In this edition, read two brief stories of community this week on the Justice for All Vigils and the success of one grassroots coalition against Flock Safety.
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On July 25, across hundreds of cities, people gathered to honor the lives of those lost to ICE violence. From small towns to major metropolises, communities came together to mourn, to honor, and to remember.
The day before the vigils, his sons spoke in Houston. His younger son, named after his father, asked us to picture our loved ones and to say their names aloud. Then, he asked us to picture them pinned to the ground, crying out in anguish. Picture what it would be like to watch them bleed out on a screen. He then asked us what we would do next.
“You wouldn’t cower and let bygones be bygones. You would surely move mountains, go hungry without sleep, marching incessantly to the slow beating drum of justice.”
They made a promise to their grandmother at their father’s wake—a promise to get justice for their father.
On Saturday, we joined them in that fight. However, Saturday was not enough. We must continue to fight alongside them and the 73 other families who have lost loved ones. Saturday must spill into Monday and Tuesday, into next week and next month. Together, we cannot cease marching toward justice.
Below are a few photographs from local vigils.
In Los Angeles, hundreds gathered to honor the 74 people who have died in ICE custody or during ICE operations. Organizations, faith leaders, activists, and community members carried black cardboard coffins through the streets, with white roses balanced on their lids.
“It is important for all of us, as citizens, to stand and speak, and not allow that to be normalized,” shared one of the organizers, Michelle Arkin, with ABC7.
This photograph comes from our friends at The Politics Chicks.
Hundreds gathered at Ocean Beach in San Francisco to bring visibility to the plight of the tens of thousands of community members being held in ICE detention, as well as the dozens who have died since the start of the second Trump presidency.
The human banner was organized by Indivisible SF. It read, “Don’t look away. ICE is evil,” alongside an upside-down American flag, with hundreds of residents of the Golden City forming the display.
The Indivisible Resisters in Contra Costa County gathered to call on lawmakers to abolish ICE. About 250 people lined the street in front of the Federal Immigration Courthouse in Concord, CA.
Communities are pushing back against invasive surveillance by protesting Flock Safety.
This week, the town of Salem announced that it will not renew its contract and will remove its Flock Automatic License Plate Readers. According to the town’s statement, “The City has determined that there are insufficient protections for the ALPR data generated by Flock’s systems. Such data should be owned and used only in furtherance of Salem’s public safety priorities.”
The statement does not mention that it was residents who first brought concerns about Flock Safety to light. North Shore Progressives released a statement:
“Local activists congratulate the City of Salem on its decision to terminate its contract with Flock Safety. This decision is the result of an eight-month organizing effort by a coalition of local grassroots organizations and concerned Salem residents in partnership with the ACLU of Massachusetts.”
The people have the power to end injustice and abuse. This week, the people of Salem demonstrated exactly that.
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