“We need everyone (yes everyone) to converge on 7th and H Streets NW at 7PM.”

Photo by PoPville flickr user Victoria Pickering

From NO INDICTMENT TURN UP TO SHUT DOWN CHINA TOWN FOR SANDRA BLAND AND TAMIR RICE:

“What: Rally and march for Justice for Tamir Rice and Sandra Bland
When: Thursday, December 31, 7 p.m.
Where: 7th and H Streets NW

This is an urgent and emergency call to action! In solidarity, Black Lives Matter DMV, Stop Police Terror Project DC, BYP 100, ONE DC, Black Movement Law Project, and Law 4 Black Lives call on you to TURN UP AND SHUT DOWN GALLERY PLACE AND CHINA TOWN for Sandra Bland and Tamir Rice.

We are going to protest the unacceptable but not surprising non-indictments in both cases. As always we remain absolutely committed to uplift and demanding justice for victims of police brutality in DC including Alonzo Smith, Jason Goolsby, and Ralphael Briscoe.

We need everyone (yes everyone) to converge on 7th and H Streets NW at 7PM. We WILL NOT go in to a new year without demanding immediate justice in both cases! We can no longer express our rage, disappointment, and fear alone or in silence. On the last day of the year you remain empowered to show your commitment to vigorously fighting for justice in 2016!

The doors of the movement are wide open, please come in! Bring your signs, banners and all of your family, friends, neighbors, faith community members, sorors, fraternity brothers, teachers, EVERYONE!!”

and

“Local Movement for Black Lives groups and their supporters, lead by Black Lives Matter DMV, will shut down Gallery Place for the non-indictments of Sandra Bland and Tamir Rice and to demand justice for Natasha McKenna, Alonzo Smith, Ralphael Briscoe and Jason Goolsby

WHO: Black Lives Matter DMV, BYP 100, Stop Police Terror Project, ONE-DC, Black Movement Law Project and Law 4 Black Lives

WHAT: Protest and March for Justice

WHERE: 7th and H st NW

WHEN: Thursday December 31st, 2015 7pm.

To paraphrase Audre Lorde, we are protesting the reality that we are living in system we were clearly not meant to survive. We protest because we cannot ignore the injustices faced by our community, we cannot stand idly by in a fundamentally oppressive status quo. Sandra Bland was killed for being a Black woman in America. Tamir Rice was killed for being free Black boy in a society that doesn’t think we are human. This is a national crisis of conscious for America that affects ALL of us here at home in DC.

We demand justice for all Black people facing state sanctioned sexual, economic, emotional and physical violence but in particular for the victims of police brutality here in DC: Ralphael Briscoe, Alonzo Smith who were killed by state sanctioned violence and Jason Goolsby who was assaulted and countless others. We demand justice for Natasha McKenna, a Black woman brutalized on tape and killed in Virginia.

We are protesting because like so many other “leaders” in America our mayor, Muriel Bowser, is more interested in penalizing, brutalizing and criminalizing low income Black people than investing in our community. This is the same mayor who pushed a totalitarian policing bill that would have allowed for warrantless searches. This is the same mayor that thought that private bathrooms were too good for the overwhelmingly Black families in DC general. This is the same mayor who used the police to gain support for her plan to “end homelessness.” This is the same mayor whose “Vision Zero” plan to end accidents includes new traffic fines that low income DC residents can’t afford to pay.

We are protesting because our Mayor has #zerovision and it is costing our community dearly. Time and time again she pushes the same regressive policies and out of touch leadership that is crushing the spirit, economy and, far too often, the lives of our community.

The system will neither support or protect us, so we must #takebackourstreetsDC”