New Orleans, LA – Anti-racist organizers united for the inaugural Take ‘Em Down Conference in New Orleans, March 24-25. Activists from across the South are building the fight to remove Confederate monuments and other symbols of white supremacy. After Take ‘Em Down NOLA’s success in getting four Confederate statues removed last spring, the fight has spread across the South and even to the Caribbean. Delegates from Durham, Ocean Springs, Jacksonville, Dallas and the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago met to discuss their recent victories. They shared experiences and fostered solidarity in the struggle against racism and national oppression.

The weekend culminated with a march on Sunday protesting the five remaining New Orleans monuments to slave-owners, segregationists and white supremacists: Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, Sieur de Bienville, Edward Douglass White, and John McDonogh. Though the city government of New Orleans may applaud itself for removing four of its most egregious monuments, Take ‘Em Down NOLA and its affiliates refuse to stop until all symbols of white supremacy are removed from our city.

“The conference was a big step forward for the broader Take ‘Em Down movement that brought together several cities in our ongoing fight against racism,” longtime New Orleans activist Malcolm Suber said. “And we concluded it with a militant march that had a great reception among the workers of the city.”

#NewOrleansLA #Antiracism #TakeemDown

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.

Currently in Jacksonville there exists Confederate Park, a statue in Hemming Park honoring Confederate soldiers and public schools named after Confederate generals – Robert E. Lee High School, Kirby Smith Middle School, Jefferson Davis Middle School and J.E.B Stuart Middle School. There are also bridges named after KKK members and white supremacists such as the Fuller Warren Bridge and the Isaiah Hart Bridge.

The rally, organized by Occupy Jax and Take Em Down, featured speakers from various organizations and clergy who came out to demand these monuments be removed from public spaces and to demand an end to white supremacy in Jacksonville.

Protesters chanted, “We’re fired up, we can’t take it no more,” and “Take ‘em down, take ‘em down, we don’t want no racist statues in our town, take ‘em down.”

“History is not reserved for the idol worship of genocidal slave holders,” said Monique Sampson of University of North Florida SDS and the Jacksonville Community Action committee. “Whether you’re fighting to take monuments down, whether you’re fighting against police brutality, fighting against Nazis at UNF or fighting to get Justice for Keegan Roberts or Maurice Hobbs, we must all stand together.”

The large crowd was met with fewer than 15 pro-white supremacist Confederacy counter protesters who were largely drowned out by the much larger and louder crowd calling to take the statues down. There was a heavy police prescience on hand with at least 100 officers around the vicinity of Hemming Plaza blocking off streets.

“This isn’t about a statue or a park or a name of a building, this is a moral issue. This is about the glorification and normalization of white supremacy,” said Haneen Ali, speaking on behalf of the Jacksonville Palestine Solidarity Network. “This is about white supremacy that stretches from Hemming Park to Israel.”

Protesters vowed to keep protesting and putting pressure on local politicians until the statues are taken down.

#JacksonvilleFL #Antiracism #ConfederateMonuments #TakeEmDown #OccupyJax