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.

Chicago, IL – On Nov. 9, Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney from Georgia came to Chicago. Rep. McKinney had been one of the few in Congress to dare to speak the truth about George W. Bush’s so-called war on terrorism. For her courage in telling the truth, she was betrayed by the Democratic Party. Targeted by the pro-Israel lobby and the Republicans, she lost her re-election bid in the Democratic primary in August.

Chicago, IL – Feb. 6, the center of campus at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) rang with voices. “Tenure for Professor Johnson now!” called out 100 protesters. The group, made up of Blacks, Latinos, Asians, and whites, was calling on the administration to grant tenure to a Black professor.

Minneapolis, MN – On Nov. 9, Phyllis Walker was cleared of any wrongdoing in a Hennepin County courtroom when the judge threw out the charges against her. Walker is president of AFSCME Local 3800, representing 1600 clerical workers at the University of Minnesota. She had been wrongly charged with interfering with the arrests of nine University of Minnesota students who staged a sit-in May 4 against the closing of the university’s General College, which admits the bulk of Black, Latino and first generation immigrant students that get in to the university.

The Pentagon spends over $2.5 billion a year to recruit low-income youth using commercials, video games, personal visits and slick brochures that promise a better future through the military. Enticed by the promise of free college, many of our youth see the military as the only path to a college education. In fact, two-thirds of all recruits get no college funding from the military. Only 15% actually graduate with a four-year degree.

Minneapolis, MN – More than 100 people gathered here May 1, May Day, for a celebration of International Workers’ Day. Speakers from key Minneapolis and St. Paul battles, including organizers of the clerical workers’ strike at the University of Minnesota and the 46-day transit workers’ strike, addressed the standing room-only crowd. The event was organized by Freedom Road Socialist Organization.