BAP National Organizer Ajamu Baraka represented the Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) at a gathering in Caracas, Venezuela, March 5 to 7. It marked the fifth anniversary of the passing of Bolivarian revolutionary Hugo Chavez.
Bringing together grassroots activists from 116 nation-states, the gathering produced the “Caracas Declaration,” a document that forcefully asserts revolutionary peoples from around the world will stand with the Venezuelan people to defend their sovereignty and revolutionary process. Here is a piece that captures the spirit of the gathering.
Below, you see Ajamu sitting in the front row, second from right, while Venezuela's current president, Nicolás Maduro, addresses an audience.
Trump’s Military Parade
BAP was one of the lead formations that met on February 28, 2018, to collaborate on actions to oppose the Trump administration’s plan to hold a $22 million military parade. Meeting participants were united in opposition to the military parade and intent to mobilize people to Washington, D.C., or to any location if plans for the military parade change. For now, Trump wants the parade to take place on Veterans’ Day. Our plan is to outnumber parade supporters. However, it is important BAP determine the best way we respond as an organization to this provocation, which is an attempt to normalize war on the part of the Trump administration. In the meantime, for more information, you can go to http://notrumpmilitaryparade.us.
Upcoming Events
BAP is a member of the Black is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations. It will hold its second electoral school from April 7 through April 9 in Saint Louis, Missouri. The electoral school is a means by which the coalition opens up a new front in the struggle for Black self-determination in the United States and elsewhere. It challenges the monopoly on the electoral arena by a select sector of our community with special ties to capitalist white power. You can register here.
Planning is heating up for the Spring Actions to oppose all wars scheduled to take place in the Bay Area, Chicago and New York City. Dozens of organizations have signed on to endorse this national call for regional actions. Check springaction2018.org or how to get involved in organizing before April 14-15, to get your organization signed on as an endorser and to download flyers.
Monitoring the World
BAP members and activists should closely follow the situation in Syria. Unlike others who might have the luxury of being confused about the world, we must at all times be crystal clear on global events. While the attention of the U.S. public was diverted to the Syrian Army battle with insurgents in East Ghouta, Turkey has busily recruited right-wing Islamic extremists and deployed them against the population in the Afrin region of Syria, with the result being a massive ethnic cleansing. Patrick Cockburn captures some of the horror of the latest assault on collective human rights in Syria.
BAP member Margaret Kimberley reminds us we need to continue to monitor the situation with North Korea. But she also points out the bi-partisan reality of militarism in the United States, as Democrats appear to be opposed to any efforts to de-escalate the situation with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
BAP member Mekdes Amare wrote a piece on the devastating impact of war on people of color around the world, making connections the Western media and many Western leftists don’t.
No compromise.
No retreat.
Struggle to win,
Ajamu, Ana, Jaribu, Kali, Lamont, Lukata, Margaret and Yolande
Coordinating Committee
Black Alliance for Peace
P.S. The oppressors won’t dismantle the U.S. war machine—that’s our job. Contribute today!