Los Angeles, CA – Boyle Heights joined the call from the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR) for protests on November 4 to demand a people’s mandate and that Trump concede. Hosted by Centro CSO at Mariachi Plaza, the rally featured many family and friends of Chicanos and Chicanas killed by police in Los Angeles. Protesters celebrated the electoral defeat of District Attorney Jackie Lacey, a crucial victory for the movement against police crimes in Los Angeles. Lacey has notoriously refused to file charges on over 600 cops for killing Blacks, Chicanos and Latinos in LA County during her two terms in office.

Luis Sifuentes, a member of Centro CSO, kicked off the rally with a speech calling for community control of the police through a CPAC (Civilian Police Accountability Council), the end of ICE raids, and the defense of public education. “We need to recognize that we live in a time where women in detention centers are forcibly sterilized, where children have died under ICE custody, where children have disappeared by the thousands, where families are separated at the border, where refugees are falling ill from COVID-19 and dying. It’s outrageous!” said Sifuentes. “And this isn’t the time to slow down, this is the time to stand up, and fight back!” He led the crowd in chants of “Stand up! Fight back!”

Throughout the rally, the relatives of Jesse Romero, David Sullivan, Daniel Hernandez and Cesar Rodriguez spoke about their loved ones, the importance of DA Lacey’s loss, and the need to continue struggling. Minerva Garcia described the murder of her friend Vanessa Marquez, a famous Chicana actress killed by South Pasadena police in 2018. She explained how Marquez should not be remembered for her death, but rather her anti-war activism and efforts to fight sexual harassment in the entertainment industry decades before the #MeToo movement. The family of Paul Rea, killed by the East LA Sheriffs in 2018, also attended the rally in solidarity.

Other speakers included Kareem Youseff from the U.S. Palestinian Community Network and artist Sammy Quetzalli. Youseff connected the struggles for Chicano and Palestinian liberation before presenting some lessons from the Egyptian revolution for the fight against Trump. Quetzalli spoke of his own experience surviving LAPD brutality and performed an original poem. “We need to fight against police brutality on all fronts – through the legal system, in the streets, at the polls,” said Quetzalli. “There’s not just one avenue. There’s not just one approach.”

Lucia Torres, a leader of CSO Youth, gave two speeches, one directed at Trump, one directed at Biden. “I’m a woman and Trump wants to take my right to abortion and birth control away. Trump wants to take away the right to my own body as a woman,” said Torres. “I am queer and Trump wants to take my right to love and marry whoever I choose away.”

Zada Musica, a Chicana musician from Boyle Heights and member of Centro CSO, closed the rally with a number of songs inspired by the uprising in Los Angeles and across the U.S. against police terror.

The final vote count for POTUS is nearing an end. Sol Marquez, who helped lead the rally and who is a member of CSO as well as Freedom Road Socialist Organization, was featured in an FRSO panel on November 8. The online panel discussed the next steps post-election and can be watched here.

#LosAngelesCA #OppressedNationalities #PeoplesStruggles #ChicanoLatino #PoliceBrutality #CentroCSO #NationalAllianceAgainstRacistAndPoliticalRepressionNAARPR

Los Angeles, CA – On March 7, Centro CSO: Community Service Organization hosted a celebration of el Día Internacional de la Mujer (International Women’s Day), filled with poetry, singing and political discussion at the Benjamin Franklin Branch Library in Boyle Heights. This year’s event, the third that Centro CSO has put on, honored the women of Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles who have fought back against the privatization of public education, police terror, sexism and transphobia.

Sol Marquez, a member of Centro CSO and Freedom Road Socialist Organization, opened the event by explaining how International Women’s Day emerged in the 1900s out of the struggles of working-class women in New York City, Germany and the Soviet Union. She then connected International Women’s Day’s origins to current examples of patriarchy, including the election of Trump, recent laws banning abortion in certain parts of the U.S. and the #MeToo movement. Marquez asked the attendees at the event, “How many of you marched when Trump was inaugurated January 2016? We marched in the rain to protest him as U.S. president! And women again stood up in January of 2019 to participate in the UTLA strike.” She finished the introduction by reading from The Duty of Working Women in War-Time by Clara Zetkin, the German Marxist whose proposal led to the first International Women’s Day.

Chicana artist Vibiana Aparicio-Chamberlin read poems and excerpts from her memoir Mi Amor, about growing up on the Eastside of Los Angeles in a Mexican and indigenous family. She also spoke about her experiences at the mass protest against the Vietnam War – the Chicano Moratorium on August 29, 1970 – where she was beaten and sexually abused by two white police officers. Aparicio-Chamberlin then led a creative exercise, asking the crowd to reminisce together about the different spices and herbs their mothers and grandmothers used in their cooking. She closed with a poem about the femicides in Juarez made worse by the opening of maquiladoras along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Lupemar Torres, a Centro CSO and United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) member, moderated a panel that included Marquez, Rosario Bonilla (Centro CSO), Garfield High School senior Sam Garcia (East Los Angeles Women’s Center), Josefina Rizo (Centro CSO and Justice for Jose “Peruzzi” Mendez”), and Eloisa Galindo (Eastside Padres Contra la Privatización). Torres asked the panelists a series of questions: “What organization are you from and what do you do?” “Why is it important for you as a woman to fight back?” “What advice do you have for other women?”

Marquez detailed her activism as a member of FRSO in Tampa, Florida, which included campaigns against deportations and around the murder of Trayvon Martin. Since moving to Los Angeles, she’s fought for public education and organized families who’ve lost loved ones at the hands of LAPD and LA County Sheriffs. She also emphasized how FRSO places women in positions of leadership and highlighted the role of socialism in historically improving conditions for women, particularly in Venezuela and Cuba.

Rosario Bonilla, a Centro CSO and Eastside Padres Contra la Privatización member, talked about how she joined the struggle against charters after KIPP Promesa charter school attempted to open a new large school close to her son’s school in Boyle Heights. Centro CSO and other allied organizations fought back and won, as protests and Centro CSO’s lawsuit forced the KIPP corporation to cancel its plans. Bonilla told the crowd, “We are the voices of our children. We have to fight for the rights of our children.”

Sam Garcia described how their work as a youth organizer with ELAWC helped them regain their voice as a survivor of sexual assault. Josefina Rizo, whose 16-year-old son Jose Méndez was killed by LAPD in 2016, discussed how she went from attending Centro CSO meetings because of its support for her family’s case to now enjoying being an active member of the organization. Eloisa Galindo summarized the history of the Eastside Padres Contra la Privatización, explained her own process of learning about the impact of charters, and recognized the many parent activists involved with her group’s work.

Torres closed the event by highlighting the role of primarily women teachers in the UTLA strike on LAUSD in January 2019 and saying that all women, regardless of their personality and capacities, have a role to play in the movement.

#LosAngelesCA #InternationalWomensDay #BoyleHeights #California #LA #IWD

When the Socialist Party of America celebrated the first Women’s Day on February 28, 1909, it was in honor of the 1908 garment workers’ strike in New York, where women fought against horrible working conditions. From the moment women entered the labor struggle, they have been at the forefront of the fight against the bosses. That’s why in 1910, at the Socialist International meeting when Clara Zetkin proposed that Women’s Day become an annual celebration of resistance, it was approved unanimously.

1911 was the first year that International Women’s Day was celebrated, and millions of people marched and attended rallies in over 17 countries. In the following years, Women’s Day became a rallying cry for many different issues, from the anti-war to the suffrage movements.

In 1917 Russian women took to the streets, March 8, under the slogan of “Bread and Peace” to protest the war. Four days later the czar abdicated his position and women won the right to vote.

International Women’s Day has evolved and shifted, as each year brings on a new struggle against oppression. Despite over 100-plus years since the first International Women’s Day, the original character of the day remains intact. On Women’s Day we celebrate the resilient resistance against inequality and oppression, while courageously fighting for liberation.

As we celebrate in 2020, we look back on the last year. The third year of the Trump administration saw outrageous reactionary attacks. We saw a slew of anti-abortion laws in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Ohio, Utah, Kentucky and Arkansas. These laws directly affect our ability to have a say over our health and futures. We continued to see attacks on immigrant women on the border and in detention centers. We saw 25 murders of transgender and gender non-conforming people; many suspect higher numbers, as many deaths go unreported or the victims are purposefully misgendered. It’s unconscionable that the majority of trans women killed are oppressed nationality, especially African American, women. We continue to see the highs and lows of the #MeToo movement, as people continue to come forward demanding justice.

Yet, for every attack that the government and monopoly capitalism has launched, women and gender non-conforming people have doubled down their efforts and fought back. 2019 was a year of unprecedented struggle!

We can start in Chicago, where members of the Chicago Teacher’s Union (CTU) waged an incredible strike that not only won rights for themselves as workers, but rights across the city for students, parents and communities. We saw teachers’ strikes throughout the country fighting for a world where students can receive a better education and the teachers can earn a better living.

In Canada, we saw incredible indigenous movement led by women and gender non-conforming people who demanded that the government finally acknowledge the ongoing genocide of the indigenous population. They won their demands and are continuing to fight against the ongoing violence.

Women hold up half the sky. The stronger the role of women, the stronger will be the people’s movement.

As we enter a new decade, we enter a new decade of struggle. The 2010s were tumultuous and yet full of victories. We can bring renewed power and passion for justice to the 2020s, bolstered by the lessons we learned in the previous decade. There’s no way we’re going backwards. We will shatter the chains of oppression. We have our liberation to win!

May the new year and new decade be one of struggle and worthy victories!

Long live International Women’s Day!

#UnitedStates #WomensMovement #PeoplesStruggles #InternationalWomensDay #FreedomRoadSocialistOrganization #Socialism

FRSO leader Chrisley Carpio explained, “Excitingly, about 30 students filled the room, many are new recruits at their first Student Commission meeting. They expressed nervousness, but delivered detailed, precise reports with confidence. We heard new voices during every part of the meeting. In a time of countless attacks from Trump's administration, students are joining the FRSO and building the student movement with emergency actions, campaigns and a determination to revive campus activism.”

Opposition to Trump is the unifying theme of today’s student movement. FRSO students described protesting Trump’s inauguration in 2017 and attending the massive Women’s Marches the next day. Some hosted campus events in solidarity with Native Americans and environmentalists at Standing Rock against the oil pipeline, both during Obama’s presidency and then under Trump.

In the autumn of 2018, FRSO student activists rallied on their quads to stop Trump’s nomination and #CancelKavanaugh in support of the #MeToo movement. Then as FRSO students were driving home from the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) Convention in Salt Lake City, a call went out to protest against Trump and Education Secretary Betsy Devos’ attack on Title IX and transgender rights.

In 2019, students rallied to support the immigrant rights caravans from Central America on the U.S. border with Mexico. When Trump falsely declared a state of emergency in mid-February, members of the FRSO student commission organized emergency protests demanding, “Legalization for all” and “No border wall!”

The FRSO opposes the border wall and the U.S. wars, coups and intervention that cause poverty and misery in Latin America. Many student comrades are now leading protests against Trump’s war threats and U.S. sanctions against Venezuela. FRSO stands in solidarity with the Venezuelan people, President Maduro, and the popular Bolivarian revolution, which is reclaiming that country for the people instead of U.S. corporations and the rich.

During the weekend meeting, one example of student activist campaigning really stood out. Student leaders talked about their Black Lives Matter campaign at the University of North Florida. They won a campaign to create an African American study major, $2 million for scholarships for Black and Latino students (using money cut from administrators' salaries), and increased Black and Latino enrollment.

Now, students are demanding the removal of a racist statue at the University of Texas Arlington. At Florida State University, students got a statue of a slaveowner removed.

“At the FRSO meeting, we decided to be bold and meet the political challenges of our age under Trump. The ruling class is unleashing attacks on the people, on many fronts. We see a new Supreme Court that attacks collective bargaining rights and reproductive rights. We see restrictions on immigration, continued racist discrimination and police crimes, especially against Black people. We see an economic crisis right around the corner. We see a continued, if clumsy, march towards more U.S. wars. At the same time, we know socialism is on many students’ minds, as protests and workers’ strikes are on the rise,” said Carpio.

Carpio continued, “Our opportunities to build struggle outweigh our obstacles. With fierce struggle, study, and determination, we are going to move forward with our demands for a new society, for socialism.”

#JacksonvilleFL #PeoplesStruggles #frso #Socialism

Chicago, IL – You know people are having fun at a political event when community activist Jeanette Taylor, a candidate for city council, gets the room to sing along to Chaka Khan’s I’m Every Woman! The feeling continued when Christel Williams, a candidate for a principal office in the Chicago Teachers Union, led the singing of Ella’s Song.

The mood at Freedom Road Socialist Organization’s event for International Women’s Day was festive, but also militant. As Erica Anna of FRSO said at the outset, “Our program for this evening includes mu-sical performances, some poetry, and a drag performance, as well as words from women active in local movements. Though International Women’s Day isn’t broadly celebrated in the U.S., we wanted to come together to lift up the revolutionary tradition of this day, honor the contributions of all people oppressed for their gender, and create some joy in a society that sees us as playthings and property.”

Taylor had led the fight to save Dyett High School in the Bronzeville community, and now is a leading advocate for community control of the police through an elected, civilian police accountability council (CPAC).

More than 150 people attended the March 9 event.

Speakers included Susan Sadlowski Garza, the alderwoman from Chicago’s 10th Ward, who introduced herself as the first member of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) to sit on the city council; Jazmine Sa-las and Veronica Tirado Mercado from Chicago Boricua Resistance, committed to fighting the U.S. pil-lage of Puerto Rico; Jen Conant, chair of the CTU Chicago International Charter School council, and a leader in the victorious nine-day strike of teachers and paraprofessionals in February; and Love Jordan of Gabriela, the Filipina patriotic women’s organization. Later, another CTU militant, Tara Stamps, rose to call for support for Shoneice Reynolds, a mentor for Black students in the Oak Park/River Forest schools. Reynolds was suspended because of recent Black high school student protests on the anni-versary of the death of Trayvon Martin.

Alexandra Westberry, a trans woman, an activist with Students for a Democratic Society at College of DuPage, and a member of FRSO, spoke about how the oppression of women is built into this capitalist society. Speaking historically, she remarked, “The centering of life around property that men own cre-ated a pervasive worldview that women are property.” Then she brought that theory to the current struggle of women, stating “The recent headlines about the #MeToo movement demonstrate how pervasive sexual assault and discrimination are.”

“Trump’s rise to power, with his overt sexual aggression and interest in male domination, has borne out intensified attacks on women. In response, masses of women have risen up in opposition. There have been millions of women in the streets and in defiant resistance to the pigs in power,” said Westberry.

“Violence and discrimination have become especially unavoidable for women of color, trans women and particularly trans women of color… and the murder rate just keeps rising. In Chicago, there have been no confirmed cases in the last 25 years where a trans woman’s murder has been solved. These facts aren’t really surprising given 40% of police officers are domestic abusers of women or children.

“But International Women’s Day is a reminder that solidarity can defeat that violence and destroy the patriarchy. It reminds us that our oppression is so deeply rooted in this rotten system that it will take revolution to give us back our rightful place.”

Westberry concluded, “I am hopeful that in groups like this, we can build the revolutionary fight against patriarchy together, from the Philippines, to Puerto Rico, to right here in Chicago.”

The event also included visual art, a vendors’ market, and food as part of a celebration by and for trans, nonbinary and gender nonconforming people and cis women.

#ChicagoIL #PeoplesStruggles #InternationalWomensDay #FreedomRoadSocialistOrganization

¡Ya basta! Trump, su administración, y los elites que le respaldan, hacen la guerra contra las mujeres y millones de mujeres declaran que no dejen ningún paso para atrás. Desde las marchas masivas de las mujeres, a las elecciones recientes, a la resistencia constante, diario, mujeres están levantándose en contra de la agenda reaccionaria de Trump.

Trump y sus simpatizantes en el Senado quieren llenar La Corte Suprema y volver al reves los derechos reproductivos. Empezaron por nombrar el misógino borracho Brett Kavanaugh a La Corte Suprema. Además de la política de detener los inmigrantes indefinitivamente, el Departamento de Justicia del Trump quiere defender su intento de negar acceso al aborto a las mujeres inmigrantes. El Departamento de Educación quiere socavar los derechos de los sobrevivientes de una violación. Y también, la administración de Trump está atacando los derechos de las personas transgéneros.

Encima de todos los abusos, Trump y sus fanáticos se burlan al movimiento #MeToo y trabajan duros para crear un ambiente tóxico lleno de falta de respeto y misoginia mientras les dan animo a hacer violencia a las mujeres.

No hay ninguna cosa en este país que está justo, especialmente por las mujeres de las comunidades Afro-Americana, Chicana y Latina, Indígena, Asiática y de las Islas Pacíficas. Podemos ver esta verdad fea con las estadísticas sobre el desempleo, la desigualdad de salario, y una falta de servicios importantes.

La Casa Blanca, el Pentagono y los financieros del Wall Street han globalizado la guerra contra las mujeres. Ellos han creado un imperio de desigualdad y discriminación. Las mujeres son lo más impactado por el imperialismo. Se nota en las caravanas de refugiados huyendo de la violencia y la pobreza en Centroamerica causadas por los EEUU, y también en otros lugares como se nota en las caras de las familias muriendose de hambre en Yemen por culpa del aliado estadounidense Arabia Saudita.

Mirando a la ola de resistencia en los EEUU y alrededor el mundo, estamos llegando a una coyuntura decisiva. Lo que no es aceptable debe ser cambiado. Necesitamos un movimiento amplio e inclusivo, uno que enfrenta cada injusticia y que tiene las ganas a hacer lo necesario para vencer. El silencio y la civilidad no nos van a servir en esta lucha porque nuestros enemigos no son así.

Pronto llegará la fecha del ocho de narzo, el Día Internacional de Las Mujeres. Es un dia a celebrar nuestra lucha histórica y a poner al centro nuestros demandas. Alrededor del mundo y aquí en los EEUU, celebramos este día que comenzó en el ocho de marzo 1908 cuando miles de trabajadoras en una fábrica de ropa juntaron con el movimiento por el derecho del voto para las mujeres para hacer una gran manifestación. Desde allí, la famosa socialista de Alemania, Clara Zetkin, propuso a todos los trabajadores a manifestar cada ocho de marzo como el Dia Internacional de las Mujeres.

Un dicho es “las mujeres sostienen la mitad del cielo” y debemos reconocer que cuando hay un movimiento fuerte de mujeres, el movimiento entero es mas fuerte.

Este año el Día Internacional de las Mujeres es un dia para ponerse de pie y poner su granito de arena, para resistir todas las cosas y todas las personas que nos oprimen y para crear un futuro más justo.

La opresión de la mujer no es nada nueva – viene de antes de la época capitalista y fue un precursor a la división de la sociedad en clases. La desigualdad sistematica es una característica intrínseca al sistema capitalista y solo el socialismo – un sistema social en que el poder político y economico está en las manos de las y los trabajadores – puede poner fin a todas las barerras a la igualdad y la liberación.

#UnitedStates #PeoplesStruggles #Trump #laGuerraContraLasMujeres #DiaInternacionalDeLaMujer

Jerrica Hoey, a member of the ten-person Washington DC distribution team states, “It's important that we continue to build the struggle against Trump. This movement showed from the outset that the people will not stand for the Trump administration's war on women. We're excited to hit the streets to get the word out on #MeToo, to put out a call for International Women's Day on March 8, and to share stories with survivors and organizers on the ground.”

Tracy Molm of Freedom Road Socialist Organization is heading up Fight Back! distribution at the Saint Paul, Minnesota march. Molm states, “We’re looking forward to getting Fight Back! into people’s hands and bringing a revolutionary perspective to the protests. It’s going to a big day.”

#MinneapolisMN #PeoplesStruggles #WomensMarch

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following resolution from the 8th Congress of Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO).

Domestic Political Resolution

U.S. Domestic Politics and the Trump Administration

The current period in the United States reflects an imperialist power in decline – what Lenin called “moribund capitalism.” U.S. influence around the world is generally weakening, and this means a number of things for the working class and oppressed nationalities living inside the U.S. The primary factor U.S. communists see in the present day is heightened attacks against the people’s movements, which means that communists should fight back and win all we can win, build a new communist party, and bring forward into the struggle all elements willing to unite behind the correct line in the united front against imperialism. This period of U.S. politics is differentiated from the previous period by the election of Donald Trump.

The presidency of Barack Obama ended in 2016 with the defeat of Hillary Clinton and the election of Donald Trump, who was inaugurated on January 20, 2017. This was unexpected by many sectors of the ruling class which had backed Clinton and political analysts who said Trump had no real chance of winning. Many oppressed nationality people saw their worst fears confirmed, and many other people were shocked by the outcome. Trump was elected for a variety of reasons, including an excess of “dark money” free media which gave Trump a surprising financial edge at the end of the presidential race, and the mishandling of Clinton's campaign by leading democratic party officials who failed to plan visits to key battleground states like Wisconsin and Pennsylvania and lost those states to Trump. The impact of ‘right to work’ and the collapse of unions in Rust Belt states and an appeal to white supremacist rhetoric in the face of significant demographic changes also contributed. Clinton was viewed by many working-class people as an exceptionally corrupt politician unworthy of support, and this, coupled with voter suppression and sexism also played a role in the outcome of the election. In the end, Wall Street's candidate lost to the billionaire and the ruling class has never lost sight of its own interests in dealing with the aftermath of this.

Trump himself seemed surprised by his own victory, and quickly put into motion plans to construct a reactionary political cabinet around himself filled with military leaders and other billionaires. This cabinet is unique in that it is the billionaires themselves filling the seats, rather than the political lackeys who normally serve those roles. Trump also appointed Steve Bannon to a newly created position, that of White House Chief Strategist, which Bannon served as for about a year. Bannon, who is the executive chairman of the far-right Breitbart News and had support from right-wing billionaires like the Mercers, quickly began reinforcing Trump's already conservative ideology by advocating for stricter immigration policies and harsher trade regulations against China and Mexico. This is all an attempt to form an alliance with white supremacist and gain their support for an increasingly unstable and rogue administration that is an unstable representative of the ruling class. Bannon is one of many leaders of the ‘alt-right’ Trump has worked with to further his own 1% agenda of white nationalism, bigotry and economic policies that favor the rich.

Before Trump, Obama’s time in office saw some advances by the people’s movements, including the rise of Occupy Wall Street, the birth of the Black Lives Matter movement, the enacting of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and the Affordable Care Act, and the legalization of gay marriage. Obama’s time in office also saw defeats for working people, including the devastating restructuring following the economic crisis of 2008, a continuation of war in the Middle East, more deportations of immigrants than ever before and continued attacks on the trade union movement.

Domestically, Trump has launched terrible attacks on the working class, oppressed nationalities, women and queer people. After coming out as a climate change denier, Trump has cut funding to the Environmental Protection Agency, withdrawn from the Paris Accords, pushed forward destructive and racist pipeline projects and deleted climate change data from federal websites. Some of these environmental attacks have a dual nature, such as the struggle over the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) that directly targeted native people and their land. He has consistently attacked transgender rights. He supports attacks on women’s dignity, and especially reproductive rights. His attacks on immigrants have gone far beyond rhetoric about building a wall. Trump's vocal opposition to the movement for Black liberation has had a strong effect on racist groups in the U.S., which are growing at an alarming rate.

These attacks have been met with a heroic resistance by a broad array of forces – a real resistance carried out in the streets and workplaces by working-class people, different from the efforts of failed politicians to lead workers and oppressed people back into billionaire political parties like the Democrats. Trump’s billionaire agenda, bigotry and backwardness have united many arenas of struggle with the goal of stopping the political agenda of Trump and the class he represents. While the movement is not as large as it was immediately following the election, those active on the ground are more focused and experienced than they were a year ago and it is up to communists to win them to the correct line.

Fighting National Oppression: Solidarity with Muslims and Immigrants and the Struggle of Chicanos, Mexicanos and Central Americans

One of the very first racist acts of the Trump administration was Executive Order 13769, the Muslim travel ban. A wave of mass protest at airports from coast to coast erupted, pushing the courts to block the ban. Many of the affected communities, including Palestinians in Chicago, Somalis in Minneapolis, and Iranians in Los Angeles mobilized for this fight. Right-wing anti-Muslim protests inspired by Trump were also swamped by counter-protesters who outnumbered them by as much as 20 to 1 or more. Other oppressed nationalities, such as Japanese Americans in the San Jose-San Francisco Bay Area and Chicanos in Los Angeles mobilized their communities to show solidarity with American Muslims, who are overwhelmingly oppressed nationalities (African, African American, South Asian and Arab Americans).

Central to the struggle for immigrant rights have been Chicanos, Mexicanos and Central Americans, who are the main target of the Trump administration’s racist anti-immigrant policies. Trump’s border wall, ending DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), the dismantling of TPS (Temporary Protective Status), the increase in deportation arrests, and the Republican RAISE act that would cut legal immigration in half and end family reunification visas all focus on immigrants from Mexico and Central America, as well as affecting other oppressed nationalities, especially Asian Americans, Arabs and others from the Middle East and Africa. This is an attack on all immigrants who are fighting for their homes, families and sanctuary in the U.S.

The struggle of Chicanos, Mexicanos and Central Americans also includes other fights. Inside the Chicano Nation in the Southwest, police killings of youth, privatization of public schools, and other forms of national oppression are facing a growing fightback. In the current period, attacks on immigrants are particularly vicious and must be met with a special emphasis by organizers.

The Struggle for Black Liberation Intensifies

The racist murder of Trayvon Martin in 2012 sparked a powerful movement around the country for justice, particularly around cases of police brutality and vigilante violence against Black people. Some of the heightened points of struggle include the Ferguson rebellion in 2014 and the Baltimore rebellion in 2015 after the murders of Michael Brown and Freddie Gray, respectively. Around the country, protesters took to the streets and held vigils, marches and rallies for justice calling for an end to racism and national oppression. The slogan “Black Lives Matter” grew in use through many campaigns against injustice – including the protest movements against the murders of Sandra Bland, Eric Garner, Laquan McDonald, Jamar Clark, and Philando Castille – and continues to inspire struggle. In perhaps one of the most interesting cultural events, National Football League player Colin Kaepernick’s taking a knee during the national anthem has sparked an even stronger debate about police brutality in the U.S. The phenomenon of taking a knee, begun by Kaepernick during the Obama years, has continued well into Trump’s presidency as a popular symbol of resistance. While the movement for justice has seen ups and downs since Trayvon Martin, with some sectors of the movement going over to the Democratic Party or non-profits, there remain many good forces dedicated to real organizing in the streets for justice and these are the forces communists should unite with. Many younger activists within the BLM movement have independently developed an interest in socialism and make up some of the brightest stars in the movement.

Police departments are becoming more and more militarized. Several cities around the country are struggling for community control of the police and are trying to pass police accountability councils. The people in the streets, who are the real agents of change in society, have much to be proud of and a lot of work still to come for the cause of Black liberation. In particular, the work fighting for community control of the police, headed by the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, has led to a rise in the movement fighting for police accountability in other cities like Jacksonville, Florida and Minneapolis, Minnesota. Trump has continued the Obama-era policy of not prosecuting killer cops who kill unarmed Black people. He has taken it further by actually promoting police terror, joking about police roughing up suspects. The state attacked the Black Lives Matter movement by targeting them as ‘domestic terrorist organizations,’ while killer cops face no repercussion. Attorney General Jeff Sessions event went as far as to end an Obama-era initiative that encouraged law enforcement agencies to enter into voluntary periods of reforming practices and procedures following special cases like the murder of unarmed oppressed nationalities by the police.

Trump's presidential race brought forward many white nationalists who, since his election, have become much more public and bolder. Alt-right figureheads like Richard Spencer have risen to prominence. Nowhere was this more visible than in Charlottesville, Virginia in August 2017, when a white supremacist murdered anti-racist protester Heather Hayes during a demonstration to remove Confederate monuments in the city. The racist attack shows the importance of beating back national oppression and taking down Confederate statues and monuments. Even though the movement to remove the monuments is often taken up by white activist groups, it is still an important issue in the Black Nation of the South. We stand for defeating the growing far-right movement and defending our own movements by any means necessary.

Trump's Attacks on Labor

Trump's administration wasted no time attacking the historic gains made by the working class in the U.S. The Labor Department has been hard at work fighting to reduce overtime benefits that the Obama administration had tried expanding as a concession to the working class. Trump himself has been an advocate against raising the minimum wage, and in particular has opposed the Fight for $15 movement. There is less accountability for employers for how workplace health and safety are regulated. Right to Work is gaining momentum in states with conservative governors. Notably, Trump appointed a Supreme Court judge that will allow Janus v. AFSCME to move forward. This would result in the whole public sector going Right to Work on a national scale, which would be a devastating blow to the labor movement nationally. Trump's general approach to labor policy has been a reflection of his class affiliation as a billionaire who seeks to promote deregulation. His empty campaign promises about creating jobs have remained empty promises.

The trade union movement, including organizations like the AFL-CIO and others, is facing vicious attacks in the U.S. Unfortunately, the class collaborationist leadership of the trade unions has proven unable and unwilling to really organize much of a defense against policies like Right to Work, but there is hope in the rank-and-file movements. Partial victories like those seen by the Teamsters United campaign in 2016, where for the first time in years, reformers won important seats in the Central and Southern regions, show the ability of the working class to fight both the boss and the trade union bureaucrats and win. The level of strikes is at an all-time low in the U.S., but militant movements are struggling to revive that important weapon in the arsenal of labor. The militant strike led by the Chicago Teachers Union in 2016, one of the largest and most important strikes in recent years, showed an excellent example of how trade unions can fight back and win gains.

Women and Queer People Face Repression and Attacks

After the election, a million women marched in Washington. This is unfortunately no surprise, given the terrible comments about women made by Donald Trump before, during, and after his campaign. The #metoo movement has been a positive development. Institutions like Planned Parenthood face serious legal attacks, along with right-wing vigilante repression. The rights of women and trans people to choose about their reproductive health are under attack by politicians and their supporters under the guise of “making America great again” by placing women into a social status similar to the one they occupied in the earlier centuries. These attacks primarily target working-class women and oppressed nationality women, and that has led to lines of demarcation being drawn in the movement for women’s liberation between “petty bourgeois, majority white, trans exclusionary” factions and groups that have a more developed political line.

The murder of oppressed nationality trans people continues to occur at a higher rate than any other group in the U.S. Organizing around these cases is found lacking in far too many cities, which calls for greater vigor in fighting back when oppressed nationality trans people are murdered. Around the country, right-wing think tanks are funding local ordinances directed against trans and nonbinary people using the restrooms of their choice. Local movements are fighting back, and many cities around the U.S. have passed Human Rights Ordinances at the local level designed to protect the democratic rights of queer, trans and nonbinary people. While we advocate that no one should join the U.S. military, Trump’s attempted ban of transgender people in the military further highlights a reactionary aspect of his policies.

Students Fight Back

College campuses have become an even bigger arena of struggle against a variety of attacks on education and right-wing attacks in general. One of the biggest struggles has been over DACA. Student organizations like the New Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) have seen more chapters on more campuses than ever before following the election of Donald Trump. Students are continuing to fight to stop Trump’s agenda and have played important roles in shutting down both Trump’s own speaking events at universities and events planned by far-right popularizers like Richard Spencer. The fight for sanctuary campuses has produced good results and taught student organizers a good lesson: struggle can bring victory.

Sustaining the Anti-war Movement and International Solidarity

Growing concerns about war after Trump’s threats against the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea or north Korea), and the never-ending U.S. occupation of Afghanistan point to the growing importance of the U.S. anti-war movement. Palestine in particular continues to face terrible repression at the hands of the Israeli government and their U.S. backers and must see greater solidarity from the anti-war movement if Palestine is ever to be free. These hot spots are but the tip of iceberg of U.S. military intervention around the globe. While the movement is not where it was 12 years ago when there were mass protests involving hundreds of thousands in the streets against the U.S. invasions and occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq, the anti-war movement did play a major role in the protests against Trump's anti-Muslim and anti-refugee policies. The anti-war movement must be prepared for any sudden escalation of military aggression by the United States.

Political Consciousness is High

There is no denying that right-wing groups, particularly white supremacist groups, have seen a rise in membership levels and activity since the election of Donald Trump. This includes organizations like the KKK, neo-nazis/facists but also newer formations of the alt-right like the 3%ers and Turning Point USA.

At the same time many progressive and left organizations are also seeing new members and organizers step forward to fight back against these attacks. Many progressive and revolutionary organizations have been undergoing a period of exponential growth. These new people are getting active and seeking to learn new theory for the fight against Trump. More people are standing up, some for the first time ever, and demanding a better world.

The Road Forward for Communists

This is what imperialism in decline looks like, a system that cannot correct itself but must be smashed and rebuilt from the ground up. It is up to the communists to navigate a difficult road to socialism, and communists must make many difficult choices along the way. We will see far too many of our friends lost to the trap of the Democratic Party and its cousin, the non-profit sector, in the coming years. We must learn to unite all those who can be united behind our campaigns in the coming years without losing our independent initiative and ideology within the united front. While the movement for change is perhaps not as large as that immediately following the election of Trump, there are still plenty of good forces to unite around the correct line of struggle, forces that are more and more convinced every day that the system cannot be reformed. We must also win over those who have independently developed an interest in socialism to our line.

This is a period of major attacks and widespread, large-scale fightbacks. The situation is very dynamic and fluid. As communists, we must lead campaigns that attempt to win all that can be won. Fortune favors the brave and bold. Struggles such as those for immigrant rights, community control of the police or the taking down of Confederate statues can capture the attention of movements in motion. The corrupt and rotten nature of the system is exposed with an unusual degree of clarity. Anti-capitalism and disgust of the bought-and-paid-for politicians is at an all-time high. Times have never been better to raise the level of struggle, be clear and forthright with a socialist vision and to build revolutionary organization. We need to be clear that the situation for the revolutionary and progressive forces is good, and we cannot afford to oscillate between rage and despair. We need to seize the time, take as many people as far as possible, and rain every possible blow on the enemy.

#UnitedStates #Socialism #NationalOppression #DonaldTrump #TrumpAdministration #resolution

New York, NY – On June 5, fashion designer Kate Spade died via suicide. Three days later, chef and TV personality Anthony Bourdain also committed suicide. Along with his TV show, Bourdain was a supporter of Palestine and the #MeToo movement, as well as openly criticizing Henry Kissinger for his foreign policy.

Both cases resulted in a widespread, mainstream discussion about suicide and mental health, but the solution typically suggested is for individual people to seek help via suicide hotlines, going to therapy, and reaching out to friends and loved ones for help. While all of these may help someone in need at that moment, it doesn’t address the larger issues at hand. Here are just some of the ways in which the U.S.’s monopoly capitalist system affects workers here, as well as how inflicts mental harm upon its victims around the world.

Economic basis

Band-aid solutions to mental illness only help remedy the symptom, but do not address the system that is at the root of the problem. Capitalism creates conditions for mental illness and suicide to manifest. From a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, people earning less than $34,000 are 50% more likely to commit suicide, and unemployed people are 72 more likely to commit suicide than employed people. According to the Center for Disease Control, suicide rates are higher in rural areas, where Native Americans and Alaska Natives have the highest rates.

At the same time that capitalism reinforces mental illness, it also limits the accessibility to mental healthcare in the U.S. Over 6.3 million adults with mental illness are uninsured, and even those who are insured still face high costs, such as copays, treatment not covered by insurance, and providers who do not take insurance.

Treating the symptom, not the cause

The ability of working class and poor people to access adequate mental healthcare is limited by a lack of time outside of working hours, as well as an economic inability to afford treatment, even with health insurance. For those that do decide to seek treatment, the costs of such are high and the treatment is insufficient in the long term.

There is a motive for psychiatrists to prescribe medication instead of providing psychotherapy. According to Dr. Daniel Carlat of Tufts University, a psychiatrist can make two to four times more money by prescribing medication than providing therapy. While psychiatric medication can be a necessary aspect of mental health treatment, it is used in a system that prioritizes profit over people while forgoing longer-term treatment that addresses the individual’s particular conditions.

U.S. Imperialism’s effect on mental health

Along with conditions in the U.S. contributing to suicide, U.S. imperialism also is a major factor in mental illness and suicide. In May 2018, a Honduran man named Marco Antonio Munoz killed himself in a Texas jail cell after being separated from his family, who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border. Palestine, which is occupied by Israel with financial backing of the U.S., leads in the Middle East and North Africa region in depression and anxiety disorders, including in children.

Mental health under socialism

Where can we look to in order to find an alternative system to the U.S. healthcare system? Cuba is one example of how socialism can provide solutions to those suffering with mental illness.

According to Sandra Soca Lozano from the University of Havana, psychologists are incorporated into all aspects of healthcare, and psychologists and physicians work closely together. A psychologist will assess medical patients for contributing mental factors, and physicians will evaluate psychiatric patients to look for contributing physical conditions. Since no private organizations offer health services in Cuba, everyone has access to public care.

Due to the restrictions set on Cuba from the embargo, preventative care is emphasized for mental healthcare. This includes all Cubans having annual mental health screenings as part of their primary care (including home visits if unable to go to the office), the ability to access psychologists and physicians in their neighborhoods, and creating their own technology and techniques for detection of mental illness.

A more widespread discussion about mental health and suicide is a positive step, but discussion alone will not solve the problem. In order to fix the broken mental healthcare system, we must fight to overthrow capitalism and ensure that under socialism, everyone will have adequate access to mental healthcare and treatment.

#NewYorkNY #Socialism #Opinion #PeoplesStruggles #WorkersAndGlobalization #healthCare #Capitalism #mentalHealth

New York, NY – On March 10 approximately 60 people gathered on the corner at the entrance to Penn Station for an International Working Women’s Day rally.

The rally began with Monica Moorehead, a coordinator of the IWWDC, presenting an overview and history. The rally continued with everyone loudly chanting, “When women are under attack. What do we do? Stand up! Fight Back!” This was repeated in Spanish and Tagalog.

After the rally, the crowd marched through Penn Station, chanting and waving signs in support of women’s struggles. While marching through the station, protesters handed leaflets to fast food workers in support of their right to organize to improve their conditions and fight for a livable wage.

From Penn Station, the group marched over to Visions, a community hall, for a discussion on women’s issues and cultural performances. People discussed imperialism and the #MeToo movement. There were speakers from movements supporting Palestine, Honduras, the Philippines, Haiti, laundry workers, women with disabilities, as well as women experiencing homelessness.

The common theme amongst the speakers was the need for an entirely new system to put an end to patriarchy, the rule of men over women. Speakers called for expanding the face of the #MeToo movement to include the working class, oppressed peoples, and LGBTQIA+ women/gender non-conforming people who are at greater risk of sexual violence.

To end the night, organizers showed a video commemorating women of various movements. They called on everyone in the room to join an organization to continue the fight for women’s liberation.

The International Working Women’s Day Coalition (IWWDC) is composed of many groups. It includes Gabriela New York, International Action Center, and the Committee to Stop FBI Repression NY. Every year the coalition puts together a day of action for women’s liberation, immediately demanding equality for women and an end to oppression.

#NewYorkNY #InternationalWomensDay

Protest organizer Tracy Molm states, “International Women's Day has been gaining visibility as the #metoo movement and women stand up and fight back against rich and powerful men. This year we are again looking forward to celebrating this important day with a rally that will celebrate the important contributions of women in the Twin Cities to building struggle and fighting for working women's rights.”

#MinneapolisMN #PeoplesStruggles #InternationalWomensDay #womensMovement

March 8 celebrates International Women’s Day (IWD). This important international holiday originates in the struggles of working women in the U.S. Now is a pivotal time in the history of the fight for women’s liberation. At this moment women are finding their voices, their strength, and solidarity in numbers.

There have been attacks on women’s equality on many fronts

Attacks ranged from the Trump administration’s revoking the 2014 Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Act, which ensured all federal contractors had to report safety violations (including assaults and discrimination), to the Justice department scrapping 25 guiding documents for the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The past summer, the military banned transgender soldiers from joining. While everyone must actively discourage anyone from joining the imperialist war machine, banning transgender people will only encourage further discrimination and violence against them.

The attacks on women extended to the Justice Department ruling that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 doesn’t cover sexual orientation, putting thousands of queer people at a further disadvantage and open to harassment.

And in a move feared by many, the Trump administration passed a bill that effectively did away with provision of the Title X Family Planning program, which ensured access for low-income people to access birth control, abortions and cancer screenings.

These attacks on women are also taking place internationally. One example of many is the Philippines, where those who struggle for liberation, the women of the New People’s Army, are facing sexualized and gendered violence as the U.S.-backed president, Rodrigo Duterte, has called for their murder.

Women have shown that attacks on us will not be pass without a fight

This is very clear in the #MeToo movement. The movement was started over a decade ago by Tarana Burke, a civil rights activist, to contextualize the pervasiveness of sexual assault. It was revived in late 2017 with a tweet by Alyssa Milano that asked women to share their experiences to “give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem.”

Since then, thousands upon thousands of messages and posts have been shared by people recounting their harrowing experiences, along with the hashtag #MeToo. This led to the first major wave of sexual predators being called out and removed from authority. From Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, and Louis CK to Brett Ratner and James Franco, these men have finally had to answer for their disgusting crimes and behaviors

The bold action by the teachers, largely women, of West Virginia circles us back to the origins of Women’s Day itself, when working women walked the strike lines to demand decent pay and working conditions in a sector that is devalued and viewed as inferior work.

On International Women’s Day we rise to honor our heroes, the women who have led, struggled and sacrificed for their communities.

Heather Heyer in Charlottesville, murdered because she refused to stand back as neo-Nazis marched into the city.

Erica Garner, a prominent and powerful Black Lives Matter activist in New York City who passed away this year.

Ahed Tamimi, a 16-year-old whose slap was seen around the world. Tamimi is a symbol of the Palestinian resistance – she called renewed attention to the conditions under Israeli occupation and the hundreds of children currently imprisoned.

Rasmea Odeh, a prominent Palestinian-American organizer, who powered through political repression to continue organizing in Jordan.

We rise for the hundreds of thousands who continue to march for immigration rights, against islamophobia, for workers’ rights, and who are keeping the streets alive with marching and chants.

On International Women’s Day we not only commemorate the contributions of the past and present. As we battle each and every abuse and manifestation of oppression, we look forward to the day that our class holds within our hands the power to remake society. One day we will have the opportunity to remake society in the image of liberation.

It is said, “There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.” This past year has been marked with these weeks. Yet, with each of these weeks, the strength of the oppressed has only grown and their resilience only more resolute. For the next year, any blow dealt by the Trump administration and the ‘alt-right’ cronies will be met with loud and powerful resistance. History is in the favor of the people, and the people alone. We will fight back, and will win.

#US #PeoplesStruggles #InternationalWomensDay #FreedomRoadSocialistOrganization #frso #RasmeaOdeh #IWWD #March8th

Jessica Pounds has been attending Coalition for Consent events. The events are a mix of classroom style and therapy style sessions to arm people with knowledge, resources and confidence to combat abuse. The classes are hosted by Coalition for Consent’s founder and Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) member Christina Kittle and the LGBTQ+ youth advocate from the Women’s Center of Jacksonville Sarah Humphreys. Knowing that she was part of this community, Pounds reached to Coalition for Consent for help.

Pounds, a local musician and youth facilitator for the national non-profit Girls Inc., publicly warned people about the man who raped her. Her attacker then responded to this by sending novel-length messages to the local art scene describing many of Jessica’s private moments within their relationship, without her consent, as his explanation of why she was “crazy” – a term famously and conveniently tagged onto people who are vocal about their sexual abuse. Jessica’s own inner strength, along with support from others, helped keep her fighting back.

“It was important to show that she isn’t alone in this,” Kittle explained. “So I thought one thing that could help would be building a care package with some gifts and encouraging words from the community.”

The impact of this gesture though, was more than the group could have ever anticipated. “I have all of those letters surrounding me. They have given me so much strength,” said Pound. “I left my partner who I learned was gaslighting me into silence, and just was not very supportive at all, as well as my ‘friends’ that were saying they understood ‘both sides of the story,’ because they really were just holding me down and hurting me, so yeah I felt alone. The community showed me that my fight meant something though, it helped so much – I ugly cried!” Gaslighting is manipulating someone into questioning their own sanity.

The Women’s Center of Jacksonville was able to help her legally get the bogus slander charges against her dismissed. Pounds was exhausted but decided to keep fighting for women’s liberation.

While her attacker denied the accusations out of one side of his mouth, he eventually admitted to violating consent, admitting Pounds was right about his crimes all along. This is a victory in the difficult world of consent work.

Jessica went a step further and became a permanent member of Jacksonville’s Coalition for Consent. “I want to fight. I want to keep fighting. I want to be the hammer that breaks to cycle of abuse and I want to help others be the hammer, too.”

#JacksonvilleFL #MeToo #CoalitionForConsent

Oshkosh, WI – 40 people gathered to protest the Trump regime in downtown Oshkosh, Jan. 20, to mark one year since his inauguration. Protesters hailed from a variety of groups: a community group called United Action Oshkosh (UAO), others from a local weekly rally group, a few from University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), and some unaffiliated with any groups. The demonstration itself was co-organized by SDS and UAO.

Protesters massed around the Sun Dial and along Main Street, with signs reading “Students against Trump,” “No ban, no wall, sanctuary for all,” “Books not bombs” and” “No one is illegal.”

Throughout the entire event, protesters chanted anti-Trump, anti-racist and pro-peace slogans with enthusiasm, receiving many appreciative honks and waves from passersby.

Ryan Hamann, a leader from SDS, began the protest, stating, “Trump may be a disgusting, repugnant human being, but he is not the cause of the problems faced by the working class and other oppressed people in this country and around the world. These problems can be traced back to the founding of the United States, where it was built upon genocide, slavery, patriarchy and class oppression. Every leader – president or congressperson – has participated in the maintenance, expansion and evolution of the system, specifically designed to keep the owning class on top at the expense of the working class.”

Matt Banta, a member of UAO, spoke next and commented on the trials of the J20 defendants who were arrested during the first round of protests in Washington, D.C., one year ago. His speech stressed the need for progressives in Oshkosh and across the country to show solidarity with those still facing criminal charges and urged resistance to Trump's reactionary agenda.

Alvin Jarvenpaa, Jr., a metalworker and a part of UAO, commented on the ties between Oshkosh Corporation – a major employer in the city and area – and the U.S. war machine and how it impacts the community, stating, “Oshkosh Corporation had an operating budget in 2016 of $364 million. The city of Oshkosh had a budget of $78 million. Oshkosh Corporation spent five times the city of Oshkosh did to build military equipment. Imagine if we took the money we spend on the military and spend it on something like improving the roads, improving all the communications in the city. We can have internet for everybody. We could house every single person in this city, if we would just take that money and spend it on us. It's our money. It's our taxes. Every single one of us pay for the stuff that Oshkosh Corporation builds. And what do we have to show for it? Nothing.”

Lindsey Spietz of UAO spoke next on the culture of sexual violence in the U.S. and how Trump is a representation of all of it in the highest seat of power in government. She took her analysis a step further, saying, “The truth is sexual assault has nothing to do with sex, morality, clothes, or a victim's actions. Sexual assault is the violent assertion and dominance of power over another human being. It is done to humiliate and torture people, to objectify victims into something less than human. By realizing this, we see that the current system in place perpetuates rape culture and unequal power; a society which sustains and reproduces these conditions.”

Spietz continued, “We, as a collective, united voice, must speak out against those who continue to prey upon others. No matter if they are a family member, a friend, a teacher, or the president of this country. Together, we must demand change. In the era of #MeToo, we too can fight back.”

Another leader from SDS, Dan Pratt, took the megaphone next and laid into Trump. “Trump was born and raised in a family that lived off of other people's labor. That's the only life he knows. Donald Trump has lived his entire life riding the shoulders of people who work harder than him. He only understands how to exploit people for his own gain, for his own profit.”

The next speaker, Patrick Harrington, a prison solidarity activist, spoke on a developing prison strike down in Florida and the need for people to support their struggle for better treatment and an end to the exploitative labor practices of the for-profit prison system in the U.S.

Taking the event to its conclusion was Zach Herriges, a freshman SDS leader, with a fiery speech in which he condemned Trump as a fraud. He pushed his attack forward, taking aim at a deeper target. “What we want is not a different president who will take [Trump's] place and do the same things; what we want is fundamental change to this system. It's not gonna come from an election every four years; it's gonna come from the masses of people who organize and struggle to bring change, and that's what we're doing today! Agitate, educate, organize! Together we can make this world a better place. Down with the Trump regime! Down with this system! And down with the empire!”

#OshKoshWI #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #PeoplesStruggles

Milwaukee, WI – On Jan 20, the Young People’s Resistance Committee (YPRC) attended Milwaukee’s Women’s March. Around 20,000 people were in attendance to counter the Trump administration’s continuous attacks on women, queer people and other oppressed communities.

YPRC asked the attendees to acknowledge the struggle of Palestinian women resisting the violent military occupation by Israeli forces, saying, “If you stand with #MeToo, you must also fight for a free Palestine.”

Milwaukee’s 2018 Women’s March proved that women are aware of their oppression and are ready to mobilize around it. This is only the latest example of Milwaukee’s willingness and ability to fight back against the dangerous sexist and racist attacks of this administration, with more struggle and unity to come as 2018 advances.

#MilwaukeeWI #ImmigrantRights #Palestine #WomensMarch #YoungPeoplesResistanceCommittee

There was a high tide of struggle on many fronts in 2017. The pace and intensity of the struggles this year makes it easy to forget some of the things we have accomplished, which makes it all the more important to look back and review the lessons from this year’s resistance so we can move forward stronger.

Since there were so many Fight Back! articles covering important struggles this year, there’s no way we can include everything that was important. So we’ll do the best we can by highlighting five key articles from each month.

If there were other Fight Back! articles you liked this year that aren’t listed here, let us know which one in the comments!

First, we’d like to recognize the people that Fight Back! honored who passed away in 2017 and say in their honor: ¡presente!

• On the passing of fighter for justice and people’s lawyer Ted Dooley
• Lynne Stewart tribute
• Margaret Sarfehjooy, prominent Minnesota peace activist, remembered
• Marianne Hamilton presente!
• Great Chicana revolutionary Yvonne de Los Santos will always be remembered
• Josephine Wyatt, fighter for African American freedom and socialism remembered
• People’s Thanksgiving honors memory of Pat Hunt

Now, here are 5 important Fight Back! articles for each month of 2017.

January

1. Young Black activists tell why they disrupted the Jeff Sessions confirmation hearing
2. 1 million-plus join Women’s March on Washington DC
3. The election of Donald Trump and women’s liberation
4. 25 campuses hold walkouts on Inauguration Day
5. Trump’s election sets up potential new attacks on unions

February

1. Thousands join ‘8 Days of Resistance’ to Trump’s executive orders in Chicago
2. The Farce of the Deal: Trump, the TPP and trade
3. Frank Chapman speaks on Black liberation and socialism
4. Record turnout for San Jose Day of Remembrance
5. Trump executive orders on policing are new threat to African Americans and Latinos

March

1. UNF students sit in demanding justice, sanctuary campus
2. Progressives clash with Trump supporters at MN state capitol
3. Hundreds join FRSO International Women’s Day march
4. Students shut down University of Utah administration
5. Japanese American and American Muslim solidarity march

April

1. Vicious police attack on Jacksonville anti-war protest
2. Chicago: Beloved teacher fired for defending students
3. Lessons from the victory in the cases of Robert Almodovar and William Negron
4. Supporters of Rasmea Odeh in Detroit for plea agreement hearing
5. May Day 2017! Defend immigrant rights and build workers unity! Defeat Trump!

May

1. Boyle Heights May Day protest demands end to deportations and police killings
2. Jamar Clark remembered on his 26th birthday
3. The fight for immigrant rights under Trump
4. Resistance marks Trump’s first 100 days
5. Oscar López Rivera, freed Puerto Rican political prisoner, welcomed home to Chicago

June

1. Charges dropped: The Jacksonville 5 win
2. The Jacksonville 5 speak out after beating police repression in the Deep South
3. Anti-Muslim bigots forced to flee at MN State Capitol
4. Massive protest underway protesting verdict in case of Philando Castile
5. Charges dropped against Ariel Vences Lopez from arrest on Minneapolis light rail

July

1. Unions victorious after year-long battle against Mayo Clinic
2. YPRC organizes ‘Resist and Flourish’ summer school
3. Rasmea Odeh and Arab Women's Committee release book ‘Towards the Sun’
4. Minneapolis anti-police terror movement shuts down Mayor Hodges press conference
5. Jacksonville activists demand police accountability at city council

August

1. Freedom Road Socialist Organization condemns white supremacist attack in Charlottesville
2. Farewell rally for Rasmea Odeh, Palestinian icon
3. Arizona immigrant rights leader slams Trumps pardon of ex-sheriff Joe Arpaio
4. Fight Back! interview with Jose Maria Sison on the people’s war in the Philippines
5. Empowering Boyle Heights event marks 47th anniversary of Chicano Moratorium

September

1. Jacksonville community rallies for #Justice4Keegan
2. Defend DACA, Hit the streets for DREAMers!
3. Thousands march in Milwaukee for DACA, demand ‘Legalization for all’
4. Black and Brown unite to demand LA district attorney prosecute killer cops
5. Hugs and tears as Rasmea Odeh deported

October

1. Jose Maria Sison: On the significance of the Great October Socialist Revolution
2. Northeastern University dining hall workers win incredible victory
3. The October Revolution and some lessons for the struggle for socialism in the U.S.
4. Students for a Democratic Society holds 12th annual national convention
5. Interview with Mercedes Martínez, President of the Puerto Rican Teachers Federation – “Puerto Rico: The crisis for working class and poor people has intensified”

November

1. Interview with Frank Chapman: “We have a spark with Charlottesville”
2. U.S. delegation’s address to World Working Youth Congress in Rome
3. Saudi Arabia's gangster 'Game of Thrones' reflects crisis for imperialism in Middle East
4. Students at UNF oppose racists, KKK and Nazis
5. #MeToo Campaign and Beyond: Combating Sexual Violence

December

1. Zimbabwe’s leadership change and the enduring legacy of Robert Mugabe
2. UPS imposes 70-hour work week
3. Yemen’s Houthi movement eliminates former president Saleh for ‘treason’ amid Saudi war
4. People’s Thanksgiving 2017 – FRSO speech by Frank Chapman
5. Milwaukee Labor Council confronts white supremacist

There were many excellent Fight Back! articles that aren’t listed here – you can see them all at the archive. (Also see the 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 retrospectives).

#UnitedStates #FightBack #YearInReview

Here are my top 20 or so songs (in no particular order) that emerged in the context of the first year of Trump-era injustices. Add your favorite political songs from 2017 in the comments here.

(Note: some of these songs contain profane language)

Marcel Cartier – Resist Trump

Marcel Cartier – Red Flag Revival

Las Cafeteras – If I Was President

Hooray for the Riff Raff – Rican Beach

A Tribe Called Red (feat. Leonard Sumner, Shad, Northern Voice) – How I Feel

The Hamilton Mixtape – Immigrants (We Get the Job Done)

David Rovics – Today in Charlottesville

David Rovics – Text Message of the Apocalypse

Dessa – Fire Drills

(song inspired by the #metoo movement)

Downtown Boys – A Wall

Logic – America (featuring Black Thought, Chuck D, Big Lenbo, No I.D.)

Prophets of Rage – Unfuck the World

Run the Jewels – 2100 (featuring BOOTS)

Joey Bada$$ – Land of the Free

Alice Bag – White Justice

(Song about racist government repression against the 1970 Chicano Moratorium)

Brother Ali – Before They Called You White

Vic Mensa – We Could Be Free

Lin Manuel Miranda – Almost Like Praying (featuring Artists for Puerto Rico)

(written in the aftermath of the devastation of Puerto Rico by Hurricane Maria)

Rebel Diaz – Viva Fidel

LessThree – Love Me I’m a Liberal (updated for Trump)

(cover of Phil Ochs song from 1966)

Talib Kweli – All of Us (featuring Yummy Bingham & Jay Electronica)

#SaintPaulMN #Music #protestMusic

While the #MeToo and #BalanceTonPorc social media campaigns have brought attention to sexual violence, it is important to understand the roots of the problem, including that violence against women reinforces and intensifies the oppression that women face in this society. Men like Harvey Weinstein receive relatively lenient punishments due to their class status. Stanford swimmer Brock Turner was released from prison after a measly six-month sentence for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman. President Donald Trump, who has had multiple accusations of sexual assault against him and openly admitted it through the infamous “Grab her by the p*ssy” quote, was still able to get elected. Meanwhile, prisons are filled disproportionately with Black and Latino men, and they are also more likely to be wrongfully convicted.

Some of the responses to the campaign have been troubling. The issue has also been deemed “unimportant” and a “distraction from the real issues.” There has been a tendency to view it only as a sectarian weapon and make excuses for liberals engaged in the same behaviors.

While sexual violence against celebrities is what’s getting media attention, it is an issue that directly affects working class and oppressed nationality people as well. It is important to remember those who are most affected by rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment, and to combat it in our workplaces and our movements. It is the working-class women afraid to speak up for fear of losing their job. It is the migrant workers who face deportation if they try to speak to the authorities. It is Native American women have the highest numbers of rape and sexual assault of any nationality. It is the victims of prison rape, where the population is disproportionately black and Latinx. It is the people of oppressed nations who are sexually degraded at the hands of the U.S. war machine. It is LGTBQIA+ women and gender nonconforming who face higher rates of hate-motivated sexual assault. It most strongly affects people who do not have the financial needs to stand up to their attackers.

Turn a #hashtag into a movement to overthrow the system that enables predators and silences victims. Start a dialogue, but fight for tangible victories against sexual violence. Organize your union to combat sexual violence in your workplace. Demand protections for undocumented women who are sexually assaulted. We must continue to struggle against patriarchy and strikes blow against the capitalist system. Ultimately socialism will be the beginning of the end of women’s oppression, in the meantime we can fight to win all we can.

#NewYorkNY #Socialism #LGBTQ #PeoplesStruggles #rape #rapeCulture #KevinSpacey #MeToo #BalanceTonPorc #HarveyWeinstein #SexualAssault #Harassment

While the #MeToo and #BalanceTonPorc social media campaigns have brought attention to sexual violence, it is important to understand the roots of the problem, including that violence against women reinforces and intensifies the oppression that women face in this society. Men like Harvey Weinstein receive relatively lenient punishments due to their class status. Stanford swimmer Brock Turner was released from prison after a measly six-month sentence for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman. President Donald Trump, who has had multiple accusations of sexual assault against him and openly admitted it through the infamous “Grab her by the p*ssy” quote, was still able to get elected. Meanwhile, prisons are filled disproportionately with Black and Latino men, and they are also more likely to be wrongfully convicted.

Some of the responses to the campaign have been troubling. The issue has also been deemed “unimportant” and a “distraction from the real issues.” There has been a tendency to view it only as a sectarian weapon and make excuses for liberals engaged in the same behaviors.

While sexual violence against celebrities is what’s getting media attention, it is an issue that directly affects working class and oppressed nationality people as well. It is important to remember those who are most affected by rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment, and to combat it in our workplaces and our movements. It is the working-class women afraid to speak up for fear of losing their job. It is the migrant workers who face deportation if they try to speak to the authorities. It is Native American women have the highest numbers of rape and sexual assault of any nationality. It is the victims of prison rape, where the population is disproportionately black and Latinx. It is the people of oppressed nations who are sexually degraded at the hands of the U.S. war machine. It is LGTBQIA+ women and gender nonconforming who face higher rates of hate-motivated sexual assault. It most strongly affects people who do not have the financial needs to stand up to their attackers.

Turn a #hashtag into a movement to overthrow the system that enables predators and silences victims. Start a dialogue, but fight for tangible victories against sexual violence. Organize your union to combat sexual violence in your workplace. Demand protections for undocumented women who are sexually assaulted. We must continue to struggle against patriarchy and strikes blow against the capitalist system. Ultimately socialism will be the beginning of the end of women’s oppression, in the meantime we can fight to win all we can.

#NewYorkNY #Socialism #LGBTQ #PeoplesStruggles #rape #rapeCulture #KevinSpacey #MeToo #BalanceTonPorc #HarveyWeinstein #SexualAssault #Harassment