So Cal comrades

[FatFreeMilk]

I'm not a member of the raza right coalition but that doesn't matter. Come out and show some support if you can.




Compañeras and Compañeros of the Raza Rights Coalition and Supporters,

As you already know, last Saturday September 23rd, the Mexican community- lead by the organized sector of the Mexican working class in this region- defended National City and reclaimed our streets from the neo-nazi settlers, known as the San Diego Minutemen. This most violent sector of the gringo settler population now threaten to bring reinforcements to descend on National City and continue to spread their hate against Raza.

The Raza Rights Coalition will not allow this to go unchallenged. We will not stand by and allow our people to be threatened or intimidated by these forces. For this reason we call on our members and supporters to join us again this Saturday September 30th at 11:00am at National City Blvd. & 8th Ave. and stand in struggle with us to oppose these acts of hostility aimed at our community.

We seek to clarify to all of our supporters, that the Raza Rights Coalition recognizes the capitalist state as the primary organized structure of oppression that affect our ability to live in peace with justice. We believe that the police/immigration departments, the courts, congress, and the president of the U.S. empire as the most dangerous elements who threaten our peoples and our rights; not these Minutemensos.

A Sanctuary Declaration will not win our freedom from the racist laws that currently governs over our lives; Liberation from this oppression can only be achieved through organization independent of the capitalist state. We demand Solutions Not Simulation!

Our history as an organization demonstrates our principled commitment to our right as a people to Self-Determination and our right as a people to defend our dignity.

Unidos Venceremos
Raza Rights Coaliton
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c107/beliaca/ShowLetter-2.jpg

[Tekun]

Im no where near National City...good luck to them, even if they do sound like ethnic nationalists :P

[FatFreeMilk]

We don't need luck. Last weekend we outnumbered the minutemen 3 to 1. Obviously they didn't like this because it was supposedly going to be their biggest rally. That was a failure for them so they're gonna try again on Saturday.

Nothing's gonna change this time around, except that we're going to have even more people than last time.

But yeah, if anybody else can show up, that'd be great!

[Zero]

Next time rough up the Minuteklan. =)

[FatFreeMilk]

I just got back from a protest in LA tonight. This one was for unionizing hotel workers over there on the strip. I met Immortal Technique and he signed our banner Cheah Boyeee! Oh and I saw Tom Morello get arrested for civil disobedience. Ben Harper was ther too.

Video here. (http://cbs2.com/topstories/local_story_272014130.html) Check it out mayn.

[Tekun]

^Yeah, I heard about it and saw it on TV
Would of been there had today not been the first day of school :(
That many "celebrities?"

The thing that bothered me was the entire organizational aspect of it
I'm all for their struggle (protesting for immigrant workers rights and their right to unionize)
But Im not feeling how they consulted with the police, making sure everything went according to plan, their cooperation with the 5O....
I even heard that some of the protestors had filled out all the paperwork down at the police station for when they were to be arrested

What was your take on it?

[FatFreeMilk]

Actually, the people getting arrested had submitted their info prior to the even itself. When they were being taken away, there was like a "sign in" table before they boarded the (charter!) bus waiting for them.

And yeah that kind of striked me as wtf kind of response but whatever. At one point I heard a lady telling the crowd something like " And a big thank you to the LA police department for keeping us all safe" blah blah . I know people didn't take her seriously when they started chanting " La migra! La Policia! La misma porqueria!" =D

All in all it was cool, even if it felt kind of like a fair at the beginning with Ben Harper performing. That doesn't mean I didn't mind hearing hm though. Immortal technique wasn't the most welcoming person there :/

[godisdead]

yea i was there too.

immortal tech was really stand offish.


the protest went according to the organizers plan. i didnt exactly agree with the whole complete cooperation but then again i didnt do ne of the organzing or leg work leading up the the event.


ppl i know that work in the union said it was a success.

:ph34r:

[FatFreeMilk]

What org were you with? Do you think you can come to national city tomorrow???

It was nice to see the minutemen show up last night. They have to get used to being outnumbered no matter where they go.


The Guardian of all papers even did an article on last night :

http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journa...rticle_continue (http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,,1883908,00.html#article_continue)



A set down protest
Dan Glaister reports on a demonstration that was so well-planned, organisers told police which people would be arrested

Dan Glaister
Friday September 29, 2006
Guardian Unlimited

For once, the news, even the sluggish print news, was ahead of events. Roads would be blocked, traffic would be gridlocked, 1-2,000 demonstrators would take part, and 420 of them would be arrested. The police even had their names. All this was reported almost 24 hours before the protest got under way.
In a bizarre piece of event planning, the organisers of a march to raise awareness of the plight of immigrant workers in the hotel industry had enlisted the help of the LAPD, not previously renowned for its sympathetic approach toward protesting workers.

Like rival 19th century generals drawing up battle plans, the two sides agreed the location, they colluded on the timing and they even conspired on the numbers of protesters. To help ease the arrest process, organisers provided the police with a list of those who would be arrested in advance. A special car park was set up for the chosen ones, and they were instructed to hand their car keys over to march organisers, as well as any valuables such as wedding rings. Such items, they were told, can slow down the pace of both arrest and release.

The police were provided with driving licence numbers for the 420 (six of the proposed arrestees were told that perhaps it may not be a good idea for them to be arrested), and the organisers told police that to make their job even easier those on the list would wear armbands and carry white placards, easily distinguishable from the yellow placards to be carried by the rest of the protesters.

A FAQ sheet prepared by the union for the protesters included such questions as "What do we do to get arrested?" "How long will I be in jail?" and "Where should I park at LAX?"

The march was an attempt to bring attention to a long-running struggle for workers' rights. Hotel workers in Los Angeles, and particularly those in the 13 hotels around LAX - Los Angeles airport - are underpaid and unrepresented. The Unite Here union organised the march to coincide with a day of a national immigrant rights protests.

Of the three thousand workers employed by the hotels around LAX, 80% of them are immigrants and their wages are 20% below the going rate for the same job in the rest of the Los Angeles area, according to Unite. None of the workers in the 13 hotels gathered around the airport are unionised.

At 6.10pm, as arranged, some 200 protesters sat down in the middle of the road outside the airport Hilton. The march had started 40 minutes before, closing one of the main roads to the airport in one direction and causing rush-hour havoc for anyone trying to get close to LAX.

The anti-immigrant Minutemen had seized on the proximity of the protests to the airport as a reason to make their own presence felt. A Republican candidate for the state assembly in the coming elections told the Los Angeles Times that he had obtained a permit for a counter protest because the threat to the airport constituted "an act of domestic terrorism".

At 6.18, TV news correspondents outside the Hilton reported excitedly on the coming arrests. By 6.33, the tone was slightly more weary. "Still no arrests," announced one correspondent. But, thankfully, this piece of street theatre went according to script. Around 7pm the arrests started. Three hundred compliant protesters were taken away by well-mannered police. The fate of the remaining 120 arrestees remained unknown. After having their mug shot taken on the street, the detainees were placed on buses to be taken into custody.

But why did the police and the protesters get together to organise the march?

"They wanted to make sure it was the most peaceful event possible," said Unite's Paulina Gonzalez, speaking as the march set off. "Our target is not the police. We called them a couple of months ago and told them we were planning this event. In LA County they have about 500 arrests a day. We're about to double that."

Others speculate that there might be a political motive behind the LAPD action. The police have a strong union and "more of a union consciousness than the general public", author Lou Cannon told the LA Times. "It's also that we're in an age where the police and the union are quite sophisticated. There's something in this for both sides."

:huh:

[Tekun]

Props to both of ya for attending :D
I heard that the organizers felt it was a turning point in their struggle
Good to hear

So Mr Tech seemed a lil arrogant....c'mon now Techie :rolleyes:

[Rawthentic]

So is the Raza Rights Coalition a pretty big organization or what? Im not interested if they are nationalist though.

[FatFreeMilk]

Is anybody coming or what???




I'll answer your question later Hasta...

[FatFreeMilk]

Originally posted by [email protected] 29 2006, 03:37 PM
So is the Raza Rights Coalition a pretty big organization or what? Im not interested if they are nationalist though.
Raza righte Coaliion is big I guess but Saturday's protest wasn't really all about them, ya know? There was people from all sorts of organizations, not just them. They are pretty into Mexican issues and stuff, but they do recognize that human rights is the bigger picture. In this part of the world, it's "la raza" that's faces a lot of problems.

Saturday was fucking awesome though! There was so many people on our side. The minutmen (mensomen) have no heart so they left really early. We still had like 400 people to like 1 at the end of the protest. It was actually more of like a celebration. As they were leaving I was singing na na na na, na na na na, Hey Hey Hey, Goodbye over a blowhorn. They did not like that shit haha. But yeah, I had fun, even though there was an enormous police presence there that wasn't even necessary.

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

I'm not digging the collab with the pigs though. Fuck them.