As the curtain comes down on 2022, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) wishes you a Happy New Year! We look forward to a new year of struggle, and victories, that raise us to new heights. Conditions show we are in an exciting period for revolutionaries who are connecting with workers and the oppressed – making practical plans with a long-term vision. 2023 promises many opportunities to organize, build the united front against imperialism, and advance towards an American revolution. Freedom Road Socialist Organization is determined to play a part in that process. You should consider joining us today!
We are quickly approaching the November 2022 midterm elections. These midterm elections represent an important political milestone for the people’s struggles in the United States. Not only will there be a lot on the line for people to either win or lose, but the outcome seen this November will impact the next presidential election in 2024 and serve as an indication for what may happen.
On Saturday, May 14, Masao Suzuki, chair of the Joint Nationalities Commission of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) expressed outrage at another white supremacist mass murder. “Three years ago, white supremacist Patrick Crusius drove hundreds of miles to kill Chicanos and Mexicanos in El Paso, Texas,” said Suzuki. “Then today another young white supremacist, Payton Gendron, also drove into Buffalo, New York to attack the African American community.” Eleven of the 13 people Gendron shot were African American, and ten died.
Just last year, the halls of power in Minnesota shook when people answered the murder of George Floyd by rising up. We marched on the State Capitol, the county attorney, the state attorney general, the police federation and the interstate highways. Day and night, for weeks on end, we faced riot police, tear gas, National Guard troops and white supremacists. The Third Precinct police station was burned, as were hundreds of other buildings. And fires here sparked protests across the world and transformed the political landscape.
Freedom Road Socialist Organization stands with working people on the West Coast who are threatened by the massive wildfires that have taken scores of lives. Dozens more are missing and feared dead and thousands of homes were destroyed. We encourage FRSO members in California, Oregon and Washington to assist in whatever way possible in efforts that ensure the safety of your neighbors and contribute to pro-people recovery efforts. It is important to combat the fear mongering around the fires that is happening in the service of a cynical right-wing political agenda.
New York, NY – For working New Yorkers, taking the subway is an essential part of their day-to-day life. Having a car in New York is incredibly difficult and expensive, which means unless you are rich enough to take a cab to work every day, the subway is basically the only viable option. So for the many New Yorkers with working-class jobs that do not allow them to show up late without risk of getting fired, it is very important that the subway runs smoothly and remains affordable.
Milwaukee, WI – Australia has been burning since early October 2019, with 1020 square miles having been burnt already. The country has been in a state of emergency for nearly three full months, with major cities like Sydney receiving a fire danger level of “catastrophic.” People are flocking to the beaches in fear of the flames because they have nowhere else to go. Aboriginal communities like the Yuin in the town of Mogo are being impacted the hardest. 25 people have been confirmed dead as a result of the fires, and estimates suggest that millions of animals have been killed.
Jacksonville, FL – I'm not sure how we'll look back at film in the 2010s. Much of it already seems like a blur, leaving me asking questions like, “Was that the Batman movie with Ben Affleck or Christian Bale?” or “Which of the five Spider-Man and five Star Wars movies did you like the best?”
This paper prepared collectively by the central leadership of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and was presented by leading member of FRSO, Frank Chapman, at the Centennial Commemoration of the October Revolution, held in New York City, July 2017. The event was sponsored by People’s Response for International Solidarity and Mass Mobilization (PRISM) in cooperation with the U.S. member organizations of the International League of People’s Struggle (ILPS-US).
The cause of peace and justice suffered a blow in 2016 with the election of Donald Trump. Trade unions, Black community groups, immigrant right organizations, student activists and others joined a surge of protest designed to make sure that ‘business as usual’ would be impossible for Republican bigots taking office, while criticizing disappointing corporate Democratic Party politicians for their shortcomings. With the 2018 midterm elections quickly approaching, it is important for everyone to have a good analysis and plan of action.
Eight years ago, on Sept. 24, 2010, more than 70 FBI agents took part in a series of coordinated raids that were aimed at activists of the anti-war and international solidarity movements, and also members of Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO). In a bogus investigation of “material support of terrorism” charges, seven houses and an office in Minneapolis and Chicago were raided. While the raids were underway, FBI agents approached and attempted to intimidate activists in Michigan, California, North Carolina and Wisconsin.
New York, NY – I was recently watching the documentary She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry, about the second wave of feminism in the U.S. In it, one woman said one of the main lesson that she's learned is that no victory is permanent, and that really struck me. No victory is permanent. And while I was watching this documentary, news hit my social media that Chelsea Manning had announced that she was going to take her own life. And I thought again how no victory is permanent.
To mark the April 22, 1870 birthday of Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin, Fight Back News Service is circulating the following excerpt from his 1918 book, The Proletarian Revolution and the Renegade Kautsky.
Freedom Road Socialist Organizations condemns in the strongest possible terms, the cowardly attack on Syria carried out by the Trump administration, and accomplices in Britain and France. We demand that the missile and air strikes stop now!
To mark the anniversary of the publication of The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Frederich Engels, on Feb. 21, 1848, Fight Back! is reprinting the book’s first chapter. This anniversary comes in the context of a growing rejection of capitalism and a renewed interest in the science of revolution, Marxism-Leninism. Enjoy.Chapter I. Bourgeois and Proletarians
The Freedom Road Socialist Organization denounces the lies and exaggerations made by Major Marc Hamlin of the Tampa Police in an August 3, 2015 news article. We oppose police spying, police wrecking and political repression of the people's movements. It is outrageous that police claim they managed to “join” and “take over” activist groups at the protests against the Republican National Convention in 2012.
On June 29, the governor of Puerto Rico, Alejandro García Padilla, said that Puerto Rico’s debt was “not payable.” The government of Puerto Rico has a debt that is 70% of the islands Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This is more than three and half times as great as the next most indebted states, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, whose debt-to-GDP ratios are less than 20%. In addition, Puerto Rico’s electric utility also has major debt problems.
