St. Petersburg, Florida—The St. Pete police murdered 33-year-old African, Timothy Earl Jackson on October 24, 2017—exactly 21 years after the police murder of then 18-year-old TyRon Lewis.
Local colonial media began to slander Jackson without hesitation.
Not only did they get his name wrong, calling him Thompson Jackson, they also claimed he stole a vehicle—a disgusting and stale lie used by St. Pete officials to “justify” the murder of African people.
They always claim “shootout” when in reality they are the only ones shooting.
Despite not knowing if Jackson was involved in a reported “carjacking” that police claim took place the day before his untimely death, the police chose to chase Timothy into a dark alley with their car headlights off.
Let’s be clear that even if he was involved in a carjacking, stealing a car does not warrant death!
The shooting reportedly took place at 1AM, although Jackson’s family received calls as early as midnight informing them about the shooting.
Jackson’s mother and sisters, Kathy Smith, Keshana Thomas and Keosha Jackson rushed to Bayfront Hospital immediately after the phone call.
When they arrived at 12:15 AM, they realized that neither the police nor Jackson had made it in yet. Jackson was later pronounced dead at 1:29 AM.
There is uncertainty about how or why the family received a call about Timothy Jackson before the alleged time of the police shooting.
One thing is clear, though, and that is the fact that the cops are just as violent to African people as they were 21 years ago and all of the years in between.
The African community gets no time to mourn or rest
Local organizers of the Uhuru Movement were readying for a series of events to commemorate the resistance of the African poor and working-class community that took place after the police murder of Tyron Lewis on October 24, 1996, and after the attack on the Uhuru House on November 13, 1996 when we heard the news of Timothy Jackson.
We saw the importance of addressing this atrocity, as it demonstrates that the present day African community of southside St. Pete is in no better condition than it was 21 years ago.
In fact, the conditions have worsened since then!
We took to the streets and held an organized protest at the same spot and on the same date as the police murder of TyRon Lewis.
During the protest, Timothy Jackson’s mother and two sisters came to appreciate those who stood in solidarity with them.
Smith, the mourning mother, took the time to hug each and every person present at the protest.
This is the reality of being African under colonialism—our family and friends get taken from us and we have no time to mourn or rest.
Instead, we get thrusted into defending our loved ones against white media and we have to hit the streets to demonstrate against the same system that took them away to begin with.
The pigs in blue are not for you
Point eight of the 14-Point Working Platform of the African People’s Socialist Party states that “we want the immediate withdrawal of the U.S. police from our oppressed and exploited communities.”
We understand that the police function as an occupying military force in our communities—they do the same thing here that the U.S. military does in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, etc.
They beat, rape and kill us all in the name of “ending crime.” The objective truth is they are the real criminals!
African people should have the means to dictate how crime is defined in our communities, how to hold each other accountable for the crimes committed in our communities and to have Black Community Control of the police in our communities.
In white communities, the pigs would never think to be so careless about human lives.
Under imperialistic colonial rule, this is the type of treatment we get in our communities as colonized and oppressed African people.
Black Community Control of the police would put an end to all of that!
Pigs would think twice before speeding through our communities at midnight without their headlights.
As Point eight continues, the pigs would “be replaced by our liberation forces whose struggles in defense of our community and against our oppression demonstrate their loyalty to our community and their willingness to serve in its interest.”
African people must have power over our communities and fight for freedom in our lifetime, because we cannot go another 21 years of the police murdering our African brothers and sisters!
Join the revolutionary organization working day and night to ensure the safety of the African Nation!
Join the African People’s Socialist Party!
APSPUhuru.org!
Uhuru!
