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.
Charleston, WV — Teachers and their supporters rally inside the State Capitol in Charleston. Members of the education and staff unions plan on continuing the strike that has shut down schools across the state. At issue is a wage increase and health care coverage.
Charleston, WV — Teachers and their supporters rally at the State Capitol, in Charleston, Feb. 26. As of March 1, schools remain closed across West Virginia, as members of education and staff unions continue their battle for improved wages and health care coverage.
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
More than 1500 people, mostly union workers, rallied at Daley Plaza and marched to the Thompson Center and down Michigan Avenue, as a part of the National Day of Action for Workers’ Rights.
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.
Miami, FL – Union members and leaders gathered at Bayfront Park in Miami Feb. 24, to rally for workers’ rights, immigrant rights and inter-union solidarity. Workers pledged to fight against anti-union laws and court cases. Unions in attendance included Broward Teacher Union, United Teachers of Dade, AFSCME Local 199, IBEW and SEIU 1991.
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.
To mark the anniversary of the publication of The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Frederich Engels, on Feb. 21, 1848, Fight Back! is reprinting the book’s first chapter. This anniversary comes in the context of a growing rejection of capitalism and a renewed interest in the science of revolution, Marxism-Leninism. Enjoy.Chapter I. Bourgeois and Proletarians
As it becomes clear that the Trump administration will not recognize the democratic process in Venezuela, and seeks to overthrow the Maduro government by violent means, the many revolutionary organizations of the Bolivarian Revolution are discussing what must happen to defend their national sovereignty. The Gayones Movement, a Marxist-Leninist labor group, put out this statement in February to elaborate their position on the current crisis, and why they will be supporting Nicolás Maduro in the April presidential elections. This statement was published in Voz Proletaria and was translated by Fight Back! staff.
St Paul, MN – Members of the Twin Cites-based Welfare Rights Committee made themselves visible at the Feb. 20 opening day of Minnesota state legislature. This session, members of the WRC initiated and are pressing for the passage of two bills.
New York, NY – About 40 activists gathered outside the Israeli Consulate on the afternoon of Feb. 18, as a part of the national day of action in solidarity with the Palestinian girl, Ahed Tamimi.
Minneapolis, MN – Trade unions and their supporters are mobilizing for the Feb. 24 Working People's Day of Action. A major outpouring for workers’ rights is expected in cities across the U.S.
The Melito Glor Command-New People’s Army Southern Tagalog (MGC-NPA ST) strongly condemns President Duterte’s vulgar, unethical and immoral statement where he urged that female guerrillas “must be shot in their private parts once captured.”
