Nazis in Kalamazoo, MI

[Delirium]

"The Ku Klux Klan has announced plans to hold a rally on Aug. 4 in Kalamazoo. The group says its rally will begin at 1 p.m. but declined to identify the place. Hal Turner, a white supremacist Internet radio personality from New Jersey, is planning the rally. He said in an online post the location would remain secret.

However, a Kalamazoo Public Safety Department source said the rally would be held at 150 E. Crosstown Parkway - the KPSD parking lot. The source did not have a confirmed time for the event."

"Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center said the confirmed speakers were the "most violent" of the white supremacist movement in America. "They represent the worst of the worst," he said."

http://www.pridesource.com/article.shtml?article=25967

"invitations have been extended to nearly every organized white supremacist group from the Aryan Nations to White Revolution. Far from expressing concern about any issues affecting people in Kalamazoo, Hal Turner's event is designed to act as a means of recruiting more people into the white supremacist movement and advancing their racist agenda..... including the Ku Klux Klan, the National Socialist Movement, the Aryan Nations, White Revolution, the National Alliance, the National Vanguard, the Creativity Movement, and members of the prominent racist website ***************"
http://www.mediamouse.org/features/072507call_.php


The rally will be at a copshop (sic), if anyone is interested and needs directions or a place to stay pm me

[Genosse Kotze]

Hahahaha Kalamazoo is the name of an actual place!?!?

[Organic Revolution]

I wish you would have posted this earlier, so I would have had time to organize some Chicago comrades to go up there, and get off work.

[Delirium]

I have been up north so i just heard about it. I wish i had more time to organize too...

[Guerrilla22]

I wish I would have known it was on saturday. No one I talked to knew when or where it was going to be held.

[Delirium]

I ended up going, and it was a success. We outnumbered the fash by about 4-1 and a large cross-section of Kalamazoo's population attend.

Kazoo activists

I just returned from the historic and amazing counter-protest held today in Kalamazoo to oppose the visit by a handful of white supremacists to our city. Hal Turner had broadcast a call for KKK, Nazi and others to come to Kalamazoo for a rally over national radio. There were approximately 20-40 of these bigots behind so many fences and with literally hundreds of police protecting them that it was hard to see how many came, but only a small number for sure.

I think that it is very unfortunate that you assumed from the flyer that this would be a violent/aggressive counter-protest.....although I don't know precisely what the graphic symbolizes, I assumed it was symbolic for smashing racism and a racist symbol, and wasn't meant to be taken literally. I should first say that even though World Can't Wait had nothing to do with the planning, organizing or executing of this protest, we did support it and a few of us attended it. It was planned by the Michigan Coalition Against Racism and people came from GR, Lansing, Ann Arbor and per haps other cities.

It was truly amazing to see hundreds of people peacefully joining to protest racism, homophobia, anti-Semites and other bigotry. The crowd was made up of two main sections--I would say roughly 60-70% youth, both black and white, and the rest white and black adults of all ages. I estimate that the protesters were about 60% white and 40% Black. It was a wonderful and amazing coming together of different races for the same cause , several hundred people in all. We gathered at Bronson Park and then marched to the police station parking lot on Crosstown Pkwy. It was one of the most exciting and energizing protests that I have ever attended, with people chanting anti-racist chants while a sea of blue uniforms with riot gear and weapons formed a barricade between the prot esters and the fenced in parking lot section. There were a few Nazis dressed in all black with swastikas who were outside the "pen" and who taunted the crowd as police on horseback protected them. Their hate speech was virulent but the protesters were chanting so loudly that we drowned out all of the hate and bigotry. Many Black citizens came down to the site and the crowd grew steadily throughout the 3 hours or so. There was enormous unity among the people and no tensions among the Black youth were evident, even after the turf shootings of late and suggested gang activity. We all stood together proudly to reclaim our city from the KKK/Nazi white supremacists. I have never seen such a racially mixed crowd anywhere in Kazoo. In addition, there were gay and lesbian activists, many high school students and many college students. There were also a few people holding signs against anti-Semites.

I handed out orange armbands, ribbons and bandannas with "Drive out the Bush Regime" stamped on them, as well as flyers describing our new "declare it now--wear orange--drive out the Bush Regime" campaign. I was bombarded with people wanting the orange stuff, and before long there was a sea of orange in the crowd....people put the bandannas around their necks or faces, wore the armbands and ribbons, and kept coming back for more. I ran out of stuff and wished I had alot more. I also handed out our Call, which states that "your government enforces a culture of greed, bigotry, intolerance and ignorance."

The mood was very upbeat and people had many very inspiring homemade signs, quoting MLK and other leaders, speaking against racism and all kinds of bigotry. The young people led the march, rally, and the chants and there was a feeling in the air that we can change things. When Blacks, youth, working class folks and others come together like we did today, anything is possible!

When we marched back to Bronson Park, after the police escorted the Nazis' bus out the back. Then, all of the sudden, as we marched down Burdick street by the Food Coop, police attacked the back of the march with their horses. I was marching at the back and I observed police attacking without ANY provocation, quickly separating us and forcing us onto the sidewalks. This was without any WARNING. They all of the sudden became combative and aggressive as we were peacefully marching toward the Park.

There was a standoff at the intersection of Lovell and Burdick where we chanted to let the marchers on the other side join us. They finally were able to cross the street and we proceeded back to Bronson Park. When we arrived,the police didn't want to let us back in the park. We were shocked since we began there and there is a long history of marches ending up back at the park. After some challenges as to why we couldn't go into a public park, the people went in and naturally gravitated to the steps on the stage. The police immediately ran onto the stage and demanded aggressively that people get off the stage and steps.....a young woman didn't leave and was arrested. Then another young woman apparently decided to make a statement by standing on the bottom step and SHE was also arrested. A chant went up, "let her go!"

The police acted like they were purposefully antagonizing the peaceful crowd, both with their very aggressive moves on horseback and with their show of force in riot gear with guns. But the people were not intimidated whatsoever, and continued to chant for another 30 minutes or so.

Then a collection was taken to bail out the two young women and another man who was arrested at the protest site, and a group of people mobilized to go to the jail. The crowd lingered for awhile, and many new faces appeared in the park. Black youth came on their bicycles and other Black people joined us. I think they were heartened to know that so many white people protested against the disgusting racist event.

I am convinced that it was very important for hundreds of us to go up against this arrogant and vicious white supremacy and the hate speech that spewed from their microphones. The Black community knew that we "had their backs" and that they weren't alone. After Katrina and the way Black people were rounded up and put in the Superdome without food or water, and others were shot trying to secure medicine, diapers and food, intimidation of Black people was taken to a new stage. We need to unite with Blacks, Jews, gay and lesbians, immigrants, women and all the other groups that are being attacked. Something very new happened in Kalamazoo today. There was no gang turf being fought over, no tension between whites and blacks, only people coming together to reclaim our town and push back the hate and ignorance.

Joetta Carr
Kalamazoo Chapter--The World Can't Wait

[blackstone]

Thanks for this, i didn't know about it until my cousin who lives down there told me about it a day before it happened. He wanted me to call up the NOI, NBPP and other black groups to counter-protest, but i didn't have enough time. Glad to see the fascist bigots were outnumbered as usual. It burns my soul when youth protesting racists, anti-semites and homophobes are the ones that are arrested or harrassed by cops. I guess some officers decided to work overtime that day instead of participating in the protest. On second thought, they did participate and were paid for their physical aggression towards the protestors!

[Delirium]

Originally posted by blackstone@August 07, 2007 03:55 pm
Thanks for this, i didn't know about it until my cousin who lives down there told me about it a day before it happened. He wanted me to call up the NOI, NBPP and other black groups to counter-protest, but i didn't have enough time. Glad to see the fascist bigots were outnumbered as usual. It burns my soul when youth protesting racists, anti-semites and homophobes are the ones that are arrested or harrassed by cops.

I was disappointed with the number of african-americans that showed up. We should have done some canvasing on the north side to swell our numbers. I didn't help that there were two city sponsored counter rallys the same day, and the local paper wrote a front page article encouraging residents to stay away. It worked out other than some near trampling by horses.

I guess some officers decided to work overtime that day instead of participating in the protest. On second thought, they did participate and were paid for their physical aggression towards the protesters!

The city actually bused them in from over thirty miles away, and then left officers there to protect their vehicles.

[bcbm]

I think that it is very unfortunate that you assumed from the flyer that this would be a violent/aggressive counter-protest.....although I don't know precisely what the graphic symbolizes, I assumed it was symbolic for smashing racism and a racist symbol, and wasn't meant to be taken literally.

Yeah, we wouldn't want people to actually smash fascism.

I handed out orange armbands, ribbons and bandannas with "Drive out the Bush Regime" stamped on them, as well as flyers describing our new "declare it now--wear orange--drive out the Bush Regime" campaign.

Never miss an opportunity to push your stupid liberal campaign.

I think they were heartened to know that so many white people protested against the disgusting racist event.

Its good to assume other people's opinions, especially if that assumption will stroke your liberal identity politics.

I was disappointed with the number of african-americans that showed up.

Sounds like there were several hundred people there, which is nothing to be disappointed about.

[Delirium]

I dont agree with WCW's overall liberal mindset, but i just thought the summary was mostly accurate.

There were a significant number of communist and anarchists there also.

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

He wanted me to call up the NOI, NBPP and other black groups to counter-protest, but i didn't have enough time. Glad to see the fascist bigots were outnumbered as usual.

Good thing the NOI and "NBPP" didn't show, or the "fascist bigots" would have had higher numbers.

The NBPP, if you didn't know, is a quasi-religious anti-semitic "pork chop nationalist" grouping that has zero to do with the Black Panthers.

The NOI, a moralist/nationalist/racist/anti-semitic grouping with their fingerprints all over Malcolm's murder, aren't much better.