In a whirlwind news week the public has become aware that the majority, if not all, of U.S. telephone calls are monitored by the NSA (National Security Agency) and have been for seven years, that the U.S. government is monitoring emails through a secret NSA program called PRISM, and that Edward Snowden is the whistleblower that made these revelations possible. On June 9, Snowden told The Guardian to publish that he was the leak even though it puts him in the crosshairs of the U.S. government. “I'm willing to sacrifice all…because I can't in good conscience allow the U.S. government to destroy privacy, internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they're secretly building.”
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Committee to Stop FBI Repression.Justice Department Tramples on First Amendment Rights of Associated Press and Anti-war Activists
Jackson, MS – On June 4, Chokwe Lumumba won the election as mayor here, winning 87% of the vote in the general election. He had all but assured his victory by winning a stunning come-from-behind upset in the Democratic Party primary on May 21 in this 80% Black city in the heart of the Black Belt South.
On May 23, President Barrack Obama gave a major counterterrorism speech at the National Defense University about U.S. drone warfare and the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Obama’s speech was billed as a major policy speech with new reforms.
As the millionaires in the U.S. Congress debate the content of a ‘comprehensive immigration reform’ bill, immigrant rights activists around the country will send a strong message from the streets in a national week of action May 28-31. The Legalization for All Network has initiated a week of action to demand immigration reform that includes legalization for all 11 million undocumented immigrants and that stops all deportations immediately.
Early this May, UPS management, as well as Teamsters leadership, released the completed tentative agreement for a new five-year contract. The contract, which represents the largest private sector collective bargaining agreement in the U.S., is being touted by both sides as a win-win for the company and the workers, establishing raises and gains that both say they can be proud of.
The U.S. government is escalating its attacks on socialist Cuba and U.S. residents who try to travel there. These attacks have now been directed at U.S. labor union activists. Five U.S. union activists who tried to register to participate in the U.S./Cuba Labor Exchange in Havana, Cuba over May Day had their funds frozen and seized without explanation by the Labor Exchange’s bank, Charter One Bank in Detroit, Michigan.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement urging everyone opposed to the war on Syria to call President Obama Tuesday, May 7 at 202-456-1111.
Across the globe, workers are fighting back against their bosses and people are standing up to their oppressors. On May 1 people around the world will celebrate International Workers Day – commonly called May Day – by taking to the streets. To mark the occasion, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) urges all revolutionaries, progressives, activists and organizers here in the U.S. to go all out building the people’s fightback against capitalist greed and struggle for socialism.
On April 17, a bipartisan group of eight senators released their proposal for “Comprehensive Immigration Reform.” While there are parts of the proposal that would improve the lives of millions of undocumented, it falls far short of a real legalization plan and it includes many bad parts that cannot be supported. What needs to be done, first and foremost, is to rebuild a mass and militant movement for legalization and against more militarization of the border and against workplace repression. We need to go all out to mobilize for May 1 and keep the pressure on politicians to come up with a better immigration reform bill.
Fight Back! interviewed veteran Chicano activist Carlos Montes on the fight to win legalization for undocumented immigrants. Montes is a longtime fighter in the struggle for immigrant rights.Fight Back!: Why is the struggle for legalization for the undocumented so important right now?
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following letter that Freedom Road Socialist Organization conveyed to the government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela on the passing of President Hugo Chavez.
On January 1, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 257-167 to pass the Senate compromise tax bill to stop the so-called “fiscal cliff” of tax increases and spending cuts. While Democratic politicians are portraying this deal as a victory as “98% of Americans will not see their taxes increase,” the reality is that 77% of Americans, including about two-thirds of the working class, will see tax increases.
As 2012 comes to an end, we pause to look back at some of the most important Fight Back! stories of the past year. 2012 has been a year full of struggle – and Fight Back! News has been there on the front lines with on-the-spot reporting and timely analysis.
