Fight Back News Service is circulating the speech that was delivered by Kobi Guillory of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, December 5, at the annual People’s Thanksgiving event. The event raised more than $3000 for Fight Back!

Chicago, IL – Over 500 people tuned in online to the annual People's Thanksgiving awards ceremony, December 5, held by Freedom Road Socialist Organization in Chicago. The event is a fundraiser for Fight Back! and brought in more than $3000.

Los Angeles, CA – December 5 will mark a year since the murder of UPS driver Frank Ordonez. Last year, Ordonez, while delivering on route, was kidnapped by jewel thieves and held hostage in the delivery vehicle. The truck was pursued by police for hours. The pursuit came to a slowdown at a busy intersection, where police opened fire on the vehicle. The police fired over 200 rounds, killing Ordonez, the thieves and a bystander. The bystander, Rick Cutshaw, was a business rep for OPEIU Local 100. A year later, no one has been charged for the murders, and the officers still remain on active duty. And none of the police or police departments have been held accountable for their actions. The entire murder was captured on live television via helicopter.

Minneapolis, MN – About 50 people gathered for a noon press conference on the frontage road above Interstate 94 to demand that charges be dropped against the 646-plus protesters who were arrested there one month ago.

Freedom Road Socialist Organization membership is now over 500 and growing at a good clip. Our website at frso.org received 38 requests to join just this month. In 25 cities now, we mobilize FRSO members for protests. Now is a good time to join the FRSO and prepare for big struggles in the year ahead. Ask your friends to join too. More is better.

Fight Back! Interview with Frank Chapman, the Executive Director of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. Fight Back!: Could you say a few words about the refounding of NAARPR last year?

Minneapolis, MN – Over 100 protesters gathered in Minneapolis to stand in solidarity with Indigenous people on Thanksgiving, November 26, for a National Day of Mourning. It is a reminder of the genocide and suffering of Native Americans that still continues today. 400 years have passed since Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock and colonized the land Native Americans had been living on for thousands of years. In the shadow of the Minneapolis skyline, several speakers touched on the many struggles Indigenous people face today and the erasure of their people.

St. Paul, MN – On November 27, the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar Clark organized a rally and car caravan to protest the mass arrests of November 4. The Black Friday protest started in the parking lot of JJ Hill elementary school, where Philando Castile worked before he was killed by police. During a brief rally, participants decorated their cars, then a caravan of 100 vehicles left for the governor’s mansion, by way of the Grand Avenue.

It is a good thing that a decisive majority of voters in the United States rejected Trump in his run for the White House. The massive turnout of youth, African Americans, Chicanos, Latinos, native peoples and other oppressed nationalities was critical in defeating his anti-immigrant, racist, reactionary and misogynist agenda. This defeat provides a more favorable context to fight for and win things people desperately need and for revolutionaries to advance the struggle to end the existing order of things.

November 28 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of one of the greatest revolutionaries of all times, Fredrick Engels. Born the son of a factory owner in Barmen, Germany, Engels, along with his comrade and friend Karl Marx, made immense contributions to the struggle for emancipation of the working class. In the U.S. today, monopoly capitalism has revealed itself a corrupt and criminal system that is unable to meet the needs of the vast majority of people. It rewards the wealthy with fabulous profits and unimaginable riches. As a result, there is renewed interest in socialism.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following Nov. 28 statement from the Communist Party of the Philippines.

Jacksonville, FL – On November 21, the Jacksonville Community Action Committee (JCAC), alongside other organizations and over 250 community members, gathered at the Duval County Courthouse to rally against the repressive and undemocratic legislative proposal by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, as well as the killing of 18-year-old Devon Tillman Gregory by four Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office officers: Nicholas McDonald, James Mills, Aaron Roe and Brandon Shea.

Tallahassee, FL – On November 19, students from the Tallahassee chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) held a rally in front of the Westcott building on the Florida State University campus to demand community and student control of the Florida State University Police Department (FSUPD) and that the charges against the Tally19 be dropped. The students called for an end to political repression and that FSUPD be held accountable to the community and student body they police.

U.S. role in the world and its election

Jacksonville, FL – Over 200 people gathered on the westside of Jacksonville, on the corner of San Juan and Cassett Avenues, to celebrate the life of Devon Gregory Tillman, along with protesting against his death at the hands of the police. Devon Gregory Tillman was an 18-year-old African American worker who was murdered by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office earlier this week during a traffic stop. Police surrounded the vehicle, pulling out Tillman’s two passengers before opening fire. Police fired 35 times into his car.

Tampa, FL – On November 17, Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) held a “Students Against Political Repression” protest in front of the Sam M. Gibbons Federal Courthouse in downtown Tampa. They rallied students and members of the community against political repression at the university, state and national level.

The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reports Israel launched an attack on Syria, November 18. Citing a military source, SANA states “at about 03:11 a.m. on Wednesday, the Israeli enemy launched an aerial aggression from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan that targeted the southern region as the Syrian air defenses confronted it and downed a number of rockets.”

Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) demands Israel immediately release Khitam Saafin, the president of the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees, who has been jailed without charge or trial. Saafin was taken into custody on November 2 along with six other Palestinian human rights activists. Her imprisonment is another in the long list of crimes by the callous and cruel Zionist occupiers of Palestine.

Macon, GA – A hearing officer with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recommended certifying Kumho Tire workers’ organizing victory with the United Steelworkers (USW) and dismissing the company’s objections “in their entirety.”