“When I liberate myself, I liberate others. If you don’t speak out ain’t nobody going to speak out for you.” Fannie Lou Hamer.
Today, a June 23, 2020, Mikisa Thompson was found not guilty by the Wake county courts of North Carolina. Her charge was a “violation of a noise ordinance.”
On May 16, 2019, weeks of white aggression came to a head when the home of Mikisa, founding member of RIOT, was raided by Garner, North Carolina police.
The raid was the culmination of weeks of racist aggression toward Mikisa’s family by her white neighbor, Don Barnett. Barnett had shown his white aggression toward the Thompson family in other ways over the years but this particular incident began on April 22, 2019 when Barnett made several calls to 911 when Mikisa Thompson listened to Malcolm X and other Black revolutionaries that day as she studied in her yard. In one call, Barnett can be heard describing Malcolm X speeches as “loud islamic, muslim preachings.”
The beef was always a question of racial control. Barnett is just one of the millions of self-deputized settlers in this country who work hand in hand with the police to exert control over Black people. Over the past few years police have been called on Black people for such mundane things like sitting in Starbucks, barbequing in a park, and falling asleep in a dorm common area, or complaining about poor customer service.
It is evident that many whites do not recognize Black people as human beings but more as something between a pet and a breathing object. In their minds, Black people are supposed to stay in line- follow the rules passed down quietly through every dominant institution in our society – or in other words, listen to the settler in their heads. Step out of line, and face police or vigilante violence.
For the past three years RIOT and the Thompson family have been subjected to repeated surveillance by the state. Cointelpro and terrorism is the lifeblood of the state as seen here in some of the instances of harassment of the Thompson family. The terror tactics are used so that the Thompson family are hyper aware that they live in a war zone. Through their actions, white ‘neighbors’ and the entire police force of Garner, NC have proven themselves proponents and enforcers of white domination.
When asked, Mikisa Thompson had this to say, “My choice was not to attend court at all today no matter the verdict. My spirit did not lead me to that building. Your courts can never give me justice nor deny me justice. I am not your Nigger. I have been guilty of being a free black woman.” Mikisa also thanks her Attorney T. Greg Doucette
The fight for liberation is sometimes a lonely one. Lonely because of the issues that arise once you are placed in a position of resistance. As Black revolutionaries we have presented with the task of shining light on injustice and working to eradicate it. To do this, we need your support.
RIOT and the Thompson family are in need of a civil rights attorney and jail and court support in preparation for future struggles as well as supporting the ongoing Feed The People Initiative.
