On August 16 and 17, Zaki Baruti of the Universal African People’s Organization of St. Louis, MO will be appearing at the Black is Back Coalition’s Annual Conference in Philadelphia to report straight from the front lines of Ferguson, MO, where Baruti has been organizing on the ground in response to the police assassination of 18-year-old Michael Brown on Saturday, August 9.
In the aftermath of Brown’s murder, Ferguson, a suburb of St Louis, has seen military-style police repression and sustained black community demonstrations and uprisings. The government has issued a “no-fly zone” over Ferguson.
The slogan for the August BIB Conference is “Resist U.S. wars and occupations in the U.S. and abroad.” It is a slogan that represents the coalition’s belief that it is insufficient to simply call for peace as much of the traditional, white-led peace groups commonly do..
This year’s Conference will hold a workshop entitled, “There is no peace, Africa and Africans are at war,” designed to explore the violence imposed on Africa and African people throughout the world.
Founded in Washington, D.C., on September 12, 2009, the Coalition became the first and only black-led organization to lead a march on the White House during the Obama administration.
According to BIBC Chairman Omali Yeshitela: “The wars and threats of wars that are disrupting the peace are a consequence of imperialists, and especially U.S. imperialists, attempting to maintain a world of slavery and colonial domination. Therefore, it is also important to support the people’s resistance to imperialist domination.”
