Los Angeles, CA – Thousands of workers rallied at Los Angeles City Hall, Feb. 26, to show solidarity with the struggle of workers in Wisconsin, who are fighting to keep their right to collective bargaining. The union members proudly wore their union shirts and carried signs reading “This is about freedom.” From AFSCME, SEIU, Teamsters, CWA, IBEW and ILWU, to name a few of the participating unions, workers expressed their anger at Wisconsin’s Republican Governor Walker’s attack on public workers.
Los Angeles, CA – The Council on American-Islamic Relations of the Greater Los Angeles Area (CAIR) and the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California (ACLU) filed a lawsuit against the FBI on Feb. 22. The lawsuit points out that the FBI sent an undercover agent, Craig Monteilh, to infiltrate local mosques in Southern California, to promote acts of violence and spy on thousands on worshippers.
Los Angeles, CA – As massive demonstrations continue in Egypt, activists from around southern California – home to a large Arab-American and Muslim community – rallied here to demand an end to Mubarak's regime. Protesters gathered at the downtown federal building on Feb. 5 and at the Egyptian Consulate on Feb. 6. Hundreds of people came to each event.
Los Angeles, CA – Over 100 people served as jurors in a People's Tribunal at the Westwood Federal Building here, Jan. 25 as a part of the national day of actions to end grand jury proceedings against anti-war and international solidarity activists.
Los Angeles, CA – Angry Black and Latino activists held a protest at a fancy dinner party where U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder was speaking to honor Martin Luther King, Jan. 17. The Martin Luther King Coalition for Jobs, Justice and Peace; LA Coalition for Justice for Oscar Grant; Latinos Against War; Fight Back News and other allies protested the visit of the attorney general at the annual MLK SCLC gala dinner to call out how the FBI attacked and harassed Reverend King and continues those same attacks today.
Brother Ray Sosa was a Chicano Los Angeles community organizer and revolutionary who dedicated his entire life to the struggle to achieve justice, equality and liberation for working and oppressed peoples.
Los Angeles, CA – Hundreds of angry protesters confronted the Ramparts Los Angeles police, driving a large sound truck into the station entrance as marchers moved to the front of the building chanting, “Assassins, assassins.”
Los Angeles, CA – People in Los Angeles will be marching Sept. 18 to demand justice for Manuel Jamines, the Guatemalan immigrant who was gunned down by L.A. police Sept. 5. The cop who killed Manuel Jamines has a reputation for brutality and a wave of anger has swept the Latino community. Protesters will gather at 10:00 a.m. 6th Street and Union on Sept. 18. The Southern California Immigration Coalition is organizing the rally and march.
Los Angeles, CA – The Guatemalan community, especially the indigenous Mayan sector, has been protesting and angry over the brutal killing of their community member Manuel Jamines. Jamines was shot in the head and body on a busy street in the late afternoon in the Pico Union, a Central American community, by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) on Sept. 5.
Los Angeles, CA – The August 29th Chicano Moratorium Organizing Committee held a press conference here Aug. 25 to announce a protest march and rally set for Aug. 28 in East Los Angeles. The march commemorates 40 years since the Chicano Moratorium.
August 29, 2010, marks the 40th anniversary of the historic Chicano Moratorium protest against the Vietnam War. On Aug. 29, 1970 over 30,000 Chicanos marched down Whittier Boulevard in the heart of East Los Angeles protesting the Vietnam War, the high casualty rate of Chicano soldiers and racist conditions in the barrios. The participants included youth and families of a mainly working class community with delegations from throughout the Southwest. The marchers chanted “¡Raza Si, Guerra No!” inspired by the call for Chicano self-determination and opposition to the imperialist U.S. war in Vietnam. Many Chicano youth had been drafted into the military after being pushed out of high school. The Chicano Movement was on the rise after several years of mass actions like the East Los Angeles high-school walkouts of 1968, land struggles in New Mexico, strikes by the United Farm Workers union, and the growth of new Chicano groups like the Brown Berets and MEChA (Movemiento Estudiantil Chicano de Atzlan, a Chicano Student Movement of the Southwest).
White cop who murdered Grant gets involuntary manslaughter
Los Angeles, CA – Over a year ago, on New Year's Day 2009, Oscar Grant, a young African-American man with a four-year old daughter, was murdered by a police officer. He was shot in the back as he lay on his chest on the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) platform in Oakland, California.
Los Angeles, CA – Protesters shouted loudly outside the Los Angeles Superior Courthouse as the killer cop Mehserle walked into, and when he exited, the court. Mehserle was given a slap on the wrist for the murder of Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old African-American father. The murder occurred in an Oakland, California train station as over a hundred passengers looked on.
On Thursday, the Los Angeles City council passed a motion to officially boycott the State of Arizona. Arizona’s new racist law SB1070 targets Mexican, Chicano, and Native American people for harassment. From California, right across the country, many people are outraged. Under the new Arizona law, local police will have the power to harass and arrest people based on immigration status. This will increase the already existing racist harassment and arrest of Mexican, Chicano, and Native American people. Many police, including the police chief of Tucson, AZ, publicly oppose the law because of the burden it places on them and because it promotes racial profiling.
Los Angeles, CA – 250,000 people marched in the streets here, May 1, demanding immigrant rights. Most of those attending were Mexican and Central American families, along with contingents from the Philippine and Korean communities. A queer contingent also had a visible presence.
250,000 trabajadores inmigrantes y sus aliados marcharon aquí hoy por los derechos de los inmigrantes, denunciando la ley racista de Arizona SB1070 y exigiendo “Legalización Ahora!”
250,000 immigrant workers and allies marched for immigrant rights here today, denouncing Arizona’s racist SB1070 law and demanding “Legalization now!” The march on International Workers’ Day demanded that the Democratic Party and President Obama live up to their election campaign promise to pass comprehensive immigration reform.
Los Angeles, CA – The March 4 National Day of Action to Defend Education saw a strong turnout at UCLA, with about 1000 attending a noon rally on campus against the budget cuts.
