“Black is Back!” in Washington DC - CPI Joins 17th Annual Uhuru Rally

On Nov. 1, the Uhuru Movement led the 17th annual “Black Is Back!” March on the White House. These annual demonstrations began when Barack Obama was moving into the presidency and have continued since. They are an initiative of the African People’s Socialist Party and its chairman, Omali Yeshitela, and have become very important in light of the FBI targeting the Uhuru Movement.

In August of 2022, the Uhuru Movement’s headquarters in Missouri and Florida were raided by the FBI. They were subsequently charged with being unregistered agents of Russia, with their political statements about the Ukraine war presented as criminal behavior. In 2024, the case went to trial in the federal court in Tampa, Florida. The three defendants — Penny Hess, Jesse Nevel, and Omali Yeshitela — were found “not guilty” on the charge of acting as foreign agents, but convicted on a lesser conspiracy charge. They were sentenced to probation, with no jail time or fines.

The Center for Political Innovation immediately offered unconditional support to the Uhuru defendants, giving them a hero’s welcome at the August 6, 2022 conference in Chicago, organizing a United Nations press conference to highlight their case, and raising their case in a Q&A session with Russian President Vladimir Putin. CPI activist John McCarthy was awarded by the Uhuru Movement in 2025 for his steadfast support and activism, and CPI honored Uhuru at its 2025 Great Unity Convention.

Caleb Maupin and Noah Schenk represented the Center for Political Innovation at the 2025 Black Is Back rally. Caleb gave two brief speeches — one at the press conference the day prior to the rally, and another at the closing rally in Lafayette Park, facing the White House. Both are transcribed below.

Remarks to October 31st Press Conference at Sankofa Books & Cafe:

On behalf of the Center for Political Innovation, I want to express our deep admiration for the African People's Socialist Party, the Uhuru Movement, and the Uhuru 3 — Penny Hess, Jesse Neville, and of course, the great Chairman Omali Yeshitela — for how they fought for our right to oppose war and advocate peace in federal court.

Many forces expected that they would back down, but they did not back down. That’s right.

I’m very proud that our organization was able to organize a United Nations press conference about the case. I’m also very proud that I was able to raise the case in Russia and speak directly with the Russian president about it. I also had the opportunity to attend the trial in Tampa federal court. I was there for the opening of the trial and for the sentencing.

I want to draw everyone’s attention to one of the most important things that was revealed during the court process: the FBI lied.

The FBI lied. If they had been honest about the evidence they had, the case never would have gone to trial to begin with. They lied. And that’s very important, because we know that if Kamala Harris had been elected president of the United States, they were going to continue with their lies.

Scott Ritter, the great anti-war activist and former UN weapons inspector, had his home raided under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, and he was next in line to be prosecuted. They were aiming for all of the most prominent voices advocating peace with Russia.

The FBI lied in order to bring the indictment. The Uhuru Movement fought them in court, caught them on the stand lying, and as a result, they were acquitted of the main charge of acting as foreign agents. But the jury — most likely fearing retaliation from the FBI — did convict them of a minor charge of conspiracy.

That charge should be thrown out.
It should be thrown out. The entire case should be thrown out.

And the fight is not over. This case needs to be completely overturned. It is not a crime to advocate peace with Russia.

Russia is the country that, at this point, is doing the most and standing in solidarity with the African continent — more than any other country around the world. Right now, you have the Union of Sahel States — Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso.

In Burkina Faso, you have the great leader Captain Ibrahim Traoré, the hope of the African continent, who is building, constructing, and leading his people to march forward out of the domination of colonialism. To advocate peace with Russia and better relations with Russia should not be a crime.

When Pam Bondi became Attorney General of the United States, she said that the days of using the Foreign Agents Registration Act to go after advocates of peace were over — that the law would only be used in clear cases of espionage against non-citizens.

But now, just recently, when Tulsi Gabbard — the new Director of National Intelligence — moved to take over the counterintelligence wing of the FBI and move them in a direction of not prosecuting American citizens, the FBI complained about it and wrote letters to Congress. They want to continue going after American citizens. They want to continue going after voices for peace.

And they must be opposed.

Right now, it’s very clear that the current administration doesn’t know which direction it’s going. They’re going one way, then another — threatening war against Venezuela, murdering people in the Caribbean, completely unacceptable. But at the same time, they’re talking about possibly building a bridge over the Bering Sea, connecting Alaska to Russia.

They’re very confused. There are different forces within the administration who don’t quite know what they’re doing.

I think the Center for Political Innovation, as we stand up for civil liberties and echo the call from the African People’s Socialist Party and others to overturn the Foreign Agents Registration Act — a completely unconstitutional piece of legislation — we must make clear that there is a threat to all who advocate peace. That law needs to be completely gotten rid of.

We need to make clear that the government of the United States is working for bankers and billionaires who are not acting in the interest of the American people, but rather trying to prop up a global international system.

All who raise their voices against that system — people on the African continent, people here, whether in St. Petersburg, Florida, or St. Louis, Missouri, or anywhere — who raise their voices against that system, people around the world, need to be supported.

The future of the United States is not with this international system — this global system that defends itself with endless war. The future of the United States is to advocate for a government of action that fights for working families.

We applaud the Uhuru Movement for their heroic work, their aid, their services, their anti-imperialist efforts in the Black community. We are proud to participate in the upcoming rally.

Thank you very much.

Remarks at Black is Back Rally, November 1st, at Lafayette Park near the White House:

I really want to say that it’s an absolute honor to be here at this 17th Annual Black Is Back March, because consistency is important.

The reason that Chairman Omali and the African People’s Socialist Party were targeted was because of their bravery and their willingness to stand alone.

Seventeen years ago, they told us on American television:
“Racism is over. Barack Hussein Obama is now the President of the United States.”

And it was not a popular thing to say that this was a hoax and a lie — but Chairman Omali and the Uhuru Movement did it. They did it year after year after year. They were brave enough to stand against the crowd — and now everyone knows they were right.

Barack Obama killed Gaddafi and destroyed the most prosperous country on the African continent. He destroyed Libya. Barack Obama ground this country into poverty, and conditions haven’t changed.

It wasn’t a popular thing to say that back in 2008, but Chairman Omali did it. And they came after him — just like they’ve gone after so many voices for peace, so many people brave enough to stand up.

We take our hats off to Chairman Omali.

Every effort was made to get the Uhuru 3 to plead in federal court, but they refused to do it. They went to federal court and fought for our right to advocate peace.

They challenged the FBI in court — and they won.

Before the entire world, they showed that the FBI lied to get that indictment. And now we know this whole Russiagate hysteria was a hoax. Russia is not our enemy.

Our enemy is the big bankers and international monopolies that are grinding this country into a low-wage police state and marching us toward World War III.

There’s a big section of the world that has broken free from their dominance — the BRICS world: Russia, India, China, South Africa. Whole sections of the planet are rising up, and the only future that America is going to have is going to be with that new economy.

We need to oppose Wall Street.
We need to oppose their wars.
We need friendship between the peoples of China and America, friendship between the peoples of Russia and America, friendship with Venezuela.

The only future is peace and economic development.

We need a government of action that will fight for working families.

Thank you, everyone.