The Peoples Power Assembly’s Facebook page, along with the November 4, “If Trump steals the election and people’s mandate protest” were illegally shut down hampering our ability to organize doing irreparable harm to the organization. In addition, 15 organizers were singled out also.
Below is our statement. Please help us by disseminating this widely.
Make sure that November 4th March and car caravan are a success. Please get the word out since we are now hampered. Please donate if you are able to help us with March and legal costs as we will be pursuing every avenue to defend our democratic rights. Venmo@SolidarityCenter and DONATE HERE
Please sign up to get emergency emails alerts as this may be our only way of communicating with our members and friends in this period. SIGN UP HERE
In Solidarity,
Andre Powell, Sharon Black, Rev Annie Chambers
For People’s Power Assembly
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Statement and News Release from the People’s Power Assembly:
Facebook illegally shuts down support of “If Trump steals the election” November 4 protest
On the evening of 10/28/20, 15 organizers who were affiliated with the Baltimore March and Car Caravan for November 4, had their Facebook pages disabled; all were administrators or editors on various Facebook pages that endorsed the action including: Peoples Power Assembly, Youth Against War & Racism, Prisoner’s Solidarity Committee, Women In Struggle/ Mujeres En Lucha, and Struggle La Lucha. This action effectively locked down all of these pages denying thousands of members their constitutional rights.
The Peoples Power Assembly page which has over 11,000 followers was shut down along with several other pages affiliated with the event.
Prior to this lockout, the Peoples Power Assembly’s main phone was barraged with harassing calls from Trump supporters and calls from the Department of Homeland Security connected to the Baltimore federal courthouse.
Some of the above groups including Struggle La Lucha and Women In Struggle are national and have been targeted.
It is important to note that the PPA in Baltimore has led protests of thousands of people since Spring demanding justice against racism and police terror. There can be no mistake that these actions are an effort to silence that movement.
Sharon Black, an organizer with the Peoples Power Assembly, stated:
“We take these attacks very seriously, they are a violation of our constitutional rights and are a blatant attempt to shut down organizing for the November 4th march and car caravan in opposition to the possibility of Trump stealing the upcoming election.
It is also an attempt to silence a “Peoples Mandate” which calls for jobs or income now, stimulus for workers, not billionaires; and end to racism and police terror, community control now; health care for all; no evictions, foreclosures, or utility shutoffs; safe work conditions and hazard pay; no wars or sanction, feed the people not the Pentagon.
This unconstitutional and undemocratic attack on our movement is a threat to activists and the general community everywhere and we are monitoring this closely to see if these attacks become more widespread as we get closer to the election.
At present we will mobilize mass support both locally and nationally against these illegal attacks and also seek legal remedies.
Our movement is united and strong and will not be deterred or defeated.”
The Peoples Power Assembly is calling a Press Conference, Friday, October 30, 2020, 12 noon outside of our offices in front of 2011 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, rain or shine.
This may be the first time that a U.S. president has said he won’t accept the result of the vote, indicating that there will be no peaceful transition. This is not an idle threat. Trump has his own paramilitary police, Homeland Security, the support of the most virulent and reactionary police departments, and a myriad of violent, racist, vigilante-type groups.
At the Sept. 29 debate, after the moderator suggested condemning the Proud Boys, a far-right, violently racist group, Trump declared: “Proud Boys: stand back and stand by,” acknowledging he was their leader.
Later in the debate, Trump refused to say he would abide by the results of the election. He declined to tell his supporters to remain calm or avoid violence. “If I see tens of thousands of ballots, I can’t go along with that,” he said, urging his supporters to go to the polls and “watch very carefully.”
What can we do if there is an attempted coup, an outright coup or an effort to sabotage the vote? The people must prepare.
We are the people: Low-wage workers who are at the frontlines, risking our lives, whether we are grocery workers, bus drivers or Amazon warehouse workers; those of us in the streets protesting for Black Lives Matter and community control of police; those of us in the community facing evictions, foreclosures and utility shut-offs; students and youth concerned with catastrophic climate change and unsafe school reopening; healthcare workers and teachers sacrificing for our patients and students; Black, Brown and Indigenous communities along with seniors disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. Our lives are at stake.
We must act to protect people’s rights! Every vote counts and we will not accept a stolen election, no matter what form it takes, whether it’s stolen through a Supreme Court decision, the undemocratic Electoral College, or violence by the far right forces backing Trump.
If the election is stolen, from Nov. 3, 2020, through Jan. 20, 2021, it will be time for us to be in the streets in such large numbers that the system cannot run. Call in sick! Occupy the streets! March and picket at Federal Buildings, banks and businesses, and other suitable targets in your city, state or county. Organize civil disobedience. Urge your union to prepare for sick-outs and strikes.
November 3 (Election Day): physical voting at the polls. Join local groups like People’s Committees to Defend Democratic Rights or other local efforts to stop any intimidation by right-wing armed groups. Help escort Black, Brown, Indigenous and LGBTQ2S people and seniors to the polls to guarantee their safety.
November 4: Support the call by the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression Post-Election Protest for a Peoples Mandate for national day-after demonstrations.
During this period paper ballots will be counted. At any point the Supreme Court, consisting of just nine judges, may step in as it did in the 2000 election to undemocratically decide the direction of the elections.
December 8 marks the end of the “safe harbor” period for states to determine that election results will not be challenged in Congress. On December 14, Electoral College delegates cast their ballots on a state level. On January 6, 2021, Congress meets to count the Electoral College and declares a winner.
January 20, 2021 (Inauguration Day): Regardless of the outcome, we must continue to press for the demands that people need and want — Black Lives Matter, stopping police and ICE terror, healthcare for all, cancel rent & stop evictions and foreclosures, workers’ rights and safety on the job, jobs or income for all, no war or sanctions.
Please sign onto this call and begin to organize in your area.
The Peoples Power Assembly will be traveling to Washington D.C. to participate. We will be leaving the Harriet Tubman Solidarity Center at 10 am sharp and returning by 4 pm. If you would like to reserve a seat call us at 410-218-4835.
This may be the first time that a U.S. president has said he won’t accept the result of the vote, indicating that there will be no peaceful transition. This is not an idle threat. Trump has his own paramilitary police, Homeland Security, the support of the most virulent and reactionary police departments, and a myriad of violent, racist, vigilante-type groups.
At the Sept. 29 debate, after the moderator suggested condemning the Proud Boys, a far-right, violently racist group, Trump declared: “Proud Boys: stand back and stand by,” acknowledging he was their leader.
Later in the debate, Trump refused to say he would abide by the results of the election. He declined to tell his supporters to remain calm or avoid violence. “If I see tens of thousands of ballots, I can’t go along with that,” he said, urging his supporters to go to the polls and “watch very carefully.”
What can we do if there is an attempted coup, an outright coup or an effort to sabotage the vote? The people must prepare.
We are the people: Low-wage workers who are at the frontlines, risking our lives, whether we are grocery workers, bus drivers or Amazon warehouse workers; those of us in the streets protesting for Black Lives Matter and community control of police; those of us in the community facing evictions, foreclosures and utility shut-offs; students and youth concerned with catastrophic climate change and unsafe school reopening; healthcare workers and teachers sacrificing for our patients and students; Black, Brown and Indigenous communities along with seniors disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. Our lives are at stake.
We must act to protect people’s rights! Every vote counts and we will not accept a stolen election, no matter what form it takes, whether it’s stolen through a Supreme Court decision, the undemocratic Electoral College, or violence by the far right forces backing Trump.
If the election is stolen, from Nov. 3, 2020, through Jan. 20, 2021, it will be time for us to be in the streets in such large numbers that the system cannot run. Call in sick! Occupy the streets! March and picket at Federal Buildings, banks and businesses, and other suitable targets in your city, state or county. Organize civil disobedience. Urge your union to prepare for sick-outs and strikes.
November 3 (Election Day): physical voting at the polls. Join local groups like People’s Committees to Defend Democratic Rights or other local efforts to stop any intimidation by right-wing armed groups. Help escort Black, Brown, Indigenous and LGBTQ2S people and seniors to the polls to guarantee their safety.
November 4: Support the call by the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression Post-Election Protest for a Peoples Mandate for national day after demonstrations.
During this period paper ballots will be counted. At any point the Supreme Court, consisting of just nine judges, may step in as it did in the 2000 election to undemocratically decide the direction of the elections.
December 8, marks the end of the “safe harbor” period for states to determine that election results will not be challenged in Congress. On December 14, Electoral College delegates cast their ballots on a state level. On January 6, 2020 Congress meets to count the Electoral College and declares a winner.
January 20, 2021 (Inauguration Day): Regardless of the outcome, we must continue to press for the demands that people need and want — Black Lives Matter, stopping police and ICE terror, healthcare for all, cancel rent & stop evictions and foreclosures, workers’ rights and safety on the job, jobs or income for all, no war or sanctions.
Please sign onto this call and begin to organize in your area.
Join us this Saturday for a massive emergency community car caravan & March to express our outrage and heartbreak at the failure to indict the Louisville police responsible for shooting Breonna Taylor to death. Solidarity with the people of Louisville. Black women’s lives do matter!
If you missed the incredible program marking the anniversary of the Attica prison uprising, you have a chance to watch it on VIDEO . Featuring never-seen footage of Tom Soto, one of the original observers at Attica and the premiere of “Give Us the Freedom” featuring a prisoner from inside Vaughn prison explaining the conditions that led to the rebellion in Delaware.
Film premiere “Give Us the Freedom” a voice from the Vaughn prison by filmmaker Rasika Ruwanpathirana.
The Prisoners Solidarity Committee is holding a forum on Sunday, September 13, 2 pm west coast, 4 pm mountain and 5 pm eastern time to commemorate the Attica Uprising. To participate REGISTER HERE.
The forum will also include speakers, poetry and a discussion on the COVID crisis with relatives and loved ones of prisoners behind bars; .special clip from Tom Soto, one of the Attica observers and the poetry of the Attica prisoners.
Endorsers include: Prisoners Solidarity Committee; Peoples Power Assembly; Harriet Tubman Center for Social Justice; Struggle La Lucha; Socialist Unity Party/Partido de Socialismo Unido; Ujima People’s Progress Party; Youth Against War & Racism; Women in Struggle/Mujeres en Lucha (partial list)
On September 9, 1971, approximately 1,500 prisoners in Cell Block D seized the Attica Correctional Facility after having submitted a 27-point manifesto to the prison administration in an attempt to address the torturous conditions inside the prison.
Four days later, Governor Rockefeller ordered the storming of Attica prison. The police assault was described with the exception of the Indigenous massacres in the 19th century, as the bloodiest one day encounter since the Civil War.
The story of the Attica prisoners is one of incredible courage and resistance! It is the story of the fight for Black and Brown liberation and for an end to working class exploitation.
The Attica uprising continues to be remembered by all who seek justice and liberation.
Unemployed Workers Committee to Stop Evictions, Foreclosures and Utility Shut Offs “Through solidarity we can protect each other against capitalist greed & injustice”
If we can’t work, then we can’t pay! No to evictions, foreclosures and utility shut-offs until we are back to work and this crisis is over. The Peoples Power Assembly is initiating a special Unemployed Workers Committee and their supporters.
Become a part of a mutual aid network of community members, neighbors, friends and co-workers to defend our community from evictions, foreclosures and utility shut-offs.
Here are seven of the things the group has listed that it will do:
Stop evictions and foreclosures through mass action; by forming a human shield to physically prevent evictions;
Advocate for government and sheriff’s departments to extend no eviction and foreclosure orders until people are safe, back to work and able to pay;
Hold the big landlords and banks responsible during this crisis which includes demanding no rent increases, evictions or foreclosures and housing fit for human beings;
Work to ensure unemployment rights and guaranteed income for all jobless workers;
Protect unemployed workers, the homeless, and also small landlords who are at the mercy of the big banks, whose foreclosures will impact their tenants;
Demand safe working conditions and hazard pay for all workers to ensure that they do not get sick or spread infection to their families and friends;
Defend the community from utility shut-offs: heat, water and light are a right!
The Peoples Power Assembly sees the launching of this “Mutual Aid Group” as a continuation of our protests against racism and police terror. Those most impacted are Black, Latinx and poor workers; in fact, it was the 2008 subprime mortgage foreclosure scandal in combination with deindustrialization and the loss of union jobs that stripped wealth from Black and Latinx families and devastated whole communities.
We invite all groups and individuals to join and we pledge to unite with all groups who want to stop evictions and defend workers and the poor. We meet monthly both through zoom and outside with strict social distancing and masks.
Become a mutual aid member. (In this case our mutual aid is not so much about food or other resources ((if you would like to join our food is a right mutual aid at Douglas Homes, let us know)) but about putting our bodies, brains and love for one another together to protect our community.)
Members pledge to respond to the best of their ability to form a human chain to protect unemployed workers from sheriff and landlord actions. This is just one way to be a part of the committee. There is something that everyone can contribute during this crisis. If you are not able to leave your home or apartment you can help by phone banking and spreading the word. The most important thing is that through solidarity we can love and protect each other against capitalist greed and injustice.
Thursday’s action coincides with the Vanessa Guillen Thursday D.C. March organized by her parents to demand justice in her case. We will honor all of the women #SayHerName who have been victims of police, racist, military and patriarchal violence.
Baltimore women veterans and their supporters will highlight the racism and sexism of how women vets including transgender women are treated, particularly Black, Brown and Indigenous women. This includes lack of proper medical care, housing, and physiological support. Hear from Annette Johnson, a veteran and supporter of Black, Brown and Indigenous women veterans, Rev. Annie Chambers, PPA representative, Ellen Barfield, representative of the Phil Berrigan Chapter of the Veterans for Peace.
Rape and sexual violence are an integral part of the police and military culture. It is a form of terror that is used by U.S. imperialism both abroad and even inside it’s own military as a method of terror, genocide and control.
Everyone is invited; women and oppressed genders will be speaking. Please wear masks and social distance. If you do not have a mask, we have masks available and snacks.
Join us as we rally around Dallas Greene, a nine year old boy who was recently the victim of racism by the Atlas Restaurant Group.
Dallas Greene and his mom
Atlas must change and work with the community to rectify their contributions to the segregation and racism among businesses in Harbor East.
This event is organized by a young boy to teach kids to stand up TOGETHER for what they believe in. But it’s important for adults to come out and follow his lead.
So we’re inviting those who have worked at Atlas, those that have had run-ins with the Atlas Restaurant Group and Alex Smith in the past, those who have experienced racism and those who simply want to stand up against racism in their community to come out.
Prisoners Urgently Need Soap, Showers, PPE and Safe Conditions – Car Caravan & Protest at the offices of Robert L. Green, Secretary of Public Safety & Correctional Services
Thursday, July 23, Gather at 11 am
@ 2011 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218 to decorate cars
12 noon at 300 East Joppa Rd, Towson, MD. 21204
For those who are able we will have a short social distancing protest & press conference — For more information call: 410-218-4835
While we continue our fight to abolish the racist mass incarceration system, prisoners from Cumberland, Jessup and Baltimore have written and called the Prisoners Solidarity Committee and the Peoples Power Assembly about immediate and urgent needs.
They are desperately concerned for their safety and the health of their fellow inmates. Prisoners are not receiving adequate soap, showers or PPE. Their complaints are being muffled and censored.
On Thursday, we will car caravan to the offices of Robert L. Green, Secretary of Public Safety and Correctional Services in Towson to amplify their demands..
We will meet at 11 am to decorate cars and get staged. Our route is too long to march so we will caravan. But we will do a social distancing picket/rally/press conference at the offices at 12 noon if you want to meet us there.
