Lansing, Michigan – The United Auto Workers (UAW) called a strike on Sunday, September 15. Fight Back! interviewed Jean “Johnny Bravo” Duchemin, an alternate committee member in UAW Local 1753 in Lansing, Michigan about the GM strike.

New York, NY – Over 300 people gathered at Columbus Circle in New York City on September 21 to rally and march for Puerto Rican independence. The action was just one of many organized by various groups around different issues over the weekend, in response to the United Nations General Assembly.

New York, NY – 25 people gathered September 20 at noon in front of the Consulate General of the Philippines in New York City to commemorate the 47th anniversary of martial law in the Philippines under the regime of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos. The action was called by BAYAN USA NorthEast, to say, “Never again to martial law,” and to call attention to the continuation of state repression in the Philippines under the current, U.S.-backed Duterte regime.

Aurora, CO – Immigrant rights groups from the greater Denver area came together on September 19 to confront Johnny Choate, the warden of Aurora’s notorious ICE detention facility, at his Aurora home.

Chicago, IL – On September 16, community, civil rights, faith-based and peace activists will join 35th Ward Alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, 33rd Ward Alderman Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez and State Representative Jaime Andrade (40th District) in a delegation to the Consulate General of the Philippines, 11:00 a.m.,122 S. Michigan Avenue.

Demand fairness and respect

Minneapolis, MN – University of Minnesota AFSCME members confronted soon-to-be-inaugurated University of Minnesota President Joan Gabel at the September 13 Board of Regents meeting in the McNamara Alumni Center.

Washington DC – The progressive Lebanese political party Hezbollah announced early September 9 that its military forces had shot down an Israeli Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) over Lebanon.

Macon, GA – Workers at the Kumho Tire factory in Macon, Georgia, voted to join the United Steelworkers (USW) union, September 7, nearly two years after the initial vote was marred by the company’s numerous violations of workers’ rights.

Arlington, TX – 60 people showed up at a protest organized by the Progressive Student Union (PSU) at the University of Texas at Arlington, September 4, against the Trump administration’s change to of policy on the detention of undocumented children.

Caracas, Venezuela – August 31 marked the last day of the Meeting of International Workers in Solidarity with the Venezuelan People and Its Government. In the morning, hundreds of trade unionists assembled to hear closing remarks and review a final declaration. Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) joined with other delegations came from 25 countries, and all parts of Venezuela, and proudly shouted out their approval. The audience was lively and often broke out in chants.

Chicago, IL – Founded in 1973 as an organization that grew out of the movement to free the wrongfully imprisoned Angela Davis and other political prisoners, the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression is set to relaunch this November. This refounding, led by the Chicago Alliance against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) and other organizations, will be taking place in Chicago, Illinois on November 22-24 at the Chicago Teachers' Union Hall.

Caracas, Venezuela – President Nicolás Maduro spoke to labor delegates from 25 countries August 31. They were gathered at the 1st International Meeting of Workers in Solidarity with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, its Government and its People. The conference consists of labor union delegations from nearly all of Latin America and the Caribbean. In addition, Jared Hamil and Gabriella Killpack, trade unionists and members of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), are participating.

Chicago, IL – On the afternoon of August 28, members of Students for a Democratic Society and AnakBayan Chicago, at the University of Illinois at Chicago, passed out flyers on the quad to oppose the partnership that the university has with the CIA. SDS members held a banner reading “CIA off campus,” the slogan that has been used in past decades by student activists around the country in similar campaigns. Protesters held signs each detailing a different CIA operation and the number of deaths it caused.

In a video released on August 29, 2019, Iván Márquez, former lead peace negotiator for the FARC-EP in the peace talks in Havana, Cuba, announced that a sector of the FARC party (name of the successor party to the FARC-EP that was founded after the signing of the peace agreement in 2016) were returning to the armed struggle under the banner of the revolutionary guerrilla organization the FARC-EP (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia- Ejército del Pueblo). Iván Márquez read the FARC-EP’s new manifesto dressed in military fatigues surrounded by armed companions, including the famous FARC-EP commanders El Paisa and Jesús Santrich. The manifesto was read by Márquez with large, colorful FARC-EP banners in the background, and was filmed in the Inírida forest that is in a remote area of Colombia that borders both Brazil and Venezuela.

Caracas, Venezuela – The Freedom Road Socialist Organization's trade union delegation arrived in Caracas, Venezuela for the “1st International Meeting of Workers in Solidarity with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, its Government and Its People,” starting on August 29.

Washington, DC – Israel launched a drone attack in Beirut’s southern suburb, Dahiyeh, August 24, targeting the media offices of the national democratic political party Hezbollah. Lebanese politicians denounced the attacks as “acts of war,” and Hezbollah stated it will respond.

Los Angeles, CA – A commemoration event honoring the 1970 Chicano moratorium will take place in Boyle Heights, Thursday, August 29, 6 to 9 p.m., at Self Help Graphics, 1300 E. First Street, Los Angeles.

Washington, DC – Five instances of company discipline and unjust terminations of International Association of Machinists (IAM) members at Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner manufacturing facility in North Charleston, South Carolina have been found to be acts of unlawful retaliation against employees for their support of the union, a regional director for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) informed the IAM, on August 19.

Minneapolis, MN – While the University of Minnesota top officials gathered for the opening of newly renovated Pioneer Hall, August 21, about 50 members of Teamsters Local 320 and other campus unions held an informational picket line to demand the year-round, full-time employment for workers in M Dining. The U of M has curtailed summer work opportunities for Teamsters and is trampling on seniority rights.