The National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression dips our banners in honor of freedom fighter Anthony Gay, who passed away this past week. We send our condolences to his family and broad community of supporters who are feeling the weight of this enormous loss. Anthony made history by connecting his personal fight to a broader struggle against the system of racist tyranny that keeps so many oppressed people controlled and confined. He survived 22 years in solitary confinement, under the iron heel of police repression and mass incarceration. While enduring that torture, Anthony transformed himself into a freedom fighter. And when he got out, he broadened his fight to change not only his own personal conditions, but to change the way this system is allowed to operate. That fight continues.

On Tuesday, April 9th video footage was released of the brutal execution-style murder of 26-year-old Dexter Reed. Dexter Reed was a beloved member of his community who was murdered by five Chicago Police officers in the Garfield Park neighborhood on March 21st during a traffic stop. CPD claims they stopped him for not having a seatbelt on, but COPA said police did not have visibility due to Reed’s tinted car windows. These five officers, though they wore police vests, did not identify themselves as officers. They proceeded to surround his vehicle, demanding he open his window and attempting to open the door to his car. When he refused, they proceeded to fire over 96 shots into Dexter Reed’s vehicle.

We in the Chicago Alliance are calling on all progressive forces in the movement and in city council to stand with 25th ward alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez as he endures attacks from the far right in this city. Earlier this week, a band of the most pro status quo aldermen in city council, including Raymond Lopez, Nick Sposato, Anthony Napolitano, Debra Silverstein, and also shamefully joined by west side alderman Chris Taliaferro, came out and attacked 25th ward alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez for speaking at a rally in which an American flag was burned well before he even arrived.

Throughout the history of Chicago, Black & Brown unity has been at the core of every democratic advancement made by working and oppressed people. Going back to the Black & Brown coalition led by Harold Washington and Rudy Lozano that got Harold Washington elected mayor, to more recent times, when Black/Latino unity won the most democratic police accountability ordinance in ECPS, and later, in getting a progressive mayor from the movement in Brandon Johnson elected. What’s clear from this history is that the movement is an unstoppable force when Black and Brown Chicagoans come together. And that fact hasn’t gone unnoticed. In the last few years, the right wing across the country has seen our gains and has intensified its attacks on us, leaning on every manner and method to try and undermine and divide us – and at such a critical time in our city’s history.

We regrettably and very sadly dip our banners of struggle for our dear comrade and beloved friend Shasta Jones who passed away early Thursday morning. She was 43 years old and is survived by 5 children and 7 siblings. We send our heartfelt condolences to Shasta's family and friends.

The Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) together with Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at UIC are holding a rally at Federal Plaza on Wednesday, July 12th at 6pm to demand that the charges against the Tampa 5 be dropped.

Sean and Reginald were convicted in their teens without any physical evidence or witness accounts. After serving nearly three decades in prison, they were finally exonerated, but prosecutors are still refusing to clear their names and back a certificate of innocence. They are survivors of torture at the hands of John Burge's Midnight Crew. John Burge’s Midnight Crew are a group of detectives who were found guilty of having directly participated in or implicitly approved the torture of at least 118 innocent, mostly Black men in order to coerce false confessions from the 1970’s well into the 1990’s.

The Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression calls on all allies in the movement for justice to gather for a People’s Hearing on Police Crimes and the Injustice System!