Washington, D.C. – On Saturday, November 7, the "Black is Back! Coalition" will hold a "Rally and March to Stop U.S. Colonial Wars inside the U.S. and Abroad", convening in Malcolm X Park and marching to the White House, making the following demands:

* Reparations Now! Pass HR 40!
* Single Payer Health Care/Medicare for All!
* Stop Gentrification and Home Mortgage Foreclosures! Bail-out the victims!
* End Mass Black Incarceration! Count Them Home for Census!
* STOP Police violence, Black Community Containment Policy!
* NO AFRICOM!
* US Out of Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, the Middle East! Hands off Iran!
* Rescind the Patriot Act!
* Free Mumia Abu Jamal, Jamil Al-Amin, all US political prisoners/pows/exiles!

In this age of Obama, the newly formed Coalition aims to bring back the tradition of resistance historically associated with Black communities around the world. As the coalition's Call to Action states, "Many well-meaning people in this country and around the world are afraid to take more progressive political positions for fear of being seen as anti-Black. We need to remind people of the absolute lack of 'progress' since new faces assumed leadership of this nation. Many of the leading concerns of Black people, Latinos and working people in this country remain insufficiently addressed. Black and Brown people continue to suffer the brunt of un/under-employment and predatory loan scandal crises. Military spending under Obama has increased as have the warfare this nation continues to export to Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Venezuela and Colombia. Mass incarceration, police brutality and political imprisonment remain rampant and the most negatively impacted by the levee breech in post-Katrina New Orleans continue to be without homes, jobs or health care assistance. And to that point, these are precisely the communities who nationally will be the most negatively affected by yet another myth of health care 'reform.'"

"The political paralysis now being experienced by anti-war and other progressive movements stems from the lack of a Black-led, anti-imperial movement that would off-set the traps set by Obama’s so-called “post-racial” politics that facilitate the same oppressive militarist agenda well known during the Bush regime. Black is Back is not simply a slogan for the African Diaspora but for all progressive struggles which have historically benefited from Black-led movements. On November 7, 2009 beginning promptly at 10am, all are welcome to participate in the rally and march which will include many speakers and performers of the coalition. They will stand and demonstrate in political solidarity, announcing the return to leadership of the world's most reliably anti-war and pro-social justice communities. As the coalition says, "To free our people’s hopes and dreams from oblivion, we need a coalition dedicated to the proposition that Black is Back!”

The November 7th March and Rally has been endorsed by:

* The Washington Peace Center
* International A.N.S.W.E.R.
* The African People's Solidarity Committee
* The National Assembly to End the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and Occupations
* The Qawem Coalition and the New England Committee to Defend Palestine

The Coalition's leaders and founding members span the spectrum of black political voices, from civil rights veterans to nationalists, socialists, civil libertarians, community activists, political prisoners, journalists, hip hop artists, and radio personalities, including:

* Charles Barron, New York City Council Member
* Glen Ford, Black Agenda Report Senior Editor
* Cynthia McKinney, Green Party Presidential Candidate
* Rosa Clemente, Green Party Vice-presidential Candidate and Hip Hop Activist
* Omali Yeshitela, African Socialist International Chairman
* Efia Nwangaza, Malcolm X Center for Self Determination
* Yaa Asantewa Ohema (Dorothy Lewis), of the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America
* Jared Ball, Vox Union Media
* Curtis Gatewood, North Carolina NAACP
* Nellie Bailey, Harlem Tenants Council
* Abdul Alim Musa, Masjid Al-Islam
* Kali Akuno, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement
* M1 and Stic Man of Dead Prez
* Maurice Carney, Friends of the Congo
* Melissa Lyde, Hampton University Black Campus Progressives
* Gus "sity" Greer, Morgan State University
* Hodari Abdul-Ali, Muslim Alliance in North America (MANA)
* India Thomas, Hampton Univeristy
* Naji Mujahid, Black August Planning Organization (BAPO).
* Nkemka Anyiwo, University of Maryland
* Norman Richmond, Toronto broadcaster
* Omowale Kefing, Burning Spear Newspaper Editor
* Pam Africa, Friends and Family of Mumia Abu Jamal
* Priest Hemnetcher, Howard University
* Raheal Rayza, University of Toronto
* Remy Johnson, University of Syracuse
* Dr. Aisha Fields, All African People's Development and Empowerment Project

Speakers at the Rally include many of the Coalition's founders, plus:

* Cindy Sheehan, anti-war activist and mother of Casey Sheehan
* Michael McPherson, Executive Director of Veterans for Peace

with cultural performances by:

* Precise Science
* Africa's Trigger
* Nkemka Anyiwo

For more information, visit http://www.blackisbackcoalition.org.