FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE!
EMERGENCY MOBILIZATION!
Black is Back Coalition Unites with Families of Police Murder Victims to Resist NYPD Warfare!
Demands Freedom for Lynn Stewart While Challenging "Mis-Leadership" of Obama-Sharpton
Contact: Black is Back Coalition, 202-681-7040
On Saturday, August 17, the Black Is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations (BIBC) will unite with the families and friends of Ramarley Graham, Kimani Gray and other police murder victims to hold the "Trayvon Martin March for Black Justice".
The march will raise up the slogan “Zimmerman is the NYPD! Put the State on Trial!” referring to similarities between the murder of Trayvon Martin and the police murders of young Black men in New York City and throughout the country.
The Coalition will demand an immediate community controlled investigation and trial through which the police responsible for the murder of African people will be brought to justice. In addition, the Coalition will demand an end to attacks on the democratic rights of the African community, including the acquittal of George Zimmerman, Stop-and-Frisk programs, NSA spying, military aggression in Africa, and the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the Voting Rights Act.
In addition, the Coalition will use the march to mobilize maximum defense of political prisoner Lynn Stewart, a lawyer who is currently being held captive in a Texas prison for her consistent defense of oppressed peoples who have been criminalized for their acts of resistance against the state. The Coalition is one of many forces who are demanding the U.S. Bureau of Prisons grant Lynn a compassionate release, not only because she is dying of cancer, but more importantly because she is not a criminal.
At the same time the March intends to expose what the Black is Back Coalition describes as the black mis-leadership of forces like Barack Obama and Al Sharpton, who delude the masses of African people into hoping for justice from the system.
The BIBC is an anti-imperialist coalition of organizations, institutions and individuals, including the New Jersey-based People's Organization for Progress, the Harlem Tenants Council and the Uhuru Movement.
Diverse in age, gender, religion and political party affiliation, BIBC members are united in their dedication to social justice, peace and reparations, opposing imperialism, oppression and exploitation of any nature.
Convinced that peace can only come about as a consequence of real, all-inclusive social justice and reparations to Africans, the Coalition is committed to exposing neo-colonialism or "white power in black face".
The August 17th mobilization will begin with a rally at 11am on the corner of 125th Street and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard. Participants will march to St. Mary’s Church, located at 521 W 126th Street.
The Coalition's 2-day annual conference will be held at St. Mary after the March, from 2:00pm – 8:00pm and will continue the next day, Sunday, August 18 from 2:00pm – 6:00pm.
The Conference is open to the public and will include speakers and workshops addressing the root causes of the poverty and attack on human rights faced by the black community. A key objective of the Conference will be the organizing of "Courts for Black Justice" in cities throughout the U.S. where Zimmerman and local police departments can be placed on trial by the community itself.
Led by Chairman Omali Yeshitela the Black is Back Coalition is working to rebuild a strong movement with black leadership that stands for self-determination for oppressed peoples and opposes imperialism. It is organizing black people to evaluate black leaders on their programs and record, and asks the black community turn its back on "Black misleadership", including Barack Obama.
For more information, visit blackisbackcoalition.org or call 202-681-7040.
Vice Chair of the coalition Glen Ford describes Al Sharpton and Obama’s recent attempt to defer the demand of justice for Trayvon Martin to the Federal Court system as,
“The battle against Stand Your Ground laws must be “one front in the war against the legitimacy of a criminal justice system that is fundamentally hostile to the Black presence in the United States.” The task requires a mass Movement – one that avoids the clutches of the Black Mis-leadership Class, which seeks to “divert Black rage down avenues that do not threaten their own relationships with Power.”
At the march the Black is Back Coalition will demand the leadership of the Black community to be a leadership that is opposed to U.S. imperialism, not for it. It asserts that Black people as a whole, whether working class or middle class, must turn its back on Black misleadership, including Barack Obama.
SPEAKERS AT THE MARCH AND CONFERENCE INCLUDE:
Frank Graham: Father of Ramarley Graham. Ramarley was murdered by the NYPD in the Bronx in 2012.
Carol Gray: Mother of Kimani Gray. Kimani was murdered by the NYPD in March 2013. His murder sparked a righteous rebellion of young African workers in East Flatbush, Brooklyn.
Danette Chavis: Police brutality activist and mother of Gregory Chavis, 19 year old murdered by NYPD in October of 2004.
Glen Ford: Vice-Chair of the Black is Back Coalition, Senior Editor of Black Agenda Report
Omali Yeshitela: Chairman of the Black is Back Coalition, founder and leader of the African Peoples Socialist Party and Uhuru Movement.
