Los Angeles, CA – An important anti-war conference, titled “Community Conference Against The War: Building Community Power and International Solidarity” was held at the Hollenbeck Park Recreation Center on Feb. 23.

On December 19, 1998, Governor Arne Carlson topped-off his career with Operation Cold Snap, a brutal assault on Native American and environmental protesters. 600 police and state troopers attempted to end a standoff at the Highway 55 re-route site. Protesters were maced, beaten and thrown in jail.

Los Angeles, CA – A room full of determined Boyle Heights parents and community leaders faced down 2 bureaucrats from the Los Angeles schools, demanding decent conditions for the education of their children. The meeting, at the El Centro Community Service Organization (CSO) office on Dec. 21, was the latest in a string of actions taken by the group in the Clean Schools and Quality Education campaign.

Los Angeles, CA – Parents here were fed up with garbage covered school grounds. So along with the Community Service Organization, they decided to do something about it. “Our schools should be as clean as those in the west side or as those of the rich,” said a CSO parent member. “Let's see their children digest education from a dirty, filthy plate.”

Minneapolis, MN – March 10, protestors fighting to stop the Reroute of Highway 55 celebrated seven months of a successful united stand against a multi-million dollar road project. Following the largest police raid in Minnesota history last December 20, there have been important developments in the struggle.

Los Angeles, CA – It was a great jam session, with Los Lobos playing their original songs, traditional Mexican music, some rock and Chicano blues till 12 a.m., May 7, at our own East L.A. College.

Los Angeles, CA – On Nov. 18, members of the New Raza Left and other community members came together to draft a list of demands for a campaign to make changes in the deplorable conditions of the Los Angeles public school system. The meeting identified three main areas of focus and came up with demands to be placed on the school district.

The following analyses, was written by two Chicana activists on the 30th anniversary of the Chicano Moratorium.

Minneapolis, MN - More than 500 people came together September 25 under the slogan “Stop the Land Grab!” The protest was organized by opponents of the Highway 55 reroute and activists who have been fighting against the demolition of public housing on the North side of Minneapolis.

Los Angeles, CA – The New Raza Left Los Angeles, after summing up our last campaign against Proposition 21 has decided to now focus our organizing efforts on educational justice to improve the bad conditions in our schools. In the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) conditions have reached crisis levels.

Chicago, IL – Residents of the Woodlawn neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side are fighting to hold on to our neighborhood. We are threatened by gentrification, which is happening in many poor areas of the city. What does this mean? It means that 61st Street, which used to have a thriving business strip, would have condos instead.

An important blow against racism and reaction was struck in Georgia, July 20. Cynthia McKinney's victory in Georgia’s 4th congressional district in the Democratic primaries means it is almost certain that her courageous voice will be heard again inside the halls of Congress.

for Honoring Black and Puerto Rican Liberation Heroes

New York, NY – The New York Police Department is on the defensive because of mass outrage over the police’s murder of Sean Bell. Bell, a 23-year old unarmed African American man was killed by the NYPD in a hail of 50 bullets Nov. 25 a few hours before he was going to be married. His murder has sparked large protests against racist police brutality.

Greensboro, NC – Students from colleges across North Carolina rallied Feb. 2 against a recent hate crime committed against three Palestinian students at Guilford College. The regional protest was organized by the University of North Carolina at Asheville Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) chapter and UNC-Chapel Hill Solidarity with Palestine through Education and Action at Carolina (SPEAC). UNC-Chapel Hill SDS helped to mobilize students for the demonstration.

”'They say 'Jim Crow,' we say 'hell no!'”

Tuscaloosa, AL – Across the country, students held rallies in solidarity with the Jena 6. At the University of Alabama, over 100 students, faculty and staff gathered on the library steps, Sept. 20, the day after the massive rally Jena, Louisiana, demanding justice. The protest, organized by the Social Work Association for Cultural Awareness, the University of Alabama chapter of Students for a Democratic Society and the NAACP. The NAACP chartered a bus of students to attended the rally in Jena, which is being reported as the largest civil rights march in years, with crowd estimates around 20,000.

Champaign-Urbana, IL – A protest by University of Illinois students shut down a meeting of the Board of Trustees in November. Chanting, “No excuses, no delay, ban the chief today,” 35 students stood up with signs after the Board refused to vote to get rid of the school mascot, ‘Chief Illiniwek.’ 50 more people were chanting from the hall, because the Board refused to move their meeting to a larger room to accommodate the public.

For this year’s holiday honoring Dr. King, we are printing 3 commentaries on King’s political thinking that are important for understanding today’s situation – Fight Back! editors

In 1967, the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. described the economic plight of African Americans: “Let us take a look at the size of the problem through the lens of the Negro’s status in 1967. When the Constitution was written, a strange formula to determine taxes and representation declared that the Negro was 60% of a person. Today another curious formula seems to declare that he is 50% of a person. Of the good things in life he has approximately one-half those of whites; of the bad he has twice those of whites. Thus half of all Negroes live in substandard housing, and Negroes have half the income of whites. When we turn to the negative experiences of life, the Negro has a double share. There are twice as many unemployed. The rate of infant mortality (widely accepted as an accurate index of general health) among Negroes is double that of whites.”

For this year’s holiday honoring Dr. King, we are printing 3 commentaries on King’s political thinking that are important for understanding today’s situation – Fight Back! editors

In 1967, exactly one year before Dr. King was assassinated, he made an impassioned plea to stop the War in Vietnam. “Somehow this madness must cease. We must stop now. I speak as a child of God and brother to the suffering poor in Vietnam. I speak for those whose land is being laid waste, whose homes are being destroyed, whose culture is being subverted. I speak for the poor of America who are paying the double price of smashed hope at home and death and corruption in Vietnam. I speak as a citizen of the world, for the world as it stands aghast at the path we have taken. I speak as an American to the leaders of my own nation. The great initiative in this war is ours. The initiative to stop it must be ours.”

For this year’s holiday honoring Dr. King, we are printing 3 commentaries on King’s political thinking that are important for understanding today’s situation – Fight Back! editors.

Benton Harbor, MI – On June 17, the African American community of this southern Michigan city rebelled against police terror. Police chased down, without justification, a 28-year old Black motorcyclist, Terrance Shurn. According to witnesses, they rammed his motorcycle from behind, causing it to crash into an abandoned house. Shun was killed. The pursuing officers gave each other high-fives. The cops then kicked his body.