Fighting for justice one year later

Milwaukee, WI – On Monday, June 26, the family of Brieon Green held a balloon release to mark one year since his passing. Green’s family has been fighting for justice with the help of the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (MAARPR) and the Justice for Brieon Green Coalition. This fight has taken many forms – from marching in the streets to meeting with the district attorney and the Milwaukee County sheriff.

Is management at fault?

Milwaukee, WI – On June 20, Eugene Gates, Jr. collapsed from a heat stress-related illness and died while delivering on his route in Dallas, Texas. Gates was a member of the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Branch 132 whose president, Kimetra Lewis, said that Gates “was at the point where he could retire.” He had joined the USPS in November 1987 and had worked for the company for over 30 years.

The plan puts more cops in communities and schools, guts ability to set policies for police, eliminates funding for diversity, equity and inclusion programs and other public services, attacks the democratic right to public referenda, and delivers a blow to public education.

Fight Back News is circulating the following statement by the Wisconsin District of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

The plan puts more cops in communities and schools, guts ability to set policies for police, eliminates funding for diversity, equity and inclusion programs and other public services, attacks the democratic right to public referenda, and delivers a blow to public education.

Fight Back News is circulating the following statement by the Wisconsin District of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

Milwaukee, WI – On Sunday, May 28, dozens of community members gathered at Lucille Berrien Park for the official unveiling of a new mural to commemorate Lucille. The mural came about through a collaborative effort between the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, True Skool Inc., and the Milwaukee Parks Foundation.

Milwaukee, WI – On the afternoon of May 31, nearly 100 union members and their supporters gathered outside the entrance to the Master Lock factory on Milwaukee’s North Side to call on the company to keep the plant open. The rally came in response to a sudden announcement that the shop was going to be closed, a course of action that will leave more than 400 people out of work. A number of other unions were represented by the different participants at the rally and picket, including United Steel Workers, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, and others.

Milwaukee, WI – On Wednesday, May 31, the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression held a picket outside Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson’s house. The Milwaukee Alliance recently launched their Fair Share Campaign in order to fight back against the strings attached to Milwaukee’s shared revenue increase being proposed by state Republicans.

Milwaukee, WI – Thursday, May 25 marked the three-year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder by killer cop Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis. George Floyd’s murder sparked a rebellion in which millions took to the streets in the U.S. and around the world. His murder resonated in Milwaukee, a city with countless victims of police crimes. To commemorate George Floyd and all victims of police crimes in Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (MAARPR) organized a vigil.

Milwaukee, WI – Organizers with the Coalition to March on the RNC held a press conference Monday, May 22, to condemn the Fire and Police Commission’s (FPC) recent decision to suspend policy requiring Milwaukee Police officers to release body cam footage within a reasonable time frame to the public.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement by the Coalition to March on the RNC 2024.

Milwaukee, WI – May 15 marked the 75th anniversary of the Nakba. Over 250 community members and activists gathered in downtown Milwaukee to see Chief Zwelivelile Mandela, the grandson of the great anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela, in commemoration of the tragedy in Palestine.

Milwaukee, WI – On Sunday, May 7, 150 people gathered for the annual commemoration of the Bay View Massacre. 137 years ago, in May 1886, over 14,000 union workers gathered outside the Milwaukee Iron Company Rolling Mill in demand of an eight-hour workday. These unionists had shut down every single business in the city of Milwaukee except the rolling mills in Bay View. As they were marching towards the mills, Governor Jeremiah Rusk ordered 250 national guard members be posted outside to prevent any striker from entering – these orders included shooting the marchers on sight and resulted in the death of seven people and many others injured.

Milwaukee, WI – On May 13, two days before the 75th anniversary of the Nakba, over 50 community members and activists from different organizations gathered in downtown Milwaukee to demand an end to the on-going genocide of Palestinians and to put a stop to all U.S. aid to Israel. The assembled crowd chanted things like “Not another nickel, not another dime, no more money for Israel’s war crimes!” and “Free, free Palestine! Long live Palestine!” Signs declaring support for the cause of Palestinian liberation were prevalent throughout, and members of the Milwaukee Anti-war Committee (MAC) held a 30-foot long banner that read “Long live the popular Palestinian resistance, from Milwaukee to Palestine!”

Milwaukee, WI – Over 20 people gathered at Zao MKE Church to attend the “No to NATO!” teach-in hosted by the Milwaukee Anti-War Committee on May 6. In response to the ongoing war in Ukraine, the Milwaukee Anti-war Committee (MAC) held this event to challenge the pro-NATO narrative pushed in the U.S. Presented by MAC member Stephanie Spalatin and her mother Mira Spalatin, attendees learned about some of the crimes NATO has committed both in the present in Ukraine and in the past in places like the former Yugoslavia, as well as a general framing of NATO as an offensive and not defensive apparatus of U.S. and European Union. imperialism.

GOP wants more cops in schools and communities, and less police oversight

Milwaukee, WI – Earlier this month, Wisconsin Republicans introduced a proposal regarding the shared revenue – LRB-2938: Local Government Funding. This proposal increases Milwaukee’s city and county shared revenue if they agree to do the following: reinstate police officers in Milwaukee Public Schools, preserve current staffing levels, at the minimum, of police officers, fund the police pension through an increase in the sales tax, eliminate the policy creation power of the Fire and Police Commission (FPC), and require representatives from the police association to serve on the FPC.

Milwaukee, WI – At a press conference on the evening of April 30, members of Reproductive Justice Action Milwaukee (RJAM) and Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) addressed local media with a call to action for people in Milwaukee and around the country to mobilize on June 24, the day that marks a year since the overturning of Roe.

Milwaukee, WI – As has been the case all spring across the Midwest, cold rain and winds greeted hundreds of youth, workers and trade unionists, community organizers and faith leaders on May 1 as they gathered outside the headquarters of Voces de la Frontera (VDLF) for their annual May Day “Day Without Latinx and Immigrants'' action. All told, more than 400 people joined the ensuing march that ended downtown at Zeidler Square.

Milwaukee, WI – More than 20 people filled a room at the Urban Ecology Center in the Silver City neighborhood on April 29 to hear a report from Freedom Road Socialist Organization member Omar Flores on his recent trip to Venezuela. Flores was one part of a FRSO delegation that was invited to participate in a special conference that coincided with the tenth anniversary of the death of Comandante Hugo Chavez, the former Venezuelan president and one of the primary figures behind the ongoing Bolivarian Revolution.

Milwaukee, WI – On April 15, dozens of activists and supporters heeded the call of Reproductive Justice Action – Milwaukee (RJAM) to gather in protest outside the Milwaukee County Courthouse in opposition to the attacks against mifepristone, a pill used in a two-pill process to have an abortion without surgery. This was only one of many protests to occur since news of a decision by Matthew Kacsmaryk, a U.S. District judge based out of Amarillo, Texas, to suspend the FDA approval of the medication.

_Urges other reproductive rights groups to participate in Chicago protest _

Milwaukee, WI – Grassroots organization Reproductive Justice Action – Milwaukee (RJAM) proudly endorsed the Coalition to March on the DNC in 2024 and joined several other groups in Chicago on April 18 for the press conference officially launching the effort. RJAM is now a coalition member of both the Coalition to March on the RNC in 2024 (in Milwaukee) and the Coalition to March on the DNC (in Chicago) the same summer, the first in July and the second in August.