Revolution #277, August 12, 2012
BLOW THE WHISTLE ON "STOP & FRISK"!
On September 13, Nobody Gets Stop-and-Frisked in Silence!
Revolution received the following call from the Stop Mass Incarceration Network:
To those who are tired of seeing police step to our youth with harassment, brutality and even worse; to those outraged because the NYPD stopped and frisked 684,000 people last year alone; to Black and Latino youth tired of knowing that every time you leave your house you might be descended on by cops; to parents who fear that no matter what you tell your kids about surviving an encounter with cops it won’t be enough to keep them safe; to people who know this will never happen to them but also know it’s wrong — join us on September 13th to “Blow the Whistle on Stop & Frisk!”
Stop & Frisk is racist, and it’s no damned good. People have begun to stand up and fight it. In the face of the massive public outcry, the NYPD is doubling down. They are on pace to stop and frisk even more people this year. Now is the time to unleash resistance that can sweep Stop & Frisk away. The racial profiling Stop & Frisk concentrates is a pipeline to mass incarceration and the warehousing of our youth in prison. We don’t have to suffer all this anymore, and we won’t. There is no good reason for Stop & Frisk to remain in effect. It’s illegal and illegitimate. It must be stopped! We are going to stop it, and you must join us in doing that!
Join us in Blowing the Whistle on Stop and Frisk! On September 13th, thousands of people all across NYC will politically confront the cops who are violating people’s rights. We will be blowing whistles to call out these injustices and using cameras to document the criminal actions of the cops. At 6 PM, we will all blow our whistles at once to signal to all those who have been targeted by Stop & Frisk, to all those who have stood up against it and to the cops and officials who enforce it that there are people all over who will no longer be silent. And in cities across the country, people have to act in solidarity: Blowing the Whistle on the way cops target Black and Latino youth, whether they call it Stop & Frisk or not.
On September 13th we will say in a strong, united voice: WE WILL NO LONGER STAND BY SILENTLY WHILE PEOPLE ARE DENIED THEIR RIGHTS. Our actions on that day will drive a nail into the coffin of Stop & Frisk.
Be a part of making this day happen. Get your whistles and get them out to others in your neighborhood, at your school, in your workplace or in your place of worship. Spread the word and organize people you know to be a part of this day. Take to the streets on September 13th and with us declare that the days when the cops can violate people’s rights however they want, when people aren’t inspired and organized to politically resist this kind of injustice are no more.
This Call Is Issued By:
Carl Dix, Revolutionary Communist Party
Cornel West, professor, author and public intellectual
Debra Sweet, Director of World Can’t Wait
Efia Nwangaza, Malcolm X Center, Greenville, SC
Gbenga Akinnagbe, actor
Herb Boyd, author, activist; Harlem, NY
James Vrettos, professor, John Jay College, City University of New York
Luke “Aidge” Patterson, artist and activist
Randy Credico, political satirist, activist
Elaine Brower, World Can’t Wait, Military Families Speak Out, NY, NY
Nicholas Heyward Sr, father of Nicholas Heyward Jr who was murdered by NYPD
Mark the Date! • Thursday • September 13th
Stop Mass Incarceration Network, c/o P.O. Box 941 Knickerbocker Station, New York City, New York 10002-0900
Email: stopmassincarceration@gmail.com Web: www.stopmassincarceration.org Twitter: @StopMassIncNet
BE A PART OF BLOWING THE WHISTLE ON STOP & FRISK: |
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 Photo: Li Onesto/Special to Revolution |
IN THE NEIGHBORHOODS—Get whistles and flyers everywhere. Organize a committee to prepare people to be on the look out for police harassing people on Thursday, September 13th and ready to blow their whistles. STUDENTS—Organize cores of people who will be ready to go into schools when they open and distribute whistles and flyers to prepare people when coming out of school on September 13th to look out for each other and to blow their whistles when they see cops stopping, frisking and harassing people. IN FAITH INSTITUTIONS—Organize a committee to distribute whistles and flyers and bring speakers from the Stop Mass Incarceration Network (SMIN) in to speak to the congregation. LAWYERS—Organize legal observers for Thursday, September 13th. Get others to support this effort by publicizing it and contributing money to help make it happen. CONTRIBUTE MONEY—Funds are needed for whistles, flyers, palm cards and buttons. To donate contact SMIN below or donate online at: www.stopmassincarceration.org. Contact the Stop Mass Incarceration Network and get an organizing kit.
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