216 Held in Protests of Police Acquittals

The Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network sponsored a series of protests in response to the April 25th acquittal of three NYPD detectives in the murder of Sean Bell. 

The protests were designed to halt late afternoon traffic at major New York City points, among them the entrance to the Holland Tunnel, the ramp to the Brooklyn Bridge in lower Manhattan, the entrance to the Manhattan Bridge and others. The protests were peaceful but overall met their disruptive design:  216 people were arrested on Wednesday, May 7.

In his New York Times article "216 Held in Protests of Police Acquittals," Thomas J. Lueck writes: "The protests were staged at six locations in the city. In the largest one, about 400 people assembled about 4:30 on the Centre Street approach to the Brooklyn Bridge and blocked Brooklyn-bound traffic for more than an hour. About 60 people in that demonstration were arrested, including Mr. Sharpton and Nicole Paultre Bell, who was to have married Mr. Bell on the day he was killed in a hail of 50 bullets fired by the officers outside a nightclub in Jamaica, Queens, in 2006.

"Two friends of Mr. Bell's, Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield, who were injured in the fusillade, were among those arrested at the Brooklyn Bridge site.

"Demonstrators also stopped traffic at the Manhattan entrance to the Queens-Midtown Tunnel, where about 20 were arrested. They sat in front of cars waiting to come off the Manhattan Bridge in Brooklyn, where 23 were arrested, and blocked ramps at the Triborough Bridge at 125th Street and Second Avenue, where about 40 were arrested.

"The scope of the protests on Wednesday contrasted with the relatively muted response to a state judge's acquittals of the detectives on April 25. At the time, Mr. Sharpton and other activists, politicians and community leaders praised the overall peaceful response that followed the verdict, but vowed to fight the judge's decision in strategic rather than bellicose ways."

Clark Atlanta Professor Releases Afro-Latin Journal, Negritud 

African studies in Latin America and the Caribbean found its headquarters for American academia in Atlanta with the launch of the scholarly journal, Negritud," writes Redding News Review's International Editor Bruno Gaston.

"Luis Miletti, an Afro-Puerto Rican and assistant professor of Spanish at Clark Atlanta University, released the journal in March after an overwhelming global response to his announcement last year to start the publication. Negritud is published in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese. Some academic fields of study will include literature, history, anthropology and archeology.

" 'This is the only journal that accepts all writing styles within American academia,' Miletti said. 'That is unheard of because in the US, they tend to be very uniform.' "

Luis Miletti with a copy of Negritud

(Bruno Gaston photo) 

Negritud could indeed be setting a new precedent for the academic medium. In addition to the Web edition, a weekly public radio program for the annually published journal is also under development. The radio show will showcase lectures, panel discussions, and current events regarding Afro-Latinos in the US and abroad."

Leading Scholars, Activists and Diplomats Participate in Venezuela Symposium

Marc Becker wrote about the Venezuela Solidarity Network's Symposium "What's Up With Venezuela? Participatory Democracy or Democracy as Usual?", which took place at Washington, DC's Howard University from April 18 through 21, 2008.

Becker, a Latin American historian and a member of Community Action on Latin America (CALA), in Madison, Wisconsin, wrote about how Jorge Guerrero, the Venezuelan Consul in New Orleans, "explained the growing role of communal councils that are leading toward self government. In the future, Guerrero predicated [sic] they would not need mayors because people will solve their own problems. Julio Chavez, the mayor of Torres, Venezuela, said that he was one of those working to realize that goal. 'How can they accuse of us being authoritarian and centralist,' Chavez asked, 'when we are giving power to the people?' " 

Jorge Guerrero, the Venezuelan Consul

in New Orleans (http://picasaweb.google.com/marcbecker2/VenezuelaSymposium)

"Guerrero presented Chavez as a tool that embodies the hopes and aspirations of historically oppressed and excluded peoples to build a new protagonistic and participatory system. Imperialists are opposed to the Venezuelan government because it has allied with the downtrodden.  This extends to international policies, as Venezuela has significantly expanded its diplomatic relations with Africa and the Caribbean. For example, students from Mali are studying textile manufacturing in Venezuela so that they can help their country gain value from cotton production rather than exporting the raw materials. These are not vertical relationships of domination, but horizontal ones built around ideas of solidarity."

Would 125th St. Rezoning Mean A Dream Deferred?

"By the end of this month, [New York's] City Council will decide whether to approve a rezoning of Harlem's main commercial thoroughfare that many consider not just another contentious land use matter, but a judgment that could forever alter the historic home of the African diaspora," writes Kate Pastor in the City Limit's article "Would 125th St. Rezoning Mean A Dream Deferred?"

Adam Clayton Powell Jr statue on

Harlem's 125th Street 

(www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/125th/index.shtml) 

..."To be sure, the 125th Street rezoning enjoys varying degrees of support in Harlem along with reaping criticism. The proposal is described by the Department of City Planning (DCP) as a way to 'sustain the ongoing revitalization of 125th Street as a unique Manhattan Main Street, enhance its regional business district character and reinforce the street’s premier arts, culture, and entertainment destination identity.' "

Sounding the Bell for Justice

On April 25, 2008, yet another set of New York City Police were found not guilty in the death of a young Black man.

"50 was a number that was on everyone’s mind. '50 shots equals murder,' protestors shouted, then giving way to repeated counts from one to fifty," write Yonathan Dessalegn and Amy L. Dalton of the People’s Justice Coalition in a story posted here.

"As the march then passed through a tunnel, near the Long Island Railroad terminal that was lined with police, the crowd honored Sean Bell, through spontaneous uproars, clappings, and raising of fists. In his honor, many just invoked his name, shouting: Sean Bell, Sean Bell, Sean Bell — raising up the memory the courts would rather bury.

Sean Bell verdict protesters 

(Robert J. Mercado photo) 

"The march concluded at 8:00 p.m., shortly after sunset, near the place of the brutal shooting. Organizers from the People’s Justice Coalition addressed the crowd, urging people to continue the spirit of vigilance into tomorrow and the next day. One speaker spoke especially of the need for community members to step up and take on the role of monitoring police activity. As she gave examples of common racist and classist police practices, people yelled out in recognition and conviction."

The murder of Sean Bell will not go unpunished: many activists are planning protests and other actions to keep this case in the spotlight. Check out this one minute clip of the march that took place a little before 7 pm that night in Jamaica, Queens.