Jacksonville, FL – On August 2, more than 35 people from across Jacksonville attended a forum on institutionalized racism. Sponsored by the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition (JPC), the event featured a stack of speakers who addressed the Black Lives Matter movement, the struggle against police crimes and the fight against mass incarceration.
Minneapolis, MN – Attorneys appeared in court, August 5, before Judge Peter Cahill for a status conference in the #BlackLivesMatter demonstration case. Notably, Bloomington Prosecutor Sandra Johnson has dropped all substantive trespassing charges against the alleged organizers of the Black Lives Matter demonstration. The move came on the heels of motions to dismiss that were filed by lead attorneys Jordan Kushner and Bruce Nestor, who are representing 10 of 11 individuals identified as ‘ringleaders’ of the Black Lives Matter gathering at the Mall of America last December.
Minneapolis, MN – Over 200 protesters marched here, July 31, demanding justice for Sandra Bland. Bland’s death has come to the forefront of the Black Lives Matter movement because of her suspicious jail cell death while in police custody.
La Alianza de Chicago Contra la Represión Racista y Política (CAARPR) está llamando a una marcha el 29 de agosto para exigir el control civil de la policía. Han escrito, además, legislación para crear un Consejo de Responsabilidad de la Policía Civil (CPAC), elegido por los votantes.
Jacksonville, FL – Over 100 activists and community members gathered here, July 26, to honor Sandra Bland. Bland, who supported the Black Lives Matter movement, became national news when she was found dead in her jail cell after being arrested for a minor traffic offense. Many doubt the official story that Bland committed suicide, especially after video evidence surfaced of Bland being handled roughly by the police.
Bloomington, MN – Over 25 community members and 15 members of the clergy gathered at the Mall of America, July 26, to show their support for the Black Lives Matter movement, to call for an end to the terrorization of people of color through police violence and mass incarceration and to urge Mall of America (MOA) to drop its charges against 36 organizers and bystanders stemming from last December’s MOA protest.
Minneapolis, MN – More than 40 people protested outside the office of Senator Amy Klobuchar on July 24, demanding the closing of ‘family detention centers’ housing thousands of immigrant mothers and children near the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas. The largest family detention center in Dilley, Texas houses around 2000 immigrant mothers and children, the vast majority of whom fled rampant violence and economic deterioration in the Central American countries of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. After a harrowing and dangerous journey across several borders, these mothers and children are suffering yet another nightmare of being jailed indefinitely by the U.S. government under terrible conditions. The Dilley prison is a private prison operated for profit by the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA).
Dallas, TX – About 60 people gathered at Belo Park here, July 22, to remember Sandra Bland, the young African American woman who died in police custody in Waller County, Texas, and to demand justice for her. The activists listened to a number of speeches and a few prayers, before marching through downtown chanting “What's her name? Sandra Bland,” and other slogans.
Columbia, SC – Facing sweltering heat, and in the face of a massive police presence, about 2000 protesters, including the New Black Panther Party, confronted a Ku Klux Klan rally on the grounds of the capitol building here, July 18. Snipers could be seen at the corner of every building top.
March on Chicago City Hall for community control of police
Chicago, IL – Prominent ministers, labor organizations and national figures in the movement against police crimes are joining the call to march on Chicago City Hall, August 29.
Tampa, FL – Over 50 people joined together the night of July 3 to demand an end to racist violence. Protesting police crimes, white supremacist activity and the recent attacks on African American churches, activists and community members gathered at Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park in downtown Tampa, chanting, “Black lives matter!” and “Cops and Klan go hand in hand!”
Fort Lauderdale, FL – Over 100 people held a vigil, rally and march the evening of June 23, in a community response to the Charleston massacre of nine African American churchgoers.
La noche del 17 de Junio en la iglesia Emanuel AME de Carolina del Sur, el supremacista blanco Dylann Storm Roof de 21 años de edad abrió fuego sobre un grupo de oración. Este acto de violencia racista acabó con la vida de nueve Afro Americanos, incluyendo la de un Senador de Carolina del Sur que era pastor de la Iglesia.
Tallahassee, FL – Community members and students gathered in front of the Old Tallahassee Capitol, June 19, to protest the planned mass deportation of Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent, from the Dominican Republic.
Chicago, IL – Standing in solidarity with the memories of those massacred in Charleston, South Carolina, activists here in Chicago linked their murders with the national epidemic of police crimes.
Next rally planned for June 26 at Duval County courthouse
Jacksonville, FL – Over a month has passed since two Jacksonville Sherriff’s Office (JSO) officers shot and killed 28-year-old D'Angelo Stallworth outside his apartment. The African American father of three was shot six times in the back by two white police officers, who claimed that they thought D'Angelo looked suspicious. Although Stallworth was unarmed at the time of the shooting, State Attorney Angela Corey has still not indicted the two officers for murder.
Tallahassee, FL – After the June 17 white supremacist attack at Emanuel AME Church, in Charleston, South Carolina that left nine African American parishioners dead, the Black Liberation Action Coordinating Committee (BLACC), Students for a Democratic Society and the Trans Liberation Front held a rally, June 19 in front of the Old Tallahassee Capitol. 30 community members attended the rally and vigil, which started with nine minutes of silence, one minute for each victim.
Durham, NC – Over 200 people gathered in east Durham on June 20 to rally and speak out against the white supremacist terror attack in Charleston that left nine African Americans dead earlier this week. The rally, organized by the Durham Solidarity Center, included speakers from Muslims for Social Justice, Black Workers for Justice, Workers World Party, as well as other activists and organizers in the community.
Chicago, IL – “Mother Emanuel church in Charleston, South Carolina, is a sacred shrine of the Black liberation movement, but it has been turned into the site of a racist massacre of Black people,” said Frank Chapman of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.