Denver, CO – On Monday, January 20, Denver held its annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day “Marade” – a combination march and parade. Despite single-digit temperatures, roughly 600 people showed up to honor the legacy of Dr. King.

This year, the march happened to fall on the same day as the inauguration of Donald Trump. This was not lost upon the attendees, many of whom carried signs and banners opposing Trump’s racist agenda.

“Trump represents the worst of the worst when it comes to students, the environment, immigrants and all other oppressed people,” said Khalid Hamu of Students for a Democratic Society. Part of Trump’s agenda includes abolishing the Department of Education and the ability to enforce the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

During the march, a contingent of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) led chants and carried a large banner reading “Fight for MLK’s dream, reject Trump’s nightmare!” At the end of the march, Brandon Rincon of the FRSO addressed the crowd, encouraging ongoing resistance to Trump’s attacks.

#DenverCO #CO #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #MLK #FRSO #SDS #Trump

By staff

San José, CA – On MLK Day, upwards of 600 San José residents came out to protest Trump's inauguration and fight back against his anti-immigrant agenda.

The protest mobilized a broad array of progressive organizations in the South Bay, all united against Trump. The Silicon Valley Immigration Committee and Papeles Para Todos coordinated the rally and march.

The rally began at 4 p.m. at the intersection of Stevens Creek and Winchester Boulevard, a commercial center where many gather to shop. Before the protest started, a mass of people had already gathered on the sidewalks with Mexican flags, pickets featuring the Virgin Mary, and Huelga flags. Together the crowd chanted, “¡El Pueblo unido, jamás será vencido!” meaning “The people united, will never be defeated!”

Sebastian Salinas, a community organizer with the Silicon Valley Immigration Committee, kicked off the protest with a series of chants shoulder to shoulder with SEIU 2015 union members. Together they chanted, “Who’s got the power? We got the power! What kind of power? Union power!”, alternating the final phrase with chants of “people power” as well.

The program began with the Raging Grannies Action League’s anti-Trump song reaffirming civil rights in the United States. Shortly after, José Rubén from the Comité de Solidaridad con la Lucha de los Inmigrantes Detenidos shared his experience of participating in a labor and hunger strike while being detained in a for-profit prison.

“On the 18th day of the hunger strike, we had a visit from ICE and GEO dressed in military gear, in riot gear, with deadly weapons,” Rubén recalled. Rubén asked to speak to his lawyers,but ICE officials responded by dragging Rubén and throwing him on to the ground. In 2023, Rubén gained his freedom. “It was possible because of the support of the community that I was able to be liberated,” he stated.

The program included moments that reflected on what MLK Day is about and Martin Luther King Jr.’s radical legacy. Allie Yixuan from San José Against War spoke about MLK Jr.’s opposition to the Vietnam War. Yixuan stated, “It is clear that if Dr. King were around today, he would agree that spending enormous amounts of our tax dollars on military aid to bomb civilians and children in occupied Palestine is unacceptable!”

A community organizer with Papeles Para Todos, Verónica Avendano Ibáñez, soon followed, stating, “I have spent 25 years here and have spent more than a decade organizing my community here.” Ibáñez continued, “I learned that it is important that our community is united and that we fight for our solidarity to achieve our goals,” adding, “Everyone has a right to visit their countries of origin and return to their home in the United States of America, because we have grown roots in this community.”

Uriel Magdaleno of the Silicon Valley Immigration stated, “As President Trump is sworn in, many sanctuary cities are wavering on their support for their immigrant communities and pledge to work with ICE, which is why it is important for San José to reaffirm as a sanctuary city, and it will not cooperate with ICE.”

Magdaleno closed by reading an excerpt of the Legalization for All Network’s statement, “It is through the peoples’ struggle and the peoples’ movements that we will resist Trump and the racist institutions that he will try to use to attack us. Our rights and our place in these lands were not given to us, but won through protracted and sharp struggle. Whether we were born here or if we came here as immigrants, we have every right to exist here.”

After the speeches, Sebastian Salinas prepared the crowd to march into the streets. The attendees followed, with SEIU union members leading with their banner and chants. As the march started, cars passing by honked in support. The crowd chanted, “Whose streets? Our streets!” After a block, the march headed directly into the center of Santana Row, one of San José’s busiest shopping centers. The crowd continued to chant, “What do we want? Justice! How are we gonna get it? People power! If we don't get it? Shut it down!”

The march included a number of different contingents including a Filipino contingent made up of Malaya South Bay, PAWIS South Bay and the League of Filipino Students at San José State University.

After the march, Misrayn Mendoza with Amigos de Guadalupe continued the program, stating, “As you have seen during the last couple of weeks, months and years, we have been under attack by the presidency administration that will be entering today.” Mendoza continued, “Beyond the fear that they want us to feel, there's an unbreakable resiliency, courage and valor to continue in community with one another without fear we'll walk together and change the fear for love and justice.”

Tarentz Charite, of the San José State University chapter of Students for a Democratic Society, told the crowd, “Dare to struggle, dare to win!” Charite described their experience as a student activist on campus “constantly in battle of reactionary ideology on campus.” They condemned the university's tolerance of the reactionary group Turning Point USA on campus.

After Charite, Héctor Rincón from La Voz de los Trabajadoresbegan by saying, “Long live the working class struggle, long live the women's rights struggle, long live the trans rights struggle and long live the struggle of all oppressed peoples!”

John Duroyan from the San José district of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization ended the program, saying, “Today marks a moment of vital importance, for many reasons. Firstly, on this day, we honor the memory of a titan, and a hero in this nation’s long legacy of activism.” Duroyan continued, “What better representation of those evils exists than the wretched reactionary Donald Trump, and his gang of bigots and greedy businessmen! Today, Trump was sworn in, an insult to the legacy of Dr. King! Let every organization here, no matter their personal mission, stand united in declaring that the far right’s hatred and greed is not welcome here! And that so long as we have anything to say about it, Trump’s administration will not lay so much as a hand on the people without us fighting back with all our rage and fury!”

#SanJoseCA #Trump #Inauguration #FRSO #MLK #MLKday #TransRights #WomensRights #SDS #SJSU #TurningPointUSA #TurningPOint #SJSUSDS #MALAYA #ImmigrantRights #Legalization4All #SEIU #UnionPower #SiliconValleyImmigrationCommittee #PapelesParaTodos

Jacksonville, FL – On January 20, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a broad coalition of 20 organizations united to bring out over 150 people to the Duval County Courthouse to protest Trump’s agenda. Hearing from speakers representing various struggles, the people of Jacksonville affirm their fight for national liberation movements, workers, immigrants, LGBTQ rights, reproductive rights and more.

With a backdrop of the American flag, the Jacksonville community stood committed to making Trump’s America ungovernable; “We are here to honor Dr. King’s dream by being Trump’s nightmare,” said a member of the Jacksonville Community Action Committee.

The crowd also heard from organizations such as the Freedom Road Socialist Organization and Students for a Democratic Society. To combat Trump’s racist, reactionary agenda over these next four years, these organizations stressed the necessity of uniting various people’s movements. Passersby could hear the crowd chanting, “The people united, will never be defeated!”

A second Trump term promises an escalation of discrimination and repression of Arab communities, reminiscent of the 2017 Muslim ban. Far from an anti-war administration, the impunity provided to Israel by the U.S will not lessen.

“The last 15 months of genocide in Gaza and the persistence of resistance has given new life to people’s movements all around the globe, signaling a decline of imperial powers and a broadening of political consciousness. We must use this moment not to relax our fight for Palestinian liberation, but to escalate it,” said Ryan Delaney from the Jacksonville Palestine Solidarity Network.

A general theme heard throughout the evening was of perseverance; that the people must not despair and instead get organized. It was emphasized that over the next four years, the people in Jacksonville will not falter in the struggle against Trump's agenda.

#JacksonvilleFL #Jax #JCAC #Trump #Inauguration #JPSN #FreePalestine #MLK #MLKday #FRSO #SDS

New Orleans, LA – On January 20, around 100 students, workers and New Orleans community members representing 20 organizations commemorated MLK Day by marching in the streets. They gathered to march against Donald Trump’s agenda on the day of his inauguration.

Throughout the march protesters carried signs against deportations, attacks on abortion rights and many other issues representing the people’s movements. Black protesters led chants from a truck leading the march, followed by the main banner of the coalition that stated, “Unite & fight the racist Trump agenda.” Drummers played along with the crowd’s chants, such as “Say it loud! Say it clear! Immigrants are welcome here!”

The coalition to march on MLK Day/Inauguration Day was initiated by New Orleans for Community Oversight of Police (NOCOP). The event kicked off with a rally at A.L. Davis Park, named for the local civil rights leader who helped to form the Southern Christian Leadership Conference along with Martin Luther King Jr. Toni Jones from NOCOP opened the march, saying, “We’re out here because we are organizations made up of people who decided that they want to stand up and not take oppression lying down.”

Union Migrante, a local immigrant organization, gave one of the first speeches. One member told the crowd, “To hell with the dictator! We will be here fighting back whenever a politician comes along trying to push racist laws against the immigrant community or Black community here in New Orleans!”

After some speeches, demonstrators loudly took the streets, marching on one of New Orleans’ busiest streets, South Claiborne Avenue. The march then turned right at the corner of S. Claiborne and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, which features a bust of the civil rights leader on a tall pillar.

Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard travels through the Black Central City Neighborhood of New Orleans and intersects with Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard, named after another civil rights icon of New Orleans. At that intersection sits a sculpture of many hands joined together dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr. The march ended there and concluded with speeches from other organizations in the people’s movements.

Jasmine Groves, NOCOP member and daughter of Kim Groves, who was murdered by a member of New Orleans Police Department, gave a powerful speech. She delivered statements by Mona Hardin and Arlene Robertson, the mothers of Ronald Greene and Daviri Robertson. Greene was murdered by Louisiana State Police while handcuffed in 2019, and Robertson was murdered by Jefferson Parish Sheriff officers that same year.

Groves told the crowd, “Our criminal justice system is broken. Why should I have faith in a system that is not for us as a people? We as a people have to come together and realize who has the voice and who has the power. We have had so many great leaders to pave the way. From the Black Panthers to Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, even to my mom.”

Other speakers represented LGBTQ and environmental rights organizations, both of which face increased threats in Louisiana because of Governor Jeff Landry’s reactionary agenda. A republican federal government that will strip all environmental protections means that the remaining Louisiana landmass will be delivered to oil-extracting companies on a silver platter.

Speakers from Palestinian Youth Movement and New Orleans Stop Helping Israel’s Ports (NOSHIP) spoke about the recent achievement of a ceasefire in Gaza by the Palestinian resistance. They highlighted Trump’s racist views towards Palestinians and uplifted the need to honor martyrs of resistance such as MLK Jr and Tawfic Abdeljabbar, a Palestinian-American student from New Orleans who was killed by the IDF while visiting Palestine in January 2024.

Students for Democratic Society member Juleea Berthelot told the crowd, “Today we gather not just to honor the legacy of MLK Jr but to keep his fight for justice alive, to speak truth to power and to demand that our voices be heard.” Berthelot shared their motivation for participating in the march, saying, “My identity as a Black person, as a student and as someone who’s been arrested for speaking out compels me to fight for a future that honors Martin Luther King’s dream. Not just in words, but in action. That is why we are here today. We will not be silent in the face of a president who is intent on reversing the progress that we fought so hard to make.”

#NewOrleansLA #LA #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #MLK #Trump #ImmigrantRights #InJusticeSystem #NOCOP

Tacoma, WA – Seventeen coalitions came together January 20, rallying hundreds of people at Fireman’s Park before taking to the streets to protest Trump’s inauguration on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. 

The coalition addressed a broad array of issues, including immigration, Palestinian liberation, Black liberation, worker’s rights, climate justice, and more. United under three core demands – an end to the attacks on the people, defeat Trump’s agenda, and resist U.S. imperialism – these allied forces marched in solidarity, demonstrating a powerful commitment of the peoples’ movements to resist in the coming years of Trump’s presidency. 

Organizer Miriam Barnett started her speech by stating, “We celebrate the greatness of MLK today and we stand together to vow to fight the evilness of Trump. We will never embrace the Trump agenda.” 

The roars of the crowd echoed the sentiment of resistance to this administration. Organizers also emphasized that their fight transcends any single administration. 

“We would be taking to the streets no matter the outcome of this election.” said Talison Crosby, a long-time organizer with the Freedom Road Socialist Organization. “The system gave us two rotten choices that resulted in a rotten outcome. Neither party represents the people.”

Terrance McCall, an organizer with the All-African People’s Revolutionary Party stated, “The attacks on the people will not come to an end by interventions made by the Democratic nor Republican Party, they will only be brought to an end by the power of the people.” McCall continued, The time is long overdue for us to unite as poor and working people, with the poor and oppressed of the world, to change every part of the production of the society from serving the interests of private wealth to serving the people. The people will be first.” 

Mylo Lang, a member of the International Association of Machinists Local 751, and a member of the Tacoma Democratic Socialists of America stated, “Trump has made his priorities more clear than most.” 

Lang continued, “When he promises to carry out a campaign of mass immigrant deportations, he threatens the most vulnerable workers among us, whose contributions to daily life so often go unrecognized. When he focuses so much of his rhetoric on cultural bogeymen, he shows how desperate he is to keep the working class divided and distracted.” 

Marilyn Kimmerling, a member of the Climate Alliance of the South Sound said, “We know the corporate ploy that is used to divide us - ‘Jobs versus environment’ - meaning you can’t have both, is a false choice. There are no jobs on a dead planet. And we know that everything is connected, so we stand with any progressive groups doing the work that needs to be done. Mutual aid, solidarity, community building, and working together may be the only way we can effectively fight the perils we now face.” 

When an enemy such as Trump is going to attack the people and escalate on all fronts, it is also necessary that people organize as such. This march met the moment by going from the sidewalks into the streets and occupying the busiest intersections in Tacoma.  

Participants chanted, “Up up with liberation, Down down with occupation” as the march concluded at the Federal Court House. This rally was one of many protests across the nation, marking the beginning of a resistance to this administration. 

Alisun Thompson, with Jewish Voice for Peace, spoke of the power of the march, stating, “This work really shows what we can do when we are united – we are stronger together.” Each speaker concluded with a call to action. “There’s a lot of organizations out here today. If you’re not in one, you need to be in one, we can’t do anything ourselves but together we can change the world,” McCall stated.’

#TacomaWA #MLK #MLKDay #Trump #Inauguration #FRSO #JewishVoiceforPeace #JVP #ClimateAlliance #ClimateAllianceoftheSouthSound #SouthSound #DSA #AAPRP

St. Paul, MN - As Donald Trump was inaugurated the 47th president of the United States on Monday, January 20, people gathered in Saint Paul to make a promise that from day one they would resist Trump’s agenda. 

The day began at the Saint Paul Police Department’s Western District precinct. With temperatures dipping to negative five degrees, a single hearse led a caravan of over 100 cars in remembrance of Marcus Golden. At the young age of 24, Mr. Golden was murdered by Saint Paul Police on January 14, 2015. He is the nephew of Black Lives Matter Twin Cities organizer Monique Cullars-Doty. 

The caravan participants decorated their cars with Palestinian flags and signs in support of the defense of Black lives, immigrant rights, and reproductive rights. The caravan proceeded from The Saint Paul Police Department’s Western District precinct along University Avenue. Two young men exited their parked cars in subzero weather to wave a Palestinian flag in support as the caravan passed. The caravan participants honked as they continued east toward downtown.

Cullars-Doty spoke about the significance of the single hearse leading the caravan today. “The hearse is from the same undertaker who took my nephew Marcus Golden’s body from Ramsey County Coroner’s office, but it also represents all the revolutionaries this country has killed and silenced. It is also symbolic that we all follow the hearse because we are still fighting. So as this Trump administration rolls in, we cannot let our dreams die. It means we have to keep fighting.” 

A coalition of organizations led by Black Lives Matter Twin Cities (BLM-TC Metro), the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), and Twin Cities Coalition for Justice (TCC4J) organized the car caravan and indoor rally.

In the shadow of the Minnesota State Capitol, the caravan arrived at Saint Paul College where 500 attendees filled the cafeteria to chants of “Black Lives, they matter here! and “Immigrants are welcome here!” 

Despite the somber occasion of Trump’s second inauguration, the room buzzed with enthusiasm as the emcees led the crowd in chants. Speaking for MIRAC was Manuel Pascual - a first generation Filipino immigrant who witnessed the violence of ICE raids against his community first hand. 

Pascual stated, “Immigrants and the working class are the backbone of this country. It is extremely important we don’t panic or fall into despair in this time of uncertainty. Instead, we organize. We take to the streets. We continue speaking up, showing up, and fighting for one another.” 

Charlie Berg, a member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, affirmed the task ahead of everyone in the room: “It is up to all of us to unite the many in order to defeat the few. We need to make this country ungovernable! Our job is to take the fight to higher stages than ever before.”

Toshira Garraway, the founder of Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence, whose fiancé was murdered by the Saint Paul Police in 2009, inspired the crowd saying, “When we see someone being hurt or harmed or mistreated for any reason at all it’s going to take every nationality of people from every walk of life to stand up against the evil and the corruption in this world and we are going to win!”

Sarah Murphy from the Minnesota Abortion Action Committee who spoke about the fight for abortion access under Trump and the fight against the predatory crisis pregnancy centers that are run by the Christian right and embed themselves in predominantly Black and brown working-class communities and college towns to dissuade people from getting abortions.

The crowd also heard speeches from the Climate Justice Committee, the TCC4J, the Minnesota Immigrant Movement, among many others. Other groups were present to table and talk to community members and other organizers throughout the day to share information and get more community members involved in joining the fight against Trump. 

Closing out the program was Anti-War Committee and Free Palestine Coalition member Sabry Wazwaz, who connected the fights for Black and Palestinian liberation, stating, “This connection is not something new. It has always been there. They don’t want us to remind each other that our struggle is one struggle! If you go to Palestine, you will see murals all along the apartheid walls of Martin Luther King, of Malcom X, of George Floyd - because our struggle is one struggle!”

After the program, participants returned to their cars to caravan to the Minnesota State Capitol building where they ended the day of protest honking outside of the Minnesota State Capitol to send the message that Minnesotans will be in the streets to fight Trump’s agenda starting on day one, even in extreme subzero weather.

#StPaulMN #MLKDay #MLK #Trump #Inauguration #Minnesota #AntiWarCommittee #FreePalestineCoalition #FreePalestine #Abortion #AbortionAccess #ReproductiveFreedom #ReproRights #BLM #BlackLivesMatter

Atlanta, GA – On Monday, January 20, the streets of downtown Atlanta were filled with activists, community and youth groups, and a number of labor unions who all marched to honor the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. Among the unions present were Teamsters Locals 728 and 396, as well as the IBEW, CWA, SEIU and Atlanta-North Georgia Labor Council.

For UPS Teamsters this is the second year in history that MLK day is a paid holiday, following the “Deliver on the Dream” campaign in 2023 that saw the holiday added to the Teamsters contract. King was a staunch ally of organized labor; he spoke to labor unions across the country about the need to fight racist discrimination and led marches demanding improved rights for workers.

The demands of organized labor are especially dire this MLK day, as it coincided with the inauguration of Donald Trump to the presidency. Teamsters led chants against union busting and workplace abuses. Trump used hollow rhetoric in an attempt to appeal to the working class during the 2024 election, calling out the rising costs of living and exorbitant spending on foreign wars. In the same breath, Trump incites xenophobic and anti-Black racism. From Trump’s promise to deport a record number of immigrants to his support for a national right-to-work law, there can be no doubt that he will be an enemy of labor while in office.

Martin Luther King Jr himself drew the connection between the rights of labor and the fight against racism in a 1961 address to the AFL-CIO convention, stating, “Our needs are identical with labor’s needs – decent wages, fair working conditions, livable housing, old age security, health and welfare measures, conditions in which families can grow, have education for their children and respect in the community. That is why Negroes support labor’s demands and fight laws which curb labor. That is why the labor-hater and labor-baiter is virtually always a twin-headed creature spewing anti-Negro epithets from one mouth and anti-labor propaganda from the other mouth.”

Amazon Teamster Hunter Richau from Local 728 spoke on King’s legacy regarding labor, saying, “As much as his image gets whitewashed, MLK was fighting for the working class. The fight we wage on his birthday every year from here on out will be a fight for the working people here in Atlanta. The working class is already here, and we need to stick together. If MLK were here today he would champion nothing less.”

#AtlantaGA #GA #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #MLK #Teamsters #Labor

Minneapolis, MN – Disgraced former Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis leader, Bob Kroll, seeks President-elect Trump’s nomination to become U.S. Marshal for the Minnesota Judicial District. Kroll, a 30-year veteran of the Minneapolis Police Department, had a lengthy disciplinary record, including wrongful arrest and excessive force complaints, before his retirement in 2021.

Kroll settled a federal civil suit in 2023, banning him from serving as a police officer in Hennepin, Ramsey, or Anoka Counties for ten years. The lawsuit, filed by the ACLU of Minnesota, alleged that Kroll and his colleagues in the MPD retaliated against community members exercising their right to protest and used excessive force and chemical irritants without providing sufficient warning. The settlement also bars Kroll from serving in a leadership role in any law enforcement agency in those counties, or in any role on the Minnesota Board of Peace Officer Standards and Training, the state’s law enforcement oversight and licensing board.

Bob Kroll and MPD’s wanton brutality in response to the uprising in 2020, sparked by MPD’s execution of George Floyd, was the rule rather than the exception. Over the course of his career, Kroll amassed over 20 internal affairs complaints and was named in several lawsuits. In an April 2020 interview with STIM Radio host Maxwell Thomas Silverhammer, Kroll stated, “I’ve been involved in three shootings myself, and not a one of them has bothered me. Maybe I’m different.”

Alongside his violent career as a Minneapolis police officer, Kroll served as the president of the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis from 2015 to 2021.

“Police unions are not real unions, and police officers are not real workers. Police protect property and the rights of the ruling class. They don’t protect community,” said Angel Smith-El, an organizer with Minneapolis for Community Control of the Police. Several community organizations and a number of labor groups, including Education Minnesota, the Minnesota Nurses Association, and Minnesota AFL-CIO, called for Kroll’s resignation as police federation president after his comments in the wake of George Floyd’s murder.

Just days after that tragedy, Kroll sent a letter to police federation members praising their response to the protests, defending the officers who murdered George Floyd, and lamenting that MPD officers were “held back” from using sufficient gas munitions and less-lethal munitions on protesters.

“Bob Kroll has played such a nefarious role in policing in Minneapolis and beyond,” said Noah Schumacher, an organizer with the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice. “The fact that he has been barred from policing and has himself been involved in multiple shootings, which he refers to so flippantly, shows that he has no business in law enforcement anywhere. He embodies everything that the Trump administration is going to bring.”

Last weekend, Kroll’s attorney released a letter supporting his application to join the U.S. Marshals, which is involved in asset forfeiture, witness protection, transporting federal inmates, and providing security for federal courthouses and judges in Minnesota. While it is unclear what the selection process entails, the decision ultimately lies in the hands of the incoming administration.

Kroll’s bid for the federal position comes in the same week that the city of Minneapolis reached a tentative agreement with the Department of Justice (DOJ) in the form of a consent decree that would purportedly increase oversight and shift the department’s use of force policy. A similar DOJ consent decree in New Orleans has already been riddled with conflicts of interest, including a number of former New Orleans Police Department leaders on the payroll of the organization tasked with overseeing the consent decree. It is unclear how the existing consent decrees and other ongoing federal police reforms will be impacted by the Trump administration, which has been vocally supportive of militarized policing and violent crackdowns on political dissent.

Trump has repeatedly called for qualified immunity, creating another barrier to holding police accountable when they commit crimes on duty. The coming weeks and months will be informative, as community members watch to see how the incoming Trump administration will take up the Biden administration’s torch in the work to impede police reform and oversight.

On Monday, January 20, starting at noon, the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice, Black Lives Matter MN, the MN Immigrant Rights Action Committee and others will protest under the slogan “Fight for MLK’s Dream. Resist Trump’s Nightmare.”

#MinneapolisMN #MN #InJusticeSystem #Trump #MLK #TCC4J #BLM #MIRAC

St. Paul, MN – On January 13, about 250 people gathered in below-zero temperatures to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. weekend by participating in a car caravan, followed by a rally at the State Capitol.

Near the Saint Paul Western District Police Department, surrounded by strip malls, protesters called for no business as usual during a genocide, as drivers and passengers decorated cars with signs carrying slogans like “Solidarity with all oppressed peoples” and “Justice for Marcus Golden! Murdered by SPPD nine years ago!”

This year was the 9th annual MLK Solidarity March & Rally for Marcus Golden, who was unjustly shot and murdered by the Saint Paul Police Department on January 14, 2015.

Speakers from endorsing organizations spoke on issues centering their demands, such as community control of police, reparations for descendants of chattel slavery, the free Palestine movement and stopping endless wars. The car caravan started in the Hamline-Midway neighborhood of Saint Paul and stretched many city blocks. By the time cars arrived at the final rally destination, about 150 cars filled both lanes and honked in the rhythm of chants.

Sabry Wazwaz of the Anti-War Committee and Jae Yates from TCC4J made the connections to police violence and specific tactics used by the IDF against Palestinians in occupied Palestine.

Nick Tolliver, an AWC member highlighted the facts, stating, “The U.S. and Israel are connected at an ideological level because they are both systematically racist settler colonies masquerading as liberal democracies that use their racism to justify the construction of oppressive and violent institutions. We must come together and demand an end to the unchecked repressive state violence that is perpetuated domestically by the police, ICE, the FBI, and internationally by the whole military industrial complex and the CIA. We must force our institutions to bend to the will of the people or be broken by our collective power.”

After the long caravan reached the capitol grounds, there was a short rally in the memory two movement activists who died in the past two years, Mel Reeves and Tou Ger Xiong, as well as speeches about what Dr. King would do today.

The event was organized in coalition with Black Lives Matter MN, Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar (TCC4J), the MN Anti War Committee (AWC), and Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence (FSFAPV) and was endorsed by many other organizations.

#StPaulMN #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #MLK #PoliceBrutality #AntiWar #International #Palestine #MNAWC #TCC4J

New Orleans, LA – On Monday, January 15 on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, New Orleans for Community Oversight of Police (NOCOP) hosted an MLK Fight Back March starting at A.L. Davis Park at noon. About 100 members of the community came out in attendance, even marching in the rain as showers briefly passed over the demonstration.

They chanted “New Orleans, we’re on a roll, we’re fighting for community control!” as they took the streets down Claiborne Avenue and MLK Boulevard.

Entering 2024, New Orleans faces a crisis of corruption and unaccountable leadership. Mayor LaToya Cantrell is under federal investigation, the New Orleans Police Department is in violation of the federal consent decree, and several more public institutions, such as schools and the Sewerage and Water Board, also remain under consent decrees due to underfunding and mismanagement.

NOCOP and endorsers marched to bring together as many as can be united for the advancement of the struggle against white supremacy, corrupt police and undemocratic leadership in New Orleans. All united under the slogans “Unite for Black power! Community control of police, schools, and all public institutions now!”

As New Orleans is a majority-Black city, this demand is directly tied to the empowerment of the Black community to have a democratic say over our public institutions and how they are run.

Noonie Man, from New Orleans United Front, spoke on the need for building the demand of Black power in the city. “We want to push the Black agenda in New Orleans,” he said. “We must hold all politicians accountable. I don’t care if it's the mayor, I don’t care if it's the police chief, I don’t care if it’s the council – I don't care who it is! We need to shut the city of New Orleans down and make them respect us.”

Gregory Jean, a member of the New Orleans City Workers Organizing Committee, spoke on how the image of MLK has been watered down in mainstream media since his assassination. Jean said King “was anti-imperialist, against U.S. militarism, the exploitation and occupation of poor people, and promoted radical exploitation of wealth locally and globally. If Dr. King were here today, he’d be in the streets to Stop Cop City and chanting ‘From the river to the sea!’”

The march was also part of an effort to apply pressure on the new New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick to attend a public town hall meeting, where she would discuss her upcoming plans for the police department and answer questions from concerned residents and activists. Her appointment was pushed through by Mayor Cantrell in 2023, with zero input from any of the public.

#NewOrleansLA #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #CommunityControl #PoliceBrutality #NOCOP #MLK #Feature

New Orleans, LA – Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) will host a Martin Luther King Day Virtual Rally this Monday, January 18. In support of a call from the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, New Orleans FRSO demands a mass release from prisons during the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. The rally will also demand justice for Jacob Blake and an end to police crimes everywhere. The gathering will take place over Zoom, as the city recently transitioned to stricter COVID safety measures.

After a long holiday season, this will be an opportunity for the community to regroup. “I’m just excited to get things going again,” says Antonia Mar, who will read excerpts from MLK’s Letter from Birmingham Jail. “This winter has been isolating, but Zoom events at least give us a chance to see some familiar faces, talk, and strategize about what’s going on!”

Even during COVID challenges, the people continue to be creative and resourceful with what resources we have. The MLK Day Virtual Rally aims to relate the struggle of the Civil Rights movement with the political energy of today. History is vital to the fight against racism and police repression. Speakers will reflect on resistance to police crimes in the city, including the work of college students fighting police presence on school campuses. Other topics will include the history of the Black liberation movement and calls to action, giving special attention to the words and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King.

As he said in his Letter from Birmingham Jail: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

Register to participate in the MLK Day Virtual Rally.

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The march through downtown Grand Rapids was sometimes somber, but sometimes joyful as spectators smiled, waved and encouraged the student protesters. The march stretched a block long with city notables and educators in the lead. It united African Americans with whites, Chicanos, Latinos and other nationalities. Students from Grand Rapids Christian High School and Northview High School enthusiastically participated, linking arms as they marched in the cold winter weather, sharing their message of opposing racist discrimination and police brutality.

Nearby, hundreds of college students marched silently across the GVSU campus, passing yard signs highlighting the life and struggles of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. There was quiet anticipation as the GVSU field house filled up to standing room only. After an inspiring rendition of Lift Every Voice and Sing and introductory remarks, the crowd rose to their feet in thundering applause at the introduction of Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon Martin’s mother.

Fulton opened with a moment of silence for Martin Luther King Jr. and others, like her son Trayvon Martin, killed by gun violence in the U.S. She was steadfast, “This could not happen to a more average family,” adding, “We should not be comfortable with burying our children.” She clarified her purpose, “So what happened to Trayvon, we don’t want to happen to any more of our children.”

Fulton, a labor union member, described discrimination on the basis of race, class, religion and gender, exhorting, “All of these things are a form of profiling, are a form of discrimination, and they need to be got rid of in the U.S.”

She finished by expressing, “It hurts my heart to see what continues to happen in our country. Are you going to sit back and just do nothing, or are you going to participate in what is happening in your country? We cannot continue to remain silent.”

In response to an audience question, Fulton gave an energetic response, “The community has played a big role, but more importantly the colleges and universities have played a big role because they were active in their protests, they were active in their marches...I give it to the college students who were on the social media and constantly keeping this story alive. Even before CNN and ABC and CBS and all of those networks that got involved, it was the college students that got involved first and they were fed up with what was going on.”

Fulton emphasized, “It is the young folks that keep this movement going, that say, ‘I’m just not going to take this anymore.’”

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For this year’s holiday honoring Dr. King, we are printing 3 commentaries on King’s political thinking that are important for understanding today’s situation – Fight Back! editors.

The birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has been a national holiday for the last twenty years. It is a time to remember his life, to reflect on the changes brought about by the Civil Rights movement and to recommit ourselves to his struggle for peace, economic justice and racial equality.

This January, the coming U.S. war with Iraq, the economic recession that has thrown millions out of work and the government persecution of Arabs and Muslims make it all the more important that we remember what Dr. King fought for.

Growing up in California, I can remember the racial segregation. When my parents were looking to buy a house, there were three separate listings of homes for sale: one for whites, one for blacks, and another for ‘others.’ When I went swimming with an African American friend’s family, we drove for miles to a swimming pool in a large black community. And I remember having to walk out of a restaurant after waiting almost half an hour for someone to take our order, while whites who came in after us had already gotten their meals.

Later, when I went to school, I learned about how Dr. King led the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott, which began in 1955. In Montgomery, white supremacy meant that blacks had to sit in the back of the bus, and if the seats were full, blacks had to give up their seat to white passengers boarding the bus. For more than a year, the African American community, sparked by Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her seat, did not ride a bus until the city agreed to desegregate the bus system.

I saw film clips of the brutal treatment of Civil Rights protesters in Birmingham, Alabama. Fire hoses and vicious dogs were turned on the protesters and more than four thousand – mostly children – were arrested. And how could anyone forget the words of Martin Luther King Jr. at the 1963 March on Washington? Facing a crowd of more than 250,000 people, Dr. King spoke of his dream of brotherhood. “Let freedom ring!” said Dr. King, ending his speech with the words of the old spiritual, “Free at last. Free at last. Thank God almighty, we are free at last!”

The struggle of the Civil Rights movement ended racial segregation and won blacks the right to vote, which had been denied them since the 1890’s. But the struggle of Dr. King did not end there. In 1964, police brutality triggered an insurrection by African Americans in Los Angeles. The poverty of the urban black ghetto in Watts and other cities in the North and Midwest led Dr. King to champion the cause of economic justice. In 1968, Dr. King was organizing a Poor People’s Campaign, saying, “We need an economic bill of rights. This would guarantee a job to all people who want to work and are able to work. It would also guarantee an income for all who are not able to work.”

Dr. King was also an early advocate of affirmative action. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, founded by Dr. King and other civil rights leaders in 1957, created Operation Breadbasket to create jobs and business opportunities for the black community. “If a city has a 30% Negro population,” said Dr. King, “then it is logical to assume that Negroes should have at least 30% of the jobs in any particular company, and jobs in all categories rather than only menial jobs, as the case almost always happens to be.”

Last, but not least, Martin Luther King Jr. was an outspoken opponent of the war in Vietnam. His principled support for nonviolence led him to say, “I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today – my own government.”

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