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