Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), the most important organization of trade unions in the Philippines. Gloria Arroyo is the corrupt president of the Philippines. She receives political and military backing from the United States and is closely tied to U.S. corporate interests.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Network to Fight for Economic Justice on the struggle of the Graduate Employees Organization at the University of Illinois at Chicago to obtain a fair contract.
Minneapolis, MN – About 150 graduate student workers and their supporters marched across the University of Minnesota campus here, March 31, to demand a reduction in student fees. The march started at the Social Sciences Tower and proceeded to the central administration building – Morrill Hall. The march and rally was joined by members of AFSCME Local 3800, which represents clerical workers.
Gainesville, FL – There are widespread reports that Kofi Adu-Brempong, a graduate student who was shot in the face by a member of the University of Florida Police Department, will be moved to jail.
Tom Burke, a founder of the National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera, was interviewed by RT (previously known as Russia Today) on the case of Ricardo Palmera, a Colombian rebel who is being held here in the United States. The National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera currently has a petition campaign underway, demanding Palmera’s immediate release.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following report from the New China News Agency (Xinhua), on the celebration of Serfs Emancipation Day in Tibet.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Welfare Rights Committee on the corporate media coverage that followed their March 23 die-in if front of the office of Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty. Some of the critical coverage focused on the participation of students from Southside Family School in Minneapolis.
The National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera is launching a petition campaign targeting U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. The National Committee is demanding the U.S. government immediately release the Colombian revolutionary and stop violating Palmera’s human rights. Angela Denio said, “The U.S. government is acting like a tyrant in Colombia and abusing Ricardo Palmera in a Colorado prison by chaining him from head to toe with the constant threat of electric shock. It is outrageous. Where is Obama on all of this? He promised to stop torture.”
St. Paul, MN – Tombstones and bodies filled the halls outside the Governor’s office here, March 23, as participants in a ‘die-in’ demonstrated against the effects of Governor Pawlenty’s proposed cuts in health and human services. Members of the Welfare Rights Committee and the Minnesota Coalition for a Peoples Bailout, along with other social justice groups, joined the protest.
Washington, D.C. – Tens of thousands of immigrants and supporters converged on the mall here, March 21. You can read the editorial from Fight Back! that was distributed at the rally in Spanish ( online / printable PDF) or English ( online / printable PDF).
Minneapolis, MN – Over 600 people joined a Minneapolis anti-war march and rally on Saturday, March 20, to mark the seventh anniversary of the start of the U.S. war in Iraq with a call for an end to the wars and occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Chicago, IL – More than 1500 people rallied on March 18 to mark the seventh anniversary of the invasion of Iraq and the protest the continuing occupation of Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine. The protest was organized by the Chicago Coalition Against War and Racism. Protesters marched on Michigan Avenue demanding, “U.S. out of Afghanistan now.” A contingent of Palestinian and Arab students carried a 60-foot long Palestinian flag and led chants of, “Free, free Palestine. End the occupation now!” Speakers opposed the U.S. unmanned drone strikes inside Pakistan and called for funding of human needs at home.
Chicago, IL – Approximately 20 protestors marched at 7am, March 3, outside the Palmer House Hilton, in opposition to an official Sister Cities relationship between the City of Chicago and the municipality of Petach Tikva in Israel. The event was organized by the Palestine Solidarity Group-Chicago (PSG) in response to the Annual International Business Breakfast keynoted by Mayor Daley.
Fight Back! interviewed Jess Sundin, an important organizer of the anti-war movement, about the upcoming March 20 protests against the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. Sundin was a key leader of the massive march on the 2008 Republican National Convention. She is also a member of Freedom Road Socialist Organization.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement of solidarity from student groups in the Philippines with the participants in the March 4 day of action.
Minneapolis, MN – 50 people gathered here March 7, to celebrate International Women’s Day. The event, organized by Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), included speeches, a showing of the film The Eyes of the Rainbow - a documentary about Assata Shakur – and brief toasts from trade union, anti-war, student and welfare rights organizers.
Selma, AL – Thousands gathered here, Sunday, March 7, to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the 1965 Bloody Sunday civil rights march – during which women and children crossed over the Edmund Pettus bridge and were brutally attacked by police.