Uhuru Aactivists Decry Centuries of “Terror and Genocide” Against African-Americans
BY LAURA MULROONEY | CREATIVE LOAFING, TAMPA
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[dropcap]A[/dropcap] crowd of approximately 25 members of the Uhuru Solidarity Movement (USM) and the African People’s Socialist Party (APSP) gathered Saturday morning at the intersection of 2nd Avenue S and 9th Street, the site of the brutal 1914 lynching of John Evans, an African-American laborer.
USM is an organization of white activists that vocally supports the APSP, better known as the Uhurus. A St. Pete-based movement, they seek reparations, fair treatment and greater autonomy in black communities that, despite efforts like the Civil Rights Movement, still suffer from gross economic disparity, police violence and, activists say, seeming ambivalence on the part of political leaders.
They pulled up, exited their vehicles and moved as a group. When the vigil ended, personal security elements interrupted the flow of traffic as they convoyed to their next destination.
A crowd of approximately 25 members of the Uhuru Solidarity Movement (USM) and the African People’s Socialist Party (APSP) gathered Saturday morning at the intersection of 2nd Avenue S and 9th Street, the site of the brutal 1914 lynching of John Evans, an African-American laborer.
USM is an organization of white activists that vocally supports the APSP, better known as the Uhurus. A St. Pete-based movement, they seek reparations, fair treatment and greater autonomy in black communities that, despite efforts like the Civil Rights Movement, still suffer from gross economic disparity, police violence and, activists say, seeming ambivalence on the part of political leaders.
Over a century on, the group is seeking justice for that lynching and others.
“We have determined that John Evans be avenged not out of some emotional tantrum we might have, but because we know that a social system has to be overturned for everybody on the planet to be free,” said Omali Yeshitela, Chairman of the APSP.
The vigil for Evans, who was hung and shot by a mob of some 1,500 white men, women and children, was hosted by USM, initiating a national conference on reparations to the black community.
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