March 8, 2010 will mark 100 years of International Women’s Day. Around the world people will celebrate the contributions of women in the movements to end inequality and exploitation, to insist on the complete liberation of women and to look forward to the day when oppression of all kinds has become a thing of the past.

Minneapolis, MN – 50 people gathered here March 7, to celebrate International Women’s Day. The event, organized by Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), included speeches, a showing of the film The Eyes of the Rainbow - a documentary about Assata Shakur – and brief toasts from trade union, anti-war, student and welfare rights organizers.

The Student Commission of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) met over the 2009 winter break to discuss education rights, building a movement against war and occupations in Afghanistan and Iraq, fighting racism on campus and supporting immigrant rights. FRSO students came from as far as California and Florida, with large delegations from the South and Midwest. With a burning desire for social justice, the national cold wave could not stop them

Activists from the welfare rights, labor, immigrant rights and anti-war movements filled May Day books store here, for a forum called 'Capitalism in crisis; fighting back in hard times,' Oct. 25. Speakers included Steff Yorek of Freedom Road Socialist Organization and Linden Gawboy of the Welfare Rights Committee and the Minnesota Coalition for a People's Bailout, along with labor and student activists.

'A message to the people of the United States'

The following is a video interview of Raul Reyes, given in July, 2000. It was filmed by Jess Sundin, a Colombia solidarity activist and a member of Freedom Road Socialist Organization. The following is a English translation of a few excerpts from Raul Reyes statement, which is in Spanish.

Les damos una bienvenida de parte de Freedom Road Socialist Organization a todas y todos los que han venido de cerca y desde lejos para protestar en contra de la guerra en Irak, protestar la agenda republicana, y avanzar las demandas de paz, justicia e igualdad el 1 de septiembre en San Pablo, Minnesota. Como ustedes, nosotros estamos en contra de cuatro años más de ocupación, guerra, represión y racismo.

¡Que viva la lucha popular!

El primero de mayo, el día internacional de los trabajadores, es un día de lucha. Alrededor del mundo, trabajadores marcharán en contra de la guerra imperialista, para defender los derechos de los inmigrantes en su lucha para proteger sus trabajos y comunidades. Aquí en los Estados Unidos, el 1ro de mayo renació cuando millones de chicanos, mexicanos y centroamericanos junto a otros inmigrantes y sus aliados, llenaron las calles para exigir la legalización, un fin de las redadas y deportaciones y el paro de la militarización de la frontera.

Voices from the protest

These are statements from some of the many people who will protest against the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, MN on September 1-4, 2008.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following greeting from Freedom Road Socialist Organization to demonstrators at the Republican National Convention.

After years of struggle and massive marches, justice for immigrants appears closer to reality, but we must continue to hit the streets to demand full legalization and an end to the repressive ICE detentions and deportations. It is also a time to sum up our lessons and history of struggle. This is why I encourage you to read the new pamphlet, The Immigrant Rights Movement and the Struggle for Full Equality just published by Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

Demand Freedom for Ricardo Palmera!

Ricardo Palmera, a key leader Colombia’s largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, (FARC), was handed over to U.S. custody Dec. 31. He is now sitting in a U.S. jail awaiting trial in federal court. Everyone who values justice should raise their voices and demand his immediate release.

A review of the pamphlet Build a Fighting Workers Movement by the Labor Commission of Freedom Road Socialist Organization

This past Dec. 5, 250 workers occupied the Republic Windows and Doors factory on Goose Island in Chicago. They had been told a few days earlier that the company was closing and that there would be no severance pay, or even payment of wages or sick or vacation pay owed them. Their protest, targeting their company and the Bank of America, became a national symbol of working people’s anger at the rich and powerful. “Banks got bailed out, we got sold out,” they chanted as their story was reported across the world.

St. Paul, MN – On Aug. 25, 3,000 people came to the State Capitol to stand up against the racist Ku Klux Klan and a group of neo-nazis. Organized by a coalition of community groups called Can the Klan, the demonstrators sent a powerful message against racism and discrimination.

Eight years ago an annual celebration began in Chicago that just keeps getting bigger and better: People's Thanksgiving. During this celebration, thanks and recognition are given to fighters for justice, and the continuing struggle against oppression is also commemorated.