Minneapolis, MN – Twin Cities activists participated in a car caravan, July 31, calling on the Biden administration to end the 60-year-long U.S. blockade of Cuba. The WAMM Solidarity Committee of the Americas (SCOTA) and the MN Cuba Committee organized this one as a part of an international day of action. Car caravans have been held once a month for two years in cities across the world to show solidarity with Cuba and to call for an end to the U.S. blockade of Cuba.

The 25-plus car and bike caravan drove along Lake Street which is a busy commercial street in a Latino and immigrant community passing by the boarded up and abandoned police Third Precinct building, made famous during the George Floyd uprising. From their car windows, the solidarity activists flew Cuban flags, displayed signs which said, “End the U.S. blockade of Cuba” and “U.S. hands off Cuba,” and honked together to chants like “¡Cuba sí, bloqueo no!” The caravan was enthusiastically supported by drivers in the heavy traffic as well as pedestrians on the streets and in front of cafes.

At a rally before the caravan, Drake Meyers spoke for the MN Anti War Committee and compared the different responses to the disastrous Hurricane Irma between Cuba, a socialist state, and Puerto Rico, a U.S. colonial possession, “Cuba had electricity two days later, whereas in Puerto Rico it took a year. In Puerto Rico 3000 died, but in Cuba only a couple of dozen people did. Cuba is a country where the well-being of people is put ahead of private property. Cuba serves as an example to us all that things can be done differently. Let’s follow the example of the Cuban Revolution and keep fighting and fighting. The blockade must be ended as soon as possible to allow their system to flower and to protect them from the upcoming climate catastrophes.”

Omar Hoover from the Party for Socialist Liberation told the rally, “In spite of the blockade Cuba has near zero homelessness and illiteracy, public education for all, top tiered health programs, has sent over 30,000 medical workers to 40-plus countries and developed a lung cancer treatment, five COVID vaccines, and a Alzheimer’s treatment in its final trial.”

Joe Callahan of the MN Cuba Committee announced, “I want to share some news about a true heroine, Ana Belen Montes, a Puerto Rican, who has been in the horrible federal prison in Carswell, Texas since 2001 for espionage. She worked for the Defense Intelligence Agency and had access to top secret information on U.S. plans of aggression against Cuba that she shared with Cuba. She will be released next year and deserves utmost respect for everyone who supports the Cuban people and their right to peace and sovereignty.”

#MinneapolisMN #Cuba #Americas #PeoplesStruggles #MinnesotaAntiWarCommittee #blockadeOfCuba

Minneapolis, MN – Nearly 100 cars stretched for over a half mile, honking horns in unison and shouting protest chants from rolled-down windows as they slowly drove through the Cedar-Riverside and Seward neighborhoods on December 12. The occasion was Human Rights Day, with car-caravanning protesters demanding respect for human rights at home and abroad from the U.S. government.

The action was organized by the Minnesota Anti-War Committee (AWC), which has held annual Human Rights Day events for decades. This year it took place during a dramatic spike in infections of the COVID-19 pandemic. A short-range FM radio broadcast allowed participants to listen to the program and honk along with protest chants from the safety of their cars.

Misty Rowan spoke on behalf of the AWC. “I know that we are all ready to leave 2020 behind, but let’s not pretend that our current predicament is some kind of fluke, or random bad luck. Our leaders are bought and paid for by the 1%, and our communities are left without resources or recourse in the face of injustice. It is up to us, regardless of who is president, to continue to struggle for better conditions for all.”

“The truth is, the U.S. is shit when it comes to human rights,” Rowan continued. “It’s hard to believe that some people can still uphold a version of this country as the ‘leaders of the free world’ when we don’t even have basic health care in this country.”

The car caravan started at May Day Plaza, which one month earlier, on November 4, was the starting point of a large Black Lives Matter protest at which over 646 protesters were kettled by police for hours on Interstate 94 before being mass-arrested.

One of those arrestees, Jae Yates of Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar (TCC4J), connected the mass arrests to the struggle for human rights, demanding charges dropped and “a future where we don’t have to worry about being murdered by police.”

Yates added, “That’s a future where the absolutely insane amount of money spent on kettling us on a highway – that we were already going to leave within five minutes – can go to actual programs that help people. It can go to giving people houses. For free! It’s a human right! People deserve to have homes. People deserve to have healthcare. This shouldn’t be a debate anymore.”

Speakers connected other movement issues to human rights as well. “Climate justice runs through all kinds of different struggles,” said Austin Dewey of the Climate Justice Committee (CJC). “The global climate crisis is an existential threat to us as individuals, as a community, and as a species. Both the Democrats and Republicans want to shift blame for this climate crisis onto anyone and anything but the system that created this mess. Rather than shifting blame, we need to start here at home.”

In addition to AWC, TCC4J and CJC, participating organizations included the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, Students for a Democratic Society at UMN, Women Against Military Madness, Minnesota Peace Action Coalition and the local Veterans for Peace chapter. Demands included stopping U.S. wars, especially recent U.S. aggression on Iran; an end to U.S. aid to Israel; legalization for all people in the U.S. regardless of immigration status; community control over police, and respect for environmental and treaty rights as human rights.

The AWC will next be holding an online book club discussing The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonial Conquest and Resistance by Rashid Khalidi, on January 14, 2021 at 7 p.m.

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #humanRights #MinnesotaAntiWarCommittee #TheHundredYearsWarOnPalestineAHistoryOfSettlerColonialConquestAndResistance

The action was organized by the Minnesota Anti-War Committee (AWC), which has held annual Human Rights Day events for decades. This year it took place during a dramatic spike in infections of the COVID-19 pandemic. A short-range FM radio broadcast allowed participants to listen to the program and honk along with protest chants from the safety of their cars.

Misty Rowan spoke on behalf of the AWC. “I know that we are all ready to leave 2020 behind, but let’s not pretend that our current predicament is some kind of fluke, or random bad luck. Our leaders are bought and paid for by the 1%, and our communities are left without resources or recourse in the face of injustice. It is up to us, regardless of who is president, to continue to struggle for better conditions for all.”

“The truth is, the U.S. is shit when it comes to human rights,” Rowan continued. “It’s hard to believe that some people can still uphold a version of this country as the ‘leaders of the free world’ when we don’t even have basic health care in this country.”

The car caravan started at May Day Plaza, which one month earlier, on November 4, was the starting point of a large Black Lives Matter protest at which over 646 protesters were kettled by police for hours on Interstate 94 before being mass-arrested.

One of those arrestees, Jae Yates of Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar (TCC4J), connected the mass arrests to the struggle for human rights, demanding charges dropped and “a future where we don’t have to worry about being murdered by police.”

Yates added, “That’s a future where the absolutely insane amount of money spent on kettling us on a highway – that we were already going to leave within five minutes – can go to actual programs that help people. It can go to giving people houses. For free! It’s a human right! People deserve to have homes. People deserve to have healthcare. This shouldn’t be a debate anymore.”

Speakers connected other movement issues to human rights as well. “Climate justice runs through all kinds of different struggles,” said Austin Dewey of the Climate Justice Committee (CJC). “The global climate crisis is an existential threat to us as individuals, as a community, and as a species. Both the Democrats and Republicans want to shift blame for this climate crisis onto anyone and anything but the system that created this mess. Rather than shifting blame, we need to start here at home.”

In addition to AWC, TCC4J and CJC, participating organizations included the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, Students for a Democratic Society at UMN, Women Against Military Madness, Minnesota Peace Action Coalition and the local Veterans for Peace chapter. Demands included stopping U.S. wars, especially recent U.S. aggression on Iran; an end to U.S. aid to Israel; legalization for all people in the U.S. regardless of immigration status; community control over police, and respect for environmental and treaty rights as human rights.

The AWC will next be holding an online book club discussing The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonial Conquest and Resistance by Rashid Khalidi, on January 14, 2021 at 7 p.m.

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #humanRights #MinnesotaAntiWarCommittee #TheHundredYearsWarOnPalestineAHistoryOfSettlerColonialConquestAndResistance

Minneapolis, MN – On December 8 the MN Anti-War Committee celebrated its 20th anniversary at the Hook & Ladder Theater in Minneapolis. The event featured music by Chickpea, Garbanzo and Refried, Mestifonia, Calliope Women’s Chorus and the Unlawful Assembly marching band. Interspersed through the event were spoken word artists Angelica and Aisha, Paul Dosh and the Anti-War Committee’s own Misty Rowan. The event had toasts from local activists celebrating the contributions the Anti-War Committee has made to fighting U.S. imperialism and to helping build social movements of resistance in the Twin Cities.

Meredith Aby-Keirstead, a founding member of the Anti-War Committee, told the full theater about their committee’s experience leading civil disobedience, leading protests of tens of thousands and resisting FBI repression.

Aby-Keirstead explained, “In 2010 the Anti-War Committee and many activists, including AWC members, who organized the protest at the 2008 Republican National Convention protests were raided and subpoenaed by the FBI to testify at a grand jury in Chicago. We were targeted because of our international solidarity with Palestine and Colombia. As one of three mothers of kids under six in the AWC who was subpoenaed I can honestly say this was a terrifying time. But it was also a time filled with a lot of love and support – especially from people in this room! We didn’t cooperate. We didn’t allow ourselves to be pitted against each other or to help the investigation into our movement.”

Aby-Keirstead continued, “The good part of the story is that none of us were arrested or imprisoned because of two important actions taken right here in Minneapolis. We shined a light on the efforts to intimidate us and wouldn’t allow them to silence us and you – the movement here and around the country – protested and defended the right to protest and defended us. We stood together and said being anti-war is not a crime! That attack by the FBI could have been the end of the Anti-War Committee but it wasn’t! In fact today we are a vibrant anti-war group with tons of new members today and just last year led a protest of over 10,000 people against Trump’s racist Muslim ban!”

The Anti-War Committee's turnout and speeches showed the strong and unity of this longtime activist organization. Many people left the party expressing their desire that the AWC continue to stand up and fight back against U.S. aggression and intervention.

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #PeoplesStruggles #MinnesotaAntiWarCommittee

Minneapolis, MN – Despite cold and rain, 60 people rallied in Minneapolis to voice their opposition to Trump’s Muslim Ban, March 16. Starting the rally out were chants of “Hey Trump, let’s be clear: Muslims are welcome here!” and “No Trump, no KKK, no racist USA!” which reverberated off the glass of both the Federal Court Building and the Minneapolis City Hall across the street. The protest was organized by the Minnesota Anti-War Committee.

The protest’s speakers represented the broad coalition necessary to defeat Trump’s Muslim ban and included Imam Hassan Mohamud, Director of the Islamic Dawah Center; Stephanie Taylor, Anti-War Committee; Imam Hassan Jama, Executive Director of Islamic Association of North America; Brad Sigal, Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee’s No More Deportation Campaign, and Jaylani Hussein, Executive Director of the Council on American Islamic Relations – MN. The diverse speakers emphasized confidence and resolution with the latest court victory against Trump’s Muslim Ban.

The critical role played by protests in the streets in defeating Trump’s agenda was a common theme of all the speakers, and was underscored by Stephanie Taylor of the Anti-War Committee, who stated, “This racist ban was halted by popular outpouring of opposition combined with legal challenges from movement lawyers. However, we must challenge ourselves to continue the resistance and we are here with you to continue to fight back.”

Brad Sigal of MIRAC’s No More Deportation Campaign explained the pressing nature of immigrant raids and deportation campaigns in his speech, “There have been over 3 million deportations and families separated in the last eight years and now Trump wants to increase that even more. We say, ‘Enough is enough!’ This is not a faraway issue. This is happening right here, right now, all around us.”

Jaylani Hussein of the Council on American Islamic Relations – MN urged those present to come to the “10,000 who CAIR Call to Action” on March 25 from 4 to 8 p.m. at O’Shaughnessy Auditorium in Saint Paul, an effort to “activate 10,000 Minnesotans in the fight against bigotry and hatred.”

Hundreds of thousands, including tens of thousands in the Twin Cities, protesting in the streets, airports and other locations were critical to pushing for these defeats of Trump’s agenda. It was also clear that despite the current legal setbacks, the Muslim ban and other parts of Trump’s racist agenda will only be defeated by millions in the streets. The necessity of broad, militant coalition of forces was typified by Hassan Jama when he reminded the crowd that we must demand, “No ban, no wall, no wars! Unite!”

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #US #PeoplesStruggles #Antiracism #MinnesotaAntiWarCommittee #DonaldTrump #MuslimBan

President Obama outlined his plan for increasing attacks in Iraq and Syria, by conducting air strikes in coordination with the Iraqi government, sending 475 U.S. troops to Iraq, increasing U.S. military assistance to Syrian ‘rebels,’ and coordinating counter-terrorism against ISIS. Obama claimed this would be “American leadership at its best” and that “we stand for freedom, justice and dignity.”

Meredith Aby-Keirstead, an activist with the Minnesota Anti-War Committee, responded to the speech, stating, “Obama is hoping that he can distract the American public and Congress from asking the real question we should be addressing: Will U.S. military intervention in Syria and Iraq create peace and stability in the Middle East? The U.S. has used bombing campaigns, economic sanctions, regime change, occupation and puppet-governments – none of which have produced a stable and peaceful Iraq. In fact, the sectarian violence the president used tonight as a pretext for U.S. intervention is a direct by-product of U.S. intervention in Iraq.”

Aby-Keirstead continued, “In Syria, the U.S. has already tried a variety of strategies including economic sanctions, non-lethal aid and weapons to rebel groups, training rebel fighters and calls for a regime change. These strategies have expanded the civil conflict across Syria’s borders. It is absurd that the president is calling for more air strikes and more weapons to Iraq and Syria when in fact these tactics are causing the conflicts in these countries to expand into a regional conflict.”

Sami Rasouli, an Iraqi-American activist with the Muslim Peace Maker Team came to Minnesota this summer to give an update on the situation in Iraq. He said, “We did not have these sectarian divisions before the occupation. I am here to tell you: Don’t try to solve the problem of Iraq. Solve the problem of the U.S. We want the foreigners to leave.”

“Since June of this year, the U.S. has spent $500 million on operations in Iraq. People need funds for jobs, housing and education, not more wars and interventions,” said Alan Dale, with the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition, “The U.S. has been at war for 13 years. Enough is enough. If we have learned anything, it should be that U.S. intervention, in the form of advisors, troops or bombs, does not help establish peace and justice, but only lays the basis for new wars and interventions. The Minnesota Peace Action Coalition will be planning protests and other activities to speak out against a new chapter of U.S. war in Iraq and against a new war in Syria.”

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #Iraq #Syria #MinnesotaAntiWarCommittee