On Saturday, August 31, 2019 more than 100 activists from across North Carolina — especially from the eastern area — marched in Greenville to condemn the policies and direction of the Trump administration and in solidarity with the four newly elected congress- women (2018) under attack by the Trump regime.
In a statement published by the organizers in the weeks preceding the march and rally, the reasons for the call to action were outlined, “The Sexual Predator on Pennsylvania Avenue in his recent vicious attacks on “The Squad”: Ilhan Omar, Ayanna 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 and because they are women. They dare to be women who have political convictions around their support of Palestine, their support of Venezuela, and their denunciation of border camps.”
Greenville, North Carolina was also the site for a Trump Campaign Rally in July this year where screaming Trump supporters yelled “send her back”, specifically targeting Ilhan Omar, a Somali native and American citizen newly elected to Congress along with hundreds of others in the 2018 Congressional election.
The Call for the March and Rally also commemorated the historic lynching of 14 year old Emmett Till who was murdered by white supremacists in Money, Mississippi on August 28, 1955. Emmett Till’s heinous and vicious murder was a catalyst for the emerging civil rights movement of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s.
The solidarity march and rally was organized by a coalition of activists and organizations in North Carolina including the Black Workers for Justice Women’s Commission; the Greenville NC Coalition Against Racism; the Racial Justice Group, Rocky Mount, NC; the Spirit House of Durham, NC; Muslims for Social Justice; Compeneras Compesinas of Raleigh, NC; Action NC Rage; the North Carolina Black Women’s Roundtable; Movement to End Racism and Islamophobia; and many others.
More than 70 women of color, leaders, and activists nation-wide signed on and endorsed the Call to Action, March, and Rally.
For more information, questions, or comments email: bwfjwc@gmail.com or call (919) 749–1692
