Resistance Archives - We Are ILI

A sign in Flushing shows a black-and-white photo of Yang Song, who has a slight smile in the photo. The sign has the name "Yang Song" and the text "Rest In Power" underneath. Below Yang Song's face, the sign says, "Yang Song was a 38-year-old Chinese immigrant and sex worker killed by the NYPD during a raid in Flushing last November. No NYPD officers have been disciplined or charged with any crime." The sign also says #DecrimNow #RightsNotRaids and #JusticeForYangSong

Death of Flushing Massage Worker Yang Song & Red Canary Song Organizing

38-year old Yang Song, a Flushing massage worker, fell four stories to her death during a New York Police Department raid on November 25, 2017. Song’s family revealed that she described being sexually assaulted by a man who flashed a badge and gun and claimed to be an undercover cop and that the police urged her to become a confidential informant and turn in clients and friends. She had been arrested months before on prostitution charges — her case referred to the Queens Human Trafficking Intervention Courts (HTICs) and a court date set. After her death, community organizers rallied outside..Read More

Ching-In Chen November 25, 2017

Origin Story of the Inka

The chronicler Inka Garcilaso de la Vega recorded the origin story of the Inka and the founding of Cusco, the capital of their great empire, in his “Royal Commentaries of Peru,” published in 1609. According to the Inka origin story, Inti, the sun, sent two of his children—Manco Capac and Mama SmithsonianNMAI Origin Story of the Inka

Lydia Four Horns January 1, 1000

An image of Ted Koppel in a suit and tie on a TV screen, delivering a news report on Nightline. There is an inset image that says "Day 100" and "Iran."

Iranian Hostage Crisis

In 1979 dozens of American diplomats were taken hostage by militant Iranian students in the U.S. Embassy in Tehran soon after the Islamic revolution in Iran. They are held captive for 444 days and over this time the event receives the most extensive coverage on US television of almost any other event in U.S. history until then, including daily coverage on Nightline. This dramatically shapes the experiences of Middle Eastern people in the U.S. and especially Iranian Americans.

Sahar Driver November 4, 1979

Siembra

Siembra is the second studio album by Rubén Blades and Willie Colón, released by Fania Records in September 7, 1978. It is considered the best selling salsa album in the history of salsa My father asks me, why are you so political? But he forgets he introduced me to this music. This is an album I grew up listening to prior to coming to the United States. It is full of honesty and resistance. This album helped me understand the importance of making my music political.

Sonia Erika September 7, 1978

Kiyoshi Kuromiya

Kiyoshi Kuromiya was a leading activist and organizer around the issues of justice for people living with HIV/AIDS, who lived in Philadelphia, PA for most of his life. His work, while focused, was intersectional and cross-issue, as he worked to make survival easier for people with HIV/AIDS. It wasn’t until the late 2010s, almost 20 years after his death, that he began to recieve more mainstream recognition for his work. Below is a message, from the ACT UP NY archives, from the time of his passing. Even this brief memorialization from his comrades misses many of his contributions to the..Read More

Daniel Park May 10, 2022

McGirt v. Oklahoma overturned

In 2020 the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the conviction of child rapist Jimcy McGirt on the grounds that the Creek Nation’s reservation was never disestablished for criminal jurisdiction. State courts no longer have the authority to prosecute crimes committed by or against Oklahomans who are also tribal members. Hundreds of criminal cases are now being dismissed because the state does not have the ability to try and convict criminals on historic tribal lands.

Loren Waters July 9, 2020

An image of Kim Teehee speaking in front of a microphone.

Chief Hoskin announces the appointment of a Cherokee Nation delegate to Congress

Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. announced that the tribe is taking a historic initial step to enact the Cherokee Nation’s treaty right to send a delegate to the U.S. Congress. The Cherokee Nation delegate is referenced in both the Treaty of Hopewell from 1785 and the Treaty of New Echota from 1835 between the Cherokee Nation and the federal government. The Treaty of 1866 also reaffirms all previous treaties between the Cherokee Nation and the United States. For nearly two centuries, Congress has failed to honor this promise. Yet the obligation to seat a Cherokee Nation delegate remains..Read More

Loren Waters August 1, 2019

A man sits with his arm around a women, and there are two children sitting next to her. They are on long red seat in what looks like a Ferris wheel car. They look happy together.

“I Like it Like That”

“I Like It Like That” is a 1994 American comedy-drama film about the trials and tribulations of a young Puerto Rican man and a half Jamaican half Puerto Rican woman living in a poverty-stricken New York City neighborhood in the South Bronx. The film stars Lauren Velez, Jon Seda, Lisa Vidal, Griffin Dunne, Jesse Borrego and Rita Moreno, and was written and directed by Darnell Martin. This film was groundbreaking for a few reasons: 1) It was the first major motion picture to give an accurate, authentic and nuanced depiction of a Puerto Rican diasporic family trying to make it..Read More

Samantha Galarza October 14, 1994

A black and white photograph showing four men sitting at a table in front of microphones, with three men standing behind them.

Rainbow Coalition

“ The First Rainbow Coalition begins in 1969, when the Chicago Black Panther Party, notably led by Fred Hampton, forms alliances across lines of race and ethnicity with other community-based movements in the city, including the Latino group the Young Lords Organization and the working-class young southern whites of the Young Patriots.” More info: https://www.zinnedproject.org/materials/the-first-rainbow-coalition/ https://southsideweekly.com/fifty-years-fred-hampton-rainbow-coalition-young-lords-black-panthers/

Sarah Sao Mai Habib March 1, 1969

A black and white photo of Thich Nhat Hahn & Dr. Martin Luther King. They both look serious in front of microphones.

Solidarity in Service of Global “Beloved Community”; The Friendship of Thich Nhat Hahn & Dr. Martin Luther King

“ In January 1967, six months after they first met, Dr. King nominated Thầy for the Nobel Peace Prize, saying, “his ideas for peace, if applied, would build a monument to ecumenism, to world brotherhood, to humanity.”A few months later, on April 4th, 1967, Dr. King quoted Thầy’s book Lotus in a Sea of Fire in his landmark “Beyond Vietnam” speech at the Riverside Church in New York. It was the first time he unequivocally denounced the war and finally united the peace and civil rights movements. Dr. King shared Thầy’s powerful message that “Men are not our enemy. Our..Read More

Sarah Sao Mai Habib January 1, 1967

Occurance Type: Resistance