Fight Back! News

News and Views from the People's Struggle

MinneapolisMN

By Whitney Wildman

East Phillips residents hold a banner that youth in Little Earth painted.

Minneapolis, MN – On January 29, 70 activists, community members and supporters held a rally and healing circle in response to the Minneapolis city council’s recent vote in favor of continuing their legacy of environmental racism in the city of Minneapolis. The East Phillips Neighborhood Institute and the Climate Justice Committee organized the rally.

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By staff

Protest at Minneapolis City Council meeting to defend East Phillips neighborhood

Minneapolis, MN – Over 100 protesters rallied at a Minneapolis City Council meeting on Thursday, January 26, where the city council members voted 7 to 6 to demolish the Roof Depot building. Protesters, called to action by East Phillips Neighborhood Institute and Climate Justice Committee, demanded a “no” vote on the demolition of the building, as it is currently trapping an arsenic plume underground, keeping it out of the air of the East Phillips neighborhood of Minneapolis.

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By Tracy Molm

Mick Kelly, Fight Back! editor closing out speeches at the fundraiser.

Minneapolis, MN – Nearly 100 people joined together January 28 to celebrate the newspaper Fight Back! and to raise funds for the paper. Emcees Autumn Lake and Robyn Harbison led the night with toasts from Twin Cities movements that Fight Back! has covered over the last year and getting the crowd excited to aim to raise enough for one print edition of the paper.

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By Christine Hauschildt

Minneapolis protest against U.S. wars.

Minneapolis, MN – On January 22, the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition, a coalition of anti-war groups in Minnesota, rallied in Mayday Plaza as part of the United National Antiwar Coalition's national call for Martin Luther King Jr. week of actions against U.S. wars to mark his birthday. On the theme of “New Year, Same Wars,” the protest drew a crowd of 70 protesters, eager to hear from activist leaders across the Twin Cities representing the voices of those impacted by U.S. imperialism and endless militarism.

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By Brad Sigal

Grassroots immigrant rights leaders and state legislators address the community

Minneapolis, MN – Over 100 immigrants and supporters gathered at the Waite House Community Center on Saturday, January 21 to hear from grassroots leaders in the struggle to win drivers license access for all, and from elected officials that are advancing the bill in the state legislature. The event was organized by the Minnesota Immigrant Movement (MIM), a grassroots organization that’s been fighting for drivers license equality in Minnesota for many years. The Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) was also present and spoke at the event.

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By Sarah Martin

Polly Mann.

Minneapolis, MN – Polly Mann, a leading force and giant in the Twin Cities anti-war movement, died on January 12, 2023 at the age of 103 in San Francisco, California where she had lived with her daughter Connie for a little over a year.

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By staff

Minneapolis Trader Joes workers are fighting for their first contract.

Minneapolis, MN – On Saturday, December 31, well over 200 people held a boisterous rally in downtown Minneapolis to support of Trader Joe’s workers who recently formed a union. The rally was made up of Trader Joe’s workers, members of other unions, customers and community members.

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By Wyatt Miller

Twin Cities holiday anti war protest.

Minneapolis – On December 17, around three dozen anti-war activists and community members braved 15-degree temperatures and snow flurries to gather outside the busy shopping center at Lake Street and Minnehaha Avenue. Billed as “Send an anti-war message for the holidays: Say no to U.S. wars,” the action was organized by the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition. Holiday shoppers honked and waved in approval at the demonstrators’ signs and banners, which featured slogans like “Money for human needs, not war!”

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By staff

Protest at Senator Klobuchar’s office demands action on DACA

Minneapolis, MN – On the morning of December 20, after weeks of continued pressure, activists occupied Senator Klobuchar's office with the goal of meeting with the senator directly to demand she introduce the American Dream and Promise Act in the Senate. The mobilization came less than two weeks after a militant street protest in front of Klobuchar's office that ended with a promise to “be back.”

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By staff

Minneapolis protest against city plans to pollute oppressed nationality, low inc

Minneapolis, MN – Roughly 100 East Phillips residents and supporters rallied at the Hennepin County courthouse, December 15, protest the city’s East Phillips demolition plan and long legacy of systemic racism.

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By staff

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the University of Minnesota chapter of Students for a Democratic Society.

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By Siobhan Moore

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Minneapolis, MN – Jon Melrod’s newly-published memoir, Fighting Times, is more than just a remembrance. It details his time as a revolutionary helping to build the fighting people’s movements – from the student movement of the 1960s in SDS and being part of the Revolutionary Union, to the solidarity struggle with the Menominee Warrior Society occupation in 1975, to building a fighting UAW local at an American Motors plant in Kenosha, Wisconsin – and the lessons learned from each fight. It is a book that class-struggle union militants, student organizers and activists from all the people’s movements alike would do well to read.

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By staff

Minneapolis march on Human Rights Day

Minneapolis, MN – Human Rights Day is celebrated internationally every year on December 10. This year, activist groups from the Twin Cities gathered in the Minneapolis’s Uptown neighborhood for a protest and march to bring attention to the ongoing fight for human rights. Over 50 people attended the protest and march despite the cold weather.

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By staff

Rail workers and supporters rally in Minneapolis.

Minneapolis, MN – On Tuesday, December 13, rail workers and labor supporters held rallies across the country calling for sick time and other improvement to conditions for rail workers. It was a cold, rainy afternoon when around 200 people gathered in Northeast Minneapolis near a large rail yard. Similar rallies were scheduled to be held in 11 other U.S. cities on the same day. The rallies were organized by members of the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation (SMART) union.

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By Jasper Nordin

Minneapolis, MN – On Friday, December 9, over 50 students and community members gathered in front of the student union on the University of Minnesota Twin Cites campus to demand that the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) be protected and upheld in the face of efforts from reactionary, anti-native forces to undo it.

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By staff

Minneapolis, MN – On Tuesday, December 13 Rail Workers who are represented by the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART) will hold rallies in at least 12 cities across the United States calling for solidarity with rail workers.

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By staff

MIRAC blocks downtown street demanding demanding legalization for all.

Minneapolis, MN – More than 150 people protested December 8 in downtown Minneapolis, blocking Washington Avenue near Interstate 35W in for two hours at rush hour. They protested outside of Senator Amy Klobuchar's office demanding that the U.S. Senate act immediately to legalize people with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) temporary immigration status.

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By Danielle Korby

TCC4J members at November 28 press conference to denounce fake "reform."

Minneapolis, MN – In early December, the Minneapolis city council will vote on a “Community Commission on Police Oversight” (CCPO). But despite the name of this proposed commission, Twin Cities activists say that this commission would do nothing to actually hold police accountable, and community members were not consulted in the creation of this proposal.

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By staff

FRSO Political Secretary Mick Kelly.

Minneapolis, MN – About 70 activists packed Mayday Bookstore, November 20, for the release of the print edition of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization’s (FRSO) political program.

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By Jess Sundin

Minneapolis, MN – Seven years after the police murder of Jamar Clark, family members and community commemorated his life with a car caravan and rally in North Minneapolis, November 12. Organizers stated, “Each year we gather to celebrate Jamar’s life and galvanize the community to fight for lasting change. Despite promises from Mayor Frey and MPD police chiefs, little has changed; the Minneapolis Police Department continues to prove, through the murders of Amir Locke and Tekle Sundberg , why TCC4J and community members call for a Civilian Police Accountability Commission.”

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