Fight Back! News

News and Views from the People's Struggle

antiracism

By George Mavrikos

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) General Secretary, George Mavrikos, against the coup in Bolivia.

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By staff

Milwaukee, WI – Milwaukee’s city council (called the Common Council) held a joint public meeting for the city’s 2020 budget, October 7. Residents came into city hall that evening, and a majority shared a similar message: put money into city services and divest from the Milwaukee Police Department.

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By staff

Chicago, IL – Unions are on the march in defense of their members across the country, with the autoworker strike against GM and strike authorization votes by teachers and other city employees in Chicago. Unions are also defending their members when they leave work and find their lives in danger from the very people paid to protect them: the police.

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By Tom Burke

Black Panther Party Cubz Chairman Fred Hampton Jr. speaks at site of People's Ch

Chicago, IL – A standing room only crowd filled the Holy Covenant United Methodist Church on September 29 to commemorate Reverend Bruce Johnson and Eugenia Johnson. The reverend and his wife Eugenia were remembered for supporting the Young Lords and their role in the struggle against poverty, war and oppression. They were savagely murdered in their own home 50 years ago, stabbed to death, during a U.S. government campaign of repression known as COINTELPRO or the Counterintelligence Program.

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By Chrisley Carpio

Participants at SDS convention.

Jacksonville, FL – On September 20, New Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) chapters from across the United States convened at the University of North Florida to reaffirm their commitment to student organizing and to discuss ways to, “Stop Trump, Stop Racism, Stop U.S. Military and Police Terror.” The conference peaked at over 80 students with a dozen chapters represented.

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By Austin Jensen

Richa Nagar speaking at the rally.

Columbia Heights, MN – Nearly 400 people protested along Central Ave on September 22 to demand an end to the atrocities being committed against Muslims in India by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his right-wing government.

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By staff

Protestors marching in Aurora, CO.

Aurora, CO – Immigrant rights groups from the greater Denver area came together on September 19 to confront Johnny Choate, the warden of Aurora’s notorious ICE detention facility, at his Aurora home.

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By staff

Ariel Atkins of Black Lives Matter speaks at press conference

Chicago, IL – On September 13, SEIU Local 73 demanded an end to the city of Chicago spending $33 million from the budget of the public schools, and $12 million from the Parks Department, for police officers. The union, which represents 7000 school workers and 3000 workers in the parks, called for more money for the students and community members. The union was joined by the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Black Lives Matter and progressive alderpersons.

#ChicagoIL #SEIULocal73 #PeoplesStruggles #AfricanAmerican #PoliceBrutality #Antiracism #ChicagoAllianceAgainstRacistAndPoliticalRepression #BlackLivesMatter

By Austin Jensen

Protest at Governor's residence to demand the divestment of Elbit Systems.

St. Paul, MN – Over 40 people protested in front of the Governor's Residence Monday, September 16, to demand the divestment of Elbit Systems by the State of Minnesota. The protest, which was organized by the Anti-War Committee, is the latest action in their current campaign to demand the divestment of Elbit Systems from the state’s public retirement fund. Currently the Minnesota State Board of Investments, which Governor Tim Walz chairs, holds $1.2 million, or approximately 10,000 shares, in Elbit Systems.

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By Lindsey Spietz

Kenosha, WI – When Cyntoia Brown’s case was brought forward to the media, there was a large public outcry for justice. How could a victim of human trafficking be imprisoned for killing her rapist and trafficker? Unfortunately, her case is not novel. Chrystul Kizer, a Milwaukee native, has been charged with multiple counts for defending herself against a sexual predator, Randall Volar III.

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By staff

Texas protest condemns Trump's concentration camps

Arlington, TX – 60 people showed up at a protest organized by the Progressive Student Union (PSU) at the University of Texas at Arlington, September 4, against the Trump administration’s change to of policy on the detention of undocumented children.

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By Jess Sundin

Sumaya and Badrudin Aden.

Minneapolis, MN – A September 5 press conference at the offices of CAIR MN made public new information in the police murder of 23-year-old Isak Aden. Aden, a breadwinner and caregiver for his younger siblings and disabled grandmother, was surrounded on July 2 by 90 officers for four hours in the Twin Cities suburb of Eagan, before fatal shots were fired by five cops from the cities of Eagan and Bloomington.

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By staff

Chicago, IL – Founded in 1973 as an organization that grew out of the movement to free the wrongfully imprisoned Angela Davis and other political prisoners, the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression is set to relaunch this November. This refounding, led by the Chicago Alliance against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) and other organizations, will be taking place in Chicago, Illinois on November 22-24 at the Chicago Teachers' Union Hall.

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By Meredith Aby

Minnesota protest says,“From Palestine to Mexico, Elbit Systems has got to go!”

St. Paul, MN – “In 2017, the Trump administration awarded Elbit a contract to work on the expansion of the Mexico border wall. Elbit System’s CEO has said that the company’s current growth can be attributed to increased U.S. border spending,” said Sarah Martin of Women Against Military Madness. “This last decade has seen the international community divesting from Elbit, including the Norwegian State Pension Fund, Danske Bank. Governor Walz, we Minnesotans refuse to continue to profit from pain, injustice and tragedy at the hands of Elbit. We want you to do what Norway and Denmark did. Divest now!”

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By Ted Mika

Anti-police crimes protesters line up for march to light rail tracks and MN Stat

St. Paul, MN – On August 24, protesters shut down a light rail train, blocked traffic and shut down the main entrance to the Minnesota State Fair. The protesters demanded justice for victims of killer cops, an end to ICE raids, concentration camps and family separation, and an end to deadly U.S. interventions and blockades against foreign countries. Trump supporters and racists heckled, filmed and attacked the protesters, but failed to block the protesters’ message, and no serious injuries occurred.

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By Wyatt Miller

Protest demands Minnesota divest from border militarization contractor.

St. Paul, MN – On August 22, immigrant rights and Palestine solidarity activists presented over 1000 signatures of Minnesota residents petitioning the State Board of Investments (SBI) to divest state pension funds from the Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems. Elbit sells cluster bombs and weaponized white phosphorus to the Israel Defense Forces, whose indiscriminate use on besieged Gaza has been widely condemned by international organizations. Elbit also manufactures surveillance equipment for the Israeli apartheid wall, and drones used in targeted assassinations of Palestinian political leaders.

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By staff

Rep. Ilhan Omar and Rep. Rashida Tlaib at a event in Minneapolis.

St. Paul, MN – On August 19, Representative Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan) held a press conference in the State Capitol in Saint Paul to a packed room, with an overflow of 100 people, on the human cost of the Israeli occupation of Palestine and travel restrictions.

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By Anti-War Committee

Ilhan Omar.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following August 15 statement from the Twin Cities based Anti-War Committee.

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By staff

Vigil demands justice for Jalen Mays.

Jacksonville, FL – On August 2, the Jacksonville Community Action Committee (JCAC) and the family of Jalen Mays held a vigil to remember his life on the three-month anniversary of his death. At the vigil, the protesters chanted, “Justice for Jalen.”

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By Ted Mika

Governor Walz MIA

St. Paul, MN – Activists and relatives of victims of police killings held a press conference in front of the state capitol, August 8. They marched into the capitol chanting, “What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!” and seized the governor’s office, chanting, giving speeches and demanding the governor follow through on his broken promise to meet with community members about police violence and take action.

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