Stop the Cops:
... from frisking and brutalizing our youth!
... from targeting immigrant and Muslim communities!
... from harassing women and LGBTQ people!
Stop-and-Frisk won't stop crime—Stop-and-Frisk is the crime!
Jobs, Not Jails! Shut Down Rikers!
February 23, 1pm
From 138th St. and 3rd Ave (Bronx, 6 Train)
to Harlem State Building (125th & 7th)
Volunteer
Download and distribute the flyer!
Donate
RSVP on Facebook
Read the Call to Action and see endorsers
Endorse the Call to Action
The February 23rd Coalition—made up of Black, immigrant, women’s, LGBT, student and other organizations—has formed to call for a Unity March to Stop the Cops. This February we will recognize the one-year anniversary of the killing of Ramarley Graham in the Bronx, and Trayvon Martin in Florida, not in silence, but in action.
NYPD brutalizes Black and Latino youth
Over the last year, we have seen more brothers and sisters fall to the racist police and vigilante violence, including Reynaldo Cuevas and Shantel Davis locally. A Black person is killed by law enforcement every 36 hours, according to a recent MXGM study. Last year, every Black youth in New York, aged 14-24, was stopped at least once on average.
This military-like racist occupation has been sold to our communities as the only way to keep us safe, even though 90% of those stopped are totally innocent. Real “security” comes from quality jobs, education and living conditions—but the government has turned a blind eye to the real crimes of poverty, hunger and inequality.
NYPD targets Muslim and immigrant communities
There are other aspects to this police attack. It was revealed this year that the NYPD has conducted a widespread unconstitutional spying program inside Muslim cultural centers and CUNY student groups.
New York is now part of the misnamed ‘Secure Communities’ program, which essentially turns police into immigration agents. It requires the NYPD to turn over fingerprints to Homeland Security of all people they arrest. That means immigrant workers could be deported just by being accused of a crime. It is in step with Arizona’s racist SB 1070—aka, the "show me your papers" bill—which was upheld in the Supreme Court.
NYPD harasses and assaults women and LGBTQ people
The NYPD is infamous for discriminatory and abusive policing practices in LGBTQ communities, which have only been made worse in the era of “Stop and Frisk.” And instead of going after the perpetrators of anti-LGBTQ violence, the cops and legal system go after LGBTQ people, particularly those of color, who have fought their attackers, like CeCe McDonald and the New Jersey 7.
The last year has shone a spotlight on the NYPD’s sexist culture and pattern of sexual harassment. Multiple officers have been charged and convicted of rape. Studies have repeatedly found police officers to be more likely to commit domestic violence. Women in oppressed communities are routinely subjected to street harassment from police officers, and under Stop-and-Frisk, male officers often pat down and humiliate women pedestrians.
The real criminals: NYPD and Wall Street
Enough is enough! Last year, after the murder of Trayvon Martin, thousands marched in their hoodies to show their outrage toward a legal system that treats Black people as second-class citizens. Thousands have marched against police brutality and murder. Just as marchers for Trayvon Martin wore hoodies and carried signs that said, “Do I look suspicious?” young immigrant rights activists have boldly asked, “Do I look illegal?”
That is the spirit of courage and militancy that we need to stop the cops, end police brutality, and confront the racism, sexism and bigotry that they represent. On Feb. 23, we take a significant step forward in building that movement against the real criminals: the NYPD and their bosses on Wall Street.
We are for a world where our communities are organized and empowered, reclaiming and patrolling our own blocks, and where inequality, oppression and poverty—the foundations of community “crime”—are finally uprooted.
Join the march, sign on and become part of the Feb 23 Coalition!
Volunteer
Download and distribute the flyer!
Donate
RSVP on Facebook
Read the Call to Action and see endorsers
Endorse the Call to Action
Signers:
Rev. Claudia de la Cruz
Michael Tarif Warren, civil rights attorney
Cynthia McKinney, former Congresswoman
Pam Africa, International Concerned Friends and Family of Mumia Abu-Jamal
Ramsey Clark, former U.S. Attorney General
Heidi Boghosian, Executive Director of National Lawyers Guild
Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, Executive Director of Partnership for Civil Justice Fund
Danette Chavis
African Ancestral Lesbians United for Societal Change (AALUSC)
ANSWER Coalition - NY
Cop Watch - Harlem
Cop Watch - South Bronx
Partnership for Civil Justice Fund
Women Organized to Resist and Defend (WORD)
Students United for a Free CUNY
Stop ‘Stop and Frisk’
Party for Socialism and Liberation
Justice Committee
October 22nd Coalition
Parents Against Police Brutality
Workers World Party
New Black Panther Party
Damayan Migrant Workers Association
Da Urban Butterflies
VirtualBoricua.org
International Action Center
Revolutionary Fitness
Puerto Rican Nationalist Party - New York junta
American Iranian Friendship Committee
Rebel Diaz Arts Collective
Association Pro Inmates Rights Ñeta
Harlem Pride
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