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On May 26th, the people of Minneapolis rose up against the lynching of a 46-year old unemployed Black worker, George Floyd, by the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) in broad daylight. Masses of people, mainly young, mainly poor, and mainly people of color took to the streets. They surrounded and battled the Third Precinct, looted capitalist enterprise, and lit fires that were seen around the world.

The role of police in society is clear— to protect the rich and powerful and preserve the status quo. This is why Black police chiefs, training programs, and civilian oversight have never made a real difference: the underlying purpose of the police is still the same. When you know the history of the police in the United States, from the Slave Patrols to the deputized thugs who harassed and intimidated the immigrant working-class, to today’s riot police and assassins— it all starts to makes sense. The Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) is not on our side and never could be. We should focus on building the capacity of working-class communities to resist the police and defend our neighborhoods, not tweak the existing repressive apparatus.

"The fight against racism is a human and universal cause that affects us all.” These are the words of artist Aziz Asmar, who along with his friend Anas Hamdoun painted a tribute to George Floyd on a destroyed building in Binnish, Syria.

Hundreds of members of Minnesota's Oromo community took over I-94 on July 1st, and 1,500 took 35W ten days later, in powerful protests against the assassination of Hachalu Hundessa in Ethiopia. Hundessa was an iconic Oromo musician, activist, and former political prisoner closely associated with the struggle for democracy in Ethiopia and for the rights and freedom of the Oromo people.

On Memorial Day weekend, George Floyd, a 46-year old African-American bouncer, unemployed since COVID-19, was detained by Minneapolis Police outside Cup Foods on 38th St & Chicago Ave in south Minneapolis for allegedly passing a counterfeit $20 bill. Mr. Floyd was put down on the street - right where a #5 bus stops - and murdered by a cop pressing his knee into Mr. Floyd's neck while a crowd of onlookers pleaded for the police to stop.

38th & Chicago is an important intersection in south Minneapolis - especially to poor and working-class folks who attend church, update their cell phones, get Chinese, do laundry, or fill up their tanks on that corner. The intersection brings together four neighborhoods:  Bancroft, Bryant, Central, and Powderhorn - and is the heart of the historic and resilient southside Black community.

The lynching of George Floyd tore open the facade covering white-suprenmacist capitalist rule in Minneapolis and neighboriong communities - it brought people out in the streets and at 38th & Chicago - the people hacve stayed. Building barricades, painting murals, memorializing those murdered by police, serving meals, playing music, squashing beefs, booting fascists, and holding ground.

The interviews here are from two people from the Community who have given over big chunks of their life to the struggle to hold and defend George Floyd Square . . . 

You probably have things on your phone you wouldn’t want a fascist or a cop to see: comrades’ contact information, loved ones’ addresses, logged-in social media accounts, and text messages, to name a few. While you can’t make it impossible for them to get into your phone, you can make it a pain. With every security measure you add, you make it more difficult for police/fascists to get your data.

This past moment revealed the true face of America – mask off – and has brought many of our friends, family, and communities into the struggle. Building this core understanding is important to keeping them with us and protecting them from harm. It's no secret that often we have better insight and active intelligence than the state does. With the state’s arms wide open, our new comrades might be tempted to collaborate or try to use law enforcement against the fascists in retreat. Not only does this strengthen our enemy, a confidential informant is one of the very worst positions you could ever be in. This goes double for a state obsessed with destroying anti-fascist and revolutionary movements.