Detroit Abolitionists and Socialists Will Hold Fundraising Event for Victims of State Violence

On October 3, a solidarity social is being organized and endorsed by Detroit Will Breathe (DWB), the Metro Detroit DSA, and the Black Youth Project 100 (BYP 100) Detroit chapter to bring attention to two campaigns fighting against state repression.

Organizers of the solidarity social aim to build solidarity among attendees and unite two different struggles against state repression that affect different communities. The event will gather money for immigrants in detention at Northlake Immigration Detention Center in Baldwin, Michigan, and for a Black youth who police shot in the back.

While these two campaigns touch on different issues, they share common themes. The vast majority of Black people in Detroit are related to people who were part of the Great Migration from the South to the North. Like the many immigrants held in the Northlake Detention Center, their families moved to find jobs and escape oppression (for Black people, the oppression of Jim Crow segregation). Unfortunately, our migration to a new space did not erase the exploitation or racism that capitalism breeds everywhere.

While the Trump administration has centered his efforts towards attacking immigrant communities, his racism towards Black people and our communities is not a footnote. The National Guard continues to patrol D.C. and Memphis, two cities with Black populations that make up more than 40 percent of the cities. In Chicago and Minneapolis, the National Guard assaulted Black residents as well. And Black immigrants have been specifically targeted by Trump’s rhetoric and policies, including the end of TPS. 

If none of that makes clear how our struggles are connected, the attacks on voting rights and birthright citizenship show the Right’s intention to take away Black people’s democratic rights and codify immigrants as permanent second-class citizens with no democratic rights. This is why solidarity between Black and Brown communities is important, and why we need a united struggle to beat Trump and the Right. It is also why we need spaces to discuss these connections and build community with one another and even have fun!

The solidarity social will feature local artists Rocketman and Hans Barbe, with a special appearance by Audra Kubat.

We have seen the power we have when we unite our struggles. We want to build upon that strength, which has been displayed in different struggles in Chicago, Los Angeles, and strongest of all, in the Twin Cities. If you are in the Detroit area, please join us. And if you are not, but you are interested in helping out, you can send donations via CashApp to $DetWillBreathe