PRESS STATEMENT / RELEASE
Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression
Marching Orders in Memory of Trayvon Martin and the Victims of this Racist Society
Once again the American judicial system has failed in its denial of justice for Trayvon Martin and his family. The sordid history and legacy of the pure racism of the entire U.S. judicial system is continual from the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the infamous 1857 Dred Scott case that stated, “Blacks had no rights which the white man was bound to respect.”
The ongoing saga of racist vigilantism, police brutality/killings, racial profiling, judicial misconduct and corruption continues unabated as a clear and unequivocal statement that Black lives are not valued. A few historical examples include the Scottsboro case, Emmett Till, Rekia Boyd, Troy Davis, Oscar Grant, the Jena Six, Amadou Diallo, James Byrd, Abner Louima, Ellen Reasonover, Malice Green, Rodney King, Reggie Clemons, Fred Hampton, Mark Clark, Medgar Evers, and countless unnamed brothers and sisters whose lives have been cut short by serial injustices. Adding fuel to the fire is America’s sick obsession of inflicting pain and suffering on the Black community with the massively disproportionate incarceration of Black people.
Even a midst the watershed election of President Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 this grave injustice of the judicial process reminds us that the struggle for justice continues. We ask America, would a Black “neighborhood watchman” have been found not guilty if he had profiled, stalked, approached, chased, and shot a white 17 year old teenager visiting his father in the same complex?
So once again Black America is forced to respond to another travesty of injustice in the Trayvon Martin case. To that end the Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression is recommending a series of responses. However, we do respect whatever is the Constitutional response of other concerned and outraged people.
1. In order to expose the hypocrisy of a supposedly American society built upon freedom, justice, and equality; we urge Africans throughout the world and the United Nations to pay attention to the racial persecution of Black people occurring daily in the United States.
2. In order to express our utter contempt for this decision, we urge a national economic consumer withdrawal campaign from industries and businesses that benefit from our consumer dollars until such time that the American system values Black lives as much as it values Black dollars. We also encourage a campaign of spending dollars with those who value Black lives.
3. That a political campaign be launched for the 2016 federal, state, and local elections whereby Black candidates are campaigning on the same issues of justice and equality in every gubernatorial, United States Senatorial elections as we seek “proportionate political representation”. We advocate special emphasis on seating prosecutors, attorney generals, and judges who understand the context of injustice that exists in the United States.
4. We encourage every Black person to join a progressive organization seeking justice and equality.
5. We will encourage Black people to consider long range alternatives/solutions to the racial divide in America by revisiting the philosophies of the Honorable Marcus “Mosiah” Garvey and Elijah Muhammad.
In that the Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression is based in St. Louis and we have had ongoing struggles for justice we also advocate the following immediate actions for St. Louis residents that can also serve as a model for other communities.
1. Sign the CAPCR/ACLU petition http//bit.ly/16UBiad that demands that the city of St. Louis take seriously police accountability and transparency along with the establishment of an effective civilian review board.
2. Strengthen or establish effective processes in your city that protects the civil and human rights of citizens against police and extrajudicial violence. In St. Louis, call Phyllis Young, Chair of the Public Safety Committee and demand public hearings on local control of the police department. Ald. Young can be reached at [email protected] or(314) 622-3287.
3. Join the Coalition to continue the ongoing struggle against police and courts that brings systemic changes to the prison industrial complex ( police departments, courts, prisons, etc and not just reacting to the many individual cases that arise.
The major coalition partners, the Organization For Black Struggle (OBS), American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Universal African Peoples Organization (UAPO) welcomes greater participation as an result of Trayvon Martin's extreme human rights violation.
In that the Universal African Peoples Organization is one component of the Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression, the above ideas will be discussed for implementation purposes at the upcoming Annual Program commemorating the life and legacy of the Honorable Marcus “Mosiah” Garvey on Saturday, August 17, 2013 from 1pm-6pm at the Gateway Sports Foundation 2012 Dr. Martin Luther King Drive.
For further information contact:
Co Chairs
Zaki Baruti (314) 477-4629 and Jamala Rogers (314) 669-5959