Demand cutoff of U.S. military aid to Mexico

Minneapolis, MN – Forty students and community members gathered in front of Coffman Student Union at the University of Minnesota, Sept. 25, to mark one year since 43 Mexican student activists from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers College in Guerrero, México were forcibly disappeared at the hands of the Mexican government. A year later the students still have not been located.

Houston, TX – In Sunnyside, a predominantly African American neighborhood in southeast Houston, a local slumlord has taken action against his tenants at Crestmont Village Apartments, evicting them and turning off their power. For years, the landlord did not take care of the apartment units and so the apartments have become infested with cockroaches and mold, posing health risks. Instead of maintaining the apartments, the slumlord is closing them and trying to kick out all the tenants.

Los Angeles, CA – Celebrating and parading through the streets of East Los Angeles (ELA), Sept. 13, community members gathered along the route to watch the annual Mexican Independence Day parade. Participants included many local Mexican clubs, leaders and business owners, both Chicano and Mexican, traveling on adorned cars and floats, playing mariachi music and waving at viewers. This year the teachers’ union, United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA), and Centro CSO marched in unity.

Los Angeles, CA – Marching and chanting, “Vecinos unidos, jamas seran vencidos!” (Neighbors, united, will never be defeated), over 50 community members, families and activists gathered outside of five Boyle Heights homes, Sept. 9, to fight back against displacement and gentrification. Boyle Heights families have been suffering displacement and evictions for many years. The community is also surrounded by freeways, rail yards and factories which cause pollution.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

Houston, TX – Activists organized a number of activities to show solidarity with Rasmea Odeh, the unjustly convicted Palestinian activist. On Sept. 8, an information session was held, in which her case was discussed, with a turnout of over 20 people.

Tampa, FL – A group of 35 activists, students and community members danced and dined on desserts to raise money for the Rasmea Defense Committee. Rasmea Odeh is a 68-year-old Palestinian woman who has lived in the U.S. for 20 years, ten years as a U.S. citizen. The U.S. government is targeting her for political repression because of her successful organizing with Palestinian, Arab and Muslim women. The targeting of Odeh followed the FBI raids and repression against the Anti-War 23.

Grand Rapids, MI – Anti-war activists here held signs during rush hour traffic on Sept. 9 to support the Iran nuclear agreement and ending U.S. intervention in the Middle East. Both Democratic Michigan senators and Republican Congressperson Justin Amash support the deal.

Denver, CO – Friends and supporters of U.S. political prisoner Simon Trinidad will demand “Free Simon Trinidad, Peace for Colombia” at a demonstration outside the Florence, Colorado supermax prison on Sept. 21, at 11:00 a.m. Trinidad is also known in Colombia by his given name, Ricardo Palmera.

Los Angeles, CA – On the morning of Sept. 7, Labor Day, hundreds of union members and families joined together, in LA’s Wilmington Community, to celebrate unions and the working class. Many members from a host of trade unions talked about past victories in contracts and recent organizing drives.

Billionaire Donald Trump has established himself as the leading Republican candidate for president, with polls giving him twice the support of the nearest contender in a crowded field of 17. Trump has been the focus of media attention for his high level of support, his racist statements about Mexicans and his sexist attacks on women. In terms of policy, Trump has been leading the attack on the right of citizenship for people born in the U.S. – this right was granted by the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. He is calling for the U.S. citizen children of the undocumented to be deported, along with their parents, in what would be ethnic cleansing.

Tallahassee, FL – Fifty students at Florida State University (FSU) gathered together, Sept. 8, to commemorate African American lives lost to police brutality and to speak out against police crimes. Regina Joseph with Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) led the vigil, introducing speakers from student groups such as DREAM at FSU, and the Black Law Student Association at the FSU College of Law.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)

Jacksonville, FL – On Sept. 4, 4th Judicial Circuit State Attorney Angela Corey cleared the two white police officers who shot and killed D'Angelo Stallworth, a 28-year-old African American father in Jacksonville. Two Jacksonville Sheriff's Office (JSO) deputies killed Stallworth outside his apartment in May of this year while serving an eviction notice on a neighbor. Stallworth's death sparked mass outrage and several large protests from the community demanding justice.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following September 6 statement from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)

St. Paul, MN – Over 75 people gathered in front of the Governor’s Mansion here, Sept. 1, to protest Governor Mark Dayton’s remarks about the Black Lives Matter march that took place at the Minnesota State Fair Aug. 29. The governor said that march – which drew over 700 people – was “inappropriate.”

Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) went all out to support the march for community control of the police, led by the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.

Die-in demands ‘No U.S. aid for Israel’ on anniversary of Gaza War

Minneapolis, MN – More than 50 demonstrators rallied in front of the office of Senator Klobuchar (D-MN), August 26, to mark the end of the 2014 Israeli/U.S. war on Gaza. Cars driving up and down Washington Avenue honked in support.

Build the movement for community control of police!

The Chicago August 29 demonstration to stop police crimes and to establish community control over the police is nothing short of a historic step forward for the movement against racist discrimination and national oppression, and an advance in the fight for freedom, equality and liberation.