Boston: Bail Out the People Movement, c/o Action Center, 284 Amory St., Jamaica Plain, MA 02130 - 617.522.6626 - Email: bopmboston@gmail.com
National: Bail Out the People Movement, Solidarity Center, 55 W. 17th St. #5C, New York, NY 10011 - 212.633.6646 - www.BailOutPeople.org - Email: bailoutpeople@safewebmail.com
 Reserve your bus seat today - www.iacboston.org/may82010bus.html Tickets: $60 + $5 voluntary contribution for the Transportation Fund | |
On Saturday, MAY 8, 2010 The 75th ANNIVERSARY of The WPA COME TO WASHINGTON D.C. TO DEMAND:A REAL JOBS PROGRAM NOW!
RALLY FOR THE RIGHT TO A JOB |
|
Boston protesters disrupt Palin’s Tea-Party rant Hundreds come out to confront and denounce the Tea Party and Sarah Palin for being racist, sexist, anti-LGBT, and anti-immigrant. --more--
|
| Anti-Racist Protestors Confront the Tea Party in Clinton Township, Michigan; Berea, Ohio; and Buffalo, NY NYC, Raleigh, N.C.: Anti-racists confront Tea Party on Tax Day |
Wednesday, April 14 – 9:30 am
Boston Common Bandstand
Come Out Against the "Tea Party" and Sarah Palin
Fightback Against Racism, Sexism, Anti-LGBT & Anti-Immigrant Bigotry
Demand:
On Wednesday, April 14 Sarah Palin and the so-called “Tea Party Express” has announced that they will hold a rally at the Boston Common Bandstand starting at 10:00 am. This is the same group of ultra-right wing, neo-fascist racists that have tried to exploit the current economic crisis by using the most vile racist tactics to attack Obama, unions, immigration, healthcare, and the environment. While the demagogues, including Fox News and many others, that are in control of this group may try and hide behind populist slogans it should be clear to all that their true goal is to further the political and economic program of Wall St., big oil, the wealthy, and the corporations and they will stop at nothing in order to do so. Let’s be clear, there is nothing grassroots about any of the “Tea Party” factions, they are all funded by the same racist ultra-right organizations such as Freedomworks and Americans for Prosperity.
We can not stand by and allow Sarah Palin and the “Tea Party” to gather and try to use racism to divide us with out a response. History has shown that only through organizing and mobilizing a strong, anti-racist, pro-working-class counterattack against both the economic crisis and racist division will we be able to successfully defeat these right-wing, neo-fascist organizations and their supporters once and for all.
The health care law, racism and fighting the right
Boston Common Bandstand
Come Out Against the "Tea Party" and Sarah Palin
Fightback Against Racism, Sexism, Anti-LGBT & Anti-Immigrant Bigotry
Demand:
- Healthcare, Jobs, Education, and Housing are a RIGHT!
- Defend the Rights of ALL Immigrants!
- Defend Reproductive Rights!
- Money for Jobs, Housing, Healthcare, and Education NOT for War and Prisons!
- Stop Union Busting!
- Bail Out the People NOT the Banks and Wall St.!
On Wednesday, April 14 Sarah Palin and the so-called “Tea Party Express” has announced that they will hold a rally at the Boston Common Bandstand starting at 10:00 am. This is the same group of ultra-right wing, neo-fascist racists that have tried to exploit the current economic crisis by using the most vile racist tactics to attack Obama, unions, immigration, healthcare, and the environment. While the demagogues, including Fox News and many others, that are in control of this group may try and hide behind populist slogans it should be clear to all that their true goal is to further the political and economic program of Wall St., big oil, the wealthy, and the corporations and they will stop at nothing in order to do so. Let’s be clear, there is nothing grassroots about any of the “Tea Party” factions, they are all funded by the same racist ultra-right organizations such as Freedomworks and Americans for Prosperity.
We can not stand by and allow Sarah Palin and the “Tea Party” to gather and try to use racism to divide us with out a response. History has shown that only through organizing and mobilizing a strong, anti-racist, pro-working-class counterattack against both the economic crisis and racist division will we be able to successfully defeat these right-wing, neo-fascist organizations and their supporters once and for all.
The health care law, racism and fighting the right
Take Action to Demand Equal Quality Public Education!
FULL Funding for
Stop the Corporate Takeover of Education - No to Charter Schools
Money for Education NOT for War & Wall
Wednesday, March 3
5:30 pm - Press Conf./Picketline
School Committee, 26 Court St.,
for more information: Coalition for Equal Quality Education
equaluqualityeducation@gmail.
 download flyer (Espanol) |  download flyer (English) |
MARCH 4: National Protest to Defend Education
On March 4, students and workers from all around the country will take action to defend education against increased privatization of K-12 schools and budget cuts, layoffs, furloughs and tuition increases at the college and university level—especially the public institutions. read more
URGENT!
DROP ALL CHARGES AGAINST SHARON BLACK-CECI, STEVEN CECI AND PATRICK ALLEN NOW!
STOP POLICE ATTACKS ON ALL POLITICAL ACTIVISTS!
On the morning of December 9, long-time Baltimore Community activists Sharon Black-Ceci and Steven Ceci were dragged from their home by Baltimore police. The two, long-time leaders in the anti-racist, and poor people’s rights struggle, had been under police surveillance for their political activism. read more
| Joblessness is as bad today as it was during the 1930s –It’s time to take the fight to D.C. On April 8, 1935, Congress passed the legislation creating the largest public works program in history. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) created 8.5 million jobs during the depression of the 1930s. Let’s mark the 75th anniversary of the creation of the WPA by telling the government that today’s jobless crisis is as bad today as it was back then and that we need the same kind of bold, sweeping jobs program that the people demanded in the 1930s – Now! Martin Luther King Jr. dedicated the final months of his life to starting a movement for the right of all to a job or a guaranteed income – we need that movement now more than ever. It’s time to say no: to a jobless recovery - to an economy based on permanent high unemployment and low wages - to trillions of $ for Wall St., and trillions of $ for war but nothing but joblessness, foreclosures, evictions, layoffs, low wages, union busting, hunger and homelessness for workers and the poor. There are more than 20 million unemployed and underemployed people in the country today. We need a real WPA-type program that is big enough to insure that those who need work get work – work that is socially useful that pays union wages and benefits. Call issued by To endorse this call To volunteer or organize transportation from your area | (1000 people march for jobs |
| Bail Out the People Movement Solidarity Center 55 W. 17th St. #5C New York, NY 10011 212.633.6646 www.BailOutPeople.org Email: bailoutpeople.org/cmnt.shtml | |
THURSDAY DEC 3 IN DC:
Demand $ For JOBS
NOT War
Protest OUTSIDE OF THE WHITE HOUSE
JOBS SUMMIT
12 Noon Thursday, Dec. 3
(Pennsylvania Ave. between 15 and 16 St., directly in front of the White House)
Click Here if you can attend on Dec. 3
SAY YES TO A REAL JOBS PROGRAM – AND NO TO MORE TROOPS TO AFGHANISTAN!
A White House Summit on Jobs is scheduled for Dec. 3. But instead of a jobs program, the president is sending tens of thousands of troops to war in Afghanistan at a cost of 50 billion more dollars on top of the fortune already wasted on war. Join us on Dec. 3 in a protest in front of the White House during the Jobs Summit to demand a real jobs program that can put the 30 million workers who are either unemployed or underemployed to work at jobs that pay a living wage. --Read Call and Volunteer--
Thurs., Oct. 8 - 6:30 pm
USW L. 8751
Boston School Bus Drivers
Union Hall
25 Colgate Rd., Roslindale
(a few blocks south of Forrest Hills T, off Wash. St.)
Speakers & topics will include:
Members of BOPM and USW L. 8751 who participated in the Sept. 20th March for Jobs as well as other actions during the G20 in Pittsburgh.
Updates and discussion on the struggle for equal, quality education in the Boston Public Schools
Racism & the attacks on healthcare reform
The struggle for justice by workers at the Hyatt and Harvard
The continuing struggle against foreclosures
Eyewitness Report from the G20 :
The Economic Crisis - Racism & the Struggle for Jobs, Housing, Education & Healthcare
The Economic Crisis - Racism & the Struggle for Jobs, Housing, Education & Healthcare
USW L. 8751
Boston School Bus Drivers
Union Hall
25 Colgate Rd., Roslindale
(a few blocks south of Forrest Hills T, off Wash. St.)
Speakers & topics will include:
Members of BOPM and USW L. 8751 who participated in the Sept. 20th March for Jobs as well as other actions during the G20 in Pittsburgh.
Updates and discussion on the struggle for equal, quality education in the Boston Public Schools
Racism & the attacks on healthcare reform
The struggle for justice by workers at the Hyatt and Harvard
The continuing struggle against foreclosures
Oct. 1 Massachusetts March & Rally for Jobs
(BOPM has endorsed this important demonstration initiated by the Mass. AFL-CIO - 781.324.8230 and Jobs with Justice - 617.524.8778)4:00 pm - Kickoff at the State House
4:30 pm - March through downtown Boston
5:30 pm - Rally at Hyatt Boston (One Avenue de Lafayette, Boston)
Last month marked 20 straight months of job losses - the longest since the Great Depression. Millions are out of work, foreclosures and evictions continue, and more than 47 million people in the
Staying in the streets and building an independent people’s movement is more important than ever. We need to organize and fightback against a system that puts profits before the needs of the people.
If you are committed to fighting back against the corporate bailouts and endless war, if you believe that everyone has a right to a job at a livable wage; affordable housing; equal, quality public education; and health care. Then join us on Thursday Oct. 1 as we join with the AFL-CIO, Jobs with Justice and many others to march through the streets of
Demand Release of G-20 Detainees! Drop All Charges and End Repression NOW!
Sign the online petition to Federal Officials, Congressional leaders, the Pennsylvania Congressional Delegation, the Pennsylvania Legislature, the Mayor of Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Police Chief, Pittsburgh city officials, Pittsburgh business leaders, the Allegheny County Council and local and national media demanding an immediate release of all detainees, that all charges be dropped, and calling for an independent investigation, at http://www.bailoutpeople.org/releaseg20arrestees.shtml
Repressive cop forces provoke violence, arrests in Pittsburgh
Join the call to release all detainees, drop all charges and for an independent investigation now!
The repressive cop forces of homeland security locked down the people of Pittsburgh during the G-20 economic summit – bringing with them violence, arrests and intimidation. Bail Out the People Movement (BOPM) demands that all 150 arrestees be accounted for and released; all charges be dropped and a public apology be made to the people of Pittsburgh by County Executive Dan Onorato Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, police chief Nate Harper, and other officials responsible for the massive repressive forces and an independent labor-community-student investigation of the repressive actions especially directed against youth.
On Thurs, Sept. 24 and Fri., Sept. 25, government sweeps by the Pittsburgh police and more than 4,000 additional cops, state troopers and national guard, gave rise to videos and eyewitness reports starkly reminiscent of the repression by U.S. trained military dictatorships in Latin America i.e. youth wrestled into unmarked cars by police dressed in military fatigue uniforms and repressive forces posing for photos with kneeling captives.
Experiments with high-tech sound weaponry also reportedly used in Honduras, gases and other “less-lethal” crowd control became the order of the day on Sept. 25 when police surrounded and arrested youth gathered in Schenley Plaza near the University of Pittsburgh in the Oakland neighborhood. Arrestees reported that after the order to disperse, all exit routes were blocked and more than 100 people were arrested. Among them was a Pittsburgh-Post Gazette newspaper reporter.
On the scene, Dante Strobino from FIST (Fight Imperialism, Stand Together) wrote: “The police began to occupy the park and forcefully removed everyone. As students began to gather around to check it out, the riot police got more hyped up. There were no chants, no signs, no banners, no folks dressed in black and no provocation. The police threw several tear gas and smoke bombs at the crowd again and pushed them further back down commercial streets toward bars and restaurants. They also chased people into the huge dormitory towers and attacked students as they left their residences. Students were hanging out the windows, taking pictures in awe."
"Forbes St. was blocked off by hundreds of riot cops while surrounding contingents of cops moved in on the other areas of the campus to corral people inside the area. Police brutality had been witnessed with folks being thrown to the ground and shot with rubber bullets, media being pepper sprayed and gassed. Protesters and students alike are being held in the dorm towers unable to leave in fear of arrest. Other students cannot cross Fifth Ave. to get to their residences without being thrown to the ground."
"What is most striking about being here is seeing the incredible police repression both Thursday and Friday night in Oakland, near U of Pitt and Carnegie Mellon University, two universities with mostly white, mostly class-privileged students. As Larry Holmes commented during the BOPM Tent City, at any given normal day the police usually target and harass the Black community, but these two days not only are those under normal occupation, but the police are targeting young white folks, too.”
Sean O'Sullivan, senior at University of Pittsburgh, who was not taking part in the protests earlier in the day, stated "It was the police who started the violence and ended up finishing the violence. It felt like a war zone...the police kept becoming more and more violent, taking over more and more of the street. I couldn't get to my house even until 3 a.m. on Thursday."
Jillian Dowis, sophomore at Ohio University from Students for a Democratic Society who came to Pittsburgh to protest the G-20's policies, speaking of her experience on the night of Sept. 25, said "After a reporter got maced in face and we brought him to steps of chapel. The cops swarmed around us and arrested guy that was injured, he could barely breath, trying to get him away from crowd. As kids tried to run away they picked us off one by one. My friend called her dad. Then a cop said to us, 'Shut the f_ck up and get off the goddamn phone'. My friend was was trying to say bye and the cop grabbed her by head and slammed her head into the ground. They were being way forceful and too aggressive and intentionally put on handcuffs way too tight."
A 24-hour continuous vigil is ongoing at the Allegheny County Jail until all arrestees are released.
Sign the online petition at http://www.bailoutpeople.org/releaseg20arrestees.shtml to send email messages to officials demanding the immediate release of those arrested and an independent investigation. The sample text of the appeal follows:
College students trapped in stairwell and gassed, attacked
http://celluloidblonde.wordpress.com/2009/09/25/land-of-the-free/
Police assault couple in street
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlD9QKZdPhE&feature=player_embedded
Police pose while taking picture of arrested student
http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-333880
Sign the online petition to Federal Officials, Congressional leaders, the Pennsylvania Congressional Delegation, the Pennsylvania Legislature, the Mayor of Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Police Chief, Pittsburgh city officials, Pittsburgh business leaders, the Allegheny County Council and local and national media demanding an immediate release of all detainees, that all charges be dropped, and calling for an independent investigation, at http://www.bailoutpeople.org/releaseg20arrestees.shtml
Repressive cop forces provoke violence, arrests in Pittsburgh
Join the call to release all detainees, drop all charges and for an independent investigation now!
The repressive cop forces of homeland security locked down the people of Pittsburgh during the G-20 economic summit – bringing with them violence, arrests and intimidation. Bail Out the People Movement (BOPM) demands that all 150 arrestees be accounted for and released; all charges be dropped and a public apology be made to the people of Pittsburgh by County Executive Dan Onorato Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, police chief Nate Harper, and other officials responsible for the massive repressive forces and an independent labor-community-student investigation of the repressive actions especially directed against youth.
On Thurs, Sept. 24 and Fri., Sept. 25, government sweeps by the Pittsburgh police and more than 4,000 additional cops, state troopers and national guard, gave rise to videos and eyewitness reports starkly reminiscent of the repression by U.S. trained military dictatorships in Latin America i.e. youth wrestled into unmarked cars by police dressed in military fatigue uniforms and repressive forces posing for photos with kneeling captives.
Experiments with high-tech sound weaponry also reportedly used in Honduras, gases and other “less-lethal” crowd control became the order of the day on Sept. 25 when police surrounded and arrested youth gathered in Schenley Plaza near the University of Pittsburgh in the Oakland neighborhood. Arrestees reported that after the order to disperse, all exit routes were blocked and more than 100 people were arrested. Among them was a Pittsburgh-Post Gazette newspaper reporter.
On the scene, Dante Strobino from FIST (Fight Imperialism, Stand Together) wrote: “The police began to occupy the park and forcefully removed everyone. As students began to gather around to check it out, the riot police got more hyped up. There were no chants, no signs, no banners, no folks dressed in black and no provocation. The police threw several tear gas and smoke bombs at the crowd again and pushed them further back down commercial streets toward bars and restaurants. They also chased people into the huge dormitory towers and attacked students as they left their residences. Students were hanging out the windows, taking pictures in awe."
"Forbes St. was blocked off by hundreds of riot cops while surrounding contingents of cops moved in on the other areas of the campus to corral people inside the area. Police brutality had been witnessed with folks being thrown to the ground and shot with rubber bullets, media being pepper sprayed and gassed. Protesters and students alike are being held in the dorm towers unable to leave in fear of arrest. Other students cannot cross Fifth Ave. to get to their residences without being thrown to the ground."
"What is most striking about being here is seeing the incredible police repression both Thursday and Friday night in Oakland, near U of Pitt and Carnegie Mellon University, two universities with mostly white, mostly class-privileged students. As Larry Holmes commented during the BOPM Tent City, at any given normal day the police usually target and harass the Black community, but these two days not only are those under normal occupation, but the police are targeting young white folks, too.”
Sean O'Sullivan, senior at University of Pittsburgh, who was not taking part in the protests earlier in the day, stated "It was the police who started the violence and ended up finishing the violence. It felt like a war zone...the police kept becoming more and more violent, taking over more and more of the street. I couldn't get to my house even until 3 a.m. on Thursday."
Jillian Dowis, sophomore at Ohio University from Students for a Democratic Society who came to Pittsburgh to protest the G-20's policies, speaking of her experience on the night of Sept. 25, said "After a reporter got maced in face and we brought him to steps of chapel. The cops swarmed around us and arrested guy that was injured, he could barely breath, trying to get him away from crowd. As kids tried to run away they picked us off one by one. My friend called her dad. Then a cop said to us, 'Shut the f_ck up and get off the goddamn phone'. My friend was was trying to say bye and the cop grabbed her by head and slammed her head into the ground. They were being way forceful and too aggressive and intentionally put on handcuffs way too tight."
A 24-hour continuous vigil is ongoing at the Allegheny County Jail until all arrestees are released.
Sign the online petition at http://www.bailoutpeople.org/releaseg20arrestees.shtml to send email messages to officials demanding the immediate release of those arrested and an independent investigation. The sample text of the appeal follows:
To: Pittsburgh Mayor Ravenstahl, Pittsburgh City Council, Pittsburgh Police Chief, Allegheny County CouncilVIDEOS OF POLICE REPRESSION:
CC: PA Congressional Delegation, Congressional Leaders, the PA Legislature, Federal Officials, Pittsburgh business leaders, members of the Pittsburgh and national media
I demand that the military occupation of Pittsburgh be disbanded immediately; all charges against the people arrested in Pittsburgh on Sept. 24 and 25 especially the youth – including those involved in direct action confronting the G-20 summit – be dropped. Everyone detained must be accounted for and released. I support an independent worker-community-student investigation of the homeland security occupation and repression during the G-20 summit.
Sincerely,
(your name appended here)
College students trapped in stairwell and gassed, attacked
http://celluloidblonde.wordpress.com/2009/09/25/land-of-the-free/
Police assault couple in street
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlD9QKZdPhE&feature=player_embedded
Police pose while taking picture of arrested student
http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-333880
Day 6 - Sept 25 - G20 protests
Day 6—Sept. 25The permitted People’s March on G-20 attracted an estimated 10,000 people, largely young people. The organizers, the People's Voices coalition, held two rallies during the march.
Following the closing down of the Tent City on the Hill in the morning, the Bail Out the People Movement organized a speak-out and then a contingent at Freedom Corner, which fed into the People’s March.
BOPM’s Larry Holmes spoke at the first rally where he defended the youth who were brutally attacked by the police on Sept. 24 in downtown Pittsburgh. BOPM’s Cheryl LaBash spoke at the second rally on the crisis in Honduras. The March organizers asked the BOPM contingent and its banner, “Message to G-20 - WE NEED JOBS NOW" with photos of Dr. Martin Luther King, to lead the second leg of the march.
Eyewitness report from Dante Strobino:
On Friday night, I was near U. of Pitt around 10:00 when we saw a huge crowd of about over 1000 students, most of which were not political at all and certainly not involved in G-20 protests, gathered in Schenedy Park where there was a concert going on with acoustic and rock bands as part of G-20 protest events. The police began to occupy the park and forcefully removed everyone from the park. As students began to gather around to check it out, the riot police got more hyped up. There were no chants, no signs, no banners, no folks dressed in black and no provocation and the police threw several tear gas and smoke bombs at the crowd again and pushed them further back down commercial streets where there bars and restaurants. They also began chasing people into the huge dormitory towers and attacking students as they left. Students were hanging out the windows, taking pictures in awe.
Forbes St. was blocked off by hundreds of riot cops while surrounding contingents of cops moved in on the other areas of the campus to corral people in. Police brutality had been witnessed -- folks being thrown to the ground and shot with rubber bullets, media being pepper-sprayed and gassed. There have been 48 confirmed arrests (an estimated 175 arrests total) with more reports still coming in. Protesters and students alike are being held in the dorm towers unable to leave in fear of being arrested; other students cannot cross 5th Ave. to get to their residences without being thrown to the ground.
I got a chance to talk to several students who had never seen anything like this in their lives. It was really interesting hearing people say "F_ck the Police", people who you would never expect to hear this from! Even some more conservative students that I talked to, were really angry too and just confused.
What is most striking about being here is seeing the incredible police repression both Thursday and Friday night in Oakland, a neighborhood which houses U. of Pitt and Carnegie Mellon University, two universities with mostly white, mostly middle class students. As Larry Holmes commented during our Tent City, at any given normal day the police usually target and harass the Black community, but these two days not only are they (Black people) under normal occupation, but the police are targeting young white folks.
Sept. 25 quotes from students on police violence:
"People have been saying mostly that the violence and any disruption by the protest were small fraction, most protesters were peaceful. It was the police who started the violence and ended up finishing the violence. ... It felt like a war zone. The police became more and violent, taking over more and more of the street. I couldn't get to my house even until 3am on Thursday. I saw there multiple people that needed to have pepper spray washed out of their eyes. The police wouldn't let students cross the street or enter their dorm rooms. I saw violent use of police dogs that were used to intimidate."
- Sean O'Sullivan, senior at University of Pittsburgh
"The night before in the same location there was a mass arrest of people walking by who were thrown to the ground, maced and arrested. We were gathering there because kids in a march earlier were there. We didn’t want to march tonight; we wanted to chill and have a nice night. As we did that, more cops surrounded area…We hopped the fence to get out over the hill... as we were doing that, that police officer was beating down a fence with his nightstick to get over it; a reporter got maced in face and we brought him to steps of chapel and we were distracted. They swarmed around us and arrested the guy who was injured; he could barely breathe, trying to get him away from crowd. As kids tried to run away they picked us off one by one. [The police told a woman] to shut the fuck up and get off the goddamn phone. As she was trying to say goodbye, he grabbed her by head and slammed her head into the ground. They were being way forceful and too aggressive. They put on handcuffs way too tight. They had us sit down for awhile and wouldn't tell us what was going on. They put us in two lines for males and females. From that point they took our photos, held out papers in front of our face with another cop. They searched us, put us in vans and wouldn't tell us what was going on. They wouldn't read us our rights; they only had snarky comments to say to us. We were in transportation vans for about three hours; then we got to the State Correctional Facility where we were in the van for another five hours still with plastic handcuffs on. They turned up the air conditioning to 55 degrees to make us feel as uncomfortable as possible. There were girls on periods that they would not let go to bathroom; there were girls in tears because of how bad they had to pee. You can get urinary tract infection or Toxic Shock Syndrome. We were there until 6:30 in the morning. Then they searched us, had us take off all our jewelry but our hands were swollen from cuffs and they were being real aggressive taking off rings. As soon as we stepped off the bus, a guy was holding my arm and a cop said "Say G-20" and snapped my picture. They didn't tell us where we were going or how long that we would be there. They didn't answer any questions we had."
--Jillian Dowis, sophomore at Ohio University
VIDEOS OF POLICE REPRESSION:
college students trapped in stairwell and gassed, attacked
http://celluloidblonde.wordpress.com/2009/09/25/land-of-the-free/
police assault couple in street
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlD9QKZdPhE&feature=player_embedded
Police pose while taking picture of arrested student
http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-333880
front line of resistance on Thursday afternoon, youth hurl dumpster at cops
http://www.youtube.com/v/ia0wVU3RHkI&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&feature=player_embedded&fs=1
Day 5-Sept. 24
The following special report was written by Dante Strobino from Raleigh Fight Imperialism, Stand Together (FIST) youth group who attending this protest:
Over a thousand people gathered in Arsenal Park in Pittsburgh to resist the G-20 countries meeting in the David L. Lawrence Convention Center downtown. Young activists representing struggles against racism, gentrification, imperialist wars, gender oppression and environmental destruction gathered together in an effort coordinated by the Pittsburgh G-20 Resistance Project. Protesters began their march through a working class neighborhood of Lawrenceville towards a bridge to get into downtown. The march continued down Liberty Avenue in an unpermitted demonstration taking over the streets with banners that read “No Hope in Capitalism”, “No Bailout, No Capitalism” and “No borders, No banks”.
Protesters were eventually stopped at the bottom of the street by police who confronted them with high frequency sound blasts and orders to disperse. Protesters then redoubled back and confronted cops again in the middle of a residential community. As resistance continued to mount up, anarchists grabbed a dumpster on wheels and hauled it down the hill directly into the police barricade, not harming anyone. The police reacted with more violence by attacking the entire neighborhood with several canisters of OC gas, Oleoresin Capsicum, a new police weapon meant to cause temporary blindness and breathing pain. From then on many different groups broke away in different directions and some marched together back towards Oakland, the neighborhood which houses University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University.
Police had been bused in from dozens of states including states as far away as Arizona and Florida, along with National Guard and SWAT units. Armed guards with camouflage humvees were stationed at every exit of the beltline around the city, blocking off entry. Most all businesses downtown including cell phone stores, apparel store, banks and restaurants were completely boarded up following Mayor Luke Ravenstahl’s suggestions, putting many workers out of work for the two days while the G-20 meets. At the universities and museums all monuments were also boarded up or covered with bags to continue to promote an atmosphere of fear. Police had to be hauled around town in several city and school buses to head off protesters. Department of Homeland Security and police helicopters have been roaring overhead the city since Wednesday night.
On their way back to Oakland through the Birchwood neighborhood a few windows were broken by protesters including a cop car window, a window at a PNC bank, BNY Mellon bank and at a BMW dealership, all of which symbolically represent institutions that are responsible for the economic crisis. A few hundred protesters continued to take the streets and make their voices heard throughout the evening. At one point, the protesters stopped the police with a stream of projectiles. Police responded with brutal blows of bean bags, causing injuries. Protesters defended themselves by blockading the street with a large chain link fence obstructing the road.
At 10 p.m. BASH BACK! organized a protest for LGBTQ liberation in Oakland near Carnegie Mellon University. Nearby at University of Pittsburgh students were gathered close to the bridge to Schenley Park, where Obama had earlier visited Phipps conservatory.
Heavy-handed police repression ensued, including the usual electronic dispersal order and tear gas, but this only attracted more and more protesters and onlookers, and soon the crowd numbered up to 1000. Reports described students with t-shirts wrapped around their faces chanting “beer pong!” and “LET’S GO PITT!”
Through the next couple hours cops were chasing students into their dorms, attacking people leaving the bars and arresting folks who were not earlier participating in protests. By the end of the night more than 60 were arrested.
Help BOPM continue to mobilize to fight for jobs, housing, and health care for all - the week-long mobilization, including the national March for Jobs and the Tent City, was a enormous success, but we need your help to continue on to the next phase of the struggle. Please consider making an urgent donation at http://bailoutpeople.org/donate.shtml.
Help BOPM continue to mobilize to fight for jobs, housing, and health care for all - the week-long mobilization, including the national March for Jobs and the Tent City, was a enormous success, but we need your help to continue on to the next phase of the struggle. Please consider making an urgent donation at http://bailoutpeople.org/donate.shtml.
For updates, photos, video and more from the G-20 see the
Bail Out the People Movement BLOG
Report on March for Jobs with Pictures
Videos of the Tent City and March for Jobs:
- KDKA Video: "G-20 Protests begin days before summit" (on right-hand side of the page)
- Hundreds March For Jobs Ahead Of G-20
- G-20 Protests Begin Days Before Summit
- Rosemary Williams at the March for Jobs in Pittsburg
- "Popular Power!" Victor Toro at the March for Jobs in Pittsburgh
- Rocky of North Carolina FIST
- Clarence Thomas of the ILWU at March for Jobs
- Pittsburgh March for Jobs Against the G20
Tent City March on Mellon Corporate HQ for Moratorium on Foreclosures and Evictions
Videos of March on Mellon HQ: 1 | 2 | 3
G20 Third Day of Protests
Sunday: March for Jobs
Monday: "Organizing the global struggle for jobs & workers rights"
workshop at the Tent City
Occupants of the Bail Out the People Movement Tent City will be marching from Freedom Corner (the intersection of Centre Avenue and Crawford Street) to the Mellon Corporation Headquarters (500 Grant Street) at 4:30 to demand a national moratorium on foreclosures and evictions. Participants in the march will include homeless and unemployed people from across the U.S., trade union activists, community organizers and local residents.
The Tent City kicked off Sunday with a spirited March for Jobs, with more than 1,000 protesters marching through the streets of Pittsburgh in the first G-20-related demonstration. Carrying hundreds of placards bearing the image of Dr. Martin Luther King, and slogans such as “Fight for the right to a job,” the long march was enthusiastically greeted on the streets of Pittsburgh by Sunday worshipers getting out of church, many of whom joined the march.
Rev. Thomas E. Smith, pastor of Monumental Baptist Church and one of the organizers of the march, told the rally, “We must tell the G-20 leaders that we reject the notion of a jobless recovery. An economic recovery that leaves unemployment in the double digits adds insult to injury to all who have lost their jobs and their homes during this terrible economic crisis, both in this country and around the world.”
Buses of protesters came from New York, Rhode Island, Detroit, Cleveland, and other places. Vans and cars and caravans came from literally every part of the country, as far away as Boston, Florida and Los Angeles. Joining the many who came from out of town were a large turnout of Pittsburgh residents, especially those who live in the historic African-American section of Pittsburgh called the Hill district, where the march was mounted from.
The end of the march was Freedom Corner, near downtown Pittsburgh, where there is a monument to Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders and activists. Amongst the many speakers at Sunday's rally were: Pam Africa, International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal; Nellie Bailey, Harlem Tenants Council; Rakhee Devastali, Feminist Students United, UNC-Chapel Hill; Oscar Hernandez, participant in the 11-month Stella D’Oro bakery strike in New York City;Sandra Hines, Mich. Moratorium NOW! Coalition to Stop Foreclosures and Evictions; Larry Holmes, Bail Out the People Movement; John Parker, Bail Out the People Movement activist, who brought a van of people from Los Angeles to Pittsburgh; Fred Redmond, vice-president, United Steelworkers; Lynne Stewart, civil rights attorney, target of government repression; Brenda Stokely and Jennifer Jones, NYC Coalition in Solidarity with Katrina/Rita Survivors; Clarence Thomas, ILWU Local 10, San Francisco and Million Worker March Movement; Victor Toro, an immigrant facing deportation with the May 1st Coalition for Immigrant and Workers Rights; Rosemary Williams, homeowner fighting foreclosure in Minnesota; and Rev. Bruce Wright, Poor Peoples Economic Human Rights Campaign.
After the march and rally, hundreds of protesters returned to the rally’s beginning point, Monumental Baptist Church in the Hill district, and began to prepare their tents to prepare to live in a tent city dedicated to the unemployed of the world that will stand next to the church for the entire week of the G-20 summit.
The tent city is full of tents and hundreds of residents. Organizers expect the population of the tent city to grow as the opening of the G-20summit grows closer. Throughout all three days of the Tent City, local Pittsburgh residents have been coming by to donate food and water and to express their support for the demand for a real jobs program.
A full schedule of the various forums and teach-ins that will take place at the tent city each day is available online at bailoutpeople.org.
Support the March for Jobs & Tent City in Pittsburgh - Donate at http://bailoutpeople.org/donate.shtml
Videos of the Tent City and March for Jobs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-fCmmxZd6Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx-n2DrLrJw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkUxvX5JNJg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCnBqnB7j-o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIVoFbILRIE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoNtah2Fkcs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjg-FtB5xEY
http://kdka.com/local/g20/tent.city.protest.2.1196577.html
Slideshow
http://www.examiner.com/x-23318-Pittsburgh-Photojournalist-Examiner~y2009m9d21-G20-protests-begin-in-earnest-with-march-in-Hill-District
Media Coverage
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125348613742626219.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE58J1MR20090920
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09264/999586-482.stm
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_644179.html
San Francisco Labor Council Resolution in Support of March for Jobs in Pittsburgh, Sept 20, 2009
- Download the G20 Call
- Download the March for Jobs Leaflet (Boston b&w)
- Download the March for Jobs Leaflet (national color)
- Download the March for Jobs Leaflet (national black & white)
- Logistics Information
A Global Week of Solidarity with the Unemployed September 20 - 25 (During the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh) Yes to Jobs & Human Needs; No to War & Wall Street Greed
- Sunday, September 20 - Rally & March for a Real Jobs Program
- Building a Tent City in Pittsburgh for the Unemployed & Supporters
the weekend before the G-20 Summit- Organizing Caravans of Unemployed People and Supporters to Converge on Pittsburgh during the week of September 19-26
- Marches, Protests and Events Before and During the G20 Summit addressing demands such as: Bring the Troops Home from Iraq & Afghanistan Now! & Free Mumia Abu-Jamal, World-Renown Political Prisoner, Journalist, Activist and 'Voice of the Voiceless!"
Stand in Solidarity with Prof. Gates! Say NO to Racism! Stop Racial Profiling and Police Brutality!Prof. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Was Right! The Cambridge Cops Must Apologize! Youth Need Jobs & Schools - Not Jails! Demand a Justice Department Investigation of Racial Profiling Across the US   | Help Build the Resistance to the G20 Meeting in Pittsburgh Organizers/Informational Meeting Thursday, August 6 - 6:30 pm USW L. 8751 - Boston School Bus Drivers 25 Colgate Rd., Roslindale A NATIONAL MARCH FOR JOBS PITTSBURGH, PA - SUNDAY, SEPT. 20 - Before the G-20 Summit A Global week of Solidarity with the Unemployed - They must no longer be invisible and silent A Tent City for the Unemployed in Pittsburgh during the G20 Summit Join the discussion with trade unionists, students, youth, & community activists and get involved in the struggle to demand:
There will also be discussion and planning for a local action to coincide with the G20 for those who are unable to make the trip. |
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