Chapel Hill, NC – On April 23, about 100 students gathered for the second time in two weeks to oppose white supremacists organizing on the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill’s campus. Just one week after the racist Tom Tancredo was driven off campus by turbulent protests, the Youth for Western Civilization (YWC), a white supremacist organization, brought former Virginia congressman Virgil Goode to speak about affirmative action and immigration.
Chapel Hill, NC – Over 200 protesters gathered here on April 15 to protest a talk given by the racist former congressman Tom Tancredo. Students, faculty and staff were in the streets and the lobby of the building chanting, “Shut it down – no racists in our town!” Some protesters were inside the room where the talk was being held and challenged Tancredo on his anti-immigration views while holding banners saying “No dialogue with hate,” and “No one is illegal.”
May Day is the most widely celebrated holiday in the world. Hundreds of thousands of workers, led by their unions, will march through the streets in Mexico, South Africa and the Philippines. In the socialist countries where the working people rule society – Cuba, China, Vietnam, Democratic Korea and Laos, May Day, or International Workers Day, is a national holiday. It is celebrated with huge rallies of millions. Leaders make speeches opposing war and imperialism, while praising the gains of the laboring classes who are furthering the cause of socialism.
On April 10, more than 35,000 people marched through San Jose to protest against House Resolution 4437. The bill would criminalize the undocumented, build 700 miles of walls along the U.S.-Mexico border and force local and state police to help enforce immigration laws. As the overwhelmingly Chicano and Latino crowd assembled, cars, trucks and semis drove by honking and waving Mexican flags. Marching through the barrio of east San Jose to the city hall downtown, the marchers chanted “Si Se Puede!” (Yes, we can!) and “Se ve, se siente, la raza esta presente!” (We’re seen, we’re felt, La Raza (Latinos) are here!). Contingents of students from high schools marched in with signs and banners and many youth were handing out cards advertising May 1 as a day to walk out of school, to not go to work and to boycott business.
Los Angeles, CA – High school students rally at City Hall, March 27, 2006, to protest the anti-immigrant legislation pending in congress. Across California, thousands of high school students walked out of classes to participate in demonstrations.
Just after the protest, Fight Back! caught up with Jose Artemio Arreola, a key organizer of the massive protest for immigrant rights that rocked Chicago, March 10. He explained how the Coalition Against HR 4437 built the unity necessary for a turnout of such proportion.
St Paul, MN – Minnesota Coalition for a People’s Bail Out organized a picket line at the Minnesota Department of Revenue Building, where Governor Pawlenty proposed his plan to address the $5.2 billion budget deficit, Jan. 27.
Minneapolis, MN – On Jan. 13, hundreds of janitors, the majority Latino and Somali immigrants, held a spirited meeting at the Minneapolis Labor Center and voted nearly unanimously to authorize a strike. The multinational crowd chanted, “Yes we can do it!” in Spanish (“Sí se puede!”) and in Somali (“Haa wakarna!”). When the vote was taken to authorize a strike, members held up signs reading “Yes! Sí! Haa!” (‘yes’ in English, Spanish and Somali).
Bloomington, MN – AFSCME Council 5, which represents over 40,000 public sector workers in Minnesota, held its annual convention here Oct. 5-7. At the convention, two notable resolutions were passed, both of which were written by AFSCME Local 3800, the clerical workers union at the University of Minnesota.
![Voting-sign in 3 languages: "Yes - Si - Haa" at mass srike vote.](https://i.snap.as/2u36GRX2.jpg "Voting-sign in 3 languages: \\"Yes - Si - Haa\\" at mass srike vote. Janitors in SEIU Local 26 vote 'yes' on January 13 to authorize a strike. \(Fight Back! News/Brad Sigal\)")