A speak-out held August 8 in “Little Haiti” of Brooklyn was a new thing in this area, where there have been evidence of ICE raids (and two unconfirmed reports of some spontaneous resistance to them), and a particular targeting on Haitians by the Trump fascists, and where Haitians have been demonized and where Trump is moving to take away “Temporary Protective Status” (thousands here, over 100,000 nationally) which will take away their legal immigrant status, setting them up for deportation. In the face of all that, there had not been one protest in that area by anyone until our action. So this was a significant “breaking the ice” in resistance against ICE and Trump Fascism in this area.
The building for this was fully bi-lingual with our flyers, our signs in both English and Kreyol, and the speeches were mixed, some in English and some in Kreyol. An ad hoc group, including Revcoms, several Haitian ministers and Haitian activist got together to organize this, inspired by a call to action from Refuse Fascism, proclaiming: “Starting now, build up networks and develop forms of nonviolent resistance, and model the kind of struggle that is needed, actively and concretely preparing for the time that must come soon when millions are acting together to grind the machinery of the Trump regime to a halt, refusing to stop until the regime is removed from power.”
The loud playing of famous songs of Boukman Eksperyans drew in people from the other side of the street and beyond to come over and check this out. This played a big role in transforming fear into a joy of resistance, and to drawing in younger people.
A Haitian minister was emcee and a main speaker. A young person from Refuse Fascism gave a strong speech that, judging from the cheers as he spoke, was very well received. Carl Dix, representing the RevCom Corps for the Emancipation of Humanity, spoke strongly to the importance of revolutionaries broadly uniting with others coming from different perspectives to together defeat this Trump Fascism at the soonest possible time. And he spoke to the need for revolution and a whole new system and whole new way to live. He broke down one example – a century of U.S. invasions, prolonged military occupations and exploitation of the people of Haiti.
A long-time Haitian revolutionary spoke in Kreyol and in English about the situation in Haiti and here. A leader of the Committee to Mobilize Against Dictatorship in Haiti powerfully brought out the importance of people “Blowing the Whistle on ICE.”
The protest was covered by NY1, a widely-watched New York outlet, including interviews with the minister leading the event and Carl Dix, as well as young people in the crowd that had joined in – reaching thousands of people. It was also featured on a Haitian YouTube channel from Ottawa Canada.
This was a great beginning! And we can’t stop and we won’t stop. At this action we announced and called for people to spread the word and come this Wednesday, August 13, 6PM, in a neighboring area, Church & Nostrand Avenue, now increasingly known as “Little Caribbean” where the Haitian and English-speaking Caribbean immigrant communities meet.