Chicago, IL – On Thursday, March 30 Brandon Johnson and Bernie Sanders held a joint “Chicago for All of Us” rally at the Credit Union 1 Arena, drawing a crowd of more than 4000 supporters. The event comes after Sanders’ endorsement of Johnson for the April 4 mayoral runoff election. The event included speeches from Alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa; Representatives Jonathan Jackson and Delia Ramirez; president of the American Federation of Teachers Randi Weingarten; Martin Luther King III, and Senator Bernie Sanders.

The event brought together progressive activists, union members and students from the nearby University of Illinois Chicago. The Johnson campaign is an example of the sort of rainbow coalition Chicago hasn’t seen since the Harold Washington campaign of the 1980s, and the crowd showed it. An integral part of the rainbow politics of the 1980s, Reverend Jesse Jackson, civil rights activist and leader of the Rainbow-PUSH coalition was also present.

Senator Sanders spoke on the connection between the movement and the Johnson campaign, stating, “He understands what you and I understand: that racism and bigotry are all about the ruling class trying to divide us and what we are about is bringing our people together to fight for a city, fight for a nation that works for all of us not just the few.”

The arena was filled to the brim with whites, Blacks, Latinos and Asians united to fight the reactionary and corporate backed Paul Vallas campaign and build the people’s movements.

Representative Ramirez praised the diverse nature of the crowd and its representative strength of the people’s movement in Chicago. She shared advice from her mother: “Dime con quien andas, y te dire quien ere” (“Tell me who you are with and I’ll tell you who you are”).

On the stage, students from the Little Village Lawndale Highschool Fightback Organization stood behind the speakers. Earlier that same day the students had led a walkout of hundreds of mostly Black and Latino students to denounce Paul Vallas and his attacks on public education while he was in office as the superintendent of Chicago Public schools. These included refusing to open Little Village Lawndale High even after parents from the community went on a 19-day hunger strike to demand a high school in their community.

Representative Jackson contrasted this shameful record with Johnson’s experience as a former public school teacher and member of the Chicago Teachers Union, saying Johnson is, “A man who starts his career going into a classroom on behalf of the children will no doubt end his career working for the elevation of every human life.”

Finally, Brandon Johnson took the stage to thunderous applause. He spoke against the reactionary attacks on his campaign by stating: “They have tried to make us feel bad because we believe in collective bargaining and unionism, let me make this clear: the last time I checked Chicago is a union town. And if you are an enemy of labor, you are an enemy of the people!”

Throughout the night the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. was invoked, especially by Rev. King’s son who reminded the crowd that election day on April 4 would mark the 55th anniversary of his father’s assassination. King III highlighted the historical significance of the current mayoral election for Chicago, especially as it relates to housing, an area his father led key struggles in. King III recognized that the movement backing Johnson worked in the same spirit as his father. “Johnson is the one to make the dream real for everyone. To have a decent quality of life, a decent job, to have healthcare and to have justice.”

On April 4 Chicagoans will go to the polls with a real choice. On the one hand, of a progressive supported by a coalition of working and oppressed people, opening the door for the people’s movements to win real lasting victories. On the other a reactionary corporate-backed Republican who would put those same movements on the defensive and put forward a program for privatization and a racist police crackdown.

#ChicagoIL #PoliceBrutality #BernieSanders #BrandonJohnson

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Coalition to March on the Democratic National Convention.

On April 8, Senator Bernie Sanders suspended his 2020 Democratic primary campaign. The Sanders campaign has inspired millions of working class and oppressed people, including an overwhelming majority of young people. The movement-building emphasis of the Sanders campaign is what truly sets it apart from anything seen in the U.S. since perhaps Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow Coalition in the 1980s.

What Sanders’s candidacy demonstrated again in 2020 is that working and oppressed people in the U.S. want more than what they’ve been afforded under the current system. His candidacy has solidified the fact that the change that people here so desperately need cannot come from the electoral arena. The ruling class who is in control of these mechanisms will not allow a self-proclaimed socialist to attain the highest office in government. However, this exact thing is why Sanders’ insistence on a mass movement of people is so significant.

History has shown that only when masses of people have united around demands, organized themselves into movements, and demonstrated for their causes in workplaces, on campuses, and in communities across the country have they ever been able to win change. The Coalition to March on the DNC exists to bring together as many of those progressive movements as possible in an effort to demonstrate the kind of future that is necessary for the masses of working and oppressed people in the U.S.

We have always sought to build the broadest possible coalition, whether that means revolutionary organizations, non-profits, labor organizations, or any other element within the people’s movements. Most of our points of unity can be connected to the types of things that Bernie has been promoting for his entire life. The Coalition to March on the DNC is a natural landing spot for his supporters who want to keep building the people’s movements.

Defeating Donald Trump is going to be on the minds of most people heading into November. Doing this in a practical sense can take a number of different forms. While some will look to the ballot box as the only option, others will work to develop broader networks, building stronger bases in their workplaces, communities and schools, and seek to challenge Trump and his reactionary policies more directly.

Bernie has always been clear about one thing: regardless of who it is that occupies the White House, without a mass movement at the grassroots level, nothing meaningful will be accomplished. The Coalition to March on the DNC as a temporary alliance of the various people’s movements serves as the most immediate extension of this call to continue organizing.

The start of the DNC has been moved from July 13 to August 17 due to the coronavirus. The Coalition intends to lead a mass demonstration within sight and sound of the Fiserv Forum, including a rally with many speakers and a march. The event will begin at 10 a.m. on Monday, August 17, the first day of the convention. All progressives, socialists and people’s movements are encouraged to make plans to join the Coalition to March on the DNC in Milwaukee this summer. For more information, please visit the Coalition’s website at www.marchondnc.org.

#UnitedStates #US #PeoplesStruggles #Elections #BernieSanders #DonaldTrump #CoalitionToMarchOnTheDNC #2020Election

Minneapolis, MN – After days of delay, the results are in: Bernie Sanders won the most votes in Iowa, leading in both the initial vote, as well as after the second round where weaker candidates in each caucus are dropped. As this became clear Tom Perez, chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) called for a ‘recanvass’ of the caucus voting because of the chaotic reporting of results and the long delay. Ironically, this was caused by a new voting app developed by a small company founded by a former staffer of the 2016 Hillary Clinton campaign.

During the delay, the corporate media consistently declared Pete Buttigieg the winner, based on getting the most State Delegate Equivalents in the complicated Iowa caucus system. Most articles did not even mention that Sanders won the most votes.

A winner in the Iowa fiasco was Donald Trump, who crowed about the Democrats’ problems in counting the votes. The clear effort by the leadership of the national Democratic Party, the corporate media and the inept, leftover Clinton campaign staffers to deny the progressive candidate the win that he got is a replay of the 2016 campaign where they went all out to deny Sanders the nomination. Their favorite, Clinton, then went on to lose the election to Donald Trump.

The logic of ‘electability’ flies in the face of the fact that the moderate Clinton lost in 2016, and now the moderate ‘favorite’ and ‘front-runner’ Joe Biden was crushed with a weak fourth place finish in Iowa.

Many activists who are angered by the DNC leadership have organized the Coalition to March on the DNC to protest in Milwaukee where the 2020 Democratic National Convention will be held in July. The march on the DNC will take place July 13, with demonstrations gathering at 10 a.m. For more information go to their web site at marchondnc.org.

#MinneapolisMN #PeoplesStruggles #Elections #BernieSanders #IowaCaucus

Philadelphia, PA – On July 25, thousands gathered and protested at the opening day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.

The first rally and march of the day, called by The Equality Coalition, started at 10 a.m. Activists and their groups began gathering despite warnings of the extreme heat that was going to hit Philadelphia. The banners and signs varied from loyal pro-Sander supporters to militant calls for revolution. However, the one consistent message that day – down with Hillary Clinton.

Speakers consistently brought up Clinton’s long history of corruption, from her warmongering to her recent participation in the scam primary elections.

Members of different left and progressive organizations were handing out literature regarding the elections and their views of Clinton and Sanders. The Freedom Road Socialist Organization handed out two of their statements on elections and the recent police killings.

Dave Schneider, a member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, summed up the general views of the people protesting that morning, “The people out here protesting the DNC understand that both major parties represent the class of billionaires that rule this country. Frankly, we're not buying what these politicians in both parties are selling anymore.”

The march began at 2 p.m., as over 800 protesters began a four-mile trek to the convention center to make their voices heard. Chants from “Hey, hey! Ho, Ho! Hillary Clinton has got to go,” to “Feel the Bern” kept the marchers up beat and determined in the 99-degree heat.

Once the first march reached the convention center, the second event, March for Our Lives, called by Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, began at 3 p.m. Hundreds gathered once more in front of City Hall to listen to a wide range of speakers, such as Cornell West and Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein. “Don’t vote for the lesser evil, but for the greater good,” said Stein.

The march started soon after Stein finished speaking, and the protesters joined the others at the convention center.

Schneider, who will be more protests at the DNC, said, “In the coming days, I expect more people to join the protests outside the DNC, including many of the Sanders delegates. The Democratic Party, like the GOP, loyally serves Wall Street.”

#PhiladelphiaPA #DemocraticNationalConvention #DNC #Socialism #Elections #BernieSanders #HillaryClinton #JillStein