News and Views from the People's Struggle
Minneapolis, MN – About 100 supporters of Fight Back! attended a very successful fundraising party, Jan. 20, that netted more than $2600 for the newspaper that “builds the people’s struggle.” Leaders of unions, groups opposing police terror, student, anti-war and immigrant rights organizations gave short toasts praising the paper's accomplishments.
Denver, CO – On Jan. 20, thousands of people gathered in Denver to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the women’s march. This crowd included individuals from every background to march for women’s rights and against the various misogynistic policies put into place by Donald Trump. The weather was frigid, but that did not stop the marchers from carrying on. They gathered at the Civic Center amphitheater and marched around Civic Center Park where they then held a rally.
Chicago, IL – In 1997, a corrupt police detective in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood, Joseph Miedzianowski, arrested 17-year-old Jaime Hauad. After torturing Hauad into making statements that were used to incriminate him, he was charged with murder, wrongfully convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Years later, Miedzianowski and Gang Crimes Unit head, Reynaldo Guevara, were exposed for having wrongfully convicted 51 young men, mainly Puerto Rican and Chicanos/Latinos. Hauad’s mother, Anabel Perez, has fought for freedom for her son since then, joining the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and working in the movement against police crimes. On Friday, Jan. 19, Hauad finally walked free from prison. Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression issued the following statement to mark this important victory: Welcome home Jaime Hauad!!! All power to the people!!! Now let’s free Gerald Reed and all the torture victims!
Oshkosh, WI – 40 people gathered to protest the Trump regime in downtown Oshkosh, Jan. 20, to mark one year since his inauguration. Protesters hailed from a variety of groups: a community group called United Action Oshkosh (UAO), others from a local weekly rally group, a few from University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), and some unaffiliated with any groups. The demonstration itself was co-organized by SDS and UAO.
Dallas, TX – Thousands of people turned out here, Jan. 20 for the second annual women's march and proceeded from Saint Paul Methodist Church to Pike Park.
Milwaukee, WI – On Jan 20, the Young People’s Resistance Committee (YPRC) attended Milwaukee’s Women’s March. Around 20,000 people were in attendance to counter the Trump administration’s continuous attacks on women, queer people and other oppressed communities.
Salt Lake City, UT – Over 40 people rallied at the Wallace F. Bennett Federal Building, Jan. 20, the one-year anniversary of Trump taking office. Organized by Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and Utah Against Police Brutality (UAPB), the rally started with Kate Wilhite leading chants “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!” and “They say go back, we say fight back!”
New York, NY – Over 120 people gathered here in New York City’s Grand Central Station on Jan. 20 to mark one year of struggle under President Trump.
Chicago, IL – On Jan. 20, over 200,000 people marched through downtown Chicago on the anniversary of Trump’s inauguration as part of nationwide Women’s Marches.
Minneapolis, MN – Several hundred protesters marched through the streets of Minneapolis chanting “Refugees are welcome here,” on Jan. 20th, the one-year anniversary of Trump taking office. Protesters included participants from last year’s women’s march with pink pussycat hats, immigrants, members of the anti-war and anti-police brutality movements, and children. The protest was organized by the Minnesota Anti-War Committee.
According to a Jan. 20 report in the authoritative news outlet Al Manar, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah has warned Israeli authorities not to build a separation wall at the 13 spots along the border between Lebanon and Palestine. Lebanon’s government shares this view.
New York, NY—On Jan. 18, several dozen organizers gathered in the below-freezing evening to demand an end to all U.S.-led wars and imperialism.
New York, NY – Organizers gathered at the International Action Center, Jan. 16, for a panel called “After J20: Fighting Back Against Political Repression.” The panel was organized by the Committee to Stop FBI Repression – NYC (CSFR) as part of the #DaysOfRage. The #DaysOfRage is building towards a final rally on Jan. 20, which is the one-year anniversary of the inauguration of Trump.
Minneapolis, MN – On Sunday, Jan.14, immigrant rights activists, including students with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status, held a protest and community outreach action on the corner of Lake Street and Bloomington Avenue, a busy intersection in the heart of the Minneapolis Latino immigrant community. They demanded that Congress pass a clean Dream Act before the Jan. 19 congressional budget deadline.A clean Dream Act means permanent protection for immigrant youth with DACA status who were brought here as children, without pairing that with repressive anti-immigrant measures like the border wall, ending family-based immigration and the diversity lottery or increased raids and deportations against other immigrants like President Trump is trying to do.At the busy intersection, the protesters held signs and chanted demanding a clean Dream Act. Some signs also supported Salvadorans, Haitians and others for whom Trump has ended Temporary Protected Status (TPS), exposing hundreds of thousands of families to the threat of deportation. Some of the group’s signs also made pointed reference to Trump’s recent racist statement calling El Salvador, Haiti, and African countries “shithole countries.” Many passing cars honked and signaled their agreement with the anti-Trump and pro-immigrant message.The action was organized by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) and the Interracial Student Movement (ISM), as part of a series of efforts to pressure Congress to act now to pass a clean Dream Act.After protesting outside in the bitter cold for a half hour, the group went inside a popular Latino immigrant marketplace. There, American Indian Movement (AIM) leader Clyde Bellecourt spoke to the group, expressing support for immigrant youth. Bellecourt put the struggle in the context of European colonization of the Americas and the struggle of the indigenous peoples of the Americas for unity and justice, and emphasizing the importance of young people in leading the struggle forward.Then, in a visual and participatory action, the group shared balloons with messages supporting immigrant youth written on them with people in the marketplace. The organizers called on everybody to pop their balloons at the same time to symbolize that President Trump and Congress are trying to destroy young people’s dreams. Three organizers from the group spoke to the gathered crowd, sharing information with people about the struggle of DACA youth and the need for the community to get involved in the fight for a clean Dream Act.In September 2017, President Trump abruptly announced the end of DACA. A federal court ruling has temporarily forced the administration to keep DACA alive while court cases about it are still being heard. But this is a temporary situation, not a real solution. The need for action for immigrant youth is as urgent as ever. As soon as the court cases end, every day around 122 more immigrant youth will lose their legal status and face the threat of being deported and uprooted from the only life they have ever known. Having put 800,000 immigrant youth in jeopardy of deportation by ending DACA, President Trump and anti-immigrant Republicans in Congress are now cynically using these young immigrants as bargaining chips for their anti-immigrant agenda.Democrats in Congress have given lip service in support of immigrant youth, yet enough of them voted before the new year in support of the continuing resolution to fund the congressional budget for it to pass, temporarily keeping the government open until the fast-approaching Jan. 19 deadline. With that deadline upon us, another congressional vote on the budget is here, and the Republicans can’t pass it without some Democrats’ votes. So immigrant rights activists around the country are demanding that congressional Democrats turn their lip service into action and all vote no on passing any congressional budget unless a clean Dream Act is passed, even if that means a government shutdown. That is one of the strongest kinds of leverage they have to force a clean Dream Act through despite the opposition of anti-immigrant Republicans in Congress and the administration.
On Jan. 10, the Rural Gayones Movement issued a statement, provided below, to commemorate the 158th anniversary of the murder of Ezequiel Zamora, a compatriot of Simón Bolívar and a supporter of radical land reform.
FRSO condemns new Medicaid work requirements
San Jose, CA – On the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Junior’s birthday, Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) condemned the Trump administration and the Republican governor of Kentucky for the new work requirements for Medicaid. Medicaid provides health insurance for more than 74 million low-income and disabled Americans.
Demands are to pass Sanctuary City Platform and create a Minneapolis Police Accountability Council
Minneapolis, MN – On Jan. 12, the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) and the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar (TCC4J) made their presence felt at the first meeting of the newly-elected Minneapolis city council.
Slams Philippine government’s illegal arrest of farmers in North Cotabato
According to a statement from Rigoberto F. Sanchez, spokesperson for the New People’s Army (NPA), in Southern Mindanao, Red fighters under the Mt. Apo Sub-Regional Command arrested Police Inspector Menardo Nisperos Cui, Philippine National Police (PNP), Badge No. 0-28281, on Dec. 28, 2017, in North Cotabato and subsequently declared him NPA Prisoner of War.
Milwaukee, WI — Like activists and organizers across the country, 2017 was a tremendously busy year for those in the immigrant rights struggle of Milwaukee, and the closing months were no exception.
According to Rigoberto F. Sanchez, spokesperson of the New People’s Army-Southern Mindanao, the Red fighters of Comval-Davao Gulf Subregional Command-New People’s Army raided RAM Aggregates, Inc., a nickel mining company in Brgy. Puntalinao, Banay-banay, Davao Oriental. The raid on the mining company occurred on Jan. 4, at 4 a.m.