Milwaukee, WI – 500 people took to the streets of downtown Milwaukee, November 6, to protest another Trump presidency that will surely launch an all-out assault on workers and oppressed people for the next four years. Rather than giving into despair, the people of Milwaukee, representing various progressive movements, showed they are ready to fight back against Trump’s racist and reactionary agenda.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement by Students for a Democratic Society University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Chapter.
The Students for a Democratic Society UWM chapter condemns the ongoing political repression against Robby Knapp, Patricia Fish, Kayla Paterson, and Audari Tamayo. Knapp is currently facing suspension after refusing to stop protesting for Palestine and has been hit with multiple disciplinary sanctions. Fish is now being hit with disciplinary sanctions from the Chapman Hall occupation in February. Patterson and Tamayo were unable to enroll in time for the Fall 2024 semester after bogus holds were placed on their school accounts. This was just part of the string of repression unleashed by the university in its attempt to intimidate members of SDS and the student movement at large for standing with Palestine.
Milwaukee, WI – Former President Trump returned to Milwaukee this past Friday, November 1, to speak at a rally at the Fiserv Forum, the same venue where he accepted the Republican presidential nomination during the Republican National Convention (RNC).
Milwaukee, WI – On Tuesday, October 22, the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (MAARPR) and numerous families of those impacted by police violence, lack of transparency, and by the conditions in the Milwaukee County Jail honored their loved ones in a panel and vigil for Stolen Lives Day at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, with around 100 people in attendance.
Milwaukee, WI – On the morning of October 14, 40 letter carriers, their families, other union members, and community supporters gathered outside the downtown center for the United States Postal Service (USPS). The rally was called for by the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Branch 2, and it was held in conjunction with many other actions by other branches of the union across the country.
Milwaukee, WI – On September 25, roughly 100 people gathered to demand an end to the U.S.-funded attacks on Lebanon and Palestine and an arms embargo on Israel. Protesters gathered at City Hall Square as a rally began at around 5 p.m. The rally, led by the Milwaukee Anti-war Committee and cosponsored by ten other local, national, and international organizations, had ten speakers, who connected the resistance in the Middle East to U.S. imperialism and the way it impacts us all.
After the initial gathering and speeches, the group marched and chanted down Kilbourne Avenue to Juneau Park. The target of the protest was the Raytheon board member George Oliver, who lives in a condominium tower across from the park. The march was met with enthusiasm, honks and shouts of “Free Palestine!” by onlookers. The entire event was recorded by WISN 12 News and followed by reporter Erika Finke.
Milwaukee, WI – On Wednesday, September 4, the UWM Students for a Democratic Society led a protest of 70 students endorsed by the UWM Popular University for Palestine Coalition. The student organizations rallied defiantly in the face of their wrongful suspensions in front of the library named for Israeli war criminal Golda Meir.
Milwaukee, WI – On Monday, September 2, the Milwaukee Area Labor Council (MALC) and other unions such as the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) and the Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association (MTEA) hosted LaborFest, an annual celebration held in commemoration of Labor Day. Hundreds of workers and union supporters turned out for the occasion.
The first portion of the day’s events saw the traditional mass march featuring rank-and-file workers mobilized by unions spanning the spectrum of organized labor, from trades workers to letter carriers to communications workers and everything in between.
It was with shock and a heavy heart that members of the Wisconsin District of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization learned of the passing of one of our longest tenured general members, Rhize Ermel, on August 28, 2024.
Rhize joined the organization after the conclusion of the March on the DNC in Milwaukee in 2020. She brought a combination of experiences, perspectives and skills to the table as an activist and comrade.
Milwaukee, WI – On Wednesday, July 31, political repression reached a new low at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee as all five student organizations in the UWM Popular University for Palestine Coalition were suspended for alleged “threatening and antisemitic” remarks on social media. The students responded with a march on August 5.
The Popular University for Palestine Coalition includes the UW-Milwaukee chapters of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), Muslim Student Association (MSA), Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Un-PAC and Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA). According to the UWM administration, these student groups were deemed a threat to safety on campus. In reality, however, the only threat they posed is to the U.S. war machine and the pro-Israel status quo.