June 12, 2022
Intro to June 12 weekend
The commemoration of the June 12, 1982 weekend, the largest demonstration in history, was a glowing success. All of the events achieved their objective. We will discuss the occasion starting next week. The weekend and days preparing for the weekend were long and grueling with meetings 24/7. Monday the week after there were still other things to do.
Partnership of Faith Zoom Meeting
We started 8:30-10am with a Zoom meeting with an organization we started in 1989. The name of the organization was called Partnership of Faith. The issues we discussed was revitalization of the organization and youth activities. The most notable act that we did was to start the Stop the Violence movement. In 1990, we organized a week of Stop the Violence with events in every borough. Stop the Violence became widespread and utilized by other organizations. I watched our slogan or watchwords capture our feelings and determination of that time “We’re fired up, Ain't gonna to take it no more”. The streets of Brooklyn and America and reverberated the thunderous voices of people who meant what they said.
Office and Coordination
Office work from 12-1:30pm, we went over the final draft for my book, Reflections on the Pandemic 2020 and an outline of my schedule and responses to phone calls, emails, etc.
1199 Installation of Officers
I attended 1199 Installation of Officers, held at the Sheraton Hotel in Manhattan. It’s always great being with 1199 union people, especially the President George Grisham. 1199 has a history of being involved in the full range of human rights. Most unions only get involved in their issue. It is not so with 1199. We patted ourselves on the back for saving Interfaith Hospital in Brooklyn. We held daily rallies and on occasion all night rallies. The speakers included Bishop Barber who's organizing the Poor People’s Campaign, Mayor Eric Adams, and the State Attorney General, Tish James.
Remembering Arthur Miller Jr.,
I departed the ceremony before the end. I regretted having to do so, but my next meeting was the I Remember Arthur Miller Jr., a virtual meeting. So, I left the meeting and found a quiet parking space on 10th Avenue between 51st and 52nd streets. The meeting lasted from 8-9:30pm. Minister Lorenzo Daughtry-Chambers, my grandson, was the moderator. I rehearsed the times in which Arthur Miller Jr., was choked to death by the police. We were on the street boycotting because Randy Evans, fifteen years old, had been killed for no reason in November 1976 and at the same time the following year, the jury pretty much acquitted the officer Robert Torsney. We were boycotting the Downtown Brooklyn stores when we heard that Arthur Miller Jr., had been choked to death. We were demonstrating in the evening when we heard Arthur Miller had been killed. We left the demonstration and went to a school and held a rally in the auditorium. The auditorium was packed, Arthur Miller was a model citizen, he was liked and respected by everybody including the police.
I promised that Arthur Miller along with Randy Evans would never be forgotten and we would build a movement that would perpetuate their memory and empower our people. Out of that movement gained some of the prominent people in power positions. I’ve already mentioned Mayor Eric Adams. Lolisa Miller-Bradford, the youngest daughter of Arthur Miller, spoke of her growing up without her father. She introduced other members of the family and friends. She spoke of the family foundation- A Daughter Never Forgets Foundation.
In addition to the police killings on June 15th Arthur Miller was killed on June 14, 1978, and on the 15th 1978 Victor Rhodes a fifteen-year-old African American youth was almost beaten to death by 30-50 members of the Hasidic community. So with the police brutality, the Hasidic cruelty and special treatment and other issues it was a challenging time and we had to organize and mobilize to meet the challenge and we did. The National Black United Front which became the internationally recognized preeminent mass-based and independent organization of people of African Ancestry consisting of all of the religious persuasions and ideologies. I spoke at the UN political committee annually. I sat with other liberation organizations, including Southwest African People’s Organization (SWAPO), Namibia, the Patriotic Front of Zimbabwe, The African National Congress of South Africa(ANC) and the Pan-African Congress (PAC), Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO).
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