Philadelphia, PA – Around 100 people gathered in Love Park on May 1, before joining a rally of thousands organized by the Philadelphia AFL-CIO at City Hall. Among these groups were Philadelphia Anti War (PAW), Philadelphia Alliance Against Racism and Political Repression (PAARPR), Anakbayan, Marxist Education Group, Industrial Workers of the World, Workers World Party and Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

At the rally, speakers condemned Trump’s actions, U.S. wars, ICE detention and the continued exploitation of workers. A brass band provided entertainment and volunteers offered pretzels and water to those standing in the sun along the crowded John F Kennedy Boulevard.

Around 6 p.m., demonstrators marched northwest, stopping at hotels and other businesses, where union groups demanded higher wages and improved working conditions.

Demonstrators with megaphones led constant chants during this contingent's march. Despite traffic and police flanking the roads, demonstrators showed their commitment to liberation movements with such chants as, “El pueblo unido jamás será vencido,” “From Palestine to Mexico, all the walls have got to go,” “Luchando, creando poder popular,” “Free Mumia Abu-Jamal, brick by brick, wall by wall” and “La migra, la policia, la misma porquería.”

The revolutionary contingent left the march and went to the offices of Day and Zimmerman, the weapons company that produced the munitions that killed Palestinian child Hind Rajab. Members of these progressive groups stood firm as police gathered at either end of the crowd. There, a speaker denounced the imperial violence of U.S. military contractors. The contingent then rejoined the main march, which ended at 7 p.m.

May 1 is an international holiday. It is important that progressive and socialist movements build internationalism. Since the 19th century, the day has celebrated the working class. The day honors their fight against the capitalist systems and their desire to end the oppression of all peoples.

#PhiladelphiaPA #PA #Labor #ImmigrantRights #MayDay #FRSO

Philadelphia, PA – On Friday February 27, the Philadelphia Alliance against Racist and Political Repression held a movie showing to commemorate Black History Month. The movie, Judas and the Black Messiah, is about the iconic Black Panther leader Fred Hampton and William O’Neal, who the FBI used to infiltrate the Black Panther’s and helped the Chicago Police department kill Fred Hampton.

The event was held at the LavaSpace in West Philadelphia and was attended by dozens of people from the neighborhood who were interested not only in learning more about Fred Hampton and the Black Panther Party, but in getting to know all about the Philadelphia Alliance against Racist and Political Repression (PAARPR), its campaigns and its mission.

PAARPR chair Musa Bey had conversations with many of the attendees about the work PAARPR is doing in Philadelphia and the families it is working with, including the families of Robert Jones, Aaron Rainey and Amanda Cahill.

The movie event began at 5 p.m. with a short speech made by PAARPR Co-Chair Olujimi Alade which delved into Fred Hampton as a revolutionary and his impact on the Black Panther Party and the struggle for socialism and liberation.

PAARPR was able to establish a connection with the neighborhood residents, which is a foundation in building a presence in the West Philadelphia area, an important section of the city where many people have either experienced police brutality or know a loved one who did. By holding similar events, PAARPR aims to advance its aim of fighting for the community control of the police.

#PhiladelphiaPA #PA #InJusticeSystem #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #BlackHistoryMonth #NAARPR #PAARPR

Pittsburgh, PA – On March 8, the International Solidarity Committee of Pittsburgh (ISCPIT) celebrated International Women’s Day on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh with a rally to end “End the War on Women!”

ISCPIT speaker Marigold Cameron told the crowd, “Although Western media likes to portray the Islamic Republic as an ultimate oppressor of women, it should be noted that since the revolution, literacy among women has jumped from 67 to 97%, with women now constituting a majority of university students, especially in STEM fields. This marks Iran as the country in the region with the highest participation of women in academia – and yes, that is even counting Israel.”

Cameron continued, “When the U.S. and Israel launched their joint attack on Iran eight days ago, one of their first targets was a school for girls, where over 150 students and teachers were murdered!”

A representative of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) stated, “Here in Pittsburgh, the healthcare providers for trans youth, namely UPMC, Central Outreach, and Metro Community Health, have all pre-complied with Trump's lies and cut off this care entirely. Planned Parenthood has also shut down three of its Pittsburgh-area family planning offices, and unionized workers at Allegheny Reproductive Health Center have been repeatedly fired or locked out of their jobs.”

Another speaker from ISCPIT, Kate Hagerty said, “Hatred of women, violence against women, and the sexual abuse of children are symptoms of patriarchy, capitalism and colonialism visited on the weakest and most defenseless people in our society. When the identity of your country is rooted in dominance, theft, exploitation and dehumanization, sexual violence becomes an obvious and unavoidable consequence.”

Freedom Road Socialist Organization’s (FRSO) Ed Gallo stated, “Even within the already exploited working class, women’s work is even more undervalued, underpaid and rendered invisible. When women's labor is treated as worthless, it lowers the floor for everyone. Capitalists use the devaluation of women's work to justify cutting wages, slashing benefits and demanding more from all workers.”

Gallo continued, “The struggles of women, workers and oppressed nationalities are not separate fights. They are all fronts in the battle against our common enemy – monopoly capitalism and the ruling class that profits from exploitation at home and abroad. When we can build an alliance between the labor movement and the liberation movements of oppressed people, we will have the power to win.”

#PittsburghPA #PA #InternationalWomensDay #WomensMovement

Pittsburgh, PA – On February 20, the International Solidarity Committee of Pittsburgh (ISCPIT) rallied outside of the headquarters of Howmet Aerospace – a company that produces essential F-35 jet components for Lockheed Martin which are used against Palestine

The demonstration took place in coordination with the Anti-War Action Network’s week of action. Protesters chanted, “No more violence, no more threats, no more parts for bomber jets!” Volunteers read selections of poetry by Palestinian authors, and members of local organizations delivered speeches bringing attention to the many facets of U.S. imperialism facing the world today.

ISCPIT’s Dot Bodwell stated, “The genocide did not begin when it hit U.S. headlines, and it will not end once it's out of the spotlight. Pittsburgh needs a consistent voice against war.”

Pittsburgh’s branch of Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) has long been leading the campaign against Howmet Aerospace. The Howmet Accountability Project is one of many efforts by local organizers to end Pittsburgh’s complicity in genocide and war crimes.

Freedom Road Socialist Organization’s (FRSO) Marigold Cameron stated, “During the renegotiations between Howmet and Lockheed Martin, Lockheed's representatives argued that if Howmet dropped the contract, it would take 18 months to resume F-35 production.”

Cameron continued, “The work done in this building forces laborers to work in unsafe conditions around the country; it consumes all other titanium manufacturers, forcing whole industries to do business on its terms; it contributes to the gentrification of our city, pricing our poorest neighbors out of their own homes; and it drops bombs on Palestine, Venezuela, and perhaps soon Iran. Here is our enemy!”

A member of ISCPIT told the crowd, “This oil-obsessed imperialism is the same mindset that darkened Pittsburgh’s sky with coal dust, and set fire to the Cuyahoga River. They are seeking profit at the expense of our world, our home, and our children.”

Other demonstrators drew attention to the idea of the “imperial boomerang,” which refers to the phenomenon where the repression and violence used overseas in imperialist aggression is eventually turned back on the people of the imperialist nation itself.

The rally’s call to action emphasized the important role of the labor movement in disrupting the military industrial complex’s supply chain.

Ed Gallo, a local union worker, said, “The trade unions in Italy swiftly and repeatedly mobilized the workers. They seriously threatened the economic interests of those in power – what is it going to take for U.S. labor leaders to acknowledge that there is no safety, or secure institutions, nothing is sacred in a world where people are murdered by the thousands with impunity? It’s up to us, the rank-and-file, the workers of the United States, to be brave and make our voices heard.”

A strong anti-war movement will be vitally necessary as the Trump administration continues to boldly stoke conflict with Cuba and Iran.

#PittsburghPA #PA #AntiWarMovement #ISCPIT #Palestine

Philadelphia, PA – On November 30, members of Anakbayan, the Filipino youth activist organization, hosted a fundraising gala. They were celebrating the five-year anniversary of their Philadelphia chapter.

Members and attendees gathered at the University of Pennsylvania’s campus to enjoy a program including a teach-in, music, drag performances and a competitive “Mx. Philly-pino” pageant. Funds went to Anakbayan and a relief fund for people displaced and devastated by the recent typhoons that hit the Philippines.

Since the founding of their chapter in 2020, Anakbayan Philadelphia has been tirelessly organizing and educating Filipino-American youth. They teach about general problems of Philippine society as a semi-colony of the United States. In addition, they explain the goals of the national democratic movement for complete independence of the Philippines. Anakbayan Philadelphia also leads the struggle against the particular repression that Filipino-Americans face as national minorities in the U.S.

One issue highlighted at the gala was the phenomenon of mass migration. Many Filipinos are forced to emigrate from their country. Most send a portion of their wages back home to their family due to the backwards economic and social conditions of the Philippines. A former colony of the U.S., the Philippines continues to be economically dominated by and nationally oppressed by the U.S.

Forced to leave their homes now for multiple generations, many Filipinos end up in the U.S. facing discrimination, low-wage jobs, and a broken immigration system. Especially sharp under the Trump administration are ICE and anti-immigrant attacks. The same Filipino-Americans forced to migrate to the U.S. by exploitation in the Philippines, are then punished in the U.S. for wanting to work.

In true contradiction to these harsh conditions, the gala was the perfect image of the Anakbayan’s warm comradery, clear militancy and genuine mass character. A plate of ube cookies baked by one of the members made the event feel especially welcoming.

The gala concluded with a satirical play, climaxing with the destruction of images of Philippine President Bong Bong Marcos Jr. and Vice-president Sara Duterte, both the objects of a recent wave of massive anti-corruption protests in the Philippines.

One refrain perfectly summed up the spirit of the night, its political clarity and optimism for the national democratic movement apparent, “The U.S. will never liberate the Filipino people! The Filipino people will be the ones to liberate themselves!”

#PhiladelphiaPA #PA #International #Philippines #Anakbayan

Philadelphia, PA – On Saturday, November 15, over 100 people gathered at City Hall to denounce the U.S. war moves towards Venezuela. Organized by anti-war and community groups, the event was part of a nationwide week of action responding to the recent U.S. military escalation, missile strikes on maritime vessels in the Caribbean and open calls by the Trump administration for regime change.

The demonstration began with a rally on the north side of City Hall, where speakers highlighted the connection between U.S. militarism abroad and the deepening attacks on working and oppressed people at home. After the speeches, the crowd marched down Market Street, chanting slogans like “U.S. out of Latin America!” and “No more sanctions, no more war!” before gathering again in front of the U.S. Army recruitment center for a second round of speeches.

A member of Freedom Road Socialist Organization stated, “We cannot allow Trump to make a grab for another country’s natural resources at the cost of human lives. Freedom Road Socialist Organization says ‘Hands off Venezuela,’ but we know this is about so much more than that. We want the U.S. out of everywhere. No more wars, sanctions or occupations.”

Other speakers drew parallels between the violence targeting Venezuela and the genocide against Palestinians, tying together U.S. support for Israel’s occupation and the broader project of U.S. imperialism. Organizers noted that the same politicians slashing SNAP benefits, raising healthcare costs and deploying ICE agents in mass raids are the ones funding the use of warships, missiles and sanctions abroad.

Represented organizations included Anakbayan, Black Alliance for Peace, Code Pink, Democratic Socialists of America, Free Congo, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Philadelphia Palestine Coalition, Koreans for Decolonization Penn, Juntos, Workers World Party, and Mobilization4Mumia, among others.

Speakers urged people in Philadelphia to stay engaged and to continue building a strong, disciplined anti-war movement capable of resisting U.S. intervention abroad and repression at home.

“People everywhere are fed up with the endless violence and evil that the United States continues to perpetrate all over the world,” said a member of FRSO, “Here in Philadelphia, we can help build and lead this movement, but we need to act quickly and decisively.”

Saturday’s demonstration made clear that growing numbers of people in the city reject U.S. aggression in Venezuela and demand an immediate end to all sanctions, occupations and military intervention.

#PhiladelphiaPA #PA #AntiWarMovement #Venezuela

Philadelphia, PA – On October 7, 300 protestors marched through Center City to commemorate the two-year anniversary of the Al-Aqsa Flood operation which reasserted the global cause for Palestinian liberation and struck a massive blow against the Israeli occupation.

The protesters, mostly young students, marched a route intended to highlight different sites of struggle for the various campaigns being waged in Philly to disrupt Zionist normalization and U.S. military aid to Israel.

The protest started on 1500 Spring Garden Street, just outside the offices of the munitions manufacturing company Day & Zimmerman. The D&Z offices have become a well-known site of protest after Students for Justice in Palestine organized regular early-morning noise demonstrations for the past 17 Tuesdays and even a building occupation earlier this summer. Day & Zimmerman remains a powerful target in Philly, considering their responsibility in the death of six-year-old Hind Rajab and her family, as the 300 artillery shells fired at their car by the IDF were manufactured and sold by Day & Zimmerman.

The second stop along the route was directly outside the ICE field office in the heart of Philadelphia’s Chinatown neighborhood. Chants of “ICE, KKK, IOF – they’re all the same!” and “Chinga la migra!” mingled with the hot October air. For all their audacity, no ICE agent showed their face outside the building.

Finally, the march concluded outside the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History, a building which used to sport a large Israeli flag with the words “The Weitzman stands with Israel” inscribed underneath, until an activist splattered it with red paint earlier this summer. Fearing the obvious bloodied flag metaphor painted on the side of their building, the Weitzman has since opted to remove it.

A speaker for the Philadelphia Palestine Coalition oriented the crowd as to why the Weitzman should be targeted for their normalization of Zionism and genocide denial by reading aloud the words on their website, reading “[The Weitzman] strongly rejects the narrative that Israel and Zionism are colonialist enterprises, or that Israel is guilty of apartheid or genocide.” Apart from its CEO and executive director, Dan Tadmor, having served in the IDF’s infamous Unit 8200, Israel’s secretive cyber warfare unit, the Weitzman has also hosted numerous IDF members to spread Zionist, anti-Palestinian propaganda through speeches and presentations.

The march was organized by the Philly Palestine Coalition and included speakers and endorsers from Students for Justice in Palestine, Philly Alliance Against Imperialism, Workers World Party, and Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

#PhiladelphiaPA #PA #AntiWarMovement #Palestine

Pittsburgh, PA – On October 10, the Pittsburgh BDS Coalition led hundreds into the streets to speak out against Howmet Aerospace, a locally headquartered company manufacturing aircraft parts for Lockheed Martin. The boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement works to isolate Israel for the crimes it is committing in Palestine.

Coming just a day after the announcement of a new ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the Pittsburgh organizers didn’t think for a moment about letting the Palestine solidarity movement settle down. “Just because there might be a new ceasefire doesn’t mean that it’s suddenly okay to sell Israel military jets,” said a member of the Pittsburgh BDS Coalition. “Now is the time to keep up the pressure!”

The event got going with a powerful speech by a representative from the Pittsburgh University chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, who spoke to the exhaustion and rage which so many around the world feel watching the Zionist Entity commit genocide in Palestine, with the support of Western Imperialism.

Other speakers included members of PSL, the Our Streets Collective, 50501, the Pittsburgh Palestine Solidarity Committee, the East End Food Co-op labor union, and Jewish Voices for Peace.

Protesters marched down Penn Avenue behind a large banner reading “Howmet kills,” chanting slogans calling on the company to cancel its contract with Lockheed Martin. Upon reaching the Howmet headquarters, three cardboard models of the F-35 jet, which Howmet manufactures parts for, were smashed in front of the building.

The protest kicks off a week of action against Howmet, which the Pittsburgh BDS coalition has been organizing with other groups around the country. Although Howmet has locations in a dozen states across the US, they are not well-known as a component of the military industrial complex. The Pittsburgh BDS Coalition has been working to fix this by reaching out to anti-imperialist groups near other Howmet locations, several of which plan following Pittsburgh’s example with their own actions across the next week. The week of action also coincides with the international BDS campaign against the F-35 fighter jet, which many European socialists are participating in through shipping boycotts.

Although only 16% of Howmet’s business is dedicated to defense contracts, the fact that it manufactures highly specialized titanium parts makes it a crucial part of the F-35’s production chain – especially as the company has spent years buying up specialized factories to grow and maintain its monopoly on titanium aircraft parts. As the Pittsburgh BDS Coalition sees it, if a popular campaign were to succeed in pressuring Howmet to drop the Lockheed Martin contract and rely on the other 84% of their business instead, it would deal a serious blow to the continued production of the IDF’s favorite fighter jet.

#PittsburghPA #PA #AntiWarMovement #Palestine

Philadelphia, PA – On August 26, upon learning that Republic of Korea President Lee Jae Myung would be speaking at Hanwha’s Philadelphia shipyard, anti-imperialist activists quickly mobilized to oppose the war-mongering, $5 billion investment into Philly shipbuilding. This investment is a condition of the recent trade deal brokered by Lee and Trump, who met the day before in Washington, DC.

The deal entailed the lowering of the U.S. tariff rate for South Korean goods from the proposed 25% down to 15% in exchange for a direct investment of $150 billion into the U.S. shipbuilding industry, a deal proposed by Lee as “MASGA” or “Make American Shipbuilding Great Again.” $5 billion of that $150 billion will be spent on developing Hanwha’s shipbuilding venture in Philadelphia.

Hanwha, one of the Republic of Korea’s (ROK’s) largest shipbuilding corporations, acquired the failing Philadelphia shipyard in 2024 with the promise of providing 1700 jobs, training from south Korean experts and advanced shipbuilding technology. While initially meant as a site for repairing existing ships, Hanwha’s Philly Shipyard has expanded into the manufacture of new ships, and now, after the recent large investment from the ROK, will begin building warships for U.S. use.

This is within the context of the trilateral agreement between the U.S., ROK and Japan against China and the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK). Alarmed anti-imperialist activists oppose not only the escalation of naval shipbuilding in the U.S., but also President Lee Jae Myung’s hypocrisy of running on a platform sympathetic to Korean reunification, while cutting deals with the U.S. that would threaten the DPRK.

The organizers, representing an alliance of anti-imperialist organizations including Koreans for Decolonization, Anakbayan, and Freedom Road Socialist Organization, staged themselves opposite to the entrance of the Hanwha Group-owned ship building site. They stood with placards reading “No war production in Philadelphia” and “Reject U.S.-Lee puppetry.” Amplified chants such as “From Baekdu to Hallasan – U.S. out of Korea” and “No boots on the ground, no bombs in the air – U.S. out of everywhere!” soared over the flat, open air of the shipping yard. The rally’s presence was met with a mixed reaction from a group of Korean Americans who had gathered to greet Lee’s arrival.

An organizer from Koreans for Decolonization spoke out against the naval shipbuilding company, Hanwha, stating that “the heads of these companies are traitors, feeding themselves by escalating tensions and contributing to the U.S. war economy. They continue to be nothing but a happy pawn in the war that the U.S. wages against the world.” The organizer also spoke with members of the Korean press.

Another organizer, from Filipino youth group Anakbayan said, “The people of the Asia Pacific say no! No to subservience to empire. No to profiteering from imperialist war. No to U.S. military in our homelands. We stand shoulder to shoulder with all those resisting U.S. imperialism and fighting for self-determination for their people.”

Tensions were high as a large diplomatic bus lingered outside Hanwha’s main entrance. A few minutes later it drove away without disembarking and went through the back entrance instead, to the disappointment of the group gathered to greet Lee.

#PhiladelphiaPA #PA #AntiWarMovement #Korea #International