News and Views from the People's Struggle
Dallas, TX – On September 26, The National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression-Dallas organized a vigil to honor the lives of the three victims, two of whom were fatally shot after being detained by ICE.
The Vigil began at 7 p.m. at Civic Garden park in Dallas and lasted well into the night. Many from the community and in allied organizations came to pay their respects to those victims and to their families.
Austin, TX – On October 2, about 25 students gathered on UT’s South Lawn for a vigil in commemoration of the families who have been torn apart by ICE in Trump’s mass deportation campaign. The vigil was organized by the Austin Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) in order to stand in solidarity with the 200,000-plus people who have been deported since Trump was inaugurated in January of this year.
Garland, TX – Over two dozen people gathered on Saturday, September 13, for a town hall meeting for the DFW Anti-War Committee's “Stop the Bombs” campaign to shut down the Repkon munitions factory.
Austin, TX – On Thursday, September 4, around 70 students gathered outside the UT Tower to protest Trump’s bigoted and reactionary agenda. The protest was organized by Austin Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) as a part of a National Day of Action.
“We’re out here to demand protection for immigrants here at UT and in Texas, and also in acknowledgement that Trump wants to turn the whole country into Texas,” SDS member Daniel Ramirez said, in reference to Trump’s attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion and multicultural programs. “We can’t stand alone in this fight, and we’re proud to kick off this semester standing in solidarity with students all over the country in the fight against Trump.”
Dallas, TX – On Saturday, August 30, more than 30 Dallas residents gathered at Pan African Connection Bookstore and Resource Center for discussion on socialism as it pertains to the modern People's Republic of China.
Hosted by the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, (FRSO), the event was part of a speaking tour led by Sydney Loving, a Central Committee member of FRSO, who spent ten days in China as part of a delegation of Friends of Socialist China.
Loving began the presentation by stating, “75 years of socialist construction. We saw a country that has the largest economy in the world as measured by Purchasing Power Parity, which is a more accurate view than GDP, or Gross Domestic Product, which relies on the stock market and inflates the real economy. China's economy is the largest by industrial manufacturing. Even smaller cities are high-tech and increasingly green, life expectancy is over 78 years which is two years longer than the U.S., and of course where over 800 million people have been lifted out of extreme poverty.”
Loving continued, “Thanks to China's socialism they are completing an industrial revolution every decade since the 1980s. China is in the forefront of this new industrial revolution with AI, quantum technology, big data etc. China and the world have changed forever. But despite these advancements China remains controversial in the West, even amongst the left! Believe it or not. So, it's important to seek truth from fact as Mao says.”
Loving expounded on the particular advancements from the five cities she visited, Xi’an, Yan’an, Dunhuang, Jiayu guan and Shanghai.
Loving stated, “We went to Yan’an, which was really the cradle of the revolution from 1935 to 1947. The Red Army re-grouped there after the Long March, and the CPC [Communist Party of China] held the 7th National Congress there, 16 long years after the 6th Congress, because they were fighting Japanese imperialism and the KMT. [Yan’an is] where Mao Zedong Thought was crystalized and adopted. They fought dogmatism and made the decision to be the party of the masses of Chinese people.”
“In Jiayu guan, we visited JISCO, a state-owned steel company that the workers built the whole city around in the 1950s. Today it has 42% green cover, with ponds and parks– remember this is the Gobi Desert, “ said Loving.
“In Shanghai we went to a robotics facility where they demonstrated the advancements for surgery and industry, and a Lenovo factory where they showed off how they’re partnering with the school system to bring advanced tech into rural classrooms,” said Loving.
Loving concluded her presentation by saying, “China is not a utopia, it's a real place. Everything that we saw affirmed that China is continuing to build socialism that centers the people. China is building a future for all of us that is more peaceful and more equal.”
#DallasTX #TX #International #RevolutionaryTheory #China #Socialism
Dallas, TX – On August 18, Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) flight attendants and supporters picketed outside of Dallas – Fort Worth Airport to demand an end to work without pay and for pay raises that reflect the work they do. This comes during stalled contract negotiations and the potential to move into mediation in late August.
Dallas TX – Members of NAARPR Dallas gathered to host a raffle, August 15, to promote vendors’ businesses at the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge in Dallas, Texas. For more than a year, Dallas police have been harassing and kicking out the vendors at the bridge. In one case last summer, DPD officers pinned down a vendor and sprayed her directly in the face with mace.
Dallas, TX – Palestinian Youth Movement called an emergency picket, August 12, at the Dallas Morning News headquarters downtown followed by a vigil for journalists and media members targeted by the Israeli military.
Dallas, TX – Over 100 Dallas residents joined a protest against Boston Consulting Group (BCG) on Friday, July 25 to call attention to the firm’s backing of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which has killed over a thousand Palestinians seeking aid.
Austin, TX – On Thursday, July 3, students and community activists gathered at the Texas Capitol to call for an end to continued U.S. aggression against Iran. The action was organized by Austin Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).
Austin, TX – Around 60 Austin students and community members held a noise demonstration outside the J.J. Pickle Federal Building on Monday evening, June 16, in solidarity with the anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles.
Dallas, TX – This May, nearly 90 union drivers at Albertsons, represented by Teamsters Local 745, voted unanimously to authorize a strike, sending a thunderous message to corporate management – and it worked.
Within hours of the vote, Albertsons executives returned to the bargaining table and immediately backed down, dropping proposed contract language that would have allowed the company to deploy autonomous trucks without human drivers. The company also agreed to move on several key economic demands after months of stonewalling.
Dallas, TX – Organizers from the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression-Dallas (NAARPR-Dallas) commemorated the fifth anniversary of the death of George Floyd and protested unjust deportation of a family from Austin.
Austin, TX – Around 40 students rallied at a walkout for immigrant rights in front of the UT Tower, Wednesday, April 9, at 11 a.m. The walkout is part of an ongoing campaign by Austin Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) to kick ICE off campus. Students are calling on the university to take concrete actions to protect immigrant students and to refuse to collaborate with ICE.
Dallas TX – On April 5 organizers from Freedom Road Socialist Organization, DFW Anti War Committee and the National Alliance Against Racism and Political Repression joined the DFW Indivisible and 50501 groups in a rally to say “Hands off” to the Trump administration’s attacks on labor, public services and government infrastructure.
El Paso, TX – Close to 500 marchers came together in San Jacinto Plaza in El Paso, March 31, for the Cesar Chavez Memorial March for Democracy and Against Fascism. “The Constitutional rights I have today, I want to have tomorrow and the future. Trump is trying to make that impossible!” said Irma Camacho, the rally emcee. The protest included community groups and labor representatives from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and American Federation of Government Employees Local 2416.
Fort Worth, Texas – On March 29, a small rally of pro-Palestine protesters gathered outside the entrance of Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth Location, the site of CYBERQUEST, Lockheed’s annual programming competition held for students.
Dallas, TX – Over 300 community members marched through the Dallas Oak Lawn “gayborhood,” Sunday, March 23 to protest the spread of anti-LGBTQ bills and laws sweeping the country. Attendees gathered at the Cathedral of Hope in Oak Lawn for speeches calling attention to the diverse needs of the queer and trans community in this political moment. The rally, called by Texas Latino Pride, spoke to the heightened attacks faced by trans women, disabled, Black, and brown queer and trans folks.
Richardson, TX – On March 18, community members gathered to protest in front of the Raytheon company’s building in response to Raytheon’s complicity in the Israeli genocide in Palestine. The Dallas chapter of the Palestinian Youth Movement called the emergency protest after Israel broke the recent ceasefire agreement and continued bombing the Gaza strip.
Raytheon, second to Lockheed Martin, is one of the world largest weapons manufacturers, and has been targeted by anti-war activists in north Texas. Aside from Raytheon, the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex has seen protests and actions against local Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics plants.
Grand Prairie, TX – Members of the DFW Anti-War Committee on did a banner drop March 1 in front of the local Lockheed Martin Fire and Missile Control Center to protest against Lockheed’s annual coding competition, Code Quest.