This past Friday, August 28, was the 63rd Anniversary of the March on Washington. Thousands of people gathered in DC to show the energy from across the country to Defend the Right to Vote and Democracy. Speakers included Guerline Jozef of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, MLK Jr’s granddaughter Yolanda Renee King, Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Human Rights Campaign executive director Kelley Robinson, Working Families Party director Maurice Mitchell, and more. They spoke on the need for us all to do our part to push back against fascism and save democracy.
On Saturday, August 29, the December 12th Movement commemorated the 25th anniversary of Durban UN Conference Against Racism. “Durban 400" refers to a coalition of grassroots activists from the African diaspora who traveled to the 2001 United Nations World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa. The organizing story is in this documentary and shows the beginning of a critical push to show that governments were not telling the whole truth when claiming that racism was a thing of the past. This work from 2001 continued leading to the Resolution in March 2026 that trafficking of Africans and chattel slavery was the gravest crime against humanity. This recent NYCLU report shows how that history is still playing out today.
To close out Black August, Movement for Black Lives is calling for support for their Elder Care Fund which is M4BL's commitment to ensuring the liberation of political prisoners is a lifelong right – extending to the medical, spiritual, and healing care our elders need whether they're still incarcerated or returning home. It’s our opportunity to return support to leaders who actively, and unapologetically, fought for intergenerational liberation.
In solidarity,
SURJ NYC