Jacksonville, FL – Over 300 people gathered outside the Duval County Courthouse on Jan. 31 to call for the repeal of President Donald Trump's anti-Muslim refugee ban.

Called “No Human is Illegal,” the event was called by Jacksonville Progressive Coalition (JPC), a community activist organization most known for its successful campaign to remove Angela Corey, Jacksonville's racist former state attorney, from office

The protest brought together a diverse crowd of working people, college and high school students, and community activists. Families from Jacksonville's sizable Arab American community attended and spoke out against the ban. Organizers and advocates behind the campaign to extend the city's Human Rights Ordinance to protect the LGBTQ community came out in force, as did union workers from the Teamsters, the Communications Workers of America, and the North Florida Central Labor Council. Several Black liberation movement activists and groups also attended in support of refugees and Muslims.

On Jan. 26, Trump issued an executive order blocking refugees and immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries – Iraq, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Yemen and Somalia – from entering the U.S. The order sparked a massive wave of protests in cities across the country, just days after the giant women's march in Washington D.C. protesting Trump's inauguration. In the face of mounting public pressure, a federal judge halted the refugee ban. A federal appeals court is scheduled to rule on the legality of Trump's order in the coming days.

Building resistance to Trump

The crowd gathered outside the courthouse in the early evening, chanting, “Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here,” and “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA.” Community activists and speakers from over a dozen organizations denounced Trump's attacks on Muslims and immigrants and called for mass resistance to the president's agenda.

“If you remember, Trump's first speech was an attack on Mexicans,” said Wells Todd, an organizer in the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition. “From out the gate, this man was attacking minorities.”

Other speakers called for continued protests against Trump's agenda and spoke on the need for a mass resistance movement.

“We need to build a rebellion against the 1%, and rest assured, Donald Trump represents that 1%,” said Dave Schneider, a rank-and-file Teamster. “In this country, we have a democracy for the rich, which is a dictatorship for the rest of us. I say let's turn the tables of them, because there's a heck of a lot more working people than there are rich people in this country.”

After hearing from over a dozen speakers, the crowd marched to city hall and the nearby federal courthouse building.

The people shut down violent Trump supporter

Despite trolling on social media and vague threats online, only three counter-protesters showed up at the rally. One Trump supporter, dressed in a 'Blue Lives Matter' vest, attempted to jump in front of the crowd with a giant Trump-Pence campaign sign. Several organizers recognized him from a #BlackLivesMatter in Jacksonville several months before, which he tried to verbally and physically disrupt.

When protesters moved in front of the single Trump provocateur to block out his sign, the man became enraged and forcefully shoved two people. In response, several protesters grabbed the Trump-Pence sign, crushed its wooden support frame, and kicked him out of the rally.

The significance of the refugee ban on the First Coast

Although Trump's ban reportedly did not affect anyone flying in at Jacksonville International Airport, the fight against anti-Arab racism and anti-Muslim bigotry has special significance on Florida's First Coast. Jacksonville has the tenth-largest Arab population (8000) of all U.S. cities, as well as the fifth-largest Syrian American population (1100). The city is also home to nearly 10,000 Muslims, many of Eastern European or southeast Asian descent.

In 2015, three Jacksonville relief agencies agreed to take in as many as 2000 refugees per year from Syria and other parts of the Middle East. However, Mayor Lenny Curry, a longtime Trump supporter and Islamophobe, vocally backed the refugee ban, putting the status of any future refugees arriving in Jacksonville up in the air.

#JacksonvilleFL #ImmigrantRights #Antiracism #JacksonvilleProgressiveCoalition #MuslimBan

Trump's event drew the bulk of its overwhelmingly white crowd from wealthier areas in and around Jacksonville. Attendees wore designer brand clothes and flashed expensive wrist watches and jewelry. Luxury vehicles from Ponte Vedra, the beaches and Jacksonville's south side lined the streets outside the arena. Conversations between Fight Back! reporters and Trump supporters found that small business owners, contractors and professionals made up the bulk of the crowd – not workers and poor people. A sizable number of veterans also attended.

Most of the city's major politicians, including Mayor Lenny Curry, Sheriff Mike Williams and State Attorney Angela Corey, joined Trump in support of his racist right-wing agenda. Curry in particular presided over the event as the master-of-ceremonies, drawing widespread criticism from people across the city.

As Trump supporters lined up to enter the arena, protesters chanted “No Trump, no KKK, no racist USA,” and “Hell no, GOP, we don't want your bigotry.” Unlike Trump's crowd, the protest drew out African Americans, white workers, Latino immigrant rights activists, veterans and union members of all nationalities. Social justice groups like the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition (JPC) and the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) attended as well.

“With Jacksonville's long-running history of racist discrimination, it was important for us to show that Jacksonville isn't the same city of the 1960s, known for keeping Martin Luther King Jr. at bay,” said Connell Crooms, an organizer of the protest and member of the JPC. “We stood up to the white supremacists well into the night with very little police security standing between us. It was an important moment that the city saw us still fighting back in a way that would make our slain Black icons proud.”

At one point, officers from the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office attempted to move the protest away from the arena, claiming it interfered with the walkway of attendees waiting in line. Protesters stood their ground and refused to move. Within a foot of a police line, they began chanting, “No justice, no pension,” in reference to an upcoming referendum calling for a sales tax to pay for the police's pension fund. The officers became noticeably distressed and retreated, allowing the protest to continue on the walkway.

After Trump finished his speech, protesters began chanting even louder as attendees exited the arena. Trump supporters became noticeably more confrontational and angry, particularly when the protest began chanting “Black lives matter.”

Several white Trump supporters did the 'Seig Heil' Nazi salute. Many carried Confederate flags with the slogan 'Trump 2016' superimposed over the image. Trump's backers eventually amassed into a mob, chanting “All lives matter” and eventually “Blue lives matter,” both of which are racist slogans aimed at defending police crimes against Black people. Several activists, both Black and white, reported hearing the n-word used by the mob to denigrate African Americans.

The protesters stood their ground, even as Trump's mob surrounded them. They chanted, “This ain't a Trump rally, this is a Klan rally,” and “Put Trump's back, against his wall,” referencing the GOP candidate's plan to build a wall between Mexico and the U.S.

One Trump backer became hysterical and got within an inch of several protesters, screaming racist profanity and trying to bait a fight. However, the protesters formed a barrier between the crazed Trump supporter and his targets, forcing him to back down and leave. The police did not intervene even as the man threw his arms around violently and attempted to instigate a physical conflict.

Racial profiling at Trump's event

Inside the event itself, arena management and private security contractors kicked out several prominent Black activists. None of these activists had made any disturbance at the event and several had registered to vote as Republicans in the upcoming primary for State Attorney.

Diallo Sekou, who attended the event along with several other Black liberation activists, said in an interview with Fight Back! that he noticed security and police monitoring only the section where they were seated. After waiting for two hours, security removed Sekou and the others from the arena, saying, “This is a private event,” and that management “doesn't want you here.” They were escorted out of the arena without hearing Trump speak.

“It reflects on the heads of the Republican Party in Jacksonville, and the condition of the Black community for the last 65 years,” said Sekou of the event. “Donald Trump perpetuates that system of oppression. He retweets white supremacists. He gets endorsed by [former KKK grand wizard] David Duke. He calls Mexicans 'rapists'.”

Sekou added, “That's why we're going to continue organizing for change. I can't raise children in this city if this continues.”

Since that time, the Kemetic Empire released a statement calling the incident “racial profiling.” On Aug. 5, they filed an intent to sue the city within 30 days. Sekou said they are demanding “a formal apology, legislation put in place to stop this racial profiling, and that the city cut a check to everyone involved in the incident.”

#JacksonvilleFL #Antiracism #JacksonvilleProgressiveCoalition #Elections #DonaldTrump

Jacksonville, FL – Over two dozen protesters gathered in front of Angela Corey's office, April 27, to demand she be removed from office. In Jacksonville, State Attorney Angela Corey is responsible for leading Florida in the imprisonment of juvenile offenders, most of whom are Black. From 2009 to 2013, Corey's office incarcerated 1475 juveniles in the Jacksonville area alone, compared to just 32 in Miami during the same period. In almost four out of five of cases, Corey threatened the juvenile defendant with being charged as an adult in order to coerce a plea deal, since adult charges carry harsher consequences.

The rally was organized by the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition and included families harmed by Corey's policies, students and Black Lives Matter activists from around the city.

The protest began with chants of, “Hey hey, ho ho, Angela Corey has got to go!” and “Money for jobs and education, not mass incarceration!” Several local TV news stations and a radio station came out to cover the event and conduct interviews. At the very beginning of the assembly, Angela Corey snuck out the back door of her office building and her employees left periodically in groups under the watch of several security guards as the protest took place.

Speakers addressed the crowd and called for Angela Corey to either resign or be removed from office by Governor Rick Scott. As her election day in November draws near, many groups around the city have ramped up the fight to get her out of office. Jacksonville Progressive Coalition member Wells Todd addressed the crowd, speaking about Corey's part in mass incarceration and juveniles being tried as adults. In fact, more juveniles are tried as adults in Duval County than anywhere else in the country. Several of the speakers addressed the national outrage at Corey for failing to win justice for Trayvon Martin's murder, and some mentioned the abuses Corey committed against Marissa Alexander, a Black woman incarcerated for defending herself from an abuser.

The evening's rally ended with a group photo on the steps of the State Attorney's office before protesters marched and chanted on the sidewalk. The fight to get Angela Corey out of office is heating up in Jacksonville and activists are prepared to fan the flames.

#JacksonvilleFL #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #JacksonvilleProgressiveCoalition #AngelaCorey

Jacksonville, FL – About 25 people gathered in Friendship Park here, April 9, for a press conference to demand Angela Corey be removed from office. Angela Corey is the Florida state attorney responsible for prosecuting more death penalty cases in Duval County than anywhere else in the country, and for being third in the country for the number of minor offenders charged as adults. An overwhelming majority of those minors charged as adults with felonies are African American. Angela Corey is also responsible for letting George Zimmerman walk after the murder of Trayvon Martin and for locking Marissa Alexander up after Alexander was found guilty of firing a warning shot against her abusive husband. The press conference was called for by the Jacksonville Leadership Coalition, headed by the Reverend R.L. Gundy.

Several groups were invited to speak at the press conference, including the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition (JPC) and Mad Moms: Mothers on a Mission. Many of those present were African Americans with family members who had been victimized by Angela Corey's policies. Wells Todd spoke for the JPC in front of several news cameras and microphones, stating that the fight to get Angela Corey out of office was heating up and that activists were targeting financial backers of Corey like Firehouse Subs and Safetouch Security Systems, as well as W.W. Gay Mechanical Contractors. Todd called for a boycott of these local businesses because of the financial donations made to Corey's last election campaign.

Several of the family members of incarcerated youth and activists were interviewed by local news stations after the press conference. Everyone who attended the event vowed to strike a blow against racism and national oppression by stepping up the fight to get Angela Corey out of office.

#JacksonvilleFl #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #Florida #JacksonvilleProgressiveCoalition #AngelaCorey #JPC

Organizers from the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition (JPC) called the event as part of its ongoing Angela Corey Out Now campaign. Several community groups like the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) came out to the protest. Student activists from the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) chapters in Tampa and Tallahassee also attended in support.

Corey leads the state in direct commitments (plea deals) of juvenile offenders, most of whom are African American. From 2009 to 2013, Corey's 4th Judicial Circuit incarcerated 1475 juveniles, compared to just 32 in Miami. While the criminal injustice system in the U.S. disproportionately incarcerates Blacks and Latinos, the situation in Jacksonville under Corey is even more disastrous. From 2006 to 2011, Black males comprised 70% of all juvenile offenders tried as adults by Corey, versus 52% statewide.

Corey's botched prosecution of Trayvon Martin's killer, George Zimmerman, and her vicious persecution of African American mother Marissa Alexander for firing a defensive warning shot sparked the campaign in 2014. Recently, the JPC has targeted many of Corey's corporate and financial backers, including W.W. Gay, Firehouse Subs, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, and BBVA/Compass bank. Corey is up for re-election this year.

The event kicked off to high enthusiasm in Riverside, a historic neighborhood in Jacksonville. Loud chants of “One, two, three, four – Angela Corey out the door,” and “Hey hey, ho ho, the New Jim Crow has got to go,” caught the attention of passing drivers, many of whom honked or shouted in support. Protesters carried signs reading, “No justice, no peace!” and “Stop supporting Angela Corey” and passed out leaflets about Corey to people out walking.

Later the crowd took over a lane of traffic on Stockton Street and marched to the front gates of W.W. Gay. Chants of “Kids deserve an education, not mass incarceration,” and “Whose streets? Our streets!” grew louder as the protesters marched under Interstate 10.

After arriving at W.W. Gay, Wells Todd from the JPC spoke before the crowd on Corey's attacks on Jacksonville's Black community. He blasted W.W. Gay and the Corey's other financial backers for directly supporting mass incarceration. Todd ended his speech by encouraging the crowd to keep marching and continue building a mass movement against racism.

W.W. Gay Mechanical Contractor Inc. is a Jacksonville-based plumbing and industrial contractor giant that spans across Florida and the U.S. South. Along with its associated companies, W.W. Gay has invested thousands of dollars into Corey as state attorney since her first election in 2008. More than a year before the 2016 election, they had already given Corey $2000.

These companies directly benefit from the expansion of the criminal injustice system in Jacksonville, which Corey helps facilitate. In 2009, the city council awarded the $25 million Duval County Courthouse construction contract to W.W. Gay. More recently W.W. Gay and its associated companies landed major roles in the construction of the new state attorney's office building – a renovation project valued at almost $26 million.

The JPC will continue organizing to remove Corey from office and build a mass movement against racism in Jacksonville.

#JacksonvilleFL #PoliceBrutality #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #JacksonvilleProgressiveCoalition #AngelaCorey #AngelaCoreyOutNow

The Jacksonville Progressive Coalition has called for two rallies that will target major financial backers of Corey's previous campaign for state attorney and slam the companies for supporting Corey's racist policies.

The first rally will take place outside of SafeTouch Security Systems on Feb. 21 at 1:00 p.m. The address for SafeTouch Security Systems is 9600 Sunbeam Center Drive, Jacksonville, Florida.

The second rally will take place outside of W.W. Gay Mechanical Contractor on Feb. 28 at 1:00 p.m. The address for W.W. Gay Mechanical Contractor is 524 Stockton Street, Jacksonville, Florida.

Fernando Figueroa of the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition had this to say about the upcoming events, “We are mobilizing community members and organizations from around Jacksonville who are tired of Angela Corey's reign of terror, where killers with badges are protected and Black people are oppressed. By protesting outside of her financial backers, we're looking to hit her next campaign for reelection in the pockets. I urge everyone who loves justice and equality to come speak out against Angela Corey. Our message is clear – we want Angela Corey out now!”

#JacksonvilleFL #TrayvonMartin #JacksonvilleProgressiveCoalition #AngelaCorey

Jacksonville, FL – On August 8, activists in Jacksonville staged two demonstrations tied to the Black Lives Matter movement. In the morning, community organizers rallied for a press conference outside of the Duval Regional Juvenile Detention Center against the mass incarceration of Black youth. Later that day, young activists led a Black Lives Matter march through downtown Jacksonville against racist police crimes.

Demonstration against mass incarceration and State Attorney Angela Corey at the Juvenile Detention Center

Around 11:00 a.m., the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition (JPC) gathered outside of Duval Regional Juvenile Detention Center to speak out against State Attorney Angela Corey and racist prosecution practices that target Black youth. Corey's 4th Judicial Circuit leads the state of Florida in the charging of Black male juveniles as adults. However, Corey has never charged a police officer in her circuit with unlawful use of force, despite dozens of police killings in her nearly seven years in office.

Activists gathered around a banner with the slogan, “Black Lives Matter,” while handing out literature about mass incarceration to participants, spectators and media. Several members of the JPC and the community spoke about Corey and her role in the mass incarceration of Black people, particularly juveniles, in Duval County.

“We are here today at this Juvenile Detention Center to break the silence in Jacksonville concerning Angela Corey's mass incarceration regime,” said Wells Todd, a lead organizer with the JPC, during a speech at the event. “We are here today to speak out against our children being tried as adults. We are here to speak out against the intimidation tactics used by Angela Corey's office, intimidating children and their families into taking plea deals when there is not enough evidence to take the case to trial.”

Todd continued, “We are here because Angela Corey is building her career on the backs of our children, and we are saying we mean to stop her.”

After Todd's speech, the nearly 20-person crowd chanted “1, 2, 3, 4, Angela Corey out the door. 5, 6, 7, 8, we want justice, we can't wait.” Undeterred by the blistering Florida heat and the half dozen police cars that encircled the facility, they continued chanting for over an hour. Cars and cyclists that rode by honked and waved in support.

Other speakers at the demonstration tied the struggle against Corey with the Black Lives Matter movement around the country.

“We say 'Black Lives Matter' because Black lives have never mattered under this system,” said Connell Crooms, a member of the JPC and a deaf community organizer in Jacksonville. “This is an opportune time to force the issue. We can no longer be ignored. We will no longer be ignored.”

Youth-led Black Lives Matter courthouse rally marches through downtown

Later in the afternoon, more than 50 people from the Jacksonville community gathered outside the Duval County Courthouse. The event, organized by the newly formed Black Lives Matter Jax (BLMJAX), drew an energetic crowd of mostly young African-Americans.

“I think it is important to march for Black Lives Matter because it’s our job as millennials to take on this responsibility of fighting this new breed of racism, which is institutional,” said Joshua Parks, one of the main organizers of the event and a student at Howard University. “This form of racism is rather oblique. So it is our responsibility not only to bring attention and awareness to this issue through protest, civil disobedience and demonstration, but to also take action in attacking this covert system and all of the structures that uphold it.”

The crowd marched through downtown Jacksonville and chanted, “Hey hey, ho ho, the New Jim Crow has got to go,” and “No justice, no peace, no racist police.” Some carried signs that read “Jail killer cops, not Black youth,” “Angela Corey out now,” and “Straight outta patience,” the latter inspired by the album Straight Outta Compton by the hip-hop group N.W.A.

At the Landing, a popular tourist spot on the Saint Johns River in downtown, the crowd regrouped for a brief community discussion on racism and police crimes nationally. Speakers talked about the need to build a movement against white supremacy and discussed strategies to empower one another locally.

Members of BLMJAX spoke about many of the police crimes committed across the country, such as the suspicious circumstances of Sandra Bland's death in Texas. Bland was found dead in jail after a routine traffic stop.

D'Angelo Stallworth and police crimes in Jacksonville

A couple speakers at both events talked about the murder of 28-year-old African American D'Angelo Stallworth in Jacksonville on May 12. Stallworth, father of three, was shot six times by two white police officers, who claimed that they thought D'Angelo looked suspicious. He was unarmed at the time of the shooting, and an independent autopsy ordered by the family indicates that police shot him in the back as he ran away – in other words, executing him.

To date, State Attorney Angela Corey has not indicted either officer. JSO has refused to release the names of the two officers to the public.

#JacksonvilleFL #InJusticeSystem #AfricanAmerican #PoliceBrutality #Antiracism #JacksonvilleProgressiveCoalition #AngelaCorey #BlackLivesMatter #DangeloStallworth

Jacksonville, FL – On August 2, more than 35 people from across Jacksonville attended a forum on institutionalized racism. Sponsored by the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition (JPC), the event featured a stack of speakers who addressed the Black Lives Matter movement, the struggle against police crimes and the fight against mass incarceration.

The forum comes on the heels of a large rally in downtown Jacksonville in memory of Sandra Bland, the 28-year-old African American woman who was arrested in Texas during a routine traffic stop and died in jail under suspicious circumstances. Bland's death is one of the most recent in a series of police crimes that have sparked nationwide protests.

Wells Todd, organizer with the JPC, kicked off the forum with a talk on the roots and history of institutionalized racism. Drawing from Michelle Alexander's book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, Todd outlined how the land-owning wealthy planters in the North American colonies and Europe originally used racism to keep white indentured servants and poor people from uniting with Black slaves. He discussed how this system of oppression evolved over time, from slavery to Jim Crow to the current era of mass incarceration.

After Todd, Dr. Irvin Pedru Cohen, the Vice President of Social Responsibility for Florida's First Coast YMCA, spoke about institutionalized racism in and around Jacksonville as something “engrained into the fabric of the U.S.”

When asked what to do next, Cohen said, “We need to move beyond conversation into action. That means demanding quality education, quality employment and quality neighborhoods.”

Fernando Figueroa of the JPC spoke about the proposal in Chicago for a Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC). Speaking as a former student activist who worked on police brutality campaigns in Gainesville, Figueroa outlined the need for community control of the police. The Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression is holding a massive march in Chicago on August 29 to demand CPAC, which the JPC officially endorsed and plans to attend.

During the discussion period, members of the community took to the microphone and shared their thoughts and experiences with institutionalized racism.

Terri Brown Neil spoke on the exploitation of prison labor by massive corporations. “It's not just three strikes and you’re out,” she said, in reference to three-strike laws that disproportionately target Blacks and Latinos. “Now it's three strikes and you're hired.”

Neil continued, “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said the moral arch of the universe is long, but it bends towards justice. But that arch isn't going to bend by gravity. We have to force it to bend.”

The forum ended with some announcements of upcoming events. Tefa Galvis of the JPC announced a rally against mass incarceration for 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, August 8 outside the Duval Regional Juvenile Detention Center. The rally will protest State Attorney Angela Corey's role in incarcerating Black juveniles – the most of any state attorney in Florida. The JPC has an ongoing campaign to force Corey out of office.

Before disbanding, the crowd chanted, “Ain't no power like the power of the people, cuz the power of the people don't stop.”

#JacksonvilleFL #AfricanAmerican #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #Antiracism #JacksonvilleProgressiveCoalition #BlackLivesMatter

Jacksonville, FL – Over 100 activists and community members gathered here, July 26, to honor Sandra Bland. Bland, who supported the Black Lives Matter movement, became national news when she was found dead in her jail cell after being arrested for a minor traffic offense. Many doubt the official story that Bland committed suicide, especially after video evidence surfaced of Bland being handled roughly by the police.

A number of speeches were given from various organizations and individuals outraged after the death of Bland. Tefa Galvis spoke on behalf of the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition about the ongoing campaign to stop police crimes and the abuse of Black women at the hands of the state. Several local artists played songs and sang hymns as the crowd listened and reflected.

Chevara Orrin, a local activist in Jacksonville, spoke about why she organized the rally and vigil. “It's important to show solidarity on a number of levels. We want to create space for Black and brown women and show that their lives matter. We want not only to create space, but to bear witness to our pain on a very basic level. We also gather people to create new strategies for stopping these incidents.” She added, “I'm not interested in this vigil being the final word on Sandra. I'm interested in sitting down with those in power and talking about why this happened.”

Activists vowed to continue the fight to stop police crimes and show that Black lives matter.

#JacksonvilleFL #WomensMovement #AfricanAmerican #PoliceBrutality #Antiracism #JacksonvilleProgressiveCoalition #BlackLivesMatter #SandraBland

Jacksonville, FL – More than 50 people gathered outside the Duval County courthouse to demand justice for D'Angelo Stallworth, the 28-year-old African American man murdered by Jacksonville police in May. The crowd assembled around noon, carrying signs and wearing t-shirts with the slogan “Justice 4 Dee.”

Stallworth, father of three, was shot six times by two white police officers, who claimed that they thought D'Angelo looked suspicious. He was unarmed at the time of the shooting and an independent autopsy ordered by the family indicates that police shot him in the back as he ran away – in other words, executing him.

“We have no answers, and today, we will not be silent,” said Latrelle Worth, the girlfriend of D'Angelo and mother of one of his children, in a speech during the rally. She continued, “No matter how they try to put us away and try to erase the story, we will not be erased. Today and forever, we are D'Angelo Stallworth, and we will stand at the forefront of this courthouse and anywhere in Jacksonville, Florida to promote justice for D'Angelo Stallworth. We want answers!”

Worth's comments focused on the complete lack of action by State Attorney Angela Corey in the month and a half since the two officers murdered D'Angelo. Corey has not charged either officer, and the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office (JSO) has not released their names to the public.

The high-energy crowd vocally blasted the lack of action by Corey, whose 4th Judicial Circuit leads the state of Florida in the incarceration of juveniles, particularly African Americans. Chants of, “Angela Corey, where are you? We see you!” and “Hey hey, ho ho, these killer cops have got to go,” drew enthusiasm from everyone at the rally.

When asked, many at the rally showed skepticism that Corey will give into the people's demands, because of her close relationship with the police. When she initially won the office of State Attorney in 2008, Corey was endorsed by the Jacksonville Fraternal Order of Police. In pure campaign donations alone, at least 10% of the $534,507.75 she raised came from police officers or their families in 2008, according to research by the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition (JPC) and records from the Florida Division of Elections.

“They want us to stay at home and not ask, 'What is happening? What is wrong with this country today?'” asked Tefa Galvis, a lead organizer with the JPC. She continued, “The only way we are going to get justice is if we stand together, if we get organized and if we unite our community to go outside and demand that Angela Corey and JSO stop these attacks.”

The family and friends of D'Angelo plan to hold further protests demanding justice, including a march on Angela Corey's office in downtown Jacksonville. Details on upcoming actions can be found on the “Justice 4 D'Angelo” Facebook page.

#JacksonvilleFL #AfricanAmerican #PoliceBrutality #JacksonvilleProgressiveCoalition #DangeloStallworth #JacksonvilleSheriffsOffice

Jacksonville, FL – On June 13, over 30 activists assembled at the International Association of Machinists hall to discuss methods, share strategies and to discuss points of political unity within the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition (JPC).

The seven-hour event was organized by the JPC after a month and a half of preparation, and welcomed organizers and activists from local groups such as Eyes Open Jax, Occupy Jacksonville, Veterans for Peace, Jacksonville Coalition For Equality and others.

According to Dave Schneider, a member of the JPC and Teamsters Local 512, the purpose of the event was “to develop a more efficient organizational structure to strike blows against our enemy.” Schneider has many years of experience in organizing and, along with his peers, shared insights into the “dedicated planning and discipline” and “nuts and bolts skills” of organizing protests and campaigns. “If you stand on the side of the oppressed, you are a dedicated freedom fighter,” said Schneider.

Among the issues discussed were “Organizing with the Campaign Model,” “Research and Development in Activism,” “Actions, Media and Social Media” and “How to Effectively Run a Meeting.” During these panels, the importance of diligence and maintaining focus on a message and purpose were stressed. “Talk to the people, find out the issues affecting them,” Schneider said, citing recent actions in Eureka Gardens, a Section 8 housing community in Jacksonville where the tenants, many of them elderly, live in substandard conditions. In formulating a campaign, social investigation, as well as conducting education and agitation among the people is vital, and this cannot be achieved only using social media. Campaigns must escalate and introduce new tactics in order to be successful.

“Your events have got to get bigger and more intense; elected officials acknowledge numbers,” stated Schneider.

“It gets under their [elected officials] skin when you’re well educated,” said Eleanor Wilson, a JPC and Occupy Jacksonville member. She also noted that the “city council will lie to your face.” She discussed the importance of fact-checking and researching with reliable sources when confronting those in power, as well as educating those present on using search engines more effectively to find information and issues buried within government documents.

The media is an important part of campaigns and building support and interest in a cause, and a workshop also focused on “leveraging media coverage to your advantage and using social media to advance the struggle,” according to Tefa Galvis, an organizer with the JPC.

Preparing press releases and conducting press conferences were discussed in detail, with emphasis placed on brevity, clarity and staying on message. JPC member Wells Todd, who has interacted with the press through television, radio and print, advised: “This is an opportunity to recruit and inform people that someone’s on their side. We’re dealing with economic exploitation, racism, sexism, homophobia…always bring it back to what you want to say. Don’t let them put words in your mouth.”

Following a lunch break, there was a series of short panels discussing “points of political unity”: racism, empowering the working class, ending U.S. wars and occupation, women’s liberation, LGBTQ rights, resisting political repression and opposing environmental destruction. These panels were a combination of articulating a platform and providing additional information to those who may not be fully educated on the complexity of these issues or how they intersect. One of the threads connecting all of these points was the role that the state and its institutions has in oppressing on the basis of race, class, sex and sexual orientation. “Institutions control your lives,” Wells Todd said in an impassioned speech detailing institutionalized racism, “these are concepts embedded into social systems and institutions.” “It’s killing us and we have to rip it out of our society,” he added. Todd could have just as easily been referring to the oppression of women, the exploitation of workers, or the destruction of the environment through shortsighted corporate greed.

The Boot Camp was filled with ideas and information meant to raise consciousness and expand knowledge.

The Jacksonville Progressive Coalition is “a coalition of groups that come together to fight against issues of oppression and fight for social and economic justice” and, if this event is any indication, its reach will extend even further in the coming months.

#JacksonvilleFL #JacksonvilleProgressiveCoalition

Jacksonville, FL – On March 30, about 150 people gathered throughout the afternoon to demand justice for Devanta Jones. Jacksonville Sheriff's officer Cliff Sames shot Jones, an unarmed African American, just the day before, after responding to Jones' phone call for help. After shooting Jones, the police told the media that Jones had been strangling his girlfriend, but his girlfriend immediately told reporters that was false. The shooting and subsequent rally took place at the Cleveland Arms Apartments complex in Jacksonville. This was not the first time that officer Sames shot someone.

The day before, organizers and community members agreed to converge outside a nearby corner store and rally to show support for Devanta Jones and his family. For several hours, protesters held signs and chanted, “What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!” along with “Black lives matter!” and “Fired up! Fight back, fight back!” Participating groups, including Hurting Families with Children in Crime, the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition (JPC), Kemetic Empire and iCare, were all present with banners and sign-up sheets.

Wells Todd from the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition opened up a rally by setting the tone for the evening: “We're here to have a militant rally, and make sure we don't fill Jacksonville's jail cells tonight by being smart,” he told the crowd.

Several local news stations were on the scene reporting on the events. After some more chanting and a few speeches, the crowd began preparing for a spirited march around the neighborhood.

Rakeeme Joyner, brother-in-law to Devanta Jones, addressed the crowd from a bullhorn, “We're here to show that Black lives really matter, and ask that you please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers.” Afterwards, the crowd assembled behind a banner reading “Black lives matter – stop police crimes,” and began marching in the streets after involving most of the community members who had been participating in the day-long show of support.

The police reacted immediately as the march began, blocking off lanes of traffic both up and down the street. Interestingly enough, several ambulances with flashing lights, busy-looking fire trucks and even a school bus suddenly appeared on the streets where protesters were marching. Several community members remarked how odd it was that a school bus was driving children home from school at 7:00 p.m.

Many believed the police were deliberately trying to make the protesters look bad by trying to claim their interference as these service vehicles drove past. Jacksonville Progressive Coalition organizer Tefa Galvis saw through the trick and quickly organized the march to let the service vehicles past each time they appeared so that there was no delay to them. At the same time she told the crowd about the tactics police officers were trying to use against them. All the cops could do was stand by and look frustrated as the marchers went on chanting “Jail officer Cliff!” until the protest concluded later in the evening.

Community members and organizers vowed to keep demanding justice for the police crime of shooting Devanta Jones. They agreed to keep struggling and fighting until the family had been served justice and officer Cliff Sames was put in jail.

#JacksonvilleFL #PoliceBrutality #JacksonvilleProgressiveCoalition #DevantaJones

When Devanta DeJuan Jones called the police for help early on the morning of March 29, he probably didn't expect them to come and shoot at him. He had called the police to help him allegedly settle an argument at his home. The cop, Cliff Sames, shot Jones after chasing and hitting him with a stun gun three times. Officer Sames was involved in two police shootings in the past.

This is just another one of the many cases of police crimes that are catching fire around the country. These cases, like the shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, involve the police shooting an unarmed Black man. Afterwards, the police make up a ridiculous story so they can paint their shooting victim in a negative light.

Fight Back! caught up with a neighbor of Jones and fellow resident of the Cleveland Arms apartments, Karruah Parkinson, who is organizing for justice. Parkinson had this to say: “We'd just like people to come out to our rally tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. and show support. We're rallying to show them that Black lives really matter. It's not necessary for JSO to shoot a Black man every time something happens.”

Organizers with the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition and community members are organizing a rally on March 30 at the corner store across from Cleveland Arms apartment complex at 6:00 p.m. The address for the starting location is 5105 Cleveland Arms Road.

Fight Back! encourages readers to attend the rally and stay up to date on developments in the case.

#JacksonvilleFL #PoliceBrutality #JacksonvilleProgressiveCoalition #DevantaDeJuanJones

The protesters, dubbed the 'Jacksonville 19' by local activists and media, stopped traffic on the bridge on Dec. 8 to demand justice for Eric Garner. Garner was the African-American man who NYPD choked, leading to his death. A New York grand jury refused to indict the white police officer Daniel Pantaleo, continuing a nationwide protest movement against racism and police brutality.

On the morning of Dec. 8, about a dozen protesters parked cars and blocked traffic on I-95 northbound. Carrying signs that read, “Black lives matter” and “I can't breathe,” the group halted traffic until police arrived and forced them onto a nearby overpass.

Then in the afternoon, 19 protesters blocked traffic on the Hart Bridge. The protesters slowed their cars to a crawl on the two-lane highway and many walked between the cars holding signs. Police eventually led the protesters off the bridge to a parking garage near EverBank Field, where they detained the entire crowd.

According to several activists, police informed the crowd they would be receiving verbal warnings and written citations for obstructing traffic. However, activists say, the police sergeant then received an order from Jacksonville Sheriff John Rutherford to arrest all 19 protesters.

The protesters were held in a parking garage near the John E. Goode Pre-trial Detention Facility for several hours. Police seized everyone's phones, cameras and other media storage devices, claiming them as evidence to identify the activists who attended the morning traffic shutdown. No cell phones or other seized devices are yet returned to protesters as of Dec. 12.

Most of the protesters were charged with obstructing traffic, a misdemeanor in Florida. They were given court dates and released in the middle of the night, after a jailhouse solidarity protest called by the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition (JPC).

However one protester, Siddie Friar, was charged with two felonies – one for resisting arrest with violence and the other for assaulting an officer. Friar was held longer, and State Attorney Angela Corey pushed the judge to raise her bond. Corey's office sent several attorneys who presented printouts of Friar's Facebook posts to argue for raising her bond. The judge kept her bond the same, and later that night, activists from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the JPC bonded her out.

Most of the protesters, the Jacksonville 19, are scheduled for court appearances in late December. The Jacksonville Progressive Coalition and other groups are calling on State Attorney Angela Corey to drop all charges against the protesters and return all seized items immediately.

#JacksonvilleFL #PoliceBrutality #JacksonvilleProgressiveCoalition #EricGarner #BlackLivesMatter #Jacksonville19

Jacksonville, FL – On Dec. 7, about 50 members of the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition attended the second annual People's Potluck. The event brings activists together before the holidays to look back on the year's accomplishments, enjoy a live rap show and eat good food.

After attendees helped themselves to the buffet and were seated, they were treated to a live rap show courtesy of South Georgia revolutionary rap artists, The People's Vanguard. This group works closely with the Progressive Coalition and participates in Jacksonville protests. Rag Mathis of the rap group said, “Only those who understand, that together everyone achieves more, will witness and rejoice in freedom and liberation.”

Afterward attendees watched a video highlighting the year's events, protests and marches. People applauded the victorious anti-racism campaign to rename Nathan B. Forrest High School. Forrest was the Ku Klux Klan’s first Grand Wizard and a Confederate officer notorious for committing war crimes. The new name is Westside High School. The video also showed the massive rallies in Jacksonville in outrage against the Israeli bombing of Palestine and police killing of Mike Brown over the past summer. From demanding “Hands off Syria” to winning a conviction for the white vigilante killer of African American youth Jordan Davis, the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition had a busy and successful year.

Master of ceremonies Estafania Galvis recognized organizers from the anti-war, labor, queer liberation and African American freedom movements for their contributions to the growing struggle in Jacksonville. Organizers Fernando Figueroa and Richard Blake presented many awards. Wells Todd, Etta Ettlinger, Willie Hager, Bill Miniutti and Karen Morian received Longtime Freedom Fighter Awards for their dedication to the struggle and willingness to continue training newer activists.

The night concluded with a rousing speech by organizer Dave Schneider. “Although all of us here have very different struggles, we all gather here tonight because we know that together we are stronger to fight our common enemy. We live in a world where more and more of us are realizing that the people have the power to throw this rotten system away and replace it with something better.” The evening closed out with an encore performance by The People's Vanguard.

#JacksonvilleFL #JacksonvilleProgressiveCoalition #ThePeoplesVanguard

Jacksonville, FL – On Dec. 5, nearly 100 protesters gathered in downtown Jacksonville to demand justice for Eric Garner, the New York African American man who was choked to death by police. The protest was called in response to the decision by a New York grand jury earlier in the week to not indict the police officer who killed Garner.

Activists from Jacksonville's Black community, along with groups like the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, organized the event. The Jacksonville protest happened simultaneously with other demonstrations across the state of Florida and the entire country against racism and police brutality.

Just after sunset, people began assembling at the entrance of Hemming Plaza in downtown with homemade rally signs that read “We the people indict this racist system,” and “Justice for Eric Garner.” Some protesters placed masking tape over their mouths and wrote the words, “I can't breathe” across it, which Garner said 11 times before dying from the police officer's chokehold.

As the crowd grew larger, they broke into chants of “Justice for Eric Garner” and “Black lives matter,” which became a rallying cry for protesters after the police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri this summer. Like Garner's case, a majority-white grand jury declined to indict the white police officer who killed Brown in late November.

Several speakers from social justice and civil rights organizations addressed the crowd. Bobby Worthy, a member of the Jacksonville branch of the New Black Panther Party, spoke out against Florida State Attorney Angela Corey and her persecution of Black youth in north Florida. Worthy pointed out that Corey's office never charges police officers after shooting Black men, but she ruthlessly prosecuted Marissa Alexander, the 33-year old African-American mother who recently took a plea deal after defending herself from domestic abuse.

After hearing from the speakers, protesters broke into thunderous chants of “I can't breathe!” and prepared to march through the plaza. Just 30 yards away from the protest, another crowd had assembled for Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown's annual holiday tree-lighting ceremony. The protesters continued chanting as they marched through the seating aisles and around the stage of the ceremony. At one point, the volume of chanting overpowered the band.

As the protest continued, the staff for the holiday ceremony cranked the amplifier volume to high levels in order to drown out the chanting. This caused many in the audience to leave the event early. Some joined the protesters.

When the protesters arrived back at the entrance of the plaza, they held a die-in for four-and-a-half minutes, which symbolizes the four-and-a-half hours that Michael Brown's body was left in the hot noonday sun after he was killed by Ferguson police. Everyone laid down on the ground and began chanting, “Hands up, don't shoot.”

The atmosphere was energetic and lively as several speakers closed out the event.

“They kill our people every 28 hours,” said Estefania Galvis of the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition. Galvis' statement references a study by the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement from 2013, which found that police or vigilantes kill a Black man every 28 hours. “The last thing I heard two weeks ago was that there was a police incident in our community and I got a text from a friend saying was someone close to us,” said Galvis at the end of the event. “I don't want anyone here to be the next victim of police killings.”

#JacksonvilleFL #AfricanAmerican #PoliceBrutality #JacksonvilleProgressiveCoalition #EricGarner

The plea deal includes three years in prison, but Alexander will receive credit for the almost 3 years she spent in jail during this case, leaving her with just 65 days left to serve. Alexander cited the interests of her children as a major factor in her decision to accept the plea deal.

Her trial highlighted the injustice system's targeting of African Americans and women. State Attorney Angela Corey seemed determined to demonize a survivor and paint Alexander as the criminal simply for defending herself, while Corey had no problem letting George Zimmerman walk after he murdered Trayvon Martin. The reality is that the justice system is the real criminal in this case – criminal for abusing a woman who has already fought for so long to get justice for herself and for her family.

Organizers around the country called for national protests throughout the trial demanding Free Marissa Now! Locally, the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition (JPC) distributed fliers calling for a rally on the steps of the Duval County Courthouse beginning on the first day of the trial.

JPC organizer Dennis Thomas said, “I think she fell victim to the injustice system – by accepting a plea deal when you know in your heart that you're innocent. We need to keep organizing against a corrupt system that forces people to make hard decisions like that. We need justice for Trayvon Martin, justice for Eric Gardner, justice for Michael Brown and we still need justice for Marissa, too.”

The Jacksonville Progressive Coalition will continue to organize for the immediate resignation of Angela Corey, who continues to lock up more Black and Latino youth in Jacksonville than anywhere else in Florida. For more information, join the Facebook group: Jacksonville Progressive Coalition.

#JacksonvilleFL #WomensMovement #MarissaAlexander #JacksonvilleProgressiveCoalition #AngelaCorey

Jacksonville, FL – More than 30 people from the Jacksonville community gathered in Hemming Plaza downtown here, Nov. 24 to protest the Ferguson grand jury verdict and demand justice for Michael Brown.

Organized by the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition (JPC), the protest began a little over an hour before the verdict was announced. Within minutes of arriving, the crowd was forced out of the plaza by Jacksonville police officers, who claimed the park was closed. Undeterred by the police intimidation, the group regrouped on the sidewalk around the plaza and began chanting, “Michael Brown means we've got to fight back!”

Protesters carried signs reading, “Hands up! Don't shoot!” and “Justice for Michael Brown.” As the time of the verdict announcement grew closer, more people arrived and passing cars honked in support.

Several speakers addressed the protest to talk about the case in Ferguson and its relevance to Jacksonville. Fernando Figueroa, an organizer with the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition, said, “What happened to Michael Brown in Ferguson happens to young Black men in Jacksonville constantly.” Figueroa continued, “We know that this injustice system will never win justice for the victims of racist violence and police brutality. Justice doesn't come from the courts, but from us marching in the streets.”

After hearing from several speakers from the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition and the community, protesters gathered around a bullhorn to listen to the announcement. Holding their rally signs close, the crowd gasped as they heard the announcement that killer cop Darren Wilson would not face any criminal charges in the killing of Brown.

When the verdict was announced, protesters held four-and-a-half minutes of silence, which the Brown family requested to symbolize the four-and-a-half hours the Ferguson police left Michael's body in the hot midday sun after he was killed. Immediately after, the crowd broke into chants of “No justice! No peace! No racist police!”

The crowd marched around Hemming Plaza, drawing some more support from passing cars. As the event drew to a close, protesters vowed to continue building the movement to win justice for Michael Brown and stop racist police brutality.

#JacksonvilleFL #PoliceBrutality #JacksonvilleProgressiveCoalition #MichaelBrown #Ferguson #DarrenWilson

Jacksonville, FL – After a week and a half of keeping watch over the Duval County Courthouse, a verdict has been reached in the retrial of Michael Dunn, Oct. 1. Dunn is the white racist who murdered African American youth Jordan Davis in 2012. After two years and a mistrial, the family of Jordan Davis finally won some measure of justice today when the jury came back with a guilty verdict.

Activists with the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition (JPC) and other groups kept a presence at the courthouse since the retrial began on Sept. 22. Many of the activists were also present during the first trial of Michael Dunn earlier this year, where a mistrial was declared on the first degree murder charge for killing Jordan Davis. Activists had tables, banners and signs at the ready for several hours each day since the start of the retrial, many reading, “Justice for Jordan Davis,” and “Angela Corey out now.” Angela Corey is the state attorney who let George Zimmerman off the hook after he murdered Trayvon Martin and she's also responsible for botching the first trial of Michael Dunn. Corey, however, seems to have no problem going after African American Marissa Alexander and trying to increase her sentence to 60 years for harming no one as she defended herself from an abusive husband.

Dozens of reporters were present on at the courthouse and many were asking about the JPC's message regarding Angela Corey. Wells Todd, a spokesperson for the JPC, was present through the original trial and retrial of Michael Dunn. Todd explained why the JPC wants Angela Corey out of office, even though a conviction was won during this retrial: “Angela Corey has locked up more Black and Latino youth in her jurisdiction than anywhere else in Florida, and if she had her way, there wouldn't have been a retrial of Michael Dunn in the first place.” For those reasons and many others, the JPC summed up that it was the people's struggles that won the retrial and won the guilty verdict. People power carried the day and forced the conviction of Michael Dunn, despite the efforts of Angela Corey and the ruling class she works for.

Todd spoke to half a dozen news cameras, saying, “Jordan Davis was a teenager doing what teenagers do when his life was taken. One of the main reasons for the second trial was the pressure that came from the parents and the community. They turned up the heat on Angela Corey and made this case visible not only to Americans across this country, but around the world. I live near Jacksonville Beach, where white teenagers drive around listening to loud music all the time and nothing happens to them.”

Tefa Galvis of the JPC quickly organized a press conference once the verdict was announced. Speakers announced that the JPC would be continuing to organize to get Angela Corey out of office and would turn their attention to the Marissa Alexander trial coming up at the end of this year.

JPC organizer Dennis Thomas has been coming to the courthouse since the retrial began, holding signs and using organizing skills picked up while fighting to free Marissa Alexander and protesting the injustice going on in Ferguson. Dennis said, “We needed that guilty verdict especially because of what's been happening regarding violence against young Black men in America. We fought hard to say that it's not open season on young Black men and that justice must be served.”

The struggle is far from over, but it's right to celebrate a victory against the racist ruling class. Members of the JPC closed out the press conference by chanting “Free Marissa now!”

#JacksonvilleFL #JordanDavis #JacksonvilleProgressiveCoalition #MichaelDunn #AngelaCorey

Jacksonville, FL – Members of the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition (JPC) will be hosting a solidarity march demanding “Justice for Michael Brown!” at 6:00 pm on Saturday, Aug. 16, starting at Hemming Plaza in downtown Jacksonville.

Like dozens of cities across the country have already done, the city of Jacksonville will be marching to demand jail-time for the killer cop who fatally shot Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri on Aug. 9. Michael Brown, an 18-year-old African American, was unarmed. Activists and organizers have been busy planning the march, doing outreach and flyering at local shopping centers, bus stations and gas stations in the community. The march is expected to be well attended and powerful.

JPC Organizer Biko Misabiko said, “We're marching to stand in solidarity with Michael Brown and his family. We also want to relate what's going on in Ferguson to what's going on in Jacksonville with State Attorney Angela Corey and her war on black youth. There's been too much police brutality and terror in Jacksonville already. Angela Corey looks out for corrupt cops, just like the system protects the killer cop in Missouri. That's why only the people organized into a political force can get justice for victims of police brutality.”

Fight Back! News urges Jacksonville readers to attend the march.

#JacksonvilleFL #PoliceBrutality #JacksonvilleProgressiveCoalition #Ferguson #JusticeForMichaelBrown