UPDATED: “History had me glued to my seat…”

Ms. Claudette Colvin speaks at Newark's Abyssinian Baptist Church

Ms. Claudette Colvin had more than 200 assembled activists stuck to their seats as she shared the story of her 1955 arrest for refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama city bus. As a fifteen-year-old youngster who'd heard Black History Week presentations in her high school, she felt the spirit of Harriet Tubman "like a hand on my shoulder forcing me to remain seated," when the driver instructed her and three other students to move so a young white woman could have a seat alone on two benches.

After her arrest, Miss Colvin became active in the Montgomery NAACP Youth Council organized by Mrs. Rosa Parks, so she had multiple sources of inspiration, though she was taken off the bus and busted some nine months before Mrs. Parks herself was arrested.  

MS. Colvin with POP members Aminifu Williams and Sharon Hand

"Mrs. Parks was our Esther," Miss Colvin suggested, explaining the difference between her own arrest that became part of a legal battle that reached the Supreme Court and ended segregation on public transit in the US and that of Rosa Parks, which became the basis of the 381-day Montgomery Bus Boycott. Esther, from the Bible, she explained had a variety of unique gifts that allowed her to fight in ways unavailable to other Hebrews in ancient Persia.

Lawrence Hamm, chairman of the People's Organization for Progress, also spoke about these two different direction in the people's struggle, though matter-of-factly. 

"Inside and outside," Larry said. "Though legal, court battles are less exciting than taking to the streets and marching, they each complimented one another, and the struggle against segregation on Montgomery buses could not have been won without both components."

Larry Hamm, Newark City Councilman Ras Baraka, NJ Poet Laureate Amiri Baraka & Claudette Colvin before the evening program

Hamm expanded on this, speaking about POP's 381 days of struggle for Peace, Jobs & Justice this past year. We'd mounted daily picketlines, in the heat of summer and the snows of winter, under all weather conditions, demanding a National Jobs Program; the End to Wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya; preservation of Workers' Rights and Collective Bargaining; a Moratorium on Foreclosures; the End to Privatization Schemes and other Attacks on Public Education; a National Healthcare Program; Affordable College Education. 

Why 381 days? Because the People's Organization for Progress took our cue from the successful Montgomery Bus Boycott, and our goal was to keep our Campaign for Peace, Jobs & Justice running at least that long. In the course of this campaign POP built a coalition of nearly two hundred labor, grassroots, community, and religious organizations, and, as Chairman Hamm noted, the campaign is still active with weekly demonstrations and other activities.

New Jersey State Assemblyman Thomas Giblin

As Assemblyman, and President of the Essex County Central Labor Council, Tommy Giblin noted, this "was one heck of an impressive achievement." Giblin, who spoke as a member of the NJ Assembly for Essex County, was by no means the only elected official present. Municipalities from all over northern New Jersey sent proclamations honoring Ms. Colvin. From Elizabeth to Paterson, from Montclair to Irvington; Essex County, Union County, Passaic County, nearly every elected official wanted to be part of this event. Irvington Mayor Wayne Smith included the Key to the City with the proclamation he presented to Ms. Colvin. Noteworthy, and somewhat perplexing, was the slim participation of Newark elected officials. South Ward council member (and mayoral candidate) Ras Baraka may have been the only local municipal elected official in attendance. 

Approximately 200 community residents and other activists filled the pews of Newark's Abyssinian Baptist Church.

As we honor Ms. Colvin and share the lessons of her life, as well as this successful forum, it is important to remember that Aurelia Browder, Susie McDonald, Mary Louise Smith, and Jeanette Reese were also plaintiffs in the case Attorney Fred Gray brought before the US Supreme Court, ending segregation on public transportation across the country. But perhaps more important in this era when Mrs. Parks' memory is applauded and lionized, when a statue of her likeness stands in the Capitol Rotunda, is that Rosa Parks herself was for many years the "forgotten woman of the Montgomery Boycott."  In 1960, she was living in Detroit where she'd been forced to move after the successful struggle in Montgomery. Ill, unemployed, poverty-stricken and ignored by the Montgomery Improvement Association and NAACP alike, it was only through the efforts of the militant United Autoworkers NAACP branch at the Ford River Rouge plant that she received support, and eventually a staff job with the newly-elected Congressman John Conyers.

[UPDATE: Click on the link Claudette Colvin to view over two hours of video of the entire event, including Ms. Colvin's presentation, Thursday evening, March 28 at the Abyssinian Baptist Church. Out thanks to WBAI videographer Fred Nguyen]

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BLACK NJ ORGANIZES AGAINST THE WAR [PART 5]

Fire on the Mountain has been tracking the development of a Black-led anti-war initiative in New Jersey for several months now. We publicized the call, the endorsers' list and the program for the initial conference. A FotM reader contributed an incisive report on that January 20 conference, emphasizing the forward looking nature of the event.

Determined that this not be a "one-time" event, participants planned a continuations committee to hold the coalition together to build a massive state-wide march for peace and justice in Newark later this year.

FotM regular, Bondi, has now written a report on the Coalitions followup event, a mass rally in Newark last Saturday (noted here the same day by Prairiefyre).

"We Are ALL Prisoners of War"

After rocking the house with their version of "The World is a Ghetto" to open the anti-war rally of the People's Coalition for Peace and Justice, James Kelly and his band, "Affect," got serious. Mr. Kelly related how his son, Sgt. Clarence Lavon Floyd, had joined the 111 Airborne Light Infantry after failing to secure any other kind of work, and ended up in Iraq. A series of firefights gained him both the respect of the troops he was stationed with and the rank of sergeant. When he was killed by a "sniper" shot to the back of the head, this raised "friendly fire" issues for the family, but apparently not for the Army investigators. "We are ALL POW's, Prisoners of War," Mr. Kelly explained.

Over 600 activists filled the gymnasium at Essex County College in Newark for the rally Saturday. This was the first major follow-up event to January's exciting and successful conference on the U.S. War in Iraq and Our Communities: "Breaking the Silence: The Grassroots Speak." The coalition of more than 124 African-American churches and community groups, street organizations, labor, peace, student, and veterans organizations, who had joined the People's Organization for Progress in sponsoring the January conference, clearly came through on their promise to build on that gathering.


Among new participants in the People's Coalition for Peace and Justice (formerly the People's Peace Coalition), was Wake-Up, a group of young people who, along with their teachers, took the bleachers because the main seating area was completely full. New to the Coalition as well were the Union County and Essex County Chapters of the A. Philip Randolph Institute and the Central Northern NJ Chapter of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists.

Two speakers from Iraq Veterans Against the War, USN vet Michael Embridge of Jersey City and Army veteran Margaret Stevens of Newark, explained the extent to which the troops understand that they are being used as mercenaries for the oil companies.

Speakers also included Rev. William Howard of the Bethany Baptist Church, U.S. Congressman Donald Payne and NJ State Senator Ronald L. Rice, who, as a Marine Corps veteran of the Vietnam War, drew parallels between the "poverty draft" of the 1960s and that of today. Madelyn Hoffman of NJ Peace Action, and Minister James Muhammad, chairman of the NJ Committee for the Millions More Movement, also addressed the enthusiastic crowd.

The organizations that have united into the People's Peace and Justice Coalition are still looking ahead. As Larry Hamm, chairman of the People's Organization for Progress, “The truth of the matter is only a handful of people want to continue this war. We must increase the presence of African-American, Latino and other persons of color in the anti-war movement”.

The rally ended with all the sponsoring organizations committing themselves to a Saturday, August 25 march in Newark for Peace, Equality, Jobs and Justice.

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Black NJ Organizes Against the War [Part 4]

[I just received this exciting report from a friend who attended the anti-war conference originally announced here two weeks ago.]


It's two-and-a-half days later and I’m still amazed. I can't get over what POP achieved in Newark this past weekend! Scores of community organizations came together for the "People's Peace Conference — The U.S. War in Iraq and Our Communities." This African American-led event drew more than 400 registered participants. The theme of the conference, "Breaking the Silence: The Grassroots Speak" put it clearly in the spirit of the historic, April 4, 1967 speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., "Beyond Vietnam — A Time to Break Silence."

Though the call originated in and was aimed toward the Black community (People's Organization for Progress was the initiator, along with Rev. William Howard of Newark's Bethany Baptist Church), the turnout included folks from the Latina/o community, veterans and military families, gang-bangers, youth and students, as well as white labor union and anti-war activists and a crewl of the usual Left movement types. The organizations signing on as sponsors ran the gamut from the NJ Black Issues Convention, and the Mothers of Murdered Sons and Daughter (MOMSAD), to Street Warriors, Inc., and the Almighty Latin Kings & Queens Nation to the Alan Reilly/Gene Glazer Chapter of Veterans for Peace, and Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) chapters from Bergen and Essex counties, to several area Black elected officials, and, of course, New Jersey Peace Action, a key early sponsor. Participation was more than half African-American with white activist making up the majority of the rest. There were also representative of the Asian-American, Arab, Latina/o and other communities of color.

The true spirit of this event is best captured in the statements of participants, during and after the fact:

• This is not a one-time event, We've gotta bring this war to an end, we can't have this conference and be satisfied.

• 21 hospitals have been closed across NJ. This is clearly because of money being spent on that war instead of here at home.

• The US wants to divide Iraq into three or four parts. Is this because they want rights for the Kurds, religious freedom for the Shi'ite population? No, the United States want to divide Iraq so it can't stand up to US imperialism!

• It felt like the '60s in here today!

• This conference wasn't just about ending the war (there will be more wars, other wars), the People's Peace Conference became about social transformation.

And this WAS a transformative event! As the chairman of POP's Anti-Street Violence Committee confided to me, "You know I had questions about this peace activism. For me, the real war is the violence our young people are being subjected to, getting hit with, in the streets. But Saturday's conference, I felt the spirit. I saw 400 committed anti-war warriors who knew what time it is, who understood that the money being spent on weapon systems sent to Iraq is precisely the same money that's needed for our hospitals and schools, for after-school activities for our youth, for drug-rehab programs, to rebuild New Orleans!"

Determined that this not be a "one-time" event, participants planned a continuations committee to hold the coalition together to build a massive state-wide march for peace and justice in Newark later this year. A March 27 follow-up meeting is scheduled. This was one among the resolutions passed at the final plenary, that also included 1) Opposition to Troop Increases, 2) Demands to Redirect War Funds to Domestic Needs, 3) Bring the Troops Home Now, 4) Impeach George W. Bush, 5) Prosecute George W. Bush for War Crimes, 6) Cut Funding for Iraq War, 7) Support Gulf Coast Residents Efforts to Rebuild and the Right of Return, and 8) War Monies and Profits to be Immediately Redirected for National Healthcare, Affordable Housing for All, and Jobs with a Living Wage.

One intriguing "after-action" observation reflected the strengths of the People's Peace Conference and evidence why social transformation has to be the overarching goal. As the conference closed, Nell Sanders, a powerful young African-American musician, drummed us out of the final "speak-out" session. A comment, "People were in awe of little sister Nell… folks are not used to seeing women drummers, powerful women drumming," pointed out both the broadness of the gathering and unfinished issues like male-supremacy and patriarchy that need to be to be addressed in the future.

To a considerable extent, this was a "stealth conference". The organizing committee did plenty of media outreach but newspapers like the Star Ledger (Newark and Essex County's primary daily) and almost all broadcast media decided it was a non-event. They all received multiple press releases and it was definitely in their day-book. No one covered it, except for the local CBS affiliate. To put this in context, two weeks or so back the Star Ledger felt that Larry Hamm was an important enough political figure to warrant two pages of copy. Though Larry repeatedly mentioned The People's Peace Conference during the interviews, it never made it to the paper, either in that article or in news coverage. Apparently an African American-led anti-war effort is such a non-sequitur that the editors at the Ledger neither heard nor understood what Larry was telling them.

There are other lessons to be drawn and contradictions to be addressed by POP and others who aim to move forward from this event. A number of "foreign student" organizations, as well as the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association from Rutgers-Newark and The Almighty Latin King Nation took active part, a first step in reaching out and including Latina/o and immigrant communities. Given the increasing reliance of the Pentagon on recruitment from these communities, we must build on this foundation.

Amiri Baraka was one of the final speakers at the afternoon session. He urged representatives to build similar events and activism throughout the state. As POP chairman Larry Hamm put it, "When we can build not just conferences throughout NJ, but weekly picketlines of 1,000 at military recruitment centers in every major municipality of the state, then we will have a movement that can't be ignored."

Similarly, we need to be able to replicate this Newark conference in Raleigh-Durham and Rocky Mount, in Detroit and Chicago, in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, in Kansas City and Saint Louis, in Los Angeles, San Diego and San Antonio, in every urban center with a non-white majority.

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