Walk for Dignity Freedom Summer 2013

FREEDOM SUMMER 2013

Bulletin from the #Walk4Dignity, Day One
Monday, 7/22
From Jacksonville, FL to St. Augustine, FL

Support the #WalkforDignity this week by contributing funds for gas, water, food, and medical supplies. Donate at http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-walk-for-dignity

The WALK FOR DIGNITY (and to End Genocide), kicked-off its first step toward justice for Trayvon Martin and freedom for Marissa Alexander with the Southern Movement Assembly (SMA) of the Southern Movement Alliance, covering 10 states in the South, and made up of dozens of grassroots organizations of the SOUTHERN FREEDOM MOVEMENT.

The WALK FOR DIGNITY will cover the entire 120 miles from Jacksonville, Florida anchored by the New Jim Crow Movement there, with overall coordination by Project South and the entire Southern Movement Alliance.  A social movement assembly was held in the evening to capture all the voices and regenerate the Southern Freedom Movement narrative for the 21^st Century.  The night’s assembly and evening shelter was at the same church in St. Augustine where Martin Luther King Jr. stayed when he was refused entry into Jacksonville, fifty years ago during the Civil Rights era.

The first night’s stop was in St Augustine, a Spanish colonial settlement dating back to the middle of the 16^th century.  The historical site is important because of the resistance led by the Native people of Seminole Nation, and enslaved Blacks who formed an alliance.  St. Augustine was also a point on the route of the Underground Railroad organized for the abolition of slavery.

On the Ground in Florida:

Walkers in the #Walk4Dignity gathered in Hemming Plaza in Jacksonville, FL on Monday afternoon to begin their walk towards Sanford, FL, demanding the resignation of Angela Corey, FL State Attorney and the release of Marissa Alexander, sentenced to 22 years for protecting herself.

Walkers introduced themselves while holding hands in a circle, preparing for their 5 day trip together. They came from the New Jim Crow Movement (FL), the Coalition for Immokalee Workers (FL), Justice for Trayvon (FL), Project South (GA), National Students for a Democratic Society (Tampa, FL), the AFL-CIO (FL), The Ordinary Peoples Society (AL), Southerners on New Ground (GA and NC), from other organizations throughout the US South, and as local concerned citizens in Jacksonville.

Standing under the train tracks to stay out of the rain, walkers joined hands to answer the question, “Why are you here?” “To march!” said a young kid from the crowd. Because “Enough is Enough!” shared other youth. “I am here because Black Lives Matter,” said SONG organizer Mary Hooks from Atlanta. Lupe from the Coalition for Immokalee workers said: “Estoy aqui marchando por solidaridad y por que creo que la justicia debe existir no importa la color y la raza. (trans. I am here marching in solidarity because I don’t think that your color nor your race should have to do with whether or not we get justice.)”

“I’m here to demand justice for the black and brown people who have been exploited by this country,” said a walker from the National Students for a Democratic Society in Tampa, while a walker from the Justice for Trayvon movement came “to show that any black man who wears a hoodie is not a gangster or a thug.”

“As you see we have all come together,” cried Aleta Alston-Toure, one of the organizers of the march. “No matter what color, no matter how old, no matter where we came from, we are all standing together, because we are the ones we have been waiting for. I’ll take it out by saying on 1, 2, 3, let’s say justice. 1…2…3″

“Justice!” the crowd cried as they walked out into the rain.

As the walk began, organizer Steph Guilloud of Project South reminded walkers, “If we’re going to be on the streets, we got to be watching out for each other, holding each other’s backs, being careful, but really just being with each other. If we’re aware of our space and with each other front, back, side, and up, I think we’re going to be able to hold that and keep our dignity rolling.”

Upon arriving in St. Augustine, FL (over 41 miles from Jacksonville), walkers held a people’s assembly at St. Paul AME Church–the church that in 1964 allowed Martin Luther King, Jr to come preach although he was stopped from going to churches in Jacksonville.

Walkers will continue on to Flagler Beach in Bunnell, Florida today, arriving at Zion Baptist Church in Palm Coast, FL (at 1 Enterprise Drive) for another community assembly to start at 7 pm.  Local communities are invited to participate as the #WalkforDignity continues and the assemblies will be live streamed on www.southtosouth.org. 

History of the Walk: St Augustine, Jacksonville, & Fort Mose

As the slave trade expanded, so did the efforts of black bondsmen to escape slavery.  The first Underground Railroad in America did not lead from south to north, but north to south. As early as 1687, slaves fled bondage from English-controlled South Carolina to seek life as free men and women in Spanish Florida. Spaniards in St. Augustine  took advantage of this black opposition to English slavery and offered freedom to the slaves who reached the Spanish settlement.  In order to accommodate the influx of black slaves fleeing from the English and arriving at their Florida settlement, the Spanish in 1738 established the fort and town of Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose´, the first free black community in North America.  It became the home of more than 100 former black slaves and is located a short distance north of St. Augustine and South of Jacksonville. 

Because of its high visibility and patronage, the Hemming Plaza in Jacksonville and surrounding stores were the site of numerous civil rights demonstrations in the 1960s. Black Sit-ins began on August 13, 1960 when students asked to be served at the segregated lunch counter at Woolworths, Morrison’s Cafeteria and other eateries. They were denied service and kicked, spit at and addressed with racial slurs. This came to a head on “Ax Handle Saturday”, August 27, 1960. A group of 200 middle aged and older white men (allegedly some were also members of the Ku Klux Klan) gathered in Hemming Park armed with baseball bats and ax handles. They attacked the protesters conducting sit-ins. The violence spread, and the white mob started attacking all African-Americans in sight. Rumors were rampant on both sides that the unrest was spreading around the county (in reality, the violence stayed in relatively the same location, and did not spill over into the mostly-white, upper-class Cedar Hills neighborhood, for example). A black street gang called the “Boomerangs” attempted to protect the demonstrators. Police, who had not intervened when the protesters were attacked, now became involved, arresting members of the Boomerangs and other black residents who attempted to stop the beatings. Read more about Jacksonville’s Freedom movement history >>

(content from Wikipedia)

Quotes:

As movements build and progress, they inevitably allow us to take root in new ground and reconnect to history. Adding more soldiers to the fold, while reaffirming our commitment to carrying the torch of liberation for all. That’s why this movement and march is so important.---Trap

We stand on the site of (Fort) Mose --the first freed slave community-- and the site of our memory to resist oppression and build community self-determination in defense of all oppressed people! We March for Dignity and for the regeneration of the Southern Freedom Movement...Emery

Amazing first day and night for the Walk! ...Steph

Solidarity statements from Monday July 22, 2013

This letter is to express our support and solidarity with The Walk for Dignity action to demand justice.

In view of the injustice committed in the Trayvon Martin trial and the current situation of growing poverty, discrimination, intolerance, violence, oppression, exploitation and racism against working people, women and the poor, we unite our voices to the call by the social movements of “Enough is Enough!”

…

The Walk for Dignity can be the inspiration to advance in the path to build such power.

Keep us informed and express our solidarity and our support to all the participants of The Walk for Dignity with our best wishes.

¡UNIDOS SIN FRONTERAS!

Border Workers Agricultural Project

Walk for Dignity from Jacksonville to Sanford...Justice for Trayvon and FREE Marissa!

We say “The US government, Justice system and racist violence on trial”

Black People are right to have dignified rage; We support what we feel is principled outrage;

Because together BLACK & BROWN we say Enough is enough...YA BASTA.... 'We are Human'!

We are with you ONE LOVE!

In solidarity and Action ON the road to justice, healing and peace; Action now!

University sin Fronteras

Southwest Workers Union (SWU) stands in solidarity with the organizations and community members calling for justice for Trayvon Martin and his family. We recognize that this case and the precedent it sets has direct implications for families and youth throughout Texas, one of the 31 states in the U.S. with Shoot First laws.

For these reasons, SWU is joining churches, community groups, and individuals from across the South in the Walk for Dignity this week from Jacksonville to Sanford, Florida. Our immediate collective demands are:

• To demand the resignation of Angela Corey, Florida State Attorney; and
• To demand the release of Marissa Alexander, a black woman sentenced 22 years in prison for protecting herself under the Stand Your Ground law

We are encouraged by the fact that the nation is being forced to have conversations around racial discrimination, violence, and terror against communities of color; however conversations are not enough. Please support the organizations, families, and communities participating and follow our journey on Facebook and Twitter. Join us as we put pressure on our communities, legislators, the national media, and the national public debate to call for justice rooted in fairness and equity for all.    

Southwest Workers Union

We are so inspired by the actions that you have chosen to take to build a better world for all of us.  We are domestic workers.  We are immigrants.  We are Black people who have been displaced from the economy.  We are youth of color from San Francisco's working class communities.  We thank you for standing for our dignity.  We thank you for saying with us in unison that Black Lives Matter.  We thank you for saying with us in unison that we believe in freedom, and we will not rest until it comes.  

Many of us wish that we could be there walking with you--but know that we are standing right by your sides in solidarity all the way from the other side of the country.

California POWER

Statement of Solidarity with Walk for Dignity and Justice!!!!
On behalf of Elena Herrada and the whole of Centro Obrero we express our support unconditionally for the Walk for Dignity starting from Jacksonville, to Sanford, Florida.
The Walk that took its “first step to justice, real justice” started today at 4 PM.  We are there in spirit taking that first step to bring justice to Trayvon and Marissa.
Please accept our abrazos as a sign of support and solidarity
A injury to one is an injustice to all.

Centro Obrero

DECOLONIZE NOW

165 Years of Internal Colonialism in the Southwest:

Decolonize Now!

February 2, 1848, marks the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo with Mexico, the United States 'occupied' the Southwest United States (otherwise referred as AZTLAN) since for 165 years, the treaty ending the US War against Mexico. It was the first U.S. expansionist war. The northern territories of Mexico became the new U.S. Southwest of today. In the everyday oral history of our people this was passed on through generations as the story of 'nos robaron las tierras', they stole our lands. Whose land was stolen?

The land is the land, the original peoples lived on the land under a co-existing balance with nature, no one person owned the land. The land, belong to all who lived on it. The Europeans, Spanish as far as Mexico is concerned, occupied by military force, terror and violence the 'Americas' calling Mexico New Spain. Under their own invention called 'Right of Discovery' they justified genocide and the forceful removal of the original peoples in oder to occupy the land and transform it into 'private property'.

Starting in 1492, the Spanish Empire their terror and occupation of the Caribbean, Santo Domingo, Puerto Rico, and Cuba. Extending the occupation of what is now Mexico, from 1521 to 1821, 300 years of 'colonial rule' based on Monarchy system. This expansion of colonial rule brought Florida, New Orleans, Mississippi River and the US South under Spanish rule for hundreds of years, or French, English Dutch imperialists settler colonialists. Thus the Southwest, the South of the United States today share more common history of genocide, racism, colonial occupation and oppressive rule, plantation work, slavery, and war than we do under the rule and occupation by the United States. Approximately 300 years of colonial rule and oppression under the monarchical empires, and 165 years under US rule for Southwest, and 148 years for South African Americans since emancipation from slavery. Streets and plazas named after the assassin Ponce de Leon can be found from San Juan, Santo Domingo, to Florida and Georgia amongst other places and cities.

We share, Native American Indians, Indigenous, Mexicans (and Puerto Ricans in diaspora) and African Americans, a status of internal colonial subjects. As colonial subjects we exists in a culture and politics of oppression where like Puerto Rico we have a status of 'belonging to but not a part of' the United States. Indian removal, massacres and the forced confinement in 'reservations', another name for 'federalized' concentration camps, continues as policy and practice up to today. The Mexican removal laws, under the umbrella of immigration turned inhabitants of these lands into 'undocumented' migrants. To make the divide as permanent as possible the US government has 'walled' the US-Mexico border and militarized it with equipment and military, federal agents, homeland security and local law enforcement officers and 'deported' or force removal of millions of people annually resulting in hundreds who die crossing the border, while the US has an open border with Canada. The African Americans, brought from Africa and other regions by forced removal and enslavement under terror and forced labor, finally achieved their dream of freedom from slavery, but live under a 'Jim Crow' apartheid racism based on color of the skin, Black as inferior and whites as superior race. The Puerto Rico diaspora in US is a result of forced displacement due to colonial policies in Puerto Rico and labor demands by United States.

Práxedis Guerrero: Revolucionario Mexicano

Práxedis Guerrero

 

 

   

 

 

Carlos Murillo M.
Abogado | 2012-08-29 | 21:43

La semana pasada recibí la llamada de don Francisco Rodríguez Pérez, el hombre que ha hecho de la política una escuela de ética y justicia social, ideales que ronda sin descanso junto a los discípulos que le seguimos. Paco, como le llamamos los que le queremos, me habló para hacerme una propuesta que no podría rechazar: cantarle a la vida revolucionaria, en la estampa generosa de Práxedis Guerrero, en una ceremonia que se llevó a cabo en el Congreso del Estado. Tomamos rumbo en la carretera Juárez-Chihuahua con la idea de ofrendar a la revolución lo que mejor sabemos hacer: hablar. Así que mi papá y yo acudimos al llamado de la palabra que incendia corazones, escuchamos el grito de la libertad que retumba en nuestras conciencias desde hace más de cien años.

Práxedis, hombre-joven, magonista, es rescatado por el maestro José Muñoz Cota de los prejuicios de los enemigos de la historia a mediados del siglo pasado, Práxedis junto a un puñado de revolucionarios anarquistas fueron quienes prendieron la mecha de la revolución mucho antes de los advenedizos –que en todos lados los hay–, quienes se quedaron con el poder y quisieron secuestrar la gloria de las batallas tachando la historia del magonismo, pero este grupo identificado con el Partido Liberal Mexicano no se mide, ni se pesa por el bronce, ellos se calan por el barro que corre en sus entrañas de hombres libres.

Ricardo Flores Magón y sus hermanos Enrique y Jesús, dieron cuenta de las hazañas rebeldes de su hermano Práxedis en el norte del país; todos con la elocuencia lúcida, con la congruencia a cuestas, con la ética y sagacidad, con la temeraria, secularizante, intempestiva, combativa e incendiaria bandera de la revolución, pusieron en llamas a un país que se negaba a luchar por la pasividad del falso nacionalismo. “Ha muerto el más sincero, el más abnegado, el más inteligente de los miembros del Partido Liberal Mexicano”, habría escrito Ricardo Flores Magón con la épica narrativa que le caracterizó, tras conocer de la muerte de Práxedis.

Y es importante decir que Práxedis Guerrero no fue ni mártir, ni víctima, desde que emprendió la lucha decidió ser héroe para batirse en combate y morir de frente al sol como lo hacen los hombres que luchan por la justicia.

Y ahora, en el 2012, había que pasar lista de presentes, como lo hicieron sus hermanos, como el poeta-periodista-revolucionario Práxedis quiso jurarle a su amigo Francisco Manrique que seguiría su lucha después de conocer el final de su historia en el campo de batalla. Y como dice Mercedes Sosa que “los poetas son profetas” y permítaseme traer también al argentino Armando Tejada Gómez quien afirma que “los poetas fingen no conocer lo que ya saben”, así que Práxedis escribe sobre la muerte de su amigo Pancho Manrique lo siguiente: “a lo lejos, el miraje del lago cristalino riendo del sediento que se arrastraba empuñando una carabina, impotente para batir a la fiera amazona del desierto y mordiendo con rabia la hierba cenicienta sin sombra y sin jugo”, y era la narrativa sobria de su propio destino.

Tuvo que ser en Janos, a los 38 años, ahí se acabó el camino, pero ha comenzado uno nuevo, el de la inmortalidad, porque Práxedis tuvo a José Muñoz Cota para que lo recordara, después a Paco Rodríguez Pérez y ahora a los que estuvimos presentes el martes pasado, que somos quienes seguiremos cantando como lo reza la canción de María Elena Walsh: “tantas veces te mataron, tantas resucitarás, tantas noches pasarás, desesperando. A la hora del naufragio, y la de la oscuridad, alguien te rescatará, para ir cantando”. Sí, le seguiremos cantando a la revolución.

Ricardo Flores Magon

EL DERECHO DE REBELIÓN

Desde lo alto de su roca el Buitre Viejo acecha. Una claridad inquietante comienza a disipar las sombras que en el horizonte amontonó el cri- men, y en la lividez del paisaje parece adivinarse la silueta de un gigante que avanza: es la Insurrección.

El Buitre Viejo se sumerge en el abismo de su con- ciencia, hurga los lodos del bajo fondo; pero nada haya en aquellas negruras que le explique el por qué de la rebelión. Acude entonces a los recuerdos; hombres y cosas y fechas y circunstancias pasan por su mente como un desfile dantesco; pasan los mártires de Vera- cruz, pálidos, mostrando las heridas de sus cuerpos, recibidas una noche a la luz de un farolillo, en el patio de un cuartel, por soldados borrachos mandados por un jefe borracho también de vino y de miedo; pasan los obreros de El Republicano, lívidos, las ropas humildes y las carnes desgarradas por los sables y las bayone- tas de los esbirros; pasan las familias de Papantla, an- cianos, mujeres, niños, acribillados a balazos; pasan los obreros de Cananea, sublimes en su sacrificio cho- rreando sangre; pasan los trabajadores de Río Blanco, magníficos, mostrando las heridas denunciadoras del crimen oficial; pasan los mártires de Juchitán, de Ve- lardeña, de Monterrey, de Acayucan, de Tomochic; pa- san Ordoñez, Olmos y Contreras, Rivero Echegaray, Martínez, Valadez, Martínez Carreón; pasan Ramírez Terrón, García de la Cadena, Ramón Corona; pasan Ramírez Bonilla, Albertos, Kaukum, Leyva. Luego pa- san legiones de espectros, legiones de viudas, legio- nes de huérfanos, legiones de prisioneros y el pueblo entero pasa, desnudo, macilento, débil por la ignoran- cia y el hambre.

El Buitre Viejo alisa con rabia las plumas alborota- das por el torbellino de los recuerdos, sin encontrar en éstos el porqué de la Revolución. Su conciencia de ave de rapiña justifica la muerte. ¿Hay cadáveres? La vida está asegurada.

Así viven las clases dominantes: del sufrimiento y de la muerte de las clases dominadas, y pobres y ricos, oprimidos y déspotas, en virtud de la costumbre y de

las preocupaciones heredadas, consideran natural este absurdo estado de cosas.

Pero un día uno de los esclavos toma un periódico, y lo lee: es un periódico libertario. En él se ve cómo el rico abusa del pobre sin más derecho que el de la fuer- za y la astucia; en él se ve cómo el gobierno abusa del pueblo sin otro derecho que el de la fuerza. El esclavo piensa entonces y acaba por concluir que, hoy como ayer, la fuerza es soberana, y, consecuente con su pensamiento, se hace rebelde. A la fuerza no se la domina con razones: a la fuerza se la domina con la fuerza.

El derecho de rebelión penetra en las conciencias, el descontento crece, el malestar se hace insoportable, la protesta estalla al fin y se inflama el ambiente. Se respira una atmósfera fuerte por los efluvios de rebel- día que la saturan y el horizonte comienza a aclararse. Desde lo alto de su roca el Buitre Viejo acecha. De las llanadas no suben ya rumores de quejas, ni de suspi- ros ni de llantos: es rugido el que se escucha. Baja la vista y se estremece: no percibe una sola espalda; es que el pueblo se ha puesto de pie.

Bendito momento aquel en que un pueblo se yer- gue. Ya no es el rebaño de lomos tostados por el sol, ya no es la muchedumbre sórdida de resignados y de sumisos, sino la hueste de rebeldes que se lanza a la conquista de la tierra ennoblecida porque al fin la pisan hombres.

La rebeldía es la vida: la sumisión es la muerte. ¿Hay rebeldes en un pueblo? La vida está asegurada y asegurados están también el arte y la ciencia y la in- dustria. Desde Prometeo hasta Kropotkin, los rebeldes han hecho avanzar a la humanidad.

Supremo derecho de los instantes supremos es la rebeldía. Sin ella, la humanidad andaría perdida aún en aquel lejano crepúsculo que la Historia llama la Edad de la Piedra, sin ella la inteligencia humana hace tiem- po que habría naufragado en el lodo de los dogmas; sin ella, los pueblos vivirían aún de rodillas ante los principios del derecho divino; sin ella, esta América hermosa continuaría durmiendo bajo la protección del misterioso océano; sin ella, los hombres verían aun perfilarse los recios contornos de esa afrenta humana que se llamó la Bastilla.

Y el Buitre Viejo acecha desde lo alto de su roca, fija la sanguinolenta pupila en el gigante que avanza sin darse cuenta aún del por qué de la insurrección. El de- recho de rebelión no lo entienden los tiranos. 

RICARDO FLORES MAGÓN 1

1 Regeneración, 10-sep-1910. Ricardo Flores Magón, anarquista, nació en Eloxo- chitlán, Oaxaca el 16-sep-1873, y murió preso en Kansas, E.U. el 21-nov-1922.

Las inmigrantes estaban escondidos en una casa donde sus plagiarios les negaban la comida; durante el operativo se reportó la detención de cuatro de los traficantes

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20 de Septiembre del 2012 Por: Redacción / Notimex Foto: Especial

Las inmigrantes estaban escondidos en una casa donde sus plagiarios les negaban la comida; durante el operativo se reportó la detención de cuatro de los traficantes.

Los 60 indocumentados son, en su mayoría, de países de Centroamérica.

La Patrulla Fronteriza detuvo a unos 60 indocumentados que estaban hacinados en una casa de la comunidad fronteriza de Mission, Texas, donde los traficantes de personas les negaban hasta la comida, informaron hoy fuentes judiciales.

La Patrulla Fronteriza no ha informado aún sobre la detención, pero documentos interpuestos por fiscales federales ante una corte en McAllen, Texas, dan cuenta del caso.

Detallaron que los 60 inmigrantes fueron ubicados por agentes fronterizos el martes y que cuatro de los traficantes fueron también detenidos.

Los traficantes detenidos, todos ellos también indocumentados, fueron identificados ante la corte como Esteban Hurtado Martínez, Mario Zepeda Borja, José Antonio Rodríguez Ávila y Manuel Trinidad Barahona Hernández.

De acuerdo con los documentos, los traficantes comparecieron el miércoles ante el juez federal Peter E. Ormsby en McAllen, quien les fijó para el próximo 24 de septiembre su audiencia de detención.

Los 60 indocumentados localizados en la casa de seguridad, son originarios, en su gran mayoría, de países centroamericanos y del Caribe.

Dos de ellos, el guatemalteco Mario Ruíz Salomón y el dominicano Juan Confesor Bobadilla Cuello, permanecerán detenidos en Estados Unidos para servir a las autoridades como testigos, indicaron las fuentes.

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