Charles Barron supporters rally

Charles Barron, center, with supporters, June 8. WW photo: Brenda Ryan

A special event — “Activists want Charles Barron in Congress” — was held at the Solidarity Center in New York City June 8. Barron, a city councilperson, is running for U.S. Representative for Brooklyn’s 8th Congressional District. The primary election takes place June 26.

Barron is a former Black Panther who continues to connect with many sectors of the progressive movement. He has marched alongside oppressed activists and Occupy Wall Street in the fight against poverty, budget cuts, foreclosures, racial profiling like stop-and-frisk, police brutality, the prison-industrial complex, and all forms of injustice at home and abroad.

Barron recently won the endorsement of District Council 37, the city’s largest public employee union, representing 125,000 members and 50,000 retirees, and the well-respected Black-oriented Amsterdam News.

International Action Center Co-Coordinator Larry Holmes, who emceed the special event, stated that if Barron wins the election, the movement will have an important radical and ally in Congress. Out of the 535 seats in both the House and Senate, only 42 are held by people of color, according to Barron.

To learn more about and to help with Barron’s campaign, go to charlesbarronforcongress.com.

— Monica Moorehead