MLK Jr. Days of Action
Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Martin Luther King, Jr.
San Francisco Reclaim MLK Day Citywide Homeless Peoples Popular Assembly
On Tuesday, January 17 the San Francisco Coalition on Homelessness held a special homeless people’s popular assembly in front of City Hall. The SF COH has been holding these assemblies in encampments across the city to build power and make sure that the people coming up with solutions towards ending homelessness are the people who are directly impacted by homelessness. This popular assembly was part of the call from the Anti-Police Terror Project for 120 hours of direct action to #ReclaimMLK and Martin Luther King Jr.’s radical vision of freedom. Around 75 young people, elders, community organizers, advocates and revolutionaries came together to speak their truth. After the popular assembly ended, organizers walked the halls of City Hall to deliver a letter demanding an end to the incessant anti-homeless ordinances and criminalization of homeless people’s existence.
Los Angeles Caravan of Justice
Los Angeles Community Action Network took the streets! First stop on the #J20 #CaravanofJustice: LA Men’s Central Jail! #LetsGetFree #AltWrong #BlackLivesMatter. The second stop on the #J20 #CaravanofJustice: The Bel Air Home of Trump Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs boss and hedge funder who made millions taking the homes of countless working families during the foreclosure crisis. #ResistTrump #BlackLivesMatter #AltWrong #NotMyPresident
Portland The Struggle for Justice Continues
On Saturday, January 21 WRAP organizers from Oregon (Right 2 Survive, Sisters of the Road and Street Roots) joined in the MLK day festivities with a march across town stopping at Right 2 Dream 2, meeting up with the women’s march and ending at the Sisters of the Road café for music, community love and Sister’s famous chili.
Berkley Vigil for Laura Jadwin FTCFTH
First they came for the Homeless held a vigil for Laura Jadwin, who died homeless of exposure in Berkeley a few days ago, addressing the issue of criminalization of poor people in Berkley and most important “stability as the most needed thing in the homeless community”. The vigil end it whit a police raid. Click here to see video Mike Zint, First they came for the homeless.
Oakland St. Mary’s Center Celebrates Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Last Thursday on January 19th St. Mary’s Center held a special MLK event in Oakland. There was food, art and speakers talking abut the radical legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. Mary’s Center’s elders spoke their truth of experiencing rapidly gentrifying Oakland and the criminalization that comes along with it.
WRAP wanted to give a shout out to the Anti-Police Terror Project for pulling off a really impactful and inspiring 120 hours of direct action. This is the third year in the Bay Area that APTP has called for direct action to #ReclaimMLK and his radical work to transform society. This year’s action also intersected with actions against the Trump presidency and building up our collective power to be #Ungovernable.
At WRAP, we especially appreciate APTP’s analysis around the intersections of anti-blackness, gentrification, criminalization and homelessness.
Some inspiring freedom fighting:
Organizers with the #120Hours of direct action shut down a Cal Trans train that transports largely tech workers to the Silicon Valley. They also held space for the encampment that was recently displaced from that spot. Click here for pictures & video>>>
Organizers last Saturday took over a park on 36th and MLK Way in Oakland to create a visionary encampment for unhoused people. The purpose of this encampment is meant to call Oakland out for their inability to house their residents, particularly their black and brown residents. Click here to see pictures.
On MLK day, organizers from the Black Land Liberation Initiative took over St. Andrew’s Plaza in the name of Black joy. St. Andrew’s Plaza was a longtime place where street based people could gather, be in community and take care of each other. The majority of these residents were black people pushed out of gentrifying Oakland. This action reclaimed this space as a to be with community again and reclaim the radical legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Click here Click here for pictures/more info
