Workers Resistance

Author: Fight Back

  • Georgians march against corporate giant Monsanto

    Savannah, GA – About 100 people marched from Johnson Square after a large rally against the Monsanto Corporation, a bio-technical and chemical giant. Monsanto plays a major role in industrialized agriculture. Marchers voiced concern or opposition to Monsanto’s genetically modified crops, unfair labor practices and poor treatment of workers. Today, genetically engineered crops account for 93% of all U.S. soybeans and about 90% of corn.

    People demonstrated as part of the wider March Against Monsanto movement, an international campaign. Protesters raised health concerns about consuming genetically modified organisms (GMOs). For example, most of Monsanto’s seeds, including soy, corn, alfalfa and cotton, contain glyphosate – a chemical used to combat weeds. Scientists are debating the health and safety of GMOs, while Monsanto attempts to stifle discussion.

    Frank Bessinger of Veterans for Peace stated, “The chemicals used by Monsanto are dangerous to workers. Many migrant workers die from exposure to Monsanto products.” In contrast, laborers working directly for Monsanto wear biohazard suits to avoid direct exposure to chemicals declared safe by the company. Monsanto also sells the strong chemicals used by the U.S. military for spraying fields in Colombia. U.S. planes spray wide areas to kill all the crops grown by poor farmers in rebel areas of Colombia. Glyphosate burns farmers’ and animals’ skin, leaving rashes and ulcers, and some children reportedly suffer asthma attacks.

    Some at the march talked about ending the super-exploitation of the migrant farm worker by Monsanto. In 2012 a group of migrant workers in Texas sued Monsanto over poor labor and housing conditions. The farm workers were paid significantly less than the U.S. federal minimum wage. They were also lived in inadequate housing and were forced to pay for it. Farm workers claim the company promised free accommodations.

    According to Daniel Moss, one of the lead organizers of March Against Monsanto and a member of the Revolutionary People’s Union of Savannah, said, “The goal of March Against Monsanto is to raise awareness of industrialized food and to encourage people to support their local farmers.”

    When asked about public awareness concerning the company’s exploitation of migrant workers, Moss said, “We have not made enough progress…but we have begun to move in that direction. The system that Monsanto is part of can only continue through the exploitation of the migrant worker and because the U.S. government supports it.”

    In March of 2013 President Barack Obama signed the Farmer Assurance Provision, often referred to as the “Monsanto Protection Act” because the bill protects Monsanto from litigation. This is the third protest in Savannah against Monsanto and organizers say they will be back again next spring.

  • Victory for U of MN SDS in battle against political repression on campus

    Minneapolis, MN – Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at the University of Minnesota won a important victory this week, successfully defending itself from administrative sanctions aimed at SDS for its central role in organizing protests at Condoleezza Rice’s April 17 ‘distinguished lecturer’ speaking event.

    SDS urged faculty and community groups to demand the university drop the charges, and after a barrage of phone calls, letters and emails, the administration was forced to do so.

    Many of the charges leveled at SDS were alleged ‘violations’ of policies designed to silence free-speech on campus by outlawing the basic necessities of any large protest. As one example, the use of amplified sound on campus is only permissible within a narrow one-hour window on weekdays, and even then only with the appropriate permit, which can take over a month to pass through the university bureaucracy for approval. For going on a march at the end of a rally, protesters can be found in violation of moving from an approved protest area or of being otherwise disruptive to the campus environment. These policies are an attempt to chill student activism.

    The charges brought against SDS for organizing a protest are outrageous, given that top university administration have consistently defended Rice’s scheduled speaking event, and $150,000 speaker fee, on the grounds of protecting her “free speech.”

    Another important activist group on Minnesota’s campus, Whose Diversity?, is currently being targeted for similar repression. Whose Diversity? is accused of violations to the Student Code of Conduct for protesting university administrators at a public relations event that promoted an artificial image of ‘diversity’ at the University. Whose Diversity? demands substantive, not superficial, diversity, and for articulating this at a public event, ten organizers were charged with being “disruptive” and “failing to comply” with university officials. The punishment for speaking out against university administrators could range from a warning to expulsion and the revocation of degrees

    Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Minnesota continues to stand with Whose Diversity? and recognizes their struggle as a struggle of all students for justice, equity and inclusion on campus. The collective efforts of student struggles on campus are united in fighting the repression of administration and recognize a common goal to defend the right to dissent on campus. It is in solidarity that SDS continues to struggle for justice with Whose Diversity? and calls upon the community to engage with and support the fight for equity and inclusion on campus. SDS is asking that its supporters, who were so vital in its successful fight against university repression, now give their full support to the Whose Diversity? organizers who are facing repression.

    SDS has sent its thanks its faculty and community supporters who stood with it in fighting against administration repression. Matt Boynton, a University of Minnesota SDS member, said, “More than anything else, we want to recognize this as a major victory and to thank everyone who supported us. We would not have won without the support of faculty, staff and community members. We hope Whose Diversity? organizers will be cleared of their charges and we can all share a victory very soon.”

    The SDS victory against repression on campus is a major one that will be celebrated as the group carries its work forward to the SDS National Convention, which is being held at the University of Minnesota next fall.

  • Minneapolis protest marks Al Nakba, demands end to aid to Israel

    Minneapolis, MN – More than 50 people jointed a protest in front of the Federal Building here, May 15, to mark the 66th anniversary of Al Nakba. Organized by the Twin Cites based Anti-War Committee, the demonstration called for an end of U.S. aid to Israel and for justice for Palestinian activist Rasmea Odeh. Al Nakba, Arabic for “the Catastrophe,” marks the Zionist terror that accompanied the mass expulsion of Palestinians from Palestine in 1948 and the founding of Israel.

    Emcee Sabry Wazwaz of the Anti-War Committee led the crowd in chanting, “Long live Palestine.” Misty Rowan, also from the Anti-War Committee stated, “So let me just say it loud and clear for everybody here today. Israel is an apartheid state. They discriminate, they abuse, they continue to take land and build illegal settlements and a separation wall – that is supposedly for their own safety but is really just another way to gobble up land.”

    Tracy Molm spoke for the Committee to Stop FBI Repression. She condemned the government prosecution of the prominent Chicago Palestinian leader Rasmea Odeh on trumped up charges and urged people to come to her June 10 trial in Detroit. Around the U.S., other events marking Al Nakba also demanded justice for Rasmea Odeh.

    Sarah Martin, of the Women Against Military Madness Middle East Committee, told the crowd, “It’s time for us to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people and demand an end to the occupation. The Zionist project was costly and bloody. It failed. It cannot continue to occupy Palestinian land and deny Palestinians the most basic of human rights, to return and live in their own homes.”

    Mariam Al Khatib of Students for Justice in Palestine spoke of the growing movement on campus in support of Palestine.

    The Anti War Committee Al Nakba protest was endorsed by American Muslims for Palestine (MN), Freedom Road Socialist Organization, MN Committee to Stop FBI Repression, MN Immigrant Rights Action Committee, MN Peace Action Coalition, Socialist Action, U of M Students for a Democratic Society, U of M Students for Justice in Palestine, Veterans for Peace Chapter 27, Welfare Rights Committee and Women Against Military Madness.

     

  • Ras Baraka elected mayor of Newark

    Newark, NJ – The May 13 election of Ras J. Baraka as mayor of Newark is nationwide news, like the 1970 election of Kenneth Gibson. It arouses many expectations.

    Gibson was the first African American mayor of a major northeastern city. The Democratic Party bosses had their own candidate. A homegrown alliance upset the machine’s applecart. A historic Black and Puerto Rican Political Convention was held in 1969. It nominated Gibson and pulled off a major upset of the machine. The architect of the alliance was Amiri Baraka, the father of Ras Baraka.

    Gibson’s election came at time of social upheaval. The defeat abroad of the U.S. wars of aggression in Southeast Asia, the Civil Rights Movement and the succeeding Black Power Movement at home all combined to bring a time of political and ideological crisis. Amiri Baraka later said it was only the time of crisis that allowed for the defeat of the machine.

    There are many parallels today. U.S. imperialism is bogged down in stalemate and disaster in its many wars of aggression, all of which will sooner or later end in defeat. War weariness, worsening abuses of oppressed peoples, the growth of incredible wealth for a few while the majority face depression conditions and loss of constitutional rights have bred a climate of rebelliousness.

    Newark is the scene of a huge parental rebellion against the closing of schools by a state-imposed superintendent. Small children will have to travel around a large city due to the loss of neighborhood schools and district schools are being stripped of resources in favor of charter schools, etc. Youth unemployment, gang violence and imprisonment are acute problems that have gone on for years with nothing being done beyond a little lip service here and there.

    Baraka’s opponent, Shavar Jeffries, was lavishly funded, with at least $2 million to spend. He had the support of two Democratic Party bosses. Joseph D. Vincenzo (“Joey D” to those he likes) can sway any election in the northern part of the state and George Norcross runs things in the southern part. Democrat or Republican, it doesn’t much matter, one or the other of them can pretty much set you up. Both are close to Governor Chris Christie, who also supported Jeffries. Like previous Newark mayor Cory Booker, Jeffries got a totally artificial national media buildup. Jeffries’ big weak point is that he has no real history in Newark.

    In contrast, the Newark-born Ras Baraka, formerly a high school principal and city councilman, has been locally prominent in his own right for decades. He has long spoken out against police brutality, in defense of regular district public schools and on many other issues of immediate interest to the community. Thus the election was a notable test of people’s demands that their needs be met, versus Democratic Party routine. Baraka did not have as much money as Jeffries, but he benefited from a real popular enthusiasm among Newark’s large community of active and aware citizens. That more than made up the difference. The election returns showed him getting 54% of the vote. Just as in 1970, it was an outcome of a time of crisis.

    His written platform statements are much more extensive and detailed than usual – on jobs, education, economic development, etc. There are things that can and must be done. The schools have been controlled by the state since 1995 and the results are disastrous. The school system must be returned to local control, even if it takes a pitched people’s political battle to drive the state out.

    But no bones can be made about it: the possibilities of real benefit to the masses are limited. The city’s problems are the problems of capitalism itself. cannosult of the country having become too rich, or “es are limited. the many other issues of immediaIts finances are firmly in the grip of Wall Street and no election can change or ‘democratize’ that.

    Kenneth Gibson fell back into the Democratic Party mold within a few years. A small sector of middle income and moderately wealthy people benefited. Most did not. The way Gibson’s administration played out was a great lesson to many people, Amiri Baraka not least among them. The challenge before Ras Baraka is to continue to rely on the people and their struggle. More struggle, more active people, more aware people—that is the real criterion of progress.

  • Eastern Ukraine voters show courage, unity in the face of fascism

    Chicago, IL – In spite of the coup government in Kiev, an electoral referendum on autonomy saw huge voter turnout in Donetsk and Lugansk in the east of Ukraine. People lined the streets and waited patiently to cast their votes for self rule.

    The successful vote shows mass opposition to the U.S.-backed seizure of power in Kiev by fascists and pro-NATO oligarchs. On voting day, the U.S.-backed coup-makers in Kiev sent soldiers to intimidate voters, firing on civilian crowds and blocking polling stations with armed personal carriers. People still voted in big numbers.

    Joining the U.S. government in backing the fascists in Kiev are German Chancellor Merkel and French President Hollande. Together they declared the referendum on autonomy illegal, while supporting an unelected government in Kiev.

    Voter turnout reached over 74% in both regions of Ukraine. The referendums addressed the status of the regions, asking voters if they supported the act of state self rule. The results show the popularity and strength of the protest movement. Leading up to the vote, people occupied government, public and media buildings and set up barricades in the city. Some were killed resisting the Kiev coup government’s military crackdown in the eastern and southern parts of Ukraine. There are dramatic videos, one of unarmed civilians stopping a tank in the street at an intersection and the other of voters being shot at by soldiers outside a polling place. Last week in Odessa, fascists burned the trade union hall and murdered survivors of the fire.

    The results of the referendums were announced on May 12: in Donetsk 89.07% voted in favor of state self-rule; in Lugansk 96.2% voted in favor. Clearly the people have spoken: they oppose the U.S.-backed, fascist forces that overthrew the elected government in Ukraine.

    Still, U.S. corporate media tries to dismiss the results of these referendums as the work of a pro-Russian minority, despite Putin’s prior position that the referendums should be postponed. In reality, democratic and left forces such as the Borotba Union and the Communist Party of Ukraine promoted the referendum initiatives. The referendum is the work of brave people within Ukraine, not outside of it.

    The United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC) is issuing a call for “Emergency Antiwar Actions” through May 26 to protest U.S./NATO war moves and to oppose the role of U.S. and NATO in Ukraine. The U.S. already spent $5 billion backing the fascist-dominated coup government. It is also being reported in Ukraine that 400 mercenaries from the U.S. private security firm Academi (formerly Blackwater) are participating in the Ukraine military attacks that are attempting to suppress the democratic opposition. NATO is positioning warships in the Black Sea in an attempt to bully Russia. This proves once again that the U.S. is not interested in peace or democracy; it is only interested in financial gain and global domination.

  • MN protest to mark Al Nakba: Demand no more aid to Israel

    Minneapolis, MN -The Twin Cities based Anti-War Committee (AWC) will hold a protest, Thursday, May 15 to mark the 66th anniversary of Al Nakba, to call for an end to U.S. aid to Israel and to demand justice for Palestinian activist Rasmea Odeh. Starting at 4:30 p.m. at the Minneapolis Federal Building (300 South 4th Street) the protest will feature speeches by local anti-war, Palestine solidarity and Palestinian activists.

    Events around the country will mark the Nakba this year with a united call for an end to U.S. support for the Israeli occupation of Palestine and demanding justice for Rasmea Odeh.

    May 1948 marks Israel’s declaration of independence. To Israelis, it’s a time of celebration. For Palestinians and Arabs it commemorates a time they call Al Nakba – Arabic for “the Catastrophe.” During the 1948 war, at least 750,000 Palestinian men, women and children were ruthlessly attacked, massacred and driven from their homes into refugee camps by Zionist terror groups. In a gross violation of international law, they continue to be denied the right to return. At the same time, the establishment of Israeli settlements steals more Palestinian land every day.

    From 1949 through 2013, Israel has received $118 billion in U.S. aid to fund the occupation and uphold a system of apartheid rule.

    AWC member Meredith Aby-Keirstead explains, “Our protest aims to challenge the role U.S. military aid plays in continuing the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Given that the peace talks have fallen apart again, it is clear the Obama administration cannot serve as a broker for peace. Instead, the U.S. government aids Israel in its oppression of the Palestinian people. We are part of a growing international Boycott-Divestment-Sanctions movement to oppose that. ”

    Protesters will also demand justice for Rasmea Odeh, a leader of Chicago’s Arab community who faces serious charges in a case that is part of a long-standing campaign of repression against Palestinians and those who work in solidarity with them. Her case is tied to the FBI and grand jury investigation of the AWC and others. This Twin Cities Al Nakba protest will join those from around the country to demand justice for Rasmea. Her case is set to come to trial in Detroit on June 10.

    The program will include community leaders and speakers from endorsing groups: Malak Abu (American Muslims for Palestine); Mariam Al Khatib (Students for Justice in Palestine); Sylvia Schwartz (MN Break the Bonds); Tracy Molm (Committee to Stop FBI Repression); Coya White Hat-Artichoker (Indigenous Queer Sicangu Lakota activist); and poetry by Sarah Thamer (Palestinian American writer). Sabry Wazwaz will emcee, and Misty Rowan will speak, for the AWC.

  • Newark street action exposes U.S. intervention in Ukraine

    Newark, NJ – Some veteran Newark activists set up shop at noon, May 3, on a busy street corner here. They were there to protest against the U.S.-instigated crisis in Ukraine. The objectives were several. The first was to get something going. A local peace organization had given a fundraising dinner a few days earlier. The Ukraine crisis was mentioned exactly once and only in passing. A union-supported May Day march had raised many issues – school closings, stronger protections for unions, raising the minimum wage, etc. The only mention of the Ukraine crisis was a sign against U.S. military involvement carried by a marcher. Nonetheless many people expressed an urgent interest.

    Clearly there is a problem here. There is far too little mass protest and agitation around the U.S. imperialist aggression against the people of Ukraine.

    It is sometimes said people are too busy with local issues to take an interest in world issues. But no, that is not true. Every conscious and active person is vitally concerned. The problem is not a lack of good analysis and understanding, as any reader of Fight Back! News knows.

    The problem is twofold. First there is a climate of fear and intimidation. U.S. policymakers and the major media are alike the tools of Wall Street. They have relentlessly lied that the Ukraine crisis is an attack by Russia on Ukraine, rather than what it is, an attack by themselves on the people of Ukraine. There is a fear that opposition to U.S. policy will be smeared as an apology for the ‘terrible’ deeds of the big bad Russian bear.

    In fact Russian involvement in the Ukraine crisis is only secondary and reactive. Russia has not broken any international law, while the U.S. imperialists in their usual brazen way have trampled upon every principle of acceptable international conduct. Russia is not provably responsible for a single fatality in the crisis, while the U.S. imperialists and their Nazi local allies are smeared from head to foot with the blood of innocent people.

    No, there is nothing to fear from Russia-baiting. Some people got out on a street corner. The sky did not fall. It is easy to break the climate of fear. Just get out there and do it!

    The main objective of the Newark protest was to develop the mass line of opposition to U.S. aggression in Ukraine. The mass line is the expression of the concerns and interests that are already there in the minds of the people, but in a way that shows them to be the concerns of the great majority, makes them political issues rather than passive individual worries.

    Accordingly, one protester carried a sign that said, “Ukraine: We won’t fight! We won’t kill!” Other signs said “No U.S. military in Ukraine,” “No U.S./Nazi hookup in Ukraine,” etc. People did not have had any problems with the signs.

    There were two main themes spoken about over the bullhorn.

    First, “The U.S. government cannot and will not even run the U.S. right. This country is a mess. How are they supposed to straighten out Ukraine? People are lined up in the hallways at Newark Beth Israel Hospital waiting for a room. It’s Wall Street health care – your money or your life! They are closing Newark public schools every day and turning them over to private management so Wall Street can make profits. Millions of families have had their homes foreclosed and their life savings plundered by Wall Street. Meanwhile Wall Street gets bailed out for the crisis is caused.”

    The other theme was: “Same enemy, same fight!”

    The U.S. imperialists are hooked up to Nazis in Ukraine. We have a special name here for Nazis: the Ku Klux Klan! Same enemy! Same fight! The Ukrainian Nazis are ultra-nationalists. We have a special name here for ultra-nationalism: white supremacy! Same enemy! Same fight!

    Many people listened thoughtfully. A couple of them even spoke a few words on the bullhorn. Persistence is the key. The protest will be repeated weekly. It will surely grow.

     

  • Secretary of Labor Perez willing to meet with Rep. Boehner on Extended Unemployment Compensation (EUC)

    Washington, DC – Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez urged an immediate vote on bill to extend benefits for the long term jobless in a May 7 letter to Republican House Speaker John Boehner. Perez also stated that he was willing to meet with Boehner to discuss his questions and concerns about the legislation.

    The 14 Republican House members who participated in the May 9 Weekly Republican Address, titled “Many Bills, One Focus: Jobs,” made no mention of the bill on extended benefits for the unemployed.

    Republicans gained effective veto power over extended unemployment benefits when the Congressional Democratic leadership did not insist on the inclusion of Extended Unemployment Compensation (EUC) in the December 2013 budget compromise.

    Since extended benefits expired on Dec. 28, 2013, about 3 million workers have been cut off unemployment insurance.

    In the aftermath of the 2007 economic meltdown, the worst crisis of capitalism since the 1930s, large-scale unemployment has been a huge problem in the U.S. and Europe.

    In the U.S., California has an unemployment rate of 8.1%, Illinois 8.4%, Nevada is at 8.5% and Rhode Island has the highest unemployment rate, 8.7%.

  • A mother’s anti-war editorial on #BringBackOurGirls

    Minneapolis, MN – This has been a hard week to listen to the news – especially as a mother. I have had trouble sleeping all week thinking about the girls and mothers living in hell in Nigeria.

    On April 14, 277 girls between the ages of 12 and 17 were kidnapped from their boarding schools by the Boko Haram in Nigeria. 43 girls managed to escape but 234 girls are still missing and have been for weeks. Although the conflict between the Nigerian government and the Boko Haram has been going on since 2009, the massive scale of this atrocity has captured international attention. For weeks the Nigerian government did nothing, at times claimed the girls had been rescued and at other times refused to act. After a growing campaign of protest – first in Nigeria and now across the globe – the issue of #BringBackOurGirls is getting international attention.

    This week President Obama sent an interagency team including military and law enforcement to Nigeria. The BBC reported Secretary of State John Kerry saying, “Our inter-agency team is hitting the ground in Nigeria now and they are going to be working in concert with President Goodluck Jonathan’s government to do everything that we possibly can to return these girls to their families and their communities. We are also going to do everything possible to counter the menace of Boko Haram.” This week First Lady Michelle Obama sent out her own message on social media with a picture of herself holding a sign #BringBackOurGirls. I’m concerned that even that the girls have not been returned to their families many people falsely feel progress towards justice has been made.

    I am deeply concerned that once again the American public is being manipulated to support U.S. imperialism while at the same time ignoring the ways in which the U.S. contributes to the very humanitarian problems it claims to be trying to fight.

    For starters, what was a grassroots movement by Nigerian women to hold their own government accountable has turned into a discussion here of what the U.S. government should do to protect women and girls in Nigeria.

    By sending in military advisors the U.S. is backing an incredibly repressive government in Nigeria and is giving legitimacy to the Boko Haram’s claims that they are fighting against Western intervention and influence in Nigeria. The last thing Nigeria needs is a foreign military to prop up its corrupt government.

    President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry have now pledged the U.S. to the Nigerian fight against Boko Haram, which will further fuel this conflict and ignores the causal factors for how the conflict has developed. Nigerian President Jonathan has been fighting an internal war with incredibly brutal tactics, including burning homes, physical abuse and extrajudicial killing. The Jonathan administration is known for stealing $20 billion from the government, extensive corruption in his government, and for doing relatively little for two-thirds of the population that lives in dire poverty despite Nigeria being one of the most oil rich countries in the world. Sending in military assistance to this government will expand and prolong this conflict.

    As a woman, a mother and a peace activist I know that war means rape and violence against women. I think it is important that we say no to all instances of sexual violence.

    I sincerely do not understand how the U.S. military can be seen as a vehicle by which to protect women. The Huffington Post reports that the Pentagon estimated there were 26,000 cases of unwanted sexual contact in 2012 and that 62% of sexual assault victims in the U.S. military say they faced retaliation for reporting sexual assault. Internationally – from Japan to Iraq to Colombia – women and girls see the U.S. military not as their protectors but as their rapists. There is a culture of violence in the U.S. armed forces which should not be exported to Nigeria and that must be challenged.

    Just last month the White House acknowledged, “1 in 5 women is sexually assaulted while in college, usually in the first two years and usually by someone she knows.” Girls and women aren’t safe at schools in the U.S. either. This issue of sexual assault – both in and outside of war zones – needs to stop. That should be the demand – not to send in the U.S. military!

    This is not the first time that I have frustrated compassionate people who watch the news and argue with me, “We must do something!” I would argue it is more important to do something helpful rather than to do something to merely make ourselves in the U.S. feel better.

    U.S. intervention is incapable of promoting the needs of the 99%. U.S. intervention is always done hand in glove with corporate interests. U.S. intervention in Nigeria will be done to make sure that Nigeria, the fifth largest oil exporter in the world, is a safe place for investment, which means that the U.S. will help the Jonathan administration continue – even though it has been found to be literally stealing from their people. The Obama administration might use this as an opportunity to expand AFRICOM and to expand its use of drones further into the continent.

    With these potential outcomes I don’t see Nigeria as becoming a safer place for children. Between U.S. drone strikes and an escalated internal war I’m worried that Nigeria will be less safe with more U.S. involvement.

    So then what’s the answer?

    There is a lot of work to be done both at home and abroad to say no to sexual violence. There is a lot of work to do to question U.S. involvement in Africa – from AFRICOM, to drones, to escalating the “war on terrorism,” to destabilizing governments, to propping up undemocratic leaders – we have a lot of activism to do.

    Cheering for U.S. intervention will not bring these girls back so please don’t encourage more militarism.

    On this Mother’s Day my heart is with the mothers and daughters of Nigeria. I will hug my own little girl and recommit myself to struggling for a safer world for all girls – a world without imperialism and without sexual violence.

  • FRSO celebrates May Day in Milwaukee

    Milwaukee, WI – Several dozen Milwaukee activists attended the May 3 event “Celebrate May Day with Freedom Road Socialist Organization, A Conversation on the Year in People’s Movements and the Struggle for Socialism” to discuss the importance of International Workers Day and the fight for socialism.

    Two speakers from FRSO addressed the crowd that filled the bookstore. The first speaker, an immigrant rights organizer, spoke about the importance of the national movements in building the struggle for socialism.

    Tom Burke, also of Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) , discussed the resurrection of May Day brought about by the 2006 Day Without Latinos, which brought millions of immigrant workers into the streets of America’s cities in protest of the reactionary Sensenbrenner Bill. Burke then discussed how revolutionaries can build the struggle for socialism and revolution, referring to the “one-two punch” of the multinational working class and the national movements in building the revolutionary struggle in the U.S.

    Looking to the future, Burke laid out the importance of communists continuing to organize: “We need to build the mass movements; we need to build the different struggles with practical slogans and themes. But at the core of it is the fact that we organize the working class. Workers have a lot of power – they just don’t know it yet. We need to take our politics to the people and engage them in struggle.”

    Followed by a lively question and answer session, the celebration was considered a huge success by its organizers. A number of individuals sought more information about FRSO and organizers hope to put together more events about Freedom Road in the near future.