(6/10/2024 - 6/16/2024)
BLMLA Actions/Events (6/10/2024 - 6/16/2024):
Wednesday, 6/12/2024 at 9AM - PUSH LA Rally and Public Comment at Los Angeles City Hall South Steps (1st St., between Main and Spring) - City Council is (finally) considering our proposal to remove police from traffic stops - authored by Council President-elect Marqueece Harris-Dawson! Join with our partners in the PUSH LA coalition for a morning rally followed by public comment in City Council chambers. Let’s move this forward in the name of #KeenanAnderson and so many others.
Wednesday, 6/12/2024 at 4PM - #EndPoliceAssociations Rally at 1313 W. 8th Street - Police are not workers! They are tools of the oppressor, meant to threaten and exact violence on the workers of the world. No time is this more apparent than now as LAPD brutalizes and arrests those demanding a #FreePalestine and the end to Black death at the hands of police. Join BLMLA and the families of those killed by police as we chant down the Los Angeles Police Protective League.
Saturday, 6/15/2024 8-10AM This Is Not a Drill! on KBLA 1580 AM - This Is Not a Drill! on KBLA Talk 1580AM or facebook.com/BLMLA - Tune in to This Is Not a Drill! every Saturday 8-10AM. This week BLM Long Beach co-founder Audrena Redmond hosts, with our BLM poet laureate Yazmin Monet Watkins in the co-host chair to talk about the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity. Our own Sister Melina Abdullah joins the guest line up. #MoreThanAHashtag conversation with the family of #GeorgeFloyd. Taking your calls at 800-920-1580.
Sunday, 6/15/2024 Juneteenth in AfricaTown (Leimert Park) - Join the AfricaTown Coalition, Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles, and community for a celebration of Black freedom! Food, vendors, performances, speakers, and joy. Dr. Cornel West and our own Dr. Melina Abdullah are slated to join.
Recap:
What a powerful gathering of folks filled the Center for Black Power on Sunday evening at our monthly organizing meeting. We discussed Juneteenth and why the struggle is incomplete without reparations. Juneteenth should be 1. Freedom Day for Black people. 2. Solidarity Day for non-Black people of color, and 3. Pay Reparations Day for white folks.
Between May 14th and 22nd, BLM Grassroots Director Dr. Melina Abdullah faced the LAPD in civil court over a series of politically motivated swattings that took place in 2020 and 2021. Though the case outcome was not what we hoped, the strength of BLM LA was evident in the support shown at the courthouse, reaffirming that the community stands with us. It ain’t over!
At our #EndPoliceAssociations rally on Wednesday, May 25th to End Police Associations, we raised our voices for justice in memory of #GeorgeFloyd, who was murdered four years ago by officer Derek Chauvin. As we mark this significant anniversary, we also acknowledge the reality that despite the widespread call for police abolition following his death, instances of police violence have only escalated. Last week’s rally was held as a “field trip” to UCLA to support the striking academic workers and their demand for a #FreePalestine.
On our radio program, This Is Not a Drill!, aired live on KBLA 1580 AM on Saturday, June 1st, 2024, Kim Holmes and Cat Brooks delved into the implications of the Trump convictions for the Black community. Missed it? Watch here or listen to BLM’s This Is Not a Drill! wherever you get your podcasts.
BLMLA in Media and Must-Reads:
In Honor of Rev. James Lawson
Revolutionary Nonviolence: Organizing for Freedom by Rev. James Lawson
#PrideMonth
The Black and Brown activists who started Pride (Brookings)
Your Guide to Pride Month in LA (Los Angeles Magazine)
#Juneteenth
Celebrating Freedom: Juneteenth Events in L.A. (LA Sentinel)
Abdullah v. LAPD
Our Youth Vanguard!
It is Our Duty to Fight For Freedom…Kahlila Williams (The Guardian)
Additional Reads
George Floyd’s family calls on Congress to pass police reform, 4 years after his murder (CNN)
Who should be the next LAPD chief? Public shrugs as city asks for input (LA Times)
LAPD clears protest encampment outside City Hall (Yahoo News)
Tune in –
Move the Crowd airs every Monday morning at 7AM on 90.7FM KPFK kpfk.org. Listener calls around 7:40 at 818-985-5735.
Tune in to This Is Not a Drill! every Saturday 8-10AM, with a rebroadcast on Sundays on KBLA Talk 1580 and kbla1580.com and on facebook.com/blmla.
Black Lives Matter is truly a labor of love, and our work produces real expenses. To support our work, please donate to gofundme.com/BLMLA and donate here to support the work of Black Lives Matter Grassroots.
For the most updated information and more on our work, please visit our website at blmla.org and follow us on social media: @blmlosangeles on IG, @blmla on Twitter, and Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles on Facebook.