Fight Back News Service is circulating the following Jan. 8 statement from the Communist Party of the Philippines.

Chicago, IL – Longtime leader in the Black liberation movement and the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Frank Chapman, condemned the January 4 decision of the Alabama-based Birmingham Civil Rights Institute to abruptly cancel their plan to present Angela Davis with the Fred Shuttlesworth Award. Fred Shuttlesworth was a prominent leader in the civil rights movement.

Los Angeles, CA – Longtime Chicano and immigrant rights leader Carlos Montes condemned President Trump’s January 8 Oval Office speech, stating, “We are opposed to Trump’s attacks on refugees at the border – and his wall. We will continue to oppose his measures, and build the movement to dump Trump.”

Washington, DC – The UAW filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court, January 2, against General Motors for breach of labor contract. The suit requests that the court order GM to transfer seniority union members to the Fort Wayne, Indiana Assembly Plant in keeping with the contractual agreement between the parties. GM is currently circumventing the agreement by using temporary employees.

Jacksonville, FL – In 2018, I saw fewer movies in theaters than any time since age 3 or 4. It wasn’t just because the high price of tickets and snacks practically requires taking out a small loan. There’s a real lack of original storytelling in American films – especially horror and science fiction – and I’ve gotten tired of countless remakes, reboots, sequels, prequels, sequels to prequels, and so on.

Los Angeles, CA – Los residentes del vecindario de Boyle Heights, acompañados por familias de estudiantes de escuelas públicas locales, anunciaron, en una conferencia de prensa el 5 de enero y piquete, la presentación de una demanda en el Tribunal Superior contra la ciudad de Los Ángeles y la escuela “charter”  KIPP Promesa para detener el mega proyecto. KIPP Promesa quiere construir una gran escuela “charter” en el antiguo Hospital Lincoln en Boyle Heights.

Los Angeles, CA – Residents of the Boyle Heights neighborhood, joined by families of students of local public schools, announced, at a January 5 press conference and picket, the filing of a lawsuit in Superior Court against the city of Los Angeles and KIPP Promesa charter school to stop the mega project. KIPP Promesa wants to build a large charter school at the former Lincoln Hospital in Boyle Heights.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU).

Bust follows boom under capitalism

San José, CA – The New Year is starting off much the way 2018 ended: with U.S. stocks being hammered again. On Thursday, January 3, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) fell more than 600 points, the technology heavy NASDAQ fell more than 200, and the broad S&P 500 fell more than 60 points. All the averages fell more than 2% to put the year into the red.

Utrecht, Netherlands – Hundreds of cultural workers, youth, human rights and political activists, artists, academics, Filipino and other migrant nationalities and representatives of political parties and formations from all over the world, jampacked the auditorium of center for art and culture in this central Dutch city, December 29, to celebrate “Fifty Years of Art and Culture in the Filipino People’s Struggle for National and Social Liberation” and the anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) on December 26, 1968.

Jacksonville, FL – Pensacola State Representative Mike Hill has introduced a bill in the state legislature, House Bill 97, titled the Soldiers' and Heroes' Monuments and Memorials Protection Act, that would stop local authorities from removing racist confederate monuments. Hill is an African American Republican. Hill acknowledges his lack of support in the Black community.

Washington D.C. – On December 31, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and Kalijarvi, Chuzi, Newman & Fitch (KCNF DC) sued the federal government on behalf of AFGE members and federal employees being forced to work without pay. The lawsuit alleges that the federal government is violating the law by requiring some federal employees to work without pay during a shutdown.

Trump’s planned troop withdrawal from Syria is good news that reflects a major setback for U.S. attempts to dominate the Middle East, and is a real victory for the people of Syria and its anti-imperialist government. The anti-war movement, along with all progressive people, should insist that the Trump administration and the Pentagon follow through on this promise.

Los Angeles, CA – The union made up of LA educators, United Teachers of LA (UTLA), is blasting plans by the LA Unified School District (LAUSD) to hire temporary replacement teachers in the event of a strike.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following Dec. 22 speech by Miguel M. Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, President of the Councils of State and Ministers, at the close of the Second Ordinary Session of the National Assembly of People’s Power’s Ninth Legislature.

St. Paul, MN – There was a high tide of struggle on many fronts in 2018. With so much going on, it can be easy to forget some of the things our movements have accomplished. That makes it all the more important to look back and review the lessons from this year’s resistance so we can move forward stronger.

Milwaukee, WI – After the electoral victory of Democrat Tony Evers over Wisconsin's incumbent Republican governor Scott Walker, the Republican state senate has taken unprecedented steps to grab power back from the governor's office. Over the course of the past few weeks, the GOP-dominated state legislature held an extraordinary session at the capitol, swiftly ramming through a laundry list of powers to be transferred away from the governor's office. In short order, they passed a package of several bills which will undermine the abilities of the incoming governor and the new Democratic State Attorney General Josh Kaul, and further strengthen the GOP-controlled state senate.

Minneapolis, MN – On Sunday, December 23, 30 people gathered to demonstrate against U.S. wars, at an action titled “Send an Anti-War Message for the Holidays – Stop Endless Wars.” The protest took place in Uptown Minneapolis near a commercial node full of holiday shoppers, as well as the busy Uptown Transit Station where eight different bus routes converge.

Syrian air defense limits damage

Washington, DC – The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) is reporting that Israel struck the region around Damascus, December 25.

“Serve the People”

To mark the 125nd anniversary of the birth of Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong, Dec. 26, Fight Back News Service is circulating Mao Zedong’s 1944 speech ‘Serve the People.”