WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON? An honest question and appeal to our state appointed Community Leaders Sisters and Brothers, I write this statement not as an organizer and core member of LACAN, but as a concerned member of the lumpen class of Los Angeles, with the approval of the LAAEC coordinating committee. We feel compelled to speak out because of recent statements in Los Angeles, some by people we have great respect for, concerning recent protests stemming from lack of an indictment for the murderer of Mike Brown in Ferguson, MO. Let me begin by stating that LAAEC stands firmly in solidarity with those who have been arrested across the country for exercising their first amendment right over the last week, and we agree wholeheartedly that shutting down commerce, and disrupting business as usual, is a viable tactic to voice dissent. Please allow me to lay out some context for an who may have missed it... From the Christian Science Monitor, November 25th, 2014 For several weeks, the Los Angeles Police Department, along with religious, education, and civic leaders, held meetings at the LAPD’s downtown headquarters, readying the city for dealing with the grand jury’s decision whether to indict the white policeman who killed Mr. Brown, a black teen. In Los Angeles when a small group of protesters tried to get on Interstate 10 at the La Brea Avenue exit. Police – TIPPED OFF BY CITIZEN LIAISONS – were able to keep them back. Full article: csmonitor/USA/Society/2014/1125/How-L.A.-worked-to-head-off-riots-after-grand-jury-decision-inRebecca%20Ferguson%EF%BB%BFon-case-video From the Daily Breeze November 26, 2014: Earlier in the day, Los Angeles community activist Najee Ali stood along Spring Street holding a sign that read “Stop Killer Cops.” He came to the protest to show solidarity with protesters in Ferguson in light of the grand jury decision. “Our next recourse is with the Department of Justice, which is why we are here,” Ali said, motioning to the nearby U.S. Courthouse. “We are in this for the long haul, so there will be action through Thanksgiving and as long as we need to.” Ali and other protesters distanced themselves from those arrested Tuesday night. Ali said protesters must obey the law and that he did not agree with blocking the freeway for people on their way home in Los Angeles. “There are other ways we can protest peacefully without impeding somebody else’s life,” he said. “If we want to honor Michael Brown’s memory and legacy, then nonviolent protests are what we should be utilizing.” Jubilee Shine, who organized Wednesday’s protest for the Coalition for Community Control over the Police, said focusing the conversation on arrests and the actions of individuals distracts from the movements’ message. “Our job on the ground is to bring the pressure onto Attorney General Eric Holder to do his job. He needs to intervene in Ferguson and he needs to intervene in Los Angeles,” Shine said. Full article dailybreeze/general-news/20141126/third-day-of-ferguson-protests-in-los-angeles-comes-after-nearly-200-were-arrested Agreed, Jubilee, so please allow me to bump out Brother Earls petition one more time. So everyone can sign. https://change.org/p/los-angeles-urban-policy-roundtable-we-call-on-u-s-attorney-general-eric-holder-to-file-federal-criminal-civil-rights-charges-against-ferguson-police-officer-darren-wilson-in-the-slaying-of-michael-brown As of this writing, this petition has received 115 signatures in a week, 116 including my own, well shy of the 1 million hoped for by its originators. Why is this? Respectfully, I submit this is because, while you scrambled for weeks to find the pulse of the police and elected officials, you failed to take the pulse of a vast majority of the people of Los Angeles. It is an easy thing for our generation, as well as Brother Earls, to do, as we enjoy certain protections that most of our Black and Brown youth do not. For example, myself and Brother Jubilee enjoy the protection of our age and skin color, whereas Brothers Earl and Najee, as well as the many clergy pushing a State sanctioned narrative of cooperation with L.A.s ever expanding police empire, enjoy the protection of age, economics, and, sadly, open capitulation, that our children do not. While in the streets these past few nights, with, at times, thousands of men, women, youth, and children, NO ONE I spoke to had ANY intention of repeating the destruction of 1992. This was not because of a small group of leaders who stayed behind in Leimert Park to talk to the media and act as citizen liaisons for the police. This was thanks to the hundreds of community members, young and old, who have been organizing to protect their community out of the media spotlight over the last few months, as well as the last few decades. Why have, not all, but many of you who have access to the higher ups in the very institution that threatens the rest of your community, not taken a hard line on achieving transparent investigations and incitements for the murders of Ezell Ford, Omar Abrego, Mr. Ocanio, and the dozens of others shot down in the streets by LAPD? Why have you not used the implied threat of thousands of protesters shutting down this city to push for the police budget, up to 57% of our citys total budget, to be slashed in favor of funding social programs and equal economic investment that would uplift poor Los Angeles communities of all colors? Just to name a few possibilities. No, access does not equal power, but access with thousands of people behind you could equal what many of you seem to have given the Mayor and the LAPD: capitulation. You all know this, however, as you continually call for these things on the mic in rallys, yet, when given the chance to speak truth to power in a forum where you have the ability to force some of the change you extol, you fold. Respectfully again, to me and many others on the outside of those meetings, it appears that your actions do not match your rhetoric. This is particularly disappointing as The Myth of Black Capitalism has been a touchstone in my and many AEC members personal development. Thank God that while you are busy enjoying the status, attention, and protection that being state- and media-recognized leadership affords, true leaders have emerged in every oppressed neighborhood in this city. Leaders who understand that serving the people is a commitment to follow the peoples will. Leaders who, despite their youth or social and economic status, have risked their lives and freedom to do what we, as their elders, should be right beside them doing. I write this not to bash on you, but as an appeal for you to use the exposure and access you have been granted to bring their demands to fruition, and to fight the real enemy, instead of those you claim to serve. If you would like to discuss anything I have said, feel free to call or email us, or find us in the streets following our real leaders and LAAECs #1 principal, The People Lead. All power to the youth, all power to the Black Lives Matter action groups, all power to those who have followed Dr, King and others examples, putting their freedom on the line for their beliefs, all power to those willing to fight for their and others liberation! Please allow me to conclude with the words of another youth, one who now is exalted by many of you for his skill passion and commitment, but in his time suffered the same sort of calculated political distance discussed above. A young man who lost his life at the hands of police 45 years ago Thursday: The people have to pay the price for peace, dare to struggle, dare to win. Dare not to struggle then Goddamnit, you dont deserve to win! Let me say peace to you, if youre willing to fight for it. Better get on board...If you cant get on board, you better get behind. If you cant get behind, you better get behind someone who is behind, before you get left behind. --Chairman Fred Hampton, Black Panther Party for Self Defense Amandala Ngawethu! Adam Rice Organizing Director Los Angeles Anti-Eviction Campaign
Posted on: Sun, 30 Nov 2014 06:55:39 +0000