Chicago, IL – Over 150 survivors of wrongful convictions, their family members and community members gathered on a cloudy Saturday afternoon, March 22, for an action-focused town hall meeting. The event was organized by the Campaign to Free Incarcerated Survivors of Police Torture (CFIST) and aimed to strengthen the movement to free all survivors of wrongful conviction and end the system of police torture that has made Chicago the torture capitol of the United States.

The two-and-a-half-hour program took place at Sixth Grace Presbyterian Church in the Douglas neighborhood of Chicago’s South Side. 4th Ward Alderman Lamont Robinson, who represents the Douglas neighborhood, was also in attendance, in addition to 25th Ward Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez.

A panel of six survivors of wrongful conviction and police torture opened the event: Frank Chapman, Kevin Jackson, Adolfo Davis, Clayborn Smith, Reginald Henderson and Sean Tyler.

These survivors, whose cases highlight the gross injustice of Chicago’s criminal “justice” system, shared moving testimonies detailing not only the trauma associated with their incarceration, but the strength of the movement that helped them win their freedom and need to keep fighting to free those still inside.

The mental and physical toll of being kidnapped and tortured by CPD detectives, locked up in the worst prison conditions imaginable, and separated from their families for decades, cannot be overstated.

“The only time we saw a sunrise was when we were up at 4 a.m. to be taken in to court” said Clayborn Smith, a survivor of torture and wrongful conviction. Smith was kidnapped in 1992 and tortured for 39 hours by CPD detectives John Halloran, Kenneth Boudreu and James O’Brien, and served 29 years for a murder he had nothing to do with.

But despite the trauma, the panel emphasized the need for further action to fight back against the system of frame-ups and coercion, dubbed the “torture machine” by civil rights lawyer Flint Taylor.

Frank Chapman, executive director of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, was the elder on the panel. After 15 years of wrongful incarceration and 50 years in the movement since, Chapman’s perspective captured the essence of the whole evening.

“Don’t just talk to me about your pain and misery, cuz I done had that too. So have millions of others,” Chapman said. “But if you don’t ever get to the revolutionary side of misery, you don’t ever get to the solution.”

Kevin Jackson, who recently won his freedom after over 23 years of wrongful conviction at the hands of CPD detectives Brian Forberg and John Foster, described the movement’s role in winning his freedom.

“The movement is the reason I’m standing here right now,” Jackson said. “My lawyers were sitting there basically scratching their heads until public attention came to my case.”

During the years-long battle in court to win Jackson’s freedom, the CFIST campaign mobilized family members and movement supporters to attend his court dates and held dozens of press conferences and rallies drawing public attention to the case.

“They moved the needle,” Jackson said.

After the panel of survivors, a panel of legal experts took the stage, including Jorge Soto, a jailhouse lawyer and survivor of wrongful conviction; Michelle Mbekeani, former senior advisor to previous Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx, and Sheila Bedi, a civil rights lawyer and clinical professor with the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law

Mbekeani, who worked for the most progressive State’s Attorney in Cook County in history, Kim Foxx, shared firsthand inside information on the racism and corruption of the office, describing the way that CPD detectives and prosecuting state’s attorneys work in the same building and often have close relationships that help them achieve and uphold wrongful convictions to advance their careers.

Soto, who served the joint-longest wrongful conviction sentence in Illinois history, has seen the corruption of the justice system from all angles.

There’s a pervasiveness of this white, patriarchal racism in the state’s attorney's office, like in CPD,” Soto said. “It’s a culture.”

The final panel of the evening featured the family members of survivors who are still inside. The panel, which included Anette Torres, girlfriend of Elias Gomez; Norma Jean Scales, aunt of Douglas Livingston; Johnnie Hayes, wife of Devon Showers, and Alicia Gill, sister of Michael Minniefield, inspired attendees with their dedication to the struggle to free their loved ones.

“We need to fight and not give up,” Torres said. “Elias is not alone. Your husband, your brother, your son, your nephew, they’re not alone.”

Merawi Gerima, co-chair of the CFIST campaign, also spoke briefly on the connection between the movement to end wrongful conviction and the broader fight for community control of police in Chicago.

Gerima described CFIST’s strategy of organizing around cases of wrongful conviction at the police district level by mobilizing community members to Police District Council meetings, a localized accountability body created by an ordinance fought for and won by CAARPR in 2021.

Decades of struggle to free the wrongfully convicted and end police torture provide more evidence that only a mass movement by and for working and oppressed people can win the power we need to hold the architects and enforcers of this racist system accountable, and replace it with a system that works for the people.

“There’s strength in the community and these organizations,” said Kevin Jackson. “So if you ain’t a part of one, join one!”

#ChicagoIL #InJusticeSystem #CFIST #NAARPR

Milwaukee, WI – On March 20, the jury in the federal civil trial of the Cole family against killer cop Joseph Mensah could not reach consensus. Mensah was a Wauwatosa, Wisconsin cop when he killed Alvin Cole and is now a detective for Waukesha County. The suit asserts that Mensah used excessive force with Cole, after shooting Cole multiple times at the Mayfair Mall’s parking lot while the latter was on his hands and knees on February 2, 2020.

The trial began on Monday, March 17 with current and former law enforcement officers, witnesses and Cole’s family members testifying. After hearing contradictory statements from Mensah and reviewing the footage, the jury spent many hours deliberating.

Before the jury walked back into the courtroom to communicate with the judge, two armed U.S. Marshals entered the courtroom and stood by the door. Once the jury declared that they could not reach a decision and Judge Adelman ruled for a new trial for September, Cole family attorney Nate Cade raised the issue of the marshals walking in, and Judge Adelman stated he did not know why they entered the courtroom. Many members of the audience also communicated issues with the U.S. Marshals walking in after the court was dismissed.

When asked about the hung jury, Cade said “We are more than ready to try it again.” Tracey Cole, the mother of Alvin Cole stated, “This makes us fight more.” If it wasn’t for the fighting families in Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression wouldn’t be the organization it is today. The family of Alvin Cole was the first family the Milwaukee Alliance worked with after its refounding in April of 2020. Long time member and original founder Brian Verdin declared “Milwaukee Alliance is all in for the families.”

The re-trial for this case will take place on September 8 at 9 a.m.

#MilwaukeeWI #WI #InJusticeSystem #KillerCops #NAARPR

Washington, DC – On Wednesday, March 19, the Parkchester community came out to an impromptu event in support of Ronald Butler, Donte Butler, Donte Butler Jr., Frederick Simms and Jermaine Irving Jr. These five men were brutally attacked by the Metropolitan Police Department on March 11 after defending their family and are facing multiple charges, including assaulting a police officer.

The Butler family decades before lost a loved one to police murder, and this instance brought up the trauma they faced at that time. However, this time, they are committed to fighting back and ensuring justice.

They are working with the DC Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (DCAARPR) and demanding all charges are dropped against their family. They are also insisting the officers involved are fired and convicted, specifically Officer Evan Zelesnick, who was the prime instigator of the brawl, as well as the lieutenant who escalated the incident by arriving on scene and immediately starting to mace the handcuffed family members. The lieutenant’s name was conveniently left off any legal paperwork.

On Wednesday, Daniel Butler, son of Donte Butler Sr. and nephew of Ronald Butler, spoke on the incident and how police consistently terrorize his community, stating, “We been dealing with this pain for decades, generations. Drop all the charges, get all them police outta there. [MPD] looks at us as enemies, been that way for years. We need justice, real justice. You want me to be honest? The police department is the very first organized gang.”

Donna Butler, matriarch of the family, spoke as well, “This right here, this is my family. And this is how we come together when it’s needed. Release my son, he did no wrong. He protected his family, and as I always told my kids, stand ten toes. And right now, [MPD] got him in handcuffs, because he chose to protect his kids, his family, his cousins.”

#WashingtonDC #InJusticeSystem #Police Crimes #KillerCops #NAARPR #DCAARPR

Washington, DC – On March 8, International Women’s Day, community members and activists gathered at Sankofa Cafe in downtown D.C. for a panel discussion on the struggle for women’s liberation.

The event, hosted by Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) DC, featured panelists that represented several sectors of struggle, including women’s rights, immigrant rights, anti-war and international struggles, oppressed nationalities movements, LGBTQ, and trans rights.

The panel featured Terra Martin from the DC Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (DCAARPR), Yan Tagalog Maunes of Anakbayan DC (ABDC), a speaker representing Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) DMV, and a trans comrade from FRSO DC. The flier for the event included the slogans “Defend Women’s and Reproductive Rights!” “Stop the Deportations, Keep Families Together!” and “Stand with the Women of Palestine!”

The panel began with chants of “When women’s rights are under attack, what do we do? stand up, fight back!” and “The people, united, will never be defeated!”

Kristen Bonner, the emcee for the event, gave a brief introduction on the history of women’s oppression, before introducing the panelists. The discussion opened with a dialogue on how Trump has affected the struggle for women’s rights, before turning to questions of how to combat this wave of renewed aggression against the people’s movements.

“It’s through the laws being passed that trans people are being oppressed,” said the panelist representing FRSO DC, “it’s because of those laws that all these reactionary tendencies are now being emboldened.”

“We want to avoid a repeat of the feminisms that we saw after the election of the Trump regime in 2016 that focused solely on the interests of white, cisgender bourgeoisie women,” said a member of PYM DMV.

“These movements are all connected intrinsically, they’re all interlinked” said the speaker from FRSO DC, “we need to join one struggle together, through a united front, because when we’re all together, we win.”

“They can’t take all of us out,” Terra Martin representing DCAARPR added, “we’re the village. If we go at them head on, they can’t stop us.”

The panel ended with the Assata Shakur chant and shared calls among the panelists for folks in attendance to get organized.

“My last question for today was going to be ‘What do y’all think is the key takeaway from today?’”

The emcee said in closing, “but I feel that y’all have already answered that resolutely – it’s organize, organize, organize!”

#WashingtonDC #WomensMovement #InternationalWomensDay #FRSO #PYM #NAARPR

Milwaukee, WI – Over 1200 people joined the 4th annual International Women’s Day celebration organized by the Milwaukee IWD Coalition, a broad coalition consisting of numerous grassroots organizations.

This year’s event began with a rally, followed by a brief march to the Milwaukee Turners, an historic building with a progressive socialist history that is located on Vel R. Phillips Avenue, named after a trailblazing civil rights leader from Milwaukee. At the Turners, the event transitioned to a panel discussion with various organizers, and a keynote address by Alondra García, a public school educator and immigrant rights activist.

The celebration began with a rally at Red Arrow Park, also known as Dontre Hamilton Park, and the event’s emcee, Kayla Patterson of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, reminded the crowd that “Dontre’s killing by Milwaukee PD in 2014 sparked a movement led by his mother, Maria Hamilton, and so many other mothers and sisters whose loved ones have been taken away by the police.”

Locating the significance of IWD within the mothers involved in the movement to end police crimes helped weave together the connections across the various movements represented today. Janan Najeeb, co-chair of the Wisconsin Coalition for Justice in Palestine, spoke to the significance of Palestinian women, particularly the mothers, carrying forward the struggle for Palestinian liberation amidst an ongoing genocide.

Once the crowd entered the venue and settled in their seats, García kicked off the program with a keynote address reminding attendees that “there is power in numbers, and we are many. Our voices will not be silenced, and our presence is louder than ever. We will continue to take up the space and make noise.” She echoed Najeeb’s reminder at the rally that “they may be billionaires, but we number in the billions!” This revolutionary spirit to fight back against the current Trump regime and imperialism more broadly resonated throughout the streets and inside the Turners.

The panelists – Carly Klein of Reproductive Justice Action Milwaukee; Julie Velazquez of the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression; Rhen Lutz of the Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Healthcare Professionals Local 5000; Fernanda Jimenez of Comité Sin Fronteras, and Christina Stradwick of the Milwaukee Antiwar Committee – provided perspectives informed by the struggles they’re involved in in order to drive home the point of uniting against a common enemy: imperialism.

The Trump regime is attacking all of our movements, and it will only be by coming together in a broad united front that we will be able to defeat it. Giving into despair or staying off the streets and issuing complaints online will not get us any closer to overthrowing monopoly capitalism. It will take the various movements represented today, coalescing into a broader, more militant movement to deal critical blows to our enemy. This IWD celebration served as a reminder that whether it be in Gaza, on the shopfloor, or in the streets in Milwaukee, the place for women is in the revolution!

#MilwaukeeWI #WI #WomensMovement #InternationalWomensDay #RJAM #NAARPR #Feature

On Thursday, March 6, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office released the bodycam footage detailing the events that took place on the evening of February 8, 2025 resulting in murder of 26-year old Luis Lopez by Orange County deputies.

 Around 11:30 pm, officers arrived at the scene in the Pine Castle neighborhood upon reports of a burglary in progress. The bodycam footage shows that both dispatch and the officers on scene had knowledge that a Spanish interpreter was being used to communicate. One officer found signs of forced entry at the front entrance of the home. At least two officers then entered the backyard and found a ladder propped underneath an open window that the intruder, a disgruntled coworker, had used to enter the home.

 In the video, Luis can be clearly heard shouting “No, no, no!” and “¡Ayuda!” or “Help!” in Spanish. A few moments later, Luis was seen from the window holding the intruder in a headlock. The officers ordered him to “drop the knife,” multiple times in English, a language which Luis did not speak. They each fired a round from their handguns, striking Luis in the head and killing him. No knife was found at the scene.

 Orlando Against Police Crimes strongly condemns the unjust murder of Luis Lopez. We demand that the Orange County Sheriff’s Office release the names of the officers responsible for Luis’ murder. Additionally, we demand State Attorney Monique H. Worrell to press criminal charges against the offending officers.

 Orlando Against Police Crimes is working alongside the friends and family of Luis Lopez to organize a memorial vigil at Lake Ellenor Park on Sunday, March 16 at 2 pm. The vigil will be an opportunity to honor his memory, demand accountability, and call for justice. For more information, visit https://orlandoapc.org

#OrlandoFL #FL #InJusticeSystem #PoliceCrimes #KillerCops #OAPC #NAARPR

Chicago, IL – In the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago, February 28, around 150 students walked out of Sullivan High School to protest against ICE. The students, with support of community groups, were able to have a successful walkout and add to the visible resistance in Chicago.

The Immigrants’ Rights Working Committee of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (IRWC – CAARPR) played a big supporting role in this walkout, helping students with flyering-materials, posters, banners, megaphone, etc. The IRWC met the students outside, alongside other community groups like Rad Rogers Park, Kabataan Alliance, and New Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Illinois Chicago (New SDS at UIC).

“Let us live in peace”

“We will not let you take our families from us. We are now more united than ever. And we are here to resist!” said a senior at Sullivan High School, as they opened for the small rally in front of the building.

“How is this fair? How is any of this fair? Why can’t we pursue our education in peace? Why can’t we live without constant fear and anxiety?” a high school student asked the crowd, expressing the fear that they, and many students with immigrant family members, have since Donald Trump has taken office.

Next, a member of Kabataan Alliance spoke in solidarity with the students at Sullivan and of the fear that Filipino migrants are also feeling under these attacks, stating, “People are scared to say anything about being undocumented. There’s a lot of stigma. We really need to fight against that. It is not our fault that we are forced to migrate from our home countries.” With the United States’ military and economic intervention in the Philippines causing these migrations, there are around 300,000 to 1 million Filipino immigrants who are undocumented in the U.S.

”For the students here who marched out, I want you to know that was brave and what you’re doing right now is powerful. It is right to act in civil disobedience when injustice is happening!” said Gio Araujo from New SDS at UIC in support of the students. They talked briefly about the walkout the New SDS at UIC organized at their university, showing that students everywhere are protesting against ICE in their schools and campuses.

Araujo continued, “We at the New SDS, and right now the Sullivan students, are part of this big movement to build this visible resistance against the reactionary Trump agenda. For many of us, the next four years are gonna be more of this, more of building a movement against racism and reaction in this country.”

Finally, Angel Naranjo of the IRWC ended the rally stating, “This here is what we gotta be doing, resisting. Powerfully and visibly! We need to get more organized and mobilized. We need to ramp it up, we need to turn up the heat!”

Naranjo continued, “Let’s keep it up! Let’s build connections, get in contact, because this fight is not over, it’s only the beginning. From May 1st to May 5th in this city we are going to have a round of protests!” Naranjo hinted at the planned mass May Day demonstrations that the Coalition Against the Trump Agenda (CATA) and the Consejo de Resistencia en Defensa del Inmigrante are preparing for.

Youth under attack!

Chicago has seen the kidnapping of family members and parents of Chicano/Latino youth by ICE. The Chicago Public Schools (CPS) have been targeted. Back on January 29, a man in the Little Village neighborhood was kidnapped by ICE, after he and his wife had dropped off their child at school. And most recently, February 26, even outside of CPS, a father was taken outside of the Soto High School/Idar Elementary charter schools.

These attacks on immigrant communities have caused fear, causing an attendance decrease of Chicano/Latino students in CPS schools. The most active young people have understood the need to mobilize and create a visible powerful resistance against these attacks. Break the wave of fear and anxiety with action and resistance. Immigrants and the youth are under attack, the students are ready to stand up and fight back!

#ChicagoIL #IL #StudentMovement #ImmigrantRights #HighSchool #SDS #NAARPR #IRWC #Feature

Aurora CO – On March 1, during an unseasonably warm Saturday, family members of Kory Dillard and 15 of their supporters gathered outside of the Aurora Municipal Center, for a rally against police crimes.

Dillard, described by attendees as a beloved community member and veteran, was murdered by the Aurora Police Department (APD) on October 3, 2024.

Dillard is survived by his partner Anna Harris, who has been spending the last five months fighting for accountability and justice for Kory. She spoke to the crowd about the false narratives being spread about Dillard by APD Chief Todd Chamberlain, who characterizes Kory as a rock-wielding carjacker. Video evidence of Dillard’s death directly contradicts this false narrative, but Chamberlain evidently seeks to sweep Dillard’s murder under the rug.

“What are these wrongful deaths of Black men,” Harris asked, “but police being the judge, the jury, and the executioner, when the death penalty has been long gone in Colorado?”

The rally was a site of shared grief by another family who has lost loved ones at the hands of APD – the Lewis family.

Kiawa Lewis, the brother of Kilyn Lewis, stood amongst the attendees alongside his daughter. Kilyn was a 37-year-old unarmed Black man who was gunned down by Officer Michael Dieck while working on his car’s sound system just outside his Aurora apartment.

Standing alongside Harris, Lewis spoke, saying, “It's been a tiring road, but the thing is they want to tire us out. But we stand together; we fight together.”

Ryan Stitzel, the chair of Denver-Aurora Community Action Committee (DACAC) took to the megaphone to address District Attorney Amy Padden, saying, “These police historically have not been held accountable when they've done this. When they killed Kilyn Lewis they were not held accountable. When they killed 14-year-old Jor‘Dell Richardson when they pinned him down in an alley and shot him behind a dumpster they were not held accountable, and right now the District Attorney for Arapahoe County is deciding whether or not she's going to hold these killer cops accountable and we're here to say: you must!“

The participants of the rally chanted “Black lives matter!” and “When killer cops are on patrol, how do we stop them? Community control.”

Nels Pine, another member of DACAC, addressed the rally, stating “They write all these horrific lies in the newspaper about Kory Dillard, about Jor’Dell Richardson, where they accuse them of all sorts of crimes. Well, the people accused of those crimes aren't alive to defend themselves against this slander, and so we'll speak the truth. That's the very least we could do, is speak the truth and say that they were never found guilty of anything!”

Pine continued, “They were murdered in the street by police officers who robbed them of their Sixth Amendment right to a trial by a jury of their peers. These crimes by the APD have got to stop.”

The Denver Aurora Community Action Committee ended the rally by reiterating their demands on District Attorney Amy Padden, and reaffirming their commitment to the fight against racist police violence and for community control of the police.

#AuroraCO #CO #InJusticeSystem #PoliceCrimes #KillerCops #NAARPR #DACAC

Chicago, IL – The congregants at Healing Temple Church on Chicago’s West Side welcomed veteran community organizers to a rally against attacks on their beloved city, on March 1.

150 people came to the church to defend Mayor Brandon Johnson, who, along with several other progressive mayors has been called to testify before racist Republicans in Congress. This is a continuation of the Trump agenda's attacks on Chicago for being a progressive city with strong movement forces.

Billed as a “Sendoff rally for Mayor Johnson,” when the mayor entered the church, it was clear this was a crowd of his supporters.

The crowd raised the roof with a chant made famous in the 1960s on the West Side by Fred Hampton, the chairman of the Illinois Black Panther Party: “all power to the people!” During the 60s, this slogan meant that Black people, Chicanos, Puerto Ricans, Native Americans, and the working class in the U.S. are the people, in struggle against the tiny minority referred to today as the billionaires.

Start of a new movement?

Jitu Brown, a new member of the first elected school board in Chicago history, was early among the speakers at the rally. He framed the advances in the history and current characteristics of the struggle here.

A veteran of the Kenwood-Oakland Community Organization (KOCO), Brown is perhaps most well-known for the 34 day Dyett High School Hunger Strike to stop the closing of schools in Black communities during the Rahm Emanuel administration.

Brown reminded us that the ruling class has closed over 160 schools in the Chicago Public Schools system, stating, “They didn’t want to improve public education: they wanted to remove Chicago as a Soul City.” A soul city refers to a city that is a majority Black. In the year 2000, 54% of Chicago public school students were Black. Today only 35% are Black. 47% are Latino, and 70% are low income.

The Dyett Hunger Strike took place in 2015, following Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s closing 50 schools in 2013, mostly in Black neighborhoods.

Standing against anti-immigrant attacks

Brown added, “Today a lot of the energy is anti-immigrant.” From his history being schooled by the Black power movement, he said, “We will not support the oppression of any people.”

Speaking of the history of the Black community struggle for good public schools, Brown went after Brandon Johnson’s enemies, stating, “A lot of the negativity that you are hearing about our mayor are from those people who have been using the city of Chicago as a pig’s trough for decades.”

“It is time for the city to do right by Black and brown people. We’re sitting in a city that has never had an elected school board, now with one.”

“We are in a city that has had privatizers running the city, and through our collective work, we put one of our own on the Fifth Floor.” The fifth floor of City Hall is where the mayor’s office is located.

Referring to Mayor Johnson’s appearance before the Republican-dominated Congress, Brown said, “This is just a little pit stop to let the world know we are building a better Chicago.”

“No matter how loud they bark, they are not going to disrupt what we call the soul of Chicago.”

Mayor Johnson: “Beauty of liberation”

Johnson took the pulpit as the crowd roared support. After speaking about the Republicans he will face in Washington, he said, “It’s important that we honor those that had enough foresight to put measures in place to ensure that the voices of marginalized people would never be squashed by the federal government or law enforcement. There was a brother by the name of James Montgomery, the first Black corporate counsel in Chicago history. He was also the legal counsel for the Black Panther Party.”

The mayor went on to say that “James Montgomery sent a note to Mayor Harold Washington that we should not allow federal agents to run through our city. Nor should we allow them to force local law enforcement to do their job.”

“They understood how the brutality of law enforcement could harm people. Whether you are undocumented or a descendant of slaves, James Montgomery understood that we cannot allow the federal government to suppress or oppress our people.”

Johnson closed his remarks with this: “We’re going to make sure that the roar that comes out of Chicago ignites a movement across America and across the globe. No matter where you’re from, you get to have the beauty of liberation in the city of Chicago.”

“We fight for working people! Are you with me, Chicago?”

The people united can never be defeated

Frank Chapman of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR), the lead organizer of the rally, spoke after Mayor Johnson.

“If you consider yourself a Black freedom fighter, engaged in the struggle for the liberation of our people, you cannot be guilty of hating on the immigrants. You cannot fall for the seeds of division planted by Trump and his reactionary minions, that somehow, some way, poor people coming from the south of our borders, seeking asylum; poor people seeking freedom from terror in their own lands, encouraged and supported by our government; that somehow this poses a problem for Black people.”

“This doesn’t pose a problem for us! We got a problem with the same people they have a problem with. We stand united with these people because we share a common oppressor: the billionaires that have always used the tool of racism to divide and conquer.”

Chapman called for support of the Sanctuary City laws that prohibit local law enforcement from engaging in immigration enforcement. “We reject the ideas that immigrants are criminals and deporting them would take the crime rate down.”

“What would take the crime rate down is to deport Trump!”

Black/Latino coalition

About one quarter of the crowd in the church were Latino activists and community members from the nearby Chicano/Mexicano neighborhoods. Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez was one of the Latino activists who joined the rally, representing the 25th Ward of neighborhoods like Pilsen and Little Village on the Lower West side of Chicago.

Sigcho-Lopez explained, “Chicago is a target. Trump targets us for deportations, but Chicago is also our hope.”

As his three small children gathered around him, Sigcho-Lopez said, “This is why we fight for the quality public education that all our children deserve.”

Sigcho-Lopez called for unity of all working people – Black, Latino, Asian and white – against attacks on immigrants and against the closing of public schools and unionized charter schools like Acero. In addition, last week ICE seized a father dropping off his children at Acero.

What do these two movements of resistance have in common? Sigcho-Lopez said, “The billionaires in DC and the billionaires in Chicago don’t have enough, so they take from the poor.”

“When we see parents being grabbed from their communities, we have to stand for the dignity of our people.”

“There’s no place I would rather be than Chicago, the city of Rudy Lozano and Mayor Harold Washington!” Sigcho-Lopez referred to union organizer and Chicano community leader Rudy Lozano, who supported the election of Harold Washington in 1983. This created for the first time a Black and Latino coalition, making possible the defeat of the white racist Democratic Party and election of Washington, Chicago’s first Black mayor.

Chicago Alliance: On to Washington

In support of Mayor Johnson when he appears before the racist Republicans in Congress, Chapman announced, “Black History Month is over, but Black history is still going on, and we’re going to make some today. On the 5th, we’re going to Washington, DC to support our mayor and our city.”

Sigcho-Lopez gave special mention to the role played by CAARPR in organizing the rally. Crystal Gardner, one of the West Side organizers, also said afterward about this rally, “A big shout out to the Chicago Alliance for having the blueprint, vision, mission and base to activate spaces and communities. This is only the beginning, and I look forward to many more!”

#ChicagoIL #IL #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #ImmigrantRights #BrandonJohnson #CAARPR #NAARPR #CTU

Brooklyn, NY – Eudes Pierre’s family, friends, and supporters filled the room at the Eastern Parkway library, March 1, for the New York Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression’s (NYAARPR) event, kicking off their new campaign to demand justice for Eudes Pierre.

Eudes Pierre, a 26-year-old Haitian American man was murdered by the NYPD on December 20, 2021, while experiencing a mental health crisis. Pierre had called the police, in clear distress, and when the police arrived, they followed him into and out of the subway station, and then shot him ten times. Despite the fact that police officers were aware that Pierre was experiencing a mental health crisis, they engaged him with extreme force and had tased him multiple times before shooting him.

Pierre’s family has remained steadfast in their demand for justice and accountability, and in their determination to never let this happen again. The family successfully fought to have the street where Pierre grew up named after him and are fighting to implement the Eudes Pierre Law, which would replace police offers with trained peers when it comes to mental health crisis intervention.

The NYPD, the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB), and the New York attorney general’s office, however, have all played a part in denying justice for Eudes Pierre. When the NYPD murdered Pierre, the attorney general’s office, which had initially promised to investigate and hold the officers accountable, declined to press charges against the shooters, and the CCRB shamefully found the killing to be “within NYPD guidelines.”

The New York Alliance is demanding “Fire and prosecute the cops who killed Eudes Pierre! Police out of mental health responses! Community control of the police now!

Pierre’s cousin, Sheina Banatte, spoke at Saturday’s campaign launch event on behalf of the Justice for Eudes Coalition, alongside Reverend Kevin McCall of the Crisis Action Center, and Sharif Hall, Treasurer for NYAARPR.

When asked what justice for Eudes Pierre looks like, Banatte explained, “true justice would be for Eudes to be here with us now. Second to that, the next highest form would be accountability.” Banatte also said that the campaign for the Eudes Pierre Law is another way to achieve some measure of justice.

“We want to transform how this city does mental health crisis response, so that nobody else gets killed like this. That is another kind of justice,” stated Banatte.

Sharif Hall added, “Eric Adams is also to blame, for continually increasing the police budget, and for working with the police commissioner to prevent any and all accountability.” Sharif also mentioned the case of Caesar Robinson, another Brooklyn-resident who was murdered in his own home by the police, after calling them himself because he thought he was being burglarized. Cases like these clearly show the need for community control over the NYPD.

Rev. McCall discussed a prior, five-day community patrol pilot program that his organization implemented in Brownsville, New York, in which community members responded to calls for assistance, rather than police. This example shows that “community control can happen, if we are organized enough to make it happen.” Rev. McCall also emphasized the importance of staying engaged in community activism, and the need to keep the pressure on elected officials.

Sheina closed out the event with a demand for more investment in community resources, for police to be removed from mental health crisis response, for more police accountability, and for justice for Eudes Pierre.

There will be an event to demand #PeersNotPolice on March 24, and a protest against New York State Attorney General Letitia James on March 31, to mark the two-year anniversary of her decision not to press charges against the officers who murdered Eudes.

#BrooklynNY #NY #InJusticeSystem #PoliceCrimes #KillerCops #NAARPR

Washington, DC – On February 26, Wednesday evening, community organizers and activists gathered outside of the Embassy of the Philippines in DC to commemorate the 39th anniversary of the 1986 EDSA Peoples Power uprisings.

The action began with Tagalog chants of “Makibaka! Huwag matakot!” (Fight! Don’t be afraid!) and “From Palestine to the Philippines! Stop the U.S. war machine!” while speakers detailed the history of the EDSA uprisings and sacrifices of the Filipino people to oust the dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

Co-sponsoring organizations included the International League of Peoples Struggles Baltimore-DMV, Anakbayan DC and Montgomery County, Malaya Movement DC, and Katarungan DC.

After chants, a member of the DC Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression speaking on behalf of ILPS-DMV, stated, “The wave of political repression we’re seeing in the forms of ICE raids, police brutality, national oppression, and attacks on the rights of all oppressed peoples, draws parallels to horrors the Filipino people faced in their revolutionary struggle against the brutal dictator Ferdinand Marcos.”

The day before, Malaya Movement DC, in partnership with other organizations, held a panel discussion on the People Power anniversary at Cleveland Park Library. It included speakers from many Filipino organizations, as well as Tita Delia, an activist who organized during martial law in the Philippines.

Tita Delia spoke on how martial law and the decades- long occupation of the Philippines would not be possible without the backing and support of the United States government. When asked how Filipino consciousness has changed over the decades, Tita Delia answered that Filipino youth in particular are much more sensitive to gender and LGBTQ issues, but many are unaware of the fascist dictatorship that terrorized the Philippines, and that this is largely due to the Marcos regime’s revision of history.

A speaker from Malaya Movement DC also stressed the importance of the decades-long struggle waged by the New People’s Army in the Philippines in the countryside.

#WashingtonDC #International #Philippines #ILPS #Anakbayan #Malaya #Katarungan #NAARPR

Tacoma, WA – Community members gathered at the South Tacoma Library on Tuesday, February 25, for a “Black Liberation and Scientific Socialism” panel hosted by Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) and the All-African People’s Revolutionary Party (AAPRP).

The program featured speakers from both organizations and lively discussion on the oppression faced by Black people in the U.S. and on the African continent, as well as the road ahead under the Trump administration.

“Under neocolonialism the masses toil under stagnant and worsening conditions but must produce substantially more,” said Terrence McCall of the AAPRP.

McCall gave a history of the development of Pan-Africanism, noting the contributions of leaders such as W.E.B. Du Bois from the United States, and Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana.

Next, Mathieu Chabaud of the FRSO presented on the history of the Black Liberation Movement in the United States. Drawing from the book Marxist-Leninist Perspectives on Black Liberation and Socialism by Frank Chapman, Chabaud started with an analysis of the economic driving forces behind the American Civil War, stating, “The reason the South lost was not because of the noble efforts of white abolitionists, but because 186,000 former slaves revolted in general strike and joined the Union Army.”

Chabaud continued with a history of Reconstruction in the South, and the development of the Black Belt thesis by Black communists such as Harry Haywood.

Lastly, Talison Crosby of the FRSO analyzed the continuation of the Black Liberation Movement into the 21st century and the tasks ahead for the people’s movements. “During the George Floyd Rebellion of 2020, something happened that had never happened before,” said Crosby. “Millions of people in all 50 states took to the streets. It was a Black-led uprising, but the majority of people who participated in it are not Black.”

“I remember hitting the streets during the uprising in 2020. I remember volunteering at the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone,” said Gemini Gnull. “I’m a member of the Osage Nation. Full indigenous sovereignty and liberation for my people is not possible without socialism. And socialism in the United States is not possible without Black liberation. We’ve all got a common enemy. Black people and Indigenous people are natural allies in the fight against oppression.”

In general, attendees were angry about Trump’s attacks on the people and in agreement that a clear-eyed analysis of the conditions were necessary in order to achieve their political goals and defeat Trump’s agenda.

Concluding the event, Crosby quoted Frank Chapman: “As Frank says, ‘We stand in the rosy dawn of a new movement.’ It’s our responsibility to finally complete the unfinished revolution of the Reconstruction era. The tasks ahead are tremendous, but the future is certainly bright.”

#TacomaWA #WA #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #BlackHistoryMonth #FRSO #AAPRP #NAARPR

Minneapolis – More than 100 people gathered at the New City Center for “We Keep Us Safe: A Teach-in on the Black History of Community Control of the Police,” hosted by Twin Cities Coalition for Justice (TCC4J) and Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO). The program featured panelists from National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression branches in different cities – all in various stages of the fight for local community control of the police.

Jae Yates, a leader in TCC4J, opened with a presentation on the Black history of community control. TCC4J is leading the campaign for an all-elected Civilian Police Accountability Commission (CPAC) to establish community control over Minneapolis police.

“At its core, community control of police is about giving power to the communities most-affected by police violence, often composed of the Black working class,” explained Yates. “TCC4J organizes for community control because we believe that’s the first step to dismantling the violent systems of policing and incarceration that are currently brutalizing and tearing apart our communities.”

Yates outlined the history of policing in the U.S., which started with slave patrols and so-called Black Codes to criminalize and repress Black people. They also described the period of Reconstruction, when Black people in the South had democratic community control over how the law was enforced and who enforced it. The end of Reconstruction also symbolized the end of Black political power, including control of law enforcement. Decades later, the Black Power movement revived the demand for community control of police. Yates also described historical connections between the Black liberation movement, and movements in support of gay liberation and Palestinian liberation.

Syd Loving, a national leader of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, spoke about the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR), from its founding in 1973. “The 80s and 90s were tough on the Black Liberation Movement. They killed our leaders, put our leaders in jail and repressed our movement.” During those years, most Alliance branches stopped operating. “The good news is the Alliance was refounded in 2019, and as of today we have 30 branches across the country. The beautiful message there is that the struggle for community control of police is alive across the country!”

Loving also described how the struggles for community control and for Black Liberation are part of “the broader struggle to pull up all forms of oppression and exploitation from the root. In FRSO we talk about our strategy for revolution, and it’s the united front against monopoly capitalism. At the core of that united front is the strategic alliance between the national liberation movements and the entire working class.”

She described how the coalition of the Alliance and other Black-led organizations with working with progressive labor unions was the key to victories in Chicago. “When we come together and recognize that we have a common enemy, that we have something to win, that takes us so much further on the road to pulling up monopoly capitalism from the root and building a world where everyone can be free.”

Toni Jones of New Orleans for Community Oversight of Police (NOCOP) described how she got involved in organizing: “The movement that had been spurred on by what happened in Minneapolis in 2020 was dying down. The nonprofits were saying things, but they weren’t fighting for anything. They weren’t standing up for our community. So I realized that I would have to be the fight that I wanted to see. We formed NOCOP to stand up for the community.” Jones added, “The end goal of this struggle was never about fighting the police. It’s fighting for power.”

Jones continued, “When we support community control it’s so we can get those police and move them out of our way, so we can directly take the fight to those in city hall, take the fight to those in the Pentagon, take the fight to those in White House, without worrying about our heads getting beaten in for supporting those that we love.”

Merawi Gerima, co-chair of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) also got involved in the movement in 2020. “The George Floyd rebellion kicked off while I was up here, and I remember seeing a flyer for a National Day of Action with some organization with too many letters in the name. I ended up going. I had never seen anything like that in my life in downtown Chicago.” That organization was CAARPR, which Gerima joined. “The following year, the year that we were able to pass the ECPS [Empowering Communities for Public Safety] ordinance establishing these two bodies in our city which are the beginnings of community control of police in Chicago. It’s the most-advanced, democratic police accountability system in the country and it’s only just beginning.”

Panelists discussed how to respond to community fears that CPAC may stop cops from protecting them, or other concerns about community control of police. They explained that police departments aren’t showing data to prove that massive budgets (hundreds of millions of dollars in large cities) are reducing crime or solving cases.

Gerima said, “We’re fighting to hold the police accountable, for the things that they do, and the things that they don’t do in our communities. Black people are overpoliced and under protected and we want power to be able to change that.”

Gerima also warned listeners against putting a call for police abolition at the forefront, stating, “The fastest way to lose Black people on the Southside is to say we want to get rid of the police. And that’s not to say that it’s not a reasonable goal in the future. It’s to say that conditions right now don’t support that. Black people want to hold the police accountable, they want justice for the things that police do to them, they want them to be punished for the crimes that they commit against us and they want to be able to call them when they need them. The people that we need to win this fight understand the equation perfectly.”

When asked what motivates their commitment to keep working, Jones said, “I know that what’s at stake is the personal stories of the people that we meet in this work. They don’t get to hang up their struggles and the tears when they go home at night. They go to sleep thinking about whether they’ll ever get justice for their sons. If I keep them in mind, I know it’s way too soon to start calling it quits.”

In that spirit, Tiffany Jackson, sister of Allison Lussier, was invited to the stage after the panel discussion. Lussier, a native woman, was murdered by her boyfriend after the Minneapolis police failed to act on numerous 911 calls and orders for protection. Instead of investigating the case as a murder, MPD Chief O’Hara began a public smear campaign against Lussier. He claims her death was caused by a drug overdose, despite the medical examiner’s office saying they were unable to determine how Lussier died. Pressure from family and community supporters recently pushed the city council to order a formal audit of MPD’s handling of Lussier’s case.

Several activists stood beside Jackson, including Alissa Washington, of the Wrongfully Incarcerated and Over-sentenced Families Council-MN. Washington urged the crowd to keep an eye on this case, “We do need all nations to get together on this, you guys. We are Black, white, native up here. We need everybody to mobilize, because we don’t know what will happen.”

#MinneapolisMN #MN #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #BlackHistoryMonth #InJusticeSystem #PoliceCrimes #TCC4J #NAARPR

Los Angeles, CA – On February 17, over 1000 Chicanos gathered at Placita Olvera in downtown Los Angeles to protest against ICE deportations and to fight back against Trump's racist, right-wing agenda.

The rally and march were called for by Chicana activists who used social media to get the word out. Recent protests in Los Angeles have brought out large crowds of Chicanos ready to stand up and fight, with the last one, on February 2, drawing tens of thousands who took to the streets. That afternoon protesters even took over the 101 Freeway, shutting it down for hours and completely overwhelming LAPD, LASD and CHP, which were completely unprepared and caught off guard by Raza fighting back.

The rally and march on Presidents’ Day was officially endorsed and supported by the Community Self-Defense Coalition, which is a new coalition recently announced in Los Angeles, consisting of over 60 organizations and unions. Growing every day, the Community Self-Defense Coalition is determined to defend Raza out in the streets in the face of attacks by migra. The program featured speakers from different members of the coalition like Centro CSO, Union Del Barrio, Black Alliance for Peace SoCal and many more. The spirited march made stops at the Metropolitan Detention Center and City Hall before circling back to Placita Olvera.

During the march, the large protest had a soundtrack and that played music, and ledchants like “Raza si, migra no! ” “La que no salta es migra” (Whoever doesn’t jump is migra) and “El Pueblo unido jamás será vencido” (The people united will never be defeated). The march had multiple banners of the different organizations as well dozens of flags representing countries in South America, Central America, Palestine, and Lebanon.

The leading truck flew a large Aztlán flag through the sunny spring morning in Los Angeles. When the march passed through historic Little Tokyo, the organizers shouted out and gave their respects to the Japanese people who themselves were forcefully displaced and put into concentration camps by the United States during World War II.

Veria Topete, a member of Centro CSO, said at the rally, “It felt very beautiful and empowering being with our community, standing in unity to let our brothers and sisters know that it’s not just their fight it’s our fight and they are not alone. That we are here to stand up and defend them.”

Karina Lopez, who represented Centro CSO on the program, said, “Don’t let this be the last action you take. This is only the beginning of the struggle that we have ahead of us when we organize and connect our struggles, we build power. Trump is also saying he will take over Gaza, we say hands off Palestine! Our fight against repression is connected with the fight to liberate Palestine!”

Centro CSO is a grassroots organization focused on fighting for oppressed Chicanos in East Los Angeles and Boyle Heights. They uplift the demands of Legalization for All, Community Control of the Police and Protect Public Education. They are proud members of the Legalization 4 All Network and affiliates of the National Alliance against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR).

You can find them on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook under the username @CentroCSO

#LosAngelesCA #NAARPR #Legalization4All #LegalizationforAll #ELA #BoyleHeights #Chicano #VivaLaRaza #NoDeportations #ICE #ImmigrantRights #Immigration #FreePalestine #Aztlan #Trump #PresidentsDay #LAPD #LASD #CHP

Chicago, IL- On Friday night, February 21, Freedom Road Socialist Organization held an event celebrating Black history and international solidarity in the Black liberation movement. The event took place in the office of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) on the city’s South Side and consisted of a panel of speeches and some performances representing Black, Palestinian and Chicano liberation, as well as youth and labor struggles.

The night was electrified by music from Faayani Mijana and poetry from Brian Young Jr, both members of CAARPR. Their art lifted the spirits of attendees and provided a cultural connection to the political tasks raised by panelists in a discussion facilitated by Jae Franklin of the Anti-War Committee, Chicago.

“We are currently living in a state of siege, and our government is the enemy of the people,” FRSO Central Committee member Frank Chapman said about the Trump administration’s attacks against immigrants in particular and working and oppressed people in general.

“We must oppose all these racist policies put forward by Trump and his minions,” Chapman continued. “As oppressed people we must all unite and fight back!”

The main focus of the night was solidarity. Speakers pointed to the common enemies of working and oppressed people.

“The only way out is together. Black people and Chicanos are both oppressed nations. We face, for example, similar police repression and defunding of education,” said Angel Naranjos, a leader within Students for a Democratic Society at UIC and CAARPR’s recently formed Immigrants Rights Working Committee.

The panel noted that U.S. imperialism is an enemy of people internationally in addition to the multinational working class in the U.S.

“Our enemy is global so our response must be global,” said Nicholas Richard Thompson, the Chicago chair and Midwest organizer of Black Alliance for Peace. Thompson and other speakers emphasized the need to stand with oppressed people around the world against U.S. imperialism.

Panelists and performers specifically spoke about Trump's threats against South Africa’s sovereignty and his stated intentions for the U.S. to “own” Gaza. The panel also discussed how oppressed people have won in the past against imperialist representatives like Trump.

“The solidarity between Black and Arab communities is not new. Our movements have stood together in the face of imperialism, colonization and systemic oppression,” said Nadiah Alyafai of the US Palestinian Community Network. She explained the lineage of solidarity from the Black Panther Party to the Ferguson uprising, and then connected this history to the past year of protests for Palestine and against the U.S. backed Israeli genocide in Gaza.

Alyafai also encouraged organizations to join the newly formed Coalition Against the Trump Agenda, which was convened to unite a range of movements in resistance against the overt attacks that have already been coming from the White House and will continue for at least four years.

One of Trump's main targets is public education. This is why the Chicago Teachers Union is currently negotiating contract proposals such as academic freedom for teachers and elimination of racist evaluation practices, designed to protect Chicago’s oppressed communities from Trump and other racists.

“The battle for civil rights also takes place in the classroom. Knowledge of self and representation matters,” said Kevin Moore, a social studies teacher and Chicago Teachers Union member, also explaining why it is critical to stop the Trump administration’s attacks on Black history in schools and its broader attacks on the education system.

CTU recently continued its history of working together with community organizations by joining the CATA alongside CAARPR, USPCN, SDS, AWC, Casa Dupage Workers Center, and dozens of other organizations.

The coalition being built in Chicago is one of many around the country. It shows in practice a lesson from Black history that every panelist on Friday uplifted: united resistance is the best defense against the divide and conquer strategy of oppressors.

“Understanding Black history gives us a blueprint for the struggle,” Moore said. “The Trump playbook is not new. We beat it before, and we'll beat it again.”

#ChicagoIL #IL #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #BlackHistoryMonth #NAARPR #CAARPR #FRSO #Feature

Grand Rapids, MI – At Fountain Street Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, February 15, around 80 people gathered to hear speakers stressing solidarity with the immigrant and queer communities. The event’s purpose was to spread awareness and further mobilization, while also stressing the connections between the two struggles.

The program began with Shae Smith of the Grand Rapids Pride Center and Protest for Progress, a group known for its Sunday demonstrations in support of trans lives held in downtown Grand Rapids. Smith outlined key actions anyone can take to support the queer community, including pushing back against transphobia and homophobia and vocally supporting any events and organizations supportive of queer rights.

“Gender dysphoria is real,” said Smith. “Taking away puberty blockers and hormone therapy is incredibly stressful for these families and dangerous, to say the least.”

Smith encouraged the audience to get involved and share their own experiences and struggles.

Sheldon Skiver of the Grand Rapids Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, the organizers of the event, spoke next on the collaboration between local law enforcement and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Skiver laid out a long and sordid history of racial profiling and discrimination against the local immigrant community.

Skiver also highlighted programs such as the Criminal Alien Program (CAP), which is the oldest and largest of the “jail status check” programs. Her speech noted that nearly all information on CAP must be accessed via the Freedom of Information Act and little attention, or oversight is given to the program, which extends all over the country.

“A lot of individuals in jails or prisons are identified by CAP before they are even convicted of a crime,” said Skiver. In 2009, an audit from the Department of Homeland Security found that 57 percent of immigrants tracked by CAP carried no prior convictions.

Skiver also talked about the infamous case of Jilmar Ramos-Gomez, a U.S. citizen and Marine wrongfully turned over to ICE while suffering from an episode of PTSD. The Grand Rapids Police Department’s Captain Curt Vanderkooi was found to have a history of racism and reporting innocent persons to ICE. Vanderkooi was temporarily suspended and the city was forced to pay Ramos-Gomez $190,000 for the incident.

The Grand Rapids Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression will be hosting a film screening of Citizen: The Jilmar Ramos-Gomez Story, a new film by Jose Guadalupe Jimenez on March 1 at 7 p.m. at Fountain Street Church.

The third and final speaker was Gema Lowe, the co-founder of the Michigan chapter of Movimiento Cosecha, a group fighting on behalf of undocumented immigrants since 2017. Lowe gave a “know-your-rights” presentation in the event of ICE raids or arrests and used a projector to present important information.

Lowe also gave a brief history of ICE since 2003 and the government transition from more “civil” treatment of undocumented immigrants to the increasing militancy familiar today. She said ICE is only going to expand its capacity for surveillance and arrests.

After the presentations, organizers led the crowd on a march to Monument Park during rush hour and covered all street corners to chant and hold signs. Chants of “No hate, no fear! Immigrants are welcome here!” were met with supportive honking and cheering from drivers.

The event came on the heels of the February 1 rally organized by the Grand Rapids Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, which was attended over 500 people and gathered groups as diverse as Planned Parenthood, GR Rapid Response to ICE and the Grand Rapids Climate Coalition.

Organizers with the Alliance said they will continue to build momentum, welcome newcomers to the movement and resist the attacks unleashed by the Trump administration.

#GrandRapidsMI #MI #ImmigrantRights #LGBTQ #NAARPR #GRRR #GRCC

The event was well attended and discussed systemic racism, historical repression and solidarity efforts in Fort Worth, Arlington and Dallas. Topics spanned education inequities, Confederate symbolism, police violence, and grassroots resistance, linking past injustices to modern struggles.

Speakers detailed Fort Worth’s segregated education history, including I.M. Terrell High School, the sole secondary school for non-white students before Brown v. Board of Education, and contrasted it with today’s diverse Trinity High School. Discussions about UT Arlington centered on its Confederate past, including the “Johnny Rebel” mascot, and pro-segregation university presidents like E.E. Davis and Jack R. Woolf. The speakers also addressed the 1921 lynching of Fred Rouse, which underscored Fort Worth’s legacy of racial terror.

Presenters a talked about the history of the Little Mexico barrios, established during the 1910s Mexican Revolution and the 1954 Hernandez v. Texas ruling that extended 14th Amendment protections to Mexican Americans, but noted that police violence yet persisted. The 1973 killing of 12-year-old Santos Rodriguez – abducted without a warrant, tortured and executed by officer Darrel Cain – sparked outrage. Cain served just two and a half years.

“We see that there are points where history repeats itself,” said a speaker at the event, linking Santos Rodriguez’s murder to modern cases like Atatiana Jefferson’s killing by Fort Worth police. “The state chooses to put their weight behind these wrongdoings. This is why we must demand community control of the police.”

The town hall closed with a call for united action against systemic racism, emphasizing that collective struggle, not isolated efforts will drive change.

#DallasTX #TX #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #ChicanoLatino #InJusticeSystem #ImmigrantRights #NAARPR

Tampa FL – On Tuesday, February 4, over 40 people came out to listen to a panel hosted by Tampa Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (TAARPR) and led by the families who survived police crimes.

The event was part of a weeklong series of events that honor the life of Andrew Joseph III – a 14-year-old boy who was killed in traffic after he was kidnapped by Hillsborough County Sheriff’s deputies in February 2014 – and the struggle for justice and accountability being fought in his name.

The panelists speaking were Deanna Joseph of Tampa, mother of Andrew Joseph III and board member of the Andrew Joseph Foundation; Kieanna Garrett of Lakeland, who is currently fighting her charges after being stalked for months then brutalized by Lakeland PD; and Jasmine Smith, a member of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) , who flew from Chicago for the panel, and has been fighting to free her family and others who were wrongly incarcerated.

During the panel Joseph said “You don’t want to wait to be in the shoes that I’m in before you get involved. You don’t want it to knock on your door before you say, ‘enough is enough.’ You want to be at the forefront of whatever your passion is. Everybody should be doing something.”

One of the main fights of the Andrew Joseph Foundation is to end qualified immunity, which grants police and the officials surrounding them protection from the rule of law whenever they harm people in our communities.

“They are the criminals. The state attorneys and the judges and the police officers all have qualified immunity. They’re all protected by some type of qualified immunity where if they are to be caught up in corruption, they’re not being held accountable.” said Joseph.

In her time in CAARPR, Joseph played a role in helping pass the legislation which created a democratically elected board that is able to help decide police policy and leadership in the city of Chicago.

The panelists presented a message for greater police accountability and uniting to make that accountability a reality.

#TampaFL #FL #InJusticeSystem #PoliceCrimes #KillerCops #NAARPR #TAARPR

St. Paul, MN – On February 8, in honor of Black History Month, the Minnesota Anti-War Committee (AWC) presented an educational panel titled “Black Against Empire: Perspectives On Liberation In Haiti, Congo, Sudan, and the U.S.A.”

The panel was held at Macalester College in Saint Paul. Experts, activists and community leaders spoke about the timelines, struggles and victories of African people throughout history against imperialist oppression.

The panelists included Frank Chapman, head of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR); Nick Tolliver, member of the AWC; Mohammed Farah, member of Healthcare Workers For Palestine, along with a written statement submitted by Ruben Joanem of the Haiti Justice Committee. Facilitating the event were Liz Bolsoni from the AWC and Trahern Crews from Black Lives Matter Minnesota.

“The bottom line is, we have to fight our way out of this. We can’t analyze our way out of it. We can’t pray our way out of it. We’ve got to fight our way out of it,” Chapman said. “We’re building a mass movement, and we’ve got to build even greater.” Chapman is the Executive Director of NAARPR, field organizer of its Chicago chapter, the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, and sits on the Central Committee of Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

“The exploitation of the Congo is the beating heart of the global capitalist system and our collective liberation from imperialism and capitalism is bound together with the liberation of the Congo,” said Tolliver, who provided a history of liberation struggles in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Tolliver is an anti-war activist and self-proclaimed “Black history nerd” who is passionate about Congo solidarity and African liberation.

Farah was born and raised in Khartoum, Sudan, and works as a hospital pharmacist in Minnesota while pursuing a graduate degree in public health. Farah expanded on the cultural foundation of Sudan found in art and poetry. He said, “Poets are the embodiment of the soul of a nation. It creates the spirit of Sudanese nationalism.”

As presentations and speeches concluded, a dialogue was opened between the panelists and the audience to further discuss issues that Black people have historically faced and how they tie in with modern struggles connected with capitalism and imperialism.

The final question asked was about the future of community organizing around Black liberation, to which Chapman closed with the statement, “Well, the future is always now. And the future belongs to those who are willing to fight for it.”

#StPaulMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #BlackHistoryMonth #International #Africa #Sudan #Congo #StudentMovement #NAARPR #MNAWC #BLM

New York, NY – On Friday, February 7, protesters gathered at City Hall facing 1 Police Plaza to protest the new NYPD Quality of Life Division. The creation of this division comes on the heels of cop-Mayor Eric Adams installing officers on every overnight train.

The Quality of Life Division targets poor and working-class New Yorkers. Officers in the division will go after panhandlers, public urination, those sleeping on the train, street vending, and other forms of “broken window” policing. The primary issue with this division is that it doesn’t address the underlying issues that cause people to resort to these actions.

As we enter 2025, we’re seeing the subway fare rising. The public restrooms are either closed or in horrid disrepair. Programs for homeless or poor New Yorkers are getting cut, and they can’t get the necessary assistance. This means that people are resorting to the last possible options to try to live.

The New York Alliance Against Racist Political Repression (NYAARPR) called for this protest as it aligns with their Cops Off the Subway campaign.

Daniel Koh, the secretary of NYAARPR, said in his opening remarks, “These policies harass the most vulnerable New Yorkers in the name of safety, but we know that safety does not come from criminalization. It does not come from more police. We, the New York Alliance, condemn this unwarranted and unwanted increase in policing. We demand the removal of cops from stations, subways and buses.”

Koh introduced a series of speakers from NYAARPR who helped give a rounded analysis on the issue.

Briony Smith, the Community Education Chair of NYAARPR, said in their speech, “They’re not interested in the quality of life of people who are poor, who are homeless, who are Black, who are brown, who are not the rich, the white, the powerful, that the NYPD serves.”

Protesters asked, “What about the quality of life of Debrina Kawam?” Kawam was burned alive while sleeping on the subway this past December. The cops walked past her while she burned and did nothing.

Broken windows policing has been tried before, and it doesn’t work. Going after small crimes does not stop the big ones. All it does is increase the police presence, the surveillance, the harassment, and the arrests of Black, brown, and poor people.

Koh closed the rally with a call to action to not only support the Cops Off the Subway campaign, but to also attend the upcoming Justice for Eudes Pierre event, March 1 in Crown Heights.

#NewYorkNY #NY #InJusticeSystem #NAARPR #NYAARPR