College Station, TX – On September 16, Students for a Democratic Society at Texas A&M University held a protest against the continued presence of a Confederate statue on their campus, racial profiling in the surrounding community, and how TAMU continually fails to meet the needs of Black students on campus.
Tallahassee, FL – On September 5, the Tallahassee Community Action Committee (TCAC) held an event in remembrance and solidarity for the #Tally19, a group of Black Lives Matter activists arrested for protesting in favor of the indictment of the officers responsible for the deaths of Tony Mcdade, Wilbon Woodard and Mychael Johnson. These three men were murdered by Tallahassee’s police department and none of the police responsible have faced any real punishment for their crimes.
Minneapolis, MN – On Tuesday evening, September 14, around 100 union members who are part of AFSCME at Hennepin County in Minnesota rallied in front of the Hennepin County Government Center calling for real raises in this year’s contract negotiations.
¡Lucha y Resiste! entrevista al organizador del Centro CSO y activista chicano de derechos humanos Carlos Montes y Marisol Márquez, miembra chicana de la Organización Socialista Camino a Libertad sobre el próximo 51 aniversario de la Moratoria Chicana.
Austin, TX – On the evening of September 9, a small group of students rallied in front of the University of Texas at Austin’s Littlefield Fountain to protest against police crimes and racism. Austin Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) called the rally as part of the national SDS day of action to stop police crimes.
Milwaukee, WI – A group of anti-war students and community members gathered in downtown Milwaukee in the early afternoon of September 11 to protest continued U.S. involvement in Afghanistan. Speakers acknowledged the significance of the withdrawal of U.S. troops, but pointed to history and actions taken since the evacuation of the U.S. embassy as a sign of things to come.
Denver, CO – About 50 students and campus community members gathered at Tivoli Commons for the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) National Day of Action: “Cops Off Campus, Black Lives Matter!” Demands included the disarmament and defunding of Auraria Campus Police Department (ACPD) and more information regarding their participation in the Federal 1033 Program. Members of SDS and Freedom Road Socialist Organization gave speeches about strategies for community control of police and recounted stories of police violence, all while leading chants of “Down with mass incarceration, up, up with education!” and “Black lives matter!”
Tampa, FL – On September 5, about 25 protesters from Tampa Bay Community Action Committee (TBCAC), community members and other activists rallied to demand an extension to the eviction moratorium that was abruptly ended by the United States Supreme Court. In Tampa alone, 5000 units are due to be evicted in the near future. The protesters also demanded the cancelation of late rent payments over the course of the pandemic and for the city to invest in the community, not the police.
New Orleans, LA – After Hurricane Ida made landfall in south Louisiana, around 1 million people lost electricity and suffered sweltering heat for days. Even a full week after the storm, many are relying on community members and limited government aid to get by without power. Unsurprisingly, many started to look towards the private utility monopoly, Entergy.
Arlington, TX – On September 1, the Progressive Student Union rallied 50 people to protest the recent attacks launched by Governor Greg Abbott and the GOP against women’s rights, and democracy. The most egregious of these attacks came in the form of an anti-abortion bill that sought to restrict the access to abortion in Texas to only the first six weeks of pregnancy, and made it a liable offense to offer aid in a woman getting an abortion in any way if it was beyond the first six weeks.
Austin, TX – Around 100 people rallied at the Texas State Capitol on September 1 to protest against the statewide abortion ban that went into effect that same day. Texas abortion clinics have been forced to stop taking appointments in order to avoid what could be thousands of lawsuits against them. The new law especially affects low-income and working-class women who don’t have the resources to take time off work, since the ban forces women in Texas to drive an average of 248 miles one way to access an abortion clinic out of state.
Minneapolis, MN – On Thursday, August 26, window cleaners in Minneapolis reached a tentative agreement with their employers and ended their open-ended strike after ten days on the picket lines.
Milwaukee, WI – On the evening of August 26, a 33-year-old man was observed driving erratically going northbound near the Sherman Park neighborhood on Milwaukee’s Northside. Milwaukee police responded to calls and immediately engaged in a high-speed chase. The car pursuit ended when the man crashed his vehicle and attempted to escape on foot. Officers continued after him, also on foot.
Milwaukee, WI – On the evening of August 26, a 33-year-old man was observed driving erratically going northbound near the Sherman Park neighborhood on Milwaukee’s Northside. Milwaukee police responded to calls and immediately engaged in a high-speed chase. The car pursuit ended when the man crashed his vehicle and attempted to escape on foot. Officers continued after him, also on foot.
Minneapolis, MN – In Minneapolis and surrounding Hennepin County, AFSCME members are demanding that the county commissioners use some of the $246 million they county received from the American Rescue Plan to go to hazard pay for frontline workers as well as compensation in the form of stipends for remote employees for things like internet and cooling bills, to cover the increases in those utilities caused by working from home. Last year Hennepin County received $224 million in relief funds while offering nothing in the form of hazard pay at the same time as grocery store workers saw a $3 per hour increase.
Minneapolis, MN – Some 80 people gathered at North Regional Library on August 22 to hear Frank Chapman speak about his book Marxist-Leninist Perspectives on Black Liberation and Socialism. This event was the final meeting of a book club that had been meeting over the summer to read the book together with Freedom Road Socialist Organization. After outlining the book for attendees, Chapman took questions and signed books. Like his book, the discussion focused on both the fundamental revolutionary content of Marxism and the significance of what Chapman calls the George Floyd Rebellion. As he writes in his book, “We think it is deeper, we think it is the youth sounding the death knell of the racist police repression that stands like a blockade in the road to Black liberation. It is a call for mass resistance to the police terror that has stalked our communities and denied us the organizing space we need as a nationally oppressed people to wage the struggle for Black Liberation, to finish the unfinished revolution.”
Kenosha WI – On August 21, members of the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression joined in a Kenosha rally and march marking the first anniversary of the attempted murder of an African American man, Jacob Blake. Blake, a Kenosha resident, had stopped to break up a fight one year before. When police arrived at the scene to respond to a resident’s call, they immediately assumed Blake was at fault, and seven shots were fired into his back. Blake was paralyzed from the waist down due to this attack. The incident led to what is now known as the Kenosha Uprising.
Minneapolis, MN – On August 20, the strike continued for around 50 SEIU Local 26 union members who clean the majority of the tall buildings in downtown Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Through their first five days of the strike the window cleaners picketed in locations all around downtown Minneapolis. They also held multiple larger events for members of other unions and the community to show their support for the workers and their strike over wages and safety.
Chicago, IL – More than 1000 union members represented by the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers' union have been striking at Nabisco, where the workers who make Oreo Cookies, Ritz Crackers, and many other popular snacks have walked out of work, saying the strike is a fight to keep what they have had. The workers are striking in Colorado, Illinois, Oregon and Virginia.
Last Monday, August 16, Ka Parts Bagani, renowned revolutionary painter and illustrator, was murdered in cold-blood in Barangay Cannery Polomolok, South Cotabato by military and police operatives.