Hoffa leadership prepares to sell-short

Jacksonville, FL – United Parcel Service (UPS) has less than one year before its contract with over 250,000 Teamsters expires. UPS Teamsters have reason to be in a fighting mood. In 2013, when Teamster President Hoffa encouraged the union’s membership to vote to accept a concessionary contract, it barely passed the 50% threshold needed for approval. Regional supplements in 18 locations were voted down. The “Vote No” movement that grew out of these fights united Teamster activists from around the country who wanted to see better leadership.

Jacksonville, FL – This past Sunday and Monday, Sept. 24 and 25, NFL football players numbering in the hundreds took a knee during the national anthem at different NFL games. This comes just days after Donald Trump, at stump speech in Alabama, called for owners to fire any NFL player who took a knee during the national anthem.

Jacksonville, FL – Over 75 people gathered in front of the Duval County Courthouse, Sept. 20, to demand community control of the police, and to get justice for justice for Vernell Bing and Keagan Roberts. Called by the Jacksonville Community Action Committee (JCAC), just days after Jacksonville State Attorney Melissa Nelson announced no charges against Jacksonville Sheriff's Office cop Tyler Landreville for the murder of Bing in May of 2016, protesters connected the police crimes of the JSO with why a Jacksonville Police Accountability Council (JPAC) is needed.

Jacksonville, FL – On Sept. 4, Labor Day, a few dozen members of the Jacksonville Community Action Committee as well as family members of Keegan Roberts gathered on the steps of City Hall for a press conference to demand the Jacksonville City Council vote no on a new city budget that would add 100 new cops to Jacksonville Sheriff's Office (JSO). They also demanded police accountability and community control of the police.

Jacksonville, FL – On Saturday, Sept. 2, the family of Keegan Roberts called for a protest outside State Attorney Melissa Nelson's office as well as a candlelight vigil at the home where Keegan was murdered by George Zimmerman wannabe Michael Centanni.

Jacksonville, FL – Around 200 people gathered for six hours at the August 22 city council meeting to speak about removing Confederate monuments and names from public spaces. The week before, in response to the white supremacist terrorism in Charlottesville, Virginia, Jacksonville City Council President Brosche said she wanted to inventory all Confederate monuments, markers, and memorials so they can be moved off public property and into museums or other settings, where they can be “historically contextualized.” When her press release went public, death threats started flooding into her email from Confederate sympathizers.

Jacksonville, FL — 200 people gathered at Memorial Park on August 13 in support of the victims of the right-wing attack in Charlottesville, Virginia. The call for an emergency rally came after reports from major news outlets about Nazis marching at the University of Virginia. The Nazi march the next day left Heather Heyer dead, and many others wounded.

Jacksonville, FL — Three dozen gathered in front of the Duval County Courthouse on August 11 in support of Palestine. The call for a protest came after reports began circulating on social media that Israel had bombed neighborhoods in the Gaza Strip on August 8. Israeli bombs targeted areas filled with Palestinian civilians and four were injured, one very seriously.

Jacksonville, FL – In Jacksonville, Florida, the first Wednesday of every month is a time for art and community celebration. The city’s monthly Artwalk is a hub for artists, activists, families and residents to gather and share plans for the future of Jacksonville. While there are multiple campaigns currently taking place in the city, there are two that have gathered a mass following in just about a month since launching – the Jacksonville Community Action Committee(JCAC) and their push for police accountability, and TakeEmDownJax, the movement to remove Confederate statues and rename schools, streets, and parks honoring such figures.

Face down reactionaries with ‘blue lives matter’ confederate flags

Jacksonville, FL – The Jacksonville downtown Art Walk celebration on August 2 brought out several political organizations including TakeEmDownJax, the Jacksonville Community Action Committee (JCAC) and Veterans for Peace. The groups petitioned and leafleted for the causes of removing confederate names and statues from public view and for community control of the police via the formation of a Jacksonville Police Accountability Council. Around 50 local organizers showed up and were met by two groups in opposition, who were confederate flag supporters and self-proclaimed ‘patriots.’

Jacksonville, FL – Almost two dozen members of the Jacksonville Community Action Committee (JCAC) spoke at the city council meeting July 25 in favor of police accountability.

Jacksonville, FL – Around 30 community members gathered in Bruce Park, in Jacksonville, to speak out against police crimes, for community control of the police, and a Jacksonville Police Accountability Council (JPAC).

_#WalkingWhileBlack is not a crime _

Jacksonville, FL – On June 20, Devonte Shipman, a young African American in Jacksonville, was stopped and harassed by police officers for simply walking across the street. Claiming to have seen him illegally cross the street, Officer J.S Bolen of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO) harassed and badgered Shipman, even threatening him with jail time. Shipman recorded the encounter with his cellphone, a clip that went viral and made national and international news.

Jacksonville, FL – Around 50 people rallied for trans rights at Memorial Park in Jacksonville, June 24. Organized by the Coalition for Consent, Jacksonville Transgender Action Committee along with other groups, protesters rallied to demand an end to attacks on the trans community, especially oppressed nationality trans women.

Jacksonville, FL – Four of the five activists beaten and arrested by police at an April anti-war protest spoke out at a press conference, June 5, held outside the Duval County Courthouse. Dubbed the 'Jax5' by supporters, the activists discussed the favorable outcome of their cases and announced a campaign for community control of the police in Jacksonville. It marked the first public statement by the Jax5 since their arrest nearly two months earlier.

Jacksonville, FL – Around 30 members of the Northside Coalition and the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition (JPC) rallied in downtown Jacksonville, June 1, for community control of the police. Northside Coalition leader Ben Frazier spoke on why we need more police accountability in the city of Jacksonville.

Jacksonville, FL – Activists in Jacksonville Florida have a lot to celebrate after the Florida Times Union reported June 1 that the state attorney was dropping the remaining charges on the #Jax5.

_Community activists call on Putnam to condemn statement, white supremacists _

Jacksonville, FL – On Wednesday, May 17, Adam Putnam, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Republican candidate for governor of Florida, spoke in Jacksonville Beach at a campaign event. Just a few feet outside, his official campaign tour bus was pictured with “Convict the #Jax5” written in large white lettering on the back, directly below Putnam's name.

Jacksonville, FL – Millions of people flocked to Washington D.C. for billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump's inauguration – but not in support of the new president. Instead, working people from across the U.S. marched against Trump's anti-worker, racist and misogynistic agenda. Crowd analysts believe more than three times as many people converged on the U.S. capitol to protest Trump than to support him. A day later, on Jan. 21, an estimated 5 million women and men took part in a Women's March nationwide, making it the largest single day of protest in U.S. history by some counts.

Jacksonville, FL – Activists with the Justice for the Jax5 Committee hosted a press conference, May 10, outside of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO) building to discuss important developments for the Jax5 and the struggle against police crimes in Jacksonville. The Jax5 are the five activists brutalized and arrested by the JSO during a demonstration calling for peace with Syria on April 7.