Fight Back News Service is circulating the following May 23 statement from BAYAN-USA, Anakbayan-USA and GABRIELA USA

Peace in Mindanao Hinges on Eradicating Poverty, Landlessness, Ending U.S. Counterinsurgency Ops; Not Greater Militarization

Los Angles – Angry Chicano parents and children from Marianna Avenue Elementary School protested, April 4, a proposal to place a KIPP charter school on their campus. Parents at Marianna asked Centro CSO to help organize this protest with the parents in leadership. The protest and march started in front of Marianna with loud and furious chants, “What do we want? Public schools, no charters!”

Zionists driven away

Houston, Texas – On March 27, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) hosted a discussion at the University of Houston called “The Black Radical Tradition and Palestine” with Dr. Gerald Horne, chair of African-American Studies at the University of Houston (UH). Over 50 students and people from the community who showed up to learn about the history of Black activism and about the importance of solidarity between Black people and Palestinians in America.

San José, CA – On March 25, 200 people marched from San Jose Japantown to San Jose City Hall to express the solidarity between Japanese Americans and American Muslims. Since the election of Donald Trump, many Japanese Americans have been mobilized to oppose the anti-Muslim government policies such as the travel ban from majority-Muslim countries. The march was sponsored by the Nihonmachi Outreach Committee (NOC) and the South Bay Islamic Association (SBIA).

San Jose, CA – On Saturday, March 25, the Nihonmachi Outreach Committee (NOC) and the South Bay Islamic Association (SBIA) will be co-sponsoring a day of solidarity with the American Muslim community. A march of solidarity will begin in San Jose Japantown and will end with a rally at San Jose City Hall.

Police detain pro-immigrant protester assaulted by Trump supporter

Salt Lake City, UT – One month after delivering demands for a sanctuary campus to the University of Utah administration, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) sat in and shut down their office on March 8.

On Sunday, Feb. 19, a standing-room only crowd of more than 700 packed the San Jose Day of Remembrance event. Every year the San Jose Nihonmachi Outreach Committee (NOC) organizes this event to commemorate Executive Order 9066. Executive Order 9066 paved the way for the incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans in concentration camps during World War II.

On Feb. 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, which authorized the removal of 120,000 Americans of Japanese descent from the West Coast of the U.S. to concentration camps. Despite not a single case of espionage by Japanese Americans, they were removed en masse by a combination of what has been called “war hysteria, racial prejudice, and a failure of political leadership” under the guise of national security.

At noon on Feb. 9, a day after the Army Corp of Engineers reversed its decision and gave the go-ahead to the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), 150 people gathered in downtown Saint Paul to denounce this ruling. After a brief rally, the activists marched through the streets chanting, “You can’t drink oil, leave it in the soil,” “1, 2, 3, 4! Pipelines, genocide and war. 5,6,7,8! America was never great,” and “Mini wiconi, water is life.”

Minneapolis, MN – Allen “Lance” Scarsella took the stand again for the entire day, Jan. 30, attempting to convince a jury that he was acting in self-defense the night he fired eight shots into a crowd of Black people on Nov. 23, 2015. The shooting came just after protesters had removed him from the occupation demanding justice for Jamar Clark. Scarsella testified that after most of the protesters turned to go back, he was still surrounded by a handful of “very aggressive” men. He claimed that the one closest to him pulled out a shiny object he believed to be a knife.

Los Angeles, CA – More than 200 determined community members gathered at Mariachi Plaza in Boyle Heights, Jan. 20, to protest and march against Donald Trump. Pouring rain with cold winds were no match for the rage and determination of Boyle Heights.

College Station, TX – White supremacist Richard Spencer was meet by more than 1000 protesters when he came to Texas A&M University, Dec. 6. He was not invited by the university, but rented the space to hold his event. While the university claimed it was “concerned,” it made no effort to cancel the event and provided very tight security for him.

Canon Ball, ND – A roar of celebration spread through Camp Oceti Sakawin at Standing Rock as the water protectors and their supporters learned that the Dakota Access Pipeline had been stopped in its tracks.

Chicago, IL – 130 activists from all the people’s movements gathered for the annual People’s Thanksgiving awards dinner, Nov. 19, hosted by Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO). The event is a fundraiser for Fight Back News and for Rasmea Odeh.

New York, NY – Around 800 people gathered at Foley Square, in lower Manhattan, Nov. 15, to stand in solidarity with Standing Rock and protest against the North Dakota Access Pipeline.

On Nov. 16, three Somali American youth were sentenced to decades in prison. Guled Omar was given a prison sentence of 35 years and Abdirahman Daud and Mohamed Farah were each given sentences of 30 years in prison by Judge Davis in what the mainstream media has called the ‘ISIS trial.’

On Nov. 16, three Somali American youth were sentenced to decades in prison. Guled Omar was given a prison sentence of 35 years and Abdirahman Daud and Mohamed Farah were each given sentences of 30 years in prison by Judge Davis in what the mainstream media has called the ‘ISIS trial.’

Forty people attended a forum Oct. 29, “Revolution in the Philippines: Daring to Struggle, Daring to Win.” The forum at Mayday Books featured a presentation by Joe Iosbaker, a Chicago-based anti-war movement leader and member of Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) who participated in a recent international solidarity delegation to Western Mindanao in the Philippines.

Thousands of Native people have rallied at Standing Rock, North Dakota, to oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). This is one of the largest protests by Native Americans in decades, as Native people and their supporters came from across the country stop the ecological disaster that DAPL would mean for Native lands and rivers.

100 injured at Cantapeta Creek

Canon Ball, ND – Resistance to the $3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline continues to grow. The Standing Rock Sioux, members of hundreds of tribes from around the country, as well as non-Natives have gathered to stop the pipeline.