09/03/2022
Join us behind the court house 227 w Michigan ave. on Sunday, September 4th at 1:30pm EST for a mobile Freedom Rally where we’ll take pictures around downtown Kalamazoo and tag city government to pressure the City of Kalamazoo to drop the charges, as well as hear from Black and Brown woman directly affected by this state violence. There will be a virtual rally as well on Monday 9/5/2022 please support by taking a picture or short video using these hashtags
Black and indigenous women are facing atrocious charges while pregnant. from the settler-colonialist apparatus of the state, Kalamazoo, claiming to act on behalf of “The People ''-- On October 8, 2021, a group of activists and community members were asked to help defend the unhoused residents of the Ampersee encampment from being harassed by KDPS for rightfully trying to defend their homes, despite the inhumane claims of trespassing and While trying to assist another Black protestor was violently arrested by KDPS. He was in distress not receiving immediate medical attention, and officers were audibly denying and downplaying his injuries and condition, activist were assaulted and arrested, an Afro-Indigenous activist was rightfully trying to defend herself from an antagonistic Sergeant Hofer who had pepper sprayed, she is facing harsh charges for the actions of these officers. Throughout the entire court process, Monica has made it clear she wants to appeal the charges and fight for her rights because she was not in the wrong for trying to not only passist another Black member of the community, our vulnerable unhoused neighbors, but she had to defend herself in the moment. The State has fought tooth-and-nail to make the appeal process harder for Monica, including motions to refuse Monica to bring an EXPERT WITNESS to be on the stand and talk about the racial aspect of this whole struggle. As it should be clear after the last few years, the police do not serve the people. We saw this when George Floyd was murdered, we saw this when Breonna Taylor was murdered in her sleep, and we still see it to this day,with KDPS actively attempting to cover up Lindell Grisham ex*****on at the hand of KDPS officers.
at the direct order of Deputy City Manager Laura Lam, KDPS terrorizes members of our community in an effort to criminalize being unhoused, and subject them to State-sanctioned violence all because they are lower class, The fact that Kalamazoo is claiming to represent its people is a gross injustice, especially considering that the City of Kalamazoo itself would rather terrorize its citizens, especially the most vulnerable, than offer them the basic needs that they so desperately need. We know that Kalamazoo has had a coordinated effort to terrorize it’s unhoused community with KDPS at the head of it–acting police-chief Dave Boysen and board member of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Kalamazoo, has personally overseen the sweeps against the unhoused community. How can someone so vile claim to act on behalf of the People, OR even claim to care about the youth of the community when he just turns around and blatantly terrorizes our most vulnerable community members.
This country was founded on the ideals of Settler-Colonialism–for those who remember their US History, this was called “Manifest Destiny” where the Founding Fathers claimed that it was their God-given right to take the land from the “murderous savages” who we know today as our Indigenous Community. This land that we occupy currently is STOLEN LAND, and so any claims of trespassing from the Settler-Colonialist State should therefore be null-and-void because the State does not have a true claim to the land it so desperately wants to keep its hands on. The police force itself started from the days leading up to, and after the American Civil War: the very first police were runaway slave catchers, and once the 13th amendment was ratified their job was to arrest those who broke newly established “loitering laws”--laws that specifically targeted recently freed slaves who didn’t have homes of their own. As we know from the 13th amendment, slavery is outlawed “except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted”--and thus we see the issue at hand, that has been around ever since ratification to our present day. This is why KDPS has been acting the way they have been to our community members: an unhoused member of the community, or an Afro-Indigenous mother is convicted of a bogus crime. This has always been the case, and will continue to be the case until WE THE PEOPLE demand changes to the system, until WE THE COMMUNITY stand up against the violence taking place in our own backyards and demand system change.
WE THE PEOPLE OF KALAMAZOO DEMAND THE CHARGES TO BE DROPPED AGAINST OUR COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND WE DEMAND THAT KDPS AND THE CITY OF KALAMAZOO IS HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE VIOLENCE THEY ARE PERPETUATING ON STOLEN INDIGENOUS LAND
