people,” says Frank Chapman, the executive director of the National Alliance Against Racist Political Repression (NAARPR).

The movement for community control of the police in Chicago began over 50 years ago. CAARPR played a leading role in the 1970s and starting 11 years ago has led it through its Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC) campaign. They believe that electing Brandon Johnson is an important piece in the broader struggle for police accountability. Understanding the history of CAARPR’s CPAC movement is crucial in assessing the needs of Chicago’s most vulnerable populations. It is also crucial in evaluating how we can chart the way forward.

CAARPR and its struggle for community control of police in Chicago

By 1968, the first citywide attempt at community control was started by the Black Panther Party (BPP), which initiated a number of programs that demanded to transform the power structure of the police and its effect on the lives of Black Chicagoans. The Panthers believed that community control of the police was a political necessity for Black community members to decide for themselves how public safety would be implemented. Their demands were clear: violent police officers must be held accountable through community boards, the people must decide the funding of the Chicago Police Department (CPD), and the power of supervising and administering the police department must be transferred to the citizens of Chicago. The National Alliance Against Racist Political Repression (NAARPR) took up these demands and created a model to bring these demands to legislation.

Starting in 2012, CAARPR, the Chicago branch of NAARPR, provided a model based on the principle set forth by the Panthers, and on legislation that had been developed by the National Alliance in the 1970s. Decades later, the need for this movement continued as racist policing in Chicago increased as a result of the heightened power of the CPD. In 2012, 22-year-old Rekia Boyd was murdered by an off-duty police detective named Dante Servin. Following community protests, the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression began a ten-year process of building a movement to pass an ordinance that would create community-controlled police boards in all 22 Chicago police districts. This movement became known as the Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC) campaign.

CAARPR spent the next years in working-class neighborhoods most affected by police violence and spoke to survivors and community members about their public safety needs. These efforts continued from the murder of Laquan McDonald in 2014 to the murder of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor in 2020. When George Floyd was murdered, the National Alliance Against Racist Political Repression called for a national day of protest on May 30. In Chicago, 20,000 marched or car caravanned into the Chicago Loop. In the following weeks, over 100,000 marched in Chicago. Every protest called for “CPAC now!”

The campaign collected over 60,000 signatures with an average of 1000 signatures in 38 wards. Their efforts proved that victory is only possible with the leadership and experience of the community. This mass movement created the conditions for passing legislation.

By 2021, CAARPR had the support of 19 of the 50 city council members. A competing police accountability legislation, the Grassroots Alliance for Police Accountability (GAPA), had the support of 26 of the 50 city council members. Council members of the Socialist Caucus of Chicago told GAPA that they would not cast a vote to support their legislation unless they came to an agreement with the CPAC legislation proposed by CAARPR. After then-mayor Lori Lightfoot refused GAPA’s demand to include control of police policy in their legislation, negotiations between CAARPR and GAPA began, and a compromise was reached two months later.

The Empowering Communities for Public Safety (ECPS) ordinance was passed in the city council and officially created two bodies for police accountability: the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA) and the police district councils, for which there were elections in February. These bodies have the following powers: Directly investigating crimes of police violence; determining Chicago Police Department policy; hiring and firing the Chief Administrator of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA); holding hearings about police superintendents; and recommending preventative, proactive, community-based and evidence-based solutions to violence.

These District Councils and the CCPSA go beyond stopping vicious and racist police officers, they hold a model for community members directly affected by racist police violence to see justice and build a regenerative model to change public safety.

Many of the candidates for these boards had never run for public office – they are motivated by their own experiences with police violence. Cynthia McFadden, for example, ran for the board because she was inspired by her father who fled the South due to extreme violence only to be murdered by Chicago police the day of his arrival. Coston Plummer was motivated by his older brother who was forced by Chicago police to falsely confess to a murder when he was just 15 years old. These candidates believe that ECPS represents the will of communities impacted by police violence to finally experience justice.

On February 28, 2023, for the first time in history, residents of Chicago had the opportunity to vote for these boards – resulting in 39 of 66 district councilors being elected from the movement for police accountability. CAARPR, alongside their partners in their community, expanded this grassroots campaign and made it possible to succeed.

From CPAC to ECPS to Brandon Johnson

“The terms of this election were set by the murder of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Across the U.S., 26 million people called for justice – including Brandon Johnson. Brandon Johnson has received the support of the Chicago Alliance because he alone included police accountability and working with ECPS in his platform and campaign. Paul Vallas received support from the FOP to maintain injustice. On February 28, the Black community voted against the FOP and for justice through democratic control of the police in the district council elections,” says Joe Iosbaker, cochair of the Labor Committee of CAARPR.

During a mayoral forum on public safety at the UIC Forum on March 14, Paul Vallas put forth his vision of police accountability by saying, “Community policing fundamentally means, you have beat officers on every beat. So every single beat is covered by a patrol car, manned with officers. Officers know the community, and are known by name and by badge number, by the community.” Vallas has seized on rising concerns for public safety – which have steadily grown as the city of Chicago experiences more violence and believes the only way forward is to increase police presence and grant them more control over the city. Chicago’s FOP, an organization that is nationally known for its hostility towards Black and brown people, threw its support behind Paul Vallas. He welcomed its endorsement and thanked “Chicago’s finest, men and women of the FOP who sacrifice their lives to make our city safer. Reducing crime and making Chicago safer are my top priorities.”

Brandon Johnson has built his public safety platform with the intention of addressing the “root causes of violence and poverty.” Johnson’s campaign for Chicago mayor is not only about the use of community control boards, but about creating an overall model of safety which positions the needs of the community at its center. Johnson argues that public safety is not only about stopping police violence but about investing in generative initiatives such as mental health care and housing.

Johnson believes these measures will prevent systemic violence from attacking Chicago communities. One of his initiatives involves getting rid of the racist “Gang Database,” which currently “labels more than 280,000 people – 95% people of color as gang members without requiring evidence of gang affiliation or informing them of their listing.” The Gang Database has been used to profile and surveil Black neighborhoods, resulting in heightened Black and Latino arrests. Johnson also supports the Anjanette Young Ordinance, which will stop no-knock warrants. He believes in collaborating with the democratically elected District Councils to manage police accountability and decide the Chicago Police Department's policy.

Each of Johnson's initiatives interconnects with the overall needs of the community, including mental health. Within mental health initiatives, Johnston aims to Launch Crisis Response Teams with non-police personnel, reopen all 14 mental health centers, and expand the 988 mental health crisis hotline to 24 hours.

The fight for Brandon Johnson is the fight for justice for the Black and Latino community In Chicago

The mayoral election between Brandon Johnson and Paul Vallas will decide if the city continues the struggle for a public safety plan that includes Black and Latino Chicagoans and its working-class neighborhoods. The grassroots work of the last ten years – the struggle for democratic control of the police – could be upheld through Brandon Johnson’s leadership. For ten years, Chicagoans have fought for police accountability, affirmative mental health treatment, and housing for all community members. Many believe Brandon Johnson’s candidacy represents the work that Black Chicagoans have put toward a movement to see their own collective needs met against systemic violence.

Throughout the ten-year CPAC campaign, CAARPR created a grassroots movement that won a historic ordinance to hold the police accountable. CAARPR responds to the calls for public safety this way: “Black and brown communities are over-policed and under-protected. There’s a reason that 70% of violent crimes in our neighborhoods go unsolved. No one trusts the police. And why would they? After generations of police crimes, like the reign of torturer Jon Burge!” In the words of Frank Chapman, “We want to hold the police accountable for what they do, and what they don’t do.”

CAARPR’s current task is to uphold the advances made by the district council elections through the election of Brandon Johnson, but they will carry forth the mission toward real police accountability, in partnership with the local community, well beyond this mayoral election. We will continue to look to them as leaders in our struggle against state-sanctioned violence.

#ChicagoIL #InJusticeSystem #OppressedNationalities #US #PeoplesStruggles #AfricanAmerican #PoliceBrutality #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #Antiracism #PoliticalRepression #Elections #ChicagoAllianceAgainstRacistAndPoliticalRepression #CommunityControlOfThePolice #BrandonJohnson

San José, CA – On Sunday, February 19, more than 350 people from the Japanese American community gathered at the San José Buddhist Church Betsuin Hall for the 43rd annual Day of Remembrance. The San José Day of Remembrance was organized the Nihonmachi Outreach Committee. The event commemorates the signing of Executive Order 9066 by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1942. Executive Order 9066 laid the basis for the incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans in concentration camps during World War II.

With the theme “Reparative Justice: Together We Rise”, the program stressed the unity of the Japanese American community with others who have also faced a history of national oppression in the United States. The program began with a live statement by Sumi Tanabe, and a video statement by Satomi Susie Yasui, both of them Nisei (second generation Japanese Americans) women who were sent to the camps as children.

After a candlelight procession through San José Japantown, the program restarted with a solidarity statement by Athar Sidiqee, chairman of the South Bay Islamic Association, whose original mosque is just blocks away from Japantown. The Nihonmachi Outreach Committee has had an American Muslim speaker and even a co-chair for 20 years, in solidarity with that community following the wave of attacks and government harassment following 2001.

The guest speaker was Veronica Martinez, representing the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, whose historic lands are just south of San José. The Amah Mutsun have been fighting corporate development on these lands.

Ending the program was a performance by the San José Taiko, a Japanese drum group. In her introduction to the Taiko, Yuzo Kubota said that “I am the voice of the oppressed.” The Taiko then played DoR, written and inspired by previous Day of Remembrance programs.

#SanJoséCA #JapaneseAmericanInternment #Antiracism

Chicago, IL – 300 Chicagoans braced against the cold night, January 30, to protest the brutal police slayings of Tyre Nichols, Keenan Anderson and Manuel “Tortuguita” Teron. The eight-degree weather did not deter the crowd as they clustered together to stand in solidarity with protests that have broken out across the country in the wake of the release of the video footage that depicted multiple officers beating Nichols to death.

Frank Chapman, field organizer of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR), made it clear that there is an answer to the people’s cries for justice. “We’ve got a solution in Chicago; February 28 is the solution.” On February 28, Chicagoans will be voting for the first time ever to elect civilians to District Councilor positions, which is seen by many as a step in the fight towards gaining community control over the police.

The rally was called by CAARPR with support from organizations such as Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation (SOUL), Rainbow PUSH, Good Kids/Mad City, and United States Palestinian Community Network (USPCN). Referring to the district council elections, Nick Seuss from USPCN, told the crowd that, “The first step is to take power from the police and give it to the people.”

Bishop Tavis Grant from the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition reminded the crowd, “We’ve got a democratic option: vote.” This point could not be more true with the February 28 elections for District Councilors quickly approaching for Chicagoans.

12th Police District Council candidate, William “The Kid” Guerrero, drew parallels to what happened in Memphis to what goes on in Chicago: “This is for Adam Toledo, Tortuguita, and Tyre Nichols.”

After a brief march and chanting, “I believe that we will win!” and “Who keeps us safe? We keep us safe!” the group disbanded. Overall, one of the messages that rang loudest Monday night was first said by 15th District Council candidate Arewa Karen Winters, who quoted Assata Shakur: “We have nothing to lose but our chains!”

#ChicagoIL #OppressedNationalities #PeoplesStruggles #AfricanAmerican #PoliceBrutality #Antiracism #PoliticalRepression #ChicagoAllianceAgainstRacistAndPoliticalRepression #CommunityControlOfThePolice #TyreNichols

New York, NY – Around 60 people gathered in the historic Saint Mary's Episcopal Church in Harlem to honor the legacy of Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. on what would have been his birthday weekend. Organized by Struggle-La Lucha, a panel of 11 speakers took part in the event that demanded: No war and sanctions, strop funding white supremacy in the Ukraine, shut down NATO, and stop racism, transphobia, union busting, and the attacks on women’s rights, LGBTQ+ and immigrants.

The speakers included Margaret Kimberly of Black Agenda Report, Melinda Butterfield of Struggle-La Lucha and Omowale Cla, December 12 Movement.

Jessica Schwartz gave a speech on behalf of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, where she said, “Too often, socialism and national liberation are seen as separate ideologies, when in fact they go hand in hand. It is revolutionaries like Harry Haywood and Claudia Jones who took the works of Stalin and other Marxist-Leninists and applied it to their own conditions, creating the theory of Black Belt South as part of their struggle for national liberation and self-determination. The Black Panther Party used scientific socialism to fight national oppression and were infiltrated and attacked because of this. Leaders like Thomas Sankara used social programs to liberate his people, only to be assassinated because of the threat he posed to U.S. and European imperialist powers. It is when Black people and other nationally oppressed people use socialism and take on the imperialist powers of the world that they are seen as especially dangerous and need to be taken down.”

Michela Martinazzi closed out the event and spoke on behalf of the steering committee of the International League of Peoples Struggle. In her speech she referenced Dr. King’s famous anti-war speech “Beyond Vietnam”, including the quote, “We were taking the Black young men who had been crippled by our society and sending them 8000 miles away to guarantee liberties in Southeast Asia which they had not found in southwest Georgia and East Harlem.”

Martinazzi followed up the reference by saying, “What MLK zeroed in on in that speech is that war abroad means fighting for ‘freedom’ in countries that were free before U.S. troops set foot there. It means fighting for ‘freedom’ that oppressed people here in the U.S. have yet to experience.”

She ended her speech by calling out, “We have a massive and tumultuous battle ahead of us. Let’s lean on each other, let’s lean on solidarity, and let’s win the war together. Long live the legacy of Doctor Martin Luther King Jr! Long live international solidarity!”

The event ended with a beautiful live rendition of Solidarity Forever on the piano.

#NewYorkNY #Antiracism #MartinLutherKingJrMLKDay

Chicago, IL – On October 31, a student at Jones College Prep (JCP) in Chicago dressed up in Nazi uniform and was allowed to walk across a stage during a “Halloween Costume Showcase.” The video exposing this incident has amassed over 158,000 views. In it, booing can be heard while the student goose steps across the stage and salutes, further solidifying this overt act of antisemitism and white supremacy.

Immediately, members of the Black Student Union at JCP spoke up. They made their concerns clear to the administration, as they had been doing for years, and were told “it’s not that serious.”

Paul J. Powers, the former principal at JCP, took it upon himself to send parents and teachers emails deliberately twisting what had happened. However, it quickly became clear that this was all just an attempt on behalf of Powers to look out for his interests, or in other words, to keep his salary. But the damage had already been done, and the Black Student Union (BSU) wasted no time in calling for a coalition of cultural clubs across campus. To emphasize the role of JCP’s administration in obscuring instances of racism and injustice, the BSU raised the slogan “Admin Always Covers Up” and scheduled a sit-in to take place Monday, November 7.

Support poured in from across the city and from other cities across the country. In Chicago, the Teachers Union called on the principal to resign – and if he didn’t – for him to be removed. The people were fed up, and the now-former principal was gone before the weekend had arrived.

Regardless, the BSU decided to follow through with their action. On Monday, well over 1000 students enrolled at JCP came together to hold their administration accountable for their actions, or lack thereof. Black students were present, brown students were present, white students were present, and students from other schools were present.

After the sit-in, Fight Back! asked a leader of the Black Student Union, Isis Gullette, some questions.

Fight Back!: In the past week, this video has gone viral and been viewed over 100,000 times- but we’ve also heard from student leaders that this is not an isolated incident. What do you have to say about that? Why was this incident in particular the catalyst for removing the principal?

Isis Gullette: I feel like that can be attributed to a variety of things. One, I think something like this had to happen specifically to a white minority group for admin to fully comprehend the intensity of the situation – to understand just how deeply rooted this issue is. Like you said, it’s not an isolated incident. It doesn’t exist within a vacuum, stuff like this has been happening for years and years and even Jones alumni have come forth and talked about their personal experiences with it. So, when you take all that into consideration- this really is just like a catalyst, and just a starting point, because Jones students like myself are fed up.

Fight Back!: Why is it that this was primarily Black led?

Gullette: That’s a really good question. So, from the very get-go, the second that the student walked off the stage wearing his uniform, it was like majority Black students who, for one, were booing him off the stage, and two, went to administration about their concerns with the uniform and the costume. From the get-go, it’s been mainly BSU and the Black coalition that came together to properly address this situation; because of the fact that Black students are usually the ones that step forth in these types of situations to actually speak forth – speak on like the injustice that we face and that we notice that other oppressed groups face.

Fight Back!: One final question. Now that Powers is out, does that mean that this is over? What are the next steps for the BSU? Is this a constant struggle?

Gullette: That’s a really good question. I think this issue is far from over, this is just the beginning. Dr. Powers getting fired wasn’t even really our intent, but it is just a result of the prolonged catastrophe that has been happening in Jones College Prep. For BSU in particular, we plan to get way more organized and just more involved with the school community – looking at the curriculum itself, because we feel like the education, and the way that education has like, failed us, is really important in tackling this issue.

#ChicagoIL #AntiRacism #BlackStudentUnion

Fight Back! News interviews the chair of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) Joint Nationalities Commission Masao Suzuki. Fight Back!: FRSO says that the U.S. is a jailhouse for oppressed nationalities. What is meant by this?

Masao Suzuki: The FRSO describes the United States as a “jailhouse for oppressed nationalities” for three reasons. First, the United States was founded on the genocide and land theft of Native Americans, and the chattel slavery of Africans. From its very beginning, U.S. capitalism was based on both national oppression and the exploitation of U.S. workers. Thus, in FRSO we see the core of the united front against imperialism as the strategic alliance between the working class and oppressed nationalities.

Second, inside the United States, three oppressed nations have developed: the African American Nation in the South, the Chicano Nation in the Southwest, and the Hawaiian Nation in Hawaii. FRSO supports the right to self-determination, up to and including the right to form their own countries, for these oppressed nations.

Third, FRSO supports the right to national development, including the return of land, to the indigenous peoples of the United States. Native peoples are the worst off all the oppressed nationalities: the most poverty, the shortest lifespans, the least educational opportunities.

Fourth, the United States still has colonies: Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands in the Caribbean, Belau (Palau), Guam, the Marshall Islands, and the Northern Mariana in the Pacific. These colonies have long been exploited by the U.S. military and U.S. corporations. FRSO supports independence of all U.S. colonies.

Fifth, there are large numbers of oppressed nationalities such as Arab Americans, Asian Americans, and Latinos who face racist violence, language discrimination, residential segregation, and religious persecution. While not oppressed nations with a national territory with the borders of the U.S., FRSO supports full equality for oppressed nationalities.

In the History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, tsarist Russia is referred to as a “prison of nations.” Much like the United States today, the Russian empire oppressed whole nations, such as Poland, as well as oppressed nationalities without their own national territory such as Russian Jews.

Fight Back!: A lot of people say the problem in the U.S. Is one of racism. What do you think?

Suzuki: Racism, that is the conscious or unconscious bias against oppressed nationalities, is certainly a problem in the United States. For example, African Americans routinely stopped, harassed, arrested, and even beaten and killed by killer cops – what is called “driving while Black.” But in my view, it is not the root problem faced by oppressed nationalities. National oppression – that is the economic, political and social inequality between white Americans on one hand and oppressed nationalities on the other – is in fact the basis for racism, not the other way around.

There are at least two problems with seeing racism as the problem. The first is that if the problem is racism, then the solution is changing people’s thoughts. This can be done by diversity trainings, “unconscious bias” testing, bringing people together for food and festivals, etc. Electing Barack Obama as president was a victory over racists and white supremacists. But his election did not help solve police violence against African Americans or aid the legalization of undocumented immigrants, 85% of who were Mexicano and Central American at the time.

A second problem, especially for progressives and revolutionaries, is that viewing national oppression as a matter of race separates the national and democratic struggle of oppressed nationalities here in the United States from the world struggle for national liberation of oppressed nations and nationalities around the world. The struggle for national liberation of the people Ireland against British imperialism was not a matter of “race.” Neither were the struggles of Koreans, Chinese, Filipinos, Vietnamese and others against the vicious and genocidal Japanese imperialism, which killed millions of East and Southeast Asians during World War II.

Capitalism in the United States was founded on the genocide of indigenous people and the chattel slavery of Africans. Racism arose as a justification for the seizure of land from Native Americans and the profits from slave labor. So, I see the elimination of capitalism, that is a socialist society, as a necessary starting point for the elimination of national oppression and to bring about full equality.

Fight Back!: Given that the U.S. has established an empire that extends across the globe, how are developments in the international situation impacting inequality and discrimination here at home?

Suzuki: There is a long history of the international situation having an impact on national oppression here in the United States. Twenty years ago, the Bush administration declared the so-called “War on Terror” to justify the invasion and occupation of first Afghanistan, and then Iraq. A number of measures, including the special registration of foreign-born Muslims in the United States, infiltration of Islamic centers and charity organizations targeted American Muslims, in particular Palestinian Americans.

Recently, the growing tensions between the United States and China, and in particular, President Trump blaming China for the pandemic, ignited a wave of harassment, assault and murder of Asian Americans, culminating in the mass killing at a spa in Atlanta, where six Asian American women and two others were shot and killed. Trump said that foreign students from China are all potential spies, and the FBI carried out a campaign against Chinese American professors in the United States.

But the struggle for decolonization and national liberation in the Third World after World War II also put pressure on U.S. to distance itself from its colonial empire and racist practices here in the United States. While the massive struggle of African Americans in the Civil Rights movement was the main force in ending Jim Crow segregation, the U.S. imperialists knew that reforms ending explicitly racist policies would help the image of the United States.

The liberation struggles in Africa, Asia and Latin America provided inspiration to African American leaders from Luther King Jr. to Malcolm X and helped the rise of the Civil Rights movement and the Black Power struggle of the 1950s and 1960s. Leaders of liberation movements in the Third World were very conscious of this, with Fidel Castro staying in NYC’s Harlem on his first visit to the United Nations.

Fight Back!: How has the George Floyd rebellion changed the political landscape of the U.S?

Suzuki: Following the murder of George Floyd in May of 2020, an uprising took place in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and millions of people poured into the streets across the country. This was the single largest protest in U.S. history, with more than 25 million people taking part. These protests were also the most multi-national as compared to other large protests where the vast majority were white Americans or African American or Chicano/Latino.

The George Floyd rebellion demonstrated again, much as the Civil Rights movement did in the early 1960s, that the African American movement has a particular ability to move Americans of all nationalities and all walks of life. Like the Civil Rights and Black Power movements of the 1960s, the George Floyd rebellion with African Americans at its core, inspired other oppressed nationalities to action. Less than a year later, after the killings at an Atlanta spa where most the victims were Asian women, the largest wave of Asian American protests ever happened across the country. Many of the organizers had never organized a protest, but they had marched before – in protest of the murder of George Floyd.

In terms of police crimes, for the first time, the most egregious police killers are being arrested, tried and convicted. But despite a handful of killer cops going to jail there has been no fundamental change in racist violence by police. In 2021, the year after the George Floyd uprising, police killed more than 1000 people, one of the highest numbers in recent years. Of those killed who were unarmed most were African Americans and Chicanos and Latino.

One advance for the struggle is that the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, which was refounded in 2019, was able to lead many of the protest and advance the demand for community control of the police. This demand, first raised by the Black Panther Party in 1970, has become a leading demand to actually change policing by putting it under the control of the community through elected civilian accountability councils.

Fight Back!: What is the relationship between the struggle for consistent democracy and the fight for socialism?

Suzuki: The fights – against police crimes and for community control of police, the fight against deportations and militarization of the border and for legalization of the undocumented, the struggle for full equality for African Americans, Chicanos and Latinos, and other oppressed nationalities, the fight for reproductive rights and for full equality for women, and fight for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer rights – are all a part of the struggle for consistent democracy here in the United States.

The Freedom Road Socialist Organization believes that the fight for socialism requires a broad united front of many classes led by the party of the working class, a communist party. At the core of this united front is the strategic alliance between the workers’ movement and the movements of oppressed nationalities in the United States. Thus, most of our comrades are engaged in these two struggles.

But we are also involved in other struggles – in the anti-war and international solidarity movement, the student movement, for reproductive rights and the women’s movement, the LGBTQ movement, and the environmental movement. Through these movements we fight for democracy and to defend the lives of working people from many walks of life. These movements are also important to build the broadest possible united front against monopoly capitalism and for socialism.

We fight for socialism because we recognize that U.S. society is a democracy for the 1%, for the monopoly capitalists that own the wealth of this country. Both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party are parties of the ruling class, of the monopoly capitalists. National elections in this country give people a choice of different capitalist-backed politicians – not a real choice.

But for the vast majority of people, and for workers and oppressed nationalities, this facade of bourgeois democracy hides a steel fist of force and violence against any and all who would threaten the rule of the capitalist class.

#UnitedStates #Socialism #NationalOppression #AntiRacism

Progressive Student Union has a campaign to bring down the racist symbols that UTA has propped up, and to this end we are wanting to remove Hereford’s bust from the University Center and to then have the name “Hereford” dropped from the UC.

What is the proof of the racist environment that Hereford created? The neo-Confederate theme he established at the school, and his allowing racist performances and groups to exist with school backing and his maintaining the system of segregation in an era of the Civil Rights movement.

The confederate theme was just not calling the football team “Rebels,” it was a complete going all in for styling the campus as a mimicry of the Confederacy, from adopting its ideology that the Civil War was fought for a “righteous cause” to literally dressing up spirit teams in self-described “antebellum” uniforms. The Confederate battle flag and unofficial anthem Dixieland were our flag and school song respectively, and every aspect one could think of in attempting to honor the Confederacy was utilized by the school to adopt it as its own “culture.” “The South will rise again” was a phrase that would be unironically adopted to commemorate school events like the Old South Days, which were the culmination of the Confederate theme – doing mock secession speeches and hosting the infamous mock-slave auctions on campus.

Hereford also allowed a tradition of minstrelsy and blackface on campus, from groups doing blackface to raise funds for the school to literal minstrel shows being put on the college campus, like Little Black Sambo, which author Langston Hughes decried for its popularization of anti-black stereotypes.

Hereford allowed an organization to take up the moniker of KKK – known officially as the “Kampus Kadet Klub” but it also went by the nickname of the “Davis Hall Klansmen.” This was at a time that the Klan existed as a major force and committed terroristic acts – such as the assault of Alex Johnson. Johnson’s skull had “KKK” carved into his skull, literally, by acid by the Klan.

Hereford maintained the segregationist system despite students’ opposition, and he was extremely close to segregationist Attorney General Price Daniel – who argued against desegregation in Sweatt v. Painter and would later go on to be a proponent of the “Southern Manifesto” against desegregation. Daniel sent him his own arguments and advised him on the dangers of desegregation, and that later on, the administration Hereford fostered would specifically deny applications from Black students despite the Brown v. Board of Education decision.

In a time where neo-Confederate sympathies and the icons of the Confederacy are more-or-less known to be seen for the racist politics or iconography that they are – UTA, as one of the most diverse colleges in Texas, should not uphold figures like Hereford, or Woolf, or Davis as men to look up to or be honored on campus. Davis, the racist eugenicist who preceded Hereford, had his name taken down from the administration building due to the efforts of PSU to bring up Hereford’s legacy back in 2018 – and it is now time to do the same to Hereford.

Hereford’s legacy is that of a segregationist, white supremacist and racist, rather than a “good luck charm” or just an important figure in school history. His legacy perpetuated and continued a racist atmosphere that would be inherited and expanded upon by his immediate successors – the mock-slave auctions under Woolf, and Harrison’s refusal to listen to Black students or his own Ombudsman Committee in challenging the racist traditions on campus.

With both new evidence coming to light, and the fact the old Committee that former President Karbhari set up not being able to find half of the information we uncovered – it is clear to me that Hereford should not be immortalized and honored in the way that he is. It is why we, as Progressive Student Union, have been both compiling a petition for his removal and attempting to set a referendum to put the question to the students on the name of the University Center and placement of the statue. UTA has plenty to honor and cherish in terms of its diverse history, but segregationists and defenders of white supremacy should not be among them as we have seen with Davis. Hereford, and Woolf, need to go.

#ArlingtonTX #AntiRacism #UTA

On July 2nd, less than 100 Patriot Front members from across the country convened in Boston for a march through the downtown. Patriot Front is a white nationalist hate group that engages in street protests, offensive attack training, and utilizes American fascist imagery for propaganda and recruitment purposes. Outfitted with steel police shields and flags depicting the fasces, a symbol used by Mussolini’s National Fascist Party, the cowardly group marched with their faces covered in an attempted show of force. Additionally, members assaulted a local man, requiring him to be transported to the hospital. No arrests were made.

This kind of “show of force” is not new for the group, especially in recent months. On December 4th, nearly 100 members traveled to DC to march on the National Mall while carrying shields and chanting “Reclaim America.” On June 11th, 31 members of Patriot Front from across the country were arrested outside of a local Pride event in Idaho. They were arrested with riot gear, a smoke grenade, shields and a written plan for their attempted riot.

There is a consistent trend in these actions that must be discussed: the mass traveling of people from across the country to show an inflated number of members. We know from leaked messages and police reports that the members attending these acts of intimidation have coordinated travel across state lines. Additionally, leaked chats have shown that members are required to commit vandalism and attend these events to be a part of the group. This shows that any identified Patriot Front member must be treated as an active threat to the community they are invading.

Member Calvin Stow-Ortiz, alias Arthur FL, has proven to be a highly motivated fascist; he travels hundreds of miles for events, engages in marching and hand-to-hand training activities, and is being used to further recruit at Florida State University and in the greater Tallahassee area. Stow-Ortiz, stepson of a Tampa Police Department officer Antonio Ortiz-Saldana, has traveled to DC, Georgia, and throughout Florida to engage in vandalism and fascist organizing. He was identified en route to Boston and there are reports of his being in Massachusetts over the weekend. This evidence, as well as historical precedence, leaves us with little doubt that Stow-Ortiz was present at this march.

FSU Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) will continue their calls for the removal of Stow-Ortiz from Florida State University, which would greatly hamper his fascist recruitment and propagandizing. FSU administration has been completely ineffective at protecting students from an active fascist presence on their campus. They will continue to turn a blind eye until it is too late. FSU SDS calls on all people (classmates, teachers, etc.) who know Calvin Stow-Ortiz to isolate this fascist. The university and the police will not do anything without outside pressure, which is why everyday people must act. We keep us safe!

#Florida #FL #StudentsForADemocraticSocietySDS #Antiracism #Antifascism

In 2022 alone 36 state legislatures have introduced over 300 anti-LGBTQ bills, with eight of those states passing laws that target transgender youth. Anti-LGBTQ activity increased from 15 documented cases of anti-LGBTQ demonstrations, sexual violence, non-sexual attacks and mob violence in 2020, to 61 documented cases in 2021: a 306% increase. With 33 cases taking place so far this year, 2022 is on track to be even worse.

Most notable is the arrest of 31 members of the Neo-Nazi Patriot Front organization that was planning to attack a Pride celebration in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. This incident, along with attacks perpetrated by self-described Christian Fascists and Proud Boys, have led some elements within the LGBTQ community to call for police cooperation during the remaining Pride events this year.

This sentiment is misguided. The arrest of Patriot Front members, theoretically preventing them from committing violence against LGBTQ people, is an outlier that in no way contradicts the role of police as a uniquely violent institution that targets our most vulnerable communities. Police have killed over 1000 people this past year, with killings of Black, Native American, Chicano and other oppressed nationalities occurring at a much higher proportion to white Americans. When they are not playing ally once per year, police in the U.S. continue to assault and arrest protesters, subvert attempts at accountability, and enact violence against vulnerable communities – including LGBTQ communities – in order to protect property.

In one of the first ever publicized police attacks on the LGBTQ community, members of the newly founded Society of Human Rights, a gay rights organization, were attacked and arrested without a warrant on claims of potential obscenity in 1924. The group disbanded shortly after.

More well known, however, is the historic Black- and trans-led rebellion against police terror that took place at the Stonewall Inn in New York in 1969. Led by queer militants such as Stormé DeLarverie, Silvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson, this rebellion was not in response to the one raid on June 28, but rather against the ongoing campaign of harassment and violence by the police and other violent actors. Regular attacks and raids of any publicly visible gathering of LGBTQ people by the police were commonplace all over the U.S., leading up to the Stonewall Rebellion.

A 2018 report from the National Coalition of Antiviolence Programs indicated that 66% of all LGBTQ people who reported violence to the police were met with either indifference or hostility, with most violence going unreported in the first place due to mistrust of the police. The same report indicates that Black LGBTQ people are three times more likely to experience police violence than non-Black LGBTQ people.

The calls for increased police presence and cooperation at Pride events also requires that vulnerable communities ignore that police in the U.S. don’t usually protect people from right-wing harassment and terror. Police were accused of standing idly by while white supremacists intimidated and shouted down members of the local Black, oppressed nationalities, and LGBTQ communities during the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. A member of that coalition, James Alex Fields Jr., would use his vehicle to drive into a crowd of counter-protestors, killing Heather Heyer and injuring 35 other people.

In the Twin Cities of Minnesota, right-wing groups such as Bikers for Trump regularly attempted to harass, intimidate and even infiltrate protests held by anti-war organizations, the movement for Black lives, immigrant rights groups, and local labor unions. In all cases, it was solely up to the community and the progressive organizations present to protect people from direct harm and harassment, as the police didn’t dare get involved.

Police are even less likely to intervene when life is on the line; the police’s failure to intervene in school shootings in places like Parkland, Florida and Uvalde, Texas make it clear that, even when the situation is dire, police are likely to hesitate or refuse to take action. Under precedents set by the Supreme Court, police in the U.S. are under no obligation to render assistance in the first place.

So long as police in the U.S. remain an active threat to Black and other oppressed nationality and LGBTQ communities, and so long as they continue to be ineffective at preventing white supremacist and anti-LGBTQ violence, the LGBTQ rights movement must remain resolute in demanding that police are not allowed at Pride. One isolated incident in Idaho has not undone a century of anti-LGBTQ violence by U.S. police forces. The demand is still for Pride to return to its radical Black-led, Trans-led, anti-cop, and anti-corporate roots!

A coalition of student, community, and labor groups from Minneapolis-Saint Paul, led by Twin Cities Coalition 4 Justice 4 Jamar will be taking the street ahead of Minneapolis’ corporate Pride parade on June 26 at 10:30 a.m., at 10th Street and Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis. TCC4J and the rest of the coalition will be marching to defend Black trans folks, organize for community control of the police, and demand that cops no longer be allowed at Pride.

#MinneapolisMN #PeoplesStruggles #Pride #Antiracism #TakingBackPride

Milwaukee, WI – On June 6, the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression facilitated a meeting between the Fire and Police Commission (FPC) and families who have lost loved ones to police violence. Present at the meeting were the families of Samuel Rodriguez (murdered 2002), Larry Jenkins (murdered 2002), Jay Anderson Jr. (murdered 2016) and Alvin Cole (murdered 2020).

This meeting was coordinated after a meeting between the Milwaukee Alliance and the FPC last month in which the Milwaukee Alliance discussed the necessity of policy that ensures Milwaukee police publicly release the names of officers involved in police misconduct within 24 hours of the incident and all the unedited footage of the incident within 48 hours. They call it the 24/48 Campaign. The FPC is currently in the information gathering stage of their policy-creation procedure. They have expressed a desire to create a policy proposal regarding the release of footage by the fall.

Presently, there is no policy in Milwaukee that dictates when and how police publicly release footage related to police misconduct. The Milwaukee Police Department claims to follow an informal policy of releasing the footage within 45 days, but they often exceed that limit, only to release a heavily redacted video that fits their narrative, if they release the footage at all.

At the meeting the families stood firmly with the Milwaukee Alliance’s 24/48 Campaign demands. Taleavia Cole, sister of Alvin Cole and member of the Milwaukee Alliance, explained to the chair and commissioner of the FPC how important releasing the footage in a timely manner is to the families. Many families are often left wondering what happened that led to the death of their loved ones when the footage isn’t released, and, as Cole expressed, the wait is painful and prevents any healing for the families.

Debra Jenkins, mother of Larry Jenkins, vocalized the importance of also adding a punitive dimension to the policy. As happened in the cases of Jay Anderson Jr. and Alvin Cole, the same killer cop kept the cameras off. Jenkins demanded the FPC ensure the policy can hold these cops accountable when they turn their cameras off. Otherwise, police officers will continue to bypass the law and avoid any accountability.

Moreover, Linda and Jay Anderson, parents of Jay Anderson Jr., and Victor Rodriguez, father of Samuel Rodriguez, emphasized how families rarely have a fighting chance against the police in the courts because the police narrative gets out faster and dominates public perception. Publicly releasing the names and footage in a timely manner will help families improve their odds for justice in the court and will help them develop their own narrative ahead of the police.

The Milwaukee Alliance has been leading the 24/48 Campaign since the police murder of Roberto “Touch” Zielinski on May 30, 2021. This meeting between the families and the FPC is the latest and, perhaps, most powerful chapter thus far in the campaign. The FPC now has indisputable evidence that families impacted by police violence stand firmly with the Milwaukee Alliance’s demands.

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