Madison Protesters March On East Towne Mall, Participate in Die-In

Over two hundred protesters marched on East Towne Mall in Madison and participated in a 16 1/2 minute die-in occupation at the Food Court December 27. The time denoted the time Eric Garner was choked to death by police in Staten Island, New York.

Sponsored by the Young, Gifted and Black coalition in Madison and supported by numerous labor-community organizations including Fight Imperialism Stand Together or FIST, Wisconsin Bail Out The People Movement and Veterans For Peace. Members of Workers World Party from Chicago, Detroit, Janesville, Milwaukee and Rockford participated.

The multinational protesters of all ages marched in the streets adjacent to East Towne Mall and repeatedly stopped traffic at multiple locations along busy Highway 151. Then protesters marched into the mall chanting various slogans including “Michael Brown. Michael Brown. Shut It Down. Shut It Down,” and “Black Lives Matter.” Numerous workers and shoppers-Black, Brown, Asian and white-expressed their solidarity with the anti-police terror protesters who also demanded that living wage jobs should be brought to the Black community not another planned jail for the city. Wisconsin has the highest incarceration rates for people of African descent in the United States. Other demands included justice for Dontre Hamilton and others murdered by the police.

“You can’t have capitalism without racism. Many businesses in this mall underpay their employees. Many businesses in this mall use prison labor. This mall is symbolic with what is wrong with America, with capitalism. This is about the right to live, to love, to be creative. People it’s time to wake up. All power to the people,” said Brandi Grayson of the Young, Gifted and Black coalition after the die-in.

The protest concluded with a quote from Assata Shakur that ends with “…We have nothing to lose but our chains.”