Michele Raynor Goolsby
Template:TOCnestleft Michele Raynor Goolsby
HB1 rally
According to Natalie Kazim FightBack News March 7, 2021 On March 2, the first day of legislative session, organizers from across the state of Florida gathered in front of the Old Historic Capitol Building to highlight the statewide fight against Governor Ron DeSantis’ anti-protest legislation, House Bill 1 and Senate Bill 484 (HB1/SB484).
“With people power, we can always win,” said Angie Nixon, longtime community organizer and newly elected representative of the 14th District. “This bill is a direct response to the progress we made this summer,” asserted Christina Kittle of Jacksonville Community Action Committee.
Tallahassee Community Action Committee member Daisy Sim said that HB1/SB484 would make the already difficult job of organizing no-arrest protests nearly impossible.
Representative Michele Raynor Goolsby spoke to the broad and dangerous scope of the bill: “This is an anti-Black bill, this is an anti-brown bill, this is an anti-woman bill... Anti- any American who finds their rights to be not human rights but privileges to be voted on. And this brings not only marginalized folks’ rights into question. This bill threatens our First Amendment right as Americans, and anyone has the right to resist that.” Later on Raynor-Goolsby reflected on the diversity of opposition to the legislation, “We could see it in the crowd. Folks of many races, ethnicities, sexualities and genders were out protesting with us. We all have to come together to fight for our rights. Fight for everyone or fight for no one.”
Michael Sampson, of Jacksonville Community Action Committee, told the crowd that as long as HB1 was being voted on, people would still continue to fight against it, and that if it passed in the House, people would continue to fight it in the Senate.[1]
Protest against HB1
On March 2 2021, the first day of Florida legislative session, over 30 cars from Jacksonville joined with hundreds of protesters from around the state to rally against House Bill 1/Senate Bill 484, the repressive, anti-speech and racist legislation proposed by Governor Ron DeSantis and the right-wing Florida legislature.
Activists and groups under the banner of the “Florida Alliance” from the Jacksonville Community Action Committee, Tallahassee Community Action Committee, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, the Sound Miami, Black Lives Matter Alliance of Broward County, Pensacola Community Action Committee, Tampa Bay Community Action Committee, Leon County Democrats, Answer Coalition Suncoast, as well as representatives from Our Revolution, the Emergency Campaign for Free Speech and Party for Socialism and Liberation - Tampa Bay all spoke to the crowd about the need for this bill to be defeated.
The crowd was also joined by Black State Representatives Michele Raynor Goolsby from the St. Pete area, Angie Nixon from Jacksonville and Travais McCurdy from Orlando, all who spoke in opposition to HB1, praising protesters for coming out. All those state representatives were elected last fall, after the George Floyd rebellion.
“You are all doing the work,” said Representative Michele Raynor Goolsby.
Protesters chanted, “Kill the bill,” and “DeSantis, resign, resign! Protesting is not a crime.”
“We must defeat this bill by any means necessary,” said Monique Sampson, who spoke on behalf of FRSO. “This bill seeks to criminalize our movement and they’re introducing it because they fear the power we have. We must see it defeated.”[2]