The Black Lives Matter Movement & The Fight Against Police Terror was the title of our first forum on August 28th at Cafe Istanbul. It was attended by over a hundred people, black and white. The main speaker was Malcolm Suber, a devoted black revolutionary who has been on the front lines in the struggle against NOPD abuse for over three decades.
During his presentation, Suber explained that the main political lesson drawn from the Black Lives Matter movement is that it is spontaneous resistance to police terror that has propelled the freedom struggle to a level we haven’t seen since the 60’s and 70’s. He said “the choice before our movement is: will we wage a revolutionary fight to end the rule of the billionaire ruling class, or will we continue on the road of reform that guarantees continued police terror and murder of national minority youth on the streets of America?”
He also noted that the police are doing exactly what the rulers want them to do. “It is their function to terrorize us and keep us in our place, in our oppressed condition.”
At the end of his talk, Suber invited singer Nana Nantambu on stage to lead the audience in singing the classic freedom song “We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest”. Afterwards there was a lively discussion full of revolutionary energy and solidarity among the audience. At the end everyone walked out enthused, with a deep understanding of the black lives matter movement, and they were therefore more ready for the fight against racist police oppression.