#BLMDigsOut Boston
In the last 2 weeks, 5 feet of snow has fallen in Boston, on a city that usually only sees 3 feet all season. Roads are a mess, MBTA is unreliable, and Boston Public Schools have been closed.
As they prepare to re-open this week, please JOIN US as #BLMDigsOutand get’s Boston kids #Safe2School. We’re looking for folks to help us shovel sidewalks, crosswalks, and bus stops that serve elementary students in key areas across Dorchester, Lower Roxbury, Mattapan, and Jamaica Plain/Roslindale that have been hit hardest by inadequate snow-removal services.
Our goal is to to not only clear pathways elementary school kids need to get safely to their buses and schools but also offer escorts to students crossing busy roads and walking those last few blocks to class. To accomplish this, we’re asking folks to show up in two waves:
Tuesday (2/10) @ Noon (or 1hr after the snow ban is lifted) at mustering locations in their designated areas. We’ll have some shovels & hand warmers but bring extras, warm weather gear, and your community spirit. Area captains will direct volunteers to where they’re needed most.
Wednesday (2/11) 6am-9am, PoC volunteers return to bus stops and road crossings to ensure kids can wait for buses and use crosswalks safely.
Please respond below or tweet @BLM_Boston with your name and days you can help for more info:
Dorchester- Seneca @ulikemealready
Lower Roxbury- Kendra @yonomepeino
Mattapan- Segun @revrenddoctor
JP/Roslindale- Daunasia @lafemagres & Amber Rose @amberrosespeaks
9:20 am • 10 February 2015 • 55 notes
#SignalBoost PRESS RELEASE: Activists Shut Down Interstate Highway 93 North and South During Morning Rush Hour Traffic into Boston
PRESS RELEASE: Activists Shut Down Interstate Highway 93 North and South During Morning Rush Hour Traffic into Boston
January 15, 2015
Contact Megan Collins at (617) 942-1867 or email january15action@gmail.com for more information, interviews, and photographs.
Somerville/Milton/Boston Massachusetts – Activists have shut down Interstate 93 Southbound and Northbound during morning rush hour commute into Boston to “disrupt business as usual” and protest police and state violence against Black people.
Two different groups of activists linked their bodies together across the highway in coordinated actions north and south of Boston. This action was in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. This diverse non-Black group of Pan-Asians, Latinos, and white people, some of whom are queer and transgender, took this action to confront white complacency in the systemic oppression of Black people in Boston.
“Today, our nonviolent direct action is meant to expose the reality that Boston is a city where white commuters and students use the city and leave, while Black and Brown communities are targeted by police, exploited, and displaced,” said Korean-American activist Katie Seitz.
In the past 15 years, law enforcement officers in Boston have killed Remis M. Andrews, Darryl Dookhran, Denis Reynoso, Ross Baptista, Burrell “Bo” Ramsey-White, Mark Joseph McMullen, Manuel “Junior” DaVeiga, Marquis Barker, Stanley Seney, Luis Gonzalez, Bert W. Bowen, Eveline Barros-Cepeda, Daniel Furtado, LaVeta Jackson, Nelson Santiago, Willie L. Murray Jr., Rene Romain, Jose Pineda, Ricky Bodden, Carlos M. Garcia, and many more people of color. We mourn and honor all these lives.
“We must remember, Ferguson is not a faraway Southern city. Black men, women, and gender-nonconforming people face disproportionately higher risk of profiling, unjust incarceration, and death. Police violence is everywhere in the United States,” said another protester Nguyen Thi Minh Thu.
The two groups of activists organized these actions to use their collective voices to resist and disrupt the overarching system that oppresses Black people and to expressly accept the responsibility of white and non-Black people of color to organize and act to end racial profiling, unjust incarceration, and murder of Black people in the United States and beyond. Black lives matter, today and always.
***See below for more quotes from organizers and participants in the action.***
Quotes from Participants in the Action
“As an Afro-Indigenous woman I feel the affects of white supremacy on my people. Being involved in this action has shown me where the participant’s hearts are at in the movement. Without collaboration of all people, no one can be free." - Camille
“As Pan-Asian people in the United States, we refuse to perpetuate anti-Black racism. We will not allow our communities to serve as a wedge to divide us and jeopardize our struggle to end racism and achieve our collective liberation,” said Nguyen Thi Minh Thu.
“As non-Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer people in the United States, we refuse to allow increasing acceptance of our sexuality and several marriage equality victories to end our commitment to advancing social justice. We recognize that this movement has been spearheaded by Black queer women and gender-nonconforming people.” said Monica Majewski.
“As white people in the United States, we refuse to align ourselves with a state that carries out violence against Black people. We are taking direct action to challenge white complicity and amplify the demands for an end to the war on Black communities,” said Katie Martin Selcraig.
"As a white person, my only options are to act against white supremacy or to be complicit in it. I’m here today because I refuse to be complicit” said Emily O.
“As a white man, I know I benefit and am protected by a racist society. I am participating today because it is necessary for those who are the least vulnerable to step up and put our bodies on the line if we ever want to build a just world,” said Eli C.
"As a white feminist, I take part in this action because anyone who claims commitment to equality must take action to dismantle intersectional oppression. Idling is a privilege afforded only to those who genuinely do not care,“ said Nelli.
“As non-Black undocumented immigrants in the United States, we refuse to perpetuate the erroneous idea of earned citizenship. We honor the path set before us by Harriet Tubman by advancing civil and human rights for everyone regardless of legal status,” said a protester involved in the action.
“As non-Black women, including transgender and gender-nonconforming folks in the United States, we refuse to allow our commitment to gender justice to distract us from racial justice. We understand that gender and racial justice are intertwined,” said one of the organizers of the action.
7:45 am • 15 January 2015 • 108 notes
#SignalBoost PRESS RELEASE: Activists Stop Commuter Rail before AFC Playoff Game
PRESS RELEASE
Activists Stop Commuter Rail before AFC Playoff Game
Contact Saif Rahman at (860) 966-2473 for more information and interviews
January 10, 2015
Dedham, MA – Activists from across New England delayed an MBTA commuter rail train at the Dedham, MA station traveling to the New England Patriots game in order to interrupt “recreation as usual.” This peaceful demonstration was organized to continue lifting up the message of the Black Lives Matter movement and in honor of the “2015 Year of Resistance.”
Organized by a diverse group of white, non-black people of color, and black activists, the action was meant to highlight white complicity that allows police and state violence to be carried out against Black people.
“As white allies, we are taking direct action to challenge white supremacy and amplify the demands for an end to the war on Black communities across the county,” said one of the organizers, Mallory Hanora of Boston, MA.
“As non-Black people of color, we know that the struggle for our autonomy starts with the liberation of Black people in the United States,” said Sherrie'Anne André of Providence, RI.
The train was delayed for four and half minutes to represent the four and half hours Michael Brown’s body was left lying in the street; this span of time has become symbolic within the movement. Protestors quietly replicated the sound of a beating heart during that time.
“As a black woman, I agree that these actions are important, they demonstrate solidarity with our liberation and challenges white complacency with this racist system,” said Seneca Joyner of Boston, MA.
In Boston, Black people experience racial disparities at every point of the justice system, from unnecessary and unconstitutional stops by police, to overrepresentation in prisons, to the murder of unarmed Black people. The ACLU of Massachusetts released a report in October that found 63 percent of Boston police-civilian encounters from 2007 to 2010 targeted Blacks, even though Black people make up less than 25 percent of the city population. Even after controlling for crime, the study showed that police officers were more likely to initiate police encounters with Black people. Police gave no justification for 75 percent of these stops.
While white New Englanders celebrate our region as one grounded in principles of freedom and liberty, in reality white supremacy continues to impede the safety and well-being of Black people and their families. New Englanders continue to live under intense segregation and violent policing. At this game many white fans will cheer and celebrate Black athletes in the stadium while ignoring the racism Black people face in daily life. The AFC Division Playoff Game required us to insist that Black lives matter all the time, everywhere, on and off the field.
2:36 pm • 10 January 2015 • 25 notes
To America, Darren Wilson is Innocent. INDICT AMERICA.
Darren Wilson was delivered no indictment. We know that killer cops are viewed as law abiding citizens. Darren Wilson says he was just doing his job. He’s right. Richard Haste, Ramarley Graham’s murderer, claims he did nothing wrong. He’s right. Cops who murder Black and brown people in the name of America’s capitalist white supremacy aren’t just innocent; they’re commended for a job well done. INDICT AMERICA.
People in 10 cities in the US are currently planning to turn up in their own cities when the verdict is announced. JOIN US!
B2 Boston Police Station – Dudley Square
2400 Washington Street
Boston, MA 02119
12:48 am • 25 November 2014 • 37 notes
Black Lives Matter Boston remains committed to being active in the movement against racist policing and police violence both locally and nationally. We have been called to join in a Weekend of Resistance by Black leadership in Ferguson including Hands Up United, Organization for Black Struggle, and Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment. During this convening, there will be actions to demand the immediate indictment of Darren Wilson and movement building to address the nationwide crisis of police brutality against Black people.
We are going back to Ferguson because we refuse to let the murder of Mike Brown be forgotten and ignored. We are going back to Ferguson because residents demanding justice continue to be met with a militarized response. We are going to back to Ferguson because we recognize communion and coordination are necessary to building momentum. We are going back to Ferguson because this is a movement moment and the time to say “No more."
Donations from you, our community, made it possible for the Boston Black Lives Matter crew to travel to Ferguson in August for the first call to action. Please help us to continue standing with Ferguson. Our goal is to raise
$6500 for at least 11 people to travel from October 9-14. This money will cover the cost of the vehicle, gas, food, lodging, and supplies for riders. Our riders are counting on your support, and so are the people of Ferguson. We invite you to donate as a way of expressing your solidarity.
Black Lives Matter will also be hosting actions in Boston during the weekend of resistance. We are holding a send off for riders on
Thursday October 9 at the Boston Police Headquarters (
Confronting Police Brutality and Racial Profiling -Send Off Rally) to connect police practices in Boston with those used in Ferguson and everywhere Black people are under attack. In solidarity with #FergusonOctober and the National Weekend of Resistance,
Black Lives Matter Boston will be leading
an action to disrupt "business as usual” in a major center of commerce - Newbury Street.
We ask that you be part of the movement against police violence by
donating to our riders and joining actions locally during the Weekend of Resistance!
9:57 pm • 29 September 2014 • 11 notes