PHOTO/LYNN ROSSI
LOS ANGELES, CA — On March 3, I participated in one of many marches and rallies protesting the police murder of a homeless man, who was known in the Skid Row community as Africa. On Sunday, March 1, the police came to Skid Row on a complaint of assault. They demanded that Africa come out of his tent. When he didn’t, they tasered him, dragged him out of his tent, and four officers beat him up and shot Africa five times, killing him.
Africa had spent the last 10 years in prison, eight of those years were spent in a mental ward. Africa was released just three to four months prior to his murder with no place to go. He set up a tent on the streets of Skid Row. The murder of Africa is a policy of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD,) not an aberration or a mistake. The city policy, backed up by the LAPD, is to force the homeless and poor from Skid Row, no matter what. This represents a desperate defense of private property.
The March 3 rally started on the corner of 6th and Main and proceeded to LAPD headquarters for a presentation to the Police Commission regarding the killing. The crowd was mixed and representative of the city with a strong representation of Skid Row residents. Many demonstrators carried large signs with pictures of loved ones who had been murdered by the police in Los Angeles and surrounding communities. It was a respectful, disciplined crowd speaking truth to power in front of the new 10 story, $437 million, state-of-the-art LAPD headquarters.
General Dogon, an organizer with the Los Angeles Community Action Network, made the comment that “people should be allowed to sleep wherever they want. What we face in this country is the ownership of the soil by the owning class.” Others commented about Amazon.com’s use of robots at distributions centers. With this development, Skid Row can only grow larger.
The protests on Skid Row are part of a growing national movement demanding that the government house people and for an end to police murders and violence. The thousands living on Skid Row facing police terror are a harbinger for America if we do not act.
Chris Venn is a People’s Tribune distributor. Contact him at info@peoplestribune or call 800-691-6888 if you would like to contribute stories or get bundles of the paper to share with others.
