Chicago, IL – Residents of the Woodlawn neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side are fighting to hold on to our neighborhood. We are threatened by gentrification, which is happening in many poor areas of the city. What does this mean? It means that 61st Street, which used to have a thriving business strip, would have condos instead.

For this year’s holiday honoring Dr. King, we are printing 3 commentaries on King’s political thinking that are important for understanding today’s situation – Fight Back! editors

In 1967, the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. described the economic plight of African Americans: “Let us take a look at the size of the problem through the lens of the Negro’s status in 1967. When the Constitution was written, a strange formula to determine taxes and representation declared that the Negro was 60% of a person. Today another curious formula seems to declare that he is 50% of a person. Of the good things in life he has approximately one-half those of whites; of the bad he has twice those of whites. Thus half of all Negroes live in substandard housing, and Negroes have half the income of whites. When we turn to the negative experiences of life, the Negro has a double share. There are twice as many unemployed. The rate of infant mortality (widely accepted as an accurate index of general health) among Negroes is double that of whites.”

For this year’s holiday honoring Dr. King, we are printing 3 commentaries on King’s political thinking that are important for understanding today’s situation – Fight Back! editors

In 1967, exactly one year before Dr. King was assassinated, he made an impassioned plea to stop the War in Vietnam. “Somehow this madness must cease. We must stop now. I speak as a child of God and brother to the suffering poor in Vietnam. I speak for those whose land is being laid waste, whose homes are being destroyed, whose culture is being subverted. I speak for the poor of America who are paying the double price of smashed hope at home and death and corruption in Vietnam. I speak as a citizen of the world, for the world as it stands aghast at the path we have taken. I speak as an American to the leaders of my own nation. The great initiative in this war is ours. The initiative to stop it must be ours.”

May 1st, International Workers Day, is a day of struggle. Around the world, working people will march against imperialist war, to defend the rights of immigrants and to fight to protect their jobs and communities. Here in the United States, May Day has been reborn as millions of Chicanos, Mexicanos and Central Americans, as well as other immigrants and their supporters, have poured into the streets to demand legalization, and an end to raids, deportations and militarization of the border.

For this year’s holiday honoring Dr. King, we are printing 3 commentaries on King’s political thinking that are important for understanding today’s situation – Fight Back! editors.

In the midst of the Great Depression of the 1930s autoworkers organized into the United Auto Workers (UAW) through a wave of sit-down strikes and pitched battles with local police and company goons. For almost two generations autoworkers defined what a good job was: relatively high wages, health and retirement benefits and protection against unemployment. Unionized autoworkers set the pace for other workers to improve their standard of living in the years after World War II. But over the last 30 years, the concessions and give-backs by the leadership of the UAW have frittered away these gains. Plant closings and outsourcing have slashed the number of unionized autoworkers from almost 400,000 to less than 60,000 today.

Chicago, IL – On Nov. 9, Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney from Georgia came to Chicago. Rep. McKinney had been one of the few in Congress to dare to speak the truth about George W. Bush’s so-called war on terrorism. For her courage in telling the truth, she was betrayed by the Democratic Party. Targeted by the pro-Israel lobby and the Republicans, she lost her re-election bid in the Democratic primary in August.

St. Paul, MN – Frente a una pancarta que dice, “Rescate del pueblo pobre y trabajador – No a los billonarios!” las líderezas del Comité por el Derecho de Asistencia Pública anunciaron una campaña para combatir el impacto de la creciente crisis económica en una conferencia de prensa el 29 de octubre. Acompañándolos en la actividad se hicieron presentes miembros del sindicato de oficinistas AFSCME 3800, el Comité Anti-guerra, Mujeres en Contra de la Militarización y otros grupos que luchan por la paz y la justicia.

San José, CA – Poco antes de las fiestas de fin de año, los republicanos en la Cámara de Representantes y en el Senado acordaron recortar programas sociales de ayuda para personas de bajos recursos y para las clases trabajadoras como son el “Medicaid” (servicios de salud para personas de bajos recursos), los prestamos para que los estudiantes asistan a la universidad, “TANF” (Ayuda Temporal para Familias Necesitadas) y el “Medicare” (servicios de salud para personas mayores). Al mismo tiempo, los republicanos aprobaron en la Cámara de Representantes una propuesta, respaldada por el presidente Bush, para reducir los impuestos para los negocios y para los ricos.

San José, CA – Durante los últimos cuatro años, los pensionados han tenido que enfrentar ataques en dos frentes. Por un lado las compañias los despojan de sus planes de seguro médico y pensiones, y por otro, con la caida de la bolsa, el valor de sus pensiones (conocido como “plan 401 k”) se ha reducido significativamente, obligando a muchos a trabajar.