The following is a keynote speech delivered by the Freedom Road Socialist Organization Political Secretary Mick Kelly, May 31, at the International League of Peoples Struggle/U.S. Political Conference.

Comrades and friends

Let me start by thanking and congratulating the organizers of this genuinely important event, the Third National Assembly of the International League of Peoples Struggle/U.S. What a powerful gathering! This is truly a room full of militants. Many of us have worked together for years and all of us are consistent anti-imperialists.

In the words of the outstanding revolutionary Jose Maria Sison, the late chairman of the ILPS, “imperialism is the last way out for the monopoly capitalists to postpone their revolutionary overthrow. It means the extension of the class oppression and exploitation within the United States into the oppression and exploitation of other nations and people abroad through the export of surplus products and surplus capital.”

The implications of this are clear enough. Working and oppressed people in the U.S. and abroad have a common interest in ending imperialism. We want this to happen as soon as possible. The decline of U.S. monopoly capitalism, or imperialism, the two terms can be used interchangeably, is accelerating. The decline is picking up speed and we welcome its demise. And we intend to throw gasoline on the fire.

I will be talking today about strengthening and broadening the people’s movement, especially the workers movement in the United States, as well as the key role of workers in the fight for democracy and the struggle to achieve socialism.

Also to be addressed is the state of the labor movement and what we need to do to move the level of struggle of the working class to a higher level. Finally, I will be looking at the issue of international solidarity.

Need for a mass line approach

To be successful as anti-imperialists, as revolutionaries, as people who want to and will change the world, we need to apply the mass line. While there is a lot that could be said about that, at the heart of it is “from the masses, to the masses.”

Or to quote the great Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong, “In all the practical work of our Party, all correct leadership is necessarily ‘from the masses, to the masses.’ This means: take the ideas of the masses (scattered and unsystematic ideas) and concentrate them (through study turn them into concentrated and systematic ideas), then go to the masses and propagate and explain these ideas until the masses embrace them as their own, hold fast to them and translate them into action, and test the correctness of these ideas in action.”

To put this another way, we sum up where people are at. Basing ourselves on what people are concerned about, on what folks want, we develop slogans, policies, plans, that people will take up as their own. It is in this way that revolutionary theory becomes a material force.

All of us who do organizing can appreciate the point that Mao was making. The starting point of our organizing needs to be where people are at – what their actual level of political development is. We are not organizing people in books or people who are the way we imagine they should be – we need to connect with people where they are at and systematically lead them forward.

One thing about capitalism is that it is an excellent teacher. For anyone who thinks that this system is fair, reasonable, or just, the capitalists, really the system itself, is always ready to teach you otherwise. It’s an endless disappointment, a Christmas that never comes. Capitalism is a failed system, but to help people gain that understanding – and understand who is the enemy and what is to be done – we have to be standing right next to them summing things up.

The accelerating decline of U.S. imperialism

The decline of U.S. imperialism is picking up speed. The U.S. share of world trade in goods has declined about 40% since 1970. The U.S. share of world GDP is about half of what in the aftermath of World War II. The U.S. has retreated from the economic architecture that underpinned the so called, “American Century.”

In recent years, management of the declining U.S. empire has been bipartisan. Both Trump and Biden disengaged from the WTO and adopted measures to “delink” the economy from China. While there are significant differences between the industrial policies of Trump and Biden, neither embraced a “let the market decide”, laissez-faire approach that’s touted by neoliberals

The decline of U.S. imperialism is sharpening all of the basic contradictions present in society: the contradiction between the monopoly capitalists and the multinational working class; between the ruling class and oppressed nationalities; and between the monopoly capitalism and women and LGBTQ people. This provides the material basis for the intensification of polarization, and the phenomenon of different states or even cities having different legal systems which accord people varying democratic rights.

The sharpening of the contradictions is in sharp relief in the fight for immigrant rights. Our organization views the attacks on immigrants as a function of national oppression, which means that the U.S. is a jailhouse of oppressed peoples, of oppressed nationalities.

Militarized ice raids and troop deployments to major cities is serving to pull U.S. society apart, and this can be seen in mass protests and rebellions (LA and Minneapolis), divergent court rulings, a degree of non-compliance by some state and local authorities (Chicago).

One aside here. After the murder of Renee Good in Minneapolis, I arrived on the scene about 15 minutes after the killing took place. The car she was killed in was still there. And sure, there was sadness. But there was also anger. Repression gives rise to more resistance – so there were many clashes with the ICE agents.

But back to the decline of U.S imperialism and sharpening contradictions.

On a different level, and more reflective of contradictions in the enemy camp, are the government shutdowns that are becoming more frequent and larger with the passage of time. Then there are the impeachment attempts. And then there are the things that are not normal in modern U.S. politics, such as the “weaponization” of the Department of Justice and the prosecution of Trump’s bourgeois political opponents. One feature of the Trump administration is a willingness to push up to – and beyond – the limits of bourgeoisie legality.

Any major economic downturn or crisis will sharpen the aforementioned contradictions. The capitalists will act the way they always do – try to shift the burden of the crisis onto the backs of the working class. Most state governments (and many local ones) will experience budget crises, resulting in attempts to push austerity measures.

A scientific analysis of changes in society grasps the fact that changes in the economic base (productive forces and relations of production) will result in the superstructure (politics, government, religion, etc.) changing. And that the superstructure will alter the economic base, meaning that there is a dialectical relationship between the two. This is not a one-way thing either; certain changes in the superstructures can play a crucial role in the economic base.

Lenin made the point that monopoly capitalism was moribund – capitalism in the period of terminal decline and decay. As such, monopoly capitalism has challenges utilizing advances in science and deploying more advanced productive forces in general.

Taken as a whole, these objective conditions provide extremely favorable conditions for revolutionaries, progressives, and anti- imperialists to greatly expand our mass base and organizational capacity.

Building the workers and other popular movements

The working class is a class in itself; its existence is objective, and developing class consciousness means the working class becomes a class that is for itself. While it is true that the task of developing the workers movement in the U.S. is not identical with revitalizing the trade union movement, organized labor has a critical role.

The fact of the matter is that many of our trade unions, most really, are not only bureaucratic, they’re conservative and they often have a “go along to get along” approach when it comes to dealing with employers. This needs to change. So work needs to be done to put trade unions on a class-struggle basis. Practically, this means building up militant minorities in the form of caucuses or reform slates and contending for leadership.

We need more serious confrontations with the employers, such as the strike by 1,500 Teamsters last year at the University of Minnesota or the strike of packinghouse workers in Greely, Colorado.

The center of gravity for work in the labor needs to be wages and working conditions. Given that the working class is multinational and has more than one gender – there is also the fight against discrimination and inequity in our workplaces. To strengthen and broaden the working class movement. The starting point needs to be the “felt” needs of workers.

If we fail to do that, our efforts to raise the level of class struggle with fail. But starting points are not ending points and we cannot say that we must confine ourselves to immediate needs – our class is multifaceted and we need to address political issues as well.

A stellar example of this was the labor-initiated anti-ICE protest in Minneapolis, where nearly 100,000 people took to the streets on January 23. Some people say it was a general strike – it was not – but it is a wonderful example of what is possible when labor movement chooses to act. Actions such as this, in a very nascent or beginning form, give life to the concept of “Workers unite to lead the fight against all oppression.”

Strengthening and broadening the people’s movements

Mao Zedong once remarked there is “Great disorder under heaven – the situation is excellent,” That is a spot-on description of how revolutionaries should view the situation in our country today. It in no way implies indifference to real suffering that is the day-to-day experience of our class, of working and oppressed people at home and abroad. Instead, Mao’s statement gives correct stress to favorable conditions we find ourselves in to build large mass struggles.

It’s been said before and it can be said again – the U.S. is a prison house of oppressed nations, and the oppression visited upon African Americans, Chicanos and others is in fact national oppression.

The struggle against national oppression is a struggle against imperialism, against monopoly capitalism… so let me give a shout out to the members of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression who present here today. Your efforts to stop police terror, for community control of the police and in defense of voting rights are inspiring. Same goes for those of you in Centro CSO Chapters who are resisting ICE and have faced real repression. And an additional point on that – there is a grand jury meeting in Santa Ana, California – we reason to believe that it may well be targeting immigrant rights activists. If that proves to be the case, we will be certainly calling on all of you for support and solidarity.

Here we are, five years after the George Floyd Rebellion, the greatest wave of urban upbringings since the 1960s and early 70s. In those weeks in late May and early June 2020, nearly 25 million people took to the streets.

That powerful mass motion against police crimes and systematic inequality – national oppression – gave lie to the idea that conditions in the U.S. were immutable, that nothing changes. Anyone present at the burning of the Third Precinct building in Minneapolis can tell you this. Late in the evening of May 28, 2020, the last police, who had been firing rubber bullets and tear gas rounds, disappeared. There were thousands of people in the streets. Then the building went up in flames, Things do not have to stay the way they are. And they will not.

United front against imperialism

The U.S. working class is multinational; it is like a mosaic. There are also the movements of the oppressed nationalities. Real change in the U.S. requires a united front against imperialism, against monopoly capitalism. At the core of this united front needs to be a strategic alliance of the multinational working class and of the oppressed nationalities. Around this will be an alignment of other classes in conflict with capitalism, other sectors with particular importance, like women and LGBTQ folk, and social movements such as those who resist U.S. wars.

Together we will be unstoppable!

Democracy and democratic rights

Democracy does not exist in the abstract, its mode of existence, and how it is practiced in the real world is always in the context of the existing class relations.

Every discussion of the topic should start with the recognition that a capitalist democracy is a cash register democracy where the amount of rights one has and the amount of power one has is directly linked to one’s class position. And that Lenin was entirely correct to say that a capitalist democracy is a democracy for slaveholders at the expense of the enslaved.

That truth no way negates the fact the struggle for consistent democracy and democratic rights is extremely important in the U.S. today. For purposes of exposition, I am going to treat these topics as two categories, but they are two aspects of the same thing.

The absence or limitations on consistent democracy is an important feature of racist national oppression, and it needs to be combated with all energy we can muster. For example, the attacks on voting rights are disenfranchising millions of African Americans. Consistent democracy is the equal treatment of languages, especially on matters of government. On the national level the U.S. is adopting a chauvinist “English only” model. These are examples and further examples could fill volumes, everyone here knows that. But here is another point: by being frontline fighters in the fight for democracy we can rally millions to the fight for revolutionary change.

Travel around this country and you can see that the legal superstructure is moving in different directions. You have different democratic rights (say, reproductive rights and the rights of LBGTQ people) in different places. As political polarization sharpens, this country is fracturing. And that is not a bad things from the standpoint of revolutionaries – because we intend to take it apart and put an end to U.S. monopoly capitalism once and for all.

There is also the aspect of defending democratic rights and civil liberties. We all get that the U.S. is a repressive place. Arguably it always has been – lynch terror in the Black Belt South to buttress semi feudal property relations (sharecropping), the concentration camps for Japanese Americans during World War II, and communists jailed or deported in the 1950s. This is, and always has been, a repressive place.

That said, it is clear that a major assault our rights to organize, associate and demonstrate is underway. It is a danger that needs to be confronted. The state of Florida is criminalizing Palestine protests. Conor Cauley, an organizer for Palestine and member of the International Longshoremen’s Association, is sitting in jail today – serving a 60-day sentence for a felony that did not happen. Over the past year, hundreds have been charged with felonies in the anti-ICE protests around the country. And all sorts of reactionary and repressive legislation is moving forward in Congress, states, and cities.

In all cases we need to push back against the assault on democratic rights, but there is one attack on those rights which dates from the Clinton era – the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996. This bill borrowed a page from apartheid South Africa and put the tag of “terrorist” on those fighting for national liberation. These “material support for terrorism” laws are reactionary, should be abolished and should be opposed by every person who stands for progress.

Working class internationalism

All of us, every, single one of us here, believe that working class internationalism and international solidarity are important. Every blow against U.S. imperialism ,be it in Palestine, the Philippines, or for that matter, Philadelphia ,weakens our common enemy benefiting the people at home and abroad.

We are all in this together and none of us can be free, while oppressing others.

We always must make sure that international solidarity is not just things we say, but it is alive in the things that we do. Right now, the U.S. empire is waging a war on Iran. Paper tiger that it is, the U.S. Trump administration is being defeated, humiliated in fact. Our task here is to unite all who can be united to oppose the war, and in cities around the country many of you have been doing exactly that.

There are other forms of international solidarity. Many have traveled on exposure trips to occupied Palestine and have been about to report back on the efforts of the national democratic force. We can work to promote solidarity between labor unions in this country and those under the boot of U.S. imperialism. Same goes for solidarity organized by sectors. All these methods can be employed and others too.

“Workers and oppressed people of the world unite,” is something all of us take seriously.

Socialist future

Mao once said that only socialism can save China. You know what? Only socialism can save the U.S. Monopoly capitalism is a failed, sick system that evokes alienation and anger.

The multinational working class has a material interest in bringing this system to an end, but hard work is needed to develop the understanding, political clarity, and capacity to do this.

In my view we will need to establish a new communist party that is capable of contending for power. I understand fully that this is a gathering of mass organizations, but I also know that questions of “How do we end imperialism?” or “How do we abolish the existing order of things?” are on the minds of many of you here.

So, in closing, I have been active in people’s struggle for more than 50 years. Never have I been as hopeful as I am now. Capitalism is a vicious blood-sucking system that drains the life blood out of the working class. Marx compared the big capitalists to vampires. He was right about that. And what do we do when we encounter a vampire? We drive a stake through its heart.

And on that note, comrades, thank you. Our future is bright and we have a world to win.

Long live international solidarity!

#ILPS #FRSO #Speech #PeoplesStruggles

New York, NY – On June 4, New Yorkers protested outside of the annual New York City Police Foundation Gala at the Intrepid Museum in Manhattan, where billionaires representing some of the top financial, tech and political dynasties in New York City gathered to donate millions of dollars to the New York Police Department.

The crowd of 75 protesters, led by the New York Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NYAARPR), shamed each gala attendee as they arrived, chanting “Blood on your hands!”

The New York City Police Foundation is a 501©(3) non-profit which funnels millions of dollars each year into the already bloated NYPD budget. The money goes to programs which surveil communities, pilot new technologies, and extend the reach of the NYPD.

For example, one of the foundation’s principal programs is the International Liaison program, which establishes NYPD offices in cities across the world, including in Tel Aviv. Additionally, donors who attend the gala tend to get massive contracts with the NYPD These include companies like surveillance giant Palantir, and Motorola, the company supplying cops with their radios. Both have made huge contributions at the gala which have turned into major contracts with the NYPD.

The protesters assembled outside of the gala to demand a public police force that does not function like a private piggy bank for billionaires, but that is accountable to the people of New York City. At the protest, NYAARPR demanded: No funding for killer cops; community control, not billionaire control; and justice for Eudes Pierre and all victims of police violence.

Speakers at the rally included representatives of NYU Students for a Democratic Society, Brooklyn Against War, Adolfina, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and the Coalition for Justice for Eudes Pierre.

Sheina Banatte, cousin of Eudes Pierre, who was killed by the NYPD in December 2021, said, “The money being wasted to fund racism and corruption here at this gala can best be spent in the community places and spaces that can truly benefit people, families, community and quality of life.” She continued, “We will keep fighting for community control of the police, justice for Eudes Pierre, and justice for all stolen lives.”

After the program concluded, protesters tore open several pig head effigies, scattering red paint splattered money in the street to symbolize the blood money raised at the gala. The protest then marched through the streets of Manhattan chanting, “NYPD kills on patrol! How do we stop them? Community control!”

#NewYorkNY #NY #NYC #InjusticeSystem #NYPD #PeoplesStruggles

Brooklyn, NY – on the evening of June 3, around two dozen New Yorkers gathered outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn to stand in solidarity with Cuba and Venezuela and against the ongoing aggression from the United States.

The Trump administration has charged Raul Castro, the former president of Cuba, with murder in connection to the downing of civilian planes in 1996. These charges are bogus. They are an escalation of the U.S. attacks on Latin America that began last year when the Trump administration set its eyes on Venezuela.

The day also marked the fifth month since President Maduro and First Lady Flores were kidnapped from their home. The Trump administration launched a bombing operation on Venezuela on January 3 where close to 100 people were killed, including 32 Cuban bodyguards.

The action had a high energy and there were many organizations in attendance, such as Black Alliance for Peace, Bronx Antiwar, Palavar Collective, and Brooklyn Against War.

Joe Lombard from the United National Antiwar Coalition gave a speech discussing the importance of solidarity and standing up to U.S. imperialism.

Katrina Kozarek from Brooklyn Against War stated, “We will continue to resist systems of oppression here in the U.S. and to do so, we must also reject and stand up against U.S. oppression and complicity against the peoples of the Caribbean, South America, Palestine, Iran and everywhere. We demand an end to all U.S. sanctions against Cuba and Venezuela now! Free President Maduro and Cilia Flores – we demand they be returned safe and sound to their homeland!”

The organizers will return to the courthouse for President Maduro and First Lady Flores’ hearing on June 30.

#NewYorkNY #NY #NYC #Cuba #Venezuela #AntiWarMovement #PeoplesStruggles

Minneapolis, MN – Under the early summer sun, about 50 people came together on a busy Minneapolis bridge for a double-headed rally addressing the domestic and international sides of the struggle for liberation. A combined bannering took place for two hours, spreading the message to passersby and drivers on Washington Avenue and Interstate 35W.

The first part of the event was organized by the Wrongfully Incarcerated and Over-sentenced Family Council (WIAOFC) and marked 20 years since Cornelius “Corn” Jackson, fiancé of WIAOFC founder Alissa Washington, was unjustly incarcerated.

The second protest, organized by the MN Peace Action Coalition (MPAC), demanded an end to U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran, Lebanon, and Palestine.

Washington, stated, “We want you to ask questions. We want you to ask why a man who has spent 20 years behind bars is still fighting for justice. We want you to ask whether Minnesota’s criminal legal system truly believes in redemption. And we want you to ask why so many families are still fighting to bring their loved ones home.”

The first speaker for MPAC was Amber Mathwig from About Face Veterans Against the War, “It doesn’t matter if you’re a cook, turning a wrench, patrolling the base, or pressing the button that launches a Tomahawk into a school full of children – every single job in the military contributes to the end goal of destruction and occupation and every single service member has a right to say ‘No, I do not want to be part of this anymore.’”

Cedar Larson, representing Women Against Military Madness, stated, “Today we are protesting a number of heinous crimes being committed by our government. We’re protesting not only Trump’s continuous attacks on Gaza, in violation of a so-called ceasefire, but we’re also protesting the continuing attacks on Iran and the attempted ethnic cleansing of Lebanon. Writing this speech, I felt a pent-up rage exploding. I’m not going to sugarcoat it, you guys. I am angry. I am tired of writing speeches about something that makes me so pissed off.”

Larson concluded, “I cannot make sense of the fact that billionaires, the ruling class, see nothing more important than a profit while I, an educator who lives paycheck to paycheck and purchases classroom supplies and end-of-year gifts out of her own pocket, see nothing more important than sustaining and educating the next generation who will no doubt recognize this absurdity for what it is and will join with us to destroy it!”

Naveen Borojerdi of the MN Peace Action Coalition and the MN Anti-War Committee spoke on another tragedy that occurred closer to home; the death of AFSCME Council 5 field director Khalid Abdi, a 26-year-old union organizer who was shot and killed on May 27 in Shakopee, Minnesota while observing Eid.

“Khalid’s death is not just a coincidence,” Borojerdi said, “but rather, the symptom of a much larger problem. The normalization of mass murder that we’ve seen in Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan since September 11, 2001 is what resulted in his unfortunate death. When you spend over two decades since the turn of the century slaughtering Muslims, Arabs and Persians while demonizing them through the production of propaganda films like American Sniper, Argo, and Black Hawk Down, this is what you get. Shame on this country.”

All of the speakers spoke to the critical importance of remaining visible and in the streets to oppose this criminal war.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #InjusticeSystem #PeoplesStruggles #Palestine #Iran

Denver, CO – On Sunday, May 24, members of Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) and Aurora Unidos Community Service Organization (AUCSO) organized a picket at Governors Park to demand that Governor Jared Polis be impeached for his commutation of Tina Peters’ sentence.

Peters is an election denier who tampered with voting machines under her control in an attempt to show the 2020 U.S. presidential election was rigged against Trump. She was convicted on seven charges of engaging in a security breach to advance this false conspiracy theory of election fraud.

On May 15, Governor Polis, a Democrat, commuted Peters’ sentence after months of pressure from Trump. Peters, who was slated to serve nine years in prison, will instead be released on June 1 of this year.

During the picket, which called for the impeachment of Polis ahead of the end of his second term, passersby seemed to support the message. Members of the community cheered and honked as they passed the crowd at Governors Park.

A speaker from FRSO, Bailey Heaton, detailed instances of Polis refusing to stand up for the people of Colorado. According to Heaton, Polis “can’t stand any pressure. He is a coward!” Heaton pointed out in his speech that Polis gave the controversial surveillance group Flock access to information about undocumented immigrants, defunded Colorado’s education system, and vetoed several bills that would help workers unionize their workplaces.

Many believe Polis’ true legacy will lie in his pardoning of Peters, however, whose sentence the governor called “extremely unusual and lengthy.” Colorado Democrats have since censured Polis over the decision.

Alex Riedle of AUCSO voiced how Polis, oft-cited as one of the top five wealthiest members of Congress, where he served for ten years, has chosen profit over the people of Colorado. Riedle brought up how Polis welcomed Palantir into the state, despite that company’s development of tracking technology that aids ICE in the kidnapping and deportation of immigrants.

Riedle stated, “There are hundreds of cases of far greater importance that should be reviewed and considered before the case of Tina Peters, but this is further proof that the closer you align to the capitalist class, the more likely you are to avoid accountability.”

#DenverCO #CO #AUCSO #PeoplesStruggles

Jacksonville, FL – Dozens gathered at Marion Park on Saturday, May 30, for “Popular Education in the Park.” Marion Park, located in Jacksonville’s historic Northside, served as the backdrop for an evening of community dialogue and connection as well as the kickoff for the Jacksonville Community Action Committee’s annual participatory budgeting drive.

Hosted by the Jacksonville Community Action Committee, the gathering brought neighbors together for a circle discussion under the trees while children played nearby. Attendees shared food and conversation, with the evening’s programming centered on the People’s Budget, a JCAC initiative to reimagine public safety and measure the impact of community reinvestment.

A major focus of the discussion was mental health. Community members advocated strongly for redirecting portions of the city budget away from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO) and toward a dedicated mental health clinician program.

Committee members began preliminary discussions of proposing a mental health clinical response program modeled after the nationally recognized CAHOOTS program in Eugene, Oregon. Participants argued that such a program would provide a more effective, humane response to mental health crises than traditional policing.

The urgency of the conversation was underscored by data from a recent JCAC report analyzing police use of force across the city. The report found that police shootings are heavily concentrated in Northside neighborhoods like the one surrounding Marion Park, with Districts 4 and 5 accounting for 48 of the 126 serious use of force incidents examined since 2020. Black residents appear in the largest share of these incidents, despite representing a minority of Jacksonville’s overall population. Even more alarming, the report found that Jacksonville’s rate of police killings is more than double the national average.

“We’re not just talking about the statistics you read online. We’re talking about our cousins, our neighbors, our children,” said a longtime Northside resident who attended with his two children. “When 64% of Black people in this city are worried about police brutality, it highlights a problem and that number is simply a reaction to a pattern. And it’s happening right here, in our zip code.”

The discussion also turned to accountability. Attendees expressed frustration that Jacksonville remains one of the only cities in Florida without a civilian oversight body responsible for independently reviewing police use of force. This is an initiative that works in tandem with the participatory budgeting campaign to give residents a greater say in how they are policed and kept safe. According to the report, only 43% of residents believe misconduct investigations are adequately reported to the public, and Patrol Zone 5, which covers much of the Northside and has a 72% Black population, has reported some of the lowest approval ratings of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.

Popular Education in the Park is an ongoing series “created to truly meet folks where they are in Black and working-class communities,” according to the event program. JCAC will continue selecting parks in Jacksonville’s Black and working-class neighborhoods throughout the summer, canvassing and deepening community ties to further refine the People’s Budget with direct input from residents most affected by budgetary shifts and chronic disinvestment.

#JacksonvilleFL #FL #InJusticeSystem #PeoplesStruggles #JCAC

Tacoma, WA – A dozen people gathered along the fence of U.S. Oil & Refining Co on Wednesday, May 27 in an emergency picket and vigil for the 11 people killed in the Longview paper mill disaster. Signs with statements like “Clean it up or shut it down,” “Justice for the Longview 11” and “System change not climate change” waved as attendees picketed the back gate.

This emergency event was called by Climate Alliance of the South Sound (CASS) in response to one of the deadliest industrial accidents in Washington state history. On Tuesday, May 26, a paper mill chemical vat imploded, killing ten workers and wounding several more; at least one of whom has since died from their injuries. The paper mill, owned by multi-million dollar company Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co., was severely out of compliance with state and federal regulations.

Dez Chalfant, rank-and-file worker with UFCW 367 and delegate of the Pierce County Central Labor council, stated, “Nippon Dynawave has had a history of non-compliance with environmental and safety regulations. They were fined for their noncompliance, and despite that, they still gambled with the lives of their employees and allowed this tragedy to occur. They risked the lives of their workers and polluted the environment in their own self-interest.”

Attendees highlighted how the U.S. Oil & Refining Co. in the Port of Tacoma is also out of compliance. Picketers chanted, “Noncompliance causes deaths, U.S. Oil could be next!” drawing a clear connection between U.S. Oil & Refining and Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co.

“We've had, for decades and decades, up until 2023, a paper mill virtually identical in our backyard. We have the same pollutants as Longview does,” CASS member Cora Swindale said, further connecting Tacoma and Longview. “So it feels like there's a lot of parallels, and it feels like there's a lot of ways where this tragedy could have happened here.”

All 11 of the workers killed were union workers with AWPPW Local 580. Four of the identified people killed — Gilbert Bernal, Dillon Miller, Jared Ammons and CJ Doran — were fathers, some with very young children and pregnant wives.

“Many of us in Climate Alliance come from working-class families. I myself come from a blue-collar family, and so it's really sobering to be reminded of the fact that so many of our loved ones can go to work and not come home, and that shouldn't be the case,” Jami Nelson-Cortes explained. “We shouldn't have to be sacrificing worker safety for profit, especially when many of our parents are the sole income for our family or the main income for our family.”

The U.S. Oil & Refining Co. is on the Puyallup Tribe of Indians’ reservation, but under the jurisdiction of the Tacoma Port Commission due to laws passed in 1918. As of 2025, the elected port commission has been deemed legally responsible for the pollution of tenants in the port.

After several speeches highlighting the connection between workers’ rights, climate justice and indigenous sovereignty, including several songs to honor the killed workers, attendees resumed the picket. Chants including “One struggle, one fight! Climate justice, worker’s rights!” “Cut the carbon emissions, empower the climate commission” and “Gilbert Bernal, say his name, non-compliance is to blame!” filled the air.

“Everywhere we look, we see protections and regulations that are meant to prevent these things being stripped back. It's really clear that they don't care about us, so it's time to stand up and fight back,” Swindale stated.

The Climate Alliance of the South Sound is demanding that the acting port commission, including John McCarthy, shut down U.S. Oil and Refining Co. until they can achieve full compliance, including full compensation for all workers who lose work due to this noncompliance.

The emcee of the event, Justine Racine, tied these demands into CASS’s broader campaign for a community-controlled climate commission. “We at CASS stand in solidarity with the people of Longview and demand that Nippon Dynawave compensate the families affected, and for Nippon Dynawave to meet the environmental standards and safety standards they grossly neglect, and we demand a community-controlled climate commission in Tacoma that can keep companies in Tacoma compliant to environmental standards.”

#TacomaWA #WA #LongviewPaperMill #Labor #WorkerSafety #PeoplesStruggles

Colorado Springs, CO – Dozens gathered at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs on Thursday morning, May 26, to protest endless wars for profit and Vice President JD Vance’s speech to the academy graduates.

Concerned community members and veterans with About Face came together to demand “No more money for Trump’s war crimes,” encouraging graduating cadets to defy their orders. A large banner declaring “Refuse illegal orders! Refuse illegal wars!” greeted drivers as they entered the academy to attend the graduation ceremony. Many drivers responded by waving and honking in support.

Shortly after gathering near the Pass and Registration Office, protesters were forced to move to a “free speech zone” that had been roped off for them. On the opposite side of the road there was a similar area set up for counter-protesters, although none came.

Lance Kalahar, a Navy veteran who now organizes with Climate Defiance, spoke about the dangers of climate change and the military’s connection to it. The U.S. military is considered to be one of the largest polluters in the world. Kalahar called out Vice President Vance for selling out to billionaires and their lobbies, saying, “At a time when we are staring doom in the face from climate catastrophe, we are starting another illegal war for oil to protect a class of pedophiles.” The crowd responded with, “Shame!”

Speaking on Iran, Tiffany Kosky with About Face said, “We don’t seem to remember that these people are just trying to protect their own homes, their own lives, their own families,” urging people to rethink their definition of “terrorist.”

While Vance spoke through the protest, he notably canceled another appearance in Denver later in the day. No official reason was given.

Community members were outraged that money that could be going to healthcare, housing, childcare and infrastructure is instead being funneled into the pockets of war profiteers. Veterans felt that their time in service was not spent defending their country, but rather violently occupying countries which posed no threat to the American people. These wars only benefit the billionaires, while working people around the world suffer the deadly consequences.

With the war on Iran, the genocide in Palestine, the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Maduro, and continued threats against Cuba, it is important that people everywhere fight back against U.S. imperialism. As the military budget balloons to new heights, working people must build an organized anti-war movement capable of opposing these attacks. United, the people have the power to stop the killing and stop the crimes of the ruling class.

#ColoradoSpringsCO #CO #JDVance #Veterans #AntiWarMovement #PeoplesStruggles

If asked what I consider to be a defining moment of the 20th century, I would have to say that it was the moment on the Edmund Pettus bridge in 1965 that led to the historic passing of the Voting Rights Act in 1965.

Let me talk about the things that I most distinctly remember. Jimmie Lee Jackson, a young Black man, was 26 years old when he was shot by the police while trying to protect his mother from being brutalized in Marion, Alabama. This was a peaceful demonstration for voting rights. Jackson was a Black worker who made $6 a day as a woodcutter before he was murdered on that fateful night. And here we are, over 60 years later, still following up on what Dr. King told us when he said, “now we must see that Jimmie Jackson didn't die in vain.”

We must see even now that all those who were murdered in Alabama, Mississippi and throughout the disenfranchised Black Belt South didn’t die in vain.

I was 21, turning 22 years old in the summer of 1964 and I had lived through four young Black girls being killed by a bombing in the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham in 1963 and three young men, two white and one Black, being murdered in Mississippi in the same period. Then I saw Bloody Sunday on TV, where hundreds of people, protesters, were teargassed and beaten for peacefully demanding the right to vote.

And as I was saying earlier, here we are 60 years later, where Black legislators in the deep South and in Tennessee are sitting down in the state legislatures in protest demanding that the right to vote not be taken away from them, demanding that all majority-Black political districts not be disenfranchised based on the recent decision of the United States Supreme Court to totally gut the Voting Rights Act. That's what they did, they just struck down the Voting Rights Act, which took us over 100 years to enact. They struck it down in a day.

And now there's a wave of protests throughout the South, mainly Black people, but not just Black people, saying to this Supreme Court, to the Congress, and particularly to the Republican-dominated Congress, and to the world, that we’re not going back. And the world will see that through our united actions, that we’re not going back. The world will see once again the ironclad determination of Black people and their allies, refusing to go back, protesting and demanding that we go forward.

Protesting and demanding that not only will we not be pushed back to Jim Crow, but that we’re going to put an end to those who are trying to take us back there: Donald Trump and his minions, Donald Trump and his Supreme Court, Donald Trump and his corrupt Congress, Donald Trump and his corrupt White House. You’re not going to take us back. We refuse to go back. We’re fighting to go forward. And in going forward, we will put an end to all of these travesties of justice. We will put an end to the so-called white backlash, which thinks it has a political destiny to make America worse again, not great again, to take the American dream and turn it into the American nightmare.

We will not go back, and we can’t say this strong enough, that what we need to do in the days ahead is protest what the Supreme Court has done, to confront and challenge what's going on in the state houses in the Deep South, and what the governors and congresspeople in the Deep South are trying to do to bring back Jim Crow, to bring back that period when Black people were terrorized, brutalized and murdered for trying to exercise their constitutional right to vote, which was earned through a revolution that took place in the 1860s.

There are three amendments that came out of that revolution. These were the 13th Amendment, 14th Amendment, and the 15th Amendment. The 13th, abolishing the buying and selling of Black people. The 14th Amendment, giving equal protection of law, and making it a law that if you are born in America, you are automatically an American citizen. And the 15th Amendment, extending the franchise, the right to vote, to those who had been in bondage during slavery.

Since the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the political history of the Deep South has been about state governments in the Black belt states’ resistance to the voting rights of Black citizens.

Since 1877, the year when the North and the South agreed that the South was uniquely suited to be the guardians of the “Negro Problem,” they agreed on keeping Black folks out of politics and redeeming the South from biracial coalitions that protected and enforced the voting rights of Black folks and the masses of propertyless people who were denied the franchise.

1877, the year of the great betrayal, with the election of Rutherford B. Hayes for president, marked the beginning of the reign of white supremacist terrorists initiating campaigns of racist violence and political repression. Mississippi, a state whose population was 70% Black, led the South to hold state conventions to establish a movement of disfranchisement creating a system of obstacles between the voter and the ballot box, ushering in an era of disenfranchisement that lasted for over 75 years.

Electoral structures designed to keep Black folks from voting were not only profoundly undemocratic but helped to maintain a status quo that keeps the South the most economically, socially and culturally most backward quadrant of the nation.

Those amendments to the Constitution were revolutionary then, but apparently not enough to settle this question once and for all. So, that’s our task. Our task is to finish this revolutionary process that was started back in 1861, to finish this revolutionary process in the 21st century.

We will not go back, and if we’re not going back then we have got to go forward, and going forward means putting an end not for once but once and for all to these racist policies and the racist regime that sits in Washington instituting these policies.

All Power to the People!

#Commentary #VotingRightsAct #OppressedNationalities #FrankChapman #PeoplesStruggles #Featured

Oakland, CA – On May 12, around 20 Oakland city workers, activists and community members mobilized to City Hall in support of civilians taking over the 38 administrative jobs currently occupied by the Oakland Police Department (OPD).

The push to attend the city council’s finance committee and to make public comment was called for by the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) Local 21, a union representing hundreds of city workers. While workers experience staffing vacancies and budget cuts, OPD overspent up to $33 million a year for the past six years on overtime, with 6% of its force behind desks. The union demands change as the city enters contract negotiations with the Oakland Police Officers’ Association.

“The single biggest overtime expense was half a million dollars for one individual for crash reports, something that should be civilianized,” remarked Kevin Dally, an Oakland resident.

“Oakland should not be discussing cuts to services until you have replaced officers in administrative jobs with regular city staff,” said Romaine Charite, a member of the Oakland Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. “These are issues that the police union does not want you to act on. Please start listening to Oaklanders, like me, instead of the police union.”

Eliot Goodrich, a transportation planner and member of IFPTE Local 21, spoke on the 23-year-old federal consent decree over OPD after a scandal involving racist police gangs kidnapping, beating and falsely arresting Black and brown residents, stating, “Of the 38 positions identified, 22 are in Internal Affairs. OPD is still under federal oversight, the Negotiated Settlement Agreement is a legally binding agreement with the city, made to 119 Oaklanders who had their civil rights violated.”

Anne Jenks, with the Coalition for Police Accountability, said, “The city council failed for a year to follow up after instructing the city administrator to begin the process of moving investigations from OPD Internal Affairs to the independent Community Review Police Agency. The administrator did nothing until the deadline approached.”

The Community Review Police Agency is the investigative arm of the Oakland Police Commission, which is named one of the strongest civilian police oversight boards in the country and was voted in by Oaklanders to get OPD under control.

#OaklandCA #CA #PoliceAccountability #InjusticeSystem #PeoplesStruggles #OppressedNationalities

Washington, D.C. – On Sunday, May 17, community members, organizers and faith leaders gathered at Union Temple Baptist Church in Southeast Washington, DC for the Washington Interfaith Network’s (WIN) Candidate Forum ahead of the upcoming mayoral, city council and congressional primary elections this June.

The forum was an opportunity for DC’s most oppressed communities to make their demands to potential local elected leaders. Families Not Feds, a coalition of organizations working to end local collaboration with federal agents in DC, was invited to speak at the event and bring forward their proposal to the potential candidates.

Reverend Rachel Cornwell of Dumbarton Methodist Church and WIN set the stage, saying, “At the center of this 2026 issue agenda is a belief that a healthy city is one where all residents are valued, invested in, and have opportunities to grow.”

Cornwell continued, “Today we are bringing our work to the candidates, who are interviewing to represent us as DC residents.” The city-based candidates for DC were then invited to the stage to listen to community members’ policy priorities.

A leading organizer with Families Not Feds and Movimiento Migrante DC stated, “When rumors began of ICE and federal agents arriving in DC, I told myself this could not happen here in DC, because we’re a sanctuary, because our leaders are pro-immigrant.” She continued, “Yet, for nearly a year I have seen my friends, my neighbors, disappear right in front of me. I had an immigrant mother faint in my arms as her son was abducted by federal agents.”

Washington DC has been under attack by the reactionary forces in the White House that have been overexerting their powers into local communities who have been here long before — and will be here long after — the Trump administration is gone from the White House. A large part of these attacks comes in the form of racist police terror, with Homeland Security, FBI, U.S. Marshalls and other federal agencies openly collaborating with the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) to brutalize Black and brown residents.

This has led to the shooting of three Black community members, the murder of Julian Bailey, and the ICE kidnappings of almost 20,000 people in the DC region since the second Trump administration has been in office.

Families Not Feds Coalition was formed because the organizers were ready to fight back against these attacks. The capitulation of local politicians, like current Mayor Muriel Bowser, to the racist Trump agenda has been a blow to Black, brown, working-class Washingtonians who have no political representation in Congress.

On stage, the organizer from FNF and MMDC added, “When our executive leader failed to defend our community and instead easily disposed of us by attacking our Sanctuary Values Act and vetoing the FAAR [Full Accountability in Arrest Reporting] Act, we fought back and we won!”

The organizer then turned to ask the candidates her question: “Will you help lead the effort to pass permanent legislation to end the collaboration between MPD and federal agents?” All candidates on the stage said yes.

Other community speakers demanded affordable housing, an end to the racist youth curfew in DC and overpolicing of Black and brown communities, job opportunities for returning citizens and an overall commitment to invest in the working people of DC and not the corporate interests that have been stripping people of their needs like housing, healthcare and education.

Candidates present at the forum included Janeese Lewis-George, a frontrunner in DC’s mayoral race, and DC council at-large candidates Greg Jackson, Dyana Forester, Leniqua’dominique Jenkins, and others. Notably absent was Lewis-George’s competitor, Kenyan McDuffie, who is known to be backed by mega corporate donors like the real estate lobby. He is endorsed by DC’s current mayor, Muriel Bowser, who facilitated the Trump agenda at every turn.

The community members at the forum made it clear that they are ready for new leadership who will stand with their communities against the Trump administration. The organizer from Families Not Feds said, “DC is ready for change, and we are ready for a leader to fight with us and to lead us.”

For nearly a year, Families Not Feds has led the fight against this racist collaboration in Washington DC. The coalition is committed to holding the hopefuls for elected office accountable to the promises they made at the event. Their next steps are to pass permanent legislation to hold MPD and federal agents accountable for the terror they are inflicting on our communities.

Follow @dcaarpr, @_movimientodc, and @familiesnotfedscoalition to stay up to date on the campaign and DC mayoral race!

#WashingtonDC #DC #PeoplesStruggles #InjusticeSystem

Baton Rouge, LA – On May 12th, Louisiana residents gathered at the Louisiana State Capitol to condemn the state Senate’s new redistricting plans. This comes after Governor Jeff Landry illegally declared a state of emergency to stop the elections after the Louisiana v. Callais decision.

The Committee on Senate and Governmental Affairs meeting, which was supposed to take place on May 13, was moved to May 12, a last-minute blatant attempt to reduce attendance. They tried to silence the people, but the people would not be silenced. The crowds stayed for the entire session, spanning from 7 p.m. to 4:30 a.m., with many arriving hours beforehand. Testimony after testimony was put forward condemning the racist redistricting plan and affirming the need for representation of Black voters.

Under the previous map, there were four majority-white districts and two majority-Black districts. SB 407, written by Senator Ed Price, proposed maintaining a 4-2 map. Hundreds of people came out to testify in support of SB 407, staying for hours to make sure their voices were heard.

Checo Yancy from Voice of the Experienced addressed the committee, saying: “Here we are in 2026 and Jim Crow is still hanging around. This is unacceptable.” He continued, “Some people have never had equal rights, equal treatment, equal opportunities, and now you don’t want us to have two Black districts.”

Senator Jay Morris submitted SB 121, a racist bill proposing five majority-white districts and only one majority-Black district. Ziad Eissa from Freedom Road Socialist Organization spoke against SB 121, saying, “The only motivation I can think of to support this kind of gerrymandered districting, like the kind put forward in 121, is subservience to Jeff Landry, to conservative politicians, and to billionaires.”

The committee voted 4-3 in favor of SB 121, bringing it to a vote by the full Senate. The people of Louisiana came and showed that they would not accept any racist repression by the legislature. In the face of racist attacks, they showed their ability to mobilize to defend their rights.

#BatonRougeLA #LA #VotingRights #PeoplesStruggles #OppressedNationalities

Bellevue, WA – On Tuesday evening, May 2, the Bellevue City Council voted to adopt an ordinance making protests at U.S. Congressman Adam Smith’s house illegal. The ordinance changes the city’s definition of criminal conduct to include targeted residential protests.

The ordinance states that any gathering of people “with four or more persons” in a protest that is “targeted, directed or focused at a particular occupant of the residence” would be a gross misdemeanor. “Protest means any protest, demonstration or picketing activity including but not limited to marching, congregating, standing, posting, parading, demonstrating, picketing, with our without signs, with or without making audible or amplified noise.” A gross misdemeanor of this kind can carry a year-long jail sentence and a $5000 fine.

This ordinance comes after a sustained campaign against Adam Smith, House representative for Washington’s 9th congressional district. In protest of Smith’s failure to halt the flow of U.S. military aid to Israel or to withhold U.S. taxpayer dollars from being spent on Trump’s war on Iran, members of Seattle Against War, Troublemakers, and BDS Seattle, with support from other community members, have repeatedly shown up at Smith’s house in Bellevue to present their demands.

The protests in the rich Bellevue suburb were protected under First Amendment rights to protest, occurred during daylight hours, and abided by the noise ordinances against the use of amplified sound. Protesters held up banners that read, “Your rep funds genocide!” and signs that call out Adam Smith as a warmonger and a war profiteer.

Speaking against the ordinance at the city council meeting, Joseph Ostheller, a member of Seattle Against War, said, “We have been to his office, which he is never in. We have been to his town halls, which he censors. We have been to his speaking events, which he releases without adequate time to attend. He has systematically closed off all avenues for us to speak to him directly and to have our concerns heard. The escalation to be at his house is because he leaves us no other options.”

Zionists packed the city council meeting to support the ordinance. One speaker for the ordinance, who called himself David E., said he was a proud Zionist. The president of the HOA in Adam Smith’s neighborhood, claimed falsely that protesters “were like a mob, using blow horns at 2 a.m.” The composition of the meeting, Zionists and rich neighbors of Adam Smith, showed this ordinance was dreamt up by a small group of people in power using their connections to weaponize the legal processes. The ordinance is in direct response to the targeted protests against Adam Smith, and he has called in his Zionist friends and the city council to construct another barrier between the people in power and those impacted by their decisions.

The city attorney spoke to the council and explained to them how the ordinance was drafted and the legal rationale for its implementation. The city manager and the city attorney were asked to come up with this ordinance to criminalize free speech on behalf of “those affected.”

After the comment period, the Zionists and their allies left the meeting, not staying the extra two hours until the study session and the subsequent vote on the issue. Activists against the ordinance stayed until the very end, when the council read out the reasons why they were voting to shut down people’s democratic right to protest.

One council member, Lynne Robinson, said, without providing detail, “I have been the target of harassment and know how scary it can be.” It goes without saying that even before this ordinance passed, targeted harassment, stalking, and death threats were all already illegal. Another council member, Claire Sumadiwirya, said, “This is such a hard decision, but I have to protect my family,” even though they had not been the target of any such protests. Both voted in favor of the ordinance.

The ordinance will go into effect in one month.

Activists were not surprised by the result, as city council meetings are notoriously opaque. The real decisions are often made behind closed doors, with public comment being performative at best. Nevertheless, activists left in high spirits, because these attacks only show how weak and afraid those in power really are in the face of the power of the people.

Protests at Smith’s home will continue, bigger and louder than before, until the ordinance takes effect in June. Seattle Against War will also be exploring every avenue to challenge this new roadblock.

#BellevueWA #WA #SeattleAgainstWar #PeoplesStruggles #AntiWarMovement

Santa Ana, CA – En la mañana del 29 de abril, gritos de “¡Fuera Kingsley!” resonaron afuera de la sala donde se reunía la División de Estabilización de Alquileres (RSD, por sus siglas en inglés). Los residentes del parque de casas móviles Coach Royal, junto con miembros de la Organización de Servicio Comunitario del Condado de Orange (CSO OC), tuvieron una conferencia de prensa antes de una audiencia con la RSD. Desde hace años, los residentes han sufrido abusos y acoso por parte de Kingsley Management Corporation, los propietarios del parque.

Kingsley ha tomado represalias, mediante desalojos injustos, contra aquellos residentes que se alzan en contra de su abuso de poder. La RSD tenía programado escuchar 18 peticiones relacionadas con estos desalojos injustos.

“¡Si gana Kingsley, pierden los inmigrantes!”, gritó Karla Alvarado, antes de dar inicio al evento con un emotivo testimonio. “He sido residente durante 28 años y fui desalojada; no por mala conducta ni por deber renta, sino porque quieren demostrarnos que se nos castiga por alzar la voz”.

Alvarado exigió justicia para todos los residentes que han sido desalojados mediante tácticas coercitivas y engañosas, declarando, “¡Queremos justicia en nuestra ciudad; nuestra gente está sufriendo! Kingsley les entrega a los residentes que hablan español documentos en inglés y, además, los presiona para que firmen bajo coacción. ¡Esto tiene que parar!”

Guadalupe Barragán, residente y activista de larga trayectoria en la defensa de los derechos de los inquilinos, tomó el micrófono para expresar sus demandas. “Lo que queremos hacer esta mañana es pedirles, nuevamente, pedirles al gobierno de la ciudad que nos ayuden, ya que hemos sido acosados, amenazados, abusados, robados, inclusive habido muertes en el parque de Kingsley. ¡Queremos que los funcionarios de la ciudad de Santa Ana nos ayuden a sacar a la corporación Kingsley!”.

El residente Julián Orozco compartió su experiencia con las tácticas de intimidación de Kingsley: “Se suponía que iba a recibir el título de mi casa después de cumplir el contrato y enviarles un giro postal de $300. Una semana después me dijeron que había sido un error e intentaron hacer un contrato adicional por otros tres o cuatro años. Querían que lo firmara para que pagara más. Rob McDonald (personal de Kingsley) se presentó en mi casa queriendo intimidarme para que firmara los papeles”.

Un miembro de CSO OC cerró la conferencia de prensa exigiendo la salida de Kingsley y solicitando la ayuda de los funcionarios gubernamentales para detener este abuso sistemático. Exigió justicia para Maria Pedraza, una ex residente de Coach Royal que se quitó la vida a consecuencia de los abusos sufridos a manos de Kingsley.

Mientras los residentes entraban al edificio para dar comienzo a la audiencia, los miembros de CSO OC continuaron gritando, “¡Fuera Kingsley! ¡Si gana Kingsley, el pueblo pierde!”.

Una vez dentro, el abogado de Kingsley, Ariel Badell, solicitó que se retirara de la sala los simpatizantes de los residentes, incluidos miembros de CSO OC, CHISPA, Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (C.L.U.E.) y Tenants United Anaheim (TUA). Dos funcionarios municipales se pusieron del lado de Kingsley. Tras la oposición de los simpatizantes, quienes citaron la Ordenanza de Estabilización de Alquileres, se determinó que los testigos tenían el derecho legal de estar presentes en la sala, por lo que permanecieron sentados.

Mientras se desarrollaba esta situación, llegaron vehículos del Departamento de Seguridad Nacional a la entrada del edificio. Se desconoce quién realizó la llamada, pero tanto los residentes como sus simpatizantes consideraron que se trataba de una táctica de intimidación, dado que muchos de los residentes son inmigrantes.

Al dar comienzo la audiencia, no ofrecieron servicios de interpretación a los peticionarios, a pesar de que muchos de los residentes eran hablantes monolingües de español. Los simpatizantes presentes solicitaron a los funcionarios municipales que facilitaran servicios de interpretación. El equipo legal de Kingsley se negó a proporcionar servicios de interpretación para su equipo, argumentando, Badell declaró que “legalmente no están obligados a ofrecer servicios de interpretación”. Los simpatizantes continuaron abogando por los peticionarios y exigieron que se les brindaran servicios de interpretación hasta que los funcionarios de la ciudad finalmente aceptaron.

Más tarde, cuando un concejal y una reportera intentaron observar la audiencia, el equipo de Badell intentó expulsar al funcionario y a los medios de comunicación. Ella amenazó con demandar a la ciudad por su participación y afirmó que la audiencia se estaba “convirtiendo en un circo”. Después de revisar las políticas y procedimientos de la audiencia de peticiones, los funcionarios municipales determinaron que, en efecto, la reportera y el funcionario electo tenían permitido estar presentes en la audiencia.

En general, los funcionarios de la ciudad de Santa Ana permitieron inicialmente que el equipo de Kingsley Management Corporation intentara impedir que los peticionarios ejercieran sus derechos durante la audiencia, como el acceso a servicios de interpretación, la presencia de testigos y el ingreso de observadores a la sala de audiencias.

La ciudad de Santa Ana se mantiene cómplice de las prácticas abusivas de Kingsley Management Corporation de atropellar las audiencias y las negociaciones de acuerdos de los residentes de Coach Royal. Solo se escucharon ocho de las 18 peticiones presentadas. Los residentes de Coach Royal recibirán el veredicto de sus audiencias en 30 días.

#SantaAnaCA #CA #InJusticeSystem #Housing #PeoplesStruggles

Hamtramck, MI – On May 10, hundreds assembled on the corner of Joseph Campau and Caniff Streets following a call put out by the Detroit Resisting Oppression by President Trump Coalition (DROPT Coalition) to push Jake Lang and other racists out of Hamtramck. Lang and his crew had publicly announced what they claimed would be the “largest book burning in American history,” including the burning of a Quran outside of Al-Islah Islamic Center.

On the day of, Lang and his followers began to back out of their book-burning in Hamtramck, posting on social media that he was going to Dearborn, while messaging his followers that he was going to Hamtramck. For over four hours, he repeatedly changed his arrival time, showing his fear of the community and the organizers who sought to chase him out.

Jackson Robak of Freedom Road Socialist Organization said, “They are weak because they know they are not supported by the people.”

Afterward, Hamtramck community leader Dr. Mohammad Alam spoke on the pride immigrant families take in Hamtramck. “We came from all over, but this is our home here and abroad. Hamtramck is the beacon and hope for many of us; we cherish Hamtramck. We are law-abiding citizens, yet you come from somewhere and try to slam on our faith, we aren’t going to take it.” Showing the connection between these racist thugs and the Trump administration, Alam added, “Just like when ICE comes taking families, they are deporting, they are removing, they are destructing [destroying]! We do not want to see this!”

Minutes later, Jake Lang attempted to drive past the crowd in a U-Haul, but was hit with water bottles, flag poles, and other objects, forcing him to speed out of the city.

He would soon drive to Dearborn in the hopes of going to the Islamic Center of America, only to be pulled over for being on his phone while driving. While he was pulled over, dozens assembled on Evergreen Road in Dearborn to continue the attempt to chase him out of the communities he intended to intimidate. Even as he was protected by police, the protests got closer and louder to Lang, and saw him get his U-Haul towed and himself arrested for possession of psychedelic mushrooms.

The next day, he attempted to once again burn a Quran outside the ICA in Dearborn, only for the community and activists to once again assemble to stop him. This time, initially, the police used fire extinguishers to stop Lang’s attempted burning, but gave up, leaving the activists to use their own fire extinguishers to put out the fires and take books from his hands.

Lang, as well as three activists, were arrested. Shamefully, Lang was released quickly from the Dearborn Police Station, while protest organizers went to the jail to demand the timely release of the activists arrested. After hours, they were bailed out due to community support.

Jake Lang is a racist grifter who seeks to violently intimidate Arab and Muslim communities around Metro Detroit, Minnesota and New York. However, every time he comes, he gets driven out, arrested, and shown to be weaker than the last time. In Metro Detroit, these facts were once again made obvious by the communities and activists who he attempted to threaten.

#HamtramckMI #MI #PeoplesStruggles #Lang #RightWing #Featured

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the FRSO Salt Lake City District.

The Freedom Road Socialist Organization has been reestablished in Utah, emerging stronger with two vibrant new districts.

The rebirth of our district in Salt Lake City was catalyzed by a renewed engagement in the anti-imperialist struggle. The spark came after we participated in the Utah Anti-War Committee's letter-writing campaign in support of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who is currently unlawfully being held as a hostage in U.S. prison. This act of solidarity reinvigorated our revolutionary organization in Utah and coincided with the commencement of Freedom Road organizing in Orem, 40 miles south of Salt Lake.

Today, our districts now strive to be beacons of progress and revolutionary drive in Utah, having summed up the many successes of the past and made concrete plans to address challenges. New cadres recruited from the mass movements are fighting to win a deeper fusion with Utah’s working and oppressed people.

Our renewed district in Salt Lake City collaborates with a variety of progressive forces, including Armed Queers of Salt Lake City, the Utah Workers Center, Healthcare Workers for Palestine, and Utahns for Peace and Justice in the Holy Land. In Orem, our new comrades support powerful partnerships with Students for a Democratic Society at Utah Valley University, alongside the Whistle Committee and the Civil Disobedience Club, bringing Freedom Road to the heart of Utah County for the first time.

Since January 2026, our district membership has quadrupled in size, a surge that speaks to the hunger for genuine revolutionary struggle in Utah. Our recent activities have focused on the anti-war movement, providing support to the UAWC’s actions against U.S. aggression in Iran, Cuba, Lebanon, Venezuela, and Palestine. Our district celebrated International Women's Day with a massive rally at the state Capitol alongside MMIR Utah and UAWC, which we followed by a well-attended May Day panel that drew dozens of Utahns eager for change and for an end to ICE terror in their community.

Our district welcomes all revolutionaries in the Salt Lake area looking for a community of organizers where they can serve the people's movements, rebuild the communist party and study Marxism-Leninism. A new generation of cadres has taken up the call to land blows on the monopoly capitalist class.

The message from Utah is clear: opposing forces failed to break us. Instead, these experiences only served to forge a harder, more disciplined, and more dedicated organization. In Utah, FRSO is quickly evolving into a force to be reckoned with, dedicated to the long-term goals of the labor movement, student activism, immigrant rights, LGBTQ liberation, and gender justice, all while building the anti-war movement and laying the groundwork for a socialist society.

The fight carries on.

#SaltLakeCityUT #OremUT #UT #PeoplesStruggles #AntiWarMovement #FRSO

On International Workers’ Day, we uplift the past and present global struggles for a better world. We commit to carrying the torches of liberation forward, because there’s much to fight against, and much to fight for. Monopoly capitalism is built on exploitation, and it hands down needless suffering, environmental ruin and endless wars. The decay is obvious. Prices soar, families are bankrupted by medical costs, millions are saddled with crushing debt and working people who were already on the brink are being pushed into ruin. The system delivers obscene profits to the ones on top who are relentless in pursing profits. We should be even more relentless in building the united forces of workers and oppressed people that can take them down.

May Day is a reminder that the people organized can land blows against this system. It cuts right through the lie that nothing will change, or we can’t do any better.

The history of May Day itself is rooted in a great upsurge in the class struggle. It began in Chicago in 1886, where workers in the factories bore brutal working conditions and extreme hours. They said enough is enough and flooded the streets, clashing with the hired guns of the robber barons. The state then executed four of the strike leaders. The martyred working-class heroes became a rallying point for people power, and May 1 became the day for working people to advance our demands.

Under the banner of struggle, huge May Day demonstrations take place around the world every year. This year is the 20-year anniversary of the mega-marches – the immigrant rights struggle against the racist Sensenbrenner bill that brought May Day back to the forefront as a day of mass protest in the U.S.

Across the country, the great upsurge against ICE thuggery and the fight against mass deportation created a force that has pulled forward all the people’s struggles. These are the first major battles fought against the Trump agenda, bringing out a broad grouping of people and forging new fighters. From Los Angeles to Chicago, people rebelled with massive demonstrations and a show of force to push back Trump’s attacks.

ICE agents, emboldened and violent, have murdered members of the community, immigrants as well as the people standing up for them, in cold blood. In Minneapolis, a three weeks after the murder of Renee Good, Alex Pretti was killed, just blocks from where George Floyd was executed, in a community where a history of broad resistance to state violence reverberates. These crimes activated people in the tens of thousands to take to the streets. Trump and his ICE goons tried to swallow Minneapolis whole, but they ended up choking.

These battles became a “whose side are you on” moment. Whole sections of people were activated for the first time. In each upsurge, the outpouring of people who want to fight back shows that we’re living in different times than past decades. More and more people see that this system, monopoly capitalism, has no future. It’s a system sitting on a rotten and cracked foundation failing to meet the needs of the many while enriching the few.

In the era of imperialism, we stand in solidarity with workers and oppressed people everywhere. The U.S.-Israel war on Iran is indefensible. They want to destroy the camp of resistance that has been at the forefront of the fight for Palestine. We’re glad if Iran succeeds, not only because the war is wrong, but because we share a common enemy: the monopoly capitalists at the helm of the war machine.

U.S. imperialism is on the decline, and the rate at which things are coming apart in this country is picking up speed. The growth of the revolutionary movement is on the rise as well. We want to take every opportunity to bring more people into the fight.

Our movements are going to come out of this era stronger than they went in. People are changed forever by participating in these battles: their outlook, their views on what’s possible and their understanding of what it’s going to take to bring this system down. We’re not looking to keep things steady. We want to fan the flames.

On International Workers Day:

Fight for Workers & Immigrants’ Rights!

ICE Out! Stop the Deportations!

Down with Trump & the Billionaires!

No to War on Iran, Lebanon & Palestine!

#Statement #FRSO #Labor #ImmigrantRights #PeoplesStruggles #Featured

Santa Ana, CA – El martes 21 de abril, los residentes del parque de casas móviles Coach Royal exigieron que Kingsley Management Corporation se retire de su parque. La Organización de Servicio Comunitario del Condado de Orange (CSO OC) se unió a ellos para exigir que el Concejo Municipal intervenga ante años de acoso, desalojos injustos, robo de viviendas e intimidación por parte de la corporación. Este abuso resultó en el suicidio de la residente María Pedraza, cuya vivienda estaba en proceso de serle arrebatada después de años de sacrificios para comprarla.

Karla Alvarado, una de las residentes a quien le robaron su vivienda, declaró: “La ciudad de Santa Ana ya se ha reunido con 45 residentes que pueden dar testimonio de esto. 45 residentes y contando. Hemos hablado con personas de múltiples parques. Las historias son iguales, las tácticas son iguales y los resultados también. Esa es la definición de un problema sistémico.”

Lupe Barragán, residente y organizadora, miró y señaló directamente a cada miembro del concejo mientras hablaba. “¡Necesitan responder! Phil Bacerra, tú trataste de intimidarnos cuando fuimos a tu oficina. Tú, Jonathan Hernández, necesitamos que nos respondas también. Fuiste y nos apoyaste, y necesitamos más de tu apoyo. City Manager, necesitamos de tu ayuda. Valerie Amezcua, sé que mi presencia no te agrada, pero nos dijiste que ibas a sacar las armas grandes. ¡Te estamos esperando!” Mientras se retiraba, la alcaldesa Amezcua se río de ella. Barragán se dio la vuelta, señaló a Amezcua y la reprendió por su falta de respeto.

Sylvia Ayala, otra residente, le dijo al consejo: “Tengo 40 años aquí y nunca he recibido alguna ayuda de ustedes. Porque ustedes no se preocupan por el pueblo; ustedes se preocupan por ustedes mismos. Trabajan, ciertamente. Pero nosotros tenemos que trabajar todavía más que ustedes. Las humillaciones que nos hacen los que tienen dinero no son justas.”

Mientras los residentes hablaban, miembros de CSO OC y residentes desplegaron una pancarta que decía: “¡Kingsley fuera!”. La cámara comenzó a cambiar de ángulo con frecuencia para evitar mostrar la pancarta en la pantalla. En un momento dado, cuatro agentes de la policía de Santa Ana se acercaron a los organizadores y les indicaron que debían trasladarse a la parte trasera si iban a sostener una pancarta, a pesar de que nadie se había quejado de tener la visibilidad obstruida.

Cuando Rain Mendoza, de CSO OC, subió para hablar durante el turno de comentarios públicos, primero alzó la pancarta y le dijo al consejo que la mirara y la mostrara ante las cámaras.

Mendoza respondió a la frecuente postura del consejo de que no pueden hacer nada porque el parque es propiedad privada, diciendo: “Ustedes demandaron a El Centro Cultural de México, un pilar de esta comunidad, para así poder utilizar a sus policías para tirar a la basura las pertenencias de las personas sin hogar y expulsarlas de un lugar donde los propietarios privados les habían permitido permanecer. Entonces, ¿pueden hacer todo eso y utilizar los tribunales, la policía y todos sus recursos para aterrorizar a una comunidad sumamente vulnerable, pero no pueden mover un solo dedo cuando hay una empresa que opera en Santa Ana y que actúa como una banda de matones? ¡Debería darles vergüenza!”

Diana Terreros, de CSO OC, recordó al consejo que los residentes de Coach Royal son, en su mayoría, inmigrantes de clase trabajadora quienes sus hogares constituyen su refugio durante la administración Trump. Terreros declaró: “Las acciones de Kingsley van en contra del espíritu de toda la ordenanza de ciudad santuario. Están explotando el miedo de los inmigrantes en Santa Ana. Esperan que ese miedo sea suficiente para obligar a los residentes a mantener la cabeza baja y la boca cerrada. Están explotando a esta comunidad y su temor para aumentar sus ganancias, robándoles sus hogares. Se trata de una corporación multimillonaria de Utah. ¿Por qué permitimos que exploten a Santa Ana de esta manera?”

Otro miembro de CSO OC resumió los cientos de miles de dólares que los grupos que representan a los propietarios de parques de casas móviles han donado en contra de la campaña a favor de la Ordenanza de Estabilización de Alquileres y Desalojo por Causa Justa, la cual fue aprobada en octubre de 2021. También han realizado donaciones a las campañas de los miembros del concejo. Él preguntó a los concejales: “¿Es esto lo que influye en sus frecuentes respuestas de que no hay nada que puedan hacer para hacer cumplir la ley ante lo que ustedes saben que son actos injustos e ilegales cometidos por Kingsley contra los residentes de Coach Royal?”

#SantaAnaCA #CA #PeoplesStruggles #KingsleyCorporation #CoachRoyal #OrangeCounty #CSOOC

Santa Ana, CA – On Tuesday, April 21, residents of Coach Royal mobile home park demanded Kingsley Management Corporation get out of their park. Community Service Organization Orange County (CSO OC) joined them to demand the city council intervene against years of harassment, unjust evictions, home theft, and intimidation by the corporation. The abuse resulted in the suicide of resident Maria Pedraza, whose home was in the process of being taken after years of sacrificing to purchase it.

Karla Alvarado, one of the residents whose home was stolen, stated: “The city of Santa Ana has already met with 45 residents who can testify to this. 45 residents and counting. We have spoken to people across multiple parks. The stories are consistent, the tactics are consistent, and the outcomes as well. That is the definition of a systemic issue.”

Lupe Barragan, a resident and organizer, looked at and pointed directly at each council member as she spoke. “You need to respond! Phil Bacerra, you tried to intimidate us when we came to your office. You, Jonathan Hernandez, we need you to respond to us too. You came to support us and we need more of that. City manager, we need your help. Valerie Amezcua, I know my presence doesn’t please you, but you told us you were going to get out the big guns. We are waiting for you!” As she walked away, Mayor Amezcua laughed at her. Barragan turned around, pointed at Amezcua and scolded her for being disrespectful.

Sylvia Ayala, another resident, told the council, “I’ve lived here for 40 years and I’ve never gotten any help from you. Because you don’t care about the people; you only look out for yourselves. You work, but we have to work more than you. The humiliation that people with money have done to us is not fair.”

While the residents spoke, CSO OC and residents unfurled a banner reading “Kingsley fuera!” The camera began frequently changing angles to avoid showing the banner on screen. At one point, four Santa Ana Police Officers approached the organizers and told them they must move to the back if they are going to hold a banner, despite nobody complaining about an obstructed view.

When Rain Mendoza of CSO OC went up to make public comment, she first held up the banner and told the council to look at it and show it on camera.

Mendoza responded to the council’s frequent response that they cannot do anything because the park is private property, stating, “You sued El Centro Cultural de Mexico, a pillar in this community, so you can use your cops to toss homeless people’s belongings in the trash and push them out of a place where they were allowed to stay by the private property owners. So, you can do all that and use the courts, the police, and all your resources to terrorize a very vulnerable community, but you can’t lift a finger when there is a company that operates in Santa Ana that acts like thugs? Shame on you!”

Diana Terreros of CSO OC reminded the council that the residents of Coach Royal are mainly working-class immigrants whose homes are their refuge during the Trump administration. Terreros stated, “Kingsley’s actions go against the spirit of the entire sanctuary city ordinance. They are exploiting the fear of the immigrant population in Santa Ana. They are hoping the fear will be enough to force the residents to keep their heads down and their mouths shut. They are exploiting this community and their fear to increase their profits by stealing their homes. This is a multi-million dollar corporation from Utah. Why are we allowing them to exploit Santa Ana like this?”

Another member of CSO OC summarized the hundreds of thousands of dollars that groups representing mobile home park owners have donated against the campaign for the Rent Stabilization and Just Cause Eviction Ordinance that was passed in October of 2021. They have also donated to council member’s campaigns. He asked council members, “Is this what’s influencing your frequent responses that there is nothing you can do to enforce what you know is unjust and illegal acts by Kingsley against the Coach Royal residents?”

#SantaAnaCA #CA #CSO #OC #OrangeCounty #PeoplesStruggles #CoachRoyal #Eviction #Featured

Chicago, IL -Chicago is preparing for May Day, which is again a national day of protest against Trump’s racist agenda. A broad coalition of immigrant rights, Black liberation, workers, youth and student organizations are preparing to rally and march on May 1, International Workers Day.

Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) is going all out to build for May Day. One part of FRSO’s contribution is our annual Working Class Awards Dinner. Again, this year, it was held in the hall of the Chicago Teachers Union on Saturday, April 18.

The purpose of the event is to recognize individuals and organizations that have made contributions to the struggle of workers and the oppressed over the past year, celebrate some victories, and recognize the people who made them possible. It is also FRSO Chicago’s main annual fundraiser.

The event was very successful, with almost 300 people in the hall and over $20,000 raised.

A year of resistance to ICE: Four awards presented

Chicago was one of the first targets of ICE occupation, beginning in September 2025. ICE and Customs and Border Patrol officers terrorized immigrant communities, arresting 3000. They even staged a raid with 300 agents at 3 a.m. in the Black community of South Shore, with agents rappelling from helicopters onto an apartment building where Venezuelan refugees lived.

The Rapid Response teams, Migra Watch, and emergency response protests began before Trump surged agents here.

The awards dinner recognized four activists for contributions to resistance to Trump and ICE. Kathryn Zamarrón is an elementary school music teacher at the Walt Disney Magnet School, and a rank-and-file leader in the Chicago Teachers Union. She serves on the CTU Latinx Caucus and Elementary Education Committee. Zamarron played a crucial role in organizing sanctuary teams to protect students not only in her own school, but across the city. She was presented with an award named for Karen Lewis, the legendary president of the Chicago Teachers Union.

Corina Pedraza, a worker at the Chicago public library, played a leading role in helping the community provide services to the tens of thousands of migrant laborers bused here by the governor of Texas starting in 2022. She was also recognized for her leading role as an organizer of both Southwest and Southeast Side rapid response teams in 2025. Her award was in the name of Silverio Villegas González, murdered by ICE in a Chicago suburb at the outset of the ICE/CBP occupation.

Reverend Ciera Bates-Chamberlain received the Angela Davis Award for organizing faith leaders in opposition to ICE. As executive director of Live Free Illinois, when ICE threatened Chicago, she organized a multifaith, multiracial coalition including Black ministers and churches on Chicago’s South and West Sides. The network held a press conference, a protest in the pulpits, and rallied with the immigrant rights movement to defend our communities.

Finally, the Mexican Students de Aztlán (MeSA) at UIC received an award named for Rigo Padilla Pérez. A member of the Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance at UIC, Rigo was a leader in the Dreamers movement, which compelled passage of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals legislation. He died of cancer three years ago.

MeSA was honored because in October, ICE agents arrested two women near campus. Students protested, and ICE released the women, but the UIC administration failed to respond. MeSA then led a mobilization of over 200 students to oppose ICE on campus and demand a sanctuary campus.

Award for Palestine solidarity

Gabriella Martinez is a Special Education Certified Assistant in the Chicago Public Schools and a rank-and-file leader in SEIU Local 73. She organized coworkers to file ethics complaints against Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs for the purchase of Israel Bonds. Frerichs even purchased more bonds during the ongoing genocide in Gaza. For her work, Martinez received the Assata Shakur award. Together with several members and retirees from SEIU Local 73, Gabi’s family joined her for the event.

Lifetime Achievement Awards: Pete Camarata Award to Jim Fennerty for movement legal defense

Jim Fennerty has been a fixture at protests in Chicago for decades, wearing the lime green cap of the National Lawyers Guild. Jim is a people’s lawyer who has consistently defended our movement from attacks by the ruling class. Jim and his wife, Janet have been politically active in the movement for over 50 years. Jim represented Rasmea Odeh and the Anti-War 23, and he helped win a historic civil settlement representing 800 protesters arrested at the start of the Iraq War.

Fennerty’s award was named after the late Pete Camarata. Pete was a founder of the Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU). In his fight against the criminals that took control of the union, Pete was one of the first to combine rank and file power with legal action.

Fennerty was introduced by family friend Hatem Abudayyeh of the Arab American Action Network and US Palestinian Community Network. Many tables were filled with Jim and Janet’s friends and family, including son Nate, daughter Dina, her husband Daniel Contreras, and grandson Quinn Contreras.

In addition, the family of Pete Camarata was there with the Fennertys, including his wife, Robin Potter, stepson Jackson and his wife, Joan; stepdaughter Aimee, and granddaughter Phoebe.

William L. Patterson Award to Frank Chapman

The night’s biggest moment was the lifetime achievement award for Frank Chapman. It came with recorded greetings from CTU President Stacy Davis Gates and Vice President Jackson Potter.

The William L. Patterson Award was introduced by Anthony Quesada, 35th Ward alderman:

“Through his leadership with the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Frank has helped lead campaigns that have shaped Chicago. He has been central to the fight for justice for the wrongfully convicted and for community control of the police. His work helped push forward the movement that won elected police district councils, giving people a real voice in public safety. And today, Frank continues to advance this struggle through our fight for the Community Power Over Policing referendum.

“He has also mentored generations of organizers, many of whom are in the room tonight. Across Chicago and beyond, people have learned from him how to stay grounded, how to build collective power, and how to keep going through every phase of struggle. His impact lives in the people he has shaped and the movements that continue to grow.”

There were other elected officials present, including 33rd Ward Alderwoman Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez, 35th Ward Democratic Committeeperson Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, 25th Ward Alderman Byron Sigcho Lopez, and State Senator Graciela Guzman.

The award is named after William L. Patterson, the Communist Party USA attorney who led the International Labor Defense (ILD), and who organized the mass defense of the Scottsboro Boys in the 1930s. Later he headed up the Civil Rights Congress, and together with Paul Robeson took the We Charge Genocide petition to the United Nations. The formation of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression was based on the model of the ILD.

Chapman: “We’re part of a better world in birth”

Chapman is the executive director of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression; field organizer and education director of the Chicago Alliance; and a Central Committee member of FRSO. In his remarks, he shared some perspective on the Trump regime and on change in this country from his vantage point having been born in 1942.

Referring to people who see Trumpism as an aberration when they say, “That’s not us,” meaning not what the U.S. stands for, Chapman responded, “The hell it ain’t. What they’re doing to the immigrants happened to me and my people…6200 children have been held in detention since Trump came in,” adding, “And shooting people on the streets execution style.”

“But we’ve seen this: we saw Laquan McDonald shot 16 times. And a few days ago, the state police shot a man 15 times, not far from my house,” and “Quit telling me this is something you haven’t seen before.”

“We’re demanding an end to Trumpism, but we’re going further than that. We’re part of a better world in birth!” Going on with the lyrics of The International, Chapman said, “Arise you prisoners of starvation. Arise you wretched of the earth. For justice thunders condemnation. A better world’s in birth.”

“Are you ready to get this done? Are you ready for the revolution?” he asked, to thunderous applause.

#ChicagoIL #IL #ImmigrantRights #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #FRSO #NAARPR #FrankChapman #Trump #PeoplesStruggles