Tampa, FL – On Wednesday, October 9, Hurricane Milton made landfall in Siesta Key, Florida as a Category 3 hurricane that devastated the state. Five days later, Tampa Bay residents are still experiencing power outages, gas shortages and widespread damage to their homes.

According to PowerOutage.us, 400,000 customers in Pasco, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee and Sarasota counties still do not have power. The largest number of outages are in Hillsborough County, where over 150,000 Tampa Electric (TECO) customers remain without power. The CEO of TECO promised the county that 100% of customers will have their power restored by Thursday, October 17.

Tallahassee, FL – On October 9, Tallahassee Students for a Democratic Society, in collaboration with other local community organizers, held a press conference to condemn Florida State University for platforming an Israeli soldier, Yair Ansbacher. Ansbacher, a Zionist propagandist, was given an opportunity to express his genocidal beliefs while pro-Palestine student activists are repressed.

Tallahassee, FL – On October 7, over 150 community members gathered to show solidarity with the Palestinian people and Palestinian resistance on the anniversary of Operation Al Aqsa Flood.

Jayci Qassis, organizer with Dissenters, started off the event with important historical context for October 7, stating “The Al-Aqsa flood was the result of a culmination; a boiling point of almost a century long existence of living under oppression by the Zionist entity. A year ago today, Palestine brought to consciousness the truth about the over 76 year long occupation that stemmed from the Nakba. We honor the courage and steadfastness of the Palestinian resistance, our brothers and sisters in Gaza and across all of Palestine in their struggle for liberation.”

Tallahassee, FL – On October 4, Tallahassee Students for a Democratic Society hosted their annual Halloween Talent Show in an effort to raise funds for travel expenses to the upcoming SDS National Convention.

The event was emceed by Tally SDS member Kingsley Early, who kept the evening light with stand-up comedy between sets. Local artists performed in seven different acts, showcasing their talents in poetry, singing, electronic music, rapping, noise music and songwriting. The event was a success in spite of the spookiest thing student activists are confronting this Halloween: political repression.

Jacksonville, FL – On Saturday, October 5, around 150 protesters congregated outside of Jacksonville’s port authority (Jaxport), as part of the Palestinian Youth Movement’s International Day of Action, to demand that the port cut all ties with Maersk, one of the world’s largest shipping and logistics companies. Jaxport has had a contract with the shipping behemoth since 2015.

Orlando, FL- Thirty activists gathered outside of City Hall in downtown Orlando for a vigil to mourn and remember the tens of thousands of Palestinians killed in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. This was the second of several events being organized each day as part of a week of action to mark one year since Israel began bombing Gaza.

Tampa, FL – On Tuesday at 12:01 a.m., about 40 longshoremen and their supporters began their picket line outside the Port of Tampa. The International Longshoremen Association Locals 1691 and 1804 are among the 50,000 South and Gulf Coast longshoremen on strike.

Fight Back News Service is circulating this call from the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression inviting organizers in the South to attend a regional organizing conference.

This December 6th-8th, the National Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression (NAARPR) is convening our inaugural Southern Regional Organizing Conference in Jacksonville, Florida. This conference will bring together progressive forces in the South fighting for Black liberation, Indigenous rights and land sovereignty. We are fighting back against police crimes and political repression to free all those unjustly incarcerated as well as defending all progressive movements fighting for a just society. NAARPR, which arose out of the movement to Free Angela Davis, was refounded in 2019 with well over two dozen branches and affiliate organizations nationwide. Since the 2020 George Floyd uprisings, NAARPR has seen a growth in new organizing struggles in cities across the country; specifically, in the Black Belt Region of the Deep South, the historic homelands of Africans trafficked to North America, where the majority of their descendants still live today.

Tampa, FL – On October 1, over 40 United States Postal Services workers and members of the American Postal Workers' Union rallied in front of the Carrollwood USPS office in Tampa, Florida for the national APWU Day of Action to demand a good contract. They lined the sidewalks along Dale Mabry Highway, held signs, and chanted their demands for better staffing, modernized facilities and better working conditions.

Tampa, FL – On Tuesday, October 1, around six students who are members of Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society at the University of South Florida, took a stand. They attempted to have a rally demanding free speech on campus for pro-Palestine protests.

Students gathered to begin the rally when Dean of Students Danielle McDonald stopped the students and prevented the rally from happening. Though no event was happening, the dean, along with campus security and police threatened students with trespasses and arrests for simply being on campus. She refused to allow students to leave without handing over their student ID cards. Two students at the attempted rally, Isabella Deschene and Saba Indawala, have now been suspended, trespassed, and have bogus code of conduct charges alleged against them.

The Freedom Road Socialist Organization of Orlando stands in solidarity with the eight pro-Palestine solidarity activists who were brutalized, assaulted and arrested by the Orlando Police Department [OPD] on September 21.

The protesters were all members of Central Florida Queers for Palestine and Orlando for Peace, two local grassroots organizations dedicated to justice in Palestine. Around 20 activists had gathered at Lake Eola Park as part of an emergency action denouncing Israel’s illegal and immoral bombing campaigns against Lebanon and demanding an end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

Tampa, FL – On Monday, September 17, members of Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) gathered at the University of South Florida (USF) to hold a lightning rally in response to the university’s continuing attacks on its students' right to free speech.

While students stopped to listen and join the rally, protestors demanded an end to attacks on the student movement—including on Tampa Bay SDS, which was recently barred from organizing and meeting on campus—and an end to policy 6-028, which was passed behind closed doors and prevents student groups from holding events, tabling and flyering. During the rally, students chanted “Ho ho, hey hey, the student movement is here to stay!” and “USF, shame on you! Student voices matter too!”

Tampa, FL – On September 13, around a dozen community members came to a press conference, demanding justice for Pastor Carl Soto. A local pastor, activist, and co-founder of Black Lives Matter Restoration Inc., Soto was followed and brutalized by Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Alex Almaguer. He was falsely charged with resisting arrest without violence.

Deputy Almaguer brutalized Soto on August 29, 2024. As Soto was on his way to pick up his kids from school, the deputy tailed him for approximately three miles before pulling him over. With his hand on his weapon, Almaguer approached the vehicle and made the unfounded claim that Soto was driving with an illegal license plate.

Tampa, FL – On September 10, the sixth day of the trial of the Uhuru 3, members of the African People’s Socialist Party (APSP) and Uhuru Solidarity Movement charged with “acting as agents of a foreign government,” both the prosecution and defense finished presenting their arguments. The courtroom was packed full of supporters of the defendants.

Jacksonville, FL – On Saturday, August 24, the Jacksonville Community Action Committee (JCAC) held its annual Black August event, remembering the tradition of what Black August means to the struggle for Black liberation, along with spotlighting various struggles happening in the community. Around 70 community members attended the event, which took place at Cafe Resistance off Soutel Road, one of the centers of the Black community in Jacksonville.

Tampa, FL – On Tuesday, September 3, Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society (Tampa Bay SDS), along with 20 other students and community members, held a pro-Palestine rally at the Marshall Student Center Bull Fountain to demand that the University of South Florida (USF) administration reverse the expulsion of Victoria Hinckley and suspension of Joseph Charry, disclose and divest investments to Israel, and stop attacks on the student movement.

Tampa, FL – The trial of the Uhuru 3 entered its second week on Monday, September 9. The 17th floor courtroom of the Sam Gibbons Federal Courthouse in downtown Tampa was packed with observers from across the country and across social movements, there to support the defendants.

Tampa, FL – As the trial of the Uhuru 3 enters its second day, the prosecution calls its first witnesses. The Uhuru 3 are members of the African People’s Socialist Party (APSP) and the Uhuru Movement who are charged with conspiracy and “acting as agents of the Russian government within the United States without prior notification.” The courtroom was packed with supporters of the defendants. Many had traveled from all across the country to be there.

The prosecution first called Professor Brian Taylor, a professor of political science, to the stand as a witness. Taylor’s role in the trial was to provide background information on the Russian intelligence agency, the Federal Security Service (FSB). When other witnesses were questioned, it was revealed that there was no proof of any of the defendants or the Russian nationals being agents of the FSB.

Tampa, FL – On Friday morning, August 30, a group of AT&T workers and community supporters picketed their workplace in Tampa. The Communication Workers of America union called an unfair labor practice strike against AT&T in the Southeast. The strike started August 16 with over 17,000 workers across nine states.

The contract between AT&T Southeast and the CWA ended August 3. During negotiations, the CWA pointed out that AT&T has not bargained in good faith. The CWA then filed an unfair labor practice charge. On August 21, federal mediation began between the CWA and AT&T Southeast.

Tampa, FL – On September 3, at the Sam Gibbons Federal Courthouse in downtown Tampa, the trial of the Uhuru 3 began. At 8 a.m., over 50 supporters of the defendants gathered across the street for a press conference and then a rally.

“We will beat these charges and we will put be the ones to put the state on trial,” said Mwezi Odom of the Hands Off Uhuru Defense Campaign.