Take ‘Em Down NOLA hosts anti-racist conference and march
New Orleans, LA – Anti-racist organizers united for the inaugural Take ‘Em Down Conference in New Orleans, March 24-25. Activists from across the South are building the fight to remove Confederate monuments and other symbols of white supremacy. After Take ‘Em Down NOLA’s success in getting four Confederate statues removed last spring, the fight has spread across the South and even to the Caribbean. Delegates from Durham, Ocean Springs, Jacksonville, Dallas and the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago met to discuss their recent victories. They shared experiences and fostered solidarity in the struggle against racism and national oppression.
The weekend culminated with a march on Sunday protesting the five remaining New Orleans monuments to slave-owners, segregationists and white supremacists: Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, Sieur de Bienville, Edward Douglass White, and John McDonogh. Though the city government of New Orleans may applaud itself for removing four of its most egregious monuments, Take ‘Em Down NOLA and its affiliates refuse to stop until all symbols of white supremacy are removed from our city.
“The conference was a big step forward for the broader Take ‘Em Down movement that brought together several cities in our ongoing fight against racism,” longtime New Orleans activist Malcolm Suber said. “And we concluded it with a militant march that had a great reception among the workers of the city.”