News and Views from the People's Struggle
Dallas, TX – DFW Anti-War Committee hosted a January 11 watch party for the Anti War Action Network’s report back webinar “No to Trump’s War on Venezuela!” The webinar featured anti-war organizers who recently traveled to Caracas, Venezuela for a peace conference to build international solidarity and stand up to U.S. imperialism. A banner calling for “No war on Venezuela” was also painted during the watch party.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following January 12 statement from the Dallas-Fort Worth Anti-War Committee.
Pete Hegseth is not welcome in Dallas-Fort Worth!
Today, Pete Hegseth, the so-called Secretary of War, came to Fort Worth because DFW produces the weapons of war and genocide. From the Lockheed Martin F-35 factory in Fort Worth that Hegseth visited today to the Repkon bomb factory in Garland, our metroplex’s taxes, resources, and labor are being used for imperialist bloodshed.
Dallas, TX – Dallas activists gathered on a chilly night in downtown Dallas, January 10, to demand freedom for Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife and condemn the war launched by the U.S.
Groups set up tables to share literature, resources and to connect individuals with organizations. At the demonstration’s peak, around 200 people came out to make noise and demand no war on Venezuela.
Dallas, TX – Over 1000 community members gathered Thursday evening, January 8 at Dallas City Hall to protest the murder of Renee Nicole Good by ICE in Minneapolis and to demand ICE out of Dallas.
Attendees marched around downtown Dallas calling for the Dallas Police Department to stop working with ICE. The protest was called by the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression-Dallas (NAARPR-Dallas).
Dallas, TX – Over 150 Dallas-Fort Worth residents gathered together to protest the United States’ bombing of Venezuela and kidnapping of President Maduro and First Lady Flores on January 3. This emergency protest was called after the U.S. launched an unprecedented escalation against Venezuela. Speakers emphasized that the F-35 fighter jets used in the attack on Caracas were produced by Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth, Texas.
Dallas, TX – On December 20, 30 activists and community members from across the area gathered for the first annual holiday fundraiser and social event, Red Christmas.
The continued escalation by the United States towards Venezuela loomed large in the background and was a central point of discussion. The event brought together organizers, families and supporters for an evening of music, food, games and political discussion, celebrating struggle and solidarity during the holiday season.
Red Christmas honored the many freedom fighters in Dallas and across North Texas organizing against capitalism, ICE terror and U.S. imperialism in Venezuela and around the world.
Dallas, TX – On November 18, Texas Governor Greg Abbot signed a proclamation declaring Council on American-Islam Relations (CAIR) a terrorist organization under Texas state law. This designation allows the state to add enhanced criminal charges when prosecuting those it deems CAIR members and removes the ability of CAIR affiliates to own property in the state.
Dallas, TX – On November 13, Starbucks workers who are represented by Starbucks Workers United (SBWU), an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), began and open-ended strike over unfair labor practices they say that Starbucks has committed. The SBWU workers say that Starbucks has been unwilling to bargain in good faith to reach a first contract with the newly formed union.
Dallas, TX – On September 21, the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression-Dallas (NAARPR-Dallas) hosted a rally in solidarity with Chicago, Washington DC and Los Angeles, along with other cities impacted by the deployment or threatened deployment of the National Guard and mass ICE raids.
Dallas, TX – On September 26, The National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression-Dallas organized a vigil to honor the lives of the three victims, two of whom were fatally shot after being detained by ICE.
The Vigil began at 7 p.m. at Civic Garden park in Dallas and lasted well into the night. Many from the community and in allied organizations came to pay their respects to those victims and to their families.
Dallas, TX – On Saturday, August 30, more than 30 Dallas residents gathered at Pan African Connection Bookstore and Resource Center for discussion on socialism as it pertains to the modern People's Republic of China.
Hosted by the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, (FRSO), the event was part of a speaking tour led by Sydney Loving, a Central Committee member of FRSO, who spent ten days in China as part of a delegation of Friends of Socialist China.
Loving began the presentation by stating, “75 years of socialist construction. We saw a country that has the largest economy in the world as measured by Purchasing Power Parity, which is a more accurate view than GDP, or Gross Domestic Product, which relies on the stock market and inflates the real economy. China's economy is the largest by industrial manufacturing. Even smaller cities are high-tech and increasingly green, life expectancy is over 78 years which is two years longer than the U.S., and of course where over 800 million people have been lifted out of extreme poverty.”
Loving continued, “Thanks to China's socialism they are completing an industrial revolution every decade since the 1980s. China is in the forefront of this new industrial revolution with AI, quantum technology, big data etc. China and the world have changed forever. But despite these advancements China remains controversial in the West, even amongst the left! Believe it or not. So, it's important to seek truth from fact as Mao says.”
Loving expounded on the particular advancements from the five cities she visited, Xi’an, Yan’an, Dunhuang, Jiayu guan and Shanghai.
Loving stated, “We went to Yan’an, which was really the cradle of the revolution from 1935 to 1947. The Red Army re-grouped there after the Long March, and the CPC [Communist Party of China] held the 7th National Congress there, 16 long years after the 6th Congress, because they were fighting Japanese imperialism and the KMT. [Yan’an is] where Mao Zedong Thought was crystalized and adopted. They fought dogmatism and made the decision to be the party of the masses of Chinese people.”
“In Jiayu guan, we visited JISCO, a state-owned steel company that the workers built the whole city around in the 1950s. Today it has 42% green cover, with ponds and parks– remember this is the Gobi Desert, “ said Loving.
“In Shanghai we went to a robotics facility where they demonstrated the advancements for surgery and industry, and a Lenovo factory where they showed off how they’re partnering with the school system to bring advanced tech into rural classrooms,” said Loving.
Loving concluded her presentation by saying, “China is not a utopia, it's a real place. Everything that we saw affirmed that China is continuing to build socialism that centers the people. China is building a future for all of us that is more peaceful and more equal.”
#DallasTX #TX #International #RevolutionaryTheory #China #Socialism
Dallas, TX – On August 18, Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) flight attendants and supporters picketed outside of Dallas – Fort Worth Airport to demand an end to work without pay and for pay raises that reflect the work they do. This comes during stalled contract negotiations and the potential to move into mediation in late August.
Dallas TX – Members of NAARPR Dallas gathered to host a raffle, August 15, to promote vendors’ businesses at the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge in Dallas, Texas. For more than a year, Dallas police have been harassing and kicking out the vendors at the bridge. In one case last summer, DPD officers pinned down a vendor and sprayed her directly in the face with mace.
Dallas, TX – Palestinian Youth Movement called an emergency picket, August 12, at the Dallas Morning News headquarters downtown followed by a vigil for journalists and media members targeted by the Israeli military.
Dallas, TX – Over 100 Dallas residents joined a protest against Boston Consulting Group (BCG) on Friday, July 25 to call attention to the firm’s backing of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which has killed over a thousand Palestinians seeking aid.
Dallas, TX – This May, nearly 90 union drivers at Albertsons, represented by Teamsters Local 745, voted unanimously to authorize a strike, sending a thunderous message to corporate management – and it worked.
Within hours of the vote, Albertsons executives returned to the bargaining table and immediately backed down, dropping proposed contract language that would have allowed the company to deploy autonomous trucks without human drivers. The company also agreed to move on several key economic demands after months of stonewalling.
Dallas, TX – Organizers from the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression-Dallas (NAARPR-Dallas) commemorated the fifth anniversary of the death of George Floyd and protested unjust deportation of a family from Austin.
Dallas TX – On April 5 organizers from Freedom Road Socialist Organization, DFW Anti War Committee and the National Alliance Against Racism and Political Repression joined the DFW Indivisible and 50501 groups in a rally to say “Hands off” to the Trump administration’s attacks on labor, public services and government infrastructure.
Dallas, TX – Over 300 community members marched through the Dallas Oak Lawn “gayborhood,” Sunday, March 23 to protest the spread of anti-LGBTQ bills and laws sweeping the country. Attendees gathered at the Cathedral of Hope in Oak Lawn for speeches calling attention to the diverse needs of the queer and trans community in this political moment. The rally, called by Texas Latino Pride, spoke to the heightened attacks faced by trans women, disabled, Black, and brown queer and trans folks.
Richardson, TX – On March 18, community members gathered to protest in front of the Raytheon company’s building in response to Raytheon’s complicity in the Israeli genocide in Palestine. The Dallas chapter of the Palestinian Youth Movement called the emergency protest after Israel broke the recent ceasefire agreement and continued bombing the Gaza strip.
Raytheon, second to Lockheed Martin, is one of the world largest weapons manufacturers, and has been targeted by anti-war activists in north Texas. Aside from Raytheon, the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex has seen protests and actions against local Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics plants.