La noche del 17 de Junio en la iglesia Emanuel AME de Carolina del Sur, el supremacista blanco Dylann Storm Roof de 21 años de edad abrió fuego sobre un grupo de oración. Este acto de violencia racista acabó con la vida de nueve Afro Americanos, incluyendo la de un Senador de Carolina del Sur que era pastor de la Iglesia.

On the night of June 17, at the Emanuel AME church, a 21-year-old white supremacist named Dylann Storm Roof shot up a prayer meeting in Charleston, South Carolina. This act of racist violence resulted in the deaths of nine African American people, including a South Carolina State Senator who was the pastor of the church.

¡Por un movimiento militante y de masas para la liberación!

El 17 de Julio, luego de haber ahorcado a Eric Garner, un Afroamericano padre de seis hijos, los agentes de la policía de New York decidieron revisarle los bolsillos antes de llamar a la ambulancia. Tres semanas después, el oficial Darren Wilson en la ciudad de Ferguson, Missouri mato de seis disparos al joven Michael Brown, dejando su cuerpo tirado en la calle sin llamar por ayuda médica. Por más de una semana la policía se negó a liberar el nombre del oficial Wilson y se rehusó a entregar el reporte oficial. Todo esto demuestra que también pretenden encubrir la verdad sobre el asesinato de Michael Brown.

New York, NY – Eric Garner, an African American father of six, was brutally murdered at the hands of the New York City Police after an officer placed him in an illegal chokehold on July 17. Garner can be heard telling officers that he couldn't breathe in a video taken by a witness. After killing Garner, officers can be seen in the video searching his pockets instead of calling for medical attention. The officers have yet to be fired and charged for their crimes; instead have been placed on desk duty.

It is vital that everyone who wants peace with justice raise their voices against another new war on Iraq. This means no troops, no military ‘advisors,’ no drones, no air strikes, no weapons shipments and no financial aid packages. For the last 20-plus years the U.S. government has been either waging a war on Iraq or preparing to wage a war – it time for this to stop once and for all.

In recent weeks there has been a real upsurge of activity on the part of the anti-war movement in the U.S. Protests have been held in scores of cities – more that 50 on Sept. 7 alone – including substantial demonstrations in cities like New York and Chicago. An article published in the Socialist Worker on Sept. 10, entitled “Standing against both war and dictatorship,” goes a long way toward explaining why the International Socialist Organization (ISO) has been by and large irrelevant, or worse yet, an obstacle to this growing movement against another U.S. war.

Over the past week the people of Egypt have been in the streets and waging a struggle that has assumed truly extraordinary dimensions. They have met austerity and repression with a mass heroism that people everywhere can learn from. The crowds that filled Cairo’s Tahrir Square and staged huge demonstrations across the country created the conditions for the end of the Morsi regime and pushed forward the national democratic process.

Remember the 1964 Mississippi Summer Project!

We strongly condemn the June 25 decision by the Supreme Court of the U.S. to gut the heart of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. On a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court struck down the requirement that seven southern and southwestern states have to get federal government approval for changes in their election practices. Such approval was to make sure that the changes do not prevent African American and Chicano voters from full participation in elections.

Once again, Israel is launching a criminal attack on the people of Gaza. On Nov.14, Israeli warplanes and drones began a ferocious bombardment, killing little kids and a prominent Palestinian freedom fighter, Ahmed Al-Jaabari. Buildings are burning in Gaza City. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, along with other Israeli officials, say this is just the beginning. And, it needs to be said, the White House has the blood of Palestine on its hands.

President Obama’s second term will mean more wars, cutbacks at home and attacks on our civil liberties. Obama has expanded U.S. military intervention in the Middle East – with the ongoing war and occupation of Afghanistan, merciless drone attacks killing thousands in Pakistan and Yemen, aggression against Syria and war threats against Iran. U.S. Special Forces and U.S. military advisors have a growing presence from Mexico to Africa, and worryingly there is a ‘pivot’ towards Asia that aims to bolster U.S. military power there.

Oppose budget cuts, privatization and discrimination against women

In the November elections, Florida will be a major battleground in the people’s fight-back against budget cuts, the war on women and the struggle to protect the public education system. Eleven constitutional amendments will appear on the ballot for Florida voters. Every one of these amendments would hurt the people of Florida and help only the wealthy 1%. We urge all Floridians to vote “no” on all the constitutional amendments.

Tres años después del fin oficial de la recesión, los tiempos difíciles económicos siguen. La ruina fiscal amenaza a muchos trabajadores. Uno de cada tres niños vive en una familia en que ninguno de los dos padres tiene trabajo de tiempo completo todo el año. Escandalosamente, los banqueros siguen aprovechándose de bonos después del rescate de los bancos financiado por el pueblo. Los ricos — el 1% — están viviendo vidas de lujo mientras los trabajadores tienen que luchar solo para sobrevivir y encontrar trabajo. La economía estadounidense está estancada y amenazada por la creciente crisis económica en Europa. La gente está frustrada por la crisis económica y legítimamente enojada con los políticos de los dos partidos.

Stand up for full equality; strike a blow against racist and anti-gay discrimination

On Nov. 6 Minnesotans will join with the rest of the country to vote on Election Day. But in Minnesota there won’t just be politicians on the ballot – there will also be two proposed constitutional amendments to vote on. If the majority of voters vote ‘yes’ on these amendments they will become part of the state constitution. These two referendums are very dangerous.

Three years after the recession officially ended, economic hard times continue. Financial ruin haunts many working people. One in three children live in families where neither parent has full-time year round employment. Outrageously, bankers are still taking bonuses after taxpayer-financed bailouts. The wealthy 1% are living in luxury, while working people struggle to make ends meet, find work, and survive. The U.S. economy is stagnant at best and threatened by the growing economic crisis in Europe. People are frustrated by the economic crisis and rightfully angry with politicians of both parties.

Milwaukee, WI – Nearly a year and a half ago, Walker announced his plan to eliminate the right to collective bargaining for public employees and to stop in-state tuition for undocumented students. The response to these attacks were enormous. Mass mobilizations of workers from across the state took over the Wisconsin state capitol, organized protests from Green Bay to Racine, and forced a recall election against Republican Governor Scott Walker and his cronies in the state senate and assembly.

Ron Paul is attracting a lot of attention, including some attention from some people in the anti-war movement, because of his views on foreign policy. Paul has demanded that the president “bring the troops home.” He reflects popular opinion when he says that President Bush overstepped his powers in starting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan without a declaration of war. In general, Paul is known as an isolationist, rather than a pro-war candidate. However, Ron Paul supports assassinations and other ‘covert actions,’ acts, which are both illegal and anti-democratic, against other countries. In the Republican debates, his campaign tends to put little emphasis on his anti-war stances. Still, to find a candidate of either party who is against the wars is viewed by some as refreshing.

The United States and its Western allies, along with reactionary pro-U.S. Arab regimes in the Middle East, are doing everything in their power to bring down the government of Syria. They have imposed sanctions that harm the Syrian people. They interfere in Syria’s internal affairs, with the aim of spreading disorder and chaos. Behind these attacks there is the steady drumbeat threatening foreign military intervention.

Now that ten years are passed since the events of Sept. 11, 2001, we would do well to look back and take note of some of the causes and consequences. We need to sum up and draw lessons. Immediately following the attacks in New York and at the Pentagon, the Bush administration began cynically manipulating events to launch an expansive and ongoing war on the peoples of the world and an escalating campaign of repression here at home under the guise of a ‘war on terror.’ This two-pronged approach to reasserting the power of the U.S. empire at the expense of working and oppressed people is continuing, and in some ways accelerating under the Obama administration.

As the US/NATO-led rebel forces assault the Libyan capital of Tripoli, it is important for antiwar and progressive forces to recognize a few key points. The development of events since the popular North African revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt led to some divisions among progressive forces as the imperialist countries maneuvered to take control of the situation and develop contradictions in North Africa in their favor. In Libya the U.S., France, the U.K., and Italy joined together to take advantage of the discontent among certain sections of the Libyan people, and thereby develop an armed rebel movement to topple the Gaddafi government. This criminal action taken by US and NATO forces should be condemned by all people of conscience. The success of the NATO-led rebels would certainly mean an end to an independent Libya.

Freedom Road Socialist Organization salutes the workers, students and community participants in the March 12 protest in Madison, Wisconsin. Everyone filling the streets around the state capitol is sending a clear message to the rich and powerful – we will not sit back in silence while our right to collectively bargain is taken away. The moment has arrived to stand up and do whatever it takes to defend our unions, our standard of living, and our future.