January 2015

On the 19th of January,a Reclaim MLK March set out from the White House for the Department of Justice. More than once it was called the Department of Injustice for failing to investigate the continuing police murders of mostly African-American youth. On the way, the march shut down streets, focussing on Chinatown. The mother of a man killed by Montgomery County, MD police spoke out as a classic DC Ferguson square blockaded 7th and H by the Chinatown arch.

Video of the march featuring the mother of a man murdered by Montgomery County police at 1 min 21 sec

On the evening of Jan 16, Amnesty International showed up outside the embassy of Saudi Arabia. A Saudi cultural event was about to start inside, and Amnesty was there to remind everyone that the Saudi monarchy needs to cancel the remaining 19 flogging sessions liberal blogger Raif Badawi has been sentenced to, release him from prison, and permit him to exit the country to join his wift and three young children.

Video from the protest (WARNING-short covert camera clip from actual flogging of Raif at 1 min 19 sec)

The 15th of January is Martin Luther King's actual birthday. On that day in 2015, DC Ferguson marched into AM rush hour traffic and shut it down for many blocks in all directions of the protest. Police redirection of traffic greatly magnified the impact by closing off large sections of streets containing protesters, far beyond the protest itself. Police, security guards, and vigiliantes are still shooting another African-American every 28 hours. DC police are still using jump-outs to intimidate Black youth into submitting to illegal searches. Therefore, DC Ferguson is still "shutting shit down," saying no justice means no business as usual!

Video of the march and speech in front of the condo building

The 13th of January was a day of action against the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline throughout Turtle Island. In Washington DC, Climate First! showed up at the US Department of State late afternoon, after an earlier protest at the White House by 350.org

Over 500,000 people were reached on January 6, 2015, Oscar's 72nd birthday, as the National Boricua Human Rights Network and La Respuesta coordinated the "Social Media Campaign for Oscar López." Using various hashtags (e.g.