Dallas, TX – Close to 80 people came together late Thursday evening, September 26, at the Grassy Knoll in downtown Dallas for a vigil held to honor the late Marcellus Khaliifah Williams. Williams was executed by the state of Missouri on September 24 for a 1998 murder which DNA evidence showed he did not commit. The unusual numbers for the death penalty-related vigil indicated the community's grief, frustration and righteous anger.
Washington, DC – On Tuesday evening, September 17, over 50 community members gathered outside of the 7th District Police Station in Southeast DC to protest recent instances of police violence. Just two weeks before, in the early morning of September 1, 26-year-old Justin Robinson was found unconscious in his car after crashing into a McDonald's. As he began to regain consciousness, an officer held their gun just inches from his face. When Robinson groggily reached up due to the light shining in his face, Officers Vaso Mateus and Bryan Gilchrist shot Robinson ten times.
Tampa, FL – On September 13, around a dozen community members came to a press conference, demanding justice for Pastor Carl Soto. A local pastor, activist, and co-founder of Black Lives Matter Restoration Inc., Soto was followed and brutalized by Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Alex Almaguer. He was falsely charged with resisting arrest without violence.
Deputy Almaguer brutalized Soto on August 29, 2024. As Soto was on his way to pick up his kids from school, the deputy tailed him for approximately three miles before pulling him over. With his hand on his weapon, Almaguer approached the vehicle and made the unfounded claim that Soto was driving with an illegal license plate.
Brooklyn, NY – On Saturday, September 7, the New York Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NYAARPR) and a dozen community members gathered for an honest discussion of the role of the NYPD on the New York City subway system.
The event, held at the Macon branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, marked the launch of NYAARPR’s Cops off the Subway campaign.
Dallas, TX – Around 50 people gathered early in the evening of Sunday, August 25, in front of the headquarters of the Dallas Police Department to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the murder of two Black children killed at the hands of Dallas police.
The boys were brothers, George Johnson, aged 14, and Johnny Johnson, aged 13. The vigil was attended by three siblings of the Johnson brothers and organized by the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Stop Cop City Dallas Coalition, and the DFW Anti-War Committee. Community members from all around the Dallas-Fort Worth area were present.
Santa Ana, CA – On August 10, nearly 40 people packed into the Studio of El Centro Cultural de México to hear five panelists speak on a wide range of topics affecting Chicanos. This event, commemorating the 54th Chicano Moratorium, was organized by Community Service Organization Orange County (CSO OC).
Before the panel began, Diana Terreros, a founding member of CSO OC, led a chant to honor and remember the name of Abigail Lopez, who was tragically murdered at the hands of Anaheim Police Department in 2023.
Washington, DC – On Thursday, August 22, over 300 people gathered at James Monroe Park in downtown DC to support the student intifada. Last semester, students and community members from across the DMV set up an encampment at The George Washington University (GWU), called “Shohada’ Square.” Those involved have been facing charges from the courts, repression from the university, and brutalization by the police.
August 22 marked the first day of classes for the 2024 fall semester at GWU, and student organizers planned a protest to remind administration that they will not back down.
Chicago, IL – More than 11,000 people marched for Palestine on the final evening of the Democratic National Convention, August 22. While Kamala Harris was giving her presidential nominee acceptance speech inside, the protesters outside chanted against the U.S.-backed genocide in Gaza. Delegates inside the convention report hearing demonstrators on the streets inside the convention hall.
Chicago, IL – On August 19, over 20,000 people marched on the opening day of the Democratic National Convention, demanding an end to U.S. aid to Israel and an end to the genocide in Gaza. The march was the result of over a year of work by the Coalition to March on the DNC. Marchers came within sight and sound of the Democratic National Convention, putting heat on United States government as it facilitates a genocide.
Hatem Abudayyeh, the national chair of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, told the crowd, “Black liberation, immigrant rights, reproductive rights, women's rights, workers’ rights, the right to strike, the right to unionize. The rank-and-file workers are here, the Black community members are here, the documented and undocumented immigrants are here, how powerful this is to be together here, all of us.”
Atlanta, GA – The family of Christon Collins, a 27-year-old veteran who died in Dekalb County Jail, held a press conference on Monday morning, July 22, to share new information about their son’s death.
Jonia Milburn, Collins’s mother, says she got mixed and confusing stories from the sheriff’s office. The family is asking for an independent investigation and for those responsible to be held accountable.
Emotions filled the room as Jonia Milburn talked about what she saw in the video of her son’s last moments in the jail. “My son laid on the floor for three hours with no care. Nobody noticed. No guards, no supervisors, no one but the inmates.” Milburn says the video shows her son losing balance and hitting his head, then lying on the floor for three hours in the common area of the jail with no one checking on him but the inmates. Documents shared by the family show that when Collins was finally attended to hours later, EMTs did not perform life-saving measures on him.