Party for Socialism and Liberation - Suncoast
Template:TOCnestleft Party for Socialism and Liberation - Florida is affiliated with the Party for Socialism and Liberation.
Abortion protest
On the morning of Sept. 14 2021, activists gathered outside of the Manatee County Commission chambers to protest a county commission meeting which would discuss potential abortion restrictions similar to the Texas Heartbeat bill, which ban abortions as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. The protest was organized by Manasota Black Lives Matter Alliance, Pasco BLM and Women’s Voices of Southwest Florida.
Manatee County Commissioner James Satcher has been championing a local abortion ban for months, and Manatee County residents have expressed strong opposition to it since the start. Agenda Item 59 was for, “Approval of letter to the Florida Attorney General in favor of a county ordinance creating a ‘safe haven’ for the unborn in Manatee County, Florida and direct the County Attorney to request a formal advisory opinion from the Florida Attorney General.”
Fifteen to 20 activists prepared to make public comments and arrived at the chambers at 8:00 a.m. Ten of the activists were dressed in outfits inspired by The Handmaid’s Tale, a novel, film and now TV series about a fundamentalist regime that treats women as property of the state.
Tampa Bay PSL member Jack Wallace was waiting inside to give public comment when he heard a commotion outside of the chambers. Wallace reported: “The police shoved someone to the ground and arrested them.”
Kimberly Cox had been outside live streaming for three hours. Toward the end of the stream, Cox is seen asking Sergeant John Neri why another person was trespassed from the chamber. Neri did not answer, which then prompted Cox to ask for Neri’s name and badge number. “I’m going to have to ask you to step away,” Neri said while grabbing her.
Cox was taken to the Manatee County Judicial Center where activists followed to protest the arrest. PSL members Ruth Beltran and Jimi DePriest entered the building to find out more information, where they were bombarded by at least 20 officers who threatened to arrest them. This was another example of Florida police officers abusing their power and brutalizing people with impunity.
Cox’s husband, Mark, was forced to pay $60 just to speak with her for one minute. “She does not belong in jail, she did nothing wrong,” he said in an interview with Liberation News while waiting for her release.
A handful of supporters joined Cox’s husband at Port Manatee, the Manatee County Jail, in awaiting Cox’s release. Cynthia Muscat, a close friend of Cox, called the jail at around midnight. They told Muscat that there had been a clerical error and that Cox would have to stay overnight until the manager came in. The jail had charged Mark $500 for one of the bail amounts, but it was supposed to be only $120. Activists continued to call the jail, and continued to get the runaround from each department.[1]
Sarasota study group: Gun violence and what can be done
Sarasota study group: Gun violence and what can be done. The Green Bean Coffee House.Tuesday 20 March 2018, 18:30 till Tuesday 20 March 2018, 20:00.
Organized by : The Party for Socialism and Liberation - Florida
- The Party for Socialism and Liberation is a working class party of leaders and activists from many different struggles, founded to promote the movement for revolutionary change.
- Join us at Green Bean Coffee House on Tuesday, March 20 for a study group and discussion on gun violence in the United States and how socialists can approach the student-led movement against it.
Those indicating attendance on Wherevent included Juliana Gabriel, Ruth Bee, Chelsea Alberda, Carolina Cositore, Elijah Williams, Billy Cooney, Bryan Ellis, Ximena Pedroza.[2]
Syria demos
According to Liberation correspondent Elijah Hintz on Friday, April 13 2018, activists gathered in front of Sarasota's “Unconditional Surrender” statue, a symbol of the return of armed forces from wars abroad, in an anti-war demonstration organized by the Suncoast branch of the ANSWER Coalition and Party for Socialism and Liberation, to demonstrate their opposition to endless wars in the Middle East and support for the Syrian people in their struggle against imperialism.
The demonstration concluded with a speech delivered by Steven Keshishian, a student-activist with the West Florida chapter of Million Hoodies, a nationwide anti-racism organization. Keshishian spoke about his experiences as an ethnically Armenian, Lebanese-American student: “Growing up, back home, you live this every day. You don’t know when the next bomb is dropping, when the next war is happening.”
Keshishian refuted the chemical weapons accusation against the Syrian government, stating, “There are no chemical weapons in Syria. Assad removed them all in 2014. Trump is using this to start a war to keep himself in office.” He also framed the aggression in the context of imperialism. “The U.S. war on Syria is not about chemical weapons — that is a lie. The U.S. war on Syria is about power and capitalism.” He went on to assert, “[The U.S.] wants to turn every Arab state into a U.S. puppet state. Nations like Libya and Syria who protest get destroyed.”
The protesters could not have known that within an hour after the anti-war demonstration in Sarasota ended, the U.S., U.K., and France illegally bombed Damascus, Syria in a joint assault.
The next morning, Saturday, April 14, another anti-war demonstration took place outside the entrance to MacDill Air Force Base, which houses U.S. Central Command, in which protesters also showed their support for the Syrian people against imperialism. People entering and exiting the military base, most of whom are active duty members of the U.S. military, could not help but witness the demonstration.
Lola Whitworth, a student at New College of Florida, who attended both the Sarasota and Tampa anti-war demonstrations, said she was motivated by the urgency of the situation to take action. “Before the protests I honestly didn’t know that much about the situation in Syria,” she said. After being inspired to use the resources available to her as a college student, “I went home and started educating myself more in depth about the situation [so that] I’d be able to communicate to others why they should stand with Syria.”[3]
May Day 2018
According to Ryan Francis, workers and activists from several Florida cities gathered in Tampa to observe International Workers’ Day 2018, and marched en masse to demand an end to oppressive immigration policies, the degradation of working people’s rights, and police brutality. Workers from a large variety of activist organizations and tendencies united in this march against capitalist exploitation.
The event began with a gathering at Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, where a number of speakers, including representatives from the Party for Socialism and Liberation, rallied the people to stand up against racism, classism, and imperialism. Several activist organizations stood together in solidarity to stand up for the rights of working people, including the Democratic Socialists of America, the Bay Area Dream Defenders, the Sex Worker Solidarity Network, the Industrial Workers of the World, and the Florida Immigrant Coalition.
The march halted briefly in Ybor as activists burned a flag of the United States in protest against American atrocities committed both domestically and internationally. Ruth Beltran of the Florida branch of the PSL spoke during this break in the march, calling for the united workers “to celebrate International Workers Day” and “to demand an end to capitalism, to demand an end to exploitation.”
The march resumed and concluded at Centennial Park, where Beltran rallied the workers in a speech denouncing capitalism: “They say that we live in a democracy, but in a sense, we live in a dictatorship. The people who employ us and pay us our wages, the top one percent, are dictators,” she said, calling for the workers, who vastly outnumber the capitalist elite, to “organize, fight back, and win.”
Anthony Cantu spoke on behalf of the Suncoast branch of ANSWER Coalition: “Today is a celebration of our struggle. Every day we struggle … [but] our struggle isn’t just a national struggle. What we are experiencing on daily basis is an international struggle between the workers of the world and the capitalists.”
In addition, Justin Garcia of the Tampa Democratic Socialists of America spoke against police brutality, the horrific treatment of Puerto Rico by the United States, and “our permanent enemies, the capitalists.” He called on members of the crowd to speak out against capitalism and list the myriad ways in which it has injured them and the global working class.
The march could not have been possible without the energy and passion of host Ashley Green of the Dream Defenders, who introduced speakers, led the workers in mass chants, and motivated the crowd to maintain its devotion to the liberation of working people across the Earth.[4]