Tampa, FL – Protesters converged in solidarity with the struggle in Gaza to denounce Joe Biden’s visit to the Hillsborough Community College Dale Mabry campus on April 23. Nearly 400 protesters thronged the sidewalks surrounding the entrance, chanting and waving Palestinian flags.

Fort Lauderdale, FL – Hundreds of protests took place across the world on January 25, to demand no new U.S. war in Iran, an end to Trump’s violence and sanctions against Iran, and the removal of U.S. troops from the Middle East. In Fort Lauderdale, 35 activists gathered outside of the federal courthouse to join the global day of protest.

Tallahassee, FL – On Feb. 25, students and community members rallied at the Leon County Courthouse, demanding that Officer David Stith of the Tallahassee Police Department (TPD) be fired and jailed for killing Jeremy “Jed” Lett, a young African American man.

Tallahassee, FL – 50 students at Florida State University (FSU) held a candlelight vigil, Feb. 13, to commemorate the three young Muslim victims of the Chapel Hill, North Carolina shooting.

Tallahassee, FL – Students here celebrated a victory Feb. 19. Students, community members, faculty and Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University (FAMU) administrators successfully prevented the Florida State University-FAMU Engineering School from being split apart.

We, the Tallahassee Dream Defenders, call on the City of Tallahassee and the Tallahassee Police Department to end their police terror and over-prosecution against African American and poor communities. Over the past decade, The Tallahassee Police Department has been accused of over 24 cases of police violence and over use of force. They continue to oppress our communities through constant surveillance, violence, racist over-prosecution of African American communities, and stop-and-frisk like policies called ‘Weed and Seed Zones.’

Tallahassee, FL – On Jan. 8, over 40 Florida State students and Tallahassee community members gathered to remember transgender people who were murdered or pushed to suicide. Transgender Europe reports that around the world, 226 transgender people were murdered in the year between October 2013 and October 2014. Some countries do not report this crime and others underreport, so figures are actually higher.

Tallahassee, FL- Over 50 people marched demanding justice in the police killing of Kaldrick Donald in Gretna, Nov. 5. Gretna is a small African American town just west of Tallahassee, where 30% of residents live below the poverty line. City Manager Antonio Jefferson and five full-time police officers rule the town of 1709 people.

Tallahassee, FL – State Attorney Willie Meggs dropped the charges, Oct. 10, against Viola Young and three other people who were arrested over a week earlier. Young is a 61-year-old African American woman who was hit in the back with a stun gun wielded by Tallahassee Police Department Officer Terry Mahan.

Tallahassee, FL – Members of the Tallahassee Dream Defenders rallied outside of the Leon County Courthouse, Oct. 9. With community members and the local press on hand, protesters chanted “Hey hey, ho, ho, crooked cops have got to go,” and demanded the arrest of Tallahassee Police Department (TPD) cop Terry Mahan.

Tallahassee, FL – Around 100 Dream Defenders and community members gathered in Lake Ella Park, Aug. 18, to speak out against the police murder of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown. The rally also focused on the injustice of police brutality and systematic racism perpetuated by the U.S. The crowd was tired of the criminalization of Black and Brown people.

Fight Back! reporter Fernando Figueroa sat down with Michael Sampson, one of the Nashville 5 arrested on July 12, to discuss what happened, how he was released from jail and what's next for the movement. Fight Back!: Can you tell us what happened?

Nashville, TN – On July 12, five people – Malaya Lynch, Marshawn McCarrel, Aaron Hayes, James Hayes and Mike Sampson – were arrested here without warning. Over 100 people held a protest that coincided with the meeting of the National Governors Association. The cops acted unjustly when they arrested the Nashville 5. The five people were booked by the Davidson County Sheriff's Office and a project is currently underway to raise bail for them.

Tallahassee, FL – On May 21, at a meeting of the Florida State University Presidential Search Advisory Committee, Tallahassee Dream Defenders spoke out against the nomination of Senator John Thrasher as the new Florida State University (FSU) president. Students from Tallahassee Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), FSU Progress Coalition and Graduate Assistants United joined them.

Tallahassee, FL – On the morning of April 23, over 20 students from Florida State University (FSU) and the historically Black college Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), gathered outside the state capitol building. Despite final exams, they joined together to speak out against the split of the joint FAMU-FSU Engineering School.

Tallahassee, FL – About 150 members of Dream Defenders, an organization dedicated to fighting against racism while building the power of Black and Brown youth, marched into the Florida Capitol, March 3 to confront the Florida law makers and Governor Rick Scott with chants and protest on the first day of legislative session.

Washington DC – More than 300,000 people are gathered on the mall today for the March on Washington, with at least 150,000 on each side of the reflecting pool. The massive crowd is largely African-American, mobilized by the 50-year anniversary of Martin Luther King’s speech and by the pressing demand for justice for Trayvon Martin. African-American groups range from Florida’s Dream Defenders, to New Jersey’s People’s Organization for Progress, to the national NAACP. There is also a big union mobilization, with the United Auto Workers turning out thousands of members in t-shirts. Many other unions and their associated groups like Working America are also out in force.

Tallahassee, FL – On July 16, around 100 members of the youth civil rights organization Dream Defenders flooded the Florida Capitol and marched to the office of Governor Rick Scott. Their demand was simple: Justice for Trayvon Martin and pass Trayvon's Law.

Tallahassee, FL – After three days of occupying the governor’s office in the Florida capitol building, protesters demanding justice for Trayvon Martin finally secured a meeting with Governor Rick Scott, July 19. Scott met for about 45 minutes with several leaders from Dream Defenders, a student activist organization led by Black and Latino youth. He refused to give into any of the protesters’ demands.

Tampa, FL – Protesters gathered in front of Senator Marco Rubio’s Tampa office May 31 to criticize the Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill currently being debated in the U.S. Senate and to demand, “Legalization for all!”