Immigrant rights activists pack hearing, dozens testify

Saint Paul, MN – More than 100 people supporting the “drivers license for all” bill, House File 4, packed the House Transportation Finance and Policy Committee’s morning and evening hearings at the Minnesota State Capitol on January 10.

Chicago, IL- 2022 was a banner year for the Venezuelan economy. The Venezuelan Central Bank recorded a 19% growth rate, while the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America put it at 12%. While inflation of food and gas prices ate at workers' income in the U.S. and much of the world this past year, Venezuela inflation was low compared with previous years. This is due to booms in both food and oil sectors in Venezuela owing to the ability of the Bolivarian Revolution to overcome U.S. sanctions.

Milwaukee, WI – The Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Healthcare Professionals (WFNHP) Local 5000 held a rally and picket outside of the Milwaukee home of Bernie Sherry, the CEO of Ascension Wisconsin, one of his many houses. The January 4 action was in response to the abrupt announcement of the December 23 closure of St. Francis Hospital’s Labor and Delivery (L+D) Unit.

Minneapolis, MN – There was a high tide of struggle on many fronts in 2022. With so much going on, it can be easy to forget some of the things our movements have accomplished. That makes it all the more important to look back and review the lessons from this year’s resistance so we can move forward stronger.

After waging revolution from 1927 to 1949, Mao Zedong proclaimed from Tiananmen Gate that “the Chinese people have stood up!” This marked the end of imperialist domination in China and the beginning of socialism in the newly founded People’s Republic of China, led by the Communist Party. The Chinese revolution has continued through socialist construction from then until today, and we would do well to sum up some of its many heroic achievements in order to better understand, from a Marxist-Leninist perspective, the process of socialist revolution and socialist construction.

Milwaukee, WI – On December 15, a resolution that Reproductive Justice Action – Milwaukee (RJAM) actively demanded from the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors passed. This resolution expresses support for access to abortion care and places an advisory referendum on the April 4, 2023 election ballot. The referendum will measure public opinion on Wisconsin State Statute 940.04, which bans abortions at any stage of pregnancy without exception of rape, incest, or health of patient.

Milwaukee, WI – On December 15, members of the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and Brieon Green’s mother and sister attended the Fire and Police Commission general meeting to voice their support for the 24/48 Campaign.

Milwaukee, WI – On December 12, members of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) delivered a petition demanding a hiring freeze be placed on the UWM police department. The petition, part of the SDS “Chop from the Cops” campaign, had hundreds of signatures.

Minneapolis, MN – On the morning of December 20, after weeks of continued pressure, activists occupied Senator Klobuchar's office with the goal of meeting with the senator directly to demand she introduce the American Dream and Promise Act in the Senate. The mobilization came less than two weeks after a militant street protest in front of Klobuchar's office that ended with a promise to “be back.”

How is it possible that the Soviet Union, bastion of socialism and proletarian internationalism, collapsed in 1991? What factors led to its collapse, and what were the results? We should look at both the material and ideological basis for the restoration of capitalism in the USSR. As Marxist-Leninists, what lessons can we draw from the experience of the fall of the Soviet Union?

Fort Worth, TX – A Tarrant County jury with no Black people on it convicted former Fort Worth police officer Aaron Dean December 15 of manslaughter for the killing of Atatiana Jefferson.

Minneapolis, MN – Jon Melrod’s newly-published memoir, Fighting Times, is more than just a remembrance. It details his time as a revolutionary helping to build the fighting people’s movements – from the student movement of the 1960s in SDS and being part of the Revolutionary Union, to the solidarity struggle with the Menominee Warrior Society occupation in 1975, to building a fighting UAW local at an American Motors plant in Kenosha, Wisconsin – and the lessons learned from each fight. It is a book that class-struggle union militants, student organizers and activists from all the people’s movements alike would do well to read.

Minneapolis, MN – Human Rights Day is celebrated internationally every year on December 10. This year, activist groups from the Twin Cities gathered in the Minneapolis’s Uptown neighborhood for a protest and march to bring attention to the ongoing fight for human rights. Over 50 people attended the protest and march despite the cold weather.

Chicago, IL – Chicago lost a well-known fighter for immigrant rights on December 11. José Sigfredo Landaverde was a priest at Our Lady of Guadalupe Anglican Catholic Church in Little Village. Padre Landaverde was also a friend of Freedom Road Socialist Organization. He died after a long battle with illness.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Communist Party of the Philippines.

The historic task of the working class in the socialist revolution is to eliminate all oppression. This includes the liberation of women and LGBTQ people from the shackles of patriarchy.

Mother Bloor, a Communist revolutionary who fought for women’s suffrage, emphasized that women couldn’t just stop at the right to vote. Working women still had to organize against the capitalist ruling class, which forced them to endure long hours, low wages and suffocating labor conditions. The vote was just another tool in that struggle. The suffrage movement relied on people like Bloor – workers who recognized that women’s liberation depends on the struggle for socialism.

Dallas, TX – On Saturday, November 26, more than 60 activists gathered at the Pan-African Connection bookstore in Dallas to celebrate People's Thanksgiving, a celebration honoring those who struggle against imperialism, capitalism and national oppression.

Seattle, WA – On November 18, the University of Washington’s Progressive Student Union (PSU) held a banner drop in protest of the national “Don’t Say Gay” bill, introduced by Congressional Republicans last month. Officially titled the “Stop the Sexualization of Children Act of 2022,” this is a national version of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis earlier this year. The D.C. bill prohibits the use of federal funds for any topic or program related to sex education in schools. It also prohibits access of library books with LGBTQ topics to children.

Talks took place November 25 between General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Xi Jinping and First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez. The discussions took place in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.