Salt Lake City, UT – The detainment of Nicoll Hernández-Polanco is sparking protests across the country with Utah joining the fight. Nicoll Hernández-Polanco is a Guatemalan transwoman seeking asylum. However, she is currently being held in the Florence Service Processing Detention in Arizona. Hernandez-Polanco remains incarcerated in the men’s side of the detention center where she faces sexual harassment and assault.
St. Petersburg, FL – Over 3000 farmworkers and supporters from around the country gathered at Bartlett Park, March 21, then marched to demand workers’ rights. Some chants heard during the march were, “Up, up with the fair food nation! Down, down, with the exploitation!”, “One, we are the people! Two, a little bit louder! Three, we want justice for farmworkers!” and “J-U-S, J-U-S-T-I-C-E is what we want, is justice for Immokalee!”
St. Paul, MN – The Welfare Rights Committee’s bill to double the welfare grants for poor families in Minnesota cleared a key senate committee March 25. Senators entering the hearing room in the state capitol passed through a crowd of low-income people. Members of the Welfare Rights Committee (WRC) held signs reading, “The rich got bailed out, we got sold out. Raise the MFIP grants,” and “Past due, pass SF432! 29 years is too long to wait.”
Salt Lake City, UT – Protesters came together in Salt Lake City, March 12, just hours after Rasmea Odeh walked out of a courtroom in Detroit and greeted 200 cheering supporters. Odeh is out on bond pending the appeal of her conviction for an immigration fraud charge. Odeh’s sentence of 18 months in prison and deportation was put on hold.
Chicago, IL – Last week, President Barack Obama issued a new Executive Order declaring a national emergency in response to the “extraordinary threat to the national security” posed to the U.S. by Venezuela. What did Venezuela do? They stopped a U.S.-backed plot to overthrow their government.
Minneapolis, MN – About 40 people came together here, March 8, to celebrate International Women’s Day. The program included speakers from the trade union, welfare rights, student and anti-war movements.
Milwaukee, WI – Dozens of students, faculty and union members gathered at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, March 4, to speak out against the Republican-sponsored 'Right to Work' bill. With the legislation set to be signed by Gov. Walker on March 9, members of Progressive Students of Milwaukee, many who had participated in the protests in Madison, gave another show of solidarity to Wisconsin's private-sector unions.
For one hundred and six years working class and progressive men and women over the entire world have been marching and demanding equal rights for women on March 8. This is a cornerstone of the unity that we all know is required if we are to win the liberation of the people from exploitation, white supremacist racism, and grinding poverty that afflicts a fourth of the world’s people, according to the World Bank. It is outrageous that four days later, on March 12, 2015, in a Federal Court in Detroit Michigan, the U. S. Justice Department will be asking Judge Gershwin A. Drain to sentence Rasmea Odeh, a courageous activist for women’s rights and human rights, to five to seven years in prison, according to news reports. This is far beyond the federally recommended guidelines of 12-21 months.
Madison, WI – Right to Work passed in the Wisconsin State Assembly along party lines, 62-35, after a 24-hour debate. The bill is on Governor Scott Walker's desk.
Chicago, IL – In Chicago, people had good reason to celebrate on Feb. 24. Rahm Emanuel was denied reelection in the mayoral primary. He needed 50% plus one vote, but he received less than 46%. His main opponent, Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, received 34%, and will face Emanuel on April 7 in a runoff. In addition, 19 city council seats will have runoff elections, an all-time high.
Salt Lake City, UT – More than 50 people gathered at the steps of the Utah State Capitol, Feb. 25, in honor of three young Arab American Muslims murdered in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. On Feb 10, Craig Hicks gunned down Deah Shaddy Barakat, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha.
Interview with Fabian Ubay, a leader in the fight to get justice for Zambrano
On Feb. 10, an undocumented farm-worker, Antonio Zambrano-Montes was shot 17 times and killed by Pasco Police in Pasco, Washington. That Zambrano-Montes was supposedly throwing rocks is the excuse Pasco Police are using to justify his the murder. Fight Back! spoke with Fabian Ubay, who organized the first event – a Feb. 14 rally of 5000 – demanding justice for the surviving family of Zambrano-Montes. Ubay is a Chicano who was born, raised, and currently lives in Pasco.
St. Paul, MN – Welfare Rights Committee (WRC) members gathered at the Minnesota State Capitol Feb. 26 to demand that legislators pass bills to double the welfare grants and give aid to all in need. After a rally outside single-degree temperatures, the women proceeded to the offices of every single lawmaker in the State Office Building. They held signs and, in a tag team chain, gave out Past Due notices and information sheets to the desks of the politicians.
On Feb. 21, the MN Anti-War Committee (AWC) held Rock for Rasmea, a multimedia benefit show, to raise money for the legal defense of Palestinian activist Rasmea Odeh.
Chicago, IL – Defense attorneys for Rasmea Odeh, Chicago’s 68-year-old Palestinian community leader, filed a ‘sentencing memorandum’ in a Detroit federal court, Feb. 25, arguing that Odeh “should not be sentenced to further imprisonment” following her conviction in November 2014 on a single charge of Unlawful Procurement of Naturalization.
![Wisconsin students protest "Right to Work' legislation.](https://i.snap.as/MqbaxMDX.jpg "Wisconsin students protest \\"Right to Work' legislation. \(Fight Back! News/Staff\)")
