‘Live like Rosa Parks—Fight poverty, racism and war’

The Troops Out Now Coalition issued the call in June to mark the 50th anniversary of the day that Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus as a National Day of Absence Against Poverty, Racism and War.

The day took on greater urgency with the continued occupation of Iraq, the government’s blatantly racist response to Hurricane Katrina, and the death of Rosa Parks. Larry Holmes of the Troops Out Now Coalition said, “We felt that, now more than ever, it was important to honor her by attempting to relaunch that movement, and to push the antiwar movement forward by linking the struggle against the war with the struggle against racism and the struggles of working people.”

BOSTON

The streets of Boston were alive with chants, music and speeches. Students were joined by teachers, school bus drivers and monitors, union members, community organizations, LGBT activists, anti-war, women’s rights and anti-police brutality activists, political and religious leaders. There was even a delegation of youth from Montgomery, Ala.

The day started with a rally in the heart of Boston’s African-American community. Representatives from the Somerville 5 Defense Committee spoke of the case of five young Black victims of racial profiling. City Councilor Chuck Turner spoke of the Fund the Dream Coalition/Organizing Committee for the Workers Alliance. Other speakers included City Councilors Felix Arroyo and Charles Yancy.

During the march to City Hall, numbers swelled to over 2,000. When the march approached Boston’s largest high school complex, students poured from the building while others crowded the windows, raising fists and shouting out solidarity.

At Dudley’s bus station, a makeshift people’s memorial to Rosa Parks was dedicated. Dorothea Peacock of the Women’s Fightback Network said, “We pause for a moment at this bus stop as a symbol to thank you on this 50th anniversary to remind some and teach others that freedom is not free.… Rest, Rosa, for today the youth are walking.”

NEW YORK

Students from several high schools kicked off the day with a walkout organized by Mia Cruz of FIST (Fight Imperialism—Stand Together). Speakers included Hector Rivera of the Welfare Poets, LeiLani Dowell of Queers for Peace and Justice, spoken word artist Khalil Khan, Larry Holmes of the Troops Out Now Coalition, youth activists, cultural performers and spoken word artists.

At 2 p.m. people began to fill the streets at Broadway and Wall Street in the downtown financial district. The sidewalks were packed as passersby stopped to listen, take literature and cheer.

New York City Council member Charles Barron spoke of the appropriateness of the venue, saying, “We’re bringing our message right here to Wall Street, to the center of capitalism, to the people who are profiting from war and oppression.”

Even the Wall Street Journal was forced to take note, reporting, “The increasingly vocal war protest crowd has come to Wall Street itself to sound off on peace and social justice in the midst of a stock market rally,” and quoting railroad worker and labor activist Steve Millies describing the passersby: “The majority of the people that we’re getting through to here aren’t traders. They’re the people who build the buildings around here, push the carts and clean up the mess. These are the people who understand what we’re getting at here. There’s no even playing field, and the people at the top are trying to make it as uneven as possible.” (Wall Street Journal, Dec 1)

Speakers included Brenda Stokely, NYC Labor Against the War; Chris Silvera, Teamsters National Black Caucus; Nana Soul, Black Waxx Recordings; a message from political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal; Tiokasin Ghosthorse, host of “First Voices” on WBAI-FM; Rev. Herbert Daughtry, National Pastor of the House of the Lord Church; Viola Plummer, December 12 Movement; Larry Holmes, Troops Out Now Coalition; Nellie Bailey, Harlem Tenants Council; Eric Anders-Nilsson, Jersey City Peace Movement; Samia Halaby, Al-Awda; Teresa Gutierrez, New York Committee to Free the Cuban Five; Prachi Noor, World Can’t Wait; and Clarence Thomas, Co-chair, Million Worker March Movement.

LOS ANGELES

Activists rallied outside the downtown Federal Building in Los Angeles. Speakers included Kelly Hayes-Raitt, a progressive anti-war activist who went to Iraq and is a State Assembly candidate; Don White, CISPES-LA; Harold Green, Coalition for Liberation of West Papua; and Sydney Ross-Risden, Global Women’s Strike.

John Parker of the Los Angeles International Action Center led the press conference, citing the Katrina disaster, attempted state murder of Stanley Tookie Williams and the FEMA hotel deadlines as evidence of the need for a movement that can change the direction of politics in the U.S.—the type of movement sparked by Rosa Parks and the women around the Montgomery bus boycott.

Rufina Juárez of the South Central Farmers, representing 350 families on a communal farm in South Central Los Angeles that is under attack by the city, spoke of how Rosa Parks’ ideals and struggle paralleled their ideals and the challenges facing them:

“Here in Los Angeles, for two and a half years the South Central Farmers have also refused to give up their seat and relinquish their land to a greedy real estate developer.... A major lesson that Rosa Parks taught us is that to eliminate poverty, racism and oppression we have to stand up and fight. ... Aqui estamos y no nos vamos—We are here and will not leave. We are not moving to the back of the bus!”

BALTIMORE

Baltimore marked Rosa Parks Day with a march through the city, followed by a dinner and reception at the UNITE-HERE union hall. Speakers included Andre Powell, Denise Lowery and Sharon Black of the All Peoples’ Congress; City Council members Belinda Conaway and Mary Pat Clarke, who introduced the Baltimore Rosa Parks Day Resolution; Lena Redmon, president of the UNITE-HERE executive board and community action director of the AFL-CIO; and John Reid, SEIU division director of Maryland and D.C.

PHILADELPHIA

In Philadelphia, activists held a speakout at City Hall which included Brother Rob Gray, African American Freedom and Reconstruction League; Haitian activist Ernst Ford; Michael Berg, whose son died in Iraq; Ray Martinez, president of SEIU/PSSU Local 668; Alicia Rivera, Philadelphia International Action Center; lesbian activist Jessie Cocks; Tracy Jor don, African American Heritage Coali tion; Elizabeth Fattah, Suburban Greens and Brother Fred, Avenging the Ancestors Coalition.

Members of the Millions More Move ment and the National Million Woman March announced their campaign for the Rosa Parks National Holiday. Youth and survivors of Hurricane Katrina addressed the gathering.

Speakers were frequently interrupted by horns honking in response to “Honk against PGW [Philadelphia Gas Works] rate hikes” and “Honk against the war!” signs. Many passing by City Hall stopped to get leaflets, listen and join in the speakout.

Protesters marched by the offices of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, where speakers denounced the agency’s racist plans to evict Katrina evacuees from hotels where they are currently sheltered, to end up at the federal building.

SPRINGFIELD, MASS.

In the city described by civil rights leaders in the 1960s as “the Selma of the North,” a teach-in was held at Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) in the heart of the African-American community.

The overflow crowd of students, faculty and community members listened to prominent Springfield African-Americans active in the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s, among them State Rep. Benjamin Swan, Chair of the Massa chu setts Black Legislative Caucus, and Ruth B. Loving, who was part of a delegation that welcomed Rosa Parks to Springfield in 1956.

STCC student Andrea Walker, who organized a protest against police brutality last year, told attendees to “get on the bus” for future anti-war and anti-racism protests. Solobia Hutchins of Arise for Social Justice noted Dec. 1 was World AIDS Day, and raised the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS on people of color throughout the world.

SAN DIEGO

San Diego activists held a street meeting at the corner of Euclid and Imperial, in the center of a mainly Black and Latin@ working class community.

Protesters marched to the Malcolm X Library for a rally and film showing. Speakers included longtime community activist Minister Joe Williams; FIST leader and Chicana and border activist Ruth Vela; Brother Eddie Muhammad, Nation of Islam; Tukufu Kalonji, Seruj Institute of Effective Socialization; Justino Jiménez, political rap artist and FIST activist; and John Parker, West Coast coordinator of the International Action Center.

Gloria Verdieu of the San Diego Action Center noted, “The diversity at the meeting confirmed the possibilities. The attention and support that everyone gave showed how we can link all of our struggles together. This was truly a day to be proud of.”

Actions were also held in Detroit, Atlanta, Durham, N.C., Bremerton, Wash., Bow, Wash., Cedar Falls, Iowa, Imperial Beach, Calif., and as far away as Auckland, New Zealand.

Contributors: Rachel Nasca, Steve Kirschbaum, John Parker, Maggie Vascassenno, Dianne Mathiowetz, Gloria Verdieu, L. Denis, Sharon Black and Betsey Piette.