December 9, 2009

Veteran Community Activists Sharon Black, Steven Ceci Arrested Dec. 9

Activist Community Urged to Demand Their Release at Emergency Rally, Dec. 9, 7 p.m., Solidarity Center, 2011 N. Charles St. (lower level) in Baltimore

Sharon Black and Steven Ceci were dragged from their home by Baltimore police the morning of Dec. 9 and are being held in Baltimore’s Central Booking and Intake Center. As of this afternoon, it is not known what they are being charged with or when they will be released.

Black and Ceci, long-time leaders in the anti-racist, and poor people’s rights struggle, had been under police surveillance for their political activist

On Nov. 14, while both Black and Ceci were attending a workers’ rights conference in NYC, Baltimore Police broke down the door of Black and Ceci's Baltimore home purportedly based on mysterious and false reports of drugs being sold from their residence. A roommate, Patrick Allen--who was present at the time of the police break-in -- was arrested and the home was senselessly damaged.

Black and Ceci were planning to hold a public event tonight as a political response to the police attack on their home in mid-November.

That event - scheduled for Dec. 9 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Solidarity Center, 2011 N. Charles St. Lower Level - will now be an emergency rally to free Black and Ceci. Baltimore's progressive community is urged to attend tonight.

Black and Ceci believe that this is not just an attack on them, but an attack on all activists and organizations that are fighting for a society based on social and economic justice and peace.

A year ago, the Baltimore ACLU revealed that the Baltimore All-Peoples Congress, the organization that Black has led for more than a quarter of a century, was named as one of four political groups in Baltimore that the Maryland State Police had been spying on.