As stated in the “Trayvon Martin is All of US” statement (see http://mxgm.org/trayvon-martin-is-all-of-us/), “the murder of Trayvon Martin is no isolated tragedy”. New Afrikan and/or Black people have been fighting police brutality and vigilante terrorism in one form or another for centuries. Two of the long standing demands of the Black community have been community control over the police and the end to the police occupations of our communities. Attempts to placate these demands have been made in numerous cities throughout the United States in the form of civilian review boards and the hiring of Black police. After 40 years of experimentation with these methods, it is clear that they have failed to stop police brutality and white supremacist vigilante violence against Black people.  It is time that we demand more. It is time that we demand structural change and that is where the National Plan of Action comes in.

The Malcolm X Grassroots Movement is demanding a National Plan of Action for Racial Justice to ensure that the US government is held accountable for its policies and practices that threaten or undermine the human rights of Afrikan and other oppressed peoples in the United States, including Indigenous Nations, Xicanos, Puerto Ricans, Hawaiians, Arabs, immigrants, Muslims and other targeted communities. The National Plan of Action for Racial Justice is a comprehensive plan that will address the totality of structural and institutional racism and how they violate the human rights of oppressed peoples.

What is a National Plan of Action?  

In essence a National Plan of Action is a plan created and implemented by a National or Federal government to improve its human rights practice to ensure that the rights of all persons under its jurisdiction are respected, protected, and fulfilled. Such a plan acknowledges that improvements in all facets of governance are needed in order for human rights to be fully realized. In order to make these improvements, National Plans call on governments to:

1. Develop a comprehensive work plan, with a concrete timeline, goals, and measurable benchmarks, to resolve social issues where a government is not in full compliance with international law and standards in the application of human rights.
2. Ratify additional human rights treaties and standards where needed to ensure maximum protections and the realization of rights.
3. Align domestic law with international law to ensure more effective incorporation of international standards into domestic practice.
4. Establish national human rights institutions to facilitate, administer, and monitor the implementation of the plan.
5. Institute a comprehensive human rights education program to ensure that all government officials, on all levels of government (local, county, and state level) are aware of their human rights obligations and insure that all persons and institutions of civil society are aware of their rights.
6. Create social policies and programs that address core areas of concern regarding the protection and fulfillment of human rights and seek to improve the quality of life overall, particularly for vulnerable groups and social sectors.

Historical Background

The National Plan of Action concept is a product of the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights held in Vienna, Austria. It was promoted by the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (VDPA) and was put forward as a means for all national-states to take deliberate action to improve their human rights record and practices. The development of National Plans of Action to combat racism and racial discrimination is a product of the Third World Conference Against Racism held in Durban, South Africa in 2001. These “racial justice” plans were promoted by the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (DDPA) and have been adopted and utilized by a number of countries including Australia, Canada, Ireland, and South Africa.

Where these Racial Justice Plans have perhaps been used most effectively is in South America, specifically by Afro-descendent organizations and social movements. Afro-descendent organizations in Colombia, Brazil and Venezuela have used the DDPA and National Plans of Action to win constitutional recognition for ancestral lands, regional autonomy and special programs for cultural preservation, educational advancement, and community development. These examples and the organizing strategies employed to win these gains are the inspiration the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement draws from in our campaign to attain a National Plan of Action for Racial Justice in the United States.

Join Us. Build the No More Trayvons Campaign for a National Plan of Action for Racial Justice

The demands articulated in the “Trayvon Martin is All of US” statement are only a portion of the demands that would be included in the National Plan. Comprehensively the National Plan would address the right of self-determination; economic, social, and cultural rights; civil and political rights; racial profiling, stop and frisk, mass incarceration, state surveillance, and political repression; political prisoners and prisoners of war; environmental racism; and  much more.

To win this demand, we are going to have to secure millions of signatures, organize individuals and communities in support of the demand on a mass level, build a broad coalition, and apply maximum pressure on the administration of President Obama to yield to the demand and implement a National Plan of Action for Racial Justice. Join the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement (MXGM), Black Left Unity Network (BLUN), National Alliance for Racial Justice (NARJHR), and the CERD Implementation Task Force of the US Human Rights Network (USHRN) in raising these demands and building this movement.

You can start by officially endorsing the campaign and committing to working on the strategies and tasks outlined in our Appeal Letter (see http://mxgm.org/no-more-trayvon-martins-campaign-appeal/ for more details).

To endorse the campaign email kaliakuno@mxgm.org.

To sign the Petition visit http://www.ushrnetwork.org/content/webform/trayvon-martin-petition.

For more details visit www.mxgm.org or visit us on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/#!/MXGMnational.

Kali Akuno , Malcolm X Grassroots Movement

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

No More Trayvon Martins Campaign Appeal

The mass mobilization and media generated in response to the outcry over the murder of Trayvon Martin and how it was handled by the Sanford police, provides the human rights movement with a critical opportunity. The opportunity is to demonstrate how the international human rights framework can strengthen the movements for racial justice and transform the institutions of this society. In order to realize this opportunity, we must engage in mass education and advocacy.

The “No More Trayvons” campaign was launched as a result of research and a petition produced by Kali Akuno and Arlene Eisen at the request of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement (MXGM) and disseminated in partnership with the Black Left Unity Network (BLUN) and US Human Rights Network (USHRN).  The campaign is demanding the implementation of a National Plan of Action for Racial Justice, a critical tool that can be used to educate, agitate, and organize on a mass level.

For the campaign to be successful, we need the critical support of organizations such as yours. The MXGM is calling on you to help us build this initiative and seize the opportunity. The first step we are asking you to take is to formally endorse the demand for a National Plan of Action. The second step is asking you to engage in some of the following activities (based on your capacity and resources) listed below:

1. Outreach: contacting your constituents and allies directly to ask them to support the petition drive and the demand for a National Plan of Action

• Phone Banking
• Direct Mailing
• Listserv  Blasts
• Door Knocking
• Community or Event Tabling

1. Social Media Outreach and Mobilization: promoting the “No More Trayvons” campaign via your social media resources

• Post the handbill flyer on your website
• Post the handbill flyer on your facebook, myspace, etc., page
• Post the petition link on your facebook, myspace, etc., page
• Promote the petition on your twitter account
• Blog about the campaign and the demand and encourage people to sign the petition

1. Education: utilize your educational resources and processes to educate your members and the public at large about the campaign, the National Plan demand, and what a National Plan of Action is and how it can be used

• Produce handouts on the campaign
• Disseminate the handouts produced by USHRN, MXGM, etc.
• Conduct webinars on the campaign
• Conduct Teach-in’s and Community Forums on the Campaign

1. Action: support the campaign by building local, statewide, and national pressure on the government to comply with the demand to implement a National Plan of Action

• Raise the demand at city council meetings, with state representatives, in requests to federal level officials
• Conduct local and/or regional hearings or Tribunals on human rights violations to press for government accountability

1. Content Development: work with the National Alliance for Racial Justice and Human Rights and the National CERD Implementation Task Force to produce content for the Civil Society National Plan of Action for Racial Justice that we will use to press the Obama administration to adopt as the basis of the governments National Plan of Action.

Our goals for this initiative are to:

1. Secure 100,000 signatures for the petition by Friday, May 18^th to deliver to the Obama administration.
2. Mid-term goal is to expand the National Alliance to carry out this work.
3. Long-term goal is to build mass consciousness and a broad base for CERD and the National Plan of Action.

If you or your organization is prepared to endorse the demand for a National Plan of Action and to engage in any of these activities please email Kali Akuno at kaliakuno@mxgm.org.  Please indicate in your email what types of activities your organization is committing to, when, where, and what you may need from MXGM and the National Alliance for Racial Justice to support your efforts.

Visit http://mxgm.org/trayvon-martin-is-all-of-us/ to sign the No More Trayvons Petition.

Visit www.mxgm.org for general information about the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement.

Thank you,

Kali Akuno,  Malcolm X Grassroots Movement

Thursday, May 26, 2012

Social media promotion graphics:

Malcolm X Omowale 23rd Annual Birthday Celebration

Dates: May 19-20

Time: 11am – 7pm

Location: West End Park 111 Oak Street, Atlanta, GA 30310

Trayvon Martin is All of US! Demand Obama institute a National Plan of Action for Racial Justice to end the epidemic of Black murders 

http://www.ushrnetwork.org/content/actionalert/trayvon-martin-petition-learn-and-sign-now

The murder of Trayvon Martin is no isolated tragedy. The murder of Black men and women by police and other state officials and by self-appointed “keepers of the peace” is standard practice in the United States, and essential to the very fabric of the society. Since the European colonization of North America, Black life has been disposable. Despite the many proclamations that the society is color blind and moving into a post-racial phase, the summary execution of Trayvon Martin and at least 29[1] other Black women and men murdered by the Police, Security Guards or vigilantes in 2012 alone demonstrates that Black life continues to be regarded with short worth.

State sanctioned or justified murder of Black people in theUnited Statesis systemic, and more than just a set of random and isolated incidents. The solution to this pervasive crime against humanity cannot rely on local district attorneys for justice. We have to demand more than just investigations and individual prosecutions. We have to demand that the federal government take action and uphold its obligations under International Human Rights Law to protect historically discriminated groups such as Blacks.

Pattern of Murders by the Numbers since January 1, 2012

*  30 cases of state sanctioned or justified murder of Black people in the first 3 months of 2012 alone have been found (due to under reporting and discriminatory methods of documentation, it is likely that there are more that our research has yet to uncover)

*  Of the 30 killed people, 20 were definitely unarmed. 2 probably had firearms, 8 were alleged to have non-lethal weapons.

* Of the 30 killed people:

- 12 were innocent of any illegal behavior or behavior that involved a threat to anyone (although the killers claimed they looked “suspicious”);

- 8 were emotionally disturbed and/or displaying strange behavior.

- the remaining 10 were either engaged in illegal or potentially illegal activity, or there was too little info to determine circumstances of their killing.  It appears that in all but two of these cases, illegal and/or harmful behavior could have been stopped without the use of lethal force.

*       In most cases, where planned, investigations of the deaths have not been completed.

* Note: only seven of the 30 killed people were over 30 years old and two of the six were 31 years old. Two were women.

Implications for Action Needed

Almost every news story that reported these killings says something like, “another Black man dead.”  Yet, perhaps to fight off despair, many people treat each case like Trayvon Martin as if it were the first, an exception, and hopefully the last, if only the perpetrator is arrested.

This gruesome list demonstrates that theUSlegacy of lynching and enforcement of Jim Crow apartheid persists. But today’s epidemic of murders of Black people thrives in a new deadly context. The myths of democracy and the election of a Black president hide the epidemic—make it harder to diagnose the pattern.  And the hysteria of the War on Terror, building on the War on Drugs, has fueled the militarization of 17,000 local police departments. Nearly a trillion dollars in grants by Homeland Security and the promotion of a militarized culture has escalated the wars of racial domination and containment at home. InNew Orleans,Chicago,New York,Little Rockand hundreds of other towns and cities, police departments and white citizens are armed and ready to maintain “security”. The so-called drug and terror wars have become a war on Black people—even if some combatants on the aggressor side of the line in Homeland Security and Police departments are Black.

In many ways, today’s war on Black people resembles the hounding of escaped slaves or the persecution of Black people who dared appear in segregated “sundown towns” after dark. The record of lynching shows that demonization of Black people did not begin with hoodies. Black people have survived this war by resisting Klan terror in all its forms, by affirming their culture and building solidarity and community. Depending solely on a local district attorney for survival, let alone justice, has never worked and will not work today.

Within this context—and given the data—we suggest the campaign to end the war on Black people take the following steps:

1. Currently, there is no national database that documents the killings of Black people by police, security guards and self-appointed peacekeepers. To understand the magnitude of the epidemic, we demand it be documented. To ensure that we hold the government accountable to this mandate, we call on all the organizations defending the human dignity and rights of Black people to collaborate on producing an independent database of these summary executions.
2. We must demand that the priorities of Homeland Security be shifted. As a recent Salon.com article noted, “So much money has gone into armoring and arming local law-enforcement since 9/11 that the federal government could have rebuilt post-Katrina New Orleans five times over and had enough money left in the kitty to provide job training and housing for every one of the record 41,000-plus homeless people in New York City. It could have added in the growing population of 15,000 homeless in Philadelphia, my hometown, and still have had money to spare. Add disintegrating Detroit, Newark, and Camden to the list. Throw in some crumbling bridges and roads, too.”(March 5, 2012)  The military industrial complex is no longer a sector of the state—it has become the state—a police state. We must use whatever political rights we have left to demand that the tremendous resources used to fortify this militarized stated be used for human development, such as education, health care, and the development of sustainable energy and technology, not hunt and kill people.
3. At the same time, Homeland Security grants to police departments should be conditional on institutional overhaul that deprograms racist policies, rules of engagement, training and rewards.

a. Recruitment, training of new recruits and on-going retraining must identify racist assumptions and uproot them. The concept of “suspicious behavior” must be deconstructed under the leadership of community representatives.

b. When a cop has killed or wounded an unarmed “suspect” or used excessive force to subdue a “suspect”, that cops should be suspended without pay until the investigation is complete. If the cop is not cleared, he should be fired. (A number of killer cops are repeat offenders)

c. Cultural and institutional support that allows police departments to lie, cover-up, spin, justify and remain unaccountable for killing Black people must be identified. All actions must be video recorded and made public.

d. Community representatives responsible to community forum should be consulted on all these changes and approve them before implementation. Representatives of families whose loved ones have been killed should participate in these community bodies.

e. Money from one homeland security tank could more than fund high quality training for the entire police force for decades.

4. Redirect Homeland Security Funds to establish and institutionalize local community mental health programs. Jails and prisons are flooded with people who need support for emotional problems. Treatment, not punishment is needed. And there also should be community support for families—especially those with children who have emotional problems. A tragic number of children get killed by police when desperate parents call for help. This must end.  Also, police must be trained, retrained and retrained on how to deal with people exhibiting erratic behavior.  The policy of tasing for compliance must be ended.
5. Overhaul policies that encourage and justify harassment, assault and murder by non-trained, non-accountable citizens, such as “stand your ground”. Eg. Security guards, self-appointed neighborhood watch coordinator and a man defending his “castle” were responsible for at least four murders in the last three months.
6. Eliminate all the policies and procedures on all levels of government and in all state agencies that sanction the racial profiling of Black and other discriminated and targeted groups.
7. Stop the War on Drugs and end the mass incarceration of Black people. Reform all of the drug enforcement, quality of life, and mandatory minimum sentencing laws that have resulted in the gross over incarceration of Black people and the largest penal system in the world.
8. Challenge the cultural and legal climate that demonizes Black people and encourages racist attacks by security guards and vigilantes by instituting a massive public education campaign that addresses the historic legacy of white supremacy and institutional racism and educates the public about their fundamental human rights.
9. Finally, the Obama administration must create and institute a “National Plan of Action for Racial Justice”[2] to fulfill the governments obligations under the Convention to Eliminate all forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD)[3] by creating a permanent Inter-Agency Working Group to implement all of the aforementioned demands to protect Black and other historically oppressed groups from racial discrimination, targeted violence, and summary executions. For more information on CERD visit http://www.ushrnetwork.org/content/campaignproject/elimination-all-forms-racial-discrimination-icerd.

Please join us is pressing these demands to hold the United Statesgovernment accountable for its failure to fully address the systemic problem of institutionalized racism. You can help by endorsing these demands and raising them to the Obama administration and state and local governments in every venue possible.  You can start by signing and distributing the following petition http://www.ushrnetwork.org/content/webform/trayvon-martin-petition.

If you and your organization would like to officially endorse this initiative and work with the USHRN’s National CERD Implementation Task Force to directly engage the Obama administration regarding the implementation of a National Plan of Action for Racial Justice please email Kali Akuno at kakuno@ushrnetwork.org.

30 Black People Killed by Police Officials, Security Guards, and

Self-Appointed “Keepers of the Peace” between January 1 and March 31, 2012[4]

Date of Death		Name of Dead Family Member	Age	Place	Was “suspect” armed?	Comments
01/12/2012		Donald Johnson	21	New Orleans,LA	Probably	NOPD reported they shot Johnson after led them on a chase and fired on them. He was allegedly involved in a shooting that left 3 dead and 2 wounded.
01/12/2012		Duane Brown	26	East New York,Brooklyn,NY	allegedly	Brown had called police for assistance in stopping a robbery.Police shot him.
01/17/2012		Angelo Clark	31	Little Rock,AK	allegedly	Killed by SWAT Unit serving drug-related search warrant.
01/24/2012		Steven Rodriguez	22	Monterrey Park,CA	Pipe bender	Man in hoodie allegedly broke windows at Carls Jr Fast Food and police were called. They tased him in the face and almost immediately shot him ten times when didn’t surrender. [5]
01/26/2012		Christopher Kissane	26	Cypress Hills,Brooklyn,NY	Probably	An off-duty police lieutenant shot and killed Kissane who he thought was involved in a carjacking.
01/29/2012		Atwain White	17	Bushwick,Brooklyn,NY	Cane	An off-duty detective alleged that White attempted to mug him near the subway station close to midnight.  The detective shot him in chest.  A 15-year old alleged accomplice was not charged.
02/01/2012		Stephon Watts	15	Calumet City,IL (Chicagosuburb)	No	Wattswas a child with Asperger’s Syndrome. Police reported he lashed out with a kitchen knife. Mother said he had a small harmless pen knife. Police Dept had been called to this house many times before. Had experience in dealing with this emotionally disturbed child.
02/03/2012		Remarley Graham	18	Bronx,NY	No	Killed after Narcotics Task Force chased Graham into his home.
02/10/2012		Manuel Loggins Jr.	31	San Clemente,CA	No	Loggins was a former Marine Sargeant who followed a daily exercise and prayer routine with his two daughters, aged 9 and 14. His kids were waiting for him in his SUV when Orange County Police shot and killed him on the assumption that he was a threat to the girls.
02/13/2012		Johnnie Kamahi Warren	43	Dotham,AL	No	Warrendied after he was shot with a taser twice for being intoxicated. [6]
02/26/2012		Trayvon Martin	17	Sanford,FL	No	Shot and killed by George Zimmerman, self-appointed community watch coordinator who thought Martin looked suspicious.
02/29/2012		Raymond Allen	34	Galveston,TX	No	Police, suspected this father of four was under influence of drugs, subjected him to multiple tasings and hog tied him. He died two days later. Wife is suing.
03/01/2012		Justin Sipp	20	New Orleans,LA	No	Off-duty police officer thought Sipp looked suspicious.
03/01/2012		Dante Price	25	Dayton,Ohio	No	Ranger Security Guards at Summit Square Apartments shot him 22 times as he attempted to keep an appointment to babysit his own kids.
03/01/2012		Melvin Lawhorn	26	Kershaw County,SC	No	Shot byCountySheriffwhen he tried to avoid a drug traffic stop.
03/03/2012		Bo Morrison	20	West Bend,WI	No	When police broke up a party where alcohol was being served to underage people, Morrison ran away and hid on neighbor’s back porch. Homeowner, Adam Kind, shot him in chest. He was not charged because under the “Castle Doctrine” he had the right to defend his home against perceived threat.
03/05/2012		Nehemiah Dillard	29	Gainesville,FL	No	Behaving “strangely”, possibly despondent over divorce. Tased twice and went into cardiac arrest.
03/06/2012		Darryl Berry	45	Bush Creek Township,PA	No	In the aftermath of a car accident involvingBerryon a rural stretch of the PA Turnpike, a State Trooper arrived and alleged thatBerryattacked him with his dogs, so he shot Berry (not the dogs) 3 times. Cop had no injuries.
03/07/2012		Wendell Allen	20	New Orleans,LA	No	Allen, a high school basketball star, was shirtless and wearing pajama bottoms when he was shot by a plainclothes narcotics officer. Four children were in the home at the time of the raid for marijuana.
03/07/2012		Michael Lembhard	22	Newburgh,NY	allegedly	Police alleged Lembhard came at them (four) with a knife. Hundreds, including the town mayor, attended his funeral and protested the police use of excessive force.
03/10/2012		Marquez Smart	23	Wichita,KS	allegedly	Allegedly refused police order to drop gun. (news story very sketchy. The funeral guest book on line is only indication Smart was Black)
03/12/2012		JerseyGreen	37	Aurora,IL	no	Green died after police officers tasered him after he allegedly jumped on the hood of a squad car and moved toward an officer. He may have been in possession of crack cocaine.
3/15/2012		Shereese Francis	30	Jamaica,Queens,NY	no	Francis had a diagnosed mental illness. When her family called for medical assistance, the police arrived, further upset her and in the process of “subduing her”, held her face down on the bed, and suffocated her.
03/21/2012		Robert Dumas Jr.	42	Maple Heights,Cleveland,OH	no	Killed during a car chase and crash with police. He had been speeding.
03/25/2012		Kendrec Lavelle McDade	19	Pasadena,CA	no	Police shot McDade, aCitrusCollegestudent, based on false accusation that he had stolen a laptop at gunpoint. Carrillo, the accuser, was charged with manslaughter because his false statement “led” to McDade’s killing.
03/25/2012	Ervin Jefferson		18	Atlanta,GA	no	As he was trying to protect his sister, Jeffersonwas shot by two security guards who impersonated police officers
03/26/2012	Name withheld		16	San Leandro,CA	no	A sixteen year old died in custody in theAlamedaCountyJuvenile JusticeCenter. Neither the cause of death or his name has yet been released.
03/27/2012	Sheron Jackson		21	Baltimore,MD	allegedly	Officer killed Jacksonafter he allegedly threatened police and mother with a knife. The mother said the officers were trigger happy, that her son only had a small pocket knife and he was emotionally disturbed.
03/27/2012	Tendai Nhekairo		18(?)	Atlanta,GA	Conflicting reports	Zimbabwean teenager attendedCampbellHigh School. There were conflicting reports about whether his behavior was bizarre or a threat.
03/27/2012	Rekia Boyd		22	Chicago,IL	no	Shot by off-duty cop. Innocent bystander.

This document was researched, written and produced by Kali Akuno and Arlene Eisen working on behalf of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Black Left Unity Network, and US Human Rights Network.

  The militant working class struggles of 2011 – from the strikes and occupation in Wisconsin, to the countless demonstrations against Wall Street Banks,  the direct action and broad resistance to the Keystone Pipeline, to housing occupations throughout the country, to the defeat of regressive anti-Union legislation in Ohio, to the (inter)national explosion of the Occupy Movement – demonstrated the critical fact that the multi-national working class contained in the United States can stop the” shock doctrine”  measures being imposed upon it by transnational capital and the neo-liberal state.

The initial returns on these struggles are not insubstantial. Just two months into 2012, we have witnessed ILWU Local 21 coming to an agreement with transnational conglomerate EGT/Bunge in large part due to the impact of the Port Shut Down actions in Seattle, Portland, Oakland, and Los Angeles on December 12, 2011 and the threat of mass industrial action in Longview by the Occupy Movement allied with the Million Worker March Movement and militant rank and file members of the ILWU. Inspired by the Occupy Movement, the mass action in Oakland on November 2, 2001 and coast wide actions of December 12, Truck drivers inCaliforniaandWashingtonStatetook independent organizing and industrial action to win wage and safety concessions from employers and potential legislation inWashingtonStatethat that will enable the Truckers to unionize.  The victory in Longview halts the concerted drive to destroy the ILWU and further weaken organized labor and the pending Washington State legislation could potentially reverse decades of circumvention of the Wagner Act and provide an opening for sectors (and with it oppressed peoples) historically excluded from its protections.

None of this would be possible without the militant mass action of the multi-national working class, both unionized and non-unionized, acting in open defiance of the rules of engagement established between organized labor, capital, and the state in the 1930’s with the New Deal. As the power struggle between capital and the working class intensifies over whom and how the economic crisis will be resolved, the working class would do well to recall the lessons of 2011 and build on them. In addition to reaffirming the lesson that the working class must rely on militant mass action – that is strikes, occupations, blockades, general strikes and other forms of industrial action – as a primary means of exerting its own will and power, several other critical lessons we believe must be affirmed. These lessons include:

1. That in order to halt and over turn the slide of the labor unions, the unions must wage struggle beyond the confines of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and/or the Wagner Act framework.
2. That mass action will only be successful if it pulls in and engages broad sectors of the working class, particularly critical sectors of the 89% of the multi-national working class that is not unionized, and directly addresses their issues and demands.
3. That new forms of working class organization must be constructed capable of organizing workers as a self-conscious class that encompasses and incorporates the broad diversity of its totality as differentiated by race, nationality, gender, sexuality, and legal status.
4. That the multi-national working class must build, maintain, and exert its political independence from the Democrats (and Republicans), and not rely on electoral politics and processes (such as the recall efforts inWisconsinthat worked to negate mass action) to exercise its power, realize its demands, and build the society it envisions.
5. That the struggle for equity and economic democracy necessitates struggling to reclaim and redefine as much public space as possible – particularly the Ports given their strategic importance to the distribution of the necessary goods that sustain life – in order to rebuild the “commons” and exert democratic control over various processes of social production and exchange.  
6. That the decolonization of the entity presently known as the United States national state is fundamental to the social and material liberation of the multi-national working class, particularly its subjected and colonized sectors, i.e. Indigenous Nations, New Afrikans (Black people), Xicanos, Puerto Ricans, and Native Hawaiians.   

However, it should be noted that the struggles of 2011 and the lessons gleaned from them did not come out of nowhere. The resistance of 2011 was in large part a culmination of an escalating number of militant initiatives of resistance throughout the United Statesfollowing the financial and economic collapse of 2007 – 2008. These initiatives not only established critical precedence, but served as catalysts for the transformation of social consciousness that stimulated the resistance of 2011. Some of the most notable of these pre-2011 initiatives included the occupation of the Republic Windows and Doors Factory in Chicago, Illinois by UE (United Electrical Workers) Local 1110 in December 2008; the national Take Back the Land Movement housing occupation initiatives started in the fall of 2009 by the Land and Housing Action Group (LHAG) (which initially consisted of the Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Picture the Homeless, Survivors Village and Take Back the Land – Miami) of the US Human Rights Network (USHRN); and the Oscar Grant Justice Movement which commenced on December 31^st, 2008 – January 1^st, 2009 in Oakland, California following a national day of racist carnage against New Afrikans which saw the police execution of Adolph Grimes in New Orleans, Louisiana and the police shooting of Robbie Tolan in Bellaire, Texas. Of all the critical initiatives that occurred prior to 2011, the Oscar Grant Justice Movement was perhaps the most pre-figurative of the dominant feature of resistance in 2011: the Occupy Movement.

From its inception, leading elements in the Oscar Grant Justice Movement worked to establish a General Assembly as a model of collective decision making and social liberation and advanced the notion of organizing a General Strike to attain justice and transform social relations inOaklandand the Bay Area. The Oscar Grant Justice Movement also made critical links with organized labor, particularly ILWU Local 10, which conducted a demonstration and critical work shutdown of thePortofOaklandon October 23, 2010. Also from its inception the Oscar Grant Justice Movement confronted major repression from the Oakland Police Department, but gradually drew the attention of the Feds and massive monitoring and infiltration. What occurred in 2009 – 2010 was in effect a semi-national occupation ofOakland, which is a majorityThird Worldcity with a long and brutal history of police occupation and terrorism, particularly targeted at its New Afrikan population. As with the shooting of Scott Olsen on October 25, 2011 which prompted the call for a General Strike on November 2, 2011, the police repression of the Oscar Grant Justice Movement prompted several militant confrontations with the police. It was these militant confrontations that played a decisive role in the securing of a conviction (however slight) of Oscar Grant’s executioner, Johannes Mehserle. These experiences played a critical role in inspiring the militancy of 2011 and set the mold and tone of what is developing on the West Coast at present. 

2012 can be a year of critical advances for the multi-national working class, but, only if it takes hold of these and other lessons about organizing to serve its own interests and in its own name. It must also take great pains to not repeat errors of the past and present, particularly the reactionary politics and polices of white settler unionism  that views itself as a partner with capital and a defender of the US national state; promotes the ongoing dispossession of Indigenous nations;  excludes New Afrikans, Xicanos, Asians, and other oppressed peoples; fosters  the super-exploitation of immigrant and imprisoned labor; devalues the labor and contributions of women; stigmatizes sexual and gender non-conformity; promotes economic growth over ecological sustainability; and partners with US imperialism (i.e. the strategic partnership between the US government and US based transnational corporations and financial institutions) to undermine radical unions, social movements, and national governments in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.    

The opportunity now exists to set a course of action that creates new forms of working class organization that can meet the challenges of imperialist globalization and relegate the limitations of settler unionism and the co-optive restrictions of the NLRB framework to the dustbin of history.  Occupy and the militant orientation of rank and file union resistance presents us with a vision and process to move forward. As we dream new dreams, struggle to decolonize theUnited Statesand fully emancipate the working class, let us press forward boldly to transform the world and ourselves.

Meron Wondwosen of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement joined the Super Funky Soul Power Hour  to discuss Afrikan liberation, organizing in the Obama era and the politics of gender and sexuality. 

Community Activist, Tatiana “Jasira” Lima, is being prosecuted for a crime she did not commit; the murder of her one month old baby girl, Akira.  Tatiana, who is an active member and leader in various community and cultural organizations, has worked extensively in support of Hurricane Katrina survivors, homeless, and young people of color.  This committed young organizer is now in need of your support.

Tatiana’s initial bond was set at $170,000. However, on July 18th, 2011, Attorney Davis successfully argued for the bond to be reduced to $50,000.  “This is a promising first step for the case but now she needs the community and family support”, said Attorney Davis after the hearing.

A special thanks to all of the supporters that donated to the bond fund. Tatiana has made bail, but she still needs your financial support for ongoing bond fees that the court imposed as a condition of her bond.

“We are involved in this case for three reasons, 1)Tatiana is innocent, 

      2) she is a bright young woman who deserves our support and

      3) we believe we can help save her life” said Robert Bozeman,

the managing partner of the Davis Bozeman Law Firm.

Who Is Tatiana “Jasira”? 

Tatiana’s mother died when Tatiana was 16 years old.  Despite this devastating tragedy Tatiana was determined to obtain her education and she graduated from Georgia State University (GSU) Summa Cum Laude in 2008 with a Bachelor’s Degree in African American Studies.  While at GSU, Tatiana was President of Sankofa Society, founded Daughters of the Diaspora (D.O.D), and traveled to New Orleans to assist in post-Katrina food/clothing drive efforts. Ms. Lima continued her work as an organizer and as an active member of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement (MXGM), where she was involved in organizing political forums, community outreach, and children’s education programs. MXGM has spearheaded the effort to form the Justice for Tatiana “Jasira” Lima Committee and secure Ms. Lima’s freedom. 

Prior to her incarceration, Tatiana had begun taking Post-Graduate classes for a Physical Therapy Program and working part-time. Tatiana has never been arrested before these false charges were brought against her.

Statement of Facts & Law 

On July 2, 2010, Tatiana became a first-time mother by giving birth to Akira Copeland.  Akira was a healthy and happy baby girl.  Tatiana and Akira came home from the hospital to live with Jeremy Copeland, Tatiana’s boyfriend and Akira’s father.  On August 2^ndAkira was taken to the hospital after Tatiana became concerned about the baby’s breathing.  Prior to taking Akira to the hospital she called her sister and described the baby’s condition and then she contacted the pediatrician who advised her to take Akira to the hospital.  The examining physicians observed several bone fractures to Akira’s skull and ribs.  Police were alerted of the injuries due to suspected child abuse.  According to police documents, the baby’s father, Jeremy Copeland, told police that he believed he might have accidentally caused the child’s injuries when she fell while he was changing her and when he rolled over on her while sleeping.  Mr. Copeland was arrested.  There was no evidence or suspicion that Tatiana was involved in the death of her beloved child or knew that Mr. Copeland had intentionally inflicted any injuries.   In fact, after questioning, the detectives allowed Tatiana to remain at her daughter’s bedside in the hospital during her final hours.  Tragically, 48 hours after she was admitted, Akira died.  

Two weeks after the unfortunate death of her child, Tatiana was interviewed again by police and was arrested after the detectives decided that this first-time mother, “should have known more or should have done something more.”  On August 17, 2010 she was then charged with Cruelty to Children in the First Degree.  However, at the Preliminary Hearing on September 1, 2010 the District Attorney’s office presented the additional and more serious charges of Murder, Felony Murder, Aggravated Battery, and Aggravated Assault.  Fortunately, the Honorable Judge Karen Woodson listened carefully to the evidence (or lack thereof) and found that there was not sufficient evidence for the charges of Murder, Felony Murder, Aggravated Battery, and Aggravated Assault.  Ms. Lima was released on bond and worked and went to school until the District Attorney’s office again presented the more serious charges of Murder, Felony Murder, Aggravated Assault, and Aggravated battery to a Grand Jury for indictment on October 29, 2010.  Ms. Lima was then rearrested and was given a bond in March of 2011 of $170,000. 
 

What Can You Do? 

Please help us in our fight to support Tatiana “Jasira” Lima.  No donation is too small.  Donations are being accepted payable to Community Aid & Development Corp., a 501(c)(3).  Go to www.justice4tatiana.org to use PayPal to donate or mail donations to Community Aid and Development Corp. P.O. Box 361270, Decatur GA 30036-1270. Please write in the memo section on check or money order “Tatiana “Jasira” Lima Bond Fund.  You can also express your concerns about the prosecution of this innocent young woman by writing letters to the District Attorney of Fulton County, Paul Howard at 136 Pryor Street Third Floor, Atlanta, GA, 30303-3477.  Thank you for your time and consideration.

One, because he was a member of the Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM). RAM, founded in 1962 was one of the first revolutionary nationalist formations of the 1960’s created in response to oppression of people of African descent living in America. Blacks were being oppressed politically, economically, socially and physically and this became the impetus for the creation of a number of groups to respond and counter these actions.  During the 1960’s, many groups fighting race based oppression were either started or comprised mainly of students on college campuses throughout the United States and RAM was no exception.

The other reason Hoover pegged him as so dangerous was his organizing skills. Dr. Ahmad took RAM out of the colleges and brought it to the streets. As the first field chairman he articulated a number of objectives for the organization including giving Black people a sense of racial pride, solidarity, dignity, unity and commitment to the struggle for independence.

On Thursday, November 17, 2011, Dr. Ahmad gave a presentation sponsored by the Department of African American Studies at Georgia State and the Auburn Avenue Research Library. There he gave a history of his journey in the Black Power Movement. He was very humble in saying he was only one of many important people involved in the movement but Hoover made him seem so by labeling him the most dangerous person of that time. 

We were not only privy to his experiences but we learned about his interactions with Rosa Parks, her involvement with Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) during the civil rights movement and her consistent removal from buses as she asserted there should be equality in transportation. It was not a one-time situation but a concerted effort to fight for equality on her part.

He also talked about first hand interactions with Malcolm X stating how easy he was to work with and how eager he was to work. What do you need me to do was a statement he used in regards to being approached to work within the movement.

Being able to interact with an elders whose shoulders we stand upon is a wonderful experience. Hearing firsthand what our elders have been through gives us inspiration to continue their work for our liberation. As parting wisdom, Dr. Ahmad was asked is there still a need for a Black vanguard like Ram in today’s society. His response-as long as there is capitalism, there will be racism. As long as there is racism, it will be necessary for a Black revolutionary cadre to address it and the inequitable treatment of our people. His advice-use the issues and contradictions of the U.S. government to organize the people. Create a process where you can build cadre in sufficient number to build organizations that address our realities because we have the solutions and the power.