Washington, DC – On Sunday, July 28, over 200 community members gathered at Freedom Plaza in downtown DC to hold a vigil for Sonya Massey. The vigil, organized jointly by the DC Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (DC Alliance) and community activists, featured prayers, stories, speeches and chants condemning the murder of Sonya Massey and other police violence.

The DC Alliance stated its purpose was to “join together in remembrance and demand justice for Sonya Massey and every other victim of racist police.” The press release listed several demands, including a call to convict Deputy Sheriff Sean Grayson, the officer who shot Sonya Massey in the eye after she called the police for help; that the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) investigate and fire all killer cops; and the demand for a Civilian Police Accountability Review Board with the power to control the police.

The DC Alliance, SPEAR, Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO DC), Communist Party of the District of Columbia (CPUSA), and Claudia Jones School for Political Education (Claudia Jones) endorsed these demands.

The vigil began by recounting the details of the murder of Sonya Massey, followed by a reading of her obituary and a moment of silence in remembrance of all victims of racist police. Then, in a call and response with the vigil attendees, the organizers read the names of 60 victims of police violence, including 18 victims who were murdered by police in Washington, DC. After the reading, community members, local activists, poets and representatives of other groups, such as from Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), Anakbayan DC, and Pan-African Community Action relayed personal stories and spoke on the history and condition of policing in Black communities.

Tino Venable, a DC native and organizer for the DC Alliance, spoke on his personal experience with police violence. “With deep sadness comes my emotional honesty, the honesty of which I have been to so many funerals, so many vigils in this city that I found trouble forming the words to bear my soul here,”

Venable continued, “Sonya Massey was a beloved mother, a young Black woman, and a person in need. She called for help, and in return was met with evil.”

“All these kids are my kids,” said Terra Martin, the mother of 17-year-old Dalaneo Martin, young Black man who was murdered by U.S. Park Police on March 18, 2023. “We shouldn’t come together when someone gets killed, we should come together every day to see how we can stop this.”

“The U.S. policing system was created to catch and punish slaves who were escaping to freedom,” said Paige White, of counsel attorney at Ben Crump Law. “At its foundation, policing is a tool to enslave Black and brown people and maintain a status quo of racism.”

Other speakers talked about the connections between the murder of Sonya Massey as an example of genocide and the ongoing genocide in Palestine. “It is important we continue to describe this as genocide, because as we see in Gaza, the ruling class’s policy is to not only murder citizens of another nation, but to murder their own,” Dante O’Hara from Claudia Jones said. “Genocide is part and parcel of the U.S. capitalist project.”

“The Arabic word for martyr also means ‘witness.’ Sonya Massey is a martyr,” said Anyssa Dhaouadi of PYM. “She was a witness to injustice. She was a witness to the struggle. And it is our duty to bear witness to the injustice done to her. Over 186,000 martyrs [in Palestine] and the [Zionist entity] have not won. Thousands of Black martyrs across Turtle Island and they have not won. They have only strengthened our unity!”

Between speakers, chants of “Indict. Convict. Send these killer cops to jail!” and “MPD, KKK, IOF, they’re all the same!” rang out in the square. Signs included “Community, not cops!” and “Black women’s lives matter!”

“I’m sickened by the murder of Sonya Massey, Dalaneo Martin, and countless others whose precious lives were cut short because of a racist and cruel policing system,” said Jon Abraham, a member of FRSO DC. “We in FRSO understand the national character of these killings. It is the result of the national oppression of Black people in this country, of which only benefits the imperialist ruling class.”

The vigil concluded with closing prayers and a call to action, urging attendees to join the DC Alliance and the fight for community control of the police.

“We are here to put America on notice,” said Victoria Ponnell, a community activist who co-organized the vigil. “We have to stand against human rights violations in America, in Palestine, and in [the Democratic Republic of] Congo, because injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere!”

#WashingtonDC #PoliceCrimes #DCAARPR #FRSODC #SPEAR #CPUSADC #ClaudiaJones #AnakbayanDC #PYM #PACA

“Rim of the Pacific is the largest military exercise held anywhere in the world and takes place every two years in U.S.-occupied Hawai'i,” said Katie Comfort, a member of the International Women's Alliance's Global Secretariat and representative for the Cancel RIMPAC campaign. “Organizers in Hawai'i have been mobilizing against RIMPAC for decades, drawing attention to the environmental degradation, violence against women, and overall negative impact on the people living on the islands.”

“Today is an important and significant day to hold this press conference, as RIMPAC's opening banquet is kicking off tonight in San Diego with the heads of U.S. and foreign militaries,” continued Comfort.

Organizers from both Hawai'i and San Diego spoke about the disastrous effects these exercises have on both areas. Rose Elovitz, a member of Jewish Voice for Peace Hawai'i, spoke about the effects RIMPAC has on Hawai'i and its people, saying, “The rate of sex trafficking – which disproportionately affects native Hawaiian women and girls – rises 30% during RIMPAC. The use of navy sonar has been proved to confuse and harm whales, leading to mass die-offs and beachings. The wellbeing of people, land and water are not a concern to the U.S. military agenda.”

From the other coast, members of the Resist NATO coalition spoke about their efforts to fight back against the upcoming 2024 NATO Summit.

Speaking for the Resist NATO coalition, BAYAN USA and Anakbayan Montgomery County member Gabby Rivera said, “Since its creation in DC in 1949, NATO has served as the armed wing of U.S.-led imperialism. This upcoming NATO summit on July 9 through 11 marks the 75th anniversary of the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty in DC — and with it the founding of NATO.”

Rivera continued, “Here they will introduce major policies such as new sanctions, military budgets, mass surveillance and cyberwar initiatives. None of these will be in the interests of the international working class and oppressed, but rather the imperialist leaders with the US at their head.”

In addition to the Cancel RIMPAC Campaign and the Resist NATO Coalition, the press conference also featured speakers from the International League of Peoples' Struggle, Malaya San Diego, Jewish Voice for Palestine Hawai'i, the African National Women's Organization, the Palestinian Youth Movement, Pan-African Community Action, and BAYAN USA.

This press conference is one of a variety of actions in San Diego and Hawai'i, all of which lead up to a people's summit and mobilizations against RIMPAC in San Diego on June 29 and June 30, respectively. Next week, the Resist NATO coalition will also hold a people's summit on July 6 and a march on July 7 to protest NATO's 75th anniversary summit in DC.

#WashingtonDC #DC #AntiWarMovement #International #MiddleEast #Palestine #NATO #IWA #BAYAN #ILPS #JVP #Malaya #PYM #PACA #ANWO

Washington, D.C. – On May 4, the DC Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (DCAARPR), hosted its first local conference. A first of its kind for a branch of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR), the conference brought about 50 organizers, activists and community members together for a discussion on police accountability and community control. Many of the attendees were Black, Latino, Arab, Asian, and Pacific Islanders.

Organizations in attendance included Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) DC, DMV Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), Anakbayan DC, Claudia Jones School for Political Education, Pan-African Community Action (PACA), Communist Party USA DC (CPUSA), and the International League of People’s Struggle (ILPS).

The conference opened with remarks by keynote speaker Frank Chapman, a founding member and current executive director of the NAARPR and field organizer for the Chicago Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression (CAARPR or the Chicago Alliance). Chapman, a political prisoner who was freed by the efforts of the NAARPR in 1973, spoke of the origins of the Alliance and the importance of the historic demand for community control.

“The Alliance grew out of the demand to free Angela Davis, who faced trumped-up murder charges orchestrated by a racist police frame-up,” and “together with Charlene Mitchell and a talented group of organizers, I was freed from prison and dedicated myself to the struggle of Black liberation.”

“The demand for community control arose out of Black Reconstruction when for the first time Black people had political power to determine their futures. Black folks formed community militias to protect themselves from racist attacks from the likes of [what would form the KKK] and their bitter former masters. This demand was revived by the Black Panther Party during the Black Power movement of the 1970s.”

“Today, the Alliance takes up the demand for community control of the police, not only for the basic democratic demand that Black people have the say on who polices our communities and how, but also to allow for the organizing space and breathing room necessary to wage a struggle for freedom from exploitation. We cannot do that with the boot of the police on our necks.”

After Chapman’s keynote address, the organizing co-chair for DCAARPR reported on the activities of the DC Alliance from the past year. Those activities included electing a provisional executive to carry out the tasks; adopting bylaws; beginning a community outreach campaign and starting up tabling and fliering in targeted neighborhoods; regularly holding general body meetings; participating in national solidarity protests to free the Tampa 5; hosting Laura Rodriguez of the Tampa 5; hosting a fundraiser, the proceeds of which helping to send members to the 2023 National Conference and providing monetary support to the Tampa 5; attending the National Conference; participating in many solidarity actions for Palestine, including the Palestine National Week of Action; conducting political education around community control and political repression; and providing material support and political education at the Palestine solidarity student encampment at George Washington University.

The executive report was followed by a community discussion on police accountability, public safety and how to hold the police accountable. Groups identified the need to be united in action, and fighting toward community control as a primary campaign that could address many of the different issues discussed around police accountability and public safety.

The conference featured speeches from affiliates including DMV PYM, Anakbayan DC, Claudia Jones School for Political Education, PACA, CPUSA (DC), ILPS, and FRSO DC. Each affiliate spoke of the work they are doing and the importance of forming a united front for community control in DC.

“We in the Freedom Road Socialist Organization understand that oppressed people have the right to determine their own destinies, free of outside influence and repression,” the speaker for FRSO said, “We see community control of the police as a crucial step on this pathway; the people should have the say on police accountability; who polices them and how they are policed. We take on this righteous struggle through the power of the united front. In the words of CAARPR Field Organizer and NAARPR Executive Director Frank Chapman, “We must be headlights, not taillights. We must lead people out of their frustration, not into it.”

Additionally, the DC Alliance elected new leadership as follows: Kristen Bonner and Logan Cropper as organizing co-chairs, Jonathan Abraham and Tino Venable as outreach co-chairs, and Iain McNeely as secretary. The new executive committee will serve for the next two years and carry out the task of continuing to develop the DC Alliance and the demand for community control of the police. Also discussed and adopted were resolutions surrounding campaigns to hold accountable a local killer cop, Jason Bagshaw, and to provide critical support to homeless communities, among others.

The conference concluded by attendees following Assata's chant, but not before a call was made to continue the work of the Alliance and building the movement for community control. “The conference is only the beginning;” the conference emcee stated, “we want to host more forums like this where the community can come together to share their experiences and organize around the demand of justice and community control. We have come a long way from where we were last year, but we still have much more to struggle for, and much more to win. With the power of the people there is no obstacle that we cannot overcome! All power to the people!”

#WashingtonDC #InJusticeSystem #PoliticalRepression #PoliceCrimes #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #NAARPR #DCAARPR #FRSO #ILPS #PYM #PACA #CPUSA