Detroit, MI – A group of activists in the Detroit area joined the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) in June 2022. This expands FRSO to an important and historic city for labor and Black struggles. The young workers and activists organized together during the George Floyd rebellion of 2020, and continued protesting through 2021, when they formed their own study group.
St. Paul, MN – On July 5, organizers from several local immigrant rights organizations held a press conference on Saint Paul’s West Side to remember the 53 migrants who tragically died in San Antonio, Texas, suffocated in a truck container. After the press conference, the community members went to Senator Tina Smith’s nearby office, where they read the names of the 53 Mexican and Central American migrants and pressed an aide to the senator on the urgency to take action now to end the policies of border militarization and exclusion that make deaths in the borderlands a common occurrence.
Grand Rapids, MI – On Tuesday, July 6, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization hosted a rally demanding Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker refuse to enforce Michigan's anti-abortion law passed in 1931. The event was held outside the Kent County Courthouse in Grand Rapids.
Minneapolis, MN – On July 2, over 100 people marched across the University of Minnesota campus calling for the opening and funding of abortion clinics across the state.
Appleton, WI – On June 29, a group of Fox Valley activists led by members of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization gathered together to demand that Appleton Mayor Jake Woodford take action against the renewed abortion ban in Wisconsin and to hold local police accountable for their response to weekend demonstrations. Others joining FRSO included Food Not Bombs, Appleton Students for a Democratic Society, and a handful of community members, all of whom were present at the rallies since the decision came down on June 24.
San José, CA – On the evening of the day of the SCOTUS decision overturning Roe v. Wade, June 24, about 400 people rallied at San José City Hall. The next day, Saturday, June 25, about 2500 people gathered at San José City Hall to march through downtown.
Minneapolis, MN – On June 28, over 60 people gathered alongside Washington Avenue outside of Senator Amy Klobuchar’s Minneapolis office in solidarity with international protests against the NATO Summit in Madrid, Spain, where world leaders discussed the expansion of NATO, among other things. Rush-hour traffic honked in support as protesters chanted, “No war with Russia! Disband NATO now!”
Jacksonville, FL – Over 1000 people gathered in emergency response at the Duval County Courthouse, downtown Jacksonville, just hours after the Supreme Court announced their decision to overturn Roe v. Wade on Friday, June 24.
Marxist-Leninists are practical people. This has been true since Marx wrote his famous Eleventh Thesis on Feuerbach: “The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it.” Many Marxists might even consider themselves “pragmatists.” But Marxism and pragmatism, though there may be some superficial similarities, are, in fact, fundamentally opposed. So, let’s look more closely at this. What is pragmatism?