Given the talk about "insurrection" in relation to #BlackLivesMatter , we want to talk about Angelo Herndon.

Angelo was a black communist organizer sentenced to 18+ years for "insurrection" after an interracial march for Depression-era relief payments in Atlanta, Georgia.

18+ years on the chain gang for a peaceful march?

Yes.

Why?

Cuz the crowd of working-class people was multiracial & organizing together. The state was afraid of "labor unrest" that also resisted the brutally racist Jim Crow laws designed to divide folx with common interests.

It is absolutely worth reading Angelo Herndon's own vital words about his life and case, about his family's life as slaves and as miners in a company town, and why we should organize and stick together.

https://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/herndoncannotkill.html

The interracial Atlanta march to the federal courthouse for relief payments was on June 30, 1932. So many years later, and what has changed?

Even before the pandemic, US income inequality was the highest ever recorded. Now millions are out of work and there is no relief in sight. People take to the streets against systemic racism & police murders and the president invokes the same bs that put Angelo Herndon in prison.

Angelo Herndon was ultimately released due to the efforts of radical lawyers, the International Labor Defense, and everyday solidarity by people. Today, over 10,000 people have been arrested in the uprisings. The govt is vilifying everyone--so we need solidarity *with everyone*

Because we are tired of this broken record. Because we *are* changing things. Free them all.
#AmnestyForAll