Category Archives: United Front

The selection process to fill Dan Blue’s vacant seat is a sad reminder that in the last two and a half years our community has lost two strong advocates for the needs and rights of working and poor people. They set the bar fairly high.

Filing this vacancy comes at a unique and unprecedented time. We are calling it a “State of Emergency.”  The situation is well known to all: Depression level unemployment, mortgage foreclosures, and cutbacks in services from education to mental health care, with the promise of more furloughs for state employees. This is only the tip of the iceberg. They come on top of decades of underdevelopment in our communities.

We need leadership that is bold and accountable to the community.

1.)We need Representatives who are willing to fight for our community without fear of retaliation from business lobbyist, corporations and wealthy donors. In other words we do not want a representative whose chief concern is being re-elected.

2.)     We want Representatives who will RESIST efforts to use budget cuts as a way of dealing with the State financial crisis. We want them to raise revenues.

3.)     We want Representatives to fight to reform our tax system so that corporations and the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes to keep our state running.

4.)    We need Representatives that will continue to uphold our community’s historic tradition of supporting unions and workers rights. We want them to lead the legislative fight for collective bargaining rights for public employees.

5.)    We want Representatives to be accountable to the entire community not just party leaders and activists. Our representatives should meet with the community as a whole on a regular basis. We mean a People’s Assembly of CAC’s, civic and fraternal groups, congregations and unions and young people.  People’s Assemblies are being built in Raleigh, Rocky Mt. andOrange County. Many HKonJ partners are planning to build Assemblies.

In November we voted for change. Not just change in Washington but in our state and local communities. Change means real democratic participation. It means “from the bottom up.”

This is the change we need. This is the change we want. We support a new Representative who will rise to this level of accountability and leadership that our community so desperately needs. It will be our responsibility as a community to make sure this happens.

Black Workers for Justice-Raleigh/Wake Chapter
www.bwfj.org
bwfj@earthlink.net

Members of the Organizing Committee for a Virginia People’s Assembly hold a protest / press conference outside the General Assembly Building Dec. 17 as Gov. Tim Kaine outlines his proposed budget cuts to state legislators. From left, Breanne Armbrust of Richmond Jobs with Justice, Phil WIlayto of the Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality and King Salim Khalfani, executive director of the Virginia State Conference NAACP. The action received wide media coverage.

Across Virginia, poor and working people are hurting. Companies are laying off workers. Homeowners are facing foreclosures. Renters are being evicted. Pensioners are seeing their retirement funds disappear. College and university tuition is rising.

Times are tough, and all the “experts” say they’re only going to get worse. Virginia’s current state budget is now facing a deficit of between $2.5 and $3.5 billion. When the General Assembly reconvenes Jan. 14 in Richmond, it will be talking layoffs of state workers; reduced funds for cities, towns and counties; cutbacks in health, education, cultural programs; raising fines and user fees. What it won’t be talking about is making the banks and corporations foot the bill for the economic crisis that THEY created. When the General Assembly convenes, the halls will be filled with well-paid lobbyists looking out for the interests of the rich and powerful.

But who will speak for us? Each year, the various unions, community organizations and nonprofits all pick a different day to lobby the General Assembly. Separately, none of us ever have the money, votes or numbers to make much of a difference. This year, we will hardly matter at all – unless we unite, support each others’ issues and speak with one powerful voice. The Virginia People’s Assembly can be that voice.

On Saturday, Jan. 10, people from across the state will gather in Richmond to convene a real People’s Assembly. There will be representatives from unions, community and student groups, faith-based organizations, the anti-war movement, prisoner rights advocates and more, representing all of Virginia’s regions, races and nationalities. We will talk about the issues that matter to us: jobs, housing, education, equality, peace and justice for all.

And we will develop a real People’s Agenda to present to the General Assembly. Then, on Wednesday, Jan. 14, we will hold a march and rally in downtown Richmond, after which we will present the People’s Agenda to members of the General Assembly. This year – united together, speaking in one voice – we will be heard. We will be speaking out for you. Will you be there with us?

JAN. 10 – Come to the VIRGINIA PEOPLE’S ASSEMBLY

Delegates from across Virginia will put together a PEOPLE’S AGENDA to present to the  General Assembly. Among other things, we will demand a MORATORIUM ON LAYOFFS, CUTBACKS, EVICTIONS & FORECLOSURES 9 am – 4 pm, Asbury United Methodist Church, 324 N. 29th St., Richmond, VA 23223 $5 donation requested to help cover cost of lunch & space, but no one will be turned awayfor lack of funds.

JAN. 14 – Come to a RALLY to demand ‘Bail Out the People, not the Bankers!’

Gather at 4:30 pm at Kanawha Plaza opposite the FEDERAL RESERVE BLDG, 8th & Canal streets, downtown Richmond. Then we’ll MARCH to the GENERAL ASSEMBLY to to present our PEOPLE’S AGENDA & say  “Don’t balance the budget on the backs of Virginia’s working people!”

Cutbacks & layoffs are not the only solutions

Virginia is six months into its current two-year, $76 billion budget, and is now facing a $2.9 billion shortfall in revenue. That’s what Gov. Tim Kaine told state legislators Dec. 17. Almost all state governments are required by law to balance their budgets. To accomplish this, Gov. Kaine has proposed a package of layoffs and cutbacks that include:

*  eliminating 1,500 state jobs *  freezing wages for remaining workers * cutting $400 million from public schools *  slicing 15 percent from state funding for state colleges and universities and 10 percent from community colleges *  taking $400 million from health care programs, including Medicare*  freezing enrollment in some Medicare programs *  closing one of the state’s five large training centers for the intellectually disabled *  closing the last state-operated mental health hospital for children

To his credit, Kaine has made some proposals which make more sense, such as raising the state cigarette tax, currently the third-lowest in the country. He would allow some nonviolent prisoners to be released from prison up to three months early. There’s a $1 million grant to the Virginia Federation of Food Banks and a modest increase in financial aid for college and university students. But on the whole, Kaine is following the same Virginia pattern of balancing the budget on the backs of the state’s working people.

There is another way.

RAISE CORPORATE INCOME TAXES! Virginia’s corporate income tax rate of 6 percent is the seventh-lowest in the country and hasn’t been raised in more than 30 years. Raise it! Make the rich pay for the economic crisis they created!

CLOSE MORE PRISONS! We applaud Gov. Kaine’s modest proposal to release some nonviolent offenders, but much more can be done. The General Assembly should bring back and improve the parole system that racist Gov. George Allen forced on the state. Release all nonviolent offenders. Close the Red Onion SuperMax prison, which was never needed in the first place and has been the site of horrendous abuse of prisoners.

NO MORE MONEY TO HONOR PRO-SLAVERY CONFEDERATES! In 2006, Virginia spent $450,000 to clean up Richmond’s statue of the slavery-defending Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. Meanwhile, important African-American historical sites, such as Richmond’s long-abandoned “Burial Ground for Negroes,” remain neglected.

END  THE  WARS  IN  IRAQ  & AFGHANISTAN! NO  WAR ON IRAN! As of Jan. 1, the war in Iraq alone has cost Virginia taxpayers $15.8 billion – five times the state’s present budget deficit.* Sending 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan or attacking or sanctioning Iran won’t help the people of those countries and it won’t help us. Let’s demand that Gov. Kaine and the General Assembly call on President-elect Obama and Congress to bring all the troops home now! www.nationalpriorities.org/costofwar_home

About  the  VIRGINIA  PEOPLE’S  ASSEMBLY 

In the fall of 2008, in response to the deepening economic crisis and the prospect of severe cutbacks in the Virginia state budget, the Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality and Richmond Jobs with Justice initiated a Call for a Virginia People’s Assembly.

The organizations and individuals that responded formed an Organizing Committee (see below) that began to meet regularly and lay plans for a statewide gathering, a People’s Assembly, to take place in Richmond on Jan. 10, just before the start of the 2009 General Assembly.

The idea is to try and unite all the various movements in the state that are fighting for real social change: the Black community, the immigrant community, labor unions, the anti-war movement, students and more.Together, we will draw up a People’s Agenda of demands to present to the General Assembly.

Then, on Jan. 14, the day the General Assembly reconvenes for its 2009 session, we will hold a rally outside the Federal Reserve Building in downtown Richmond to demand the federal government bail out the people, not the banks. Then we’ll march up to the General Assembly at 9th and East Broad streets and present the politicians with our People’s Agenda.

This year, instead of each organization and community fighting each other for a piece of an ever-smaller pie, we will unite together and support each others’ issues. Together, we can be a powerful voice for Virginia’s poor and working people of all races, all communities.

Since those first oganizing meetings, dozens of other activists and organizations have endorsed the Call. (See below.) Focus Groups have been formed to reach out to unions, students, the immigrant community, the anti-war movement, women’s groups, the lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender community, prisoner and disabled rights activists, active-duty GIs, veterans, the elderly, the physically and mentally challenged, environmentalists and more.

On Dec. 17, Gov. Tim Kaine addressed the money committees of the General Assembly. He presented his proposals on how to balance the state budget: eliminate 1,500 state jobs, freeze state wages and enact deep cuts in education, health care and virtually every other area of spending that effects poor and working people in Virginia. But while Gov. Kaine was inside the General Assembly Building, representatives of the VPA were outside, calling for a Moratorium on layoffs, budget cuts, evictions and foreclosures. The media reported that this was the first time in memory that anyone had protested the governor’s presentation on the state budget.

We know that Virginia is facing hard times and that all of us must be willing to tighten our belts. But why are the banks and corporations, the wealthy and the privileged being let off the hook? Because they have power. Politics is the art of who gets what and when. To influence that process, you need one of three things: money, votes or numbers. The rich have money, and the politicians make sure they control the voting. But we have the numbers – if we just get ourselves organized.

The Virginia People’s Assembly is one way we can do this. And when the members of the General Assembly go home after their 45-day session, we will continue to meet, to build, to support each other and to grow. And by the time January of 2010 rolls around – when the layoffs have snowballed, the home foreclosures are a tidal wave, when people who never waved a protest sign before in their lives are ready to come out into the streets, the Virginia People’s Assembly will convene again. And this time, we will be heard.

HOW TO GET INVOLVED *  Go online and endorse the Call for a Virginia People’s Assembly *  Come to the organizing meetings; contact us for time & place *  Volunteer to work with a Focus Group *  Come to the People’s Assembly on Jan. 10 *  Come to the Jan. 14 march & rally For more information, contact:

Virginia People’s Assembly
PO Box 38441,
Richmond, VA 23231
E-mail: vapeoplesassembly@gmail.com
Web site: www.RichmondJwJ.org
Facebook: www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=50508336564

VPA Organizing Committee

Breanne Armbrust – Organizer & Labor Leader, Richmond Jobs with Justice www.RichmondJwJ.org

Lillie (Ms. K) Branch-Kennedy – Founder & Executive Director, Resource Information Help for the Disadvantaged (R.I.H.D)  www.rihd.org

Bro Duron L. Chavis – Founder, Happily Natural Day / Black Freedom Weekend; Vice President, Prosser-Truth Division #456, UNIA-ACL www.happilynaturalday.com; www.unia-acl.org

King Salim Khalfani – Executive Director, Virginia State Conference NAACP http://www.virginianaacp.org

Ana Edwards – Chair, Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project of the Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality www.DefendersFJE.org

Allen Layman – President, Virginia Public Service Workers Union / UE Local 160 www.vaue160.org

Dennis Orton – Organizer, Black Workers for Justice http://bwfj.org

John Steinbach – Community Outreach Coordinator, Mexicanos Sin Fronteraswww.mexicanossinfronteras.org

Sis. Janet B. Taylor – Lady President, Prosser-Truth Division #456, UNIA-ACL; Trustee, Prisoners and Families for Equal Rights and Justice www.unia-acl.org

Phil Wilayto – Editor, The Richmond Defender; Founding Member, Virginia Anti-War Network www.DefendersFJE.org; www.vawn.org

Endorsers

Moya Atkinson – Northern Virginians for Peace and Justice * Coalition for Justice – Blacksburg Ed. Dickau – Retired Teacher, History and Political Science; Blogger – Alexandria Cassandra V. Shaw – Secretary-Treasurer, Richmond Jobs with Justice avid Swanson – AfterDowningStreet.org – Charlottesville The People United – Charlottesville Shaheed Omar – Social Activist, primarily focusing on the abuse of African Americans and Muslims in Virginia Department of Corrections Facilities in South Western Virginia, especially Red Onion and Wallens Ridge. Min. Dr. Jerry L. Muhammad – Prison Reform Minister, Nation of Islam – Virginia Social Justice Film Series – First Unitarian Church – Lynchburg Cherie Seise – College of William and Mary’s Tidewater Labor Support Committee, an Affiliate of United Students Against Sweatshops – Williamsburg Frank Oddo – Activist – Richmond Aledia Johnson – Activist Vanessa Price – Social Activist, Blogger, Researcher, and Professor of Criminal Justice & Criminology – Honaker, Va. & Johnson City, Tenn. Richmond Left Libertarian Alliance Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), University of Mary Washington – Fredericksburg Garrie Rouse – AylettJay Ford – Environmental Activist – Richmond John Long – Hampton Roads Peace & Justice Coalition Adele MacLean – Activist – Richmond Queen Zakia Shabazz – Founder & Director, United Parents Against Lead National, Inc. – Richmond Mothers On A Mission (MOM) – Prisoner/Family Support Group – Tidewater The Beautiful Struggle – Prisoner/Family Support Group – FairfaxHampton Roads Peace & Justice Coalition Gail Singletary – Activist Donald Allen & Family – Activist Virginia Anti-War Network (VAWN) *  Organization listed for identification purposes only

KNOW YOUR STATE

For the last three years, Forbes magazine has rated Virginia the best state in the country for businesses. Why do you think that is? It’s because Virginia is one of the worst states for working people. Virginia’s corporate income tax rate of 6 percent is the 7th lowest in the country and hasn’t been raised in more than 30 years.

1. But no other state in the region levies a personal property tax on cars.

2. Only one in 20 Virginia workers, 5.7%, are covered by a union contract. That’s the 3rd lowest percentage in the country. Only North and South Carolina are lower.

3. Virginia’s workers compensation benefits are the 4th lowest in the country.

4. 47 other states spend more per capita on Medicaid than Virginia.

5. Virginia spends less money on its state parks than any other state.

6. It spends the least amount of money on conserving natural resources.

7.  Court-appointed lawyers for indigent defendants are paid less per case here than in any other state.

8. Virginia is one of only two states that deny the right to vote to all convicted felons after they have completed their sentences. As a result of this and a racist criminal justice system, one in four Black men in Virginia cannot vote.

9 1  www.yesvirginia.org/whyvirginia/Financial_Advantages/Stable_Taxes.aspx

2 http://voices.washingtonpost.com/rawfisher/2008/01/who_pays_more_taxes_virginia_m.html

3  Fiscal Policy Institute: www.fiscalpolicy.org

4  Industry Week, Dec. 9, 2008

5  Gov. Tim Kaine in his Dec. 17, 2008, address to the GA money committees

6  www.virginiaparks.org/vap/releases/0301press.html

7  www.baconsrebellion.com/Issues05/03-28/Benson.htm

8  www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/DefenseUpdates/Virginia090 9  The Sentencing Project, Washington, D.C.

by BWFJ Executive Committee

The Black Workers for Justice joins the tens of millions of people around the world who are outraged by the vicious assault by the Israeli Defense Force on the Gaza Strip.  As of New Years Eve, the death toll is 380 Palestinians with over 1400 injured, overwhelmingly civilians. Innocent men, women and children in the densely populated city of 1.5 million people continue to be at risk.

This blatant and extreme violation of human rights and international law must end immediately. We are calling on all legislators, the Bush administration and President- Elect Obama to use the considerable political and financial influence they have to make the Israelis cease the bombings. Politics and the strength of the Israeli lobby in the US cannot continue to put the lives of millions of people at risk in what is becoming one of the worst humanitarian crises of this era.

Infrastructure has been destroyed including schools and factories while hospitals have been overwhelmed with the sick and injured. The current need for food and medical supplies has been worsened by the continuing blockade that prohibits fuel, food, equipment and other humanitarian goods from coming into the city. This has been the case for 18 months. In the current crisis seriously injured people who need treatment in Egypt due to lack of adequate medical facilities in the Gaza are experiencing difficulties in crossing the borders.  There has been a lack of electricity and other essential services resulting in deplorable conditions for residents.  The UN reported a Human Dignity Crisis on December 18, days before the bombing commenced.

Occupation and Resistance

We recognize that the Palestinians are resisting an occupation and the use of military force is permitted under international law. This does not justify targeting civilians. On the same token Israeli responses that clearly cannot avoid non-combatants is not justifiable or legitimate self defense. Moreover, what amounts to collective punishment is a violation of international law and is immoral in the extreme.

The Occupation of Palestinian territory is classic colonialism with apartheid features including a wall that restricts people’s movement for work, business, culture and family life. This Occupation continues to be supported by the US government. The F-16s and Apache helicopters as well as the TOW, Hellfire and Bunker missiles that are being used are provided by theUS government meaning that our tax dollars support this carnage and oppression. The US government provides Israel with $3 billion in military aid annually.

Black People Express Their Humanity

Our history and recent experiences remind us of how white supremacist and imperialist regimes respond to misery and suffering.  The legacy of slavery and Jim Crow segregation should be a constant reminder to us. Katrina, our most recent experience with inhumane policies and treatment should move us to determined and immediate support for Palestinians. We feel the pain of the Palestinian people.

We have to resist the call of misguided Black religious leaders who think this is fulfillment of prophecy and scriptures. We have to listen to the faith leaders that understand that this is a case of politics and an affront to the very faith traditions they profess. They recall that for a century there were those that justified slavery and racism based on their distorted religious understandings.

Stand Up and Speak Out

Black people and workers in particular must be in the forefront of the growing resistance to this atrocity. We will join with religious, labor and community groups. We will unite with Arab, Muslim and other advocacy groups. We will collect funds and material aid for the embattled families of the Gaza Strip. We condemn the ramming and damaging of the humanitarian ship bringing supplies to the Gaza and support the efforts of former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney to come to the aid of Palestinians.

We especially call on President Elect Obama to take the mandate for Change to alter US policy regarding the Israeli/Palestinian situation. This means an immediate halt to the bombings. It means forcing Israel to engage in peace negotiations with all the elected representatives of the Palestinian people.

Black Workers for Justice
December 31, 2008

by Ajamu Dillahunt

Good morning Brothers and Sisters. We want to thank the Mississippi Workers Center for giving us an opportunity to make a solidarity statement. We all owe them a tremendous debt of gratitude for bringing SHROC VII to North Carolina. We are clear that they did not bring it here just because we need to come together for this kind of conversation and learning, but because there is struggle here. They identified the struggle for human rights and a union at Smithfield Foods as one that need to be supported, so they came. They saw the fight for Environmental Justice in Eastern North Carolina, and they came.

We also want to appreciate the Center and the Southern Human Rights Organizers Network for understanding the particularities of the South and the need to build a fight in a region with a legacy of Slavery; a legacy that can be seen everyday in our economic, political and social institutions.

And of course, we must lift up the Human Rights framework, which for us is the continuation of the work of Malcolm X and other Black heroes and sheroes.

There is a song that is popular among jazz vocalist called “I’ll Remember April.” Another title comes to mind this morning. It should be called “I’ll Remember December.” We will remember the fight and victory of the workers at Republic Windows and Doors who, led by their union, UE 1110, occupied their plant for six days and electrified the workers movement in this country and abroad. As we have said “the plant occupation symbolized workers exercising their power to control the wealth that they produce that creates profits for the banks and corporations. They were saying by their actions that a living wage job or income is a human right.

We will also remember the victory of the workers at Smithfield Foods for recognition of their union, the UFCW. After more than 15 years of struggle they have won the right for a voice at work and a contract.

And of course we will remember SHROC VII. The song about April ends with the words, “I’ll remember April and I’ll cry.” Our song might end with, “I’ll remember December and I’ll shout for joy, dance and get ready to fight some more.”

To be sure compañeros there is so much more to be done. The fight for collective bargaining for public employees in N.C. and other Southern States is front and center on our agenda. A massive public works program aimed specifically at New Orl3an and the Gulf Coast is imperative and must be at the top of our agendas.

We have to continue our engagement in the fight for a just immigration policy. Within that fight we will strive to build unity among African descendants in this hemisphere and unity between Black and Latino communities.

We have two other challenges for workers here in N.C.  It is critical to support the members of  IAM Local W369 who have been on strike against the Moncure Plywood Company since July 21. Likewise our brothers and sisters who labor in the fields need our support as their union, the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) struggles to get the tobacco manufacturing giant, R.J. Reynolds to sit down and negotiate with them and the growers.

And we are challenged to broaden and intensify the struggle against patriarchy and homophobia. This is not a separate fight but must be integrated into every interaction we have with each other and every political project we initiate or participate in.

There is Change in the air. We made it happen in November. In fact one of the slogans in the Smithfield struggle was “we changed the White House, we can change the Hog House. The message is clear that this change will have to come from below, from the grassroots, from our communities.

All of us here embrace the need for organization. We are calling for people to build People’s Assemblies that bring together organizations, old and new activists, churches and union, to work on local agendas for change that we need to get us through this difficult period of crisis of layoffs, evictions, war and the looming repression.

Finally, we would invite you all to join us on April 4, 2009 for the 25^th Annual Martin Luther King Support for Labor Banquet. We are excited to have our friend and comrade Jaribu Hill as the keynote speaker. Please put this on your calendar.

As Salia Warren’s young daughter always reminds us, brothers and sisters, “Power to the People.”

by Saladin Muhammad

The Obama campaign and his election as the next US president, has helped to create a level of enthusiasm and hope among working class Blacks, people of color and sectors of the general working class that is beginning to break their apathy, cynicism and lack of confidence in challenging and changing conditions of oppression and exploitation in society. We can see the energizing affects on many BWFJ members and base areas that have been less active in the past.

The Obama campaign gave everyday people a sense of inclusion and control in shaping the organizational base and issues of the campaign. It was not the traditional Democratic Party campaign where the local party structures controlled the flow and resources of the campaign.

The Peoples Assemblies represent one of the new organizational and political forms that began during the Obama campaign that now must go forward to work to unite and develop the mass base and movement needed to promote a people’s democratic agenda as part of the mandate associated with this historical election and victory.

The state of the US and global economy and political situation, will make the implementing of major changes that begin to address the needs of the majority of the people, especially the most oppressed sectors, nearly impossible without a peoples movement that organizes and pushes for these changes.

It is very important that the demands and struggles for changes inside the US, be carried out within an international context, so that they don’t come about at the expense of the continued oppression and exploitation of peoples in other countries.

This raises the importance of our struggles having an international human rights framework to help shape the scope of demands, tactics and alliances that are necessary for waging the struggles in this period.

Summing up the Basics and Where We Go from Here

It’s important to assess if our work in building Peoples Assemblies had an identity within this campaign that focused on mobilizing particular constituencies and struggles.

There was room for organizations with varying views on the positions projected by Obama, to participate in and maintain their independent organizational identities. In fact, some organizations projected particular slogans that gave political meaning to their involvement such as “Take Back the Vote”, a campaign by the Miami Workers Center in Miami Florida.  They brought their organizational colors, culture, local demands and developed targets, goals and broad organizational forms for their work in the campaign. This was their way of using the campaign to help build more long term peoples organization and political vision in preparation for the new phase of struggle that must take place after the elections.

Did our voter registration activities target particular workplaces and neighborhoods where we work, live, are active and want to get more active? Did we put out literature that promoted a reason for our constituencies to mobilize for Obama? Did we encourage those areas to promote their issues and demands within the electoral activities, like the platform input called for by Obama, bringing issues to the Obama rallies, organizing discussions about the issues in our unions, churches, schools and workplaces? Did we work together with other progressive forces within these venues? Were women and young people drawn to, active and playing leading roles in this work?

Now that the election is over, what is the task of the Peoples Assembly? How can Peoples Assemblies become the new forms of people’s democracy that democratically involves various grassroots organizations and constituencies in developing a Peoples agenda, mobilizing their bases, and building a mass movement that brings forth a peoples mandate for democracy? How can Peoples Assemblies be promoted throughout the South as democratic forms of a Southern Human Rights movement?  Can the Green Ribbon – We Charge Genocide Campaign be further developed and popularized as a major aspect of the Peoples Assemblies working for the development of a Southern Human Rights Manifesto?

With the election of Obama as the next US president, and the attempts by the establishment to promote it as some kind of proof that the US has abolished institutionalized racism, it is especially important that the Black working class community be a main organized base of the Peoples Assemblies, so that a mandate for people’s democracy speaks and mobilizes strongly around the issues of racism, national oppression and for self-determination.

The Peoples Assemblies must now form constituent working groups to begin targeting organizations and constituencies that become the base for organizing and developing constituent assemblies around a Peoples Agenda.

The BWFJ must recruit and train new members to help carry out the work of building People’s Assemblies, with a main emphasis and focus on organizing, training and bringing forward leadership from the Black working class, especially among younger forces, as a main task for this period.

This is a period when a new generation of activists can be more sharply politicized about the fundamental contradictions of capitalism and the need for a radical social justice alternative and transformation of society that grows out of the realities of the histories, conditions, struggles and experiences of the oppressed and exploited peoples inside the US and internationally.