Jacksonville, FL – Over two dozen students and community activists gathered on April 9 to begin holding events for Israeli Apartheid Week at the University of North Florida (UNF). Students for Justice in Palestine at UNF led a vigil to honor Palestinian martyrs killed by Israel with help from the Jacksonville Palestine Solidarity Network.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Jacksonville Palestine Solidarity Network.

Jacksonville, FL – Over 80 people came out to celebrate International Women's Day, March 8. The event took place at Klutho Park near downtown Jacksonville, sponsored by Coalition for Consent and Women’s March. Several groups came out in support, including the Jacksonville Community Action Committee and UNF Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). Food Not Bombs provided lots of delicious vegan food. Funds collected that evening were donated to future Coalition for Consent events and workshops.

Jacksonville, FL – University of North Florida (UNF) Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) launched a campaign focused on the nationwide Black Lives Matter movement last year, and recently won several of its core demands. SDS fought for demands that the campus include a major in African American Studies, for the university to hire more teachers of color and for the university to increase the enrollment of students of color.

Jacksonville FL – With the emergence of the Me Too movement, there has been a solid wave of solidarity among survivors of sexual abuse which has ultimately created a positive momentum regarding an otherwise silent topic. The topic of sexual violence however, can oftentimes be very dangerous to discuss publicly. Coalition for Consent is a local group in Jacksonville that fights to educate people about consent and help survivors of sexual violence. CFC has hosted a variety of actions and events from rallies to workshops for survivors.

Jacksonville, FL – On Jan. 29, over 250 people came out to Hemming Plaza in Downtown Jacksonville to demand that Confederate monuments honoring white supremacists and slave holders be taken down and the renaming of schools named after Confederate generals.

Jacksonville, FL – Two things stood out to me while assembling my list of the year’s top movies. First, it’s remarkable how many science fiction and horror movies I watched this year. Practically every film I liked presented a dystopian vision of the future (or past) or a horrifying situation rooted in the present. No doubt that’s a sign of the times. Between the Trump presidency and the rise of the far right around the world, reality often seems more dystopian and terrifying than anything you’d see at the theater.

#WalkingWhileBlack is not a crime

Jacksonville, FL – Around 25 members of different civil rights organizations spoke out at the Jacksonville city council meeting, Dec. 12, to demand an end to the racial profiling and the racist ticketing policies of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. Members of the Jacksonville Community Action Committee (JCAC), the Northside Coalition, the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition, UNF Students for a Democratic Society as well as the local Southern Christian Leadership Conference spoke out at city council, saying that #WalkingWhileBlack is not a crime and demanded a halt to the pedestrian ticketing program run by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.

Jacksonville, FL – On Dec. 2, over 45 people gathered at the University of North Florida in the Student Union Building for a panel hosted by the Jacksonville Palestine Solidarity Network (JPSN). The panel was focused on explaining the Balfour declaration and its ramifications. The Balfour declaration was a statement the British government issued in 1917 announcing support for building a Zionist state in Palestine.

Jacksonville, FL – On Dec. 4, Yemen’s Houthi movement reported they had killed former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh in a military operation just outside of Sanaa, the capital. Both Saleh’s own party – the General People’s Congress – and Saudi media confirmed Saleh’s death.