A crowd of over 60 people gathered today at Mansion Square Park in Poughkeepsie, NY for a rally to protest the acquittal of George Zimmerman, killer of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida. Held on just over 12 hours notice, the rally succeeded in voicing a feeling of great anger and pointing the way forward toward a better world.
The rally continued Poughkeepsie's history as a site of protest against the racist profiling and mass incarceration of Black youth. Last year, the city held 4 protests amidst national anger at the killing of Trayvon Martin and the subsequent failure of Florida officials to arrest the killer. That a nearly all-white jury should allow George Zimmerman, who was arrested only after 45 days of protest, to walk free provided the spark for today's action.
Those assembled gathered into a large circle while speakers stepped to the center one-by-one. The day saw remarks from local white activists such as Dutchess County Legislator Joel Tyner, ENJAN member Fred Nagel, and supporters of the International Socialist Organization (ISO). Kira Woodward of the ISO called the "lynching" of Trayvon Martin and mass killings of Black Americans a violation of our "species-being."
However, the day truly belonged to the Black organizers who know what it is like to be in the crossfire of police and vigilante violence. Three ministers spoke along with community leader Mae Parker-Harris and Poughkeepsie 5th Ward councilwoman Ann Perry.
Perhaps the highlight of the event was an impassioned poem read by a teenager of color moved to write in the final hours of last night following the Trayvon Martin verdict. She slammed the apologists for George Zimmerman, discussing the poisonous effects of race hatred and white supremacy in a far more eloquent manner than can be described here after the fact.
Today's rally represents a decisive step forward in the movement against America's racist system of criminal justice. In so doing, it has also demonstrated the empowering possibility of the "People's Assembly." This concept embodies a form of horizontal, grassroots democracy (most recently resurrected in an initiative of the Workers World Party) enabling people to voice their demands and begin to fight against corporate power. Today, an assembly gathered to voice the people's verdict on George Zimmerman. In the future, a stronger gathering could challenge the very foundation of our society.
This is not an exaggeration---councils acted as alternative people's governments in Russia in 1917, Germany in 1919, Hungary in 1956, France in 1968, and Jackson, Mississippi even today.
Still, there's no need to get ahead of ourselves. The movement against all aspects of the "new Jim Crow" has been reinvigorated today, and additional assemblies have been called for throughout the week. If we refuse to go back to sleep now, the possibilities of tomorrow are boundless.
The next rally to protest Zimmerman's acquittal will take place tomorrow night @6:15 PM on the corner of Johnson Street and Broadway in Newburgh. As police in Newburgh were responsible for the deaths of two Black residents last year alone, the rally will also call for the implementation of a civilian review board to monitor the behavior of the Newburgh Police Department.
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| (Alexandra Weishaupt/YNN) Read YNN's coverage here |
Those assembled gathered into a large circle while speakers stepped to the center one-by-one. The day saw remarks from local white activists such as Dutchess County Legislator Joel Tyner, ENJAN member Fred Nagel, and supporters of the International Socialist Organization (ISO). Kira Woodward of the ISO called the "lynching" of Trayvon Martin and mass killings of Black Americans a violation of our "species-being."
However, the day truly belonged to the Black organizers who know what it is like to be in the crossfire of police and vigilante violence. Three ministers spoke along with community leader Mae Parker-Harris and Poughkeepsie 5th Ward councilwoman Ann Perry.
Perhaps the highlight of the event was an impassioned poem read by a teenager of color moved to write in the final hours of last night following the Trayvon Martin verdict. She slammed the apologists for George Zimmerman, discussing the poisonous effects of race hatred and white supremacy in a far more eloquent manner than can be described here after the fact.
Today's rally represents a decisive step forward in the movement against America's racist system of criminal justice. In so doing, it has also demonstrated the empowering possibility of the "People's Assembly." This concept embodies a form of horizontal, grassroots democracy (most recently resurrected in an initiative of the Workers World Party) enabling people to voice their demands and begin to fight against corporate power. Today, an assembly gathered to voice the people's verdict on George Zimmerman. In the future, a stronger gathering could challenge the very foundation of our society.
This is not an exaggeration---councils acted as alternative people's governments in Russia in 1917, Germany in 1919, Hungary in 1956, France in 1968, and Jackson, Mississippi even today.
Still, there's no need to get ahead of ourselves. The movement against all aspects of the "new Jim Crow" has been reinvigorated today, and additional assemblies have been called for throughout the week. If we refuse to go back to sleep now, the possibilities of tomorrow are boundless.
The next rally to protest Zimmerman's acquittal will take place tomorrow night @6:15 PM on the corner of Johnson Street and Broadway in Newburgh. As police in Newburgh were responsible for the deaths of two Black residents last year alone, the rally will also call for the implementation of a civilian review board to monitor the behavior of the Newburgh Police Department.
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