Letters on the February 7-8 Atlanta Stop Mass Incarceration Network Conference:
Why We Need to Shut Shit Down on April 14
February 23, 2015 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
Revcom.us/Revolution received the following letters from two Revolution Club members about the February 7-8 national meeting in Atlanta to discuss the call from Stop Mass Incarceration Network for a day of massive resistance to police murder this April 14. (See “Atlanta Conference Calls for NO BUSINESS AS USUAL April 14 to STOP POLICE MURDER” for a report about the meeting.)
What Is Needed for You to Do
From a 13-year-old Revolution Club member:
Why did I go to Atlanta? I went to Atlanta because I wanted to plan for A14. April 14 is a national day of walkout of work, school and more like that and shut shit down and don’t spend any money. I know that’s hard for us but we could try. Why we are going to do that? We are going to do that not only because of Carl Dix who called for it. We are going to do that because these racist cops keep killing our youth. I probably know why these police keep killing the kids. They say they might’ve had a gun like they’ve said. No that’s bullshit. They killed them for no reason. You probably will be like, “It’s not just the cops.” I know it’s the whole system that’s giving us Black and Latino and Hispanics a target on our back! And this shit needs to stop! Excuse my language.
What Bob Avakian's understanding of the role of the police is not to protect and serve the people—no, it’s to protect and serve the system. So honestly I think that’s true because when has a cop went to jail for killing a Black youth? I know you probably like, “They did Oscar Grant killer went to jail for 11 months.” Yeah we need more of That. But he didn’t have a longer sentence than 11 months. But when a Black/Latino/Hispanic kill they go to prison for they whole life and sometimes 25 years.
What’s needed for you to do is below
- donate (to the movement)
- spread the word
- support (the movement)
- read (the Revolution newspaper)
And if you do all the above we will have a success for (A14). We need people to be at campus, schools, streets, supermarket, stores, offices AND MORE! WE WANT TO SEE—WELL I WANT TO SEE—5,500 PEOPLE IN NEW YORK CITY ACT FOR THE 14TH. WELL I ALMOST FORGOT IT—NATIONAL WALKOUT DAY. WALK OUT OF THINGS YOU COULD THINK OF SO WE COULD STOP THIS SHIT AND IT’S NATIONWIDE. WHAT WE WILL DO IS WHEN YOU WALK OUT JUST SHUT SHIT DOWN. EVERYTHING AND BLOCK STUFFF UP AND MORE.
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Inspired and Strengthened by the People at the Conference
From a college student and member of the New York City Revolution Club:
During the last stretch of our bus ride from NY to Atlanta, the Georgia sunshine was refreshing, as we left the cold way way behind us. The country became more and more apparent as we strayed from concrete city, and I couldn’t help but think about the history of this particular state and country as we passed plantation-style homes. Slavery. It was heavy thinking about how the foundation of this country was laid on the backs of Black people—stolen lives then, and stolen lives still. And how now we entered this place with the intention of breaking all of the chains, and breaking deeply from the foundation of genocide and imperialism this country was founded on. This is how we need to proceed from this question of mass incarceration and police murder. This country has in its very foundation, in its fabric, the necessity to kill Black and brown folks to maintain its empire. This was on my mind as I saw the Georgia skyline, along with the purpose of this conference: to organize to stop the wanton police murder and fucking horrors put in place to keep oppressed folks from rising; to organize a complete shutdown of Amerikkka on April 14.
I’ve been out protesting the non-indictments. I’ve recognized how these horrors need to end, but something else clicked with me this weekend. Well lots of things, and I’d like to outline a few. I’ve seen videos of the murder by police, but hearing from families made this issue really real. Not a talking point. Not an issue that’s sexy to talk about (I say this because as a college student, I very rightly stood up against police murder, but the context in which it was discussed on campus seemed so far removed from the reality of people’s lives facing this shit every day). Something fucking real. These are people’s lives, not only that have been stolen, but whose absence affects the whole community in which they live.
It wasn’t just listening to these horrors that made my eyes well and gave me the chills—it was the fucking strength and resistance of these family members—their determination not to let their loved ones deaths be forgotten. Not be swept under the rug. Not be slandered by media. How these families connect and support one another amazed me—but it was apparent that it’s not without pain and struggle still. It cemented in me that NO person should ever experience this kind of loss. NOT ONE more family should have to deal with this. The anger inside of me also rose because of the in-fucking-humanity and the absolute garbage this country puts out to DEFEND this wanton murder (and not just murder—stories of torture and terror by NYPD and the prison system came out too). It’s enraging, and the repression meant to take the fire away from this movement and divide people needs to be met with the righteous anger I felt and I KNOW many, many others in the conference felt too.
I was reinvigorated by the energy of the people in the room. Their deep commitment to freedom and justice for Black people and all people, their seriousness about how to get humanity out of this fucking mess, their laughter, their love, was not only deeply inspiring but made clear that my participation in this movement was so right and that I would do anything for these folks—put my body on the line for any of the people in that room, and more importantly for humanity, just as I know many of the organizers of this conference would do too, have done and continue to do. That is a big part of what shifted in me—this excitement and deep understanding of how necessary a movement like this is—how historic this is—how right this is and how wrong police murder, terror and criminalization of a generation is.
Bringing experience with me from Stop Patriarchy (and their orientation), my interest in BA and firm belief that we need a revolution to rid ourselves of all oppression (and as a new member of the Revolution Club) was also something that helped to deepen my commitment to making April 14 what it needs to be. There is a lot at stake here—in whether Amerikkka is brought to a halt or not. Not just because every day people continue to be murdered, but that if the state is allowed to break up this movement and divide the people, the fight to end police murder will become just that more difficult. We cannot have people lose hope when they are finally feeling as though their voices, lives matter to the people! We need to break through and organize ourselves; we need to come together no matter what perspective you come from, what race, class, gender or sexual orientation; if you burn with rage at the injustice, you need to be with us organizing and on the streets. (One example in history I’d like to offer up here is how white people worked with SNCC to obtain voting rights for Blacks in the South and some of these people went on to forge movements.) That’s what was so beautiful and monumental about the conference. All kinds of folks came together to organize for a shutdown of this system—including folks who have been working on shutting down the system in different ways.
A woman asked a comrade and I if we heard about “what happened” in DC and excitedly told her that we were a part of the movement that halted the “March for Life.” (See “An Unprecedented Act: Anti-Abortion March Brought to a Halt in DC.”) I’d like to point out that the conference was very serious but a whole lot of fun!! It was like MLK’s dream realized, with the exception that we are still fighting the fight of the Civil Rights Movement, but what was incredible was to see how a world like this could be forged and together a world like this is possible.
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