Washington, D.C. – On Aug. 24, thousands of people from across the country gathered together here at the National Mall to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington. Crowd estimates are in the hundreds of thousands.

The gathering consisted of unions, religious organizations and youth, demanding equality in this country, including an end to racial discrimination, racial profiling, police brutality and mass incarceration. Many urged “Justice for Trayvon Martin.”

In addition to denouncing racist discrimination, speakers of all kinds, including Reverend Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King III, spoke to other struggles.

An activist and organizer from Asheville, North Carolina, said of the event, “It was really inspiring to see such a variety of groups – labor unions, civil liberty groups, student contingents, LGBTQ and women’s organizations – all demanding an end to racist and discriminating laws that are still impacting our communities today.”

Many activists angrily confronted the police when they were forced away from exiting the premises. Eventually, though, the police realized the growing rage and impatience of the crowd and allowed them to exit just minutes before the end march began.

After the speeches on the National Mall, the people marched hand in hand to the Martin Luther King Memorial. Many did not stop there and continued marching throughout D.C. The chants of thousands could be heard over the police sirens, “Stop the war on youth of color!” with banners demanding “Justice for Trayvon Martin.”

#WashingtonDC #PeoplesStruggles #AntiRacism #MarchOnWashington #martinLutherKingJr #50YearAnniversary

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.

BJ Murphy drove up to the March on Washington from North Carolina and he said, “We arrived early, a little after 8:00 AM, and there were already tens of thousands on the Mall. It is great to see! On the down side, people are growing frustrated about feeling trapped. The police put up huge fences and there are choke points so people feel penned in, unable to come or go, and some folks are growing angry.”

Murphy continues, “The crowd is so big and so loud that it is challenging for African-American leaders and government officials to speak over the crowd. The crowd is impatient and looking forward to the march and being allowed more freedom to move.”

#WashingtonDC #AfricanAmerican #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #MarchOnWashington #DreamDefenders #Antiracism #MartinLutherKingJrNAACP #Anniversary

‘Black August’ is a month-long celebration that marks the remembrance of the lives of freedom fighters who gave their all for African American progress, freedom and mass consciousness. The origin of Black August was first initiated in honor of the fallen soldiers who valiantly fought to liberate George Lester Jackson from the modern day slave trade we now call the U.S. penal system.

On Aug. 7, 1970, freedom fighters – James McClain, William Christmas, Ruchell Magee, Khatari Gaulden and 17-year-old Jonathon Jackson led a courthouse rebellion in a brave display of all out resistance and armed struggle. Unfortunately, lives were lost as they typically are in any war. Magee, who is currently still incarcerated, was the only survivor. And though our heralded comrade, George Jackson was not completely freed, the efforts of Jonathon and others would inspire decades of continued resistance and revolutionary solidarity.

In 1970, George Jackson had just completed the book Soledad Brother, a philosophical revolutionary classic. Jackson however, was assassinated by San Quentin prison guards one year later on Aug. 21, 1971. His second book, Blood in My Eye was published posthumously by Black Classic Press. Jackson’s legacy has inspired millions worldwide, while his literary works continue to teach even in his physical absence. This is the background in which Black August was first formed. It was deep within the belly of the California Penal System that it was first embraced and formally established as a month of reverence, as a time of revolutionary celebration.

Inmates today have continued to protest and press forward all over the U.S. Hunger strikes have roused hundreds of thousands in states such as California, Georgia and North Carolina. Letter writing campaigns have served as vital lines of inspiration and direct communication. Human rights activists such as Mumia Abu-Jamal have served as critical catalysts, tirelessly working to empower the voices of those who continue to be oppressed by the public and private prison industry.

Today, in the spirit of continued resistance we honor the deaths of Mark Clark, Fred Hampton and Geronimo Pratt. We honor the sacrifices and life work of political prisoners, Eddie Conway, Assata Shakur and Sundiata Acoli. We honor the countless victims of COINTELPRO’s callous attacks upon the people. We duly recognize the destructive ills of capitalism and its disastrous effects upon the oppressed, worldwide. In the age of the prison industrial complex, school-to-prison pipeline and widespread police brutality, the struggle for justice and liberation is alive now more than ever.

In the 34th year of Black August, may we all take heed to the spirited words of our brother and mentor, George Lester Jackson: “Settle your quarrels, come together, understand the reality of our situation, understand that fascism is already here, that people are dying who could be saved.”

Lamont Lilly is a contributing editor with the Triangle Free Press, a Human Rights Delegate with Witness for Peace and organizer with Workers World Party. He resides in Durham, North Carolina.

#DurhamNC #PeoplesStruggles #MarchOnWashington #Antiracism #BlackAugust #FreedomFighters #GeorgeJackson

Washington DC – Ten thousand militant workers and students gathered here, Sunday, Oct. 17, to rally and march at the Lincoln Memorial. The Million Worker March demanded living wage jobs, health care for all and an end to war and occupation in Iraq. The same demands were echoed by union organizers and labor activists across the U.S. The Million Worker March united the advanced – the grass roots of the labor movement who understand that those who fight back can win.

There was a large turnout of African-American workers, union leaders and members of union caucuses. Union workers flowed out of the buses to the rally – transit workers from New York, Haitian workers from Boston, postal workers from North Carolina, AFSCME members and Teamsters from all over the country. Many students and young people drove from as far away as Chicago, Madison and Minneapolis.

The International Longshoremen's Union of San Francisco initiated the rally and had a strong presence. Three years ago, ILU led a fightback against concessions to the big business owners of the shipping yards on the west coast. The corporate owners locked the Longshoremen out and Bush threatened to invoke ‘national security’ and occupy the docks with troops. The Longshoremen beat back that attack and on Oct. 17, they stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, site of the famous “I have a dream” speech by Martin Luther King Jr. There they listened to Ken Riley, President of ILU Local 1422 in South Carolina and leader of the Charleston Five.

Pitched as an event to build a labor movement independent of both the Republicans and Democrats, it was clear that the vast majority of union workers supported dumping Bush from the White House. Speaker after speaker spoke out against the Bush policies of cutting overtime, shipping jobs overseas and fighting an ‘unending war on terror.’ Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark spoke against the war and occupation of Iraq and the U.S. military intervention to prop up dictators in other countries like Haiti.

Nearing the end of the rally, a local leader of the Service Employees International Union from San Diego told Fight Back!, “My local union wanted to send someone to the Million Worker March to represent the public employees from California, so I volunteered. We have the elections coming up and we need to get this guy Bush out of office, but I wanted to show solidarity with other workers.”

The rally ended with several hundred people marching to the Hotel Washington to support the union hotel workers demanding a new contract.

#WashingtonDC #News #MarchOnWashington #MillionWorkerMarch

Chicago, IL – Members of Teamsters Local 743 are preparing to join the massive national march on Sept. 1 in Saint Paul, Minnesota to protest at the Republican National Convention. They see this march as part of the effort to defeat the Republicans this fall. This march will be the first time in 45 years that Local 743 is joining a national mobilization.

“There are a number of issues important to us in this year’s presidential election,” said Local 743 Vice President Larry Davis. He listed five in particular:

Employee Free Choice Act

This is a bill that would, among other things, stop employers from using attacks against pro-union workers to keep unions out. “All workers should have the right to join a union,” explained Davis.

Health Care for Everyone

“The United States is a very rich country and everyone in America should have health care.”

Fair Trade

“Globalization has pitted workers in the United States against workers in third world countries. Rather then drive down the standard of living of American workers, we should have trade policies that will bring up the standard of living in third world countries, as well as in America.”

Full Equality for Everyone

“All workers in America should be treated fairly regardless to race, religion, sex, sexual orientation or where they were born. We believe in affirmative action. The next president needs to support affirmative action as well as enact an affirmative action program.”

End the War

“The human cost and the cost to America’s economy are far too great,” Davis concluded.

In 1963, the local was one of the unions that dared to stand for civil rights. They joined the March on Washington on Aug. 28 that year, where Martin Luther King gave his I Have a Dream speech. Then in 1966 and 1967, they were among very few unions that supported King and the civil rights movement in challenging racism in the city of Chicago.

In the later years, the local became a corrupt organization in which all workers – Black, Latino and white – were sold out to employers. But in 2007, the workers voted out the criminals that ran the union for many years. Now the union is reclaiming the proud tradition of marching with the movement for peace, justice and equality.

#ChicagoIL #News #ProtestRNC2008 #RepublicanNationalConvention2008 #Teamsters #EFCA #TeamstersLocal743 #LarryDavis #MarchOnWashington