New York, NY – A group of around 15 New Yorkers gathered, May 17, in front of the Ted Weiss Federal Building, home of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The rally was called by the group New York Boricua Resistance (NYBR), in response to the poisoning of Puerto Ricans by Bayer-Monsanto and AES corporations, which are guilty of dumping toxic waste and spraying hazardous chemicals.

Minneapolis, MN – “The area we were in was an opposition neighborhood, but nobody’s leaving their houses. The news in the U.S. is saying people are flocking to the streets because they’re ‘being liberated’, but no one’s leaving their houses. It was so untrue it was shocking,” said Tracy Molm, to about 40 community members gathered to hear her firsthand account of the events of April 30 in Caracas, Venezuela.

Fight Back! Interviewed Ed Cubelo, the chairman of the Kilusang Mayo Uno, or May 1st Movement in Metro Manila, while he was in the U.S. on a speaking tour. The KMU is one the largest trade union federations in the Philippines.

Up to 500 people gathered at the state capitol building here, May 21, joining a national day of action in response to the new round of abortion restrictions and bans in Alabama, Kentucky, Ohio, Missouri and Georgia. Chants of “Our bodies, our choice,” and “No more” echoed across the capitol complex.

Jesús Santrich, ex-negociador por la paz de las FARC-EP, poeta, pintor, músico, y una voz popular para la paz ha sido re-encarcelado con el uso de un cargo por drogas inventado que proviene de la corte del Distrito Sur de Nueva York. Los cargos son ampliamente percibidos como un intento por el gobierno de los Estados Unidos, en colaboración con sectores de la oligarquía colombiana, para descarrilar el acuerdo de paz entre las FARC-EP y el gobierno colombiano.

Minneapolis, MN – Community and family members gathered May 20 for a press conference to demand that the city of Minneapolis give the family of Jamar Clark a settlement equal to that awarded to the family of Justine Ruszczyk Damond. The Jamar Clark’s family has brought a civil suit against the city after the 2015 police murder, and mediation will take place May 21 inside the federal courthouse where the press conference was held.

Washington D.C. – An administrative law judge ordered a new union vote at a Kumho Tire factory in Macon, Georgia, after finding that company officials violated workers’ rights during the first election in October 2017.

New York, NY – Over 100 people gathered in the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn on May 15 to commemorate 71 years since the Nakba, or “catastrophe.” The Nakba marks the 1948 anniversary of Israel’s expulsion of over 700,000 Palestinians from their land.

Fight Back News is circulating the following statement from the family of DJ Broadus

Jacksonville, FL – The outcome of Jacksonville’s 2019 runoff elections looked remarkably like the general election back in March. Even fewer people participated in the runoff, which saw voter turnout sink from an already dismal 24% in March to just 14.35% two months later. By all accounts, Republicans came out on top. Dixie money ruled the day again, with the candidate who raised and spent the most money winning every single runoff.

Chicago, IL – Members of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) voted May 19 to re-elect the Caucus of Rank and File Educators (CORE) leadership slate, headed by President Jesse Sharkey, Vice President Stacy Davis Gates, Financial Secretary Maria Moreno, and Recording Secretary Christel Williams Hayes. The result was 66% for CORE, 34% for the challengers.

Chicago, IL – Members of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) voted May 19 to re-elect the Caucus of Rank and File Educators (CORE) leadership slate, headed by President Jesse Sharkey, Vice President Stacy Davis Gates, Financial Secretary Maria Moreno, and Recording Secretary Christel Williams Hayes. The result was 66% for CORE, 34% for the challengers.

The following essay was published in the latest party bulletin of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). It comes after two weeks of open debate within the Bolivarian movement about how to deepen the revolutionary process in the country. The piece was translated into English by Fight Back! staff.

Jesus Santrich, former peace negotiator for the FARC-EP, poet, painter, musician and a popular voice for peace, has been re-arrested on a trumped-up drug charge out of the Southern District of New York. The charges are largely seen as an attempt by the United States, in league with sectors of the Colombian oligarchy, to derail the peace accord between the FARC-EP and the Colombian government.

Columbia Heights, MN – About 40 Palestinian-Americans, Palestine solidarity activists and immigrant rights activists rallied in Columbia Heights on May 16, to draw attention to the U.S. negative role in Palestine. Central Avenue in Columbia Heights is a main street for the Arab and Muslim community in the suburbs north of Minneapolis. The protest got a significant response from people returning home after work and shopping for food for their upcoming iftars.

Milwaukee, WI – For the past several months, non-tenured faculty and graduate students at Marquette University have been organizing to form a union. They held rallies, distributed petitions and returned to administration demanding to be recognized and negotiated with as equals. In response, Marquette's administration has offered empty promises to “follow the law,” and refuses anything further.

Interview with Anti-war activist Sarah Martin

Fight Back! interviews noted anti-war activist Sarah Martin, of the Minnesota-based Women Against Military Madness. Martin traveled to Venezuela on a solidarity delegation organized by the U.S. Peace Council, March 11-18. Fight Back!: The corporate media says Venezuela’s government, headed by President Maduro and the national democratic Bolivarian Revolution, has little popular support. What were your impressions?

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following May 14 statement by Jose Maria Sison, National Democratic Front of the Philippines Chief Political Consultant.

Minneapolis, MN – The national flags of Mexico, Honduras and El Salvador fluttered above the Plaza Centenario in one of Minneapolis’s most immigrant-rich neighborhoods on May 11 as around 40 demonstrators demanded, “Stop militarization of the border!”

Newark, NJ – Speaking to a national meeting of the Workers World Party here, May 11, Mick Kelly of the Standing Committee of Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) stated, “We convey our warmest greetings to your First Secretary Larry Holmes, your national leadership, and all of you assembled for this extremely important meeting. We place a high value on our relationship with Workers World Party. The unity we have is precious, and we intend to build on this in the future.”