The following speech was delivered by Fight Back! editor Mick Kelly at a Minneapolis October, 2019 celebration of the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese revolution. Kelly is a member of the Standing Committee of the Central Committee of Freedom Road Socialist Organization and is responsible for its international relations.

Aurora, CO – Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) members from Denver, Colorado joined the UAW picket line, October 13, at the General Motors (GM) distribution facility in Aurora. That facility is part of the national strike of General Motors where workers are seeking to improved pay, to maintain high quality health care and to provide a path for temporary workers to become permanent workers.

Washington DC – “La Organización Socialista del Camino a la Libertad (FRSO) condena enérgicamente el asesinato en masa realizado en El Paso”, dijo Masao Suzuki, presidente de la Comisión de Nacionalidades Conjuntas de FRSO. Sobre el tirador dijo: “Con una cuenta de Twitter gustando el hashtag BuildtheWall y una foto de armas que deletrean a Trump, está claro que la motivación para este crimen de supremacía blanca está determinada por los ataques racistas de Trump”.

Caracas, Venezuela – Pictured, left to right, at the international São Paulo Forum in Caracas, Venezuela: professor and eco socialist author Miguel Angel Nunez, Secretary General of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) David Choquehuanca, and Tom Burke of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

Caracas, Venezuela – On July 25, a delegation from Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) participated in an event to mark the 33rd anniversary of the murder of Jorge Rodríguez, Sr. Several hundred people gathered in the cemetery in Caracas where his tomb lies alongside other “martyrs of the Revolution” who were killed in the decades before Chávez came to power.

Caracas, Venezuela – From July 25 to 28, delegates from the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) will be participating in the 25th Sao Paolo Forum, held this year in Caracas, Venezuela. Over 1000 delegates from around the world will be attending, under the slogan “For Peace, Sovereignty and the Prosperity of the People: Unity, Struggle, Combat and Victory!”

Jacksonville, FL – About 35 people gathered on May 1 to celebrate International Workers’ Day in Jacksonville. The rally was held in front of the Duval County Courthouse. Members of several local trade unions were present, including Letter Carriers, Teamsters, SEIU, Teachers, and IATSE. Other local activist groups included the Community Action Committee, Students for a Democratic Society, Progressive Coalition, Palestine Solidarity Network, the Northside Coalition, and the local Democratic Black Caucus.

Caracas, Venezuela – La delegación de la Organización Socialista del Camino a la Libertad (FRSO) en Venezuela se reunió con la Ministra de Comunas Blanca Eckhout, después de su discurso triunfante sobre la construcción de 2.6 millones de nuevas viviendas. Eckhout citó a Hugo Chávez y dijo: “Nuestra nueva sociedad no puede ser capitalista porque el capitalismo está diseñado para destruir nuestra patria, nuestra sociedad y nuestra gente”.

Caracas, Venezuela – The Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) delegation in Venezuela met the Minister of Communes Blanca Eckhout, after her triumphant speech about building 2.6 million new homes. Eckhout quoted Hugo Chavez, saying, “Our new society cannot be capitalist because capitalism is designed to destroy our homeland, our society and our people.”

Washington DC – Hundreds of people gathered in Lafayette Square, a park opposite the White House, March 30, to respond to the call to action against NATO, racism and war. The organizers also strongly emphasized the slogan “Hands off Venezuela” to protest the Trump administration and NATO’s attempts to overthrow the democratically-elected government of Nicolás Maduro.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Janus v. AFSCME is a direct assault by the ruling class on the U.S. labor movement. It is an attack led by corporations and right-wing foundations, such as the National Right to Work Foundation and the Bradley Foundation, and fully supported by the Trump administration. While this particular assault, the Janus decision, is focused on public sector unions, make no mistake, the effects will be felt across the labor movement and by the entire working class.

Fight Back! is circulating the following comradely greetings from the Communist Party of Greece to the Freedom Road Socialist Organization on the occasion of their 8th Congress.

Denver, CO – Denver Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) held a gathering in front of the Colorado capitol building on May 1 to celebrate International Workers Day. The Front Range Socialist Party and John Brown Gun Club held a food and clothing drive at the same location.

Minneapolis, MN — About 100 people rallied here, March 8, to mark International Women’s Day. Loretta Van Pelt, of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, told the crowd, “We in Freedom Road know the enemy is bigger than Trump. And we call out that enemy. It is the capitalist class. We see the oppression and patriarchy that they try to shove down our throats. Their system that says women should work for peanuts, or work for free, and silently accept the abuses that ruin our lives. But we will not be silent! Today, on International Women’s Day, we shout our rage.”

Denver, CO – On Jan. 20, thousands of people gathered in Denver to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the women’s march. This crowd included individuals from every background to march for women’s rights and against the various misogynistic policies put into place by Donald Trump. The weather was frigid, but that did not stop the marchers from carrying on. They gathered at the Civic Center amphitheater and marched around Civic Center Park where they then held a rally.

Tampa, FL – On April 30, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization and other organizations will come together to celebrate May Day, or International Workers Day. The protest will be at 2 p.m. in Lykes Gaslight Park in downtown Tampa.

Fight Back! interviewed Chrisley Carpio, a student activist and leader of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) Student Commission. Carpio organizes with campus activists across the country from a variety of student groups. She is an experienced and tested leader who others can learn from. Fight Back!: How did you get involved in student activism?

Washington DC – Speaking to a protesters assembled in Columbus Circle, Jan. 20, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization Political Secretary Steff Yorek said, “We need to stay in the streets the entire four years opposing Trump and making the country ungovernable.”

“Trump is the way backward. We are the way forward”

We are circulating the text of Frank Chapman’s Nov. 19 speech at Chicago’s 25th annual People’s Thanksgiving event, hosted Freedom Road Socialist Organization. Frank Chapman is a veteran of the Black Liberation Movement. He was a victim of wrongful imprisonment as a young man, and then, like Malcolm X, George Jackson and others, became politicized in prison. His release was won through a political struggle led Angela Davis. From 1981 through 1989, Frank was the executive director of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. In the past five years, he’s returned to that work, leading the campaign of the Chicago Alliance to win an elected, civilian police accountability council.