Tuesday, January 19, 2021. New York City – Activists in Brooklyn are organizing a march on Wednesday, January 20th, 2021.
1pm Rally. 2pm March. Crown Heights: corner of Franklin Ave. and St. John’s Place. Trains 4, 5, 2 and 3 to Franklin Ave. #genstrikej20
The inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States at noon on Wednesday, January 20, 2021, will mark the commencement of the four-year term of Joe Biden as president and Kamala Harris as vice president.
WHY WE STRIKE!
Crown Heights Service Industry Workers and collective_nameless say on Instagram and Facebook, “Take it to the streets! Join us outside while we demand that our new incoming administration listen to US, the people, and remind them who they work for.”
Their brochure says, “We decide! working class people set the agenda not politicians, bosses or bureaucrats. We are a coalition and collection of many, calling on organizations and individuals across the city, the state, the country and the world to envision a General Strike on January 20th, the day of the 2021 Presidential inauguration.
Why: Nothing has worked so far. Nothing else will work. One thing we’ve learned over a summer of uprising in defense of ourselves and our communities is that we keep us safe. While 35% of the entire country is facing impending eviction, while police continue to kill and maim with impunity, Republicans and Democrats including Governor Cuomo and Mayor DeBlasio have made it clear that they value profit over people.
New York City remains among the hardest hit cities, in part because politicians and bosses have fought tooth and nail to keep businesses and schools and jails open for business. We keep us safe, and while new waves and strains of Covid-19 are hitting our coworkers and neighborhoods we know that a strike, a definitive BREAK IN SERVICE is the only way to send a message, and put our safety and our decisions into our own hands.
NECESSARY SOLUTIONS
We hear these same demands often without the backing of solutions. The following are direct responses to Why We Strike!
In response: “Defunding the Police and Invest in Our Communities” would allow for the workers tax dollars to be funneled directly back into their communities to take preventative actions against poverty, incarceration, and systemic disadvantages. This happens when this money can be used to system to provide mutual aid, stronger education, finding homes for the houselessness, and providing mental health services for at-risk community members. Until this can happen, we demand the end of “Qualified Immunity,” a harmful and and unaccountable excuse for cops to use excessive force without any repercussions. Ending Qualified Immunity is the first step in bringing accountability to these officers.
The re-appropriation of funds could be used, in part, to aide in the following initiatives:
“Land Back & Indigenous Solidarity” is a reclamation of everything stolen from the original peoples. It is a relationship with the earth that is symbiotic and just. It is dismantling structures that remove Indigenous peoples from their Land. It is defunding the mechanisms of white supremacy and stopping the disconnecting of Indigenous peoples from the stewardship of the Land, from harmful resource extraction that poisons our waters, destroys our land, and contributes to climate change and violates our human rights. It is developing our communities in a regenerative and sustainable manner based on our values and connection to land, culture and identity. It is decolonizing our minds, communities and sovereign nations. It is racial and education based equality.
“Updated Stimulus Package” After 9 months, we have received one $1,200 stimulus check and one $600 check, and only if you “qualify.” With many workers still unemployed and unable to make ends meet, this is a direct attack on the people by the government. We demand an additional bill be passed (with no clauses for big business benefit) to provide adequate
compensation for those who have been effected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This is backpay, for those who were unable to receive unemployment— an additional $600/week, and hazard pay to those who have had to work through the pandemic. Being an additional, untaxed, $600/wk. There will be consideration for those who have dependents and can fluctuate up to an additional $2,000/wk for families that qualify.
“Cancel Rent and End Evictions” is a relatively easy to materialize. Our governor or president, with the stroke of a pen, could provide relief for those who have been struggling to make ends meet since March (or before). It is not enough to keep pushing back eviction dates. We must continue to demand the cancellation of rent and the end of evictions. This includes mortgage payments, deferring interest rates, and to make evictions unlawful. This is giving a break to the working class and below the poverty line as we are continually overlooked and unaccounted for.
“Free Healthcare For All” is a right. The solution being stand-alone— not tied to employment, labor or citizenship. Re-appropriation of taxes from defunding harmful programs can be used to help uplift our communities by providing free, unbiased health services for physical and mental needs. What we need is legislation that eliminates health insurance being privatized. We need equal access to treatment and medication. People in those industries must restructure the system that is people > profit instead of profit > people.
“Abolish ICE” ICE, or Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was established during the Bush era following 9/11— stemming out of what is now formerly known as the INS (U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service). Its inception was created under the guise that its members would work to ensure homeland security and public safety. What followed was the creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2003 as a part of a partial government restructuring, making it the larger umbrella that ICE is encapsulated by along with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Since the 2016 election, ICE has been hyper-focused on detaining undocumented people by conducting raids which then leads to their facilitating immigration detention centers. Abolishing ICE would lead to the release of entrapped undocumented people and the call to redistribute the ICE budget to housing these displaced people and offering mental health services to those endangered and mistreated by the organization. We must remember, most importantly, no one is illegal on stolen land.
“Protect Black Trans Lives” begins at the ground level with educating the public on the Trans experience with an emphasis on the Black Trans experience. This is a call to stop the killing of Black Trans people without repercussions. To end harmful legislature like the WalkingWhileTrans ban (or the New York State Loitering for the Purpose of Prostitution law) that has become an epidemic of policing based in profiling members of the LGBTQ+ community with a clear emphasis on Trans Women of Color. More current bills to watch are available at nytag.org. We must continue to demand equality for Trans Lives!”
For more information about the General Strike on Wednesday, January 20, 2021, please go to @crownheightssiw and @collective_nameless .
WEAR A MASK & BRING NOISE MAKERS!
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