Why 2021 needs more direct action

January 19, 2021Posted inUncategorized
BOSTON, MA: June 3, 2020: Thousands take part in a Black Lives Matter march and rally on the Boston Common in Boston, Massachusetts. (Staff photo by Nicolaus Czarnecki/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)

cross-posted from Medium

by Scott Parkin

Back in the first week of June, 2020, soon after the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin, I found myself once again in the streets marching in the streets of Oakland, CA and taking action for black lives. I’d been here many times before after the murders of Michael Brown, Philandro Castile and Alton Sterling. Beyond that, I’ve been organized and partaken in campaigns, direct actions and mass protests on a myriad of issues from the war in Iraq to knocking Wall Street banks for their financing of fossil fuels to the Indigenous uprising around Standing Rock for decades.

Resisting the Police State in Portland

September 2, 2020Posted inUncategorized

For over 90 days, since the murder of George Floyd, anti-police brutality and Black Lives Matter movements in Portland, OR have faced down the Portland Police Bureau, the Dept. of Homeland Security and various right wing racist militias.

Listen to “Revolt in Portland” on Green and Red Podcast.

The Trump administration attempted to crack down on protests in an unprecedented show of aggression by putting federal agents on the street, kidnapping protestors off the street and responding with mass violence. The entire city rose up against the federal government’s intervention, prompting a pull back by the feds. But since then the Portland Police have continued the violence against protests.