Unite and Fight Racism! The Struggle for Trayvon Martin and Black Liberation

Trayvon Martin's killer, George Zimmerman, has been charged with second degree murder, but that is no guarantee that justice will be done. We saw the officer who killed Oscar Grant in cold blood walk away with just two years in jail. Meanwhile, millions of young African American and Latino men are profiled, arrested and sentenced to decades in prison everyday. It is time to take a stand against what Michelle Alexander calls the New Jim Crow.

Come participate in a community meeting to discuss Trayvon's case and how we can keep the pressure up to make sure Zimmerman doesn't walk away with a slap on the wrist. We will also discuss a strategy to build alliances aimed at renewing a civil rights movement that can challenge racism in housing, education, health, employment and the criminal justice system.

Speakers include:

Ahmed Shawki, editor of International Socialist Review and author of Black Liberation and Socialism.

DeBray "Fly Benzo" Carpenter, Bayview-Hunters Point resistance leader, emcee and City College student who is currently campaigning against trumped up misdemeanor charges. Fly Benzo could face probation to three years in county jail. His sentencing hearing is April 20th.

Dionne Smith, mother of James Rivera Jr., an innocent teenager brutally murdered by Stockton police on July 22, 2010, the day before his 17th birthday.

Archbishop Franzo King, pastor, Church of St. John Coltrane African Orthodox Church. Archbishop King is also a foreclosure fighter, a member of Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) and a longtime Bayview resident.

Reception with refreshments to follow.

Hosted by the International Socialist Organization.