At its inaugural event on Sept. 17, the People's Congress of Resistance endorsed the call to action from the United National Antiwar Coalition  to organize nationwide demonstrations to demand an end to the U.S. war on Afghanistan on its 16th anniversary, and encourages people to attend any events in their area.

Click here for a list of demonstrations

October 6, 2017, marks the 16th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan – the longest foreign war in U.S. history.

The Afghan war, which has been a thoroughly bipartisan effort, was originally railed against by Donald Trump when he was running for president. He claimed to be against U.S. troop involvement in Afghanistan. Now he is moving forward with a “secret” plan of escalation that will also include Pakistan. He says the secrecy is to keep the “enemy” from knowing his plans, but it also keeps the U.S. people from knowing what he is doing in our name and from judging the human costs for the people of Afghanistan, Pakistan and the United States

What we do know is that military escalation has repeatedly failed to bring peace in Afghanistan. It has caused more destruction and more deaths of civilians and soldiers alike and has cost trillions of dollars that could be spent on meeting basic needs here at home while repairing the destruction we have carried out abroad.

Trump also emboldens the war machine here in the US against Black and Brown people and immigrants by fanning white supremacy and xenophobia and continuing the militarization of the police and ICE to incite racially-motivated violence and justify repression, including mass incarceration and mass deportations. US wars of aggression and militarism abroad go hand-in-hand with increased state repression and militarization of the police state here at home.

Trump’s new escalation comes at a time when there is no end in sight to the continuous wars, including drone and mercenary warfare, throughout the region and when he is threatening military action against Venezuela, North Korea, Russia, Iran and other countries.

Therefore, we the undersigned antiwar leaders in the U.S. are calling for non-violent protests in cities across the country during the week of the 16th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. We appeal to all antiwar organizations in the United States and around the world to join us.

• John Amidon, Kateri Peace Conference, VFP
• Jessica Antonio, BAYAN USA
• Bahman Azad & Alfred Marder, US Peace Council
• Ajamu Baraka, Black Alliance for Peace
• Medea Benjamin, Code Pink
• Toby Blome, Code Pink, Bay Area
• Brian Becker, ANSWER Coalition
• Reece Chanault, US Labor Against the War
• Bernadette Ellorin – International League for People’s Struggle
• Sara Flounders, International Action Center
• Bruce Gagnon, Global Network Against Nuclear Power & Weapons in Space
• Larry Hamm, People’s Organization for Progress
• Kathy Kelly, Voices for Creative Nonviolence
• Margaret Kimberley, Black Agenda Report
• Ed Kinane, Upstate Drone Action
• Matthew Hoh – Veterans for Peace
• Joe Lombardo & Marilyn Levin, United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC)
• Judith Bello, Upstate Drone Action
• Jeff Mackler, Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal
• Maggie Martin, About Face: Veterans Against the War (formerly IVAW)
• Ray McGovern, Former CIA Analyst and Presidential Advisor
• Michael McPhearson, Veterans For Peace
• Nick Mottern, Knowdrones.com
• Malik Mujahid, Muslim Peace Coalition
• Elsa Rassbach, Code Pink & UNAC, Germany
• Bob Smith, Brandywine Peace Community
• David Swanson, World Beyond War
• Debra Sweet, World Can’t Wait
• Ann Wright, Code Pink & Veterans For Peace
• Kevin Zeese, Popular Resistance
• Margaret Flowers, Popular Resistance

(organizations are listed for identification purposes only)

Click here for a list of demonstrations

If you haven't yet read the initial report from the electrifying People's Congress of Resistance, please take a minute to check it out and share it. More photos, articles, and videos are starting to come out and we'll share them as they're produced. Many areas have already hit the ground running with initial report meetings taking place in Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, D.C., Albuquerque, New Haven, New York City, Seattle, Pittsburgh, and Dallas. 

If you're interested in organizing an event in your local area, just fill out the form at the bottom of this page. You can help build this movement even if you couldn't make it the inaugural event in D.C. 

We have created resources and materials to make that as easy as possible and will promote your event to others in your area. You can organize

1. A 1-2 hour report meeting to re-engage those who attended from your area, and to reach out to those who were interested but perhaps not able to make it. (Here's a guide for organizing such a report meeting, including chair's notes, facilitation tips, and links to videos and photos to show.)
   
   
2. A 15-minute presentations to give at student groups, faith-based organizations and union chapter meetings. (Here's a slideshow and a basic report you can use.)
   
   
3. A study and discussion group to go over in greater depth the People's Congress of Resistance manifesto. (Here's a facilitator's guide for leading such a session on the Manifesto.)
   
   

Fill out the form below if you're interested!

On Sept. 17, the People's Congress of Resistance resolved to support the movement for the de-colonization of Puerto Rico. Shortly afterwards, the massive Hurricane Maria struck the island with devastating effect. The resulting crisis has unmasked the colonial dynamic between the United States and Puerto Rico, as the government has dragged its feet to deliver the necessary aid, and Puerto Rico has been unable to accept direct aid from friendly countries. Led by Puerto Ricans in the diaspora, the people of this country have been donating generously and conducting grassroots relief — including People's Congress of Resistance organizers in New York and Florida — but major logistical hurdles continue to obstruct delivery.

Trump has added insult to injury with blatant disrespect of the Puerto Rican people, and by bringing up the illegal Wall Street-controlled debt that has been foisted on the island. On October 3, when Trump arrived to the island, Puerto Ricans there and in the diaspora protested to demand:

• Massive Hurricane Relief NOW
• End the Jones Act vis-a-vis Puerto Rico
• Cancel Puerto Rico’s Debt to the Banks

The People's Congress of Resistance proudly joined in this protests on Oct. 3 in New York City, Los Angeles, Long Beach and San Francisco.

New York City. Watch the livestream with interviews here	San Francisco
Los Angeles	Long Beach

There is another action on Friday, Oct. 6 at 4:30pm in Palmdale, Calif. at North East Corner of 10th Street West and Rancho Vista Blvd.

Use the form below to list your event!

On Sept. 16-17, the People’s Congress of Resistance movement was inaugurated with a mass convening of grassroots organizers and frontline resistors at Howard University. All told, 727 delegates from 38 states and 160 towns and cities came to Washington, D.C., to discuss the People’s Congress of Resistance manifesto “Society for the Many: A Vision for Revolution,” to share organizing experiences to take back home, to express solidarity with each other and to resolve on common projects and actions for the future.

The People’s Congress was opened by housing organizer Yasmina Mrabet of ONE DC and Los Angeles teacher Peta Lindsay, a former Howard University student leader, who welcomed the attendees. Lindsay explained that the school itself derived from the Black community’s struggle for education in the Reconstruction period, and generation after generation, 150 years later, has continued to produce freedom fighters. Two high school student organizers from California, one a DACA recipient, announced that they were unbowed by the Trump administration, and had come to Washington to deepen their commitment to the movement and make links with activists nationwide.

Watch the opening salute to the guests here:

The People’s Congress of Resistance opened with brief remarks from some of the conveners who identified strategic objectives for the weekend, including Jodi Dean, Jared Ball, Margaret Flowers, Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, Mahdi Bray, Eugene Puryear, Neal Sweeney, Gloria La Riva and Juan Jose Gutierrez, as did immigrant rights leaders Linda Oalican from New York City and Lucy Felix from the Rio Grande Valley region.

Photo: Vincent Tsai

In the following keynote plenary Dominic Moulden of ONE DC showed the stark contrast between the People’s Congress of Resistance and the D.C. Council and U.S. Congress, which include no poor and working people. Karina Garcia of the Justice Center en El Barrio explained the special role of the Manifesto as a unifying document across the social movements. Brian Becker, National Director of the ANSWER Coalition, outlined how the Democratic Party is able to co-opt and redirect every progressive movement from below unless it articulates a clear revolutionary vision, an unambiguous definition of political, social and economic revolution.

The People’s Congress then split into workshops on “resistance tactics” — the development of a new media hub, collective defense of immigrant communities, the building of radical community centers as movement infrastructure, various techniques of mutual aid, as well as a workshop on how to integrate revolutionary politics into grassroots community organizing. Specialized discussions on mass incarceration and the political prisoners still behind bars took place, as did a session on rural and small-town organizing.

The afternoon and evening sessions “Solidarity at Home and Abroad” brought the crowd to their feet repeatedly, as leaders from the women’s rights, LGBTQ, immigrant, and Black and Brown freedom movements spoke forcefully on the need for steadfast resistance that can persevere and grow over the long term. After the family members of police brutality victims took the stage to share their stories, having come together from cities nationwide, the hall passed its first resolution to give them — and other families nationwide — complete support in their campaigns for justice.

The Congress also heard from special guest Jang Jinsook, the Director of Policy and Planning for the New People's Party in South Korea, a new progressive party currently in formation that aims to complete the “candlelight revolution” of last year that deposed the former president. Jinsook appealed for solidarity for the Korean people’s efforts to peacefully reunify the country and called on people in the United States to help stop Trump’s militaristic threats against the North.

Photo: Vincent Tsai

Carlos Ron, the top Venezuelan diplomat to the United States, thanked the Congress for its solidarity with the Bolivarian Revolution and expressed that “this is the first time I felt hope in Washington.”

Sunday’s workshops delved deeper into the tactics and strategic perspectives of the single-payer health care, debt resistance and anti-gentrification movements, while another focused on how individuals and groups could effectively teach and discuss the People’s Congress Manifesto when they returned home. Another workshop led with the history of U.S.-Korea relations as a primer for those interested in organizing “No New Korean War” actions in the weeks ahead. (Just two days later, Trump threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea while speaking at the United Nations.)

In the final session of the two-day event, the Congress heard action-oriented resolutions from the floor. These included resolutions to end the war on Black America; for the independence of Puerto Rico and in support of a Sept. 19 rally at the UN; against the coup government in Brazil; and to free the political prisoners, including Leonard Peltier, Ana Belen Montes, Mutulu Shakur and others.

Other resolutions expressed solidarity with ongoing campaigns to help Filipino domestic workers break free from labor trafficking; for justice for Keenan King and Anthony Holmes-Garriques, killed by a racist vigilante in Long Island; for George Washington University's divestment from companies that profit off of Israeli occupation; for the divestment of cities, churches and pension funds and from the war machine; against the displacement of Brookland Manor residents in Washington, D.C.; against racist rezoning proposals in New York City; endorsing the upcoming "War and the Environment" conference; supporting the anti-war actions to protest 16 years of war on Afghanistan; against the blockade of Cuba and in support of grassroots hurricane relief to Cuba; and in unity with the ongoing Week of Action in solidarity with the Philippines against martial law.

Grassroots activists also received support for resolutions in support of those campaigning in Washington State for Safe Consumption Spaces to deal with the opioid epidemic; for the Native people fighting the nuclear waste storage project in Yucca Mountain in Nevada; for the Rochester community groups fighting for a police review board with genuine subpoena, hiring and firing powers; and for the Massachusetts organizers struggling to secure clean water at Norfolk Prison.

Photo: Matthew Phipps

All actions endorsed by the People’s Congress of Resistance will be amplified, supported and aired by its national social media platforms, and activists in different cities are encouraged to hold simultaneous solidarity events to strengthen the bonds of this growing network.

The People’s Congress of Resistance convening organizations committed to 1) a mass popular education campaign to spread the Manifesto; 2) developing a People’s Congress of Resistance media hub drawing on the exciting and dynamic media-making already underway; 3) holding report meetings from the inaugural event that could be the launching pad for continued local and regional events; 4) a process for other groups to be added to the Conveners Committee; and 5) the publication of the resolutions, photos and videos of the inaugural event.

Afterwards, attendees marched in powerful and militant display of unity to the White House under the slogan “Stand against imperialism — Down with the warfare state!” Focusing on the connection of the wars abroad with the “war at home,” speakers especially declared opposition to a new destructive war against Korea, and any new regime change efforts against Venezuela.

Working-class organizers fundraised all summer to come from states in every region of the country. Many of the attendees had traveled great distances in caravans that originated in southern Florida, Texas, and Chicago. Despite the physical fatigue of travel, long days, little sleep and then a march of several miles to the White House, many expressed feelings of exhilaration to be surrounded by so many people who feel the same passion for justice as they do, who are dealing with common challenges in their organizing work, and who are dedicated to the fight for a new world.

The inaugural People’s Congress of Resistance was a huge success — and we’re ready to go back home and organize!

You can register online for the People's Congress until Friday at Noon. Also, come out Friday night at St. Stephen Church for a Party and Social before the People's Congress of Resistance. More information about the program will be coming out soon.

Day 1: Saturday, Sept. 16, 2017

8:00am: Doors open for Registration, Coffee and Muffins

Opening and Statement of Principles
9:00-9:30am

  - Conveners’ statements
  - Values to ground our movement

Strategy

From Resistance to Revolution
Plenary, 9:30-10:30am

  - The People’s Congress vs. the Millionaires’ Congress
  - Forming a revolutionary pole
  - The role of the Manifesto

Tactics

Each one, teach one: Resistance Tactics
Workshop Session 1, 10:45am-12:15pm

  1. Community organizations and revolutionary politics
  2. Developing independent media
  3. Defending each other: No to deportations!
  4. Building community centers of struggle
  5. Rural/small-town organizing

Lunch 
12:15-1:15pm

Each one, teach one: Resistance Tactics
Workshop Session 2, 1:15-2:45pm

  1. Community organizations and revolutionary politics
  2. Developing independent media
  3. Defending each other: No to deportations!
  4. Freeing political prisoners, ending mass incarceration 
  5. Serving the people and mutual aid

Solidarity at home and abroad

People’s Congress domestic policy: A society for the many
Plenary and discussion, 3:00-5:00pm

  - Standing together against police violence
  - The political prisoners: Free ‘em all
  - Environmental justice: a struggle for survival
  - Reproductive justice in the Deep South
  - Organizing for queer and trans liberation

People’s Congress foreign policy: Internationalism, not imperialism
Plenary and discussion, 5:00-7:00pm

  - Neo-colonialism and the war drive
  - Opposing the new Cold War
  - War threats on Korea
  - The bombing of Yemen
  - End the blockade against Cuba
  - Hands off Venezuela
  - Puerto Rico's independence
  - In defense of BDS

Day 2: Sunday, Sept. 17, 2017

9:00am: Doors open for Registration, Coffee and Muffins

Introduction of resolutions and process
9:30-10:00am

Areas of work (workshops)
10:15-11:45am

  1. Popular education: how to spread the Manifesto
  2. No war on Korea: the need for a new antiwar movement
  3. Building an independent health care movement
  4. The fight for housing as a right, and against racist displacement

Lunch: 12:00-1:00pm

Action-oriented resolutions
1:00-2:00pm

Organizational resolution
2:00-3:00pm

Closing remarks
3:00-4:00pm

March to the White House
4:30-6:00pm

Schedule is subject to change.

You can register online for the People's Congress until Friday at Noon. Also, come out Friday night at St. Stephen Church for a Party and Social before the People's Congress of Resistance. More information about the program will be coming out soon.

Check out the newly released promotional video: 'Society for the Many: Manifesto of the People's Congress'. The video introduces our vision for revolution contained in the Manifesto of the People's Congress of Resistance including:

• Meeting social needs and securing the means of life for all (health, food, shelter and education)
• Collectivizing the banks, communication, transportation, energy and related industries
• Peace and solidarity: ending militarism, colonialism and imperialism
• Community self-defense: abolishing mass incarceration and aggressive policing
• Reparations for Black America, self-determination and respect for Native sovereignty
• Ending patriarchy and oppression based on sex, gender & sexual orientation
• Environmental justice

This video will be a great outreach tool for those planning on coming to the People's Congress of Resistance.

The People’s Congress of Resistance is just a few days away. Activists and front-line resisters will be gathering together at Howard University in Washington, D.C. for the expressed purpose of building a People’s Congress of Resistance movement anchored in our common struggles and the manifesto “Society for the Many — A Vision for Revolution.”

This is a meeting of people with a shared vision and shared values. It will be a unique space where our common movement can prepare for  the next steps in opposition to the Trump Administration’s regressive agenda, as well as the political orientation of both the Republican and Democratic Party elites who dominate the current U.S. Congress. This is a gathering of people who have been working together for over 6 months to make it a huge success, and it will be precisely that. This is an exciting opportunity for people with shared principles to discuss and analyze the current political situation and chart a path forward together.

This meeting is not open to those who seek to disrupt the meeting or otherwise work to undermine the shared political and social aims and goals of those who are coming together. Any such entry by persons whose political goals and work are at odds with these principles is against the will of the organizers and such persons are not invited to this event and should not plan on attending or attempt to enter. This meeting is for attendees who are gathering from across the country to forward the political principles outlined in the manifesto. We will ensure that the environment is supportive of the participation of all those who support these goals.

All members of the media who wish to cover the event must, in addition to registering, submit credentials to the People’s Congress of Resistance Media Liaison by Friday, Sept. 15 at 12 Noon at [email protected]. Only those media that are credentialed by the People’s Congress of Resistance Media Liaison will be permitted entrance. Credentials will be available at a media check-in table during morning registration.

Thanks to all of our organizers, activists and volunteers whose tireless efforts have made the People’s Congress of Resistance come together. This is an exciting beginning!

Education for All! #DefendDACA! 

Bryan Peña and Peta Lindsay protesting Trump's cancellation of DACA. They will be at the People's Congress of Resistance this weekend at the Blackburn Center at Howard University, in Washington DC.

By Peta Lindsay,
High school teacher in Los Angeles

Anyone who’s set foot in a public school recently has already seen our social/economic/political system failing our young people in a million different ways. In the past I’ve joked that we who work in public schools, work where “the promise of the free market” dies. I teach U.S. history and I am meant to teach that this is a land of opportunity and equality - but how do you say that with a straight face to a young person who has not eaten a meal in the last 12 hours and now has to take a high-stakes test?

To the students who survived traumatic border crossings, who’ve seen people killed in civil war and whose families can’t afford or access mental health services, so they just show up and get disciplined if (god forbid!) they act out.

How great is this “meritocracy” for the young people who work weekends and evenings to help their mom pay rent, when they’re competing for college spots with students who have private tutors, college-educated parents and have never known eviction, homelessness and fear? What does “the land of liberty” mean to a student who gets put in cuffs by the cops and laid out face-down on the sidewalk, for having the wrong skin color in the wrong neighborhood?

My students are trying their damnedest to succeed in a system that does not want working-class children, particularly the Black and Brown ones, to survive. And the powers that be, who never give a second thought to the well-being of these children, only to maximum profit and exploitation, have the nerve to wonder why more and more young people are turning against capitalism these days.

In my school community in Lincoln Heights, Trump’s election landed like a bomb in an already precarious place. Young people who were already fighting through a thousand different obstacles, suddenly saw their nightmares realized and one fear come to dominate all others: the fear of deportation.

Here are some questions and comments that students in my U.S. history classes wrote the day after Trump’s election:

• “Are my parents getting deported?” (Written in many different ways).
• “What if he takes our education away? What then? I want to graduate and have a good life.”
• “Would he really want to separate families? Why do you want to hurt us?”
• “Could he take away my citizenship if my parents are immigrants?”
• “I don’t know what is going to happen to my parents, if he is actually going to deport immigrants, but I am sure that our community is going to fight for what we have and love.”

The fear is real - but so is their strength. As you can see in that last comment -and I read many others like it, while many described despair in their families (“my mother cried” and “my mother said we have to move” were also frequent comments), many also described their determination to fight back. Trump did not only inspire fear in these young people, he also inspired fierce and determined resistance.

East Los Angeles high school students converge with students from around the city who walked out to protest Donald Trump.

Student leader coming to the People's Congress of Resistance

Less than a week after Trump's election, these same students helped organize a city-wide walkout. On Nov. 14, these students, along with hundreds of high school students from East Los Angeles, poured out of their classrooms and took to the streets in organized, powerful resistance. They chanted slogans like “Where do we stand? Our native land!” as they marched to City Hall with incredible dignity, unity and pride.

At City Hall they were joined by thousands of students from all over the city, students of many colors and backgrounds who had all worked together to make this powerful resistance possible.

I was lucky enough to witness this action. I’ve been a grassroots organizer/activist for over a decade and I’ve never seen anything like what those young people accomplished that day, it was historic.

Bryan Peña is one of those student leaders who has been organizing since Day One. He was a senior in high school when Trump was elected and he helped found the student organization La Resistencia - to fight back. In the course of organizing against racism, raids and deportations, Bryan made the decision to “come out” in our community and let everyone know that he is an undocumented youth and he has DACA status.

Now Bryan is 18, working and attending college full-time. With his DACA status in jeopardy, Bryan’s future is uncertain but his commitment to building the resistance is clear. Bryan and other student organizers from La Resistencia will be at the People’s Congress of Resistance in Washington, D.C. 

Here is his message:

If you agree, show your support by sharing this article on Facebook and Twitter, and forwarding this email.

Register today for the Sept. 16-17 People's Congress of Resistance.

Donate to support a student or person with a fixed income, who otherwise would not be able to come to D.C.

An exciting group of presenters will be at the People’s Congress of Resistance. They will join with the hundreds of other activists and organizers from around the country at the inaugural event taking place Sept. 16-17 at the Blackburn Center at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

If you have not registered, follow this link today!

Here are some of the presenters:

• Robert King, former Black Panther and political prisoner of the Angola 3
• Eddie Conway, former Black Panther and political prisoner
• Jang Jinsook, Director of Policy and Planning, New People's Party of South Korea
• Jennicet Gutierrez, Community Organizer, Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement
• Carlos Ron, Charge d'Affaires, Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
• Antonio Tizapa, father of Jorge Antonio Tizapa Legideño, one of the 43 missing students from Ayotzinapa, Mexico
• Cindy Sheehan, author/activist
• Dominic Moulden, Resource Organizer, ONE DC
• Prof. Jodi Dean, author and educator
• Malik Rahim, Common Ground Relief, former Black Panther
• Dr. Anthony Monteiro, Saturday Free School, W.E.B. DuBois scholar
• Gloria La Riva, Party for Socialism and Liberation
• Prof. Jared Ball, Morgan State Univ., iMixWhatiLike
• Dennis Banks, co-founder and National Field Director of American Indian Movement (AIM)
• Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, Constitutional Rights Attorney, Exec. Dir, Partnership for Civil Justice Fund
• George Ciccariello-Maher, Professor, Drexel University
• Abby Martin, journalist, The Empire Files
• Rosa Clemente, organizer, Green Party Vice-Presidential Candidate in 2008
• Dr. Carol Paris, President, Physicians for a National Health Program
• Pam Africa, Minister of Confrontation, MOVE;  Chairwoman, International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal
• Lucy Ceballos Félix, reproductive justice leader in Texas
• Nasim Chatha, Alliance for Global Justice
• Delonte Wilkins, Organizer, Black Workers Center
• Medea Benjamin, CODEPINK
• Betty Davis, New Abolitionist Movement
• Juan Jose Gutierrez, Coordinator, Full Rights for Immigrants Coalition
• Mahdi Bray, Executive Director, American Muslim Alliance
• Anoa J. Changa, Deputy Director, MPACT
• Eugene Puryear, Stop Police Terror Project DC
• Kevin Zeese, Co-Director, Popular Resistance
• Ana Edwards, Chair, Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project, Richmond, VA
• Laura Hanna, Debt Collective
• Ann Larson, Debt Collective
• Ben Norton, journalist and writer
• Ralph Poynter, New Abolitionist Movement
• Peta Lindsay, site representative for Los Angeles Leadership Academy United, CTA/NEA*
• Dr. Margaret Flowers, Co-Director, Popular Resistance
• Dr. Simona Perry, oil and pipeline activist, Georgia
• Ray McGovern, Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, Veterans for Peace
• Hyun Lee, Solidarity Committee for Democracy and Peace in Korea, Task Force to Stop THAAD in Korea and Militarism in Asia and the Pacific
• Mike Prysner, Iraq anti-war veteran organizer
• Gabriel Bryant, Sankofa Community Empowerment; Campaign to Bring Mumia Home
• Berthony Dupont, Haiti Liberte
• Karina Garcia, Justice Center en El Barrio
• Jonathan Hutto, Coordinator, Prince George’s People’s Coalition
• Yasmina Mrabet, Housing Organizer, ONE DC
• Marion Gray Hopkins, mother of Gary Hopkins Jr., murdered by MPD
• Ang Hicks, aunt of of Shantel Davis, murdered by NYPD
• Natasha Duncan, sister of Shantel Davis, murdered by NYPD
• Hertencia Petersen, aunt of Akai Gurley, murdered by NYPD
• Nicholas Heyward Sr., father of Nicholas Heyward Jr., murdered by NYPD
• Zaquanna Albert, girlfriend of Delrawn Smalls, murdered by NYPD officer
• Neal Sweeney, Vice President, UAW Local 5810
• Jim Lafferty, Executive Director Emeritus, National Lawyers Guild, Los Angeles
• Joe Lombardo, United National Antiwar Coalition
• Vaughn Bennett, Dahlgreen Courts Tenants Association
• Minnie Elliott, Brookland Manor Residents Association
• Phil Wilayto, Editor, The Virginia Defender; admin comm., UNAC
• Brian Becker, National Coordinator, ANSWER Coalition
  *- organization listed for identification purposes only

Follow this link to register today!

A matching grant has been received for donations of up to $2,000! Donate today!

Hertencia Petersen, aunt of Akai Gurley

Marion Gray-Hopkins, mother of Gary Hopkins Jr.

Zaqunna Albert with Delrawn Smalls

Jacqueline Minifield-Brown, mother of D’londre Minifield

Toni Taylor, mother of Cary Ball

Nicholas Heyward Sr., father of Nicholas Heyward Jr.

Ang Hicks, aunt of Shantel Davis

We are writing today on behalf of many families who have lost loved ones to police violence, and are asking for our collective support to get them to the People’s Congress of Resistance.

In the last 10 days, we have witnessed an enormous outpouring of anti-racist protesters across the country standing in solidarity with Charlottesville, Virginia, and standing up to the white supremacists. Donald Trump’s refusal to outrightly condemn their murderous violence, and his defense of the Confederate monuments, has only strengthened the resolve of millions to build a powerful people’s movement against racism and fascism in the streets.

The People’s Congress of Resistance will bring together anti-racist organizers nationwide, from Black Lives Matter chapters to campus activists to families directly impacted by police terror. We need your help to get them there.

We already know the grim statistics. Every 28 hours a Black person is killed by a police officer, security guard or vigilante. Since 2005 there have been roughly 12,000 police murders, but less than 30 convictions of officers. That these murders are disproportionately of Black young people, many unarmed, is also a fact that permeates the consciousness and minds of every Black parent.

Reporters, activists, and community leaders often point to the resilience of these families in the face of such tragedies. After the cameras leave and the lights fade, it’s this resilience that continues the light the path to justice for thousands taking from us unjustly by police violence.

The energy that sustains the rallies, marches, testimony, vigils, discussions and other forms of resistance to police harassment, brutality and murder is driven by the steadfastness of those who have felt the loss of their loved ones the closest. That’s why the People’s Congress of Resistance spoke to many of us so strongly. It is a gathering of the grassroots resisters, a gathering of those doing the day-in and day-out organizing, often unheralded, many times in the most oppressed communities. That is the work we do too.

Fighting white supremacy means more than rejecting the explicit racists of the “alt-right” and the symbols of the Confederacy. It means showing solidarity with Black, Native and Latino freedom movements in their current battles against institutionalized discrimination and violence.

The police allowed the terrorists to roam free in this violent attack in Charlottesville. Instead, they are arresting and targeting those that have stood against them. The corporate-owned media has given the fascist and white supremacist movement a platform to project their ideas.  Now more than ever, we need to give “a voice and vision” to the revolution we need, as stated in the People’s Congress of Resistance manifesto.

Mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, cousins, uncles and aunts of those brutalized and killed by police violence are ready to come to Howard University this September 16-17. They are ready to add their voices to the hundreds of others looking to create a real people's-led resistance.

Traveling to Washington, D.C., from around the country and staying two days has its costs. With your help we can defray those costs and bring the families' voices to the People's Congress of Resistance. We’ve already received a matching donation of up to $2,000! So if you donate now your contribution will go twice as far.

Together, we’ve stood up against the most powerful forces of the state countless times; now help us to bring these families to stand with other grassroots organizers as we build the resistance. Please donate now to help the families of the victims of police violence be present in the largest possible numbers, from the widest range of places, at the People’s Congress of Resistance this September.

In solidarity,

Kerbie Joseph
NYC organizer against police brutality

Eugene Puryear
Stop Police Terror Project in Washington, D.C.; Movement for Black Lives D.C Steering Committee

  on behalf of the People's Congress of Resistance and

Marion Gray-Hopkins, mother of Gary Hopkins Jr.
Hertencia Petersen, aunt of Akai Gurley
Nicholas Heyward Sr., father of Nicholas Heyward Jr.
Zaquanna Albert, girlfriend of Delrawn Smalls
Ang Hicks, aunt of Shantel Davis
Natasha Duncan, sister of Shantel Davis
Family of Cesar Cruz
Toni Taylor, mother of Cary Ball
Jacqueline Minifield-Brown, mother of D’londre Minifield

Did you miss the recent promo video for the People’s Congress? Check it out here.

Follow this link to register and find housing options here.