As Boston goes through the one year anniversary of the tragic marathon bombings, the Urban Shield convention is planned to happen here on the first weekend in May. This is the conference for law enforcement that is being credited with giving Boston police the training needed to lockdown the city in the days following the bombing. In fact, it’s recognized internationally for preparing police to crush protest and providing them with the latest, best weaponry. Daily, we are being bombarded with the legitimacy of hyper surveillance and a militarized police– in a moment where more people are disaffected with the inequality and oppression that pervade this society. It’s a challenge for the left to meet the openness to radical politics in this moment, to connect people more-so rejecting the status quo with politics that immediately reject the racism and attack on civil liberties that come along with the narrative of the need for “safety.”

The anti-racist working group in the branch has been a part of an ad hoc coalition of activists that is organizing a meeting to oppose the Urban Shield convention. In this week’s meeting, the branch committee is proposing we take time to figure out what kind of contribution our branch should make to the organizing.