Philadelphia, PA – 3,000 people rallied here Aug. 17, demanding freedom for framed death row revolutionary and journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal. Speakers included Ossie Davis, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, poet Sonia Sanchez, Ramona Africa, comedian Dick Gregory, and Mayor Bernard Birsinger of Bobigny, France.

Philadelphia, PA – Facing protest and international pressure in support of framed political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal, federal judge William Yohn threw out his death sentence on Dec.18, 2001. Yohn ordered the state to conduct a new sentencing hearing within 180 days. If the state does not conduct a new hearing, Mumia will, according to Yohn's ruling, be sentenced to life in prison.

Minneapolis, MN – Low-income tenants of the Rodeway Inn won a victory! On March 31, Hennepin County Housing Court ruled that homeless families living in the building could stay for another 30 days. The Minneapolis Institute of Arts is buying the building and plans to turn it into a parking lot for museum patrons.

As the rich grab up every piece of land they can on Chicago’s South side, thousands of low-income people are being pushed out of the neighborhoods they call home. Powerful institutions like the University of Chicago and its local partner The Woodlawn Organization are colluding with Mayor Daley to subject neighborhoods like Woodlawn to a feeding frenzy by greedy developers – a nightmare for families who can no longer afford skyrocketing rents and property taxes. But as the tenants of the Kimbark Tenants Association are showing, you don't have to just pack up – you can fight back.

Minneapolis, MN – The Welfare Rights Committee held a celebration and organizing event Aug. 9 to get low-income families geared up for the Sept. 1 march on the Republican National Convention (RNC). Low-income women and their familes filled the Sibley Park Community Center where the event took place.

Chicago, IL – Hundreds of Latino students from the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC) and Chicago high schools packed into the UIC Forum on Oct. 27 to defend their right to an education. The occasion was a hearing on the Status of Latinos at UIC held by the Illinois Latino Legislative Caucus.

Bridgeview, IL – Fans of the Chicago Fire major league soccer team sent the team owners a message that the fans will not tolerate racism from security guards towards Latino fans. Sector Latino is a Chicago Fire supporter group which is made up primarily of Mexican youth. Since their founding in 2005, they have been treated differently than the other supporter groups at Toyota Park, the home stadium of the Fire. They’ve complained of aggressive searches and being followed around the stadium by security guards.

Chicago, IL – “Ain’t no power like the power of the people ‘cause the power of the people don’t stop!” echoed up and down Cottage Grove, Aug. 25, during the Hands Around Grove Parc demonstration. Tenants and supporters linked hands and held signs saying “Urban renewal = black removal” and “I live in Grove Parc, I want to stay, not gonna go no way!” as passing cars honked and cheered the demonstrators on.

an Juan, Puerto Rico – Enthusiastically chanting, “Sí se puede!” hundreds of Latinos from across the U.S. came together here for the historic founding convention of the SEIU International Latino Caucus, Dec. 9-10. The mission statement of the International Latino Caucus urges organizing for the political and economic power for Latino working class families.

Washington DC – Sonia, a Colombian revolutionary and political prisoner of the U.S. government, was found guilty in a U.S. Federal Court here, Feb. 20. Sonia’s trial is part of a Bush administration plan to criminalize Colombian freedom fighters.

Washington DC – With no evidence and only the testimony of U.S. government paid informants, Colombian revolutionary “Sonia” awaits a jury’s verdict here in Federal Court. Sonia, whose full name is Anayibe Rojas Valderrama, is a peasant rebel who joined the fight for a free, just and independent Colombia. A nurse with the 30,000 member Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Sonia was extradited to the U.S. in violation of Colombia’s sovereignty.

In a speaking tour organized by the National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera, Professor Daza-Cotes will travel to the U.S. to talk about fellow professor and political prisoner Ricardo Palmera. She will speak about U.S. intervention in Colombia and her own journey, as Colombian military death squads tortured and murdered those around her, from liberal politics to more radical views. Ms. Daza-Cotes was forced into exile in Sweden around the same time Ricardo Palmera decided to join the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). As the peaceful path to social justice in Colombia was blocked, the choices were limited.

Chicago, IL – “Homeland security arrests us ‘cause we are trying to stay in our homes. We told them, ‘Housing is a human right and we wasn’t goin’ without a fight!’” said Grove Parc tenant and Southside Together Organizing for Power (STOP) organizer Lonnie Richardson amidst cheers of tenants and supporters gathered on a cold November day outside the offices of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in downtown Chicago.

Los Angeles, CA – More than 500 marched here, Aug. 27, in a mass march and rally demanding an end to the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Other demands included that the U.S. get out of Latin America and an end to U.S. military recruiting of Latino youth in high schools. Organized by Latinos Against War In Iraq, SEIU Local 660, National Chicano Moratorium Committee, Partido Nacional de La Raza Unida, MECHA and other community and labor groups, protesters marched from Belvedere Park in East Los Angeles to a rally at Salazar Park.

Washington D.C. – Colombian revolutionary Ricardo Palmera is facing a second trial, March 26. Ricardo Palmera, known in Colombia as Simon Trinidad, is a political prisoner of the George Bush and the U.S. government. Palmera’s first trial resulted in a hung jury and Judge Hogan was forced to declare a mistrial. U.S. prosecutor Kohl and Judge Hogan will need to bend the legal rules more if they are going to win this time.

Los Angeles, CA – On Aug. 27, Latinos Against War In Iraq, SEIU Local 660, National Chicano Moratorium Committee, Partido Nacional de La Raza Unida, MECHA and other community and labor groups will participate in a mass march and rally to demand an end to the U.S. occupation of Iraq. The demands also include that the U.S. get out of Latin America and an end to U.S. military recruiting of Latino youth in high schools. The protest will start at 10 a.m. in Belvedere Park, East Los Angeles and will m arch to Salazar Park for rally at noon.

Walkout is the new HBO film about the famous East Los Angeles school walkouts in March, 1968. Thousands of Chicano students stayed away from school over two weeks to protest the racist school conditions, high dropout rate, overcrowded conditions, lack of books etc. The demands were for bilingual education, Chicano studies, hiring of Chicano teachers and administrators, better facilities, new schools, an end to the high dropout rate, an end to tracking students into the manual arts and in support of more college prep classes. The walkouts resulted in many victories and reforms to the Los Angeles school district.

Washington D.C. – Jury selection for Colombian revolutionary “Sonia” is scheduled to start here on Jan. 8, in front of Federal Court Judge Robertson. Sonia, whose full name is Anayibe Rojas Valderrama, is an important member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The FARC is a 30,000-member guerrilla army that governs nearly 40% of Colombia.

Los Angeles, CA – Students and parents in East Los Angeles want decent schools. Centro CSO has been organizing for over two years to pressure the Los Angeles Unified School District to build a new high school in Boyle Heights to relieve the extremely overcrowded conditions at Roosevelt High School. The L.A. Unified School District will present the preliminary design at a community meeting at the Utah Street School on April 14.