GDC co-sponsors October 22 National Day of Action Against Police Brutality and the Criminalization of a Generation
Submitted on Thu, 09/30/2010 - 9:19am
Your General Defense Committee is proud to be co-sponsoring this event again this year. Please visit www.OCTOBER22.org and represent your union at a local event. Please report back, with photos and short narratives, to [email protected]
The Call for the 15th National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation October 22, 2010: UNITE TO FIGHT!
Hundreds of people from around the country marched in Detroit to express their pain and outrage at the police shooting of seven-year old Aiyana Jones, killed during a police raid while she was sleeping in her home. Hundreds more will march on the Department of Justice in Washington DC on September 25th for the Redeem Aiyana’s Dream March, coordinated on the same day with the Mothers Taking a Stand Against Police Brutality and Gun Violence rally taking place in Oakland, CA for Aiyana Jones and Oscar Grant.
Thousands of people nationally were horrified watching the Youtube videos of Oscar Grant lying face down on the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) platform, getting shot in the back on January 1, 2009 by BART police officer Johannes Mehserle. In July, people demonstrated in the Bay Area and Los Angeles and other cities across the nation when Mehserle received a slap-on-the-wrist conviction of involuntary manslaughter.
Actions for Oscar Grant are being organized all around the country to take place on October 23rd. Days of protests in Los Angeles against the killing of Manuel Jamines, a Guatemalan day laborer, were met with aggressive police repression -- rubber bullets, riot gear, and turning two of the protesters over to ICE (immigration) custody.
Six people were killed from 8/30 to 9/7 in Washington State, beginning with John T Williams, a well-known and beloved First Nations totem carver who was shot down on August 30th for carrying a knife and a piece of wood. Three hundred people came out for a vigil and drum circle in protest.
Nationally there has been widespread protests against the new Arizona law, which promotes racial profiling against anyone who “appears” like an immigrant. This new law would result in more arrests and deaths of people at the hands of law enforcement agents.
In under two weeks, two Mexicans were killed on the border by Border Patrol agents, the second death being that of a 15-year-old Mexican boy.
Thousands of people across the country wept angry tears when Lynne Stewart, a people’s attorney for many decades who has fought fiercely against police brutality, was brought up for resentencing and given an even longer prison term of ten years (see www.lynnestewart.org to read more of her history).
October 22nd, the National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation is a day to build upon the resistance that is already happening, and strengthen our ability to UNITE TO FIGHT on a national level.
High school students in many states face police repression and tasers in their schools. A 17-year old student was tased in Middletown, CT for stealing a Jamaican patty from the school cafeteria.
In Pittsburgh, PA, 18-year old honors student Jordan Trent Miles was attacked by three plainclothes police officers who did not identify themselves. He was viciously beaten until unrecognizable, some of his dreads torn from his scalp, then charged with aggravated assault.
The NYPD Stop and Frisk policies, which result in police on an average day arbitrarily stopping 2000 people (many of whom have not violated any laws), come down the hardest on teenagers and young men under 20. Nine out of ten people stopped are Black and Latino. Any one stop has the potential to turn deadly.
Homeless people are on the front lines of intersection with law enforcement, because they are often in public spaces. In Portland, Oregon, people are protesting laws which criminalize people sitting on a sidewalk. In Eureka, California, people are organizing against raids against homeless encampments.
WHY SHOULD YOU COME OUT for the National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation on OCTOBER 22nd? You should take part in the October 22nd events in your area because —
** You want to help create the most powerful, most visible protest possible on a national basis
** You want to STOP the LIES told about people stopped, beaten or killed by police – "they must have been doing something wrong or it wouldn’t have happened to them" -- and let people know what the real stories are, told by the families of the victims who take part in October 22nd
** You want to create unity among the different groups of people being attacked – UNITE TO FIGHT!
JOIN US if there is already an October 22nd event in your area. CREATE one if you are in an area where there is currently no group organizing. For listings of activities in your area, check the website www.october22.org.To start building for an event in your area, email [email protected]
TO ENDORSE THIS CALL, SIGN BELOW AND MAIL TO: October 22, P.O. Box 2627, New York, NY 10009, along with your tax-deductible donation to the national organizing effort. Suggested donation $15.00 (paid to "IFCO/October 22")
Name: ___________________________________________ Email: ____________________________________________
Organization: _____________________________________________________________________________
* (note if for identification purposes only)
Signature: __________________________________________________________
You may also make this endorsement by sending an email to [email protected]