Brookwood, AL – Coal miners who work at the Warrior Met Coal mine held a large rally on August 4 in Brookwood, Alabama. The miners, represented by the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), have been on strike for more than four months with no apparent end in sight. The strike began after the company gave the miners a $6 dollar per hour wage cut. At the same time, the company saw large increases in profits.

Caracas, Venezuela -The bustling streets of Caracas are full of masked people, during “open week.” You hear Latin music flowing from the stores, children playing soccer and laughing, merchants selling empanadas. 95% of the people you see are wearing masks outside, since it’s the government mandate.

Biden has been portraying the drawdown of U.S. troops as a sign of victory in Afghanistan, but the truth is that resistance forces are winning. In describing the motivations behind the drawdown, Biden stated, “We went to war with clear goals. We achieved those objectives. Bin Laden is dead, and al-Qaeda is degraded in Iraq – and in Afghanistan.” However, the story on the ground is different. The puppet government set up by the United States has very little popular support and the U.S.-backed military forces have no will to fight.

With the expiration of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eviction moratorium, millions of families are facing homelessness. The economic crisis, coupled with the pandemic and rising rents, has hit working and poor people hard. It was no secret that that this moratorium deadline was coming. President Biden’s statements that nothing can be done are nothing sort of absurd. There is no excuse for putting millions of people in the streets. Freedom Road Socialist Organization adds our voice to those demanding immediate action from Congress and the White House.

San José, CA – On Saturday, July 31 members and supporters of the Northern California Unemployed Committee or NCUC rallied to protest the coming end of federal unemployment benefits set for September 6. Speakers pointed out how 9 million unemployed people will be losing their benefits and the rest will have their payments cut in half.

Oshkosh, WI – 30 concerned community and family members gathered to call for justice for Isaiah Tucker, who was shot and killed by Oshkosh police officer Aaron Achterberg on July 31, 2017. The protest marked the four-year anniversary of his murder. No charges were ever filed in Isaiah’s case. The police department investigated themselves with other officers and determined that all instances of violence towards Tucker were justified.

Caracas, Venezuela – Groups of women, wearing blue hardhats, stand proudly in front of a five-floor building, surrounded by lush mountains. The community members are building 93 apartments for families in the area. 80% of the workers are women.

Minneapolis, MN – Around 30 people took to May Day Plaza, July 29, to hold signs and banners in a show of solidarity with the people of Cuba and Haiti after a new wave of U.S. intervention attempts. This event came after the Biden administration’s July 22 issuance of new sanctions on Cuba, as well as the July 7 assassination of Haiti’s President Jovenel Moïse.

Milwaukee, WI – On the morning of July 28, nearly 50 community members gathered outside a limited capacity courtroom in downtown Milwaukee to await the verdict in a special John Doe hearing. The case being determined was an old one: the June 23, 2016 police murder of Jay Anderson, Jr.

Chicago, IL – About 100 people rallied in front of the Philippines Consulate to say, “Enough is enough!” to demand an end to the war against the Filipino people by the government of the Philippines. President Duterte has especially targeted the indigenous Lumad people of the island of Mindanao. In a recent atrocity, the Armed Forces of the Philippines tortured and killed three Lumad youth, including a 12-year-old.

Chicago, IL – Noam Chomsky, Gilbert Achcar, Paul Le Blanc, Suzi Weissman, Tithi Bhattacharya, Charlie Post, Robert Brenner, Gayatri Spivak, Alex Callinicos, Ashley Smith, Eric Toussaint, Marc Cooper, Etienne Balibar. These are a handful of the over 500 signatories on an open letter directed to the blockaded Cuban government on July 12 demanding “respect for the democratic rights of all Cuban people” and the release of “dissident Marxist” Frank García Hernández and his comrades from jail after the protests of July 11.

Topeka, KA – On July 5, more than 800 Frito Lay Workers in Topeka began a strike that has now entered its third week. The workers are members of Local 218 of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) Local 218.

Minneapolis, MN – On July 22, 50 people gathered outside Minneapolis City Hall for a press conference in defense of the 646-plus people who were arrested on November 4, 2020. They demanded City Attorney Jim Rowder and other prosecutors drop the charges against the 646, and that the charges be dropped against all protesters since the murder of George Floyd last summer.

Mick Kelly is a member of the Standing Committee of the Central Committee of Freedom Road Socialist Organization and is responsible for the organization’s international relations. The following essay appeared in the book, A Century of the Communist Party of China, Statements from 100 Foreign Communists, published by the Contemporary China Publishing House.

Chicago, IL – The Chicago movement against racist policing made history July 21 with the passage of the most progressive police accountability legislation in the country. The ordinance, named Empowering Communities for Public Safety (EPCS), was passed by the Chicago City Council on a 36-13 vote.

Oppressed nationalities hit more than twice as much as US whites

San José, CA – On Wednesday, July 20 the National Center for Health Statistics released their provisional report on lifespans in 2020. The report found that the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed more than 600,000 people in the United States, lowered the lifespan by one and half years in 2020. This is the worst drop since World War II. Lifespans have generally increased over time, but this sets the trend back almost 20 years to 2003.

Fight Back News Service is circulating this July 21 statement from the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.

Tucson, AZ – After a record six weeks of ballot counting and false claims of fraud by right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori, Pedro Castillo was officially announced the newest president of Peru, on the evening of July 19. Castillo, from a poor peasant background and the candidate of the Peru Libre party, found support in the masses of poor and working Peruvians fed up with the lack of response to COVID-19 and the high rates of unemployment. Equally important is the defeat of “Fujimorismo” the far-right ideology of neoliberalism and chauvinism of former President Alberto Fujimori, Keiko’s criminal father.

Memphis, TN – On July 17, over 40 people gathered at the intersection of South Cooper Street and Young Avenue here for a rally called by the Memphis chapter of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, in coalition with Memphis Voices for Palestine. Representatives from Never Again TN and Jewish Memphians for Social Justice, two Jewish-led organizations, were also present.

Chicago, IL – On July 12, more than 2500 Cook County, Illinois workers who are members of SEIU Local 73 ended an 18-day strike after winning major improvements on key issues. Two issues remained outstanding in the deal but will now move to interest-based arbitration, which only became an option because the workers went on strike.