#bustupthesilence Protest Ashwaubenon Edition

https://bit.ly/38QfShL

The USACBI Organizing Collective is pleased to announce that a spurious lawsuit against the American Studies Association (ASA) for its vote to boycott Israeli universities has been dismissed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

This lawsuit involved four years of dragging the American Studies Association (ASA) and eight former officers–Lisa Duggan, J. Kēhaulani Kauanui, Sunaina Maira, Curtis Marez, Jasbir Puar, Chandan Reddy, Steven Salaita, and Neferti Tadiar–through the court because of the ASA membership’s endorsement of the boycott of Israeli academic institutions. Simon Bronner, Michael Rockland, Michael Barton, and Charles Kupfer, the four professors who sued the ASA with backing from the Brandeis Center, the right-wing pro-Israel lawfare group founded by Kenneth Marcus, were finally handed a definitive judgment of dismissal by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

This ruling which rebukes the arguments made by Bronner et. al. is a landmark victory against anti-BDS lawfare. As one of the ASA defendants and USACBI Advisory Board member Sunaina Maira notes, “This major victory in the courts against Zionist lawfare and legal harassment is an affirming milestone for the BDS movement in the US academy and everywhere where anti-Palestinian organizations try to shut down scholars, students, and activists for supporting the Palestinian struggle for human rights. Given the dire situation on the ground in Palestine with Israeli plans for cementing their colonization of Palestinian lands, this is a huge win for the movement to continue boycotting Israeli academic institutions until this injustice ends.”

This ruling, which rejects an effort to harass and intimidate members of the ASA, is also a victory for USACBI. Of the eight defendants, Kauanui, Maira, Puar, Salaita, and Tadiar all serve as Organizing Collective and/or Advisory Board members. As well, it is a victory for every organization, association, and group that participates, and will continue to be active, in the Palestinian-led boycott of Israeli Universities. The plaintiffs could not substantiate that they had been harmed by the democratic process by which the boycott resolution passed. As the ASA has announced in a press release that provides details of the lawfare, “We will continue to form principled alliances in the interests of academic freedom and social justice.” It also rejects efforts by Zionists to use the courts to destroy the lives of dedicated BDS advocates.

More broadly, the dismissal curtails efforts by politically motivated opponents of BDS. It goes against the grain of the longstanding efforts of Kenneth Marcus to punish university faculty and students who engage in BDS advocacy. Marcus’s appointment by Trump as Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education, a position dedicated to enforcing civil rights laws and protecting students from discrimination, was opposed by hundreds of civil and human rights organizations. Before and after taking office, he has distinguished himself by focusing almost wholly on targeting those who speak up for the rights of Palestinians. 

Marcus initiated the first lawsuit against the ASA while at the Brandeis Center. The federal court first dismissed the case in February 2019 due to a jurisdiction matter, since the plaintiffs failed to make the case that they had suffered damages amounting to $75,000 each (the minimum required to maintain this action in the district courts). The plaintiffs appealed the federal case, while also filing the case in DC Superior Court. Although the second case is still pending, the federal court’s dismissal of the first case for lack of jurisdiction is a victory….

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Co-sponsored by The Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor: “As workers continue to grapple with the increasing severity of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, protecting public health must be at the forefront of our collective fight for the common good.”

Detroit Justice Center

Moratorium NOW! Coalition

Justice For Joel

WHAT: A rally at the Milwaukee County Court House (901 N. 9th St., Milwaukee) followed by a 2-mile march (ETA 50 mins) to the Joel Acevedo mural at S. 6th St. and W. Greenfield Ave.

WHEN: Meet at the Courthouse by 4PM.

WHY: Michael Mattioli, the Milwaukee police officer who killed Joel Acevedo by applying a 10-minute chokehold, will have another court appearance that afternoon. The videos from the first officers on the murder scene have still not been released. Nor has the tape of the 911 call. Justice for Joel Acevedo requires the release of these items and the dismissal of Mattioli from the Milwaukee Police Department.

WHO: Speakers will include members of the Acevedo family along, Attorney Benjamin Crump, Attorney B’Ivory LaMarr, Christine Neumann-Ortiz from Voces de la Frontera, and Liz Brown from Justice Wisconsin.

Crump is the nationally-known attorney representing the family of George Floyd and other victims of police violence who has recently joined the Acevedo case.

BLM Elijah McClain Protest (Appleton)

This Will be a Protest/March for Elijah McClain and Others. It will be held at Houdini Plaza in Appleton at 2pm on July 26. We will be demanding justice and reform! Please wear masks. We will Stand and march in solidarity against systematic racism and police brutality so please join us!

Protect The Sacred Protest For MMIW and Sex Trafficing

Simmons Island Park, 5001 4th Avenue, Kenosha – 3-5 P.M.

Come join us and help us be heard by the people who run this country. For many years now indigenous women have have been kidnapped and sold in the sex trade or murdered. The 2014 report “Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women: A National Operational Overview” found that more than 1,000 Indigenous women were murdered over a span of thirty years. While homicides for non-Indigenous women declined between 1980 and 2015, the number of Indigenous women who were victims of homicide increased from 9% of all female homicide victims in 1980 to 24% in 2015. Now the number has increased to 39% as of 2019. Please help us put an end to this.

~ Art In Protest ~ “The People’s Holiday” Bonus Checkpoint

The People’s Holiday – BONUS CHECKPOINT ALERT !!!

– Art In Protest –

Pop-up sculpture & sign art park at Kadish Park from Fri 7pm – Sat 7pm of the Riverwest 24!

You can do it!!

Bring supplies! Bright paint! cardboard plywood – sign & mural making materials, templates! Bike flags!!

Covid-senstive art build packs will be available to groups for make & take signs or for the sculpture installations. Safety yes.

UV spray painted sculptures built at Kadish Park hill by Friday night will be lit with solar powered LED lights!

Prizes will be awarded to all art makers builders & volunteers ~

Sculptures, plywood murals & signs should be spread around town! Pick them up around typical race finish time Saturday 6-7pm & volunteers will be needed from 7-8pm to Leave No Trace @ Kadish Park.

Black Lives Matter.

Cycling community, please listen, activate & make change happen.

The Black is Beautiful ride was a wonderful celebration of Milwaukee cyclists. Thank you to the organizers – please coordinate more community rides!

This would also be a fantastic spot for a pop-up RW24-style dance party so any sound systems and DJs are most welcome.

Lots of amazing professional artists creating BLM posters & murals & stickers – a freeform art fair may allow us to support these artists directly?

Does anyone have a map of the RW street art installations? Maybe a fun bonus lap opportunity?

Love Milwaukee actively

Ride Bikes

Wear a mask

Don’t be a Jerk

note: the ~ Art In Protest ~ Bonus RW24-style Checkpoint has not been sanctioned or approved by the Riverwest24 organizing committee. I did not even ask them for permission. Please respect the race, keep friends healthy, and stop at stop signs.