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.
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.
Chicago, IL – 700 nursing home workers who are members SEIU Health Care Illinois/Indiana (HCII) began a second #StrikeForOurLives on November 23. Strikers walked out at 11 Infinity nursing homes across the state of Illinois. Members of SEIU have been denied adequate staffing, PPE and hazard pay.
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.
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.”
St. Paul, MN – Over 500 protesters picketed outside Minnesota Governor Tim Walz mansion, November 14, to protest his decision to grant permits to allow Enbridge to build Line 3, a pipeline that would carry nearly a million barrels of tar sands a day from Alberta, Canada to Superior, Wisconsin through Minnesota. The event was organized by MN 350, and included other groups that have organized against Line 3.
Minneapolis, MN – On November 14, over 150 people gathered in North Minneapolis to honor the five-year mark since Jamar Clark was killed by the Minneapolis Police department on November 15, 2015. It also marks the five-year anniversary of the heightened struggle locally against police terror and its progression to demand community control of the police to stop killer cops.
Chicago, IL – It is so befitting that Trump, the self-made tyrant, with his latest political stroke to upend the elections, has in fact opened a new era of struggle – an era that will be characterized by the desire of the ruling class to return to normal, to return to the norms of bankrupt neo-liberal policies which will portray itself as the only path to political stability and economic growth.
Members of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization answered the call from the Partido Socialista Unido Venezloano (PSUV) to participate in a virtual gathering to uphold proletarian internationalism in the face of U.S. imperialism. The virtual conference demonstrated a truly international character, as 61 different delegations of trade unionists and activists attended from all five continents. It is clear that workers and communist parties from around the world stand in solidarity against U.S. imperialism and the blockade against Venezuela.
San José, CA – Within a week of the election, the pandemic in the United States has turned the corner, just as President Trump said. But instead of fading away, there has been a surge in new infections. For five straight days there has been more than 100,000 cases a day, the latest being more than 145,000 – another record high. Trump has been uncharacteristically quiet on the pandemic, instead focusing on spreading lies and filing lawsuits to try to throw out people’s votes in a losing attempt to overturn President-elect Biden’s election victory.
