Black Lives Matter/End Islamophobia Forum at UE150 Biannual Convention

North Carolina Public Workers Union, UE Local 150, organized biannual convention in Raleigh on July 16-17, 2016. Delegates from 16 workplaces from across the state gathered to discuss the current political landscape, to support the Black Lives Matter movement, and show important gains of the Fight for $15 movement and plan steps for the next 2 years of struggle! UE Local 150 is rank-and-file and predominantly Black workers led organization. Nationally, UE (United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America) is one of the most progressive unions in the country that believes in workers empowerment than business unionism. UE has embraced the movement for BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) against Israeli occupation, based on a motion by UE Local 150 chapter. This makes UE the only national union to adopt such a measure.

During the convention, a panel on Black Lives Matter and Ending Islamophobia was organized. This invited speeches by Danielle Purifoy from Durham Beyond Policing and Manzoor Cheema from Muslims for Social Justice. This panel explored the theme of police oppression and envisioning a future without policing. Islamophobia is an extension of anti-Black racism and it is increasingly employed as a divide-and-conquer strategy. The following is the speech on Islamophobia:

"Islamophobia, or bigotry against Muslims, is an extension of anti-Black racism. Islam and Muslims are not a race, but they have been reduced to a race or racialized. We should also keep in mind that a significant number of Muslims are Black Muslims. Significant number of Muslims came to the USA through slavery. About 30% of slaves were Muslims. Their religion and heritage was robbed. After slavery, many Black people converted or reverted to Islam and established some of the first mosques in the country. Large number of immigrant Muslims came to the USA after 1965 visa policy change that allowed Black and Brown immigrants to come to the USA. This was a result of the civil rights movement's demand to increase quote for non-European immigrants. As immigrant Muslims, we owe a debt to Black Muslims and anti-racism movement.

Islamophobia, like other oppressions, is a result of the crisis of capitalism. Capitalist forces have always required tools to divide people and pit victims of exploitation against each other. Working class whites have historically supported anti-Black policies that have also hurt their class interests. As the country witnesses one of the highest inequalities in more than 100 years; capitalist and white supremacist forces employ homophobia, xenophobia against immigrants and Islamophobia to further divide-and-conquer working and oppressed people. The work by UE Local 150, the largest rank-and-file public workers union in North Carolina, is exemplary in building intersectional movement. UE Local 150 is led by Black workers and has brought Black Liberation perspective to labor organizing. UE Local 150 has also supported global anti-colonial movements, namely support of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against the Israel occupation. Your achievement in working outside the “business unionism” model and connecting issues of race, class, gender, sexuality (UE150 came out strongly against transphobic HB2 law) and wars abroad is an inspiration for progressive allies.

As Muslims for Social Justice, we are committed to linking the movement against Islamophobia with Black Liberation and worker rights movement. We do not take the issue of solidarity lightly. Solidarity is beyond sentimentality. Our goal is to organize Muslims working class and link them with the movement led by Black Workers for Justice and UE Local 150. This organizing work in the Muslim community and joining the broader workers and progressive movement is essential to topple the oppressive balance of power. Nothing short of that will solve the root cause of oppression. Muslims for Social Justice will launch a paper “Muslims Workers” soon that will be used as an organizing tool in Muslim working places. We look forward to learning from and developing a longterm partnership with Black Workers for Justice and UE Local 150, as we launch this important chapter of organizing Muslims workers."

Here are pictures from the event

From Mourning to Organizing for Justice

Anti-colonial writer Frantz Fanon exclaimed decades ago, “When we revolt, it's not for a particular culture. We revolt simply because, for many reasons, we can no longer breathe!” His prophetic words became a tragic reality for Eric Garner who repeated "I can't breathe" eleven times as he died on July 14, 2014, while in a chokehold by a New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer. I can't breathe has become a metaphor for oppressive survival in a racist society.

There was an outrage when images of Alton Sterling being shot multiple times circulated on the media. Sterling was killed while he was held to the ground by Louisiana police officers. This outrage turned into a revolt when, just one day later, a video of fatal shooting of Philando Castile, this time by a Minnesota police officer, circulated on the media. Anti-racism activists mobilized across the country against these killings. However, they were quickly demonized in the wake of the tragic shooting of five police officers in Dallas, TX. Before the dust settled on Dallas tragedy, former Illinois Congressman Joe Walsh declared on Twitter, "3 Dallas Cops killed, 7 wounded. This is now war. Watch out Obama. Watch out black lives matter punks. Real America is coming after you." What started as a revolt against police brutality was met with an immediate attempt to criminalize the movement and suffocate dissent. 

Mourning the death of Sterling and Castile, and not allowing the Dallas tragedy dampen the #BlackLivesMatter movement, were major themes during vigils in Raleigh. North Carolina-based Black Workers for Justice, condemned police brutality and institutional racism. They also emphasized the need to raise voice against other oppressions, including Islamophobia. Muslims have been all too familiar when tragic instances are hijacked to de-humanize the entire Muslim community. Black Workers for Justice statement read:

"We must not be deterred from challenging these police killings of our people. Like the mainstream media and government efforts to use the Orlando, FL, massacre to promote Islamophobia, the Dallas, TX, shootings of police will be another attempt to place the blame on the movement for Black liberation highlighted by the slogan Black Lives Matter."

Raleigh has seen police brutality of its own when Black youth Akiel Denkins was killed by a Raleigh police officer on February 29, 2016. His killing led to the establishment of a coalition demanding justice in policing, called Raleigh PACT or Police Accountability Community Taskforce. PACT played a key role in organizing the vigil to create a space for mourning and healing in the wake of murders of Denkins, Sterling, Castile and a Black man Jerry Williams killed in Asheville on July 2, 2016. Denkin's mother, Rolanda Byrd, spoke against police brutality and called for justice during the vigil. "It has taken a tragedy, the five officers that were killed in Dallas, to wake up the conversation on how black families are being treated on a daily basis," Byrd said during her speech.

The fact that Alton Sterling was killed while selling CDs and Eric Garner was killed while selling loose cigarettes has highlighted the oppressive subsistence living conditions for many Black Americans, whose real crime is being Black and poor. During a prayer vigil at As-Salaam Islamic Center in Southeast Raleigh, there was a call for diverting money to Black-owned businesses and banks. South East Raleigh has established a Black and Brown led food co-op, called Fertile Ground, in a predominantly Black neighborhood designated by the local government as a “food desert”. Building indigenous economy and providing healthy food to the marginalized communities are at the core of co-op's mission of grassroots empowerment.

The recent murders of Black people have taken place at a distance, but they are close to the lived experience of many in North Carolina. After mourning, there was a movement in the community to organize for justice.

Response to the Orlando Massacre

Statement on Orlando Massacre from Salma Mirza, a queer Muslim who is a member of Movement to End Racism and Islamophobia(MERI) and Muslims for Social Justice

I am heartbroken about this attack on my community, as most of those killed were LGBTQ people of color. The flyer for the event was of Black and Latina trans women and we have a national climate that targets these communities.

As a queer Muslim, I watched the story unfold in shock and grief. I’ve been dancing in those clubs. My friends have been in those clubs. It could have been any one of us. Those clubs are one of the few places we can feel free. As I’ve been trying to process and grieve this tragedy, I see Donald Trump using this tragedy to renew his call for a ban on Muslims. Before the bodies have been taken out of the building, before all their loved ones have been contacted, it’s already been used to justify hatred against Muslims. The killing of my people is being used to justify the killing of my people.

I am horrified that this tragedy is being used to call for restrictions of the civil liberties of Muslims. While the Muslim community may need to struggle with homophobia, so too does our country. In the first 10 weeks of 2016, over 200 pieces of anti-LGBT legislationwere introduced in 34 states. The day after HB2 passed, I got arrested in front of the Governor’s mansion with other queer and trans people fighting that attack on our community. As my queer Tennessean friend Thomas Walker said, the queer people of color trapped in Pulse hid in whatever bathroom they thought they were most likely to survive in, not whichever one matched their birth certificate. The right-wing is passing bills attacking trans people in bathrooms while trans people hid from their killer in the Pulse bathroom to try and survive. There was a white guy that they caught in LA on his way to LA Pride with guns and ammo and bomb-making equipment. Like him, Omar Mateen was an American. Donald Trump may say he’s foreign-born, but he was born in New York. He was a fan of the NYPD. He is a home-grown criminal. America as a whole needs to struggle with hatred and fear of LGBTQ people.

Mateen was a domestic abuser, like another killer, George Zimmerman. Despite this, he had no criminal record. As we’ve seen in the Stanford rape case, toxic masculinity is an American problem. He was born and socialized in America. He internalized these lessons.

Mass shootings are an American problem, not an “over there” problem. There have been136 instances of mass shooting in 2016 alone. More than 400,000 people have died from gun violence in the past 10 years. The overwhelming majority of shooting deaths in the United States are committed by non-Muslims. This is an American problem, when shooters like Omar Mateen have access to buying assault style rifles. No one should have access to buy these guns that are often used in mass shootings. We need common sense gun control in this country.

At Movement to End Racism and Islamophobia (MERI), we believe in building an intersectional movement to fight all forms of oppression – homophobia, Islamophobia, racism, sexism, attacks on workers, attacks on immigrants and all other oppressions. Hatred will win only if we are divided by fear. We want to build a powerful movement based on love and liberation for all people. We call upon people from all backgrounds to join our network and help us build a more loving and just community.

(From left) Noah Rubin-Blose, Salma Mirza and Jade Brooks, during a protest against House Bill 2 in front on North Carolina Executive Mansion on March 24, 2016.
Photo by Matthew Lenard

A version of this article was published in The News and Observer:

May Day Statement of Solidarity with Peasant Movement in Pakistan

Two weeks ago, the Pakistani military and police launched yet another operation against landless peasant activists by raiding their houses at night and kidnapping several key members of the landless tenant association in the Pakistani province of Punjab, Anjuman Mazareen Punjab (AMP). This search and arrest operation was carried out without warrants using draconian powers given to the law-enforcement agencies (LEAs) by anti-terrorism laws. The operation was carried out on the eve of the International Peasants Day to prevent AMP from holding a large peasants’ convention. The kidnapped include women, students, peasants, and the General Secretary of AMP, Mr. Meher Abdul Sattar – these activists are being detained and tried as terrorists, while another 4,000 have been collectively charged with terrorism and colonial-era crime of disrupting of the political order. Those who have come out in support to protest against state violence and police brutality have had to face baton charges, tear gas, and armored vehicles.

We stand in solidarity with AMP and its allies in Pakistan, including trade and labor unions and the socialist Awami Workers Party (AWP) and demand the immediate release of all arrested. We condemn the use of force to prevent peaceful protests. We condemn the arrest of political activists and the use of terrorism and criminal charges against political activists, peasants and workers. 

This pattern of state violence and police brutalities has become all too familiar in Pakistan. Anti-terrorism laws are used against factory workers, labor unions, peasant farmers, student activists, and political workers across the country. Last August, LEAs destroyed the largest informal settlement (shantytown) in Islamabad and charged 64 locals with terrorism. Similar charges have resulted in the sentencing of a total of 490 years to six power loom workers in the large industrial metropolis of Faisalabad, and prosecution of peasants in other rural areas. 

 In Okara, this latest episode of state violence is a manifestation of the ongoing oppressive tactics used by the Pakistani military against the 17-year long resistance by third and fourth generation occupancy tenants who till the 16,000 acres of state-owned and military-controlled farmland. These lands were colonized by the British and irrigated through large canals, and new villages were created to house tenants in the early 20^th century. Today, much of the state-owned land is controlled by the Pakistani military, which unlike traditional military organization has large stakes in the economic and political structures of Pakistan—it is the largest landowner, controls the largest business and industrial conglomerate in the country, has directly ruled for over 32 years, and controls almost a third of the federal budget.  The military as an institution benefits from control over rural and urban lands, and profits from the control over means of production are distributed to the rank and file, with the largest share of the pie given to high-ranking military officers.  In 2000, the military administration of the Okara Farms switched from the century-old system of sharecropping tenancy that benefitted peasants to contract based farming, which allowed for increasing rents and profits and creating the legal justification for forcible evictions. These measures were met with local resistance as peasants organized under the banner of AMP. But the military has used strong handed tactics which has resulted in the loss of dozens of lives, and injuries and arrests of thousands.

Military violence against peasants is part of a neo-colonial, neo-feudal, neoliberal hybrid form of rule. Imperial wars and destruction of nature is another important dimension of this violent rule.   The development of large-scale irrigation over the last century, first by the British colonizers and later by the IMF and WB working through the Pakistani military-state have resulted in large scale, slow-moving ecological destruction that has put Pakistan on the frontline of global climate change. The collusion of international financial institutions (IFIs) and military-state has also prevented land reforms in the country, depriving those who till the land from access and ownership rights. This violence is supported and worsened by the US-led War on Terror, which has become an instrument to enforce neoliberal policies throughout the Muslim world. The USA has used anti-terror legislation to stifle dissent and victimize progressive activists within the USA. Such practices in the USA have inspired Pakistan and other US ally states to introduce their own anti-terror legislation, which strengthens the state’s hand against workers, peasants, and activists. The US, Pakistan and other players in this global war continue to unleash violence against civilian populations while sponsoring their favorite brand of militant-fascist proxy groups, who for their part justify horrible and inhumane violence against minority groups, women, and political activists by drawing on limited, narrow interpretations of religion. In the US this hatred feeds into Islamophobia and racism against Muslims, furthering the cycle of violence. These are the multiple intertwined strands of violence in this global web of ecological, economic, imperial, authoritarian, and fascistic-religious war. This is the many-fronted war that is destroying human and non-human life across the globe.

On this International workers day, Muslims for Social Justice and members of Awami Workers Party in the US condemn this violence and we stand in solidarity with the Okara peasants, AMP, the workers, peasants, and activist in Pakistan, and those who are fighting against racism, inequality, sexism, transphobia/homophobia, attacks on immigrants, and Islamophobia in the US. We envision a future where we can move beyond solidarity statements to build a comprehensive anti-war, anti-violence coalition in the US, linking with grassroots self-determination and liberation movements across the globe. In facing the hydra of capitalism, imperialism, colonialism, and fascism, we must work in unity with those who are fighting against the many aspects of this unjust violent oppressive system.

Muslims for Social Justice in Solidarity with Verizon Workers

Muslims for Social Justice Joines Southern Workers Assembly in Solidarity with Verizon Workers Verizon on strike across East Coast Today!  Fight for $15 Strike Across World Tomorrow! Verizon workers helped the company make $39 billion in profits over the last three years—and $1.8 billion a month in profits over the first three months of 2016. But that’s not enough for Verizon. The company’s greed knows no bounds. While the company continues to demand working people give back more and more, Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam made $18 million last year. That’s more than 200 times the compensation of the average Verizon employee! These Verizon workers have been working with an expired union contract since August 2015. Southern Workers Assembly pledges solidarity with Verizon workers strike The Southern Workers' School, a project of the Southern Workers Assembly in session tonight April 12, 2016 composed of workplace union activists from 8 Southern states pledges its solidarity and support to the 40,000 sisters and brothers about to go on strike for a just contract against Verizon organized by the Communication Workers of America (CWA) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) unions from Virginia through Pennsylvania.  WE reaffirm the absolute necessity for collective bargaining rights enforced by the right to strike for Verizon workers and for all workers regardless of employment status. WE affirm the necessity for Verizon to continue and improve employee benefits and wages particularly in these times of rising income inequality and working class insecurity. WE point out that continual downward pressures by corporations on working class wages and benefits is not only bad for working people and our families but also for our communities and our world. WE will take support action in the southern states where the strike will take place and where the member organizations involved in the Southern Workers' School exist. Statement Signers: Organizations: Southern Workers Assembly UE local 150, NC Public Service Workers Union National Nurses Organizing Committee - Florida National Nurses Organizing Committee - Texas Black Workers For Justice Southern Workers Organizing Committee/Raise Up for $15 Appalachian Workers Alliance Boston School Bus Drivers Union, USW local 8751 Muslims for Social Justice Individuals: Saladin Muhammad, UE* Retired/ Black Workers for Justice*, Rocky Mount, NC Larsene Taylor, President, UE Local 150/BWFJ*, Goldsboro, NC Angaza Laughinghouse, Vice President, UE local 150, NC Public Service Workers Union, Raleigh, NC Justin Flores, Vice President, Farm Labor Organizing Committee*, Dudley, NC Ed Bruno, Retired Southern Regional Director National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses Union*, Tampa, FL Peter Knowlton, General President, United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE)*, Pittsburgh, PA Chavel Lopez, Southwest Workers Union*, San Antonio, TX Deborah Casey, Norton Area Vice President, CWA local 2204*, Roanoke, VA Sandra Wakefield, National Nurses United/NNOC-TX, El Paso, TX Charles Brave, Vice President, SC AFL-CIO*, ILA local 1422*, Charleston, SC Leonard Riley, ILA local 1422*, Charleston, SC Shafeah M'Balia, Black Workers for Justice*, Savannah, GA Lutalo Tyehimba, ILA local 333*/Ujima People's Progress Party*, Baltimore, MD Martha Grevatt, Civil and Human Rights Committee, UAW Local 869*, Detroit, MI Donna Dewitt Retired, CWA local 3719*, Orangeburg, SC Erin McKee President, SC AFL-CIO*, Columbia, SC Freddie Coakley, ILA local 1422*, Charleston, SC Deb Gornall, President, Eastern Region UE*, Erie, PA April Lofton-Beach, UE local 160*, Petersburg, VA Vera Nedrick-Jones UE local 160 VA Public Service Workers Union*, Petersburg, VA Abdul Burnette, Raise Up for $15, Durham, NC Gary L. DeLuke UE Local 170 - West Virginia Public Workers Union*, Charleston, WV Benji Piles, Appalachian Workers Alliance*, Huntington, WV Don Cavellini, Co-Chair, Pitt County Coalition Against Racism*, Greenville, NC Bryan Pfeifer, Roanoke Education Association*, Roanoke, VA Khem Irby, Guilford County Education Association (NEA)*, Greensboro, NC Bonita Johnson,  UE150, Butner, NC Darrion Smith, UE150, Butner, NC Tiffany Downey, UE150, Butner Chapter Recording Secretary, Butner, NC Daryl Brunson, UE150, Durham, NC Brenda Hines, Black Workers for Justice*, Burlington, NC Dante Strobino UE*, Durham, NC Will Cox, NC Healthcare Workers United (Winston-Salem Organizing Committee) * Isolene Peele, UE150, Durham, NC Ben Carroll, Raise Up for $15, Durham, NC Enrique C. Alba, Jornaleros Unidos de Woodside*, NYC, NY Roberto Meneses, Jornaleros Unidos de Woodside*, NYC, NY Gustavo Medina, UFT/Independent Workers Movement*, NYC, NY Minnie Bruce Pratt, UAW Local 1081/National Writers Union* Chris Nelson, Healthcare Workers United*, Charleston, SC Wendy Williams, Healthcare Workers United*, Charleston, SC Tyaisha Williams, Black Workers for Justice*, NC Dennis Orton, UE* / BWFJ*, Virginia Steve Bader, UE* International Representative, WV/NC David Cohen, UE* Retired, MA Greg Butterfield, National Organization of Legal Services Workers, UAW Local 2320* Susan E. Davis, National Writers Union, United Auto Workers Local 1981* Eric Fink, Greensboro, NC Rita Valenti, National Nurses Organizing Committee*, Atlanta, GA Dianne Mathiowetz, retired UAW local 10, producer, The Labor Forum, WRFG 89.3FM, Atlanta, GA Learn more about the Verizon strike here: CWA Press Release CWA Stand Up to Verizon Action Page IBEW local 2222 Strike Update Join and find a picket line near you!!                                                            Source: CWA-Union.org

Statement of Solidarity with Duke Sit-In

MSJ Statement of Solidairty with Duke Sit-In

Muslims for Social Justice stands in solidarity with Duke community who are fighting against racism and attacks on workers at Duke campus. Duke University is built by and operates on the backs of Black and Brown workers who are victims of racism and worker abuse. We commend sit-in by students to expose this historic racism and attacks on workers, including a recent incident where a Black worker was struck by car and allegedly verbally assaulted with "N" word by Duke's Executive Vice President Tallman Trask. We demand justice for this racist, anti-worker attack! We also support Duke community's demand that minimum wage at Duke University should be raised to $15. All workers deserve living wage for their labor! We demand amnesty for students who are part of the sit-in campaign. We join hands with justice loving community at Duke University and beyond to abolish white supremacy, economic exploitation and all forms of oppression. 

Picture Source: Anastasia Karkalina

Learn more here:

Duke's Executive Vice President Tallman Trask Hit Parking Attendant with Car, Accused of Using Racial Slur

http://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2016/02/dukes-executive-vice-president-tallman-trask-hit-parking-attendant-with-car-accused-of-using-racial-slur

Duke University Student Protesters Continue to Occupy Main Building Amid Race Row

www.independent.co.uk/student/news/duke-university-student-protesters-continue-to-occupy-main-building-amid-race-row-a6969796.html

Duke University Sit-in Reaches 5th Day:

http://wncn.com/2016/04/05/duke-university-student-protesters-sit-in-reaches-5th-day/

MSJ Honored at 33rd Annual BWFJ Banquet

Muslims for Social Justice was honored to receive Self-Determination Award at the 33rd Annual MLK Support for Labor Banquet organized by Black Workers for Justice in Raleigh, NC, on April 2nd, 2016. This is the greatest achievement for Muslims for Social Justice. Black Workers for Justice is North Carolina-based Black Liberation organization that is at the fore-front of fighting racism, attacks on workers and other oppressions.

The 33rd Annual MLK Support for Labor Banquet featured a keynote speech by Bree Newsome, Black youth activist who removed Confederate flag from South Carolina capitol building. Activists from the anti-racism, labor union, environmental justice, LGBT rights and many other movements participated in the banquet. Here are pictures from the banquet.