December 12th Movement
456 Nostrand Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11216
Phone (718) 398-1766
D12M.com
PRESS ADVISORY
For Immediate Release
Contact: Amadi Ajamu, Media Rep
(718) 398-1766
50th Anniversary of Black Solidarity Day
Why Then? Why Now?
Monday, November 4, 2019 will mark the 50th Anniversary of Black Solidarity Day. Our struggle for self-determination continues now. Political activist and organizers are reactivating the spirit of Black Solidarity Day with a call for Black consciousness and unity that’s spreading around the country.
Fifty years ago, on November 3, 1969, “A small group of Blacks, acutely aware of what was seemingly the trend of white America to obliterate Black people, decided to attempt to stem the tide. Blacks, they argued, for generations have been struggling for survival primarily on an individual basis, be it as a person or as a group,” Dr. Carlos Russell, Founder of Black Solidarity Day, said in a speech in 1971.
“Why not, the group decided, select a day arbitrarily and begin to see if it were possible to move Black people towards the recognition that the enemy was one and that our survival, as a people, depended on operational unity,” Dr. Russell explained.
The first Black Solidarity Day, was a nation-wide action by masses of Black people. The demand was for a day of absence. “No Work! No School! No Shopping!” We gathered together in our communities and held political, educational, and cultural forums concerning our collective struggle.
Celebrate the 50th Anniversary November 4, 2019
No Work! No School! No Shopping!