We received this from #RiseUpOctober organizers:

You Are Needed...

Bring the Families of 100 Police Murder Victims to Rise Up October

September 7, 2015 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us

 

On October 24, #RiseUpOctober will mobilize people from all walks of life to flood the streets of New York City to Stop Police Terror. This massive mobilization will call out to and challenge people throughout society: Which Side Are You On?

A centerpiece of these outpourings will be 100+ families of those who have been murdered by police.

These family members bear the excruciating pain of not only losing their loved ones at the hand of state violence, but then being denied any justice... watching in agony as the police go unpunished, while their murdered loved ones are demonized. And then on top of all that, the families are often also treated as criminals and threatened by the very police departments that killed their loved ones. It takes a lot of courage to stand up to all this and speak out publicly.

Never before have this many families of police murder gathered in one place. Never before has the world had to confront so many of the faces of those whose lives have been torn apart by police terror and murder. Never before have their courage and cries for justice been fused together with each other on this scale, and with many thousands more from all walks of life demanding: POLICE TERROR MUST STOP—WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?

But these families who have lost so much, and who are now determined to give so much to win justice, cannot do this by themselves.

Hundreds of individuals and institutions, student groups and social justice organizations, religious congregations and atheist groups, sororities and fraternities, book clubs and community groups, and more are needed now to sponsor a family to travel to New York City to take part in Rise Up October.

You are needed now to answer this challenge.

SPONSOR A FAMILY:

Make your commitment and then raise the funds, drawing in many new people as you do so. Raise funds through bake sales, selling dinner plates, car washes, and special collections of donations or offerings. Ask better-off people (like professors, lawyers) to match the funds that you raise through grassroots efforts. And as you undertake this critical part of Rise Up October, you will be spreading the word and organizing others through this. Many more people will be moved to be in New York City on October 22 through the 24 together with these families. Ask others you know to also sponsor a stolen lives family and together create a wave of support that will transport these families to New York City for Rise Up October.

Everyone can contribute:

• Donate very generously towards this project today
• Purchase an airline ticket or donate frequent flier miles
• Offer housing in the NYC area or volunteer to pay for a hotel
• Host a speaking event with a family in your area before they journey to NYC or once they arrive in NYC
• Volunteer to escort a family around NYC if they are not familiar with travel here
• Reach out to institutions you know to get them on board
• Volunteer to join the #RiseUpOctober 100 families working group by writing to families@riseupoctober.org

If you are a family member of someone murdered by police, contact families@riseupoctober.org

Online donations can be made at stopmassincarceration.net or by writing a check to Alliance for Global Justice/Stop Mass Incarceration; write “100 families travel fund” in the memo line and send to Stop Mass Incarceration Network, PO Box 941 Knickerbocker Station, New York, NY 10002-0900.

For more information contact the 100 Families 4 #RiseUpOctober project at 646.709.1961 or by email at families@riseupoctober.org.

 

 

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