"Resolution of Solidarity with the Mobilization of Mothers (MOMs)" from Peace and Freedom Party of California - Women's Committee & Feminist Contingent:
We, the Women's Committee, in order that we may uphold the cause for Human Rights for the victims of police murder and their families and an end to police terror and systematic cover-up, after having reviewed and endorsed the mission of the "Mobilization of Mothers (MOMs)", stand United with them so as to connect with other mothers in the same situation caused by murderous police practices, and connecting the dots of injustice across the USA.
Therefore, in a United Front with other organizations, we are helping to form a "Million Mothers Movement" with the ultimate goal of a "Million Mothers March" to Washington DC so as to demand legislation which protects the People against these aggrievous Human Rights violations be introduced and made law.
By endorsement of this resolution, the SCC agrees with and supports the following Women's Committee plan of action:
* We will conduct outreach to young mothers and all people who are willing to listen.
* We will form a proactive group through the Women's Committee to promote and plan an event in solidarity with the "Million Mothers Movement/March".
* We will fully endorse the "Kenneth Harding jr. Foundation".
* We will begin a lobbying campaign to tell Washington lawmakers that it's not ok that the police are killing our children, brutally in the streets, and we are not going to get used to it!!! We are angry and we want justice for all victims of police murder and their families, and an end to police terror.
We ask that PFP SCC endorse our resolution.
We ask Party chapters join the PFP Women's Committee in organizing
solidarity for this cause of Human Rights.
The following motion is endorsed:
More information: 2012-06-05 "RADICAL WOMEN DENOUNCES RACE AND SEX BIAS IN MARISSA ALEXANDER CASE"
[http://www.radicalwomen.org/MarissaAlexander.shtml]:
Radical Women [National Office: 747 Polk Street, San Francisco, CA 94109] [415-864-1278][RadicalWomenUS@gmail.com] [www.RadicalWomen.org]
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As battered women often discover, the system that should protect them is frequently their worst enemy.
Marissa Alexander, a 31-year-old African American mother of three living in Tampa, Florida, tried to follow the rules. She had a restraining order against her estranged husband, who had a record of abuse toward Alexander and other women. She had a legally licensed gun and had never been arrested. In August 2010, only nine days after having given birth, Alexander fired a warning shot into the wall of her house when her husband threatened her life. For this, a Florida jury convicted her of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after only 12 minutes of deliberation. On May 11, 2012, a judge rejected Alexander's "stand-your-ground defense" and sentenced her to 20 years under Florida's mandatory minimum sentencing rules. Stand-your-ground laws permit a person to use force in self-defense if they believe they are in serious threat of harm.
According to a number of studies, African American women suffer higher levels of domestic abuse than any other ethnic group, most likely as a result of the stresses of poverty and discrimination. Black women are murdered by their partners at a rate three times that of white women. Jobless or low-paid, with a well-earned distrust of the criminal justice system, and a history of discrimination from health and social service institutions, abused women of color often have few resources to draw upon.
Women of all races who fight back against abuse find little sympathy from police, courts, or media. In states where police are mandated to make an arrest in domestic violence situations, arrests of women have risen dramatically. Women are now nearly 20% of domestic violence arrests although men are acknowledged to commit 95% of the abuse. Black feminist Sharon Allard has observed that the Battered Woman Syndrome defense, which has been successfully used in court to justify why a woman killed or took action against an abuser, is often denied to Black women. Why? Because the stereotype of Black women as "domineering, assertive, hostile and immoral" hinders a judge's or juror's ability to believe that a Black woman acted in self-defense. According to Allard, Black women are twice as likely as white women to be convicted for murdering abusive husbands.
The racist and sexist double standard exists at every level of U.S. society. It took a national outcry for the killer of African American teenager Trayvon Martin to be arrested after he invoked Florida's "stand-your-ground" law. Meanwhile, Congress is balking at reauthorizing the federal Violence Against Women Act, in part because the act contains new provisions that would help protect queers, Native Americans and immigrants.
Radical Women demands the immediate release and pardon of Marissa Alexander, passage of the strengthened Violence Against Women Act, and an end to race and sex discrimination in the criminal justice system. In addition, Radical Women calls for massive increases in funding for jobs, aid to families, and shelters and services for everyone fleeing domestic violence regardless of their sexual orientation or immigration status.
Radical Women encourages supporters of women's rights to sign the online petition to pardon Alexander at [http://www.thepetitionsite.com/503/600/056/dont-imprison-marissa-alexander-for-standing-her-ground/]. Information on how to donate to Marissa Alexander's legal defense and write to her in prison is available at [http://www.Justice4Marissa.com].
The following resolution is endorsed:
PFP Youth Committee resolution: Our Plan of Action.
Youth Committee will produce cultural events on campuses and communities with the mission of spreading the ideas of Peace, Freedom, Dignity, Democracy and Justice. Through music, entertainment, festivals, or any other form of promotion, we will put forward the ideas contained in our platform.
We will engage youth of all socio-economic backgrounds belonging to the working classes, and the lumpenproletariat classes. We seek to openly engage the consciousness of youth who remain in the permanent placement of poverty, to steer our minds in the direction of rebuilding our community by channeling ourselves into a pluri-national alliance with a culture of progressive values.
We seek representation by all communities and people, and to build alliances with organizations who engage our pluri-national communities with our ideas, and to bridge our cultural divide towards a combined voice for all the People. As the youth rebuild our future, we will engage ourselves in the spirit of a united cause for all human & civil rights.
We will promote the idea of labor unions among the workers of the Service Industry, which, oftentimes, is the only choice of employment for most youth in certain communities. We must organize to protect our labor rights in order to uplift the social conditions of our communities, and we will be the voice of the youth workers on the ballot.
We seek to protect and expand public education, and higher education, so that youth and young adults may have the freedom to an education that fits the needs of their chosen vocation or pursuit. Therefore, we seek to represent all students through the organizing of forums and assemblies at any institution available for higher learning, so we can hear the concerns and ideas of students, in order to formulize solutions which we can advocate.
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