Dallas, TX – On April 18, about 90 people rallied at Dallas city hall to protest recent police killings such as the murder of Daunte Wright and Adam Toledo. The rally was called by the Dallas Alliance Against Racism and Political Repression. Speeches were first held with DAARPR co-chair Jennifer Miller giving a passionate speech about her fears as a Black mother of an autistic child, “What happens when my son stops being a cute black boy and becomes a Black male threat. My son is Tamir Rice, my son is Trayvon Martin, and so many more.”

Next Kawana Scott of DAARPR spoke next, comparing the police murdering Daunte Wright with another case in which a Black man was tasered 15 times by a police officer, and called for justice. Afterwards local activist Olinka Green spoke, discussing local incidents of police terror in Dallas and calling for more intensity to the movement against police terror, calling for “more fire” in response to police violence. Green also discussed her concerns as a Black mother of a bipolar child, and her concerns that the police will abuse him in response to mental health incidents.

After the speeches 100 protesters marched around downtown Dallas, chanting, “Indict, convict, send all killer cops to jail. The whole damn system is guilty as hell!” and “The people united will never be defeated!” People in the march demanded the community control of the police to stop the violent massacre of Black and brown people.

#DallasTX #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #DallasAllianceAgainstRacistPoliticalRepressionDAARPR #DaunteWright #AdamToledo

Dallas, TX – On Saturday, June 6, about 5000 people rallied in 100-degree weather at Belo Garden Park across the street from the Earle Cabell Federal Building in downtown Dallas, to demand justice for victims of police violence, community control of the police, and the resignation of Renee Hall, the chief of the Dallas Police Department.

The protest was called by the Dallas Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (DAARPR), Progressive Student Union at the University of Texas at Arlington American Muslims for Palestine Dallas, Migrante Texas, and Black Youth Project 100-Dallas. First the crowd heard speeches, starting off with an introduction by Syd Loving, coordinator of DAARPR, demanding community control of the police. Next was Jennifer Miller, co-coordinator of DAARPR, calling for the resignation of Chief Renee Hall in response to violent police attacks on protesters.

Those attacks included the case of Brandon Saenz, who lost his eye while peacefully attending a DAARPR-organized May 30 protest after being shot in the face by projectiles fired by the police. Tear gas was used and rubber bullets were fired on crowds of protesters – including children. Miller also mentioned the mass arrest of hundreds of protestors on June 1 at Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge. “Chief Hall, you are complicit and guilty of crimes against the city of Dallas, and the people who visit it!” declared Miller, “You have the moral duty and obligation to resign!”

Drew Carter, president of the Black Student Union at Rice University, talked about the connection of the modern police to slave patrols, and called for the removal of police occupying Black and brown communities. Avee Herrera of the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns-Texas, called for solidarity between the Black and Filipino community and linked the struggle in the Philippines against police terror to the struggle against police terror in the United States, pointing out that American police train Filipino police.

Fadya Risheq of American Muslims for Palestine spoke and linked the struggle of Palestinians against the Israel apartheid government to the struggle against police terror in the United States, mentioning that the Minneapolis Police Department received assistance from the Israeli Defense Forces. Next the crowd heard from Indianna Taylor of Black Youth Project 100-Dallas, who announced the demands for the city to divest in the Dallas Police Department and invest more in community services, to free incarcerated prisoners locked up unjustly, whether wrongfully convicted or convicted of low-level crimes, and an end to police brutality against Black people.

The crowd then marched around downtown Dallas past City Hall. The crowds chanted the names of recent victims of police terror such as George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, as well as chants such as “I can't breathe,” “Fuck 12,” “ACAB” and “No justice, no peace.” On their way back the marchers stopped and kneeled for eight minutes in memory of George Floyd and other victims of police terror. The crowd then returned to Belo Garden Park to hearing closing statements from the Dallas Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.

#DallasTX #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #ProgressiveStudentUnion #DallasAllianceAgainstRacistPoliticalRepressionDAARPR #CommunityControlOfThePolice

The Dallas Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression brought about 2500 people to the streets of downtown Dallas May 30 to protest for justice for George Floyd and Atatiana Jefferson. The protest was eventually broken up when police attacked it with dozens of tear gas canisters, rubber bullets and concussion grenades.

Protesters met at city hall, convened by DAARPR co-coordinator Jennifer Miller at 1:30 p.m., though they had been assembling for some time. The crowd was also addressed by veteran organizer Olinka Green, who emphasized the need for Black and brown people to unite in the struggle against racism. Norma Ochoa, whose grandson Jose Cruz was killed by a Farmers Branch police officer in 2016, also spoke to the crowd, saying that she was there to demand justice for George Floyd because she knew the pain his family was going through. The crowd, which was mostly not Spanish-speaking, responded by chanting “justicia.”

The crowd marched through Dallas once, returned to city hall, and then marched again, growing the whole time. During the second march, Jennifer Miller stopped thousands of people in the middle of a key downtown intersection, Lamar and Main Street, to give a lengthy address on the connections between police abuse and the oppression of immigrants and the need to abolish ICE.

After the crowd returned to city hall, police decided to act against it. They first deployed about ten officers with riot gear, but when the crowd did not immediately disperse, those officers left. The next information the crowd had about police plans was when they heard the pop of exploding tear gas canisters. Protesters fled as quickly as possible. Some were affected by the tear gas. One woman on crutches could not flee quickly enough and had to be carried by other protesters.

Protesters were first driven behind city hall. Some managed to leave, but a second wave of police attacks drove the remaining protesters through the city streets. People who were trying to leave were prevented by police from getting to their cars, threatened with arrests for loitering if they stopped, and periodically tear gassed for no obvious reason.

However, as afternoon gave way to night, more and more people began to arrive in downtown Dallas. What had begun as an organized demonstration gave way to spontaneity. Crowd estimates at this point range as high as 10,000. Protesters began hurling tear gas canisters back at police, and building makeshift barricades from plywood taken from buildings.

As of this writing, it is not clear how this will end.

Another protest is planned for tomorrow, and organizers are talking about a week of actions.

#DallasTX #OppressedNationalities #PeoplesStruggles #AfricanAmerican #PoliceBrutality #Antiracism #DallasAllianceAgainstRacistPoliticalRepressionDAARPR #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd #JusticeForAtatianaJefferson

Dallas, TX – On Saturday, April 25, cities and towns around the country mobilized for a National Day of Car Protests to demand the cancellation of all rents and all mortgages for homeowners, small landlords and small businesses for the duration of the COVID-19 crisis. Demands included halting payments for utilities and internet, as well as implementing hazard pay for all essential workers.

With nearly half a million Texas workers left unemployed since March due to shutdowns and shelter-in-place orders, families across the Dallas-Fort Worth region need more than temporary concessions and moratoriums on evictions. It's time for the city and state governments responsible for the deadly lack of preparation and response to the crisis to step up and carry out real relief.

New data showing that Black communities in Dallas County are disproportionately facing hospitalization and death caused by COVID-19 adds a level of urgency to the demands for relief. Without stable housing and a safe place to ride out the worst of the pandemic, the communities already hit hardest by economic exploitation are made even more vulnerable.

In Dallas, activists and local organizers rode in a caravan of vehicles bearing banners and signs reading, “If we can't work, we can't pay!” “Bail the people out this time!” and other related slogans. Messages on vehicles invited onlookers to get involved with the organizations' campaigns. Participating groups included the Dallas Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression (DAARPR), Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100), and the Party for Socialism and Liberation. The caravan travelled through South Dallas residential neighborhoods, homeless encampments and downtown to city hall, garnering support and cheers from community members along the way.

“It was already a struggle to make ends meet for so many of us. Now, we're dealing with a crisis wreaking havoc on our health, and our economic situation – our stability. We need to know we'll have what we need to survive this. So we're going to get together and build this fight for us – every person and family deserves that right now,” said Jennifer Miller, an organizer with the Dallas Alliance.

#DallasTX #OppressedNationalities #Healthcare #AfricanAmerican #HousingStruggles #DallasAllianceAgainstRacistPoliticalRepressionDAARPR #RentCancellation #MortgageCancellation