Philadelphia, PA – On Friday February 27, the Philadelphia Alliance against Racist and Political Repression held a movie showing to commemorate Black History Month. The movie, Judas and the Black Messiah, is about the iconic Black Panther leader Fred Hampton and William O’Neal, who the FBI used to infiltrate the Black Panther’s and helped the Chicago Police department kill Fred Hampton.

The event was held at the LavaSpace in West Philadelphia and was attended by dozens of people from the neighborhood who were interested not only in learning more about Fred Hampton and the Black Panther Party, but in getting to know all about the Philadelphia Alliance against Racist and Political Repression (PAARPR), its campaigns and its mission.

PAARPR chair Musa Bey had conversations with many of the attendees about the work PAARPR is doing in Philadelphia and the families it is working with, including the families of Robert Jones, Aaron Rainey and Amanda Cahill.

The movie event began at 5 p.m. with a short speech made by PAARPR Co-Chair Olujimi Alade which delved into Fred Hampton as a revolutionary and his impact on the Black Panther Party and the struggle for socialism and liberation.

PAARPR was able to establish a connection with the neighborhood residents, which is a foundation in building a presence in the West Philadelphia area, an important section of the city where many people have either experienced police brutality or know a loved one who did. By holding similar events, PAARPR aims to advance its aim of fighting for the community control of the police.

#PhiladelphiaPA #PA #InJusticeSystem #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #BlackHistoryMonth #NAARPR #PAARPR

Chicago, IL – El martes, 24 de febrero, más de 30 estudiantes y miembros de la comunidad se reunieron en el Centro Cultural Negro de la Universidad de Illinois Chicago (UIC) por un estreno de Judas y la Messiah Negra, seguido por una discusión guiada por camaradas del distrito de Chicago de la Organización Socialista Camino de la Libertad (OSCL).

Dirigido y escrito por Shaka King, Judas y el Mesías Negro (2021) es un cuento cinemático de la historia del Capítulo de Illinois del Partido Pantera Negra, el origen de base de la histórica Coalición Arcoíris de Chicago, y los días finales del presidente Fred Hampton del Capítulo de Illinois del Partido Pantera Negra. Siguiendo la historia del difunto presidente y de William O’Neal, informante del FBI e infiltrador del partido, la película muestra la verdadera conspiración para asesinar al presidente Fred llevado a cabo por el FBI, la Fiscalía del Condado de Cook y el Departamento de Policía de Chicago.

Después de la película, Kobi Guillory, miembro de la OSCL en Chicago y del Sindicato de Maestros de Chicago, hizo preguntas sobre los pensamientos de la audiencia acerca de la historia de la lucha revolucionaria, solidaridad de clase y la represión política. Los participantes entre la audiencia contaron sus propias experiencias de brutalidad policial, seres queridos asesinados o secuestrados por los matones del estado, otros invocaron los orígenes de la policía de los EE.UU. como resultado de las patrullas cazadoras de esclavos.

Este Mes de la Historia Negra, es aún más importante que nunca recordar el legado revolucionario del Partido Pantera Negra y la Coalición Arcoíris: un legado de solidaridad de la clase trabajadora, de lucha contra la represión política anti-negra y anti-obrera. Fred Hampton, como presidente del Capítulo de Illinois del Partido Pantera Negra y vicepresidente del Partido Pantera Negra Nacional, vio con toda claridad la distracción que era la división racial de Chicago.

Tras la ola de violencia sancionada por el estado contra las nacionalidades oprimidas y quienes se solidarizan con ellas sigue en todas partes de la nación, continuamos luchando. Y en palabras del Camarada Fred Hampton, cuando te atreves a luchar, ¡te atreves a ganar!

#ChicagoIL #IL #StudentMovement #MovimientoEstudiantil #SDS #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #BlackHistoryMonth #NacionalidadesOprimidas #Afroamericano #elMesdeHistoriaNegra #OSCL #CTU

New Orleans, LA – On Saturday afternoon, February 27, the New Orleans Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NOAARPR) held a panel to discuss the history of police brutality in New Orleans. The panel took place at the Gwangi and Hollywood Community Center in Algiers.

NOAARPR Chair Toni Jones gave a brief history of the rise of policing in the Crescent City, beginning with its origins from slave catchers to the Code Noir during French and Spanish colonial rule.

“Police exist to uphold the ruling power,” she said. Toni cited many historic cases of police brutality throughout the centuries in New Orleans. Members of the community, some of them former Black Panthers who spent much of their lives incarcerated in Angola as political prisoners, affirmed the names and stories of Black residents and freedom fighters past who stood up to police brutality.

“The police are only in our communities not for our security but for our containment,” said Sister Shanta Scott of the People’s Political Party, quoting Huey P. Newton. Jace Lee Scott, her son, was murdered by the son of NOPD officer Victor Gant in 2019. She educated attendees about the murder, NOPD corruption and cover-ups, and the collusion of city officials and court justices. “Justice must be transparent. Justice must be consistent. Justice must be fearless. No more broken protocol, no more selective enforcement, and no more silence. Justice for Jace Lee Scott. That’s my son,” said Scott.

NOAARPR member, Danyelle Christmas shared about her run for city council, which was inspired by the police brutality and political repression against her uncle who was murdered by NOPD, and her father who was falsely convicted for murder in 1994. She spoke about the impacts incarceration had on her family. Her father spent ten years on death row in Angola, and when he was finally acquitted, they offered him $10. A dollar for each year of his life lost in prison. She continued to connect the struggles of the Black community to the exploitation of capitalism, highlighting systemic issues that negatively impact everyone.

“Let’s remember, the KKK is still considered a party, they’re still considered a non-profit, they’re still recognized by the United States. But the Black Panther Party was dismantled,” Christmas said. “We have to rise up.”

The panel was followed by an open forum discussion where members of the community shared their experiences within the prison industrial complex. Errol Williams shared his story, incarcerated for 21 years in Angola. “I don’t want to be oppressed anymore. I know what it's like, I’ve been living it all my life,” he said. “I realized the only ‘equal opportunity’ afforded to me is to die.” Another community member proudly stated that “Black history is world history.”

NOAARPR will hold a rally on March 5 to pack the city council chambers and demand justice for Jace Lee Scott, federal charges against Victor Gant, and a Civilian Police Accountability Council.

#NewOrleansLA #LA #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #BlackHistoryMonth #NOAARPR

Chicago, IL— On Tuesday, February 17, the Chicago District of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization drew over 35 community members to a presentation honoring Black History Month and discussing strategy and tactics in the Black liberation movement.

Kobi Guillory, a FRSO leader and middle school science teacher, opened the event with a presentation on revolutionary movements. He described how oppressed workers and colonized peoples have always fought back against their oppressors, and said we are called to do the same today.

Trump, Epstein and the whole ruling class “are proving through the crimes they commit against the people that they need to go. They need to be overthrown,” Guillory said. “And it is on us to do that. No one is going to do that for us.”

Next, Guillory offered a definition of nationhood. Marxist-Leninists consider a nation to be a group of people who share a common territory, economic base, culture, and language. The Black nation fits all these criteria, from its history as a people enslaved to the common territory of the Black Belt South today, Guillory said.

Frank Chapman, a longtime leader in the Black liberation movement and member of the FRSO central committee, spoke next. “The Black nation is oppressed and exploited to an extreme degree by the ruling class of the United States, meaning it has a natural ally in other nations and oppressed groups also fighting against U.S. imperialism,” Chapman said.

The history of Chicano people and Black people in the United States is intertwined going back to the annexation of Texas from Mexico in order to preserve slavery in the union, he said. “The border patrols in Texas were also slave patrols.”

People ask what the ICE attacks “got to do with Black folks,” Chapman said. “We’re talking about a mutual enslaver, a mutual oppressor. We have a real reason, not an imaginary one, to be united with the Chicano people, with brown people on this question,” Chapman said, as the audience applauded in approval.

The racist super-exploitation of Black workers hurts all workers and oppressed people, Chapman continued. “It is our duty and responsibility to work with the immigrants’ rights movement and all progressive democratic forces to oppose the entire Trump agenda,” he said. “Ain’t none of this shit right.”

“The thing that broke the confederacy and lost them the war was the general strike of the enslaved,” he said. The slaves – the people who made the clothes, worked the farms and generally produced the goods and services that sustained the lives of the white slaveholder class – walked off the plantations and stopped their production.

But a general strike does not in and of itself destroy the entire system, Guillory said.

Chapman agreed. “The real solution is revolution,” he said. “We have to overthrow this corrupt, rotten, racist, regime.”

#ChicagoIL #IL #FRSO #OppressedNationalities #BlackHistoryMonth

Chicago, IL – On Tuesday, February 24, over 30 students and community members gathered in University of Illinois Chicago’s (UIC) Black Cultural Center for a screening of Judas and the Black Messiah, followed by a guided discussion led by comrades in the Chicago district of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO).

Directed and written by Shaka King, Judas and the Black Messiah (2021) is a cinematic telling of the story of the Black Panther Party Illinois Chapter, the grassroots genesis of Chicago’s historic Rainbow Coalition, and the final days of Chairman Fred Hampton of the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party. Following the story of both the late chairman and William O’Neal, FBI informant and party infiltrator, the film depicts the real-life conspiracy to murder Chairman Fred carried out by the FBI, the Cook County State Attorney’s Office, and the Chicago Police Department.

After the movie, Kobi Guillory, a member of FRSO Chicago and the Chicago Teacher’s Union, inquired about the audience’s takeaways from this story of revolutionary struggle, class solidarity and political repression. Audience members recounted similarities to their own experiences of police brutality, loved ones murdered or abducted by state thugs, others invoked the very origins of U.S. law enforcement as rooted in the slave patrols.

This Black History Month, it is more important than ever to remember the revolutionary legacy of the Black Panther Party and the Rainbow Coalition: a legacy of working class solidarity, standing against anti-Black and anti-worker political repression. Fred Hampton, as chairman of the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party and deputy chair of the National Black Panther Party, could see Chicago’s race divide for the smoke screen that it was.

In the wake of a torrent of state-sanctioned violence against the oppressed nationalities and those who stand with them continues across the nation, we continue to struggle. And in the words of Comrade Fred Hampton, when you dare to struggle, you dare to win!

#ChicagoIL #IL #StudentMovement #SDS #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #BlackHistoryMonth #FRSO #CTU

New York, NY – On February 4, the Movement of Rank and File Educators held their general assembly this month in Manhattan. Over 50 teachers came together to discuss how to organize around Black Lives Matter in their schools during the upcoming week of action.

The assembly began with a brief history of the organization Black Lives Matter at Schools (BLMAS) as an organization grown out of the Black Lives Matter movement. BLMAS organizers went over the demands for the week of action, which include ending “zero tolerance” discipline against students, ending racist hiring practices, and funding community needs instead of cops.

Organizers shared their experience bringing the BLM movement and anti-racism into their schools by bringing up the demands of BLMAS, centering voices of Black liberation during Black History Month, and bringing together Black community organizations. Educators emphasized ties between teaching about the Black liberation movement and structural racism, and teaching about imperialism, immigration and the ongoing ICE attacks in Minneapolis.

The attendees broke out into groups to strategize how they can teach about Black history in their classrooms and with their coworkers during and beyond the week of action. Teachers expressed their willingness to fight against reluctant administrators to ensure Black history was taught properly in their schools, emphasizing on-the-ground organizing with coworkers.

New York City currently has the most segregated school system in the U.S.

#NewYorkNY #Labor #MRFE #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #BlackLivesMatter #BLMAS #BlackHistoryMonth

Tacoma, WA – Community members gathered at the South Tacoma Library on Tuesday, February 25, for a “Black Liberation and Scientific Socialism” panel hosted by Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) and the All-African People’s Revolutionary Party (AAPRP).

The program featured speakers from both organizations and lively discussion on the oppression faced by Black people in the U.S. and on the African continent, as well as the road ahead under the Trump administration.

“Under neocolonialism the masses toil under stagnant and worsening conditions but must produce substantially more,” said Terrence McCall of the AAPRP.

McCall gave a history of the development of Pan-Africanism, noting the contributions of leaders such as W.E.B. Du Bois from the United States, and Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana.

Next, Mathieu Chabaud of the FRSO presented on the history of the Black Liberation Movement in the United States. Drawing from the book Marxist-Leninist Perspectives on Black Liberation and Socialism by Frank Chapman, Chabaud started with an analysis of the economic driving forces behind the American Civil War, stating, “The reason the South lost was not because of the noble efforts of white abolitionists, but because 186,000 former slaves revolted in general strike and joined the Union Army.”

Chabaud continued with a history of Reconstruction in the South, and the development of the Black Belt thesis by Black communists such as Harry Haywood.

Lastly, Talison Crosby of the FRSO analyzed the continuation of the Black Liberation Movement into the 21st century and the tasks ahead for the people’s movements. “During the George Floyd Rebellion of 2020, something happened that had never happened before,” said Crosby. “Millions of people in all 50 states took to the streets. It was a Black-led uprising, but the majority of people who participated in it are not Black.”

“I remember hitting the streets during the uprising in 2020. I remember volunteering at the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone,” said Gemini Gnull. “I’m a member of the Osage Nation. Full indigenous sovereignty and liberation for my people is not possible without socialism. And socialism in the United States is not possible without Black liberation. We’ve all got a common enemy. Black people and Indigenous people are natural allies in the fight against oppression.”

In general, attendees were angry about Trump’s attacks on the people and in agreement that a clear-eyed analysis of the conditions were necessary in order to achieve their political goals and defeat Trump’s agenda.

Concluding the event, Crosby quoted Frank Chapman: “As Frank says, ‘We stand in the rosy dawn of a new movement.’ It’s our responsibility to finally complete the unfinished revolution of the Reconstruction era. The tasks ahead are tremendous, but the future is certainly bright.”

#TacomaWA #WA #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #BlackHistoryMonth #FRSO #AAPRP #NAARPR

Minneapolis – More than 100 people gathered at the New City Center for “We Keep Us Safe: A Teach-in on the Black History of Community Control of the Police,” hosted by Twin Cities Coalition for Justice (TCC4J) and Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO). The program featured panelists from National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression branches in different cities – all in various stages of the fight for local community control of the police.

Jae Yates, a leader in TCC4J, opened with a presentation on the Black history of community control. TCC4J is leading the campaign for an all-elected Civilian Police Accountability Commission (CPAC) to establish community control over Minneapolis police.

“At its core, community control of police is about giving power to the communities most-affected by police violence, often composed of the Black working class,” explained Yates. “TCC4J organizes for community control because we believe that’s the first step to dismantling the violent systems of policing and incarceration that are currently brutalizing and tearing apart our communities.”

Yates outlined the history of policing in the U.S., which started with slave patrols and so-called Black Codes to criminalize and repress Black people. They also described the period of Reconstruction, when Black people in the South had democratic community control over how the law was enforced and who enforced it. The end of Reconstruction also symbolized the end of Black political power, including control of law enforcement. Decades later, the Black Power movement revived the demand for community control of police. Yates also described historical connections between the Black liberation movement, and movements in support of gay liberation and Palestinian liberation.

Syd Loving, a national leader of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, spoke about the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR), from its founding in 1973. “The 80s and 90s were tough on the Black Liberation Movement. They killed our leaders, put our leaders in jail and repressed our movement.” During those years, most Alliance branches stopped operating. “The good news is the Alliance was refounded in 2019, and as of today we have 30 branches across the country. The beautiful message there is that the struggle for community control of police is alive across the country!”

Loving also described how the struggles for community control and for Black Liberation are part of “the broader struggle to pull up all forms of oppression and exploitation from the root. In FRSO we talk about our strategy for revolution, and it’s the united front against monopoly capitalism. At the core of that united front is the strategic alliance between the national liberation movements and the entire working class.”

She described how the coalition of the Alliance and other Black-led organizations with working with progressive labor unions was the key to victories in Chicago. “When we come together and recognize that we have a common enemy, that we have something to win, that takes us so much further on the road to pulling up monopoly capitalism from the root and building a world where everyone can be free.”

Toni Jones of New Orleans for Community Oversight of Police (NOCOP) described how she got involved in organizing: “The movement that had been spurred on by what happened in Minneapolis in 2020 was dying down. The nonprofits were saying things, but they weren’t fighting for anything. They weren’t standing up for our community. So I realized that I would have to be the fight that I wanted to see. We formed NOCOP to stand up for the community.” Jones added, “The end goal of this struggle was never about fighting the police. It’s fighting for power.”

Jones continued, “When we support community control it’s so we can get those police and move them out of our way, so we can directly take the fight to those in city hall, take the fight to those in the Pentagon, take the fight to those in White House, without worrying about our heads getting beaten in for supporting those that we love.”

Merawi Gerima, co-chair of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) also got involved in the movement in 2020. “The George Floyd rebellion kicked off while I was up here, and I remember seeing a flyer for a National Day of Action with some organization with too many letters in the name. I ended up going. I had never seen anything like that in my life in downtown Chicago.” That organization was CAARPR, which Gerima joined. “The following year, the year that we were able to pass the ECPS [Empowering Communities for Public Safety] ordinance establishing these two bodies in our city which are the beginnings of community control of police in Chicago. It’s the most-advanced, democratic police accountability system in the country and it’s only just beginning.”

Panelists discussed how to respond to community fears that CPAC may stop cops from protecting them, or other concerns about community control of police. They explained that police departments aren’t showing data to prove that massive budgets (hundreds of millions of dollars in large cities) are reducing crime or solving cases.

Gerima said, “We’re fighting to hold the police accountable, for the things that they do, and the things that they don’t do in our communities. Black people are overpoliced and under protected and we want power to be able to change that.”

Gerima also warned listeners against putting a call for police abolition at the forefront, stating, “The fastest way to lose Black people on the Southside is to say we want to get rid of the police. And that’s not to say that it’s not a reasonable goal in the future. It’s to say that conditions right now don’t support that. Black people want to hold the police accountable, they want justice for the things that police do to them, they want them to be punished for the crimes that they commit against us and they want to be able to call them when they need them. The people that we need to win this fight understand the equation perfectly.”

When asked what motivates their commitment to keep working, Jones said, “I know that what’s at stake is the personal stories of the people that we meet in this work. They don’t get to hang up their struggles and the tears when they go home at night. They go to sleep thinking about whether they’ll ever get justice for their sons. If I keep them in mind, I know it’s way too soon to start calling it quits.”

In that spirit, Tiffany Jackson, sister of Allison Lussier, was invited to the stage after the panel discussion. Lussier, a native woman, was murdered by her boyfriend after the Minneapolis police failed to act on numerous 911 calls and orders for protection. Instead of investigating the case as a murder, MPD Chief O’Hara began a public smear campaign against Lussier. He claims her death was caused by a drug overdose, despite the medical examiner’s office saying they were unable to determine how Lussier died. Pressure from family and community supporters recently pushed the city council to order a formal audit of MPD’s handling of Lussier’s case.

Several activists stood beside Jackson, including Alissa Washington, of the Wrongfully Incarcerated and Over-sentenced Families Council-MN. Washington urged the crowd to keep an eye on this case, “We do need all nations to get together on this, you guys. We are Black, white, native up here. We need everybody to mobilize, because we don’t know what will happen.”

#MinneapolisMN #MN #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #BlackHistoryMonth #InJusticeSystem #PoliceCrimes #TCC4J #NAARPR

Chicago, IL- On Friday night, February 21, Freedom Road Socialist Organization held an event celebrating Black history and international solidarity in the Black liberation movement. The event took place in the office of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) on the city’s South Side and consisted of a panel of speeches and some performances representing Black, Palestinian and Chicano liberation, as well as youth and labor struggles.

The night was electrified by music from Faayani Mijana and poetry from Brian Young Jr, both members of CAARPR. Their art lifted the spirits of attendees and provided a cultural connection to the political tasks raised by panelists in a discussion facilitated by Jae Franklin of the Anti-War Committee, Chicago.

“We are currently living in a state of siege, and our government is the enemy of the people,” FRSO Central Committee member Frank Chapman said about the Trump administration’s attacks against immigrants in particular and working and oppressed people in general.

“We must oppose all these racist policies put forward by Trump and his minions,” Chapman continued. “As oppressed people we must all unite and fight back!”

The main focus of the night was solidarity. Speakers pointed to the common enemies of working and oppressed people.

“The only way out is together. Black people and Chicanos are both oppressed nations. We face, for example, similar police repression and defunding of education,” said Angel Naranjos, a leader within Students for a Democratic Society at UIC and CAARPR’s recently formed Immigrants Rights Working Committee.

The panel noted that U.S. imperialism is an enemy of people internationally in addition to the multinational working class in the U.S.

“Our enemy is global so our response must be global,” said Nicholas Richard Thompson, the Chicago chair and Midwest organizer of Black Alliance for Peace. Thompson and other speakers emphasized the need to stand with oppressed people around the world against U.S. imperialism.

Panelists and performers specifically spoke about Trump's threats against South Africa’s sovereignty and his stated intentions for the U.S. to “own” Gaza. The panel also discussed how oppressed people have won in the past against imperialist representatives like Trump.

“The solidarity between Black and Arab communities is not new. Our movements have stood together in the face of imperialism, colonization and systemic oppression,” said Nadiah Alyafai of the US Palestinian Community Network. She explained the lineage of solidarity from the Black Panther Party to the Ferguson uprising, and then connected this history to the past year of protests for Palestine and against the U.S. backed Israeli genocide in Gaza.

Alyafai also encouraged organizations to join the newly formed Coalition Against the Trump Agenda, which was convened to unite a range of movements in resistance against the overt attacks that have already been coming from the White House and will continue for at least four years.

One of Trump's main targets is public education. This is why the Chicago Teachers Union is currently negotiating contract proposals such as academic freedom for teachers and elimination of racist evaluation practices, designed to protect Chicago’s oppressed communities from Trump and other racists.

“The battle for civil rights also takes place in the classroom. Knowledge of self and representation matters,” said Kevin Moore, a social studies teacher and Chicago Teachers Union member, also explaining why it is critical to stop the Trump administration’s attacks on Black history in schools and its broader attacks on the education system.

CTU recently continued its history of working together with community organizations by joining the CATA alongside CAARPR, USPCN, SDS, AWC, Casa Dupage Workers Center, and dozens of other organizations.

The coalition being built in Chicago is one of many around the country. It shows in practice a lesson from Black history that every panelist on Friday uplifted: united resistance is the best defense against the divide and conquer strategy of oppressors.

“Understanding Black history gives us a blueprint for the struggle,” Moore said. “The Trump playbook is not new. We beat it before, and we'll beat it again.”

#ChicagoIL #IL #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #BlackHistoryMonth #NAARPR #CAARPR #FRSO #Feature

St. Paul, MN – On February 8, in honor of Black History Month, the Minnesota Anti-War Committee (AWC) presented an educational panel titled “Black Against Empire: Perspectives On Liberation In Haiti, Congo, Sudan, and the U.S.A.”

The panel was held at Macalester College in Saint Paul. Experts, activists and community leaders spoke about the timelines, struggles and victories of African people throughout history against imperialist oppression.

The panelists included Frank Chapman, head of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR); Nick Tolliver, member of the AWC; Mohammed Farah, member of Healthcare Workers For Palestine, along with a written statement submitted by Ruben Joanem of the Haiti Justice Committee. Facilitating the event were Liz Bolsoni from the AWC and Trahern Crews from Black Lives Matter Minnesota.

“The bottom line is, we have to fight our way out of this. We can’t analyze our way out of it. We can’t pray our way out of it. We’ve got to fight our way out of it,” Chapman said. “We’re building a mass movement, and we’ve got to build even greater.” Chapman is the Executive Director of NAARPR, field organizer of its Chicago chapter, the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, and sits on the Central Committee of Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

“The exploitation of the Congo is the beating heart of the global capitalist system and our collective liberation from imperialism and capitalism is bound together with the liberation of the Congo,” said Tolliver, who provided a history of liberation struggles in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Tolliver is an anti-war activist and self-proclaimed “Black history nerd” who is passionate about Congo solidarity and African liberation.

Farah was born and raised in Khartoum, Sudan, and works as a hospital pharmacist in Minnesota while pursuing a graduate degree in public health. Farah expanded on the cultural foundation of Sudan found in art and poetry. He said, “Poets are the embodiment of the soul of a nation. It creates the spirit of Sudanese nationalism.”

As presentations and speeches concluded, a dialogue was opened between the panelists and the audience to further discuss issues that Black people have historically faced and how they tie in with modern struggles connected with capitalism and imperialism.

The final question asked was about the future of community organizing around Black liberation, to which Chapman closed with the statement, “Well, the future is always now. And the future belongs to those who are willing to fight for it.”

#StPaulMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #BlackHistoryMonth #International #Africa #Sudan #Congo #StudentMovement #NAARPR #MNAWC #BLM

Chicago, IL – On February 18, the Chicago Freedom Road Socialist Organization hosted over 50 members of the community at the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) office to celebrate Black History Month.

The event featured a panel on the historic solidarity between Black and Palestinian organizers in Chicago as well as how that solidarity shows up in practice today, and it was followed by a poetic cultural performance from FRSO and CAARPR member Brian Young, Jr.

The panel consisted of FRSO member and National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression Executive Director Frank Chapman; Nesreen Hasan of the US Palestinian Community Network; Tulsi McDaniels of the Chicago Alliance; Kennedy Bartley, executive director of the United Working Families; and was moderated by FRSO member Olan Mijana.

During the panel, speakers touched on the ways Black and Palestinian activists have supported each other in years past, including citizens of Gaza giving tips to those who were marching in Ferguson on how to fight mace and teargas tactics from the police. Also, before NAARPR was formed in 1973, Palestinians stood with Angela Davis while she was facing life in prison. Black organizers have similarly supported Palestinian rights as far back as 1976, when NAARPR held an emergency conference in support of Palestine.

“There will be no Black liberation until there is Palestinian liberation. There will be no Palestinian liberation until there is Black liberation,” said Tulsi McDaniels, “Because of the interconnectedness of our communities, we reject the idea that justice will be achieved in isolation.”

In addition to the historical perspective, organizers also delved into what their solidarity has looked like in practice since the uprisings began around the Al-Aqsa Flood. For instance, the Chicago Alliance always brings a strong contingent to rallies and actions held by the Coalition for Justice in Palestine and USPCN. In addition, members of the Chicago Alliance and USPCN frequently coordinate media and press efforts.

Most notably, the Chicago Alliance and USPCN paired their demands on the Chicago city council to win a ceasefire in Gaza resolution, and to oppose allowing arbitration for police officers in severe misconduct cases. In the end, both demands were met, which was a testament to the formidability of Black and Palestinian solidarity. And in the ceasefire resolution’s case, the movement-backed Mayor Brandon Johnson cast the tiebreaking vote.

“Brandon Johnson is a Black mayor, and he took a bold and courageous vote, but beyond it just being bold and courageous, it was reflective of the movement that he comes from, a movement grounded in the liberation of all oppressed people,” said Kennedy Bartley.

Immediately after the panel, Brian Young Jr. a creative who explores the intersections of Black and queer resistance, performed two original poems, both centering the raw and red-hot emotions that come with being a part of an oppressed community, reminding us that “hope is a verb. This I know because I saw you today.”

#ChicagoIL #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #BlackHistoryMonth #International #MiddleEast #Palestine #USCPN #NAARPR #CAARPR #FRSO

Tampa, FL – On February 6, Tampa community members packed the North Tampa branch library for a Black History Month panel hosted by the Tampa district of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO). The panel discussed the demands of African Americans, in Tampa and across the country, in the struggle against racism, imperialism and national oppression, especially talking about the struggles against police brutality and for community control of the police.

“The epidemic of police violence shows the need for Black liberation. If we’re going to be able to confront this thing head on, we need to develop better institutions for the people. Independent counsel for the Citizens Review Board is only the first step,” said Tampa Bay Community Action Committee member Jeremy Castano about the local struggle to expand the powers of the Citizens Review Board.

Jaden Patel of Tampa Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) said “USF needs to increase its Black enrollment. Less than 10% of USF’s student population is Black, while almost 25% of Tampa is. This is essential to allowing the Black community to be able to develop and thrive.” Tampa SDS has been campaigning to hold the University of South Florida’s administration to account for the massive disparity in its enrollment of African American students.

“Our community has always been the nest of everything wrong in this city. This import of dope, the school-to-prison pipeline, and the renting-while-Black program. All socially engineered by the city leaders from the beginning,” said Connie Burton of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition and veteran Tampa activist of the oppression experienced by the local African American community

Frank Chapman, chairman of the National Alliance Against Racism and Political Repression (NAARPR) and central committee member of the FRSO, who joined the panel over Zoom, discussed the ongoing struggle in Chicago around ECPS. “What’s going on in Chicago right now is the most important thing happening in the Black liberation movement today. Everyone here and across the country should be watching closely. The only way we will overcome police violence, the foot-soldiers of the ruling class, is through the people and allowing the people to have control over the police.”

The panel emcee was Gareth Dawkins of the FRSO. She closed the event saying “This event should reaffirm everyone's dedication to the struggle of African Americans and all others oppressed by the U.S. empire. Through our unity we will consolidate and grow this movement.”

#TampaFL #AfricanAmerican #BlackHistoryMonth #BlackLiberation

Tampa, FL – On the first day of Black History Month, February 1, students at the University of South Florida rallied in front of a statue of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to demand justice for Tyre Nichols, Manny Páez Terán, and Keenan Anderson. The event was organized by Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) as part of a National Day of Action Against Police Terror with SDS chapters across the country participating.

These actions were called in response to the violent police murders of three, all of which took place in the span of two weeks. On January 3, the Los Angeles Police Department tasered Keenan Anderson over ten times in just 42 seconds – an act of brutality that led to his death four hours later. Keenan Anderson was the third person to be killed by LAPD in 2023, just three days into the new year. “Justice for Keenan Anderson!” was displayed on signs and chanted by the protestors.

The crowd also chanted, “Justice for Tortuguita!” for committed organizer Manny “Tortuguita” Páez Terán. On January 18, Manny was murdered by Georgia law enforcement for defending the Weelaunee Forest from being turned into “Cop City,” a $90 million police training facility. Their death is yet another example of law enforcement using violence as a form of political repression.

On January 7, Tyre Nichols was brutally assaulted by at least seven Memphis police officers who left him fighting for his life for three days until his passing. Although five of the officers have been charged with murder, protesters know the struggle does not end there. “Tyre Nichol’s death was completely preventable and another reason why our communities need to have full and absolute control of the police,” remarked Victoria Hinckley.

Like Hinckley, Vaidehi Persad of SDS believes that the solution is putting the power into the hands of the people through community control of the police. “The first step is restoring rights and power to Black, Puerto Rican, Chicano, and other historically oppressed communities in the U.S. most heavily impacted by police brutality,” she told the crowd.

These killings are not isolated incidents and represent a long history of police terror against oppressed communities. For Eithne Silva, a member of Tampa Bay SDS, “these deaths are indicative of a nationwide crisis of police militarization and our communities living in constant fear of police departments that don’t serve the interests of the people.”

Even their vigil was not without police presence, with USF police patrolling the area around the MLK statue. “USFPD only harasses people and we have continually seen them intimidate and incite fear in students,” remarked Persad. Tampa Bay SDS has been campaigning against the campus police for the last couple of years, calling for them to return the militarized weapons gained from the 1033 program.

With signs reading “Black lives matter,” “Jail killer cops,” and “No good cops in a racist system,” students at USF showed that they are committed to police accountability both nationally and locally.

#TampaFL #PoliceBrutality #BlackLivesMatter #BlackHistoryMonth #StopPoliceCrimes

Minneapolis, MN – Hundreds of people came out for several events marking Black History month with Chicago’s Frank Chapman, who is a leading member of Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

“I had one of the most amazing experiences I’ve ever had during my over 50 years as a Black freedom fighter and a red. I spoke to about 150 Black, brown and white students, and if that wasn’t amazing enough I was invited to speak by the Black Student Union united with an organization of Marxist students,” Chapman said of his visit to Minneapolis South High School on Friday, February 7. Both the Black Student Union and the Student Marxist Assembly of South High (SMASH) are new groups formed at South High this year.

Chapman continued, “They wanted to celebrate Black History month by having me talk about the historical relationship between Black liberation and socialism and the strategy for achieving Black liberation and socialism in this present moment. What an honor! What an opportunity to share with these remarkable young people the legacies of two of the greatest revolutionary traditions of all people of all times. Here I was an old warrior for freedom being honored by these young high school revolutionaries. I let them know that when I was their age I entered the Black freedom struggle and the struggle for socialism through the U.S. prison system. And they let me know that they are entering the struggle through high school to break the school to prison pipeline, to stand up to the powers that be, to demand justice and to fight for Black liberation and socialism. I never knew that before I would die I would have the privilege of experiencing the future of our movement in this manner. All power to the people!”

Then, on Friday evening, Chapman spoke to a crowd of about 100 at a Freedom Road program on “The Radical History of the Black Freedom Movement.” There, he talked about the historic fight of Black people for equality and self-determination, and the unbreakable ties between the struggles for Black liberation and socialism, as well as the tasks of our movement today.

Chapman’s final event was hosted on February 8 by the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar (TCC4J) and focused on the work of building the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR), of which Chapman is the executive director. He spoke in the heart of Minneapolis’s Black community, less than a mile from where Jamar Clark was murdered by police in 2015, and where protesters occupied the police precinct for almost three weeks, demanding justice for Jamar.

Local families of those impacted by police murder and wrongful convictions also spoke about their work, including Myon Burrell’s father, Michael Toussaint; Cordale Handy’s mother, Kimberly Handy-Jones, and Toshira Garraway Allen, the fiancé of Justin Tiegen and mother to his son. Chapman spoke to the importance of waging a fight not just for justice for individuals, but to overturn the corrupt and racist system that stole these lives. He called for Minnesotans to join the Alliance.

#MinneapolisMN #InJusticeSystem #PeoplesStruggles #AfricanAmerican #PoliceBrutality #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #PoliticalPrisoners #FreedomRoadSocialistOrganizationFRSO #PoliticalRepression #FrankChapman #BlackHistoryMonth

Chicago, IL – 75 people gathered at a Black History Month event sponsored by Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), Feb. 3. They chanted, clapped and sang along to the Black National Anthem, Lift Every Voice as the program began.

Frank Chapman of FRSO set the stage with an assessment of the current crisis of capitalism, stating, “To say that the present administration is caught in the grip of political crisis that impedes its ability to govern in the face of the most massive uprising of the people seen in decades is about as revealing as saying that a zebra has stripes.”

Many in the crowd were members of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. Jazmine Salas, who co-chairs the Stop Police Crimes committee of the Alliance together with Chapman, emceed the event. Despite the racist attacks of the Trump agenda, Chapman contrasted the impact of the movement in Chicago, such as the release of many victims of police torture and wrongful conviction in the same time period, stating, “Yet, in these troubled and trying times, we kept Rasmea Odeh from going to prison and have helped to free Black and Latino working class people who were sentenced to die in the dungeons of America.”

Members of the Chicago Teachers Union were present to cheer on Curtis Bynum, an organizer in the fight to save four public schools in the majority Black, South Side neighborhood of Englewood. Mayor Rahm Emanuel has targeted these schools to all be closed. Bynum spoke of the hope the CTU gained from the community hearings and student protests in recent weeks. But he added that, “The entire racist system is flawed. If we don’t change this system, we’re going to lose. But we’re going to continue to fight, and we will come out on top.”

Sharon Lake, a certified nurse’s aide from Veracare Nursing home in nearby Burbank, reported on their one-day strike held on the MLK holiday. “By taking action, we forced the employer back to the bargaining table, and we’re making progress now.”

Tyrone Williams of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression spoke about the need to keep pressure on the courts to win justice for Laquan McDonald, murdered by police officer Jason Van Dyke in 2014. Williams said, “When Van Dyke’s trial begins, we all have to rally at 26th and California at 8 a.m. to stop the system from letting that killer off easy.”

Chapman closed the event with a call for people to join FRSO to help build the fight today, and the long term struggle for socialism and Black liberation.

#ChicagoIL #AfricanAmerican #FreedomRoadSocialistOrganization #frso #Socialism #BlackHistoryMonth

Tampa, FL – Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at the University of South Florida (USF) held a lecture and then a protest as part of Black History Month.

On Feb. 23, Elizabeth Kramer with Tampa SDS spoke on the ways in which African Americans, Chicanos and Native Americans are nationally oppressed in the U.S. She explained how the murders of African American people by police officers and the anti-immigrant laws, such as Arizona’s SB 1070 that legalized racial profiling, are part of national oppression. She also explained that fight to eliminate institutional racism against African Americans and Chicanos should include promoting national self-determination in the South and Southwest.

Danya Zituni with SDS said, “Whether it is racist admissions tests, or discriminatory policies that negatively impact Black and Latino students on campus, national oppression is with us constantly.”

The students showed a film, The Black Power Mixtape, a historical account of the Black Panther Party and their fight against national oppression in the 1960s.

Then on Feb. 25, 15 students gathered to demand affirmative action for African American and Latino students. The students called on the University of South Florida administration to take action on the falling rates of enrollment for African American students.

Students held large banners and chanted and gave speeches in support of affirmative action. SDS also demanded the reinstatement of African American studies programs and faculty who were cut in the past few years. The call for affirmative action is an initiative by Students for a Democratic Society nationally, in response to the case brought to the Supreme Court by Abagail Fisher.

Fisher claims she was denied acceptance to a Texas University because she is white. Fisher’s case represents another attack on affirmative action. In 1978, the Supreme Court case Bakke vs. University of California upheld the use of affirmative action but ended the use of quota systems for admissions of African American and Latino students.

Sam Beutler of SDS added, “Since Jeb Bush repealed affirmative action in Florida with the passing of the ‘One Florida’ plan, admission of Black and Latino students has fallen. The policy that was supposed to increase diversity has resulted in more exclusionary admissions. Now at other state universities, the percentage of first year Black students is just 6% or 7%. SDS is demanding affirmative action because it is one way to address the legacy of racism and oppression carried out by the U.S. government.”

Another SDS member, Sarah Owusu-Tweneboah said, “The only people who are benefiting from the ‘One Florida’ plan is the administration and we already know the administration doesn’t care about us, especially when we have a USF building named after a racist, sexist, homophobe. We are not making it about race, history already has. We as students need to defend affirmative action! Affirmative action is necessary until systematic inequity and structural racism stop playing a role in our society.”

Students ended the rally by chanting “Black Power!” and promised to continue struggling against the USF administration – the body that continues to perpetuate the legacy of national oppression with the use of racist administration policies and racist tests.

#TampaFL #StudentMovement #NationalOppression #PeoplesStruggles #Florida #Antiracism #BlackHistoryMonth