FRSO and Workers World Party (WWP) have a long history of cooperating on national campaigns and demonstrations, including those at those at the Republican and Democratic conventions. Kelly noted the important role that WWP played in beating back the FBI repression directed against FRSO and others, saying, “we will never forget your tireless efforts to defend us.”

Kelly also stated, “The year marks the 60th anniversary of the founding of WWP. Your accomplishments are many, and your commitment to proletarian internationalism is something that all revolutionaries can learn from.”

#NewarkNJ #PeoplesStruggles #frso #WorkersWorld #Socialism

New York, NY – Around 50 socialists and community organizers gathered on Sunday, May 6 to celebrate the 200th birthday of Karl Marx – the founder of scientific socialism.

The event was organized by Workers World Party and featured food, politically agitating posters and banners, along with several panels that addressed different social justice topics and their relation to Marxism.

The afternoon was opened with an eloquent introduction by Workers World Party leader, Larry Holmes. Holmes talked about Marx’s contributions, and how we should be putting “revolution back in the demands.” Holmes continued by connecting the different struggles and saying that for the new generation of workers, “Socialism has never been more popular today than any time in history. And capitalism has never been more unpopular.”

There were several other speakers, including Mike Legaspi from BAYAN USA. Legaspi talked about the history of the CPP and the NPA in the Philippines and their usage of Marxism. He eloquently spoke about the importance of standing the test of time when it comes to utilizing Marxism and revolutionary strategy. Legaspi ended by saying, “We have nothing to lose. And a world to win.”

Jessica Schwartz, from the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, gave a speech that covered how to apply Marxism to the practical application of organizing labor. She spoke about how through the utilization of Mao’s concept of the mass line, Marxists can take general demands of the people and create powerful campaigns to win people over to revolution. Schwartz explicitly said, “As Marxists, our role is not to lecture the working class but to join them and fight beside them.”

The rest of the afternoon continued with thought provoking speeches that brought up questions regarding how to continue organize in present time.

The event ended with the attendees marching over to stand in solidarity with the students and cafeteria workers of the New School.

#NewYorkNY #CapitalismAndEconomy #BAYAN #FreedomRoadSocialistOrganization #WorkersWorld #Socialism #KarlMarx

Salt Lake City, UT – About 40 people gathered at the Wallace F. Bennett Federal Building, April 15, in downtown Salt Lake City to decry the recent missile attack on Syria. Protesters carried signs reading, “U.S. lies, people die! Stop U.S. wars now!” and “No more blood for oil. Stop the war machine!” Protesters chanted “No justice, no peace! U.S. out of the Middle East!” and “Money for jobs and education, not for war and occupation.”

Monica Moorehead, a leading member of the Workers World Party, spoke at the rally. She urged the crowd to link our struggles at home against capitalism to the struggles of people abroad resisting imperialism.

Brynn Dayton, an organizer with Students for a Democratic Society said, “SDS stands in solidarity with the Syrian people and we demand an end to U.S. aggression in Syria.”

#SaltLakeCityUT #AntiwarMovement #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #WorkersWorld #Syria

The Freedom Road Socialist Organization salutes the Workers World Party National Conference and your successful year in advancing the people’s struggle and building your party. We appreciate the leadership of 1st Secretary Larry Holmes and the WWP Secretariat in promoting revolutionary politics and unity in action.

Our unity in the struggle sets a good example for others to emulate. We memorably joined together to lead the two big protests outside the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. People around the world heard our message opposing Trump and the Republicans agenda, taking a stand against racist, anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim attacks. Then we helped ruin Trump’s inauguration on January 20 in Washington D.C., rallying outside Union Station and marching through the streets.

The bond between our groups is precious. The FRSO will never forget the concrete solidarity the WWP provided when the FBI raided the Anti-war 23 in 2010. You lifted us up, and by gathering others, we defeated the U.S. government repression of the anti-war movement and stopped the attempted imprisonment of FRSO leaders.

Like you, we look forward to another year of fighting back! Our movements can defeat Trump without waiting for an election. Together we are strong. We cheered when the WWP comrades tore down the Confederate statue in Durham, NC! We will never allow Nazis to march in our streets, not in Charlottesville, nor anywhere else!

Comrades, more and more working-class and oppressed people are awakening and looking for a new society. Support for socialism among younger people is growing by leaps and bounds. Now is the time to spread revolutionary ideas, combined with action!

Comrades, we raise our fists in solidarity and unity!

#NewYorkNY #FreedomRoadSocialistOrganization #frso #WorkersWorld #Socialism

New York, NY – Around 150 people gathered in Herald Square, Oct. 7, to protest war at home and abroad on the 16th anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan.

50 groups signed on to the call to action to oppose U.S. imperialism.

Bayan USA spoke about how the U.S. wars affects the Philippines under the rule of Duterte. SPARC (Serve the People – Awaken Revolutionary Consciousness) spoke about how imperialism is closely connected to gentrification at home and displacement of working class and oppressed people. Worker’s World Party spoke about the need to support nations, such as Venezuela and Korea, targeted by the U.S.

Michela Martinazzi from the Committee to Stop FBI Repression spoke on the need to defend anti-war activists when they’re targeted, stating, “The government targets activists and organizers because they want to shut down the movement. They want to shut us down. But I can say that we won’t get shut down. We won’t stop defending our political warriors.”

Juyeon Rhee from the Nodutdol for Korean Community Development spoke about the need of a united Korea, “If there will be a war, it won't be new to us. We've been under war for the last 70 years. The U.S. shouldn’t decide for us, and they should let us decide how we go about our affairs for a united Korea.” She ended her speech with the chant, “End the Korean War! Peace treaty now!”

The rally ended with powerful words from one the three emcees, Nerdeen Kiswani from New York City Students for Justice in Palestine who urged all the attendees to not let this event be the only thing they do, but to join an organization and join the movement.

#NewYorkNY #AntiwarMovement #Afghanistan #BAYAN #WorkersWorld #CommitteeToStopFBIRepression

I write with great sadness the news that Leslie Feinberg died on Nov. 15, 2014 at the age of 65, after a protracted illness. Leslie is an icon of the LGBTQ movement, a Marxist and a revolutionary. Leslie pioneered a Marxist theory of transgender liberation. Ze wrote an in-depth class analysis of gay, lesbian and transgender oppression which ran as the “Lavender and Red” series in Workers World newspaper.

It was Leslie’s ground breaking novel Stone Butch Blues that had a profound impact on me personally. In 1993, I was just becoming a political activist and coming out as queer. Third-Wave feminism was starting to find its voice but what was acceptable for progressive women to think and discuss was still filled with the academic moralism and carnage of the feminist sex wars.* Leslie was simultaneously part of the feminist movement and the rising queer movement. In that moment, hir book was like air and light. The Butch-Femme world that Leslie describes in Stone Butch Blues was not my world but in its pages lived working-class lesbians who survived a life of contradictions and compromises with passion and zeal. I needed those women to be part of the political landscape in order for there to be a place for me.

Leslie was influential to the entire Third-Wave of queer and transgender activists. In Trans Liberation: Beyond Pink or Blue and Transgender Warriors Leslie further developed transgender theory and revealed transgender history. Leslie’s struggle for an inclusive definition of transgender personhood and broad acceptance of transgender lived experience touched movements and countless individuals.

Leslie’s life said that that we could be our most authentic selves and participate and lead, whether that was the LGBTQ struggle or the anti-imperialist movement. Hir life was proof that the history of LGBT exclusion from Marxist movements was a symptom of the homophobia of the people in them and not a flaw of Marxist theory. While this is my story of a long term distant appreciation for Leslie Feinberg, it is a story shared by many comrades and friends.

Some of us had the honor of meeting Leslie in person when the struggle to free CeCe McDonald brought hir to Minneapolis in the Summer of 2012. CeCe is a transgender woman who was on trial for defending hirself from a hate crime. Leslie came to the Twin Cities to put hir body on the line in the struggle to Free CeCe.

Leslie committed civil disobedience by spray painting the brick walls of the Hennepin County jail where CeCe was imprisoned. Ze spray painted “Free CeCe” on every blank space until ze was arrested, despite being quite ill at the time. Ze stayed at our home a few days awaiting hir first court appearance. Leslie was humble and enthusiastic to work with the young transgender activists at the core of CeCe’s case. Ze was eager to learn from them. Ze had not let the years of struggle make hir jaded or unwilling to see new things in new struggles.

Leslie was an organizer and an activist, a pioneer of transgender liberation, a Marxist and a courageous human being. We will remember Leslie as a revolutionary communist, just as ze wished to be remembered.

Our sincere condolences to Leslie’s partner Minnie-Bruce Pratt and hir comrades in the Workers World Party.

\* The full extent of Leslie’s influence cannot be understood outside of time, place and conditions. If you want to know more, I encourage you to look up any history referenced here that is unfamiliar to you.

Steff Yorek is the Political Secretary of Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

#UnitedStates #Remembrances #WorkersWorld #LeslieFeinberg #StoneButchBlues

By Joseph Piette

Boston, Oct. 23 — In an impressive display of strength and unity in the face of a state attack against a militant union, hundreds of Boston bus drivers, bus monitors and community supporters came out tonight, in support of the School Bus Union 5: Andre Francois, Steven Gillis, Stevan Kirschbaum, Richard Lynch and Garry Murchison. Today’s events put the Veolia transnational corporation on the defensive, thwarting its hell-bent plan to break the union by attempting to unlawfully fire these long-time, respected members of Steelworkers Local 8751, the Boston School Bus Drivers Union.

The first hit against Veolia’s plans to terminate Gillis, Kirschbaum and the three other defendants was the legal brief presented to the corporation from the Steelworkers International legal defense team on Oct. 21. It reads in part: “As is explained herein, none of the named employees has engaged in any of the misconduct alleged against them inasmuch as the facts (as now known to the union) make clear that the events of October 8, 2013, amounted to an unlawful lockout by the Company and not a work stoppage by the employees and that, even if there were a work stoppage prior to the time when the Company locked the employees off the property, such work stoppage would have been a lawful unfair labor practice strike in any event. Moreover, pursuant to the facts expounded herein, the five named employees did not plan or orchestrate any of the concerted activity that occurred on October 8 and thus have no culpability beyond that.”

The 65-page document includes testimony, photos and other facts explaining that the company’s unfair labor practices were the real cause of the events on Oct. 8.

But the real power that made Veolia nervous today was the workers’ strength. The company knew workers and community members would be gathering outside the meeting at the company’s executive offices. That was why they announced early on that no one would be terminated today during the first disciplinary hearing against the Five. Another hearing is set for Oct. 28.

Strength of workers’ power

At the 3 p.m. start of the disciplinary meeting, the number of those gathered outside the building was understandably small because most workers were on their buses until 5:30. Union leaders demanded that all Five accused workers be present throughout the hearings.

When the company handed over three copies of the charges against Steve Gillis, union representatives demanded copies for every worker in the room, as past practices dictate. The company was forced to call a recess while that was done. The Five took the opportunity to walk out to the assembled crowd and hold the first of four or five rallies that took place over the next several hours.

Each time they walked out, Kirschbaum, chair of the union’s Grievance Committee, gave a report to a steadily growing crowd. Veolia management personnel drove in and out of the gates as the meeting progressed in order to report to their bosses the increasing size of the rally.

By 7:15 p.m., the gathering, which had grown to more than 350 workers and supporters, was a virtual occupation of Veolia’s corporate headquarters. As Kirschbaum walked out the door, some of the workers picked him up and carried him to a makeshift stage on the back of a truck. The rest of the Five joined him, as well as Boston City Councillor Charles Yancey.

Each member of the Five spoke during the last rally of the day. Kirschbaum reported that the disciplinary meeting would be continued on Oct. 28. Decisions have been delayed, but Veolia’s attempt to fire the five union leaders is still on the table. Kirschbaum pointed out that the rank-and-file members’ willingness to mobilize in support of the Five has put Veolia on the defensive.

Steve Gillis, USW local vice president, focused his remarks on the villainous role of the Veolia corporation as a worldwide imperialist pirate, more powerful than many governments. Through its four divisions Veolia does business in the trillions of dollars, has operations in 48 countries and employs more than 300,000 workers. It is trying to corner the world’s water supply; is an energy monster that even uses fracking, which is known to destroy the environment; and runs apartheid bus lines and Israeli-settler-only garbage dumps in the occupied West Bank.

But, Gillis pointed out, the real, much stronger power is the power of the workers fighting for their rights in unity as a powerful workers’ assembly.

Francois, Lynch and Murchison all thanked the assembled rank and file for demonstrating by their actions the time-honored motto: “An injury to one is an injury to all.” The three thanked the workers for showing by their solidarity that they would not allow a single union leader to be sacrificed to Veolia’s union busting. Then they told the workers they were living the 8751 motto: “Together we will win. Ansamb nou se yon fos. Todos unitos. De juntos somos forte!”

Councillor Yancey told the drivers and monitors: “You offered to do the afternoon run and pick up the children [on Oct. 8], but the mayor refused and locked the gates. The mayor sided with Veolia. You love the children of Boston. You deserve respect for the work you do. If you win, all of Boston wins. If you lose, workers all over lose.”

This reporter heard workers express a common belief: If the union leaders are terminated, their wages and benefits will go next. They must stop the company’s plans. Hands off the School Bus Union Five!

Piette is a retired letter carrier from Philadelphia.

#BostonMA #workersRights #WorkersWorld #antiunionBusting #SchoolBusUnion5

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following article from Workers World.

New York – In a city that is home to more nationalities than any other in the world, all seemed represented in the crowd of thousands who came to demonstrate in the City Hall area on Sept. 11. They were there to express solidarity with the Muslim community in the struggle over the building of an Islamic Community Center near the World Trade Center site.

Answering the call of the Emergency Mobilization Against Racism & Anti-Muslim Bigotry, people from Boston, Washington and in between joined thousands of New Yorkers in a display of the strength of the anti-racist movement that embraced young and old, people of all the colors of the city and region, gay and straight. The demonstrators exuded a spirit of unity and cooperation by chanting, marching and then chipping in their labor to clean up at the end of the day’s action.

International Action Center co-coordinator Sara Flounders, one of the rally chairs, told Workers World that “10,000 people joined today, coming from dozens of communities in the city. They represented neighborhood organizations, religious groups of all kinds, political and anti-war groups and human rights groups. Many workers wore their union caps or tee shirts.”

Just naming Flounders’ co-chairs gives a modest idea of the breadth of the rally’s support: They were Sayel Kayed of American Muslims for Palestine; Dr. Asha A. Samad-Matias of the Safrad Somali Association and the Muslim Women’s Coalition; Lucy Pagoda of the May 1st Coalition for Worker and Immigrant Rights; and Amadi Ajamu of the December 12th Movement. Another 48 diverse speakers and cultural groups gave greetings or performances.

At 3 p.m. the pro-unity gathering far outnumbered an anti-Muslim protest organized by the much-publicized Tea Party. In addition, hundreds of anti-racist protesters, many with home-made signs, were surrounding the Tea Party and showing their opposition to its message of hatred. Just two weeks earlier the anti-Muslim crowd had been getting the main media attention and was pouring money into advertising for their action.

In late August the IAC had put out an initial call for a counter-rally; soon more than 100 organizations had come together and formed the Emergency Mobilization. With little time to organize and less money, the ad hoc group was still able to get out 100,000 pieces of literature in the two weeks before the rally.

“We had to organize on a shoestring budget,” said Flounders, “putting the bills for leaflets and posters and signs on people’s credit cards and hoping we could pay for the demonstration. It was worth it. We showed that a broad section of the city won’t let the racists invade and dominate 9/11.”

The message from the nearly 50 speakers on the stage of the Emergency Mobilization action was a strong one of solidarity and unity — solidarity with the Muslim community in the United States and unity of all the forces who came that day in the struggle against all forms of racism and scapegoating, against U.S. wars abroad and for jobs, education and social benefits at home.

One of those speakers, Larry Holmes of the Bail Out the People Movement, told Workers World, “We brought out the real New York City — a city of workers and peoples of color from all around the world. This mobilization started because we were forced to defend our Muslim sisters and brothers. It will continue because we have to open up the struggle against war, against racism, and for jobs, education and health care. There is much more to fight for and now we all know who we can count on.”

#NewYorkNY #WorldTradeCenter #Islamophobia #MuslimCommunityCenter #EmergencyMobilizationAgainstRacismAntiMuslimBigotry #WorkersWorld