Chicago, IL – The Free State of Jones is a movie, now playing in Chicago, that portrays the story of how poor white farmers and slaves rebelled against the Confederacy during the Civil War of 1861-65. This movie was directed by Gary Ross and written by Leonard Hartman and Gary Ross. It’s about two and a half hours long.

Chicago, IL – About 1000 protesters converged on Chicago City Hall, June 22. The Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) was there to demand an elected, civilian police accountability council (CPAC). The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) raised their demand for progressive revenue to fund the public schools, but also supported the demand for community control of the police. The CPAC rally also included Black Lives Matter, the Pilsen Alliance, U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), and AnakBayan, the Filipino patriotic youth organization.

Chicago, IL – Alderman Edward M. Burke has introduced an ordinance to expand Chicago’s hate crime ordinance to include any offense against police officers or firefighters. “It is the goal of this ordinance to give prosecutors and judges every tool to punish those who interfere with, or threaten or physically assault, our public safety personnel,” Alderman Burke said in a June 6 news release.

Chicago, IL – Leaders of the Coalition to Stop Trump and March on the RNC, which is organizing a major protest on July 18, the first day of the Republican National Convention (RNC), is condemning the City of Cleveland’s May 25 announcement of restrictive regulations and a “parade route” that’s designed to curtail protests at the Republican National Convention.

Chicago, IL – Student and Graduate Activists (SAGA) at University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC), a group that formed after Trump decided to chicken out of his speaking event at the UIC Pavilion due to widespread protest, is endorsing the Coalition to Stop Trump and March on the RNC.

Chicago IL – Multinational mining companies are laying waste to the mountainous regions of the Southern Philippines. These mountaintops have been found to contain some of the world’s largest deposits of gold and precious minerals. The people who live there, the indigenous Lumad on the island of Mindanao, are defending their ancestral lands and have become the target of human rights abuses and massacres.

Chicago, IL – The Boeing Company held its annual stockholders meeting in Chicago, May 2. Members of the Anti-War Committee-Chicago (AWC) had submitted a resolution calling for the corporation to prepare a report detailing its arms sales to Israel.

Chicago, IL – On Monday, June 13, Rasmea Odeh will appear with her attorneys before Judge Gershwin Drain for a status conference at the federal courthouse in Detroit, Michigan. Supporters will travel to Detroit as well, as they have done for all the previous court dates, to urge for a new trial for this Palestinian American icon who was convicted of a politically-motivated immigration charge in 2014, and sentenced to 18 months in prison and deportation l