_The silent epidemic of African American maternal and infant mortality _

African American women across the county are in shock about the recent case of Jessica Ross and the decapitation of her baby, Treveon Isaiah Taylor Jr., during childbirth. This case illustrates the deeply troubling maternal and infant mortality crisis affecting African American communities. The heart-wrenching incident is a painful reminder of the urgent inequalities within the United States healthcare system that unevenly impact Black women and their infants. It is an unfortunate representation of a broader crisis that can only be addressed through the struggle for Black liberation and socialism.

Despite overall gains, capitalists killed two important bills for basic workers’ rights, and the legislature failed to advance police accountability

Saint Paul, MN – The 2023 Minnesota legislative session ended on May 22, and it’s one for the history books. A wide array of progressive measures that working class and oppressed peoples’ movements in Minnesota have demanded for years and even decades became law, as the Republicans howled from the sidelines but didn’t have the votes to stop it.

Milwaukee, WI – On Tuesday, April 18 the Milwaukee Common Council unanimously passed a resolution asking Ascension Wisconsin to reopen the labor and delivery Unit at Saint Francis Hospital.

Milwaukee, WI – On Friday, March 31, the Common Council’s Public Safety and Health Commission unanimously passed a resolution urging Ascension Wisconsin to reconsider the closure of the Labor and Delivery (L&D) unit at St. Francis Hospital. The St. Francis L&D was the only department of its kind within a roughly 10 mile radius. The hospital serves a predominantly Latino and immigrant community on Milwaukee's Southside, including many Spanish- and Rohingya-only speakers. The resolution also calls on Ascension Wisconsin to establish a one-year moratorium on any downsizing or service reductions at Milwaukee healthcare sites.

Tallahassee, FL – Due to a recent cyber-attack, Tallahassee Memorial Hospital is forcing its employees to use their PTO, take unpaid leave, or to come to job site where bosses will tell them what they will work on. Considering Tallahassee Memorial Hospital is a multi-million dollar organization, this is a major problem for the nonunion, low-wage workers.

New York, NY – On December 30, nurses at eight hospitals, including New York City’s largest, representing approximately 16,000 members submitted their ten-day notice to strike beginning January 9. As of Monday, January 9, all but three hospitals have reached a tentative agreement. This means that nurses represented by the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) are beginning their strike at four different locations.

Milwaukee, WI – The Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Healthcare Professionals (WFNHP) Local 5000 held a rally and picket outside of the Milwaukee home of Bernie Sherry, the CEO of Ascension Wisconsin, one of his many houses. The January 4 action was in response to the abrupt announcement of the December 23 closure of St. Francis Hospital’s Labor and Delivery (L+D) Unit.

Tallahassee, FL- On February 17, around 12 a.m., members of Students for a Democratic Society and Tallahassee’s chapter of Planned Parenthood were given trespassing warnings for speaking up against HB 5, an abortion ban bill that limits abortions to the first 15 weeks of pregnancy. After HB5 was passed despite significant public opposition, organizers and students joined a chant denouncing the bill and were subsequently removed from the capitol.

Minneapolis, MN – The Women’s March organized a rally and march as a part the National Day of Action on October 2 to protest the anti-abortion law passed in Texas in June. Up to 10,000 people of all genders gathered at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden holding signs and banners expressing their outrage over the Texas law SB 8.

Arlington, TX – On September 1, the Progressive Student Union rallied 50 people to protest the recent attacks launched by Governor Greg Abbott and the GOP against women’s rights, and democracy. The most egregious of these attacks came in the form of an anti-abortion bill that sought to restrict the access to abortion in Texas to only the first six weeks of pregnancy, and made it a liable offense to offer aid in a woman getting an abortion in any way if it was beyond the first six weeks.