Jacksonville, FL – Over 500 people marched through downtown Jacksonville on July 10 demanding an end to racist police crimes. Local organizers affiliated with the #BlackLivesMatter movement called the protest in response to the recent murders of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Philando Castile in Minnesota.

Nationwide response to police killing of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile

Jacksonville, FL – Over 100 community members and activists held a vigil for the victims of police crimes on the corner of N. Liberty Street and E. 9th Street on July 8. The evening vigil was planned in response to the cold-blooded murders of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile by the police earlier that same week. Local victims of police crimes, including Vernelle Bing Jr. and D'Angelo Stallworth, were also commemorated.

Jacksonville, FL – Over 50 community members gathered here, June 11, at 9th and Liberty Street to protest the police killing of Vernell Bing Jr. Bing was killed on May 22 after his car collided with a police cruiser at the end of a car chase initiated by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO). After the crash, Bing left his vehicle, unarmed, and was shot in the head by Officer Tyler L. Landreville. This comes just over a year after another white JSO officer shot and killed another unarmed African American, D'Angelo Stallworth.

Community demands justice for Vernell Bing Jr.

Jacksonville, FL – On May 22, a white deputy from Jacksonville Sheriff's Office (JSO) murdered 22-year-old Vernell Bing Jr. in Springfield, one of the city's historic Black neighborhoods. Bing was unarmed and fleeing the scene of a car crash when JSO officer Tyler L. Landreville shot him in the head. He was taken to hospital and pronounced dead the next day after losing brain function.

Jacksonville, FL – The atmosphere at Simonds-Johnson Park was revolutionary on May 14, as people from across Jacksonville gathered for the second annual Malcolm X Festival.

Jacksonville, FL – Over two dozen protesters gathered in front of Angela Corey's office, April 27, to demand she be removed from office. In Jacksonville, State Attorney Angela Corey is responsible for leading Florida in the imprisonment of juvenile offenders, most of whom are Black. From 2009 to 2013, Corey's office incarcerated 1475 juveniles in the Jacksonville area alone, compared to just 32 in Miami during the same period. In almost four out of five of cases, Corey threatened the juvenile defendant with being charged as an adult in order to coerce a plea deal, since adult charges carry harsher consequences.

Jacksonville, FL – About 25 people gathered in Friendship Park here, April 9, for a press conference to demand Angela Corey be removed from office. Angela Corey is the Florida state attorney responsible for prosecuting more death penalty cases in Duval County than anywhere else in the country, and for being third in the country for the number of minor offenders charged as adults. An overwhelming majority of those minors charged as adults with felonies are African American. Angela Corey is also responsible for letting George Zimmerman walk after the murder of Trayvon Martin and for locking Marissa Alexander up after Alexander was found guilty of firing a warning shot against her abusive husband. The press conference was called for by the Jacksonville Leadership Coalition, headed by the Reverend R.L. Gundy.

Jacksonville, FL – More than 30 protesters marched on W.W. Gay Mechanical Contractors, Inc., Feb. 28, for its financial support of State Attorney Angela Corey. The mid-morning protest drew supporters from across Jacksonville and around the state who oppose Corey and her racist attacks on African-Americans.

Jacksonville, FL – Members of the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition and other community organizations are mobilizing for protests against Florida State Attorney Angela Corey later in February. Corey is responsible for incarcerating more Black youth than any other state attorney in Florida and for failing to serve justice in several high-profile cases. Corey's record includes failing to convict George Zimmerman in the murder of Trayvon Martin, and locking up Marissa Alexander for defending herself against her violent estranged husband. In 2015, Corey also failed to deliver justice in the case of D'angelo Stallworth, a UPS employee murdered by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office (JSO).

I went into Eli Roth's The Green Inferno with very low expectations. Boasting the tagline, “No good deed goes unpunished,” this 2015 horror film follows the gory demise of a group of college student activists from the U.S. who get captured, tortured and eaten by a cannibalistic tribe in the Amazon rainforest.