Power concedes nothing without a demand—it never has, and it never will… Young, old, black, white, rich, poor—we must all stand together and demand justice [for] the killing of our children, no matter who they are, no matter where they’ve come from. Shut it down!

–Reverend Dr. Calvin O. Butts, III

When suffering speaks, the powers that be have to respond in some way. And there’s been too many folks not just murdered, not just killed–systematically disrespected, and we’ve reached the point where we can’t take it any longer!

–Dr. Cornel West, Democratic Socialists of America

Because this is a country that’s founded on white supremacy from the very beginning, dragging African people to these shores in slave chains, stealing the land and carrying out a genocide against the native inhabitants. And they kept it up—they stole half of Mexico. They go around the world suppressing people. They’re at war with people around the world, and they’re at war with people right here in this country, sisters and brothers.

–Carl Dix, Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP), USA

On Thursday, April 14, the Stop Mass Incarceration Network organized #ShutDownA14, a nationwide event protesting police brutality and institutionalized racism. In New York, groups of protesters converged in Union Square at 2:00pm, holding up signs and shouting different chants, including, “Every city, every town, there’s another Michael Brown.”