[act-ma] URGENT ALERT: 4:30 PM, THURS. JULY 28th, Union Square, Somerville SHOW UP for BLACK LIVES MATTER

[James in Cambridge]

Friends, Black Lives Matter Cambridge needs your presence Thursday in Union Sq. Somerville. The country is watching, and your presence is needed. Please read below, share with your justice-minded contacts and I hope to see you tomorrow.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Elisabeth Raskopf <elraskopf at gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Jul 27, 2016 at 11:07 PM
Subject: URGENT ACTION ALERT: 4:30 PM, THURSDAY JULY 28th, Union Square, Somerville SHOW UP for BLACK LIVES MATTER
To: surjboston at googlegroups.com


Dear SURJ Boston:

It is time for you to take action and affirm that black lives matter. Show up and stand with Black Lives Matter Cambridge to demand that the Somerville Police Employee’s Association (SPEA) denounce the murders of all black lives lost to police terror, that the Black Lives Matter banner on Somerville City Hall will be left alone and left in place, and that the 95 officers that signed the police union’s letter take immediate part in anti-racism classes. See below for the direct ask from BLM Cambridge organizers. Find a friend, bring a buddy, and Show Up for Racial Justice!

                       


Dear Accomplices:
On August 19, 2015, a Black Lives Matter banner was displayed on the front of City Hall in Somerville, Massachusetts.  BLM Cambridge (BLMC), under lead organizer at the time Stephanie Guirand, was among other BLMC organizers who were instrumental in Mayor Joseph Curatone realizing that this was “a very clear statement we are making to the community that we recognize that structural racism exists in our society; it exists in our public and private institutions.”
“When asked if he thinks racism is a problem in Somerville, he said, “Racism exists everywhere.”Check out the August 2015 article 
Approaching the anniversary of the sign being up, the president of the Somerville Police Employee’s Association (SPEA) wrote an open letter to Mayor Curtatone, asking him to take down BLMC banner and replace it with one that reads “All lives matter.”
The SPEA is now holding a protest this Thursday, July 28th at 5:30PM because the mayor refused to take down the sign and the chief of police stood with the mayor.
You and I both know that this is a pivotal moment.  A white majority group knows that a black majority group has stood up for themselves and in turn has gone to another white majority group to “take care of the problem”. We must reject this narrative and offer our own - one that raises up the Black lives. Please join us in:
Setting the Record StraightThursday, July 28th4:30PM Union Square Somerville, MA
We must make sure our voices are heard.   We are asking you to share this call to action using the hashtags #BlackLivesMatter #BLMCambridge #ProveIt with your networks, to phone folks, e-mail, FaceTime,  SnapChat and Instagram our demands:That the Somerville Police Employee's Association denounce the murders of all black lives lost to police terrorThe Black Lives banner on Somerville City Hall will be left alone and left in place.Require that the 95 officers that signed the police union’s letter take immediate part in anti-racism classes
“All lives matter” is how our culture conducts the  systematic and institutionalized erasure of Black folks’ lived experiences with oppression and state violence. The Somerville Police Association, like many other policing units of representation, have never addressed the beginning origins and historical rhetoric that police have upheld in this country.  The SPEA’s demands read like: “Let's remove the black folks from being at the table and continue to eat amongst ourselves while saying there is no problem with race.”  This line of reasoning is coupled with the fact that no police officers in Somerville or abroad have condemned the murders of: 

Rekia BoydAlton SterlingNatasha McKennaFreddie Gray Jessica HernandezWalter ScottKendra JamesDeisy GarciaPhilandro CastilleYvette SmithSean BellAlberta SpruillAmadou DialloTanisha AndersonMichael BrownEzell FordSandra BlandLaquan McDonaldAiyana JonesTamir RiceRamarley GrahamLaTanya HaggertyEric GarnerMalissa WilliamsTimothy RussellKathryn JohnstonOscar Ramirez

As you know, the names can go on and take up several pages. Enough is enough. BLM Cambridge is going to set the record straight. 
In solidarity,
BLM Cambridge Organizers

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