ROC For $15 disrupts store, demands safe working conditions
The Fight For $15 movement rolls on! On November 21, 2014, ROC for 15 organizers, Wendy's workers, and community allies confronted Peter Pettinatto, a Wendy's district manager, about unsafe working conditions, $15 / hr. and a union. Specifically, when this was recorded, anti-slip mats were missing from the work areas of the Wendy's store located at 1175 E. Ridge Road, Irondequoit, NY.
Enjoy!
For more information: http://www.metrojustice.org/9_4_strike
Additional Indymedia coverage: Rochester Brings the Fight For $15! | Photos: ROC for 15--Support Striking Fast Food Workers!
Black Lives Matter March & Rally @ UR: a response to the Ferguson grand jury decision
On November 25, 2014, a Black Lives Matter March & Rally was held on the Universeity of Rochester's campus the day after prosecutor Bob McCulloch made the announcement that the grand jury would not indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson for the murder of 18-year-old, unarmed Michael Brown. B.L.A.C.K. (Building Leadership And Community Knowledge) organized the action and asked people to meet at the corner of Wilson and Elmwood at 4:00pm.
The evening started with banner drops around the city. Here's one from the bridge over Elmwood Ave.:
Those gathered marched through campus, conducted a die-in, and ended in a giant circle outside with a powerful call and response using words written by Assata Shakur.
No justice, no peace. Black lives matter.
Photos from the action can be found here: Photos from #BlackLivesMatter Rally, Die-in, March Responding to Ferguson After the Decision
Related: Ferguson Response Press Conference hosted by UCLM & CPR | Spontaneous protest in response to Wilson non-indictment | Ferguson Revolutionary Community Organizers Speak! | The Results Are In: An Open Letter from Protestors on the Grand Jury Decision (11.24.14) | Huey Jakhi on the role of women in the movement | Huey Jakhi speaking on "a real dirty devil" in St Louis | Huey Jakhi on life, liberation, and oppressive systems | Reign on white supremacy and police in St. Louis | Revolutionary community organizer Reign speaks! | The Injustice Freak Show | Black Lives Matter: Die-in at Delmar Loop in St. Louis | Ferguson organizers interviewed | "They think it's a game, they think it's a joke!" Ferguson organizers speak!
Ferguson Response Press Conference hosted by UCLM & CPR
The United Christian Leadership Ministry & the Coalition for Police Reform held a press conference on November 25, 2014 in response to the Ferguson grand jury's decision to not indict officer Darren Wilson who was the cop that shot unarmed, black, teen Michael Brown dead. After the press conference, interviews were conducted.
The press conference was held at Downtown United Presbyterian Church, 121 North Fitzhugh St., Rochester, NY.
Black lives matter. No justice, no peace.
Related: Spontaneous protest in response to Wilson non-indictment | Ferguson Revolutionary Community Organizers Speak! | The Results Are In: An Open Letter from Protestors on the Grand Jury Decision (11.24.14) | Huey Jakhi on the role of women in the movement | Huey Jakhi speaking on "a real dirty devil" in St Louis | Huey Jakhi on life, liberation, and oppressive systems | Reign on white supremacy and police in St. Louis | Revolutionary community organizer Reign speaks! | The Injustice Freak Show | Black Lives Matter: Die-in at Delmar Loop in St. Louis | Ferguson organizers interviewed | "They think it's a game, they think it's a joke!" Ferguson organizers speak!
Spontaneous protest in response to Wilson non-indictment
November 24, 2014, Rochester, NY
After the non-indictment of Darren Wilson came out, a spontaneous demonstration occurred and congregated at College Town. From there the march meandered through the University of Rochester campus where it ended at Rush Rhees Library.
After this, a flag was burned and a demonstrator was chased, tackled, and eventually hauled away by campus security to the U of R public safety building. He was released soon after with no charges or involvement from the RPD.
Black lives matter. No justice, no peace.
Related: Ferguson Revolutionary Community Organizers Speak! | The Results Are In: An Open Letter from Protestors on the Grand Jury Decision (11.24.14) | Huey Jakhi on the role of women in the movement | Huey Jakhi speaking on "a real dirty devil" in St Louis | Huey Jakhi on life, liberation, and oppressive systems | Reign on white supremacy and police in St. Louis | Revolutionary community organizer Reign speaks! | The Injustice Freak Show | Black Lives Matter: Die-in at Delmar Loop in St. Louis | Ferguson organizers interviewed | "They think it's a game, they think it's a joke!" Ferguson organizers speak!
Photos and video are
The Results Are In: An Open Letter from Protestors On The Grand Jury Decision (11.24.14)
original article: http://www.scribd.com/doc/248115932/The-Results-Are-in-Open-Letter-11-24-14
For questions regarding this Open Letter, please contact @deray.
The Results Are In
An Open Letter from Protestors On The Grand Jury Decision (11.24.14)
In Ferguson, a wound bleeds.
For 108 days, we have been in a state of prolonged and protracted grief. In that time, we have found community with one another, bonding together as family around the simple notion that our love for our community compels us to fight for our community. We have had no choice but to cling together in hope, faith, love, and indomitable determination to capture that ever-escaping reality of justice.
After 108 days, that bleeding wound has been reopened, salt poured in, insult added to the deepest of injury. On August 9th, we found ourselves pushed into unknown territory, learning day by day, minute by minute, to lead and support a movement bigger than ourselves, the most important of our lifetime. We were indeed unprepared to begin with, and even in our maturation through these 108 days, we find ourselves reinjured, continually heartbroken, and robbed of even the remote possibility of judicial resolution. A life has been violently taken before it could barely begin. In this moment, we know, beyond any doubt, that no one will be held accountable within the confines of a system to which we were taught to pledge allegiance. The very hands with which we pledged that allegiance were not enough to save Mike in surrender.
Once again, in our community, in our country, that pledge has returned to us void.
For 108 days, we have continuously been admonished that we should “let the system work,” and wait to see what the results are.
The results are in.
And we still don’t have justice.
This fight for the dignity of our people, for the importance of our lives, for the protection of our children, is one that did not begin Michael’s murder and will not end with this announcement. The ‘system’ you have told us to rely on has kept us on the margins of society. This system has housed us in her worst homes, educated our children in her worst schools, locked up our men at disproportionate rates and shamed our women for receiving the support they need to be our mothers. This system you have admonished us to believe in has consistently, unfailingly, and unabashedly let us down and kicked us out, time and time again.
This same system in which you’ve told us to trust--this same system meant to serve and protect citizens-- has once again killed two more of our unarmed brothers: Walking up a staircase and shot down in cold blood, we fight for Akai Gurley; Playing with a toy after police had been warned that he held a bb gun and not a real gun at only twelve years old, we fight for Tamir Rice.
So you will likely ask yourself, now that the announcement has been made, why we will still take to the streets? Why we will still raise our voices to protect our community? Why will still cry tears of heartbreak and sing songs of determination?
We will continue to struggle because without struggle, there is no progress.
We will continue to disrupt life, because without disruption we fear for our lives.
We will continue because Assata reminds us daily that “it is our duty to fight for freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love and support one another. We have nothing to lose but our chains.”
Those chains have bound us-all of us- up for too long. And do not be mistaken- if one of us is bound, we all are. We are, altogether, bound up in a system that continues to treat some men better than others. A system that preserves some and disregards others. A system that protects the rights of some and does not guard the rights of all.
And until this system is dismantled, until the status quo that deems us less valuable than others is no longer acceptable or profitable, we will struggle. We will fight. We will protest.
Grief, even in its most righteous state, cannot last forever. No community can sustain itself this way.
So we still continue to stand for progress, and stand alongside anyone who will make a personal investment in ending our grief and will take a personal stake in achieving justice.
We march on with purpose. The work continues. This is not a moment but a movement. The movement lives.
This letter was written and signed by numerous protestors and supporters, too many to list. Permission is granted in advance for reproduction by all outlets.
Related: Ferguson Revolutionary Community Organizers Speak! | Huey Jakhi on the role of women in the movement | Huey Jakhi speaking on "a real dirty devil" in St Louis | Huey Jakhi on life, liberation, and oppressive systems | Reign on white supremacy and police in St. Louis | Revolutionary community organizer Reign speaks! | The Injustice Freak Show | Black Lives Matter: Die-in at Delmar Loop in St. Louis | Ferguson organizers interviewed | "They think it's a game, they think it's a joke!" Ferguson organizers speak!
(photo: Al Jazeera America)
Ferguson Revolutionary Community Organizers Speak!
I was able to head to Ferguson, MO on behalf of Rochester Indymedia to document actions (Black Lives Matter: Die-in at Delmar Loop in St. Louis; The Injustice Freak Show), conduct interviews, and make some personal connections. I'm thankful I had the oppurtunity to do all three. After the actions above, I was editing video for a day or so then sitting around for another couple of days as we waited to hear if the announcement would come down indicating that Darren Wilson would either be indicted for the murder of Michael Brown or that he would be allowed to walk. In that agonizing space of waiting, time was alloted to do some interviews. Specifically, I was able to interview two revolutionary community organizers who were organizing and strategizing around both short term actions and long term solutions to the troubles faced by the black community in Ferguson and else where. I want to thank Reign and Huey Jakhi for being interviewed and sharing their truth, their experiences, and their passion publicly.
Reign and Jakhi spoke on subjects like white supremacy and policing in Ferguson, media fabrication and misinformation, black liberation, poverty, religion, the flag, and women in the movement. Things in Ferguson were eerily quiet when we got there--unlike the media reality where Ferguson was a war zone. It became such after the announcement when police attacked demonstrators and escalated the rage of the residents of Ferguson and St. Louis, the country, and the world.
On the way down to Ferguson, I was reflecting on what drew me there and what I was anticipating. These reflections were written on November 15, 2014:
It's like I'm going to war. Last night as [my partner] and I took an hour nap together, before I was to leave at 2:00AM, I was pensive and it was really like I might not come back. And then that thought was gone.
Ferguson is not a formal war zone. Although one side is heavily armed with lethal and so-called non-lethal weapons, vehicles, troop transports, the National Guard, uniforms, guns, and ammo, Ferguson is not a formal war. Congress has not formally declared war against the brown, black, and impoverished people of Ferguson or any other community that experiences a similar existence. Governor Nixon has warned that violent protest will not be tolerated—the hashtag #violencewillnotbetolerated was born and people began slapping multiple images and videos on the internet of police in Ferguson and St. Louis acting violently--as if they were an occupying army suppressing and oppressing the people of these communities through harassment, humiliation, brutality, and murder. Governor Nixon never told us how the police will react to the righteous need for justice. The governor never told us how the police will use violence to silence the cry of justice. But Ferguson is not a formal war.
And that's just the State—in the formal sense. In the last couple of days I've seen reports of gun and ammo sales skyrocketing by presumably white consumers wanting to protect themselves and their property against the so-called violent, black hoards. I've also seen more and more reports of the Ku Klux Klan arming themselves and offering protection to white neighborhoods. And while zealous gun owners and the KKK may not be direct agents of the State, they act as a kind of paramilitary force—propping up this sick system's history of white supremacy, genocide, capitalism, patriarchy, and imperialism in order to maintain order—to maintain the status quo. Nothing changes, hate spreads, the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer.
On top of that, the State's propaganda machine spits out the lie that the violence comes from the protestors seeking justice, not the mass mobilization of law enforcement officers, the military, and virulent racists all working to uphold a system that would rather protect one officer from the crime he committed instead of granting justice to these hurting communities. The propaganda machine also spits the lie that there are good protestors—people following the rules laid down by self-proclaimed leaders like the clergy from the black community with the tacit and overt acknowledgement from those in power—and the bad protestors, the ones who are sick of being told to get the vote out, to just wait for change, to not swear, to not use righteous anger for the purpose of causing property damage, to not demand real justice. Spectators, as in football, are told to select their sides and wait for the onslaught of violence. A good show will be presented, while those screaming and fighting for justice will be crushed. And thank god you chose the right side!
It seems to be all connected to a domestic war against black people to keep them in their place.
So, then, this is a war zone. But let's be clear. This is not a mass mobilization of politically conscious, privileged, (mostly) white people fighting against the electoral system.
However, it seems funny to me—but it isn't, because this is exactly what it is: a mass mobilization of politically conscious people of color fighting against the very fabric of this courty--its political, economic, and social arenas that forcefully hold them back as well as the agents of injustice and oppression who protect those (white) arenas.
A difference must be pointed out, though. Ferguson has been going on for over 90 days—since August 9, 2014 when Michael Brown was murdered by officer Darren Wilson. Those angry, privileged, politically conscious, (mostly) white people who show up at the political conventions every four years mostly hang out for less than seven days. Basically, it ends. Until the next one. In Ferguson, there is no end. People don't pack up their tents, fold up their tables, put away their signs, and move onto the next issue to protest. That, in itself, is a privilege people of color do not know. There is no end in sight because the end is a radical transition—a revolution—from a completely unequal, unjust, and oppressive system to infinite possibility.
But Ferguson is not a formal war.
Black lives matter. No justice, no peace.
Related: The Results Are In: An Open Letter from Protestors on the Grand Jury Decision (11.24.14) | Huey Jakhi on the role of women in the movement | Huey Jakhi speaking on "a real dirty devil" in St Louis | Huey Jakhi on life, liberation, and oppressive systems | Reign on white supremacy and police in St. Louis | Revolutionary community organizer Reign speaks! | The Injustice Freak Show | Black Lives Matter: Die-in at Delmar Loop in St. Louis | Ferguson organizers interviewed | "They think it's a game, they think it's a joke!" Ferguson organizers speak!
The Injustice Freak Show
Which side are you on?
Demonstrators gathered on November 17, 2014 in Clayton, MO--a suburb of St. Louis that happens to be the seat of economic and political power for the city. It is in Clayton that real systemic and institutional action could challenge white supremacy and end racism. Clayton is where St. Louis County Police Department Chief Jon Belmar works, prosecutor Bob McCulloch works over the grand jury, and is the home to many wealthy donors with an interest in maintaining the status quo.
The Injustice Freak Show had many components: a big baby, wonderful banners of Governor Jay Nixon and officer Darren Wilson, balloons, a wailing woman, scared white people, black youth demanding systemic change, plenty of police, and people to boot. The group of maybe a few hundred worked to shut parts of Clayton down with success.
The action, organized by many different groups, happened on the 101st day since the murder of Michael Brown by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson.
Additional Information: Black Lives Matter: Die-in at Delmar Loop in St. Louis | Ferguson organizers interviewed | "They think it's a game, they think it's a joke!" Ferguson organizers speak! | Blaqsha Shakur Mandela on video of Sgt. Colletti brutalizing Clem Long Jr. | Voting Rights Rolled Back in Ohio | #BlackLivesMatter march & vigil at UR | Black Lives Matter Rally; Sept 27 2014 | Officer Masic to Mr. Keene: "If you don't stop moving, I'm going to shoot you." | Pass OUR community safety act now, before another Ferguson happens | Ferguson Report Back- Ricardo Adams and Rosemary Rivera | Rosemary Rivera's Messages from Ferguson | NYCLU Annual Meeting: Candis Tollver on NYPD Reform | Ricardo Adams from Ferguson, MO: "Enough is enough!" | National Moment of Silence Against Police Brutality | Reverend Stewart on What's Hot with Howard Eagle | Ban the Box Passes in Rochester! | RPD Civilian Review Board Should Have Investigative Power and Authority | Rev. Stewart gives a teach-in on Independent Civilian Review Boards
Photos and video are
Rochester's Red Light Camera Law Is Bad For Business and Tourism
Rochester's Red Light Camera Law Is Bad For Business and Tourism
Original site: https://m.facebook.com/RochesterNYAttorney/photos/a.165650153615418.1073741832.153257511521349/340437862803312/?type=1
The City of Rochester red light camera law has one big unintended consequence that business leaders should take note of - red light camera tickets are bad for companies doing business in Rochester and tourism.
At the urging of City Hall, last week Rochester's City Council voted 6 to 3 to continue (and expand) the local red light camera program. The cameras are set up at 32 intersections, many in the downtown business and tourism areas. The law allows the City to add 18 more intersections for a total of 50 around town. The Mayor plans to sign the law this week and renew the private vendor's contract.
The red light cameras, operated by Redflex Corporation of Australia, generate around 90,000 tickets a year, each of which carries a $50 fine.
In 2013-14, the city budget put camera revenue at $2.5 million, with $3.5 million expected this year (which goes into the general fund for everyday spending).
Many cities around the country are now pulling the plug on these programs based on public outcry over the legal and technical flaws.
No suburban town in the greater Rochester area has a single red light camera.
The County Of Monroe and the State of NY also do not operate any red light camera on any roads in their jurisdictions in the Rochester area.
Now consider these recent posts on social media:
Craig O.
"Do what I do... stay out of the city altogether... problem solved!!!
The city will NOT get my business for anything!!!
I no longer attend sporting events, festivals or concerts either."
Jeanine D.
"that's why I don't drive in the city"
John P.
"I spend half of my time in Rochester and the other half in Chicago.
Where I stay in Rochester is just inside the city limits on the border of Henrietta. I used to love spending money in the city. Now I go over to Henrietta instead."
Andrew J.
"people will avoid coming here and driving through ... the city
... for fear of getting an unfair ticket"
Rosalind W.
"This program is an anti-stimulus for our city"
Jim M.
"no wonder everybody is moving out of Rochester"
Khi G.
"If the suburban streets don't have them, why do the streets in the city have them?"
Carlos H.
"highway robbery".
In addition to the legal and social justice issues, perhaps the worse impact of the Rochester red light camera law is the countless business prospects it is driving out of the city and surrounding area. Imagine the opinion out of town visitors, tourists and prospective students or corporate recruits to Rochester must have after receiving a $50 "gotcha" ticket in the mail a few weeks after their visit to our fair city.
Business leaders should urge the Mayor to reconsider this City of Rochester program for the negative impression it makes for the greater Rochester business and tourism industry.
more info at: http://
(photo: D&C)
Black Lives Matter: Die-in at Delmar Loop in St. Louis
St. Louis--It's been 100 days since the murder of unarmed, black, 18-year old Michael Brown.
He was shot and killed by officer Darren Wilson.
Tribe X organized a die-in on November 16, 2014 at the Delmar Loop in St. Louis to commemorate this inauspicious occasion. This was a pre-emptive action before the Missouri was placed in a state of emergency by Governor Jay Nixon and news of the indictment or non-indictment came down.
No justice, no peace. Fists up! Fight back!
Additional Information: Ferguson organizers interviewed | "They think it's a game, they think it's a joke!" Ferguson organizers speak! | Blaqsha Shakur Mandela on video of Sgt. Colletti brutalizing Clem Long Jr. | Voting Rights Rolled Back in Ohio | #BlackLivesMatter march & vigil at UR | Black Lives Matter Rally; Sept 27 2014 | Officer Masic to Mr. Keene: "If you don't stop moving, I'm going to shoot you." | Pass OUR community safety act now, before another Ferguson happens | Ferguson Report Back- Ricardo Adams and Rosemary Rivera | Rosemary Rivera's Messages from Ferguson | NYCLU Annual Meeting: Candis Tollver on NYPD Reform | Ricardo Adams from Ferguson, MO: "Enough is enough!" | National Moment of Silence Against Police Brutality | Reverend Stewart on What's Hot with Howard Eagle | Ban the Box Passes in Rochester! | RPD Civilian Review Board Should Have Investigative Power and Authority | Rev. Stewart gives a teach-in on Independent Civilian Review Boards
Refugees and Immigrants: Challenges in the U.S.A.
On Sunday, October 26, 2014, members of Africans United Organization held a special event titled "Refugees and Immigrants: Chanllenges in the U.S.A." Faziri Ndahiro, Girma Erena, Zamda Kamikazi, Gerard Ndacayisenga, & Partick Kiptoo sat on the panel discussing AUO, their personal experiences as African refugees and immigrants, and some programs that AUO is running to engage the community. The event was apart of the Flying Squirrel Community Space's stop mass incarceration programming for the month of October.
A life of an immigrant in America, especially that of a refugee, can be very challenging during his/her first few months of their stay in the new home. Almost always, refugees and immigrants come to America in search of a new life, a life free from turmoil and hardships. Many of them have gone through untold sufferings in their motherland, ranging from war trauma, poverty, persecution and rape.
Upon arrival to the new home, they expect that their struggles have been left behind in their native countries. But as soon as they arrive, they realize that there is a new set of challenges waiting for them, such as securing a job, finding a place to live, buying food, and enrolling their children in school.
As a result of the aforementioned challenges, a few of our founding members, who also came through the refugee system and experienced these challenges firsthand, found it fit to start Africans Organization United in an effort to try to ease some of these challenges.
AUO strives at providing better information to immigrants and refugees, in particular about life in the United States, their legal rights, economic issues, emotional isolation caused by the stress, becoming a citizen and small business ownership, advocate policies aimed at promoting economic self-reliance and increasing the quality of life of refugees.
In addition, one of our main purposes is to provide for the advancement of the welfare of immigrants and refugees who reside in the Greater Rochester, New York area through networking, mentoring, education and training, so that there is a positive environment for promotion of African culture, practicing of African traditions and maintenance of high ethical standards among its members.
Statement from the Flying Squirrel collective on stop mass incarceration programming:
Related Articles in the Flying Squirrel's stop mass incarceration programming: "They think it's a game, they think it's a joke!" Ferguson organizers speak! | U.S. out of my living room: The case of Leslie James Pickering, the Earth Liberation Front Press Office, & Burning Books | The impact of mass incarceration on families | Vulnerable Populations/Critical Populations: The criminalization of poverty, homelessness, and dissent | Keith LaMar AKA Bomani Shakur: Live from death row | Partial Q & A from "The Whole Damn System is Guilty"
