Justice for Jayland Walker and July 2022 Newsletter
Hello friends and supporters,
This email is an invitation to our rally this Thursday to demand Justice for Jayland Walker. It is also an update on all the work that we have gotten up to in the past 2 months. If you would like to support our work going forward, look for the link at the end of the email to register for our open meeting this saturday to get plugged in.
We are calling a solidarity demonstration to demand justice for Jayland Walker. On June 27th the Akron, Ohio Police department killed Jayland Walker, shooting him 60 times as he fled. Jayland was unarmed when he was killed.
What started as a stop for a traffic violation has once again lead to the murder of a Black man. The racism that results in the systematic killing of Black people by the police must end.
Join us 5pm, on July 7th at Washington park on Elysian Fields and Royal to demand justice.
Canvassing
Following the success of our tabling at bus stops, we hit the pavement in early May promoting our petition and organization in the 6th ward.
Coalition Work to Defend Reproductive Healthcare
"Louisiana State Police have got to go!"
From the moment the devastating Supreme Court draft decision on Dobbs v. Jackson leaked, NOCOP has been playing a leading role in a coalitional effort to fight back against the criminalization of reproductive healthcare. Since the leak, we have put on 4 demonstrations. When the decision dropped, an ad hoc coalition marched over 3,000 strong to city hall raising the demands on city hall to not enforce abortion bans, to not cooperate with state law enforcement, for institutions to adopt no snitch policies, and for the racist Louisiana State Police to be denied access to New Orleans.
Last Friday, following a 3-day phone zap we rallied in front of the mayor's house. We demanded a full statement from her office on what the mayor will do to protect reproductive healthcare and for a commitment to agree to our demands. While we are still waiting on the response, the coalition was able to get our message out to multiple news outlets.
Bridge City Action
Following the June 18th uprising at the Bridge City Center for Youth, NOCOP and supporters rallied outside of the Youth Prison. We blasted solidarity messages into the jail with our sound and demanded that there be no retaliation against the incarcerated youth. You can read about the demonstration here.
Black Rage Reading Group
On June 9th, we launched an 8-week reading group in order to read Black Rage in New Orleans by Leonard N. Moore. This text provides us with the rich history of Black resistance against the police in New Orleans over decades. If you would like to join in for the remaining sections we are reading Chapter 6 this Thursday at 7pm.
Don't forget to ask about our T-shirts!
See you soon.
After our action on Thursday, stay tuned for an announcement of a reproductive rights demonstration on Friday.
You are also welcome to join our open meeting July 9th at 4pm.
Stay Safe in the Struggle,
New Orleans for Community Oversight of the Police