All photos: Candace Yanez. Above: ‘Scaredy Cops’ couldn’t stand up to multinational unity and run off
At the 150th Anniversary of Juneteenth at Tom Bell Park, a much needed celebration recognizing the delayed liberation of slaves in Texas, Albuquerque police seized the opportunity to give out parking tickets to the participants parked near the event.
Members of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, who were invited by organizers to have an outreach table, became aware of the police going down the sidewalk giving every car a ticket. The PSL quickly intervened, running to the stage to make an emergency announcement that the police were ticketing the participants at this historic event.
The police heard the announcement and saw the intervention of an organized force at the event promoting the values of liberation and unity–and the police quickly regrouped and drove off.
Afraid of multinational unity in the face of police repression these cops became known as the “Scaredy Cops!”
Juneteenth celebrations have historically been harassed and prevented by both companies and the state. Institutional segregation prevented activities on public lands, requiring pooling money within the African American community to buy private lands with names like Emancipation Park.
Today many companies refuse to acknowledge Juneteenth, preventing people from day-time celebrations and celebrations in major cities that are under police occupation. However, people find ways to circumvent the cops for this important celebration—sometimes victoriously even chasing them away!
