#ResistRikers Raises Banners of Defiance in the Shadow of NYC's Notorious Jail
October 20, 2014 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
The following report was written by Cecily McMillan and Paul Funkhouser for Revolution newspaper/revcom.us:
Saturday, October 18. #ResistRikers rally targeted the core of NYC's mass incarceration complex as over 50 activists and community leaders came together at the gates of Rikers Island demanding an end to solitary confinement, abuse and killing of incarcerated people.
Cecily McMillan at October 18 protest at Rikers Island, New York City prison. Earlier this year Cecily served 58 days in Rikers after being arrested and convicted in an Occupy Wall Street case in which she was attacked and sexually abused by the NYPD. Photo: Special to revcom.us
A wide range of groups and experiences were represented at the rally. Speakers included formerly incarcerated people who described firsthand the conditions at Rikers, as well as members of the Stop Mass Incarceration Network, the Revolutionary Student Coordinating Committee, the Revolutionary Communist Party, Copwatch Patrol Unit, the New Black Panther Party, and the Democratic Socialists of America. Also in attendance were members of the Asociación pro-derecho de los confinados Ñeta, the Industrial Workers of the World, the International Socialist Organization, and the Jails Action Coalition.
Speakers connected the struggle against mass incarceration to ongoing protests in Ferguson, as well as the upcoming #O22 National Day of Action Against Police Brutality and the Rally to Restore the Morales-Shakur Center on Monday (October 20).
The crowd was amplified by banners, "Solitary Is Torture" and "Justice for Mike Brown," and passing cars honked in support of the demonstration. Correctional officers looked on anxiously from across the street as the crowd shouted, "Broken windows—Tear it down! Mass incarceration—Tear it down!" and "Youth detention—abolish it! Rikers Island—demolish it!"
The electrifying energy of the crowd brought the widespread outrage of community members to the heart of mass incarceration in New York City, and the organizers asked everyone to return with five friends for the upcoming #ResistRikers action on November 8. This Saturday, October 25 at 3 pm activists will hold a strategy session at The Base (1302 Myrtle Av, Brooklyn) to plan next steps.
With October 22 only days away, there was a call for people to go ALL OUT to build for the National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression, and the Criminalization of a Generation. [stopmassincarceration.net].
Protest at Rikers Island, New York City prison, October 18, 2014. Photo: Special to revcom.us
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