News and Views from the People's Struggle
Milwaukee, WI – On Saturday, January 3, around 50 Milwaukeeans gathered at Red Arrow Park, otherwise known as Dontre Hamilton Park, as part of an emergency rally in response to the illegal kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores by U.S. forces. They brought Venezuelan flags and signs with messages such as “Free Maduro” and “Hands off Venezuela.”
Milwaukee, WI – In response to the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good at the hands of ICE agents, over 350 people gathered for an emergency vigil, January 7, outside of the ICE Enforcement and Removal offices at 310 E Knapp Street. Emotions ran high as community leaders spoke out against the newest round of raids in Minnesota, calling for ICE out of everywhere.
Milwaukee, WI – On Monday, January 5, the Milwaukee Anti-war Committee (MAC) held a press conference at Milwaukee City Hall, announcing their “No War with Venezuela” month of action.
This month of action came on the heels of the U.S. bombing Caracas and kidnapping Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.
Milwaukee, WI – On Sunday, December 7, the Milwaukee Anti-War Committee (MAC) hosted a commemoration of International Human Rights Day, answering the national call for a week of action by the Anti-War Action Network. International Human Rights Day, observed annually on December 10, marks the anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the United Nations in 1948.
The event began with a march, followed by a program portion featuring a panel of local organizers, a keynote speaker, and the presentation of the 4th annual Lucille Berrien Humanitarian Award.
Milwaukee, WI – On Thursday, November 20, students gathered outside the Fire and Safety Building, demanding that the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee administration and the UWM Police Department stop its repression against student and community activists.
Milwaukee, WI – On Saturday, November 22, around 30 people gathered at Milwaukee City Hall to demand U.S. hands off Venezuela. They brought Venezuelan flags and signs with messages such as “From Caracas to Jenin, stop the U.S. war machine” and “No blood for oil.”
Milwaukee, WI – On Thursday, November 6, students gathered at Spaights Plaza on the UWM campus, demanding that UWM and all other universities, reject Trump’s Compact for Academic Excellence, which includes demands to terminate DEI initiatives, a crackdown on free speech of students and faculty, and calls for repression against student activists.
Milwaukee, WI – On October 25, employees of Discovery World Museum, along with other union and community members stood together on a picket line to tell Discovery World management that they will not tolerate their refusal to recognize the workers union.
Milwaukee, WI – On Monday, October 20, 100 people gathered in Milwaukee for an emergency march led by the Milwaukee Anti-war Committee (MAC), protesting Israel’s violations of the recently announced ceasefire. Demands included ending all U.S aid to Israel as well as a real and permanent ceasefire, chanting “No more bombs! No more lies.”
Milwaukee, WI – On the evening of October 22, about 60 people gathered for the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression’s (MAARPR) to honor families who have lost loved ones to police violence. They also spoke out against deaths the jails and prisons, reckless police chases, ICE facilities, war and genocide, and more.
Milwaukee, WI – On October 11 and 12, over 250 New Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) members from over 40 campuses met for their 19th annual National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Students gathered from all over the country to stand together to “Fight Trump’s Agenda, Speak Out for Palestine, No ICE on Campus & Defend Free Speech!” and bring together the combined struggles that student organizers are facing on their campuses.
These stories come from students facing repression from administration due to their Palestine solidarity work as well as ICE kidnapping students on campuses. Attendees listened to informative panels and workshops on a variety of topics, including from “The Student Vanguard: Korean Students in the Long Struggle Against U.S. Empire” presented by Nodutdol.
Milwaukee, WI – On October 18, No Kings Milwaukee called for their second No Kings Day. 18,000 people gathered at Cathedral Square Park in the heart of downtown Milwaukee to stand against the racist and reactionary republicans and the Trump administration.
Milwaukee, WI – On Thursday, October 16, 30 UW-Milwaukee students and community members rallied on campus to demand hands off Chicago as a part of the National Students for a Democratic Society National Day of Action under the slogan, “No Trump, No Troops, No ICE and Legalization for All!”
Milwaukee, WI – On Saturday, October 4, more than 130 people rallied at Catalano Square in response to the illegal actions of Israel against the Global Sumud Flotilla. Israel seized 42 civilian vessels with medical and food aid and kidnapped over 450 volunteers in international waters.
Milwaukee, WI – On Sunday, September 28, over 80 people rallied at Dontre Hamilton Park in response to the recent attacks on abortion in Wisconsin. As of October 1, Planned Parenthood Wisconsin will be pausing abortion services at its three locations. This leaves only two independent clinics left in the entire state that offer abortion services, both located in Milwaukee.
Milwaukee, WI – Activists with Reproductive Justice Action-Milwaukee (RJAM), have been showing up consistently throughout the month of September to protest the newly opened Alliance Women's Clinic.
“Places like Alliance want to divert you from accurate and accessible healthcare,” stated a member of RJAM on September 15.
Milwaukee, WI – The Milwaukee Anti-war Committee (MAC) organized a banner drop on September 26 as part of the Anti-War Action Network (AWAN) National Week of Action. This call was an opportunity to mobilize anti-war and anti-imperialist organizations around the country in defiance of Netanyahu being welcomed onto the world stage at the United Nations General Assembly.
Milwaukee, WI – At noon on Saturday, September 6, a flotilla of boats and kayaks set sail on the Milwaukee River to express solidarity with and demand safe passage for the Global Sumud Flotilla.
The Global Sumud Flotilla is an international effort to deliver aid to Gaza and break the Israeli blockade. It is made up of more than 50 vessels with over 15,000 participating activists from 44 countries. The Milwaukee flotilla consisted of four larger pontoon boats and a handful of smaller boats and kayaks, all decked out in Palestine flags, keffiyehs and signs.
Milwaukee, WI – In late August the Milwaukee Police Association (MPA), a police union, put out a call for their membership to join them for a protest on September 5 related to contract negotiations with the City of Milwaukee. The group planned to march from Red Arrow Park to City Hall where they would hold a press conference. Locals often refer to the park as Dontre Hamilton Park to honor the death of Dontre Hamilton, a Black man murdered by now-former Milwaukee Police Department officer Christopher Manney.
Milwaukee, WI – On Wednesday, September 3, students gathered at the Maryland Street Bridge on the UWM campus, demanding an end to the Trump administration’s attacks on students, DEI initiatives and educational funding. The event was part of an SDS national day of action.
Led by members of the UW-Milwaukee chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (UWM SDS), the banner drop was a response to the ongoing cuts to education, cuts to multicultural and inclusivity programs, and constant student repression by the UWM administration.
As students were about to unfurl the banner around noon, they were confronted by a known administrative agitator part of the Dean of Students Office. Despite her insistence that the students and SDS members were breaking so-called “campus free speech regulations,” the students stood their ground against the intimidation.
SDS chair Chris Van Valkenberg demanded to see what rules they were actually breaking, stating that “unless you can prove we broke any rules, we will continue with the banner drop whether you like it or not.” While debating with the administrator about the legality of the banner drop, students discovered many of these campus freedom of speech policies were added recently by the university administration without notifying the student body. After the brief stand-off, the official could not find any rules that the students were breaking and retreated, and the banner drop continued successfully.
UWM SDS has been fighting consistent attacks on and harassment of its members by the university administration. Students pushing for university acknowledgement of the genocide in Palestine, and who are calling to fix the imbalance of power the university holds over its students, have been suspended, banned from campus, put on disciplinary probation, stalked by administrative officials, and harassed daily by those same officials.
As the Trump administration’s attacks on students continue to grow, students have felt the pressure of this through a losses of educational funding, satellite campuses, research funds, DEI programs, and overall student safety. These losses, combined with an increase in campus police presence and intimidation, strict campus free speech laws targeting student activism, and purposefully deregistering and suspending any detracting student organizations, are a call to action for all students on UWM’s campus to call for its administration to end its complicity with Trump’s anti-education and anti-student policies.