The Struggle for Socialism Party honors the passing of Black revolutionary Assata Shakur.

July 16, 1947 – September 25, 2025

“It is our duty to fight for our freedom.
It is our duty to win.
We must love each other and support each other.
We have nothing to lose but our chains.”

Framed up, criminalized, and deemonized by corporate press, the people knew Assata Shakur as a revolutionary fighter for Black liberation as a part of the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army.

After her frame-up and convinction for “murdering a state trooper” in 1977 — a crime she did not commit — revolutionary Cuba granted her asylum in a tremendous show of international solidarity.

We all stand on Assata’s shoulders.

Assata Shakur, ¡presente!

Colombian President Gustavo Petro used his final address to the United Nations General Assembly on September 23 to deliver a blistering denunciation of U.S. foreign policy and President Donald Trump, calling for criminal charges against the  U.S. leader, and accusing Washington of complicity in genocide.

Speaking in New York at the 80th General Assembly, Petro – dressed in a white guayabera – launched into a fiery speech that quickly prompted the U.S. delegation to walk out of the chamber. His remarks went far beyond diplomatic criticism: they appeared aimed at imploding what remained of U.S.-Colombia relations, severing decades of strategic partnership on a global stage.

“This hall is a mute witness, and an accomplice, to genocide in today’s world. When we believed it was only the property of Hitler, Trump does not speak of democracy, he does not speak of the climate crisis, he does not speak of life – he only threatens, kills, and lets tens of thousands be killed,” Petro declared, accusing Trump of presiding over policies that cost countless lives.

The Colombian leader then called on the United Nations to initiate criminal proceedings against the current U.S. president. “There must be criminal charges opened against those officials of the United States, including the senior official who gave the order – President Trump, who allowed missiles to be fired against young people who simply wanted to escape poverty,” he said.

Petro alleged that Trump had personally authorized missile strikes against migrant boats in the Caribbean, killing vulnerable youths fleeing poverty. “Trump fires missiles at unarmed migrant boats and accuses them of being drug traffickers and terrorists, when they did not have a single weapon to defend themselves. The traffickers live in New York, just a few blocks away from here, and in Miami,” he told the assembly.

As he escalated his attack, Petro drew historical parallels between Trump’s America and Europe in the 1930s. “And today, irrationalism is filling the United States, and it was the prelude to Hitler in 1933,” he warned. “As collapse approaches, while the old white societies of Europe and the United States continue applauding their new fashionable Hitlers, they do not listen to their young people, to their children, or to humanity.”

The accusations grew sharper when Petro addressed U.S. drug policy. He claimed that the true beneficiaries of the narcotics trade were not Latin American traffickers but elites in the United States. “When most of the drug traffickers are blond and blue-eyed, keeping their vast fortunes in the world’s largest banks, and do not live in Bogotá, Caracas, the Caribbean, or Gaza, but in Miami – they are the neighbors of the President of the United States,” he said.

At that point, the U.S. delegation stood up and exited the chamber, leaving only a handful of allies to hear the remainder of Petro’s remarks.

Turning to Gaza, Petro urged the international community to act outside the U.N. Security Council, which he accused of paralysis due to U.S. veto power. “The genocide must end with what follows diplomacy. It is with a vote of the United Nations General Assembly and not with a vote of the Security Council, where they veto. It is with a United for Peace for Palestine, forming an armed force to defend the life of the Palestinian people,” he said.

He insisted that blue-helmeted peacekeepers were insufficient and called instead for the formation of a powerful international army to intervene in Gaza. “Not with blue helmets, untrained and sometimes unwilling to do what is necessary. It is with a powerful army from the countries that do not accept genocide. That is why I invite the nations of the world and their peoples, as part of humanity, to unite their armies and weapons. Palestine must be liberated,” Petro said, appealing to Asian, Slavic, and Latin American militaries to join forces.

In one of his most pointed accusations, Petro directly linked Trump to the ongoing war in Gaza. “Trump not only lets missiles fall on young people in the Caribbean, not only imprisons and chains migrants, but he also allows missiles to be launched against children, women, and the elderly in Gaza. He makes himself an accomplice to genocide – because it is genocide, and we must shout it again and again.”

Petro further claimed that U.S. foreign policy in Latin America was being advised by Colombian political actors allied with drug cartels. “I do not know if Trump realizes that his foreign policy toward Colombia, Venezuela, and the Caribbean is advised by Colombians who are political allies of the cocaine mafia,” he charged.

As his speech drew to a close, Petro denounced the veto power wielded by Washington and its allies over U.N. resolutions. “Humanity cannot allow one more day of genocide, nor allow the genocidaires like Netanyahu and his allies in the United States and Europe to remain free,” he said, demanding that the Assembly act to stop what he repeatedly described as genocide in Gaza.

By the end of his 40-minute intervention, Petro had branded Trump a criminal, accused the United States of racism and imperialism, compared Western leaders to Hitler, and called for the creation of an international armed force to counter U.S. and Israeli power.

The fallout was immediate. Analysts warn that Petro’s words, delivered in front of world leaders, represent a deliberate rupture with Washington. Colombia, once described as the United States’ closest ally in Latin America, now appears to be positioning itself as a radical outlier. For Petro, the objective seemed clear: not to salvage a fragile relationship, but to bring it crashing down in real time.

Source: Resumen

The following talk by Verde Gil Jiménez was presented on July 29 at the ICAP (Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples) Friendship House in Havana, Cuba, with the participation of the Venceremos Brigade and LGBTQI+ activists from the U.S., along with members of community networks linked to Cenesex (National Center for Sexual Education), among other guests.

This event was the Cuban launch of the book published in the U.S. by Struggle-La Lucha, “Love is the law: Cuba’s queer rights revolution.” Gil Jiménez is the General Coordinator of Grupo Trans Masculinos de Cuba and a contributor to the book.Transcribed and translated by Gregory E. Williams and edited by Verde Gil Jiménez

We are members of the Trans Male Group of Cuba (Grupo Trans Masculinos de Cuba). It’s always very exciting to see the U.S. and Cuban people unite for social justice. 

I think that, if we talk about some of the limitations or difficulties we’ve encountered with the Family Code, these are more related to cultural and technical barriers that still exist. The Family Code still has great potential to improve the quality, well-being, and happiness of families in Cuba. But this requires changing people’s education and mentality, which happens more slowly than enforcing a law.

I think it’s prudent to point out that my colleague Maité [in the previous intervention] mentioned the approval of more than 3,000 assisted reproduction techniques; however, it’s good to clarify that these are [administrative] approvals, not specific implementation data. This is, evidently, a technological and logistical limitation that our country has [structural deficiencies in the health system], not only with LGBTQI+ people, but with any family or citizen who requires this type of technique. I say this [in response to the questions that were asked] to specifically point out a limitation because, although we already have a revolutionary Code, it has not been able to materialize quickly [nor with all its potential] in the life of Cuban society.

Regarding the question of how the U.S. and Cuban people can unite in these struggles for social justice and activism, I think it’s very important to share our experiences, especially from a more holistic perspective, which allows us to gain awareness of all the forms of oppression that impact us.

I wanted to thank the solidarity of the groups that have come to this space to listen, to learn, and also to give us some donations to the LGBTQI+ community, which are a great help to us, because the U.S. blockade also affects our populations’ access to these types of products, which are important for our gender affirmation.

I also wanted to point out that we, as activists, are also greatly influenced by the U.S. imperialist persecution of Cuba, of the Cuban government. They often deny us aid, refuse to listen to us and refuse to include us in spaces for dialogue within international activism, simply because we’re in Cuba. They judge the politics of the Revolution.* It’s important for people in the U.S. to know that we also live our activism under this constant blockade. It’s something we’re also fighting against.

Larian adds an example : We have occasionally tried to participate in online debates using platforms like Zoom, but have been unable to do so because they are blocked in our country.

We are incredibly grateful that these spaces for counter-hegemonic dialogue exist and hope they continue to be sustained over time. It’s important for us to be aware of how much an exchange like this can transform the culture of the societies in which we live.

Larian adds in closing : It is the way we have to change the dominant system. 

* There is a tendency to favor LGBTQI+ activist projects that openly oppose the Cuban government and socialism. Some international organizations are even prohibited from providing funding to activist groups that are in any way linked to Cuban institutions, under the pretext that Cuba is included on the (false) list of state sponsors of terrorism.

President Donald Trump used his U.N. speech to boast about the use of U.S. military power in recent actions, threatening nations with war and celebrating the criminal actions of his administration with unvarnished glee.

Trump indicated that Washington will act alone when it wants and won’t let international law get in the way. The message was that the U.S. will deploy threats, tariffs, and military force at will.

In a nearly hour-long tirade, Trump mocked the U.N., saying it creates problems instead of solving them. The message was that global institutions only matter when they back U.S. goals.

Trump sneered that “your countries are going to hell,” branding migration an “invasion” and urging governments to replicate Washington’s brutal policy of mass detention and deportation, disrupting and ruining people’s lives.

Dismissing climate efforts as the “greatest con job,” he attacked clean-energy plans, giving protection to Big Oil’s profits and asserting U.S. control.

Trump shrugged off the genocide in Gaza — unsurprising from the man who armed Israel to the teeth and pitched Netanyahu on his “Riviera of the Middle East” plan, a thinly veiled blueprint for ethnic cleansing.

As Israel cut off food, bombed neighborhoods, and stormed Gaza City to level it, Trump fixated on denouncing Palestinians, ignoring the U.S.-funded carnage on the ground.

He bragged loudly about last June’s joint U.S.-Israeli assault on Iran. After luring Tehran into sham “peace talks,” Washington and Tel Aviv launched massive strikes on civilian nuclear facilities. Trump gloated: “Today, many of Iran’s former military commanders, in fact, I can say almost all of them, are no longer with us. They’re dead.”

For Trump, the empire’s bloodshed is just another applause line for his bloated ego.

Targeting Venezuela

At the U.N., Trump laid the groundwork for a U.S. invasion of Venezuela — part of Washington’s bid to overthrow the popular Venezuelan government, seize Venezuela’s oil and push back China’s influence in South America.

In recent weeks, U.S. forces sank three boats off Venezuela’s coast, killing at least 17 people on baseless drug-trafficking claims. Even if that were true (there’s not even an attempt to present any evidence because there is none), no state — least of all an empire — has the right to carry out summary executions on the high seas.

Trump didn’t bother with excuses. He flaunted Washington’s violence, warning from the General Assembly: “We will blow you out of existence / obliterate you,”

For the empire, murder is policy — and Trump holds much of the world, especially Venezuela and Cuba, under the gun.

While Donald Trump was delivering a war rant at the United Nations, the New York Times was reporting: “Cache of Devices Capable of Crashing Cell Network Is Found Near U.N.”

The Times reporting reads like a spy thriller.

The Times says: “The Secret Service discovered more than 100,000 SIM cards and 300 servers, which could disable cellular towers or be used to conduct surveillance.”

The Times even manages to suggest that there are “only a handful of countries could pull off such an operation, including Russia, China.”

Like so many slick thrillers, it dresses a flimsy premise in technobabble, counting on the reader’s gaps in knowledge — and a willingness to be swept along by the fantasy.

The Secret Service’s SIM-card narrative doesn’t add up

The idea that hoarding SIM cards is the key ingredient for “taking down” a cellular network doesn’t align with how mobile systems actually fail. Localized outages are usually driven by radio-layer disruptions — interference, spoofing, or misconfigured infrastructure — rather than by placing calls from thousands of numbers.

Mass SIM inventories are far more consistent with high-volume criminal schemes, such as spam, fraud, or call-center-style operations, where disposability and rotation are crucial. They are not, on their own, evidence of a credible plan to deny service.

In reality, degrading connectivity in a limited area hinges on equipment and expertise at the RF layer — specialized radios and know-how — not warehouses of SIM cards. While any such activity is likely illegal, it underscores why invoking “lots of SIMs” as the linchpin of a terror plot reads like a misunderstanding of telecommunications, not a plausible threat model.

If investigators truly found mountains of SIM cards, the likelier explanation is profit-motivated call volume — not a scheme to knock out cellular service.

‘Story is bogus’

Robert Graham at the Cybersect Substack headlined his commentary: “That Secret Service SIM farm story is bogus.”

“What they discovered was just normal criminal enterprise, banks of thousands of cell ‘phones’ (sic) used to send spam or forward international calls using local phone numbers. Technically, it may even be legitimate enterprise, being simply a gateway between a legitimate [internet-based phone service] provider and the mobile phone network.

“The backstory is a Secret Service investigation into threats sent to politicians via [text] messages. …

“The Secret Service is lying to the press. They know it’s just a normal criminal SIM farm and are hyping it into some sort of national security or espionage threat. …

Graham does a complete breakdown of the hardware that’s reportedly being used in the SIM farm and how that might be used. Then adds:

“The Secret Service hypes this as some sort of national security threat that can crash cell towers. The reality is that this is just a normal criminal threat that sometimes crashes cell towers. …

“The point is: while criminals do sometimes crash or overload cell towers, an actual foreign threat can do this much easier than using SIM farms. In any event, there are thousands of cell towers around New York City satisfying 10 million subscribers, so crashing a few won’t make much difference.”

September 24 — As the Israeli government continues unabated its horrific genocide of Palestinians and the destruction of housing and infrastructure in Gaza, in the third attack on the 42-ship Global Sumud flotilla, drones attacked multiple boats in international waters south-west of the Greek island of Crete, this morning September 24, 2025.

In May 2025, another flotilla ship, the Conscience, was attacked in international waters off Malta. It  was damaged by Israeli bombs that blew holes in the deck of the ship’s bow causing severe damage in the hold in the bow of the ship.

These assassin drones have ruthlessly and systematically killed hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza over the past two years.

14 Sailboats Attacked by Chemical Devices, “Flashbangs” and Detonation Cords

Fourteen sailboats have been confirmed to have been attacked in the early morning hours of September 24 using chemical devices or “flashbangs” on steroids.

Detonation cords dropped from drones landed on several boats very near fuel cannisters.

Mayday Signal Sent to Greek Coast Guard Went Unanswered

When the drone attacks began, the flotilla sent a Mayday signal to the Greek Coast Guard, but not surprisingly, no Coast Guard vessel arrived to check on what was happening to the boats.

In 2011, the Greek government was paid off by the Israeli government to stop ten flotilla boats from departing Greek waters to break the illegal Israeli naval blockade of Gaza.

Attacks on Global Sumud Sailboats

The following are brief descriptions of the some of the drone attacks

1. Ohwayla (US Veterans Boat) was hit by a small flashbang.
2. Yulara was poured with a chemical device but the capsule that was releasing the chemicals bounced and fell on the water. One person was burned by the chemical.
3. Otaria was hit by a flashbang at midmast.
4. Maria Cristina was targeted twice by a flashbang above the deck.
5. Selvaggia (Women’s Boat from Italy) was hit by a flashbang.
6. Morgana was hit by a flashbang.
7. Zefiro was hit by a flashbang. Confirmed damage to the rigging.
8. Taigete  sustained some damage to the mainsail

Videos describing the attacks:

This is link has a series of videos in which the attacks are described:
https://x.com/dropsitenews/status/1970627127792775584?s=12&t=LmTi29WSk5nIuU-BzL6sHw  and “Flashbangs” on steroids: https://www.instagram.com/p/DO9zPp9AjiG/

24 US Citizens on various boats of the flotilla including U.S. military veterans  (with Congressional Districts for calling)

Of the approximately 550 persons on the approximately 50 boats of the Global Sumud flotilla, there are 22 U.S. citizens.

The boat Ohwayla has five U.S. military veterans onboard:

Phil Tottenham- OH 01

Zue Jernstedt.    NY 10

Greg Stoker        TX 37

Zuleyka Morales Rivera  WV 01

Jessica Kaye Clotfelter   IL 16

U.S. veteran Najeh Abduljalil is on Familia boat. NV 02

Other US citizens on the Ohwayla:

Logan Hollarsmith AZ 06

Windfield Beaver CA 23

The following U.S. citizens are on other GSF boats (with Congressional districts for calling):

Carsie  Blanton-Paola;  NJ 07

Eric Lein-Jeannot III.     NY 02

Adnaan Stumo -Mikeno MA 01

Tor Stumo -Huga                MA 01

Paul Reid-Hio                      OR 03

Jasmine Ikeda-Meteque    WA 02

Michael Fix-Familia             NY 16

Tom Marcus – Familia.       NY 15

Hannah Smith -Familia.      CO 02

Geraldine Ramirez-Mali Mali. AZ 02

Stephen Wahab- Alma        OR 05

Leila Hegazy-Alma                NY 11

Idris Hausler-Alma               Lives in the Netherlands

Frank Romano-Spectre       NY 01

Italy sending a Navy Frigate to Support Global Sumud Flotilla

Italy’s Defense Minister Guido Crosetto announced that the country is sending a navy frigate to support the Global Sumud Flotilla, which aims to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza, after it was targeted by multiple drones on September 24.

Italy had earlier urged Israel to guarantee the safety of the aid ships and the Italian activists on board, noting that members of parliament and MEPs are also part of the flotilla.

Sixteen nations have warned Israel to respect international law and not attack the flotilla.  In a joint statement the foreign ministers of Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, Ireland, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mexico, Pakistan, Qatar, Oman, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, and Türkiye
said, “The Global Sumud Flotilla has informed about its objective of delivering humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and raising awareness about the urgent humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people and the need to stop the war in Gaza.  We therefore call on everyone to refrain from any unlawful or violent act against the flotilla and to respect international law and international humanitarian law. We recall that any violation of international law and human rights of the participants in the flotilla, including attacks against the vessels in international waters or illegal detention, will lead to accountability.”

Israel Says It Will Not Allow vessels to enter an active combat zone and will not allow any breach of the naval blockade

Israel, which blocked two previous attempts by activists to reach Gaza by sea in June and July, has said it will not allow the flotilla to reach the embattled Palestinian territory.

“Israel will not allow vessels to enter an active combat zone and will not allow any breach of the lawful naval blockade. If their intentions are sincere, they should transfer any such aid to the nearby Ashkelon Marina so it can be forwarded promptly to the Gaza Strip in a non-violent manner,” foreign ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein said.

As the world knows, Israel is blocking the entry of hundreds of trucks carrying medical and food aid to starving and sick Palestinians in Gaza.

Ann Wright is a 29-year U.S. Army veteran who retired as a Colonel.  She also was a U.S. diplomat for 16 years. She is on the steering committee of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla coalition and a member of Veterans for Peace and CODEPINK: Women for Peace, among many other peace organizations.

Fare Ain’t Fair campaign goes to Brooklyn’s streets

Sept. 21 — The Fair Ain’t Fare Campaign took the struggle against outrageous cost of riding the subway or a bus to Brooklyn today. More than 50 people rallied outside the Parkside Avenue Q and B train station Sunday afternoon to demand a rollback of the current $2.90 fare.

That’s 58 times what it was in 1948. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) wants to increase it to three bucks, a 60-fold increase.

The Fare Ain’t Fair Campaign wants a rollback of the fare, which is a transportation tax on poor and working people. The effort was initiated by the December 12th Movement and is supported by other people’s organizations.

Speakers at the rally included human rights attorney Roger Wareham, a member of D12’s international secretariat. It was pointed out that the MTA shells out $2.8 billion every year in tax-free interest to the banks and wealthy bondholders.

Those are the real robbers, not poor folk who jump the turnstiles or sneak past a fare box. As the Fare Ain’t Fair Campaign says, the poor won’t pay more!

It was because of the campaign and the people’s anger that the MTA delayed the planned increase until January 2026. The people can stop it!

Protesters marched on the home of MTA CEO Jenno Lieber, who calls the fare hike a “fare adjustment.” Lieber, who hauled in $400,000 last year, doesn’t have to worry about a $3 fare.

The activists found plenty of supporters marching down Flatbush and Church avenues. After leaving Lieber’s house, they held a final rally in front of the Church Avenue Q and B train station.

You can contact the Fare Ain’t Fair Campaign at fareaintfair@protonmail.com

Roll back the fare, coast to coast!

La siguiente charla de Verde Gil Jiménez se presentó el 29 de julio en la Casa de la Amistad del ICAP (Instituto Cubano de Amistad con los Pueblos), en La Habana, Cuba, con la participación de la Brigada Venceremos y activistas LGBTIQ+ de EUA, junto a miembros de las redes comunitarias vinculadas al Cenesex (Centro Nacional de Educación Sexual), entre otros invitados.

Este evento marcó el lanzamiento en Cuba del libro publicado en EUA por Struggle-La Lucha, “El amor es la ley: la revolución de los derechos queer en Cuba,” (Actualmente solo disponible en inglés.) Gil Jiménez es Coordinador General del Grupo Trans Masculinos de Cuba y es colaborador del libro. 

Transcrito por Gregory E. Williams y editado por Verde Gil Jiménez

Nosotros somos miembros del Grupo Trans Masculinos de Cuba. Siempre es muy emocionante ver escenarios donde el pueblo norteamericano y el pueblo cubano se unen por causas de justicia social. Creo que, si hablamos de algunas de las limitaciones o dificultades que hemos tenido con el Código de las Familias, estas están relacionadas más con barreras culturales y técnicas que aún existen. Todavía el Código de las Familias tiene muchas potencialidades de mejorar la calidad, el bienestar y la felicidad de las familias en Cuba. Pero para ello es necesario cambiar la educación y la mentalidad de las personas, que es algo que ocurre más lento que aplicar una ley.

Creo que es prudente señalar que mi colega Maité [en la intervención anterior] mencionaba la aprobación de más de tres mil técnicas de reproducción asistidas, sin embargo, es bueno aclarar que se trata de aprobaciones [administrativas], no datos de implementación concretamente. Esto es, evidentemente, una limitación tecnológica y logística que tiene nuestro país [carencias estructurales del sistema de salud], no solo con las personas LGBTIQ+, sino con cualquier familia o ciudadano que requiera de este tipo de técnica. Digo esto [en correspondencia con las preguntas que se hacían] por señalar puntualmente alguna limitación pues, aunque tenemos ya un Código revolucionario, no logra materializarse rápidamente [ni con todas sus potencialidades] en la vida de la sociedad cubana.

Sobre la pregunta de cómo el pueblo norteamericano y el pueblo cubano pueden unirse también en estas luchas de justicia social y de activismo, creo que es muy importante retroalimentar las experiencias que tenemos sobre todo desde una visión más integral, que nos permita ganar conciencia de todas las formas de opresión que nos impactan.

Quería agradecer la solidaridad de los grupos que han llegado a este espacio a escuchar, a aprender y también a entregarnos algunas donaciones a la comunidad LGBTIQ+ que nos generan gran ayuda, porque el bloque norteamericano también afecta el acceso de nuestras poblaciones a este tipo de productos que son importantes para nuestra afirmación de género.

Además, quería señalar que a nosotros como activistas también nos influye muchísimo la persecución que [el imperialismo norteamericano] tiene hacia Cuba, hacia el gobierno cubano. Muchas veces nos niegan ayudas, no nos quieren escuchar ni incluir dentro de los espacios de diálogo del activismo internacional, por el hecho de estar en Cuba. Por juzgar la política de la Revolución*. Es importante que el pueblo norteamericano sepa que vivimos también el activismo bajo ese bloqueo constante. Es algo contra lo que también luchamos.

•  Larian añade un ejemplo: En ocasiones hemos intentado participar en debates online mediante plataformas como Zoom pero no nos ha sido posible, porque están bloqueadas para nuestro país.

Estamos súper agradecidos de que existan espacios de diálogo contrahegemónicos y esperamos que se sigan sosteniendo en el tiempo. Y es importante que seamos conscientes de cuánto puede transformar un intercambio como este para la cultura de las sociedades en las que estamos inmersas.

•  Larian añade en el cierre: Es el camino que tenemos para cambiar el sistema dominante.

* Existe la tendencia de favorecer a proyectos de activismo LGTBIQ+ que se opongan abiertamente al gobierno cubano y al socialismo. Incluso, algunas organizaciones internacionales tienen prohibido entregar fondos a grupos de activismo que estén de alguna manera vinculados con las instituciones cubanas, con el pretexto de que Cuba está incluida en la (falsa) lista de países patrocinadores del terrorismo.

It has been three months since the public killing of Baltimore Arabber Bilal “BJ” Abdullah by the Baltimore Police Department while he was experiencing a mental health crisis. Since then the city has only intensified the police presence across the city.

Following the deaths of not only BJ but two other Baltimore residents – Pytorcarcha Brooks and Donte Melton Jr. – there were two city council hearings. In these hearings, the community expressed its long-standing concerns and problems with the Baltimore Police Department. 

During this period of time, there were two mass overdoses in the Penn-North area of Baltimore, July 10 and 18. Following both of these tragic events, BPD launched brutal raids and intensified its patrols of Black communities. Notably, one raid at Douglass Homes saw apartment doors kicked in and rooms searched and trashed as men, women, and children were forced to line the curb and outer courtyards surrounding the public housing project. The police found nothing in that raid and no arrests were made, but a community was left shocked, uprooted and embarrassed. 

The second council hearing took place as the same day a trial was to be held for Baltimore Police officer Curlon Edwards, who is facing many charges, including first-degree rape of a 16-year-old girl. No information has surfaced regarding this trial since the day it was posted to happen. Also, on this day, Aug. 27, the body camera footage of the death of Donte Melton was released. His death was ruled a homicide. The family is currently pressuring the city, demanding justice for their murdered son; the officers involved are believed to still remain in their roles.

The city claims that its approach to crime and violence is one that treats it as a “Public Health Crisis.” They applaud the use of “community-focused solutions” headed by nonprofits that work with the city government; however, in practice, it is these same nonprofits and services that were thrown under the bus following the deaths of three Baltimore residents.

Also, both city and state officials have sidelined these organizations by colluding to bring state troopers into Baltimore. Far from pursuing community-focused solutions, they have simply increased the police presence. 

This move is a slap in the face to Baltimore residents. As the city claims to care for the welfare of its people, it orders in more police to terrorize and occupy the city. If the city was truly treating poverty, violence and crime as a public health crisis, why have they not moved to end the food deserts across the city? It should be noted that all three previously mentioned deaths happened in city council district 9. Within this district sit the Sandtown-Winchester, Upton, and Harlem Park communities, all of which reside in a food desert.

The city’s moves are all to satisfy the fascist Trump regime. Trump has continually threatened Baltimore with Federal occupation and a mobilization of the National Guard. While city and state leaders take online and to the media to bash and “fight back” against Trump, in reality, they will continue to carry out his wishes of “returning law and order” to what he views as “crime-ridden hellholes.” 

At all levels of government, elected officials seek to maintain the racist occupation and apartheid of the city and its residents. Nationally, Baltimore’s fate is linked with that of D.C., Los Angeles, Memphis, New Orleans, Portland, and Chicago. All of these cities have been threatened or occupied by Trump and the federal government.

As city and state officials parade the idea that more police in the city, brought by the Maryland State Troopers, will “make communities safer” and “improve the quality of life in our city,” it is obvious that what the people need is not more police. In Baltimore, communities are demanding an end to food deserts, an increase in proper mental health services and crisis response, and an end to the violent and racist practices of the Baltimore Police Department.

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