Chicago, IL – “Stop the subpoenas, stop the raids! We are here, we aren’t afraid!” On a chilly morning, Jan. 14, over 50 people gathered at the Federal Building in downtown Chicago to deliver a mock subpoena to U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald is in charge of the wave of FBI raids, harassment and subpoenas that began last September across the country. Since then, 23 people have been summoned to appear before a federal grand jury in Chicago and all have refused to participate in what is being called a political witch hunt.

Students, Faculty, and Workers Take to the Streets on National Day of Action

Thousands of students, faculty, and campus workers on over 40 different campuses took action today, Oct. 7, to fight back against the cuts to education. Across the country, people are saying ‘no!’ to the cuts to education, to furloughs and layoffs, to tuition and fee hikes, to cuts to programs and services, and to privatization schemes. The protests are part of a unified day of action in defense of public education.

Chicago, IL – 500 people picketed and chanted outside Chicago FBI Headquarters to protest the FBI raids, harassment, and intimidation of anti-war and solidarity activists, and to show support for the three Chicago activists targeted by the September 24 raids. Among the crowd were trade unionists, students, anti-war and Palestine solidarity activists, all outraged by the FBI raids. Stephanie Weiner and Joe Iosbaker, whose home was raided last Friday morning and are two of the twelve people handed subpoenas, were at the protest, joined by their son Tre.

Chicago, IL – More than 3000 people gathered here, June 1, to picket the Israeli consulate in Chicago and to express outrage over the Israeli attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla.

Tuscaloosa, AL – Alabama bus drivers are on strike. At the University of Alabama, bus drivers, students and supporters picketed First Transit headquarters the morning of March 1. The Crimson Ride Shuttle Drivers, part of ATU Local 1208, decided to strike after First Transit offered the workers crumbs from the table. At last week’s negotiation, First Transit refused to offer a living wage, job security and decent health care benefits. The Alabama bus drivers, who make $9.50 an hour, decided they had had enough.

Students from across the country participated in a National Day of Action for Education Rights, Nov. 10, demanding an end to the budget cuts, layoffs and tuition hikes hitting schools since the economic crisis began.

In the midst of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, leaders and organizers across the country are gearing up for the “They Say Cut Back, We Say Fight Back!” national conference planned for Oct. 3 in Chicago, Illinois. From California to New York, people who for the past years have been fighting back against cuts to programs that serve our communities, against home foreclosures and evictions and against plant closures will come together to share experiences and make plans to work together in the coming years.

Birmingham, AL – On July 26, Drummond Co., a Birmingham-based coal company, was found ‘not liable’ in the deaths Colombian trade unionists Valmore Locarno and Victor Orcasita – the head of a union local and his deputy – as well as the next union president Gustavo Soler. The three leaders of the Sintamienergética miners union worked at the Drummond’s La Loma mine in northern Colombia. They were tortured and murdered in 2001.

New Orleans, LA – Instead of the usual Independence Day celebrations, over 350 New Orleans residents and activists gathered at the St. Bernard Housing Project in the Ninth Ward district to demand the right to return to their homes and to voice their opposition to the Iraq war.

Selma, AL – Over 1000 people gathered here, Sunday, March 4, to commemorate the 42nd anniversary of the 1965 civil rights demonstration known as Bloody Sunday – during which over 600 men, women and children crossed over the Edmund Pettus bridge and were attacked with tear gas, clubs and violence from police. The event gained notoriety around the world, making obvious the hypocrisy of the U.S. government and pushing forward the Voting Rights Act that was passed five months later.