By Gregory E. Williams
On Aug. 21, New Orleanians marched against U.S. imperialism, “from Kabul to the Caribbean,” as stated in the announcement.
The action was initiated by organizers with Freedom Road Socialist Organization – New Orleans, and the New Orleans Hospitality Workers Alliance, with support from the New Orleans Mutual Aid Society, Socialist Unity Party, and various community members.
Appropriately, the starting point was Congo Square in present-day Armstrong Park — one of the only communal spaces in the U.S. available to African people during slavery. Mississippi-born educator and poet, She Ra, told the crowd, “This land here is sacred. It was sacred before colonization … [and when enslaved people gathered here on Sundays] they were able to hang onto some of their native tongue, spiritual practices, music and dance.”
She Ra thus framed the march, connecting the struggles within the belly of the beast — including the Black liberation struggle — to the just cause of the Cuban, Haitian, Afghan and other peoples holding the line against U.S. imperialism.