Tuesday, October 13, 2020

NJ’s Response to Election: Join the DC Nov 7 Antiwar Demand of Black is Back in DC

 On the heels of the farce of the US 2020 presidential election - regardless of which war mongering party takes pre-eminent control over the US imperialist war machine - NJ has begun making plans to join our comrades of Black is Back Coalition, Black Alliance for Peace and dozens of other organizations in Washington DC.

Black is Back Nov. 7 Protest Information 


For the 12th consecutive year, the Black Is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations will march on the White House, November 7, this time under the themes “Black Power Matters,” “Down with Colonialism” and “Black Community Control of the Police.” Coalition chairman Omali Yeshitela said community control of police is “the political demand that speaks directly to the issues” that have propelled unprecedented levels of protest in the United States, this year.


According to a NJ coordinator of the Black is Back Coalition Lisa Davis, "I say that we must fight COVID-19 AND colonialism - on both fronts. Black people especially don't have a choice! Black people got no reprieve from police brutality during the lock down! And the wars are ongoing. They didn't stop. So we have to be intentional about building up our immune system, taking vitamin C, D, and Zinc. And we have to mask up and fight. DC gives us the chance to do that."





Bob Witanek editor of #NJAntiWarAgenda paper stated: "On November 7, the election decision will be unsettled and the US will be in great uncertainty after a severely flawed vote. It is important to take up our positions in the streets to show that we are prepared to fight for an end to US wars, sanctions, military occupation, intimidation and threats - as much as the war it has declared on its own people through the COVID rip, massive street repression and lack of infrastructure, health care, housing, food, water, clean air to serve the people. The importance and timing of this event as multiple crises cascade are clear and evident." NJ will be organizing car pooling and encouraging travel via AMTRAK for those who can afford to attempt to add significantly to the numbers of participants.

We are seeking drivers with vehicles willing to accept 1 - 2 additional passengers (or to go solo if they prefer) - with costs for tolls, gas and parking to be shared - as well as passengers who can participate.

We are intending to take every precaution for attenders to avoid COVID-19 exposure - recommending traveling with open vehicle circulation, required masks and other precautions.  We will be doing temperature checks before departure - and will ask anyone with a temperature or showing other symptoms prior to departure to opt out of participation.


Cars / vans will leave Newark, Lincoln Park on Broad Street, 7 am and return around 10pm on November 7.  AMTRAK travelers we recommend you depart Newark (time) or earlier and please be advised that you must make your reservations as early as possible as the rate (currently about $80 round trip ) will increase as the date approaches.


If you are interested in participation - as a driver, passenger or making your own arrangements on Amtrak - we urge you to immediately contact 908-881-5275.  (Lisa we can use my # if you don’t want to use your number but if you want to use your number - that is fine too.)

The following is the Black is Back statement announcing this year’s event:


CALL TO BLACK PEOPLE’S MARCH ON WHITE HOUSE!!! BLACK POWER MATTERS: DOWN WITH COLONIALISM! BLACK COMMUNITY CONTROL OF THE POLICE!


The Black is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations (BiBC) is calling on colonized and unrepresented people of the U.S. to join us November 7-8 for the Black Power Matters march on the white house opposing the reactionary U.S. agenda being imposed on Africans and others within the U.S. and around the world.

Millions of people within the U.S. have been pushed out of legitimate political life by the rulers of this country. The two ruling parties have both put on their ritual shows called conventions, formally nominating their respective representatives for U.S. president and unveiling their two tame programs that represent the interests of one single white colonial-capitalist ruling class.

More and more people have come to the conclusion that neither the Republican nor the Democratic Party represents the will of the people. However, most people feel that there is no other option than to vote for one or the other.

Many people, especially Africans, are being mobilized to vote because they are afraid of Donald J. Trump, the sitting Republican Party representative of the ruling class.

No matter what is exposed about the corruption and reactionary politics of Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden, many can see no alternative to “holding their nose” and voting for him in opposition to Trump’s reelection. This is despite Biden’s defining role in increasing the prison population in the U.S. by 500 percent which, with the help of the Clintons and others, contributes to the mass incarceration of African people to the point that one in eight prisoners in the world is an African in the U.S.

The fact that Biden played a major role in unleashing the current version of police terror reigning supreme in our communities with his infamous “Crime Bill” is outweighed by fear of a re-elected Republican Trump regime. The fact that Biden’s chosen running mate, Kamala Harris has won the hearts of U.S. rulers as their enthusiastic top prosecutor in California, ruthlessly filling prison cells with Africans and other oppressed and working people is minimized by an assumption that voters are being forced to elect the “lesser of two evils.”

Our Call to march on the White House on November 7th is designed to give coherence to the great discord that has been experienced in the U.S. over the recent years, months, and weeks. Millions of you who have never participated in protest in the past have come out to the streets in protest and outright rebellion because the nature of the colonial-capitalist system is being exposed in bold relief daily.

Outright police murder of African people can no longer be ignored and tolerated by many. The colonialist-capitalist system is becoming increasingly terrifying in the middle of a pandemic where healthcare, like automobiles and refrigerators are commodities only available to the rich and where the colonized bear the brunt of the crisis.

The capitalist economy, based on profit and private ownership of the means of production, cannot provide security for the people. Joblessness with unproductive and underpaid employment is the order of the day and no empty promise of $15.00 per hour over a number of years can ever begin to address the crisis for the oppressed. Meanwhile trillions of public dollars are being shoveled into the coffers of Wall Street and the U.S. ruling class.

U.S. cities are being transformed by entire communities of homeless refugees living demoralizing lives of despair beneath highway underpasses where if they are lucky the city might pass out tents to qualifying wretches as if to ameliorate the results of ruthless gentrification that is too common in African and other colonized communities. An estimated 40 million people in the U.S. are facing eviction before the end of this year and thousands of cars line up daily across the country to receive meager supplies from food giveaways.

At the same time, the U.S. government of both parties is waging wars around the world in a desperate attempt to maintain its role as despotic hegemon.

U.S. special operations forces are initiating coups and engaging in other bloody, mostly secret counterinsurgent activities throughout the Continent of Africa. They assault Africa confidently based on the assumption of no opposing constituency within the U.S. and because the two ruling parties represent a single white ruling class that is united in preserving the system and U.S. world domination.

The Democratic Party has not voiced a single word of opposition to the starvation sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe and Venezuela or the low intensity warfare against the government of Iran currently occurring under the Trump Republican regime.

Both ruling parties attempt to divert the people’s criticism of the domestic colonial military forces commonly referred to as police. Trump and Biden oppose even minor, cosmetic changes such as the symbolic call to “defund the police.” They both liquidate the role of the police as an arm of the state with the proclamation that the majority of the police are honest, good people.

Both Trump and Biden refuse to call for Black Community Control of Police as the logical interim movement to minimize police violence against black people while negating the colonial domination of our people. Neither of them acknowledges the existence of the political prisoners, many of whom have been locked up for generations for fighting against the unjust colonial system that is finally coming into public view for many.

Despite the thousands of protests that have come to characterize this period, it is clear that the voices of the most dynamic sector of the population in the U.S. was not at the Republican or Democratic Party conventions and will never reach the agenda of either party.

Despite all the efforts being made to criminalize the ongoing independent mass expression of opposition to the current Trump regime and the existing system, the struggle continues, as it must.

This Call by the Black is Back Coalition is a call to bring a coherent message of dissent. It is a Call to give collective leadership to the spontaneity that has characterized much of our opposition up to now.

The Black is Back Coalition has a National Black Political Agenda for Self-determination that pre-dates the 2016 election of Donald J. Trump and the fantastic protest and uprisings of today.

The National Black Political Agenda that was forged during months of a democratic process with conventions in 11 states and the District of Columbia that culminated in a National Convention for Self-determination in Washington, DC during the Democratic Party Obama regime.

This is a Call by the Coalition for a massive turnout in November for the Black Power Matters March that also directs us to fight against colonialism and for Black Community Control of the Police.

This is a Call that puts the people in charge, as it should be, regardless of which ruling class party or representative is in office. Regardless of whether you feel compelled by necessity to vote for Biden and Harris or to refrain from voting at all in the presidential election, this is a Call to you to help shape our own independent agenda.

This is a Call to cast your vote on November 7-8 with your presence at the Black is Back Coalition mobilization. Because Black Power Matters! Down With Colonialism! Black Community Control of the Police!