The people are on the move, demanding accountability and justice—and the authorities are scared to death. They are desperate to make sure the resistance in the streets of the United States does not turn into a general rejection of the neoliberal order, like what happened in France with the Yellow Vests movement. So, from attempting to put tools of the state like the Rev. Al Sharpton in charge to passing meaningless legislation like the anti-lynching law, they are trying to keep the focus on cosmetic changes. They hope we forget about how the mis-leaders helped corporations loot trillions of dollars in “stimulus” out of public coffers during the COVID-19 lockdowns and how the profit-driven U.S. system won’t keep you alive if you aren’t generating profits.

But BAP members have been at the forefront of shifting the narrative back to the issue of the systemic violence that characterizes the lives of the African/Black working class and nationally-oppressed and colonized workers in the United States. We also remind everyone through our public statements and our press work that the cry for justice in the United States and the demand that the U.S. state cease its foreign subversions, warmongering, and murderous sanctions against the Black and Brown world are inextricably linked.  

In this newsletter, we share how international media outlets have framed the U.S. uprisings. It is a story of solidarity and common struggle that barely penetrates the corporate press.

During the last two months of state-enacted lockdowns, the rulers have made clear they do not value the lives of workers—particularly African/Black workers. But the people are starting to feel their own power. The radical awareness is out in the streets. There is no turning back.

 

PRESS AND MEDIA


BAP National Organizer Ajamu Baraka hit out with a piece explaining some of his recent social-media comments on the uprisings. He discussed further on RT America’s “The World According to Jesse” and TeleSUR. Ajamu was quoted extensively in an article that took a look at the uprisings from the African revolutionary perspective.

Netfa Freeman, who represents Pan-African Community Action (PACA) on the BAP Coordinating Committee, gave interviews on the uprisings to Press TV, IRINN, Sputnik Radio’s “The Critical Hour” and “By Any Means Necessary”, the Institute for Public Accuracy, and RT America's “Watching The Hawks.”

BAP Coordinating Committee member YahNé Ndgo appeared on Press TV on June 2 and again on June 3 to discuss the uprisings.

Our friends at Popular Resistance write about protecting the uprisings from the ruling class.

We think it’s important you also check out uprisings coverage in Greece, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Trinidad and Tobago, and the so-called Middle East.


EVENTS

  • June 12-14: The Black Is Back Coalition’s online electoral school, “The Ballot or the Bullet: Putting Black Self-Determination on the Ballot,” will focus on the challenges to building Black independent power in the era of the structural violence of COVID-19 lockdowns.  

  • June 16: Join BAP for a webinar, “Rise Up to Shut Down AFRICOM,” being held as part of our ongoing U.S. Out of Africa: Shut Down AFRICOM campaign. This will be a multimedia event that will include panelists from the heart of Africa. The organizational arm of the campaign, the U.S. Out of Africa Network (USOAN), calls on Africans throughout the continent and the diaspora, as well as anti-imperialists everywhere, to mark June 16, Soweto Day, with actions in the spirit of the African youth who rose up against the white supremacist South African government on June 16, 1976. We call for all to “Rise Up to Shut Down AFRICOM.” Registration is required: https://bit.ly/BAP0616 Please use this hashtag on social media: #RiseUpToShutDownAFRICOM

  • June 19: BAP’s Baltimore chapter will host an “Operation Relentless Pursuit Virtual Teach In”, 5 p.m.-8 p.m., EST, on Sunday, June 19. Look out for more information on confirmed speakers and Zoom info.

TAKE ACTION 

  • Take your anti-war activism further by asking your local, state and federal candidates to sign BAP’s 2020 Candidate Accountability Pledge. If you are a candidate, distinguish yourself from the other corporate warmongering candidates by signing the pledge.

  • BAP’s U.S. Out of Africa Network has begun releasing a bi-weekly AFRICOM Watch Bulletin. Sign up to join the network.


No Compromise, No Retreat!

Struggle to win,
Ajamu, Brandon, Dedan, Jaribu, Margaret, Netfa, Paul, Vanessa, YahNé

P.S. Freedom isn’t free. Consider giving today.