Minneapolis, MN — About 100 people rallied here, March 8, to mark International Women’s Day. Loretta Van Pelt, of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, told the crowd, “We in Freedom Road know the enemy is bigger than Trump. And we call out that enemy. It is the capitalist class. We see the oppression and patriarchy that they try to shove down our throats. Their system that says women should work for peanuts, or work for free, and silently accept the abuses that ruin our lives. But we will not be silent! Today, on International Women’s Day, we shout our rage.”

Minneapolis, MN — Plans are underway to mark International Women’s Day with an outdoor rally, March 8, 5 p.m., at Mayday Plaza, 301 Cedar Avenue, Minneapolis. Organized by the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, the event has been endorsed by Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar, Anti-War Committee, Women Against Military Madness, Minnesota Peace Action Coalition, Welfare Rights Committee, Native Lives Matter, Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at the University of Minnesota, and Women's March MN.

Milwaukee, WI – Immigrants and community members gathered March 5 on Milwaukee’s south side, where the Young Peoples Resistance Committee (YPRC) led a rally, demanding that President Trump and the Republican-dominated Congress introduce legislation to protect Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients.

Los Angeles, CA — An event commemorating the 50-year anniversary of the East L.A. Chicano walkouts was held at the Benjamin Franklin Library on March 3, 2018. Organized by adult librarian Patty Alvarado and Centro CSO, dozens attended the historic commemoration. Among those in attendance were Sal Castro’s son Gilbert Castro. Sal Castro was a Chicano public-school teacher who helped organized the walkouts.

Oshkosh, WI – On Mar. 5, more than 50 students participated in a march around the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh (UWO) campus which culminated in the public announcement of a list of demands developed by Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), followed immediately by the delivery of a letter containing the list to campus administration.

#Justice4DJBroadus

MacClenny, FL — On March 1, the family of DJ Broadus II, an African American man brutally murdered in north Florida, called for and rallied at a second town hall meeting here, at Emmanuel Church of God in Christ. About 80 people showed up to a town hall meeting which was led by Dominic Broadus Sr., the father of the slain Dominic “DJ” Broadus II. Participants included Michael Sampson II and Joshua Parks. Sampson and Parks are members of the Jacksonville Community Action Committee, a local Black-led organization that has been helping lead the effort to get #Justice4DJ, along with other organizations such as the Dream Defenders, Color of Change, and the Black community in MacClenny. MacClenny is on the western outskirts of Jacksonville.

México City, México – Militant teachers and education workers from around the world gathered to strategize in México City, March 4, the opening day of the 18th Congress of FISE (International Federation of the Education Sector). FISE is the education sector organization of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), an international union federation with more than 92 million members worldwide that is based on class struggle unionism, union democracy, internationalism and anti-imperialism.

An interview with Masao Suzuki

Masao Suzuki is a leading member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) who follows the economy. Fight Back! interviewed him on March 1, after another drop in U.S. stock market.

Minneapolis, MN – On Feb. 28, students from multiple Minneapolis middle and high schools walked out of classes to demand a clean Dream Act. More than 75 students rallied briefly at Martin Luther King, Jr. Park before travelling to the University of Minnesota campus and marching to the office of Senator Amy Klobuchar. Once they arrived at Klobuchar’s office, students stormed into the building and refused to leave until the senator agreed to meet with them.

Falcon Heights, MN – Roughly 50 University of Minnesota students and community members gathered on Monday, Feb. 26, to protest the presence of far-right provocateur and former Breitbart News editor-at-large, Ben Shapiro, on the Saint Paul campus. The protest, organized by Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), demanded an end to hate speech on campus and an end to hosting such speakers with university student service fees, which are paid by all students.

Meeting in Caracas Feb. 26, the Venezuelan Communist Party (PCV) and the governing United Socialist Party (PSUV) reached a historic agreement after days of negotiation. As a result of the “PSUV-PCV Unitary Accord,” the first of its kind in the country’s revolutionary struggle, the two parties agree to work together to solve the challenges facing Venezuela and the Bolivarian Revolution. The PCV also agreed to endorse Nicolás Maduro for president in the upcoming April 22 election. The Unitary Accord was presented at the PCV’s Fourteenth National Conference, during which President Maduro and several top PSUV members and government ministers addressed the delegates and signed the Accord. The entire proceedings were broadcasted live by Venezuelan TV. Below is the PSUV-PCV Unitary Accord in its entirety, translated by Fight Back! staff. PSUV-PCV Unitary Accord

St. Paul, MN – Around 1000 union members and supporters held a rally at the state capitol building, Feb. 24, to defend union rights in the public sector, which are under attack from a right wing funded lawsuit intended to weaken the labor movement. The lawsuit is called Janus vs AFSCME. The goal of the lawsuit is to eliminate fair share fees in unionized public sector workplaces. Under current law, if the workers have organized, the union is required to spend resources representing every worker at that workplace even if they choose not to join the union. Because the union is required to spend members’ dues money representing those non-union workers, it has long been held that if a particular worker does not want to be part of the union they may choose not to, and instead of paying dues, that worker instead pays a fee for only the amount of money that the union spends representing them. This is called a “fair share” fee.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following Feb. 22 statement from Armando “Ka Mando” Jacinto, Spokesperson, New People’s Army – Sierra Madre (Rosario Lodronio Rosal Command).

Detroit, MI -The Palestinian Community Network-Detroit (USPCN-Detroit) partnered with Black4Palestine and Jewish Voice Peace, Feb. 18, to support Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi and her family on the Global Day of Action to Free the Tamimis. Standing at the intersection of the William Dickerson Detention Facility and Oakland International Academy (a school) the Hamtramck gathering symbolized the inseparability of incarceration and militarization with childhood in Occupied Palestine and across poor oppressed nationality communities in the U.S.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following Feb. 18 statement from the New People’s Army, Regional Operations Command, Southern Mindanao Region.