Tucson, AZ – As one of the country’s longest running strikes continues into week 13, educators from Arizona’s RedForEd movement brought food donations to the picket line. The eight unions serving nearly 2000 workers at five Asarco copper mining operations have created a tradition at the Pima Mine: Sunday dinner. It’s a beautiful display of worker solidarity and union power as striking workers and their families come eat a warm meal and enjoy their camaraderie. It is there that a van-full of non-perishable goods from Phoenix-area educators was delivered.
Grand Rapids, MI – On January 4, about 35 people gathered at the intersection of Division and Fulton, the center point of Grand Rapids, to express their outrage and protest the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force. Soleimani was killed outside Baghdad’s airport.
Jacksonville, FL – On December 30, the Jacksonville Community Action Committee (JCAC), community members and organizations, along with family and friends of Jamee Johnson, rallied and held a vigil to demand #JusticeForJamee. Around 60 people gathered to remember Jamee Johnson and demanded justice in front of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office in downtown Jacksonville.
Milwaukee, WI – The four corners of 27th and West Oklahoma on Milwaukee’s South Side were filled with protesters on the afternoon of January 4. Activists were gathered to stand against the U.S.’s acts of war against Iran. It was a chilly afternoon, the wind biting into those assembled, but loud chanting intermingled with the frequent honks from motorists on the busy Milwaukee streets echoed into the area.
New York, NY – Over 1000 people gathered in New York City on January 4 in Times Square to demand no more U.S. troops to the Middle East, U.S. out of Iraq, and no war or sanctions on Iran. The action was called after a U.S. drone strike assassinated Iranian Quds Force general Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad, as well as the Pentagon stating they will send 3500 more troops to the Middle East.
Oshkosh, WI – Outraged and indignant citizens gathered on busy Main Street in downtown Oshkosh on the morning of January 4 to protest the U.S. military's most recent war crimes in Iraq. The decision to assassinate Iranian military leader Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad last week was a violation of international law and a war crime.
Tucson, AZ – On January 4, around 200 people flooded the sidewalk of a busy Tucson intersection to demonstrate their solidarity with the Iranian and Iraqi peoples and voice their anger at murderous billionaire President Trump.
Milwaukee, WI – Three national groups with large followings, the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, the International League of People’s Struggle, and the Students for a Democratic Society recently endorsed the Coalition to March on the Democratic National Convention (DNC).
Jacksonville, FL – I'm not sure how we'll look back at film in the 2010s. Much of it already seems like a blur, leaving me asking questions like, “Was that the Batman movie with Ben Affleck or Christian Bale?” or “Which of the five Spider-Man and five Star Wars movies did you like the best?”
The authoritative Lebanese news site, Al Manar, carried this photo of the U.S. embassy in Bagdad, December 31. The spray-painting on the embassy wall reads, “Closed by the peoples command.” Demonstrators have surrounded the embassy in response to U.S. air attacks in Iraq and Syria targeting the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), a grouping that played a major role in defeating ISIS. According to reports in the Iraqi press, police and soldiers were among those killed or wounded in the U.S. air attacks.
Minneapolis, MN – As we see a rising tide of struggle in this country and across the globe, the newspaper Fight Back! is expanding its reach and capacity. Each day, 365 times a year, we provide cutting edge coverage and analyses of the people’s struggle against exploitation and oppression, with the perspective of ending capitalism and replacing it with socialism – a system where political power is in the hands of the working class.
In 2019, we saw workers take to picket lines and we saw mass movements hit the streets in the U.S. and around the world. And when there’s an upsurge with lots of people hitting the streets, you can bet it will be accompanied by protest music. This year has been no exception.
There was a high tide of struggle on many fronts in 2019 – both in the U.S. and around the world. Within the U.S. there were large strikes of General Motors workers, Chicago teachers and others. There was a successful movement to defend public education from mega-charters in Los Angeles. There were mass protests nation-wide for immigrant rights and against the concentration camps at the U.S.-México border. And there were growing movements against police crimes and for community control of the police that came together to refound the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression in Chicago in November.
Tallahassee, FL – On December 21, over 50 members of the Tallahassee community joined with Jamee Johnson’s friends and family at the Eternal Flame on Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University’s (FAMU) campus to honor the life of the 22-year-old senior who had recently been killed by police.
Dallas, TX – On December 22, about 1000 people gathered at Dealey Plaza in Dallas to protest the Indian Citizenship Amendment Act. The protest was called by the Indian American Muslim Council of Dallas.
To mark the 126th anniversary of the birth of Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong, Dec. 26, Fight Back News Service is circulating his oft-quoted 1945 speech to the 7th Congress of the Communist Party of China, “The Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains.”
Milwaukee, WI – Near the end of August, a whistleblower released a document uncovering a private conversation between U.S. president Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The fact that the two of them were talking is not newsworthy; what was revealed and is of some import, however, was the specific content of their exchange.
![Milwaukee protest says "no war with Iran."](https://i.snap.as/EohAg1XF.jpg "Milwaukee protest says \\"no war with Iran.\\" \(Fight Back! News/staff\)")
