(MARCH 5, 2016) The architect of Black Lives Matter has revised the narrative of a movement targeting the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). The “End 1033″ campaign is now being organized “in the legacy” of the ‘1968 Chicano Walkouts’.
Eric Mann, Director at the Labor Community Strategy Center, recently strong-armed LAUSD into withdrawing from the “1033 Program”. The federal plan allowed the Department of Defense to transfer weapons to the Los Angeles School Police Department (LASPD). LASPD protects more than 640,000 LAUSD students.
Like most Revolutionaries, Mann doesn’t want a strong police force. So he made enough noise that the school board returned all weaponry acquired through 1033 (such as M-16s, grenade launchers and a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected armored vehicle).
The last of the 1033 equipment was returned on February 5, 2016.
Nevertheless, an ominous Mann still called on all weapons to be returned more than two weeks later, all the while demanding LAUSD give him props for his efforts.
@lausd_zimmer #end1033 pic.twitter.com/VE1vOZAfYz
— Eric Mann (@EricMannSpeaks)
February 20, 2016
(On February 20, 2016 Eric Mann sent the above video message to an LAUSD board member).
“I think that the LAUSD has been criminal in how you’ve responded to the Strategy Center and the Fight for the Soul of the Cities. You know you’ve had those tanks, you know you’ve had M-16s. You need to give them back, and you need to admit that we forced you to do it, give us the credit, and that’s the first step in your own redemption.”
-Eric Mann, Director, Labor Community Strategy Center
Mann, who was once a member of the radical Weather Underground, demands reparations as punishment for LAUSD’s initial participation in the 1033 program, including a 50% reduction in the budget and staff of the LASPD (the 5th largest police force in California).
Fight for the Soul of the Cities, an offshoot of Mann’s Labor Community Strategy Center, continues to disrupt LAUSD meetings.
(Eric Mann addresses activists after his group disrupted an LAUSD meeting on February 23, 2016)
Student-activists have been organizing against 1033 on LAUSD campuses. This week organizers set up shop at Roosevelt High School in Boyle Heights, where they used cupcakes to lure students to the recruiting table.
(’Fight for the Soul of the Cities’ anti-1033 activists recruiting at Roosevelt High School on March 2, 2016. Twitter)
The week before, Mann’s anti-1033 crew hit Augustus Hawkins High in South L.A.
Mann's activists canvassed the Mar Vista Gardens Housing Projects, and they’ve even been quietly organizing LAUSD employees. All in the name of ending the 1033 program, which LAUSD insists has already ended.
Meanwhile, Fight for the Soul of the Cities created memes linking its anti-1033 effort to the 1968 Chicano Walkouts.
The memes might appear to be non-threatening, but never underestimate Eric Mann when it comes to pulling strings and creating trouble. He knows what works. That’s why I admire him so.
Remember, Mann is the same guy that mentored Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors.
See? All of the good Revolutionaries know how to multi-task:
(’Fight for the Soul of the Cities’ activist displays anti-1033 sign featuring George Jackson, a Marxist, a member of the Black Panther Party, and co-founder of the Black Guerrilla Family while incarcerated.)
