News and Views from the People's Struggle
Milwaukee, WI – On Thursday, October 16, 30 UW-Milwaukee students and community members rallied on campus to demand hands off Chicago as a part of the National Students for a Democratic Society National Day of Action under the slogan, “No Trump, No Troops, No ICE and Legalization for All!”
Caledonia, WI – On October 8, residents of the small village of Caledonia in southeastern Wisconsin – just south of Milwaukee, scored a massive victory against megacorporation Microsoft. As a result of an outpouring of negative community feedback, the tech giant announced that they would not be moving forward with the data center project at this time.
Appleton, WI – Over 75 community members gathered at Houdini Plaza on Saturday, October 4, for a protest marking two years of genocide in Gaza.
The action was hosted by Green Bay Anti-War Committee, Hate Free Outagamie, Green Bay Students for a Democratic Society, and Freedom Road Socialist Organization, in response to a nationwide call to action from the Anti-War Action Network.
Milwaukee, WI – On Saturday, October 4, more than 130 people rallied at Catalano Square in response to the illegal actions of Israel against the Global Sumud Flotilla. Israel seized 42 civilian vessels with medical and food aid and kidnapped over 450 volunteers in international waters.
Milwaukee, WI – On Sunday, September 28, over 80 people rallied at Dontre Hamilton Park in response to the recent attacks on abortion in Wisconsin. As of October 1, Planned Parenthood Wisconsin will be pausing abortion services at its three locations. This leaves only two independent clinics left in the entire state that offer abortion services, both located in Milwaukee.
Milwaukee, WI – Activists with Reproductive Justice Action-Milwaukee (RJAM), have been showing up consistently throughout the month of September to protest the newly opened Alliance Women's Clinic.
“Places like Alliance want to divert you from accurate and accessible healthcare,” stated a member of RJAM on September 15.
Milwaukee, WI – The Milwaukee Anti-war Committee (MAC) organized a banner drop on September 26 as part of the Anti-War Action Network (AWAN) National Week of Action. This call was an opportunity to mobilize anti-war and anti-imperialist organizations around the country in defiance of Netanyahu being welcomed onto the world stage at the United Nations General Assembly.
Madison, WI – As part of a Global Weekend of Action called by the BDS Movement, a contingent of about 40 peace activists led by World Beyond War-UW, including the newly formed Students for a Democratic Society-UW Madison chapter, community members and religious organizations, followed by Madison Area DSA, made the cause of Palestine impossible to ignore at the city's 48th annual Willy Street Fair, September 21.
As is tradition for the second day of the festival, a parade kicked off from the 900 block of Williamson Street, set to march about six blocks through the historic Williamson-Marquette neighborhood. Front and center, behind the sponsors, the beloved “Bubblemobile” coughed large clumps of bubbles into the air and immediately the chanting began.
In a typically light-hearted and proudly “weird” environment like the Willy Street Fair, chants of “From the river to the sea,” and “Stand up, fight back” echoed between the homes and small businesses. Ensuring that no fair-goer forget that while their funnel cakes fry, children are dying in Palestine. Not only from starvation, but from weapons provided by the U.S. government.
Later in the day, as part of the same BDS Movement call to action, World Beyond War-UW led a significantly longer walk, with 20 or so people carrying signs and banners around the entirety of Lake Monona, a 12-mile journey, to continue bringing attention to American complicity in Israel's crimes.
#MadisonWI #WI #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #BDS #StudentMovement #SDS
Appleton, WI – On September 14, several dozen people gathered at Appleton’s Houdini Plaza in a demonstration denouncing Trump, ICE and the invasion of our cities, including the deployment of the military in Los Angeles, the National Guard in Washington DC, and the proposed deployment of the national guard to Chicago.
Milwaukee, WI – At noon on Saturday, September 6, a flotilla of boats and kayaks set sail on the Milwaukee River to express solidarity with and demand safe passage for the Global Sumud Flotilla.
The Global Sumud Flotilla is an international effort to deliver aid to Gaza and break the Israeli blockade. It is made up of more than 50 vessels with over 15,000 participating activists from 44 countries. The Milwaukee flotilla consisted of four larger pontoon boats and a handful of smaller boats and kayaks, all decked out in Palestine flags, keffiyehs and signs.
Milwaukee, WI – In late August the Milwaukee Police Association (MPA), a police union, put out a call for their membership to join them for a protest on September 5 related to contract negotiations with the City of Milwaukee. The group planned to march from Red Arrow Park to City Hall where they would hold a press conference. Locals often refer to the park as Dontre Hamilton Park to honor the death of Dontre Hamilton, a Black man murdered by now-former Milwaukee Police Department officer Christopher Manney.
Milwaukee, WI – On Wednesday, September 3, students gathered at the Maryland Street Bridge on the UWM campus, demanding an end to the Trump administration’s attacks on students, DEI initiatives and educational funding. The event was part of an SDS national day of action.
Led by members of the UW-Milwaukee chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (UWM SDS), the banner drop was a response to the ongoing cuts to education, cuts to multicultural and inclusivity programs, and constant student repression by the UWM administration.
As students were about to unfurl the banner around noon, they were confronted by a known administrative agitator part of the Dean of Students Office. Despite her insistence that the students and SDS members were breaking so-called “campus free speech regulations,” the students stood their ground against the intimidation.
SDS chair Chris Van Valkenberg demanded to see what rules they were actually breaking, stating that “unless you can prove we broke any rules, we will continue with the banner drop whether you like it or not.” While debating with the administrator about the legality of the banner drop, students discovered many of these campus freedom of speech policies were added recently by the university administration without notifying the student body. After the brief stand-off, the official could not find any rules that the students were breaking and retreated, and the banner drop continued successfully.
UWM SDS has been fighting consistent attacks on and harassment of its members by the university administration. Students pushing for university acknowledgement of the genocide in Palestine, and who are calling to fix the imbalance of power the university holds over its students, have been suspended, banned from campus, put on disciplinary probation, stalked by administrative officials, and harassed daily by those same officials.
As the Trump administration’s attacks on students continue to grow, students have felt the pressure of this through a losses of educational funding, satellite campuses, research funds, DEI programs, and overall student safety. These losses, combined with an increase in campus police presence and intimidation, strict campus free speech laws targeting student activism, and purposefully deregistering and suspending any detracting student organizations, are a call to action for all students on UWM’s campus to call for its administration to end its complicity with Trump’s anti-education and anti-student policies.
Milwaukee, WI – On Tuesday, August 19, around 25 people held a banner drop at the Locust Street overpass in Milwaukee, demanding an end to the destruction and starvation of Gaza, an end to U.S. aid to Israel, and calling for a free Palestine.
Led by the Milwaukee Anti-war Committee (MAC) and co-sponsored by the statewide Wisconsin Coalition for Justice in Palestine, the banner drop was in response to an emergency call to action by the Anti-War Action Network, a national network of anti-war organizations.
Milwaukee, WI – On Tuesday, July 29, the Milwaukee Anti-war Committee held an Emergency Hands Off the West Bank protest condemning the Israeli parliament for its symbolic vote to illegally annex the West Bank. This vote was indicative of the escalation of Israeli aggression and expansion, and another step on their nearly century-long genocidal mission of theft of Palestinian land.
Appleton WI – On July 26, in a protest against ICE and the Trump administration, simultaneous banner drops took place across northeast Wisconsin, including several locations in Appleton, as well as Green Bay, Neenah, Oshkosh and Fond du Lac.
Milwaukee, WI – On the afternoon of July 21, activists gathered for a picket outside of a vacant building on the outskirts of West Allis.
“Milwaukee, open your eyes! Fake clinics spread lies!” protesters chanted, as they lined themselves up in front of the building where Alliance Women’s Services was set to have its grand opening.
Milwaukee, WI – On July 19, more than 40 people rallied alongside the Milwaukee Anti-war Committee (MAC) for their third annual protest of the Milwaukee Air & Water Show.
Milwaukee, WI – In July, 2024 the racist and reactionary Republican Party descended on Milwaukee to hold its national convention and select a nominee for president. For years, community organizers had demanded that the city of Milwaukee give guarantees and concrete plans to stop the thousands of out-of-town police that came for the convention from committing crimes in the city with no accountability or oversight. City leaders dismissed these concerns, but on July 16, 2024, five officers from Columbus, Ohio murdered Samuel “Jah” Sharpe Jr.
Milwaukee, WI – Around 30 people gathered for a press conference and rally Wednesday, July 2 celebrating a landmark Wisconsin Supreme Court decision that effectively restored abortion access in the state. The court ruled 4-3 in favor that Wisconsin's 1849 law is not an abortion ban. This clarification removes the legal threat the ambiguous law posed to abortion providers since the fall of Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Appleton WI – On Friday, June 27, 100 community members gathered at Houdini Plaza in bustling downtown Appleton for Hate Free Outagamie’s rally to commemorate the 56th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising.
This action, cosponsored by Diverse and Resilient, the Green Bay Anti-War Committee and Freedom Road Socialist Organization, focused on the significance of the uprising, and the lessons it teaches us about the present moment.