Sisters’ Call to Action in Solidarity with “The Squad”

Sisters’ Call to Action in Solidarity with “The Squad”

 “And still we rise.” --  Maya Angelou

The Sexual Predator on Pennsylvania Avenue in his recent vicious attacks on “The Squad”: Ilhan Omar, Ayana Pressley, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Rashida Tlaib, told these women of color to “go back to their crime-infested” countries. All of these women are American citizens. All of these women are proud of their heritage and work for their respective communities. All of these women are being attacked because they fight for the working class, challenge white supremacy, and patriarchy because they are women. They dare to be women who have political conviction around their support of Palestine, their support of Venezuela, and their denunciation of border camps.

We call on all women and their communities to join us in solidarity with “The Squad” by signing this letter, asking others to sign this letter, and joining us on August 28th (the anniversary of the murder of Emmitt Till and in honor of his courageous mother, Mamie Till.) These women who are Somali, Black American, Puerto Rican, Arab, Muslim, and non-Muslim women have fought together for the interests of all communities: workers, women, Latinx, Black, Muslim, LGBTQ, straight, and immigrants against the rich and powerful. If we allow any one of our communities’ human rights to get picked off and pitted against each other, we will all lose. An injury to one is an injury to all!

Trump has tried to erase their legal status as U.S. citizens and tries to make them “the Other.” As we have seen with racist U.S. policy “The Other” dies in prisons. “The Other” suffers in cages. “The Other” is shot down in the street. “The Other” dies face down drowned in raging rivers seeking the asylum that the Statue of Liberty promised. 

But it goes deeper than that. The economic system of the United States and the fascist policies that maintain it were built into how the black population has been controlled and contained from the inception of the U.S. in order to guarantee the labor of African people from slavery in the 1700s  to Jim Crow, during the 1960s, and through today. During slavery, Black women were forced to re-produce the labor force. This is the foundation of this country. Trump is attacking women like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib because they dare to question and fight against America’s unjust economic past and present.  

Trump also attacks reporters and undermines a free press. It is dangerous when one man wants the public to believe that he is the only person to be trusted. This is a hallmark of fascism. Blaming “the Other” as the cause of low wages, unemployment, high rent, high utility bills, high deductibles is what Mussolini and Hitler in WWII and is what Trump is doing now. Blaming “The Other” is what fascism does. 

We stand with them in solidarity and show our collective outrage by signing this letter, asking others to sign this letter, and joining us. If you want to include your signature (individual or on behalf of your organization) then please contact Shafeah M'Balia at jazznjustice@gmail.com.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 31, NOON

THOMAS FOREMAN PARK (5^th & Nash), GREENVILLE, NC

ENDORSERS SO FAR (8/14/19):

Organization Endorses:

-NC Black Women’s Roundtable

-SpiritHouse, Durham, NC

-Muslim Women For, Raleigh, NC

-Muslims for Social Justice
-Women’s Commission, Black Workers For Justice
-Action NC RAGE
-Black Workers For Justice
-Coalition Against Racism, Greenville, NC
-Southerners On New Ground (SONG)

Individual Endorsers:

-Rosa Saavedra, Companeras Campesinas, Raleigh, NC/Puerto RICO

-Nathanette Mayo, former pres., UE 150, Fruit of Labor, Raleigh, NC

-Rukiya Dillahunt, former president, Wake ACT; board, Fertile Ground Food Co-op, NC

-Naeema Muhammad,  NC Environmental Justice Network, Rocky Mount, NC

-Willie Roberts, Coalition Against Racism, Greenville, NC

-Gloria De Los Santos,

-Larsene Taylor, DownEast  Coal Ash Coalition, former pres., UE150, Blueprint, Goldsboro, NC

-Erin Dale, Raleigh, NC

-Lora Tate, Grifton, NC /BWFJ/BWMG

-Shafeah M’Balia, BWFJ, MSJ, IJAN, Rocky Mt., NC/Savannah, GA

-Ashaki Binta, BWFJ, North Star Services, Cambridge, MD

-Naa Norley-Adom, Durham, NC

-Kathy Knight, BWFJ, Tillery, NC

-Jaki Shelton Green, Mebane, NC

-Shemekka Ebony, Raleigh, NC

-Tanya Wallace-Gobern, National Black Workers Centers Project, Raleigh, NC

-Kim Eng, MD, Rocky Mount Racial Justice Group, Rocky Mount, NC

-Evelyn Powell, Edgecombe Co. Board of Commissioners, Battleboro, NC

-Patrice Jacobs, Pres., Long Leaf Chapter, NC Public Service Workers Union, UE150, Wilson, NC

-Sekia Royal, Vice Pres., NC Public Service Workers Union, UE150

-Tonjur McDuffie,  Goldsboro, NC

-Hattie Gatlin,  Goldsboro, NC

-Fatimah Afif Adekola, Philadelphia, PA