Detroit, Michigan – On January 16, Martin Luther King Jr Day, the Detroit MLK Day Committee organized a large gathering, which took place at Historic Saint Matthew's-Saint Joseph's Episcopal Church with the theme of “Six Decades of Mass Movements, The Struggle Continues.” Issues addressed included winning full funding for the Right to Counsel Ordinance and ensuring that all Detroit residents have access to quality housing, water services, good schools, environmentally sound communities, and healthy food. Marchers also demanded an end to police crimes, no more funds to NATO and ending the proxy war in Ukraine. Several FRSO members took part in and provided logistical support for the event.

As we have seen in our previous article, capitalism’s origins are largely based upon “primitive accumulation” – the theft of land and resources during the colonial period. This theft helped to jumpstart the original accumulation of capital. In the U.S. this began with settler colonialism, whereby colonizers from Europe settled in the Americas, bringing with them terrible violence and oppression of indigenous and other oppressed peoples.

Fight Back! interviews Josh Higginbotham, Organizer and Director of Research and Development for Black Lives Matter-Oklahoma City, at the Workers’ Summit of the Americas which took place June 10-12 in Tijuana, Mexico. Fight Back!: Why are you here?

Chicago, IL – Kobi Guillory will be the first feature guest on our new podcast Fight Back! Radio. Guillory is the co-chair of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and an executive board member of the National Alliance. Guillory was amongst the most visible leaders in the streets of Chicago in the aftermath of the police murder of Laquan McDonald by Jason Van Dyke.

Tallahassee, FL – The $27 million in regressive sales tax money diverted from potentially legitimate Blueprint projects to enhance the football experience of powerful white friends of the Chamber of Commerce and Florida State University (FSU) trustees who could care less about poor people in general and Black and brown people in particular, represents a betrayal.

Minneapolis, MN – On February 16, Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Minnesota rallied and marched to demand justice for Amir Locke, a 22-year-old Black man murdered by the Minneapolis police in a relative’s apartment earlier this month.

Jacksonville, FL – Throughout the months of January and February, there were over 20 bomb threats directed towards historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and Black churches, most of which were in the South. These concentrated actions over the last few months are a microcosm of the extensive history of racism and national oppression that Black people have faced within the United States, particularly its southern region.

New York, NY – Over 80 people rallied in Union Square in New York City on February 8 in honor of Amir Locke and Isaiah Williams, two young Black men murdered by police. Locke was murdered by Minneapolis PD under a no-knock warrant, and Williams by Metro Police near Las Vegas while police executed a warrant for a murder he did not commit.

Minneapolis, MN – Around 5000 people marched in protest here February 5, to demand justice for Amir Locke, a 22-year-old Black man murdered by police on February 2. Police were carrying out a no-knock search warrant on the apartment where Locke was sleeping and shot him three times, nine seconds after they snuck open the door. Protesters demand jail, prosecution and murder charges for the officer who shot Amir and those who planned the raid; an end to no-knock warrants; and the resignation of the Minneapolis Police Chief Huffington and Mayor Frey.

Minneapolis, MN – Around 5000 people marched in protest here February 5, to demand justice for Amir Locke, a 22-year-old Black man murdered by police on February 2. Police were carrying out a no-knock search warrant on the apartment where Locke was sleeping and shot him three times, nine seconds after they snuck open the door. Protesters demand jail, prosecution and murder charges for the officer who shot Amir and those who planned the raid; an end to no-knock warrants; and the resignation of the Minneapolis Police Chief Huffington and Mayor Frey.