New Afrikan Community

The **New Afrikan Community** was originally an occupation protest and self-declared autonomous zone in the neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia. The zone, originally covered a dozen city blocks and a local Park which was established on June 8, 2020, by protesters led by Carmelo Jones. After the Atlanta Police Department and the County Sheriff's Department tear gassed, hosed down and beat the protestors near the cultural building.The zone was maintained through the efforts of various activist organizations, the occupants and Carmelo Jones himself.

On June 7, the Police and Sheriff's Department reported that the crowd witnessed throwing molotov cocktails, smoke canisters as well as possessing protective armor, clubs and shields.

The zone established free water, hand sanitizer, clothes with vegetables and snacks readily available to the community. Community stands offered food and others nesseties to the homeless and children in need. Tents were pitched for most of the occupants however overtime many buildings were cleared out and turned into housing facilities. Two medical clinics were established in the zone to provide basic health care. Overtime it would shift from an organized protest to an autonomous zone acting as a fully self-sufficient community.

After the arrival of Dante Bishop and his group, the community became much more capable, possessing a number of more military style weaponry, the protestors and occupants were trained in military tactics and with the approval of Carmelo Jones, established the Revolutionary Army which was led and commanded by Jones. Eventually the FBI Special Weapons And Tactics infiltrated the community and assassinated Carmelo Jones, the community leader. This would lead to civil unrest of the community, it would be Dante Bishop who would lead the Revolutionary Army in a counter attack and take up the mantle of leadership in honor of his fallen mentor.

## Background

The region is a densely populated residential district on a steep hill just east of Atlanta's downtown area which includes the business district, known for its prominent LGBTQ activism and African-American communities and vibrant diverse culture. The Police Department was deeply unpopular with the community and had been protested against in the past. In the Civil Rights Era, after an unarmed black man was shot by an SPD officer, community leaders organized "freedom patrols" similar to the Black Panthers Party to observe and record them while within the Black community.

Since 2012, the Atlanta Police Department had been under federal investigation after it had been found to use constant excessive force, numerous police shootings, anti-LGTBQ and racist policies.

Atlanta had been the location of other mass protests, such as the 1999 WTO protests and Occupy Seattle. The city is home to several cultural institutions created by occupation protests, including the Northwest African American Museum, the Daybreak Star Cultural Center and El Centro de la Raza.

Protests of the killing of George Floyd and police brutality began in Atlanta on May 29, 2020. Street clashes occurred in greater Seattle for nine days involving protesters, the Atlanta Police Department, County Sheriff's Department and the Georgia National Guard.

## Territory

The zone was initially centered around the Atlanta Cultural building with barriers erected on the surrounding Street for several blocks to stop any incoming vehicles (especvially police cruisers, SWAT vehicles and military trucks) and deter any police officers or sheriff's deputies. The territory encompassed twelve city blocks, including the local Park which was already active with demonstrators. It stretched north to East Denny Way, east to 12th Avenue 13th Avenue, south of East Pike, and west of Broadway. Protesters used blockades and fences to construct barricades at intersections, as the autonomous zone became more and more organized, they scheduled armed patrols by members of the Revolutionary Army. As of June 9, the main entrance to the zone was marked by a barrier reading "You are now leaving the USA, Welcome to the New Afrikan Community". After the inital protests and occupation the Sheriff's Department was rebranded "No Pigs in this Community" (After Carmelo's assassination both the Atlanta Police Department and the County Sheriff's Department were burned down by covert members of the Revolutionary Army).

On June 16, Carmelo Jones negotiated with city officials about a new footprint, the protest organizers alongside activist organizations installed concrete barriers and fences with barbed wire. The revised barriers and spacing provided improved access for deliveries and the design offered space for decoration by artists affiliated with the protests. As of June 17, a large tent encampment was set up on 11th Avenue between Pike and Pine Streets and half of Cal Anderson Park for the incoming refugees seeking to join the community with a massive community garden. The zone's borders became well fortified and resistant.

As of Jun 30 the Revolutionary Army established a training camp where it would train volunteer protestors to become members of the autonomous zone's self defense force which was overseen by Dante Bishop, the tents established as part of a training camp as well as an armory for the zone.

## Culture and Services

### Public Services

Protesters established a "No Cop Co-op" on June 9, offering free water, hand sanitizer, kebabs and snacks donated by the community. Stalls offered vegan curry, and others collected donations for the homeless. Organizers pitched tents next to the former precinct to hold the space Two medical stations were established in the zone to provide basic health care, and the Seattle Department of Transportation provided portable toilets. The city provided waste removal, additional portable toilets and fire and rescue services, and the SPD said that it responded to 911 calls in the zone.[90] The King County public health department provided COVID-19 testing in Cal Anderson Park for a period of time during the protests.

On June 11, *The Atlanta Times* reported that restaurant owners in the area had an uptick in walk-up business and a corresponding reduction in delivery costs. However most news outlets falsely stated that business *crashed*. Some activists lived in tents inside the zone. Outside the zone, urban camping is illegal in Seattle but the law was seldom enforced.

### Community Gardens

Vegetable gardens were created by June 11 in Piedmont Park, where the community activists began to grow a variety of foods from seedlings such as radish, spinach, lettuce, carrots and peas. The gardens were inaugurated with a basil plant introduced by Marcus Henderson, a resident of Atlanta's Downtown district. Activists expanded the gardens, which were "cultivated by and for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People Of Color) and included signs heralding black agriculturalists and commemorating victims of police violence. This expansion product included utilizing broken down school buses and turning into greenhouses to ensure there would be plenty even during the winter.

### Art and Culture

The entrance of the Welcome Plaza has numerous tables converted into a square for teach-ins (where someone directs the surrounding people by microphone to beteer organize them) and to properly keep track of any and all people entering and leaving the zone, as well as their intentions.
An area underneath the picnic pravelian was called the "Decolonization Conversation Café", a discussion area with daily topics. An outdoor cinema with a sound system and projector was set up on June 9 and screened various filsm and documentaries centered around police brutality, mass incareration, social justice and the struggles of BIPOC and the LGTBQ community.

A group called Subject to Change (a multi-cultural Atlanta-based Jazz band) began performing for protesters during the week of June 1 - June 8 while protesters were confronting police at what was known as "the Western barricade" due to it being one block West of the entrance to the East Precinct. During this week, Tyrell Wilson, an african american member of Dante's group debuted as a communist hip-hop artist where he would gain noterity for his lyrics and versality. The stage where these performances were held. In November 2020, Marshall Law Band released an album called "12th & Pine" about their experience as the "House band of the CHOP".

A block-long Black Lives Matter street mural, on East Pine Street between 10th and 11th Avenues, was painted on June 10 and 11. Individual letters of the mural were painted by local artists of color, and supplies were purchased with donations from demonstrators and passersby.

### Memorial Hall

Visitors lit candles and left flowers at three shrines with photographs and notes expressing sentiments related to George Floyd and other victims of police brutality.

Some of the murals/shrines created by the occupants included:

Carmelo Jones, Assassinated by the County Sheriff's Department, FBI Special Tactics and Weapons and Conrad Smith

Micheal Brooks, Killed by a gunshot wound by Malik Hussein

Justin Crowley, Killed by the Georgia National Guard