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Since 2008 – Progress Through Politics

Dream Defenders and Justice for Trayvon Rallies




A beautiful resistance movement is happening in Florida.

Led by mostly black and brown young people, youths and oldsters of all colors are sitting in in the Florida state capitol.  


Since Tuesday morning (7/16) Dream Defenders have maintained a presence at the Capitol for an extended stay to apply pressure and demand that Governor Rick Scott call for a special session of legislature to address issues related to the environment in Florida that led to this tragedy and injustice. Dream Defenders are pushing for what they are calling the ‘Trayvon Martin Act’ which addresses the repeal of Stand Your Ground, racial profiling, and the war on the youth.

photo DDLogo_zpsb7894ce6.jpg

Check out the Dream Defenders facebook page, and homepage

I was proud to see this quote from Ella Baker prominently displayed:

“Awake youth of the land and accept this noble challenge of salvaging the strong ship of civilization by the anchors of right, justice, and love…”

-Ella Baker

because I know how much she strongly supported young people and our involvement in the movement, back when I was one of those young people.

Meanwhile, today, in over 100 cities across the nation, the National Action Network will be holding “Justice for Trayvon” vigils.  They are joined by The Million Hoodies Movement for Justice,#HoodiesUp, and many other grassroots organizations.

Follow me below the fold for a list of scheduled cities




Vigils are being held:


   Anniston, AL

   Birmingham, AL

   Madison, AL

   Mobile, AL

   Montgomery, AL

   Little Rock, AR

   Monitcello, AR

   Phoenix, AZ

   Los Angeles, CA

   Oakland, CA

   Palmdale, CA

   Riverside, CA

   Sacramento, CA

   San Francisco, CA

   Seaside, CA

   Fort Collins, CO

   Hartford, CT

   New Haven, CT

   Washington, D.C.

   Fort Pierce, FL

   Fort Myers, FL

   Gainesville, FL

   Jacksonville, FL

   Miami, FL

   Orlando, FL

   Tallahassee, FL

   Tampa, FL

   Atlanta, GA

   Augusta, GA

   Macon, GA

   Davenport, IA

   Des Moines, IA

   Chicago, IL

   Peoria, IL

   Waukegan, IL

   Wichita, KS

   Bowling Green, KY

   Lexington, KY

   Baton Rouge, LA

   New Orleans, LA

   Shreveport, LA

   Springfield, MA

   Annapolis, MD

   Waldorf, MD

   Detroit, MI

   Flint, MI

   Saginaw, MI

   Minneapolis, MN

   Kansas City, MO

   St. Louis, MO

   Natchez, MS

   Billings, MT

   Charlotte, NC

   Fayetteville, NC

   Greensboro, NC

   New Bern, NC

   Wilkesboro, NC

   Raleigh, NC

   Camden, NJ

   Jersey City, NJ

   Newark, NJ

   Las Vegas, NV

   Albany, NY

   Brooklyn, NY

   Buffalo, NY

   Nassau County, NY

   New York, NY

   Staten Island, NY

   Syracuse, NY

   Canton, OH

   Cincinnati, OH

   Columbus, OH

   Greater Cleveland, OH

   Oberlin, OH

   Toledo, OH

   Lawton, OK

   McAlester, OK

   Oklahoma City, OK

   Tulsa, OK

   Portland, OR

   Allentown, PA

   Harrisburg, PA

   Philadelphia, PA

   Pittsburg, PA

   Columbia, SC

   Chattanooga, TN

   Memphis, TN

   Nashville, TN

   Austin, TX

   Houston, TX

   San Antonio, TX

   Wichita Falls, TX

   Salt Lake City, UT

   Alexandria, VA

   Harrisonburg, VA

   Lynchburg, VA

   Newport News, VA

   Norfolk, VA

   Richmond, VA

   Milwaukee, WI

   

There are more cities that are joining in – please add information in comments, or keep checking the link, for updates.

 


Categories: Uncategorized.

/ 19 Comments

19 comments

  2. JanF

    It is always beautiful to see people come together peacefully to demonstrate their solidarity with a cause.

    We used to do it all the time and then, for whatever reason, demonstrations such as these where real people get together with other real people … in-person … stopped happening.

    I think the Wisconsin rallies with 100,000+ people showed folks what people-powered-politics looks like.

    Vigils, peaceful protests … I hope we don’t let people forget.

  4. kishik

    and posted this at the orange, too.

    I couldn’t stay until the end, it was 94 degrees out!  And I knew I needed to get cool and hydrated.  The rally/vigil was in a parking lot with very little shade.

    Hempstead, Long Island, NY

    AWESOME gathering.

    Parents brought their kids.  Those that attended ranged in age, races and ethnicity.   Good amount of police presence on the fringes.  But I also saw many of them getting their pictures taken with various members of the community.  Lots of cameras and press.  As I left (and hour and a half later) the crowd was STILL growing!

    Clergy ran this rally.  There were public officials present, but they didn’t speak (at least not while I was there, not sure if they were slated to speak later.)

    No Justice, No Peace was the mantra.

    The young represent:



    Three siblings trying to stay cool in the shade, before the rally started.



    This young man was being interviewed… I couldn’t hear anything because of all that was going on



    These brothers made this sign themselves



    Their mother showed me the tattoo she just got



    I snuck in to get a shot of this young girl as she was being photographed by someone with a very fancy professional camera! (she’s the older sister in the top shot)



    These young adults stood on the fringes of the crowd.  I liked the message

    No Justice, No Peace!

  6. Chris Blask

    some not so good.

    But L.Z. Grandersen on CNN this morning made a very good point along that line. [sic] “white folks need to be allowed to voice their thoughts without feeling they are risking being called racist”.

    Apparently LZ’s spouse is white (LZ is black), and his comments on their conversations on this topic were insightful. As one moderate liberal white guy I can report that I do feel hesitant to speak on this topic. As someone with conservative white friends I can also report that I have had to bite my tongue (fingers) regarding some Facebook comments I have seen in recent days. As my friends here know, I have also had very strong oppositional feelings about some comments from liberal friends here and elsewhere.

    Because I do know that none of these people are racists. I know I am not, I know my conservative friends are not, and I know my liberal friends are not.

    It is simply a very hard topic to talk about constructively. If we are going to make any progress from where we are, much gratuitously pedantic formal courtesy all around is likely necessary.

  7. Adept2u

    There were at most 150 people there during the hour and a half we were there, and the biggest impression I got was that of commerce.  There were people selling Trayvon gear on every corner and 4 spots between

    photo 603399_10201516497420171_1815450688_n_zpsadb532e8.jpg

    These kids had their picture taken by every media person there and they all made them toss up the Black power salute. They didn’t know why people asked them to toss up the fist until I told them.

    These protests are nice, but if we want to do anything we need to re-open protest schools.  Few people knew what it is they wanted, in other words what is success.  

    This was in Downtown and it isn’t walking distance from where a lot of people live.  I understand tonight in Leimert Park there will be a bigger turnout.

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