Breaking News on October 22 National Day of Protest / Month of Resistance to Mass Incarceration, Police Terror, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation

Updated October 21, 2014 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us

Starting October 13, revcom.us began this new blog on the rapidly mushrooming wave of resistance to police terror and mass incarceration. The Month of Resistance is about making a big leap in this resistance, and October 22 is key. So tune to revcom.us. Send comments, snapshots, photos, reports (short & simple fine!) to revolution.reports@yahoo.com.

Click here for more about the Month of Resistance.

Carl Dix and De Blasio October 20, 2014, New York City Hall

Carl Dix Presents Demand Directly to Mayor Bill DeBlasio: “The NYPD must not prevent the O22 march from going into Times Square!”

October 21, 2014

MEDIA ADVISORY

PARENTS DEMAND RIGHT TODAY TO MARCH INTO TIMES SQUARE

Who: Parents of Stolen Lives, Parents Against Police Brutality
What: Vigil/Press conference demanding right to march into Times Square on October 22, National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality
When: Tuesday, October 21, 2014, 3 p.m.
Where: Gracie Mansion, 88th and East End Avenue, New York
Why: Blocking October 22 march into Times Square effectively marginalizes the message that police brutality must stop.

# # #

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Steve Yip: (347) 979-7646; (917) 868-6007
Andree Penix Smith: (212) 920-1957
Stop Mass Incarceration Network (SMIN): stopmassincarceration.net

Following a refusal by police to grant a permit to march into Times Square, yesterday at city hall Mayor Bill de Blasio was handed a demand for the right to protest anywhere in the city against police brutality.

During a news conference of the October 22nd Coalition to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation and the Stop Mass Incarceration Network, activist Carl Dix gave de Blasio a letter from the group calling on the mayor not to allow the NYPD to prevent marchers from entering Times Square during the National Day of Protest.

In addition to the New York march tomorrow, 78 actions will take place in 65 locations throughout the U.S. as well as two in Canada and one in New Zealand.

October 22nd leaders Monday met with NYPD officials, who said such a march would be detrimental to traffic and safety if it proceeds into Times Square. March organizers contend this move effectively marginalizes the message that needs to be brought to the world’s attention – that police murder and abuse, racially-targeted mass incarceration and the criminalization of Black and Latino youth must stop.

At 1 p.m. tomorrow, a rally kicking off the 18th Annual October 22 National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality will begin at Union Square followed by a march to 42nd Street.

“Given the abuse the NYPD has inflicted on people, we must be allowed to raise our voices in protest and to deliver our message that police brutality must stop in Times Square before the eyes of the world," said Dix, an October 22nd co-founder.

"What about the safety of Eric Garner, of Ramarley Graham, of Anthony Rosario, of Malcolm Ferguson, of Nicholas Heyward Jr., of Anthony Baez and of all the other people whose lives have been stolen by the NYPD? What about the safety of the hundreds of people the NYPD has subjected to chokeholds? What about the safety of all those who might be brutalized or murdered by the NYPD?" he added.

A variety of actions – from protests and rallies to film screenings and sermons in religious institutions – took place during what the group calls the Month of Resistance. In the national effort to challenge injustices within the criminal justice system, Dix teamed with Union Theological Seminary Professor Dr. Cornel West to devise the call for the month-long protests, which were endorsed by families of those killed by police, former prisoners, clergy, academics and community organizations.

Public figures such as rapper, author and producer Chuck D and author and activist Alice Walker are also supporters. Chuck D recorded a pledge of support and Walker wrote a poem entitled “Gather” for Dix and West in support of the Month of Resistance.

Further information is available online at http://www.stopmassincarceration.net/

* * * * *

The following letter was presented by Carl Dix to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio at a press conference October 20, 2014.

October 20, 2014

To MAYOR Bill de Blasio:

The NYPD must not be allowed to prevent the march on October 22, the National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation, from proceeding into Times Square to deliver its message that police brutality, in New York and around the country, must STOP!

Given that:

The NYPD has killed Eric Garner, Ramarley Graham, Mohammad Bah, Sean Bell, Anthony Rosario, Anthony Baez and many more; and no matter how outrageous the circumstances have almost never been punished for these crimes;
The NYPD has administered choke holds on many, many people;
The NYPD has arrested people who have done nothing other than video tape police as they harassed and brutalized people;
They NYPD has beaten people in Sunset Park, including throwing a pregnant woman to the ground and endangering her pregnancy;
Guards at Rikers Island have brutally beaten people and have caused the deaths of inmates there thru their actions and inaction, and even when their criminal activity has been caught on tape, they haven't been punished for their crimes;
The application of Bratton's “Broken Windows” approach to policing has meant that people accused of minor crimes and even actions that are not criminal at all have ended up imprisoned, brutalized and even sometimes dead;
Operation Crew Cuts has become the new Stop and Frisk, criminalizing Black and Latino youth and subjecting many to being warehoused at Rikers Island for being youth of color. This policy has resulted in raids in housing projects and mass arrests of young people for making posts on Face book and doing rap songs.

For all these reasons and more, it is NECESSARY that we march on October 22 and raise our voices in protest of police brutality, repression and the criminalization of a generation. We must take this message into Times Square where it will reach the eyes of the world.
The NYPD has no right and should not have the authority to prevent this.
Signed,
October 22 Coalition to Stop Police Brutality, Repression, and the Criminalization of a Generation
http://nyc.october22.org/ 866 235 7814
Stop Mass Incarceration Networkhttp://www.stopmassincarceration.net/ 917 868 6007

CAT (Convention Against Torture) Day of Action

October 17, 2014
from the U.S. Human Rights Network

On October 22, groups around the U.S. are collectively calling for an absolute end to torture in all its forms. This action coincides with Stop Police Brutality Day (October 22) and the 20th anniversary of the U.S. ratifying the UN Convention Against Torture (October 21).

Follow or join the conversation using #endtorture. Feel free to use and edit these sample tweets:

The #deathpenalty is torturous #EndTorture now. Demand that the US abide by the UN Convention Against Torture
Sending people back to their countries where they face serious risk of harm is inhumane #EndTorture
X-Chicago PD officer Jon Burge systematically tortured at least 110 black men and women from 1972-1991 and was never criminally charged #EndTorture
Shackling incarcerated women who are pregnant is abhorrent. It happens all the time in the US #EndTorture
The US is being reviewed by the UN on its torture record next month. Spread the word to #EndTorture before and during the #UNCAT review
Calling out all advocates of state and federal laws that provide appropriate accountability for perpetrators of torture. #EndTorture
We stand in solidarity with the voiceless victims of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. #EndTorture
Children in adult criminal justice systems face higher risks of physical, sexual, and emotional assault and trauma. #EndTorture
Solitary confinement can have long-term implications in the emotional and cognitive well-being of individuals in prison. #EndTorture
We demand a humane alternative to immigrant detainment. Calling for the protection of individual humanity, regardless of legal status #EndTorture
#StopPoliceBrutality #NotOneMore #JohnCrawford #TrayvonMartin #JordanDavis #MikeBrown #EricGarner #TooManyToName #ENDTORTURE

By formally accepting this treaty 20 years ago, the U.S. Government made a commitment to end the use of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Sadly, the U.S. Government has failed to meet this obligation and people continue to be subjected to torture, and cruel and dehumanizing treatment in the United States. The death penalty, police brutality, shackling of pregnant women, and the state of prison and detention conditions are all forms of torture. We need to end torture in all its forms now.

Next month, human rights activists will travel to Geneva, Switzerland for the United Nations’ review of the U.S. Government’s compliance with the Convention Against Torture. During the review, advocates will discuss key concerns around the government’s failure to sufficiently address cruel and inhumane treatment of civilians within U.S. borders, particularly in light of ongoing incidents of state-sanctioned violence and abuse happening in places like Ferguson, New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

For more information about the various violations of the CAT treaty, check out the 43 other reports submitted through the USHRN to the UN Committee Against Torture.

See more at: http://www.ushrnetwork.org/events/cat-day-action#sthash.2PM9dRs4.dpuf

October 15, 2014

Permit Battle for October 22 in New York City!

A press conference was held Wednesday, October 15 on the steps of New York’s City Hall to demand that the NYPD Grant a Permit to March to Times Square On the October 22 National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation.

CALL City Hall and the NYPD – Demand the permit be granted!

Revolution/revcom.us received the following from the Stop Mass Incarceration Network:

The NYPD denied a permit to the Stop Mass Incarceration Network to march into Times Square on the October 22 National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation. They claim they denied the permit on the grounds of "traffic/public safety” concerns. They will only allow us to march from Union Square to W. 42 St stretching south on 7 Ave., penning us in and away from the thousands of people in Times Square. They are seeking to keep the message of October 22 away from the country and the world that being in Times Square allows us to reach.

What about the safety concerns of millions that the murder of Black and Brown people like Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Chantel Davis, Ramarley Graham and thousands of others must STOP NOW!? What about the safety concerns of millions that the criminalization of Black and Brown people MUST STOP!? The safety concerns of millions that police brutality, repression and the criminalization of a generation MUST STOP! are much more important than "traffic concerns". We demand the a permit to march into Times Square.

All over the country and here in New York, millions are outraged that the police are getting away with the murder of our people. How many more Eric Garners will be choked to death? How many more Michael Browns will be gunned down with their hands up? We have the right to march into Times Square to reach the thousands that are there from all over the city, the country and the world with the message that this country is committing grave crimes against it own people and this must stop. Join us to demand that the NYPD grant a permit to march into Times Square on October 22.

Call City Hall and the NYPD demanding that the permit be granted.

City Hall (212) 639-9675
NYPD Switchboard (646) 610-5000

Building for October 22: Important New York City Organizing Events & Protests

Organizing Meeting for the October 22 National Day of Protest
Thursday, October 16, 6:30 PM
Project Reach, 39 Eldridge Street 4/F, between Canal & Hester Street in Chinatown. D train to Grand Street

Month of Resistance: Rally at Rikers Island
Saturday, October 18, 3 PM
We demand: "End Solitary Confinement for All! STOP Abusing & Killing Our Brothers and Sisters Incarcerated in NYC Jails"
In front of the Rikers Island Sign at the corner of 19th Ave & Hazen Street
Take the Q100 bus from Long Island City

Month of Resistance Film Showing: The House I Live In
Monday, October 20, 7 PM
The Riverside Church, 120th and Claremont Avenue, Upper Manhattan, #1 train to 116th Street.

On October 15, Revolution/revcom.us received the following from the Stop Mass Incarceration Network:

Rally at 100 Centre Street Stands with the Black and Latino Youth Swept Up in the June 4th NYPD Military Style Raids in West Harlem and their Families.

Manhattan Criminal Court, 100 Centre Street Building
Thursday, October 16, 2014 at 8:30 AM

HARLEM, NY – West Harlem Residents and family members from the General Grant, Manhattanville Houses, and Manhattan Avenue neighborhood, and the Stop Mass Incarceration Network, congregations for Justice and Justice at Saint Mary's Episcopal Church, and others will hold a press conference and rally to support the Black and Latino youth who were the targets of the June 4th raids in West Harlem and their families, and to denounce the military style assault by over 400 NYPD cops. Some of the youth swept up on that day will appear in court on the 16th.

On June 4th at 6:00 A.M as helicopters hovered overhead, 400 police in body armor, with weapons drawn, charged down hallways breaking down doors with battering rams in public housing projects and in private apartment buildings in West Harlem. Mothers scrambled to protect their children, most especially their teen-aged boys. It was a scene reminiscent of slavery days, or U.S. troops rousting villagers in Vietnam or present day Afghanistan. Dozens and dozens of young men, as young as 15, were dragged away by cops. They were given bails of hundreds of 1000’s of dollars in some cases and are facing 15 years to life in prison.

The June 4th raid were a brutal escalation of this system’s war on Black and Latino people, especially the youth. It is bound up with the criminalization of generations of young people by a system that has no future for them other than the horror of mass incarceration, poverty, misery, or death at an early age. It is part of a slow genocide that could become a fast one.

The NYPD's pretext for these raids were from conflict between two housing projects in the 2011 death of basketball star, and resident of the General Grant Houses, Tayshana Murphy.

Taylonn Murphy, father of Tayshana Murphy, said, "I don't want the death of my daughter to be the excuse for the police doing what they did on June 4th and are doing in the court. People need to be there on the 16th and let the system know that we are not going to accept injustice. "

Phone: 347-979-SMIN (7646)
Email: stopmassincarceration@gmail.com
Web: www.stopmassincarceration.org

From Carl Dix in Ferguson - Mon, Oct. 13, 11:20 PM:

All Out for Oct 22 National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality
DAY OF DETERMINED ACTIONS CLOSES OUT FERGUSON OCTOBER!

Tweet from Carl Dix: @Carl_Dix, @CornelWest prepare to put our bodies on the line. #BlackLivesMatter #FergusonOctober #OCT22

The last day of Ferguson October featured a determined group of clergy and others laying siege to the Ferguson Police Station. Intent on putting their bodies on the line to say NO MORE to police murders of Black youth, people braved driving rain and repeated attempts by police to drive them back as they penetrated police lines and refused to allow business as usual to go down in that pig sty. 42 people were arrested in this action. Cornel West and Carl Dix – co-founders of the Stop Mass Incarceration Network and initiators of the October 2014 national Month of Resistance to Mass Incarceration, Police Terror, Repression & the Criminalization of a Generation – along with MOR steering committee member Efia Nwangaza, were among those arrested.

West was the keynote speaker at a mass meeting held at St. Louis University (SLU) the previous night. Youth who have been in the forefront of the resistance in Ferguson demanded that their voices be heard and a number of that got onto the stage to speak, injecting a sense of urgency into the meeting. This sense ran thru a march of more than 1000 people to the site of the police murder of Vonderrit Myers, another young Black man whose life was stolen by police, and back to SLU. And it added to the determination of the action the following morning when religious leaders bitterly condemned the way police treat Black youth like criminals and called for it to end.

Marching through Shaw district, South St. Louis, Sunday night, Oct. 12 (Special to Revolution)

Occupying center of St. Louis University, Sunday Night, Oct. 12 (Special to Revolution)

More than 60 people were arrested on Monday, giving Ferguson weekend a fitting finale. The task now is to go on from here, continuing the fight for Justice for Michael Brown and connecting that fight to taking the resistance to police terror, mass incarceration and all its consequences to a much higher level. Many people left Ferguson October intent on mobilizing powerful outpourings on October 22 as the next step. Everyone who hates the way police murder Black youth and get away with no punishment needs to do the same. Go to the web site: www.stopmassincarceration.net for information, to get involved and to make a generous financial contribution to the effort.

(See, Ferguson Month! Everywhere! A Call From Carl Dix, below)

FergusonOctober Protests / Civil Disobedience Covered Globally:

New York Times: “Ferguson Protests Take New Edge, Months After Killing”
Yahoo News: “Carl Dix of the Revolutionary Communist Party...
’Everybody has to take a stand and that's what the weekend is a reflection of. More and more people taking a stand.’”

The massive, defiant protests in the Ferguson-St. Louis area this past weekend – Oct. 10-13 – and especially Monday’s civil disobedience became a top story in the U.S. mainstream media and was covered globally, including CNN, The New York Times, Time, Yahoo News, NBC, Fox, ABC, CBS, USA Today, Russia Today, the Guardian UK, and many other outlets.

“Ferguson Protests Take New Edge, Months After Killing – With Coordination and Scale, Civil Disobedience Acts Recall Earlier Era,” was the headline in the Oct. 14 print edition of The New York Times. Its online edition featured a picture of Cornel West being arrested. Another was a beautiful photo of the Oct. 13 marched headed by Cornel West with Carl Dix close behind.

Yahoo News quoted one person saying people from outside the St. Louis area “don't know the real struggle,” but also reported, “But members of the Occupy Wall Street movement, the Revolutionary Communist Party and even Palestinian activists have joined the protests.” The report continued:

Outside activists say everyone needs to take a stand and the issues in Ferguson resound nationally.

Carl Dix of the Revolutionary Communist Party said he came to Ferguson in August to protest and was arrested. He was arrested again on Monday in an act of civil disobedience, along with other national figures.

"People in Ferguson stood up and that put the question of police murder of black people right out in front of all of society," said Dix, who is black. "Everybody has to take a stand and that's what the weekend is a reflection of. More and more people taking a stand."

This breakthrough into the media “superstructure” – forced by people's defiance and refusal to stop demanding Justice for Michael Brown! – is significant and reflective of the big changes in the political terrain and people's thinking taking place, including inspiring more outbreaks of protest against police murder and mass incarceration, and in many cases hearing about the Month of Resistance, as well as the Revolutionary Communist Party, Bob Avakian, and the movement for revolution for the first time.

Ferguson Month! Everywhere! A Call From Carl Dix

Oct. 13

Ferguson October has already represented a leap in resistance to police terror, mass incarceration and all its consequences, and today's events will take things farther. Our responsibility coming off that is to make it a springboard for going farther in putting up a huge STOP SIGN to the horrors the criminal "injustice" system in this country enforces on people.

We'll update you on the developments today and be getting to you soon about what's next, but let me say now that October 22, the National Day of Protest to stop Police Brutality is 9 days from now, and we have to be gearing up and going all out to make that a powerful day of resistance all across the country.

October 13: 100 Rally in Oakland – “Not One More Deportation!”

100 people marched and rallied at the Fruitvale BART plaza in Oakland, California, near where Oscar Grant was killed. The rally was part of the Month of Resistance and joined mostly by .Latino immigrant women, as well as some college and high school youth. “Deportation of immigrants... not one more!” and “Criminalization of immigrant sons and daughters... not one more!” rang out in Spanish and English. Attacks on immigrants, including the criminalizing of young children crossing the border from Central America, the militarization of the border with people dying while trying to cross the deserts of Arizona and California, the killing of Latino youth along with African-American youth were linked. All are part of a whole genocidal program that has to be stopped. Calls went out to join together and bring others to the October 22 national day of protest to rock the streets of downtown Oakland.

Among those speaking out at the rally were a group of Latino high school youth who did a drama about a Mexican immigrant father beaten to death by the border patrol. Others called for more opposition to the Obama administration’s speed-up of deportations . There is a feeling among many who’ve demanded changes in punitive immigration policies, that Obama has betrayed them – he’s deported almost 2 million undocumented immigrants! And he’s railroading these kids through the courts to keep them from entering the country.

Joey Johnson, who went to Ferguson, said people standing up heroically there have changed things and is inspiring others to stand up and resist. He also spoke about going to Murietta, California to confront Tea Party racists who are attacking the Central American children trying to cross the border as unwanted criminals.

Even for children who manage to get asylum status and are able to stay in the US, their fate is still like Black children: the system of criminalization a police terror means they have to survive life in America walking around with a target on their backs, hoping they won’t end up like Oscar Grant, shot dead by police at Fruitvale Station.

October 15, Wednesday, 7 pm, "Mass Incarceration On Trial" - Jonathan Simon Presents His New Book

Our prisons are not only vast and overcrowded, they are degrading—relying on racist gangs, lockdowns, and Supermax-style segregation units to maintain a tenuous order.

MONTH OF RESISTANCE EVENT, Revolution Books, Berkeley

From Greensboro: New Song and Video in Honor of Mike Brown and All the Stolen Lives

Oct. 13

Artists and activists from several local movements in Greensboro, North Carolina, including SMIN_NC, Greensboro4Justice, Artists4Justice, and Justice4Humanity, wrote and recorded this song and video in honor of Mike Brown and all the Stolen Lives.

Tuesday, October 14 - 9:00 am, Manhattan Criminal Court 100 Center Street. Rally in support of Noche of the Revolution Club & Stop Mass Incarceration Network. Noche has a 9:30 court appearance on 6 misdemeanor charges received when the NYPD targeted him for leading an August 14 march of 1,000 from Union Square to Times Square in protest of Michael Brown's murder in Ferguson, MO. We demand: drop these charges!

Stop Mass Incarceration Network
www.stopmassincarceration.org
@StopMassIncNet / 347-979-SMIN (7646)

Monday, October 13 – 4:50pm
FLASH! From Ferguson

At this writing, Carl Dix and Cornel West have been released from the county lockup. They are waiting for more people to be released, including steering committee members of the Month of Resistance to be released.

From Gregory Koger. Earlier today Cornel West and Carl Dix—cofounders of the Stop Mass Incarceration Network and initiators of the October 2014 national Month of Resistance to Mass Incarceration, Police Terror, Repression & the Criminalization of a Generation—were arrested at the Ferguson police department, along with faith leaders and others. Their arrests—part of the Ferguson October Weekend of Resistance—came after over two months of defiant protests sparked by the police execution of Michael Brown by police officer Darren Wilson. Despite the arrests of hundreds of people for protesting during the course of the Ferguson uprising, Wilson has not spent one day in jail.

Dr. West was the keynote speaker at St. Louis University Sunday night, where a number of youth who have been on the front lines of the Ferguson uprising demanded their voices be heard and were invited onto the stage to speak. After the event, several thousand people took to the streets of St. Louis, gathering at the site of the police murder of Vonderrit Myers, another young Black man who's life was stolen by police just blocks from St. Louis University last week. The march ended with an occupation of St. Louis university, where the crowd called on students to come out of their dorms and into the streets to stand with the youth under the gun of police terror & the New Jim Crow.

From stopmassincarceration.net

Oct. 13 - @Carl_Dix tweeting from Ferguson March and Civil Disobediance

10am: .@Carl_Dix @CornelWest prepare to put our bodies on the line. #BlackLivesMatter #FergusonOctober #OCT22

11am: @Carl_Dix @CornelWest marching for our youth in #FergusonOctober #BlackLivesMatter #OCT22

Noon: At the police dpt showing #resistance #FergusonOctober #BlackLivesMatter #OCT22

Noon: Pushed passed the pollice #FergusonOctober #BlackLivesMatter #

1pm: Carl & Cornel West arrested Ferguson demanding Indict Killer Cop. RT, spread. Donate at http://stopmassincarceration.net ! #FergusonOctober #Oct22

6pm after being released from jail: "It is our duty 2fight it is our duty 2win we must love & respect each other we have nothing to lose but our chains"

Monday Morning, Oct. 13.

600 people march, then civil disobedience with about 50 people arrested, including Cornel West, one of the first to get handcuffed. Carl Dix, from the RCP and co-founder with Cornel West of the Stop Mass Incarceration Network. also arrested.

“Cornel West, at a mass meeting in Ferguson on Sunday as part of the Weekend of Resistance, said, "I didn't come here to give a speech, I came to get arrested!" Carl Dix has said, "On Monday morning, civil disobedience is planned. We plan to connect more people to the October Month of Resistance and organize more people to act on October 22, the National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation." (See "In Ferguson: Carl Dix, Cornel West to Participate in Civil Disobedience Today.")

Organized by and included many clergy and other religious forces. But also many others from the St. Louis area and those who had come from out of town. The leaders of the action stated that this had been organized in order for the clergy to take a step forward in taking up this whole struggle around justice for Mike Brown—after some of the youth and others in Ferguson had asked the question, “where are the clergy?”

There was a march to the Ferguson police station where there was a standoff, face to face with the police at the station doors. Many went right up to the faces of the police to testify about the situation of police brutality. Many were calling on the police to “repent.” At one point dozens of names of victims of police murder were called out to the crowd. Some in the crowd were visibly shaken by this, some breaking into sobs. When the police didn’t arrest anyone at the front doors, people lined up and then confronted the police at another barricaded area. They made it known that they intended to go through the barricade and were arrested one by one.

—Li Onesto, Revolution

Sunday, Oct 12 – Afternoon. The placed was packed for an afternoon of Hip Hop music that was part of the Weekend of Resistance. Many artists took the stage and it was really refreshing to go to a hip hip show and hear rappers who were not doing songs about getting rich or objectifying women’s bodies. The theme this afternoon was definitely “We want justice for Mike Brown” and FUCK THE POLICE!! The middle finger was a major gesture aimed at the police by just about every artist who I saw perform. Rebel Diaz was great. They did a bunch of songs directly addressing the question of police brutality and also talked about how this system oppressed immigrants—sharing their own experience as an introduction to a performance of their version of Sting's song, "I'm an Alien." Cornel West also showed up and gave big props to the youth for being such a crucial part of this struggle and announced that he had come to Ferguson to get arrested.

Updated 10/15/2014: Sunday Night. A couple of thousand people packed the St. Louis University arena for a program that was part of the Weekend of Resistance. Thousands had come into town from all over the country and hundreds of them were in the audience. The speakers were largely representatives of different religious forces. There were also other social justice activists including a speaker from the struggle around Palestine—as at the rally on Saturday. This program reflected the fact that many, many different class and social forces have sincerely joined on the right side of this struggle AND THAT IS A VERY GOOD THING. Many speakers addressed how they had been shaken out of complacency by what has unfolded in Ferguson and around the country, especially the actions of the youth. Some of the speakers spoke to the moral dimension from their religious convictions of the need to act. Reverand Sekou went so far as to say, “we are willing to risk our lives because the young have said even though they bring tanks and rubber bullets, we will not back down.” Others were self-critical, “we have been too complacent,” “it is time to risk arrest.”

At one point there was a disruption from some youth in the audience who wanted their voices to be heard, their humanity recognized. These youth are passionate about continuing the struggle that they have been part of for over 2 months now and they are not backing down and not going to stop. This is a very important stand, pushing things forward. The impatience and breaking through all the months of advice to “be calm” and make the movement be about voting and respectable ways of bringing about change – this was righteous. In the main, this also characterized the speakers on the stage as well and that too was a welcome development. The passionate call to join the struggle by the youth undoubtedly contributed to hundreds taking to the street that very night. Secondarily, some of this was contradictory not surprisingly. There was some definite narrowness from some of the youth who did not seem to appreciate what the struggle had called forward among important sections of the people. Their stance was that we are leading on the street and you all just talk about getting rid of racism but you are not out there in the street – a narrow measuring of everything in relationship to being out in the streets with them.

Cornel West was the only other scheduled speaker who still addressed the crowd after the youth were called up to the stage and he spoke to the urgent and pressing issues of police brutality and racial oppression in this country in a powerful way. He spoke to great applause. Cornel West being in St Louis helped bring national attention to the days of resistance in Ferguson and has made an invaluable contribution to the fight against the new Jim Crow and the criminalization of a generation. He has stood out from the traditional civil rights and religious leaders in his willingness to speak truth to power and to fight ferociously for those trapped in impoverished conditions and against the brutality rained on them.

St. Louis University October 12, 2014. Photo: Li Onesto/Revolution/revcom.us

Late Sunday Night/Early Monday Morning. After the program about 800 people gathered in Shaw and took to the streets. The crowd was very diverse—a mix of people from the St. Louis area and many people who had come from out of town for the Weekend of Resistance. A determined and loud march took off around 11pm and marched through the area for about 2 hours—dividing into 2 groups at one point. One group blocked an intersection for about an hour. The two groups then joined up together again and marched to St. Louis University. At the front gate, there were about 4 security guards. The leaders at the front of the march said, “you want to see our IDs”? and pulled out their IDs and then the whole march just pushed through. There were about 1,000 protesters at this point. People called out to the students who were watching from the building windows, “come out of your dorms, join us!” The crowd took a the clock tower square on campus and held a rally, which included one of the relatives of Vonderitt Myers and a student from SLU who voiced his support for this struggle. The crowd was feeling very victorious, a real mood that this action had in fact, we had taken things into the street—and were calling on many more, including students, to join the struggle for justice for Mike Brown. At 3am it was announced that people were going to occupy the square. Most of the crowd left in the next couple of hours but at 5:30pm the news was reporting that a small group was still occupying the clock tower space.

—Li Onesto, Revolution

A report from Carl Dix, Sunday, October 12, 2014

Dear friends,

We've reached the last day of Ferguson weekend. Today as the Amerikkkan empire celebrates the beginnings of the occupation of this land which led to the genocide against the native inhabitants, we here are preparing to put our bodies on the line to say NO MORE to police murder of Black youth.

We'll update you on the developments today and be getting to you soon about what's next, but let me say now that October 22, the National Day of Protest to stop Police Brutality is 9 days from now, and we have to be gearing up and going all out to make that a powerful day of resistance all across the country.

And as always we need your involvement to make this happen. Go to the web site: www.stopmassincarceration.net to find out what's happened and how you can get involved. And also to contribute money (and frequent flyer miles) to help make it possible for the people on the front lines of this fight to keep getting to where the struggle is sharpest and to function while we're there.

In struggle, Carl

October 11, Ferguson, MO:

Your Support Needed to Help Make October 22 Successful
POWERFUL RESISTANCE MANIFESTED AT FERGUSON OCTOBER
from Carl Dix in Ferguson

Ferguson October is off to a powerful start. Between one and two thousand people marched thru downtown St. Louis, with chants like “Hands Up-Don’t Shoot” and “Mike Brown did not have to die. We all know the reason why. The whole system’s guilty!” echoing as they marched. At a rally, the crowd heard from people organizing on the ground in Ferguson who vowed to continue the struggle until the killer cop was indicted and arrested. The rally ended with a call for everyone to go back to their areas and mobilize people to take to the streets on October 22.

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