https://bit.ly/2IPmPE6

Note: These following remarks were made by Abayomi Azikiwe at a public meeting held at the Cass Commons in Midtown on June 19 to celebrate the annual Cuba Caravan which arrived in the city at the invitation of the Moratorium NOW! Coalition. Rev. Dr. Luis Barrios of the Inter-religious Foundation for Community Organizations (IFCO) and a faculty member at John Jay College of the City University of New York (CUNY), was the featured speaker. 

***

154 years ago today in the state of Texas, Africans in this area of the United States were formally notified of their release from chattel enslavement, more than two years after the issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation by the-then President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863.

Africans were enslaved for 250 years in the areas now known as the United States of America.

The 13^th Amendment to the Constitution was introduced in Congress in January 1865 and ratified by the end of that year. The Civil War between the Confederate States of America (CSA) and the U.S. ended during the early days of April 1865.

The economic system of slavery connects Africans in the U.S. with Cuba, where involuntary servitude flourished for a period beyond what existed in the U.S. Slavery did not end in Cuba until October 1886. Slavery in Cuba had begun under the Spanish Crown in the 16^th century even prior to the advent of British colonization of Virginia beginning in the first decade of the 17^th century.

African people in Cuba and their counterparts in the U.S. have very much in common: a centuries-long struggle against slavery, colonialism, racism and imperialism.

Juneteenth and the Debate over Reparations…. https://bit.ly/2IPmPE6

Haiti Action Committee strongly condemns the Joint Statement by nine members of the House of Representatives claiming “Violent Protests That Have Left Haiti at a Standstill.” Their assertion, “While the frustrations that have prompted the protests are justifiable, the violent acts being used to express them are indefensible” is as backwards a statement as President Trump equating those protesting white supremacy in Charlottesville with the racist demonstrators. It harkens back to the arguments used against the Civil Rights movement in this country, and the fight against apartheid in South Africa. Their statement explains nothing about why the overwhelming majority of Haitians are demanding the removal of a hated and corrupt president, imposed on Haiti by the United States and the United Nations, except that their “frustrations” are “justifiable.”

What violent acts?… Rocks wielded in self-defense by unarmed protestors, facing the barrage of automatic gunfire from police and their civilian affiliates? Nowhere does this statement denounce the overwhelmingly disproportionate violence of the government against the Haitian mass movement – arbitrary arrests and police-affiliated death squad killings with impunity, such as in La Saline throughout November 2018, culminating on the 13th and 14th in a massacre of at least 71 people and probably many more. Massacres in Kafou Fey on April 24, 2019, in Village de Dieu on June 17, and on June 24 in downtown Port-au-Prince, killing an estimated 30 people trying to find shelter from the police attacks. Women raped in front of their husbands and children. Murdered bodies disappeared, or cut up and fed to pigs. Demonstrators attacked with water cannon spewing a blue foam that burns the skin . . . The atrocities go on and on, completely ignored by these representatives concerned more with burning tires and broken windows.

We agree that, “one of the key pillars of a democratic society is the freedom to stand up and speak out,” but Haiti is not a democratic society. It is a society under military occupation since 2004, led by governments put into place in four fraudulent and corrupt presidential election cycles, where the majority Fanmi Lavalas Party was either not allowed to run candidates or was prevented from winning through massive fraud and voter suppression. If a Haitian “stands up and speaks out,” that person is likely to be shot dead in the street, or end up in a prison for years without trial, or have death squads show up at their door in the middle of the night. Haitians risk their lives every time they go into the streets to protest.

Yes, Haiti does need international support, but support to rid the country of thieving government and business officials, to force return of $4.2 billion in stolen Petrocaribe money (not to mention stolen earthquake donations), and to hold truly free and fair elections. We ask these representatives to reconsider their statement, condemn the violence of the state against those demonstrating, and support their just demands, starting with the removal of Jovenel Moise as president. The people of Haiti are struggling for freedom, justice, and equality; for dignity, sovereignty, and unity. They are working to build a country. Those who are steeped in corruption are the ones who are failing and destroying the state.

Haiti Action Committee

www.haitisolidarity.net

Emergency Meeting to Close the Concentration Camps

EMERGENCY ORGANIZING MEETING TO CLOSE THE CONCENTRATION CAMPS.

This past weekend, over 30 activists from organizations around the country joined in a call to discuss the inhumane concentration camps and the deplorable conditions that migrants are forced to endure at the U.S. Southern Border. These conditions are traumatizing, injuring, and even killing migrants. We want to stage a mass demonstration through a national day of action on July 12 to demand the closure of these camps and to let those seeking asylum into the country. Please join us to discuss how we in Madison can take part in this national day of action.

If your organization would like to endorse and help build this day of action, send an email to: krabuck@yahoo.com

At ICE building in Milwaukee June 24, 2019 / Photo: WI BOPM

CMRJB Workers United

#shame #mkelabor #1u

Milwaukee June 25, 2019, Milwaukee Area Labor Council

Black, Southeast Asian youths, Queer and Trans, Adults and Elders fighting for police free schools! We demand that our school district divest from the police and invest in the leadership, creativity and wellness of Black youth and other youth of color! #NoCopsInSchool #InvestInYouth#CommunityControl #PoliceFreeSchools

Freedom Inc

https://bit.ly/2ZJmecI

Solidarity work continues amid the intensification of the blockade by the United States

Note: These following remarks were made by Abayomi Azikiwe at a public meeting held at the Cass Commons in Midtown on June 19 to celebrate the annual Cuba Caravan which arrived in the city at the invitation of the Moratorium NOW! Coalition. Rev. Dr. Luis Barrios of the Inter-religious Foundation for Community Organizations (IFCO) and a faculty member at John Jay College of the City University of New York (CUNY), was the featured speaker. Dr. Barrios is a board member of IFCO and a Puerto Rican national. He addressed the ongoing hostility of Washington towards Cuba and the necessity of solidarity with the Caribbean island-nation which provides a revolutionary example for oppressed and struggling peoples throughout the world. This meeting coincided with the African American national commemoration of Juneteenth Day.

154 years ago today in the state of Texas, Africans in this area of the United States were formally notified of their release from chattel enslavement, more than two years after the issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation by the-then President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863.

Africans were enslaved for 250 years in the areas now known as the United States of America.

The 13th Amendment to the Constitution was introduced in Congress in January 1865 and ratified by the end of that year. The Civil War between the Confederate States of America (CSA) and the U.S. ended during the early days of April 1865.

The economic system of slavery connects Africans in the U.S. with Cuba, where involuntary servitude flourished for a period beyond what existed in the U.S. Slavery did not end in Cuba until October 1886. Slavery in Cuba had begun under the Spanish Crown in the 16th century even prior to the advent of British colonization of Virginia beginning in the first decade of the 17th century.

African people in Cuba and their counterparts in the U.S. have very much in common: a centuries-long struggle against slavery, colonialism, racism and imperialism….

Abayomi Azikiwe with Moratorium NOW! Coalition members and supporters at the Cuba Caravan public meeting featuring Dr. Luis Barrios, June 19, 2019.

https://bit.ly/2RCmg3s

Havana, June 20 (RHC).- With their commitment to solidarity and the fight against the blockade, Pastors for Peace are developing their caravan #30 to Cuba, where they will arrive next Monday after touring 40 North American cities.

On this occasion, 37 members of the project will travel to Havana, maintaining their challenge to the prohibitions of visiting Cuba, imposed by the White House on Americans.

While the US government intensifies its hostility to the largest of the Antilles, the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization IFCO-Pastors for Peace calls for the continuation of actions against the blockade, affirmed the executive director, Gail Walker, in recent statements.

RELATED CONTENT: Cuba: Where do Washington Millions for the Contra Revolution go?

During an event in Washington, the daughter of the unforgettable Reverend Lucius Walker indicated that many organizations have issued communiques to condemn the Trump administration’s measures against the island, and stressed the importance of spreading the truth about Cuba.

About the next trip of that project, President Miguel Díaz-Canel wrote in his account of the social network twitter, “Consistent with its historic rejection of the blockade, once again, Cuba receives the love and solidarity of Pastors for Peace”.

The arrival of the US-Cuba 30th Caravan of Friendship on June 25 will start a program lasting until July 5, which announces exchanges with authorities, civil society organizations, with the population, workers, intellectuals, university students and cooperativists.

The same day of its arrival, there will be a welcome ceremony that will take place at the Martin Luther King Memorial Center at night…. RELATED CONTENT: Sanctions are Genocidal, and They are the US’s Favorite Weapon

Wayfair Walkout

Wayfair sold bunk beds to furnish border camps; 547 employees signed a petition to ask that we cease all business with border camps; CEO said no

—> *** employees are walking out tomorrow at 1:30pm ***

Our demands, as stated in the petition:

1) cease all current and future business with contractors participating in operation of migrant detention camps

2) establish a code of ethics for B2B sales that empowers employees to act in accordance with Wayfair’s core values

608 New York Avenue, Sheboygan, WI

June 25, 2019 Wisconsin Public Education Network protest at state capitol in Madison / Photos: WI BOPM