“As I have walked among the desperate, rejected, and angry young men, I have told them that Molotov cocktails and rifles would not solve their problems. I have tried to offer them my deepest compassion while maintaining my conviction that social change comes most meaningfully through nonviolent action. But they ask — and rightly so — what about Vietnam? They ask if our own nation wasn’t using massive doses of violence to solve its problems, to bring about the changes it wanted. Their questions hit home, and I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today — my own government.”
– Martin Luther King, Jr., Beyond Vietnam – A Time to Break Silence, April 4, 1967, Riverside Church, New York City
Dr. King understood the fundamental connections between the war at home and the wars abroad. In the wake of yesterday’s grand jury decision not to indict DarrenWilson for the murder of Michael Brown, United for Peace and Justice continues to stand in solidarity with Mr. Brown’s family, the people of Ferguson and communities around the country who are committed to transforming this tragic miscarriage of justice into a powerful movement to replace racism, injustice, violence and the militarization of police with economic and social justice for all.
In the days to come, we call on groups around the country to express their solidarity by joining or organizing local nonviolent actions.
Here are links to resources you can use:
Ferguson Action: Action listings, demands and resources: www.fergusonaction.com
Don’t Shoot Coalition: Press release, demands and resources: www.dontshootstl.org/
Ferguson National Response Network: Listing of actions around the country: http://fergusonresponse.tumblr.com/
Take the Pledge: Build Political Power in Ferguson: Sign the petition
Participate in #BoycottBlackFriday this week
Text alerts: Text “HANDSUP” to 90975 to stay connected
Words to Action:
Sign up for email updates directly from Ferguson: http://thisisthemovement.launchrock.com/
On October 3, UFPJ held a national briefing call about Ferguson, featuring Michael McPhearson. To listen to the recording: Playback Number: (712) 432-1219; Meeting ID: 446-724-667#; Recording number: 7#
Send a note to info.ufpj@gmail.com to let us know what your group is planning. [Note corrected e-mail address.]
If you appreciate receiving timely information alerts like this, please make a donation to UFPJ so that we can continue to keep our member groups and dedicated activists linked together for effective action and impact.
