July 14 Rally and March in Harlem Make a Statement on the Verdict: "Unacceptable!"
July 16, 2013 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
Harlem, July 14, 2013. Photo: Special to Revolution
On Sunday, the day after the George Zimmerman verdict, people began gathering in front of the Harlem State Office Building well before the 1 pm rally/speakout called for by the Revolution Club and Stop Mass Incarceration Network.
One person after another stepped before the crowd to speak about how this verdict has made them, their son and grandsons, and all Black youth the targets of a racist society. "They treat us like shit." One sister said, "They are telling us we might as well be in prison or slavery times—the white man thinks they can kill our children, like selling them into slavery back then, and we are supposed to keep our mouths shut. I'm sick of it. I can't stand this. This is too much."
The Monday issue of AM New York, a free daily that reaches hundreds of thousands in New York City, said 150 people gathered, "holding signs that read, 'Trayvon Martin, Emmett Till, Medgar Evers. Victims of racist lynchers…' A bullhorn was passed among them, and people expressed their disappointment with the verdict and the justice system, especially when dealing with minorities. They chanted: 'The whole damn system is guilty.'"
A deep anger and pain, rooted in the whole history of the oppression of Black people, poured from those who stepped in front of the crowd to speak. A woman in tears spoke about growing up in Los Angeles and how her brother was killed during the Watts Rebellion of 1965. "Nothing has changed," she said.
People were very moved when Khorey Wise, one of the Central Park 5, stepped forward to speak. He was falsely convicted at age 16 together with four other youths, in the middle of a lynch-mob atmosphere, for an attack on a young woman jogger that the police knew they did not commit. He served 14 years. He led people in a moment of silence in honor of Trayvon Martin and then in the chant "No Justice, No Peace."
Harlem July 14, 2013. Photo: Special to Revolution
A mother of a young man murdered by the police spoke about the pain of losing her child and the disgusting and abusive treatment of the family by the police. One man handed his sleeping three-year-old to the emcee and spoke of how this outrage stretched all the way back to slavery and that he didn't want to pass it on to his son. He didn't want to tell him where he could and couldn't walk and what to say and what to wear. "We are human beings. We will not be second class citizens. This has to change."
People were giving heartfelt testimony to the press. One man said: "They will tell you to calm down, give the system one more chance. The system has no more chances."
Carl Dix from the Revolutionary Communist Party commanded people's attention when he declared that this verdict and the system that gave rise to it is unacceptable and illegitimate. People listened intently as he said, "TRAYVON MARTIN DID NOT HAVE TO DIE!" and spoke about the need and possibility for revolution to make a world where the Trayvon Martins and Rachel Jeantels could flourish and contribute to emancipating all humanity. He said the leadership exists to make that revolution in Bob Avakian and the party he leads. Carl Dix called on people to get into BA, to dig into the strategy for revolution and the vision for a far different and better world, a communist world. (See video of his speech here.)
At one point soon after Carl had spoken, a person interrupted the emcee with, "We didn't come here to hear about Bob Avakian." The response from the stage: "We need to hear about BA if we want to ever get out of this… And, everyone who really feels this verdict is unacceptable should stand together and resist." An older woman who had been out to a rally called by the Revolution Club before the verdict chanted, "United we stand, divided we fall." Then people started to chant "No Justice! No Peace!"
Throughout the afternoon people debated around elections, demanding that the Justice Department bring a civil suit, revolution vs fighting to reform a system that very few out there this day felt could ever end national oppression, etc. Many people heard about BA for the first time, and there were discussions about leadership, and what kind of leadership is needed.
Marching Through the Streets
From the rally, about 150 people set off across 125th Street in a determined march behind two banners, signed by more than 800 people, that read "We Are All Trayvon" and "Justice for Trayvon, The Whole Damn System is Guilty," and with the "No More Generations" quote by Bob Avakian. People of different nationalities—Black, white, and Latino… youth… people pushing strollers and carrying children… older people… readers of Revolution newspaper… people from the Stop Mass Incarceration Network, and others filed in behind the banners, holding up posters of Trayvon. The call and response: "I say Trayvon—you say justice"—"Trayvon!" One brother held a life-size cutout of Trayvon aloft on his shoulders for the entire march.
The march was greeted with great enthusiasm from passing motorists. At points a wall of noise came from cars, buses, and commercial trucks as honks became part of the overall statement—"Unacceptable!" People hung out of car windows, raising their fists and screaming "Trayvon!" and took pictures on their cell phones. Vendors, people in stores, the foot traffic along 125th came to a halt as the march moved through. The anger and outrage over the Zimmerman verdict was on the surface. People did not have to swallow their pain and contempt for the system, or their desire to fight this shit—and they were challenged to dream about and fight for a world where the Trayvons could live, and flourish, and contribute to ending all oppression. The march more than doubled in size.
The chants continued fading at times and then picked up with renewed vigor. "I say 'the System'—You say 'Guilty!' 'The system!' 'Guilty!'" And then, "Revolution—Nothing Less!"
When the march reached the highrise public housing projects, chants echoed off the walls and residents came to their windows. Many chanted and raised their fists and some rushed down to get copies of the Trayvon posters and join in. Knots of people applauded and hugged participants in the march. Some of the young men who are most criminalized and targeted by the police raised their fists with broad smiles across their faces. Some responded to the chants with a dance.
The march moved off the sidewalk onto the street, seizing one of two lanes. Car horns honked support. The police tried to push the march back onto the sidewalk. They moved in on one of the revolutionaries, shoving him. A chant came up from the people: "Don't put your hands on him!" Somebody yelled loudly, "We ain't in no mood for taking no shit!" After marching three blocks in the street the police physically forced people back onto the sidewalk. Chants went up even louder "No Justice, No Peace!"
The march continued along 125th and wound its way back to the Harlem State Office Building where it had begun. People eagerly discussed reports of protests from Oakland and how people were standing up around the country. They were pointed to revcom.us to hook up with the movement for revolution nationally, to information and analysis, and guidance. Hundreds of copies of Carl Dix's statement on the "not guilty" verdict, Revolution newspaper, Trayvon posters and stickers were distributed.
A person from the Revolution Club drove home the importance of the launch of the BA Everywhere Van Tour in Harlem the next day and called on people to welcome and facilitate the tour. People talked about how what they had just been a part of had to be the beginning and how we must deliver a message to others that this verdict, and the whole damn system, is unacceptable and that we refuse to live this way. Plans were made for what to do next. Some protesters left Harlem to join the demonstrations in Union Square. Others said they would talk to everybody they could and come back the next day and bring more people.
On finding out that we had run out of materials during the march, a woman donated $100 and collected $56 from others there. When it was pointed out that there had been about 400 people involved in the march an older woman yelled, "There needs to be 4,000 tomorrow!"
The next day the police had barricaded the entire perimeter of the State Office Building, the main political gathering place in Harlem and the place we had gathered the day before. They had warned the vendors in the area that there would be arrests. Another outrage! Another example of why this "Whole Damn System Is Guilty!" and completely illegitimate. The system is being stung by the mass resistance to the "Not Guilty" verdict and whole brutal, racist history of oppression.
If you like this article, subscribe, donate to and sustain Revolution newspaper.