Open Letter from Detroit LRNA Chapter: Political Repression
AN OPEN LETTER TO OUR SISTERS, BROTHERS & SIBLINGS
OCTOBER, 2022
We of the Detroit chapter of the League of Revolutionaries for a New America have observed with growing concern the crack-down on dissenting voices by powerful institutions that serve to preserve the status quo. Latest among these was the FBI raid on the African People’s Socialist Party’s (APSP) offices in two states simultaneously under the baseless charge of spreading “Russian disinformation.”
It is said that in times of war the first casualty is the truth. There is no truth whatever to the allegations, nor is there enough to fuel suspicion. The raids on the APSP’s offices in St. Louis and St. Petersburg and at the home of the organization’s founding member Omali Yeshitela, an activist and organizer for over half a century of Pan African international solidarity and peace activism, is scandalous. Setting aside whatever political or ideological differences we may have, our members are asking:
“Why attack the APSP that has been a friend of the people, of the working class? Their political and advocacy activities have never been a threat to the safety and security of people in this country. Since when is it a crime to call out our government’s unilateral militaristic and economic aggression on people labeled as our enemies but with whom many working people in this country have no grudge? The assault against the APSP is tantamount to silencing the voices of dissent. In America, we still have that right.”
In less than three years’ time we have watched a virus rip through this country that would ultimately claim over 1,000,000 lives. Millions through no fault of their own were thrown out of work. In select states, efforts were extended to provide economic support during the pandemic early days, but today – millions nationwide are facing eviction as the limited financial ‘parachutes’ start to expire. We live in a country being wrecked by a capitalist system that millions now see was never designed to help the people, let alone overcome such a devastating set of disasters. Other countries have secured ways to keep families in their homes, to keep families covered with health care, to keep people able to eat and pay bills, but not here at least not yet! Under capitalism, you are on your own. We’ve seen a right-wing Supreme Court grant, in the most craven fashion, states rights to overturn and further erode voter’s rights, women’s rights, and more restrictions are on the way.
The APSP was and is justified by calling out these events and highlighting the rising neglect of the well being of 140,000,000 low-income American citizens at the expense of funding a proxy war in Ukraine as a means of furthering the ends of the United States and NATO-aligned countries in fighting Russia whose ascendance has not posed a threat to the interests of the American people. The APSP rightly called out that this neglect and this targeting was something that people of African descent have been familiar with for centuries. We stand with the APSP and condemn the unlawful assault on your founder and on your offices.
This document originated in the Detroit area of LRNA and is also the statement of the National Council of the League
