Mike Brown. Trayvon Martin. Reykia Boyd. Eric Garner. John Crawford. Ramarley Graham. Roshad McIntosh. Jordan Davis. Kimani Gray. Sean Bell. Oscar Grant. Yvette Smith. Eleanor Bumpurs. Aiyana Stanley-Jones. Tarika Wilson. Burrell Ramsey-White. Denis Reynoso. DJ Henry. Eveline Barros-Cepeda. Vonderrit Myers Jr. And to every other black and brown life taken from us too soon by the cops who serve capitalism and white supremacy: you are not forgotten. You will be missed and your legacy lives on through your friends, family and community who continue to struggle for justice.
To the cops and their white supremacist allies: the verdict is in, your time is up. We won’t back down.
From Ferguson to New York, from Oakland to Chicago: the people have risen up and rebelled against an unjust system, one that not only murders, but also puts millions into prisons and wraps up even more into the criminal justice system. Everyday, another cop acts with impunity and walks free. Everyday, another person of color is thrown in prison for no good reason. And everyday another judge, politician or businessman profits from the jailed up youth and the gentrified neighborhoods.
Of course Darren Wilson deserves a murder conviction, but none of us believe that this alone can bring justice. No murder conviction anywhere can fix the system of white supremacy and capitalist exploitation that has plagued communities of color across the United States for so long. Every now and then the courts might convict one of their own, but this, in fact, only serves to strengthen the lie that the state can bring justice. Michael Dunn gets jailed but Zimmerman gets off, and there have been many more Zimmermans than Michael Dunns. In the end, countless more people of color will be profiled, murdered and brutalized with impunity, because the corrupt system itself remains unchanged.
Only through solidarity, organization and rebellion, can we see justice. Only by completely rejecting the cops, the courts, and the opportunist politicians who call for restraint can we start to win a different society. The people of Ferguson showed us this much when they refused to back down and took the streets for weeks— the cops got beat and were forced to drop thousands of arrest warrants.
And they will continue taking the streets. The spark was lit and the fire is spreading. Ferguson made the call and we all must respond — Black Rose/Rosa Negra will be joining those on the front lines in the Ferguson October mass mobilization this weekend, and building connections in struggle in our home cities.
We hope to meet, build and learn with you all so that we can make a better society together. If you feel like getting in touch, you can contact us at BRRNAbolition@gmail.com or on Twitter @brrnAbolition
To a world without cops or prisons!
Solidarity and Love,
Black Rose/Rosa Negra Anti-Criminalization Committee
Originally published at Agenda for Liberation on October 11, 2014.