Statement from Charlottesville Antiracists after our Second Anniversary Weekend
Solidarity with those targeted by state surveillance
Two years since our community came together to confront violent white supremacists targeting our city, we are hearing reports of antiracist activists, their families, and other community members being targeted by FBI officers looking to gather information about antifascist activities on August 11th and 12th, 2017, and the subsequent anniversaries. We have learned a lot from each other as we’ve been struggling together against white supremacy. In light of this latest round of state sanctioned surveillance targeting, we uphold these lessons:
1. Police don’t keep us safe. We keep us safe.
Police and federal agents are not here to keep us safe, and never have been. They are here to uphold our social systems which are rooted in and serve to perpetuate the violence of white supremacy. Because we know the state won’t keep us safe, we commit to keep each other safe instead.
2. We don’t talk to cops.
We don’t talk to cops as a matter of principle. We teach others not to talk to cops, and we teach them why. We are indebted to those who came before us who showed us that we can work for justice without working with cops. We are indebted to those who teach us about our rights under the current system of over-policing and who also teach us to dream of a society free from the carceral state. We are invested in continuing to build our own skills and strengthen our community infrastructure to reduce our reliance on policing and strengthen our ability to keep each other free.
3. We reach out to each other when we are targeted.
When the cops or feds contact us, we don’t talk to them. We talk to each other. The state thrives on instilling fear within us and isolating us from each other. We refuse that isolation. We talk to each other, we keep each other updated, because we know that strengthens us and our movements. We will keep getting stronger. Dear friends: if the cops or feds contact you or someone you know with questions about activism, please reach out to your activist friends for support, care, guidance, love, and maybe a casserole if you need one.
4. We love and protect our targeted comrades.
We repeat and affirm the words of Assata Shakur: we must love each other and protect each other. We write this statement in solidarity with our friends and community members currently being targeted by FBI surveillance, such as trans activist Chelsea Manning, who has been under confinement for over 150 days for refusing to cooperate with a federal grand jury as a matter of principle. We remember how the FBI’s COINTELPRO targeted Black liberation activists and know Black antiracists continue to be targeted by state surveillance. We are with you, and we will do everything in our power together to prevent state power from harming you.
5. We are still here, still fighting.
Two years after the violent white supremacist attacks of August 11–12th, 2017, we are still here in Charlottesville fighting all forms of white supremacy and fascism, work that people of color and other marginalized people have been doing for centuries. This weekend we connected with each other to honor our memories here. Some passed the baton to make space for rest; some kept organizing and strategizing. We are in it together. The fight goes on.
We transition out of this second anniversary weekend with deepest solidarity and love for each other and for all communities rising up to protect each other in the face of both government and grassroots white supremacy.
Statement from the National Lawyers Guild — Central Virginia Chapter:
https://www.facebook.com/nlgcentralva/photos/a.327965520979655/722731671503036/?type=3&theater
Know Your rights: A guide to your rights when interacting with law enforcement:
https://cliniclegal.org/resources/know-your-rights-law-enforcement
Charlottesville community solidarity with grand jury resistors:
