U&A: ALL OUT FOR MAY 1 & 2! (In text, pdf & .docx)
Phil Wilayto
Updates & Announcements
A service of THE VIRGINIA DEFENDER newspaper - Editorial Board: Ana Edwards & Phil Wilayto
April 29, 2021
Twenty-nine years ago, after a jury acquitted four police officers in the 1991 videotaped beating of Black motorist Rodney King, a widespread rebellion broke out in South Central Los Angeles. Violence continued for six days in the largely Black and Latino neighborhood, with property damages estimated at $1 billion. Fifty-four people were killed and thousands more were injured. The rebellion resulted in the federal government bringing new charges against the officers. This time, they were found guilty. Lesson to be drawn: It’s not the community that teaches that only rebellions bring Justice. It’s the system itself.
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The Winter/Spring 2021 edition of The Virginia Defender is out,
online & on the streets! Read it HERE.
Information is Power - Help bring Power to the People!
Take a bundle of newspapers to distribute in your neighborhood, workplace, school and at actions.
Email: Defend...@hotmail.com - or call / text: 804.644.5834.
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ALL OUT FOR MAY 1 & 2!
May 1 is International Workers Day, a time to show solidarity with the struggles of working people all over the world. This year we will have two opportunities to do this: first on May Day itself, and then on May 2, the 7th anniversary of the 2014 Odessa Massacre, when a fascist-let mob trapped scores of anti-fascists in the House of Trade Unions in Odessa, Ukraine, set it on fire and murdered more than 40 people.
The Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality coordinate the Odessa Solidarity Campaign, which we founded in 2016 after returning from a journey to Odessa to stand with the people of that city in the face of threats of more fascist attacks on the second anniversary of the massacre. We invite you to join us on Sunday, May 2, here in Richmond, for another show of solidarity. Please see the information for May 2 below.
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Unbelievably sad
The Defenders wish to convey our deepest sympathy for the victims of an utterly senseless tragedy that happened April 27 on Richmond’s South Side.
Five people - two women, two girls and a 3-month-old baby girl - were shot when a group of young people opened fire across an open courtyard where children were playing. Those who died were 30-year-old Sharnez Hill and her 3-month-old daughter, Neziah Hill. Also shot but now reported to be in stable condition were a 29-year-old woman and two young girls, ages 11 and 15. Police say all the victims were innocent bystanders to the violence.
The tragedy took place at the Belt Atlantic Apartments on Midlothian Turnpike on Richmond’s South Side. A community vigil was held the following day to remember the victims and call for an end to violence in
the city. Three young men, ages 19, 22 and 23, have been arrested.
Across the country, gun violence has risen dramatically during the pandemic. Poverty, racism, drugs, the lack of decent-paying jobs for our youth and a sense of utter hopelessness about the future have combined with the pressures of the pandemic to produce tragedy after tragedy.
Please, sisters and brothers - we need you to take care of each other, not take each others’ lives.
Your lives matter. Please.
Family and friends of Aajah Rosemond plant trees April 26 at Richmond’s Thomas Boushall Middle School in honor of the 16-year-old who was fatally struck by a car last October. Photo by Ana Edwards
Young victim of tragic traffic accident remembered
in community tree-planting ceremony
Family members, friends, other concerned community members along with city officials gathered April 26 at Thomas Boushall Middle School to remember Aajah Rosemond. The 16-year-old girl was killed last October when a car at the intersection of Jahnke and German School roads on South Side was hit by another car, forcing it onto the sidewalk where Aajah was walking. The second driver was charged with a traffic violation.
Aajah was an alumna of Thomas Boushall and a student at George Wythe High School.
The memorial program was organized by Yesmine Bethea, Aajah’s grandmother, who delivered the eulogy. Among the other speakers were Aajah’s mother, Khrystal Bethea.
Please, folks, SLOW DOWN!
VCU adjunct professors prepare to march April 26 through VCU campus after announcing their decision to organize a union. VCU university and health system is the area’s largest employer. Photo by Kat McNeil
VCU ADJUNCTS VOTE TO UNIONIZE!
A group of adjunct professors at VCU called Adjuncts Organizing for Fair Pay (See the story in the most recent issue of The Virginia Defender) held a rally and march April 26 to announce that its members have unanimously voted to join United Campus Workers-VCU, a union that will be open to all VCU workers.
On May 1, International Workers Day, they will hold a community event at Abner Clay Park to explain their struggle to the community. What a great way to spend May Day! The Defenders have been invited to have a literature table, so drop by and say hi while showing support for this unbelievably low-paid workforce.
Note: The VCU university and health system are “the largest employer in the Richmond area, with more than 17,744 full-time and 6,490 part-time employees, including 2,551 full-time instructional faculty members.” (VCU News Stats & Facts) A successful unionization campaign at this giant employer would be a game-changer for the city - and the South as a whole. So let’s show some love and come out May 1!
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Sat., May 1 - SACRED GROUND CLEAN-UP FOR MAY DAY - Join us on International Workers Day for the Defenders’ second monthly safely-distanced, outdoor get-together at Richmond’s African Burial Ground / Shockoe Bottom Memorial Park. We will honor the enslaved and free working women and men of early Richmond by cleaning up the trash that the City should be taking care of. Bring your gloves - we’ll provide the trash bags. Look for us between 11 am and 12:30 pm at the Devil’s Half-Acre (site of Lumpkin’s jail) and the African Burial Ground. Parking is in the lot near the Winfree Cottage/Lumpkin’s jail site. Hosted by the Defenders’ Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project.
Sat., May 1 - MAY DAY MUTUAL AID MARCH - “By the people for the people - Noon, Monroe Park. Bring food, water, clothes, diapers, formula, Narcan. Supply Drive 11 am - 6 pm April 30 at VCU Compass. We Protect Us. Solidarity Forever. BLOC UP.” (Information from an Instagram post.)
Sun, May 2 - SAY NO TO FASCISM AT HOME & ABROAD! - Join the Defenders for a display of solidarity with the people of Odessa, Ukraine, and anti-fascists everywhere. We will gather from 2-3 pm outside the Federal Courthouse at 701 E. Broad St. in downtown Richmond. Other vigils will take place around the world as part of an International Day of Solidarity initiated by the Odessa Solidarity Campaign, which the Defenders founded in 2016.
On May 2, 2014, just a few months after a right-wing coup supported by both the U.S. government and openly neo-Nazi organizations overthrew the elected president of Ukriane, a fascist-led mob set fire to Odessa’s House of Trade Unions, murdering at least 42 people trapped inside who had opposed the coup. In 2016, the Defenders organised a delegation of U.S. activists to travel to Odessa as International Observers at the city’s second annual May 2 memorial, which the fascist organizations were threatening to attack.
The message this May 2 will be to commemorate the 7th anniversary of the Odessa Massacre and support the demand for an international investigation into this tragedy, something the Ukrainain government has yet to allow.
For more information, visit the website of the Odessa Solidarity Campaign.
May 6 - AN ONLINE CONVERSATION ON PEACE, RUSSIA AND THE UNITED STATES WITH VLADIMIR KOZIN AND RAY MCGOVERN - Vladimir P. Kozin is a Member of the Russian Academy of the Natural Sciences; the Expert Group, Foreign Relations Committee, Russian Senate; and a Leading Expert at the Center of Military-Political Studies, Moscow State Institute of International Relations. Ray McGovern is a former CIA analyst who in 2003 co-created Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) to expose how intelligence was being falsified to “justify” war on Iraq. Ray is a member of the Advisory Board of the Odessa Solidarity Campaign. 1-2:30 pm - Sponsored by World Beyond War. You can sign up to attend this event HERE.
Sun., May 16 - RPIP ONLINE FILM SALON - Voices from the Holy Land, in conjunction with Richmonders for Peace in Israel-Palestine and the Arab American Association of Central Virginia invites you to their 13th Online Film Salon. 1 pm EST. Participants will discuss the award-winning documentary film “Mayor.” You may watch the film at your convenience and then join in for the online discussion. You must register to view the film and access the Zoom discussion. Register here: tinyURL.com/VFHLmay2021
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