Building workers' power in Roanoke, VA
Roanoke Jail Solidarity Efforts During Covid-19 Since the outbreak of Covid-19 in the so-called U.S. in March 2020, we've outlined a case & made a firm call for decarceration (releasing all incarcerated workers) of all jails, prisons, & detention centers in Virginia, we've co-sponsored a petition pushing 5 *ESSENTIAL* demands for people to survive during... Continue Reading →
We, the undersigned, are demanding that Mayor Lea and the City of Roanoke, Virginia Government, as well as Mayor Foley and the City of Salem, Virginia Government, immediately implement a response to the coronavirus pandemic that places the needs of Roanoke & Salem’s most vulnerable groups first. As COVID-19 continues to spread throughout Virginia and... Continue Reading →
March 17, 2020 COALITION CALLS ON CITY OF ROANOKE TO HALT NEW JAIL ADMISSIONS AND RELEASE ALL PEOPLE INCARCERATED IN ROANOKE FACILITIES IN RESPONSE TO COVID-19 VIRUS ROANOKE, VA - We, the undersigned organizations, call on Roanoke City Mayor Sherman Lea and Roanoke City Sheriff Tim Allen to immediately release all of the people currently... Continue Reading →
The Marxist Center is a new national network of multi-tendency (communist, socialist, anarchist) and *up until now* independent organizations across the so-called U.S. dedicated to building revolutionary politics. Its formation recently became official at the 2nd annual Marxist Center conference, graciously hosted by the Colorado Springs Socialists, where delegates from these 20+ independent orgs (including... Continue Reading →
Last year for Mother's Day, groups organizing around prison issues and ultimately toward abolition (Southerners On New Ground, BYP 100, Charlotte Uprising, Dream Defenders, National Bail Out, Brooklyn Community Bail Fund and others) raised enough money to free over 120 Black moms in Atlanta, Durham, Charlotte, Tampa Bay, Brooklyn and elsewhere who (despite not being... Continue Reading →
Happy International Working Womens' Day! We are thrilled to detail this news of our organizational evolution and explain how we got here! The failure of Roanoke's elected officials to even support let alone get workers livable wages of at least $15/hr in our efforts in 2015, or do anything meaningful for workers in decades brought... Continue Reading →