Within the last few years Newark, New Jersey and nearby communities have been devastated as thousands of homes have been foreclosed and tens of thousands made homeless. An Oct. 24 protest at Bank of America here, sponsored by the People's Organization for Progress, charged Bank of America and other banks are responsible for these calamities.

He was “unarmed, brutally assaulted and murdered, kicked and beaten on the ground while he was handcuffed, tasered, placed in a body bag but not zipped up…”

Irvington, NJ – “Forty acres and a mule!” and “You stole us. You sold us. You owe us,” chanted here, Feb. 23, demanding reparations for African American people. The march was sponsored by the People’s Organization for Progress (POP) and the New Black Panther Party.

Fight Back! News Service is circulating the following analysis of the trial of Saddam Hussein, written by author and anti-war activist David Hungerford. The article is a powerful indictment of U.S. attempts to justify its war on Iraq.

Plainfield, NJ – Four members of People’s Organization for Progress (POP) were arrested here Nov. 17 during a peaceful rally. They were protesting against police brutality and the violence that is permitted to rage in low-income communities.

Plainfield, NJ – The People’s Organization for Progress (POP) called a rally here, Dec. 15 to protest the Nov. 19 arrest of four of its members. The 4 were peacefully rallying against police brutality and violence in the community when they were arrested, photographed and charged with unlawful assembly.

Newark, NJ – The chanting rang out: “Shoot…and shoot! And lock and load and shoot!” at a rally here, April 26, called to protest New York Judge Arthur Cooperman’s exoneration of three police officers for killing Sean Bell. The victim was 23 when he was killed in 2006 in a barrage of 50 shots. He was to be married the next day.

East Orange, NJ – On August 15, seventy-five people protested the brutal treatment of 12 year-old Az-Jhane Hayes by police in East Orange, NJ. The People's Organization for Progress called the protest at the request of Corey Bracey, the girl's father.

New Brunswick, NJ – “Yes to peace! No to war!” rang out in Arabic over the campus of Rutgers University as more than a thousand students walked out of classes on March 27 to protest five years of the occupation of Iraq. The walkout came a week after over 90 SDS chapters and progressive student organizations held demonstrations denouncing five years of the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

The Bush administration has changed its strategy in Iraq. Previously the occupation relied on Kurdish and Shiite militias to keep a grip. Now it has added Sunni militias called ‘Awakening Councils’ (al-Sahwa) and ‘Concerned Local Citizens’ (CLCs) to the mix. It is a fateful step.