Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression
The murder, this past Sunday, of Michael Brown, an unarmed 18 year old African American, in Ferguson, Missouri has resulted in an uprising of the people. We send heart-felt condolences to the family and friends of Michael Brown and stand in solidarity with the sisters and brothers in Ferguson.
The media has focused on the so-called “rioting” and the police with dogs, clubs and guns ready were poised for making the usual blood bath to put down the rebellion. But the determined will of the people to stop police crimes also erupted in organized mass protest and “cries of no justice no peace!” We can say to our sisters and brothers in the struggle in Ferguson thank you for not being quiet and tame in the face of death stalking our communities like a hungry lion. Thank you for your outrage and for finding the courage to stand up to police who are more and more behaving like an organized lynch mob. Criminals who operate under the authority of the badge are the worst kind of criminals because the system will not jail them or prosecute them when they commit crimes against African Americans and Latinos. So we say to the powers that be don’t you dare counsel us about “rioting” until you stop these lawless acts of cops who kill and brutalize our people with impunity. Who do you think you are that you can murder and abuse us and spew your racist venom at us and then chide us about being outraged?
Let’s look at some underlying realities. The population of Ferguson is at least 60% African American and its poverty is double Missouri’s average. While Black people are struggling with poverty there is also in Ferguson Emerson Electric, a $24 billion company with 132,000 employees all around the world. In an area where there are billions of dollars in revenue poverty is common place and police repression rampant. This is the reality of the United States of North America which claims to be concerned about democracy in Iraq but can’t take a stand against the unwarranted violence perpetrated against its own citizens and residents.
We must make this a political struggle because we are confronted with political repression with a racist cutting edge. In our righteous anger we must not just engage in rants of rage. We must start now to organize people to force our political representatives to enact laws that will empower the people to hold the police accountability for the crimes they commit. We need a strong democratic voice through an elected Civilian Police Accountability Council. That’s what we are fighting for here in Chicago but police crimes are not confined to Chicago we must fight for this everywhere. Ferguson included.
For more information on the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, see <http://naarpr.org/>.
http://www.ccds-discussion.org/?p=5102
A massive SWAT team swarmed the protest in Ferguson, Missouri. HuffPost's Ryan Reilly is on the scene: http://huff.to/1lVWHT6
EXACTLY
WHAT IS NOT NEEDED. But it teaches everyone about the nature of the
state. These militarized police told a peaceful assembly to disperse.
'This is not open to discussion,' they were told. It's a poignant lesson
about the nature of the First Amendment and the Constitution under
capitalism when it gets itself in trouble. The police have largely
become militarized by two factors. The 'Patriot Act' and the spoils of
the 'War of Drugs.' The millions seized in the latter are often
allocated to the police concerned to buy 'new toys.' You see the result.
We need to demand and end to it. But at the same time, prepare for the
worse. Those with ears, hear! 
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