News and Views from the People's Struggle
*Fight Back News Service is circulating the following call to action from Students for a Democratic Society regarding the Students and Youth March to Save Our Schools! July 28-31, Washington D.C.*
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Committee to Stop FBI Repression.
Commentary by Masao Suzuki
On June 21, the Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank, Ben Bernanke, gave a very downbeat report on the U.S. economy following a two day meeting of the Fed. Bernanke, who is also a professor of economics, admitted that he didn’t have a good explanation for why economic growth in the United States was so weak and the unemployment rate stuck at about 9%. But Marxist political economy does have an explanation: that economic stagnation is a natural outcome of a capitalist economy.
A Commentary on Growing Economic Inequality
On June 19th the *Washington Post* published “With Executive Pay, Rich Pull Away from Rest of America” by Peter Whoriskey. This very informative article connected the rise in corporate executive’s pay with the growing economic inequality in the United States, using the example of a large U.S. dairy company combined with recent research by economists on high incomes. At the same time the article only offered very vague explanations for *why* the rich are winning out at the expense of almost everyone else.
The FBI is relaxing its rules and removing restrictions on domestic spying for its 14,000 agents, the New York Times reported June 13. While FBI spokesperson Valerie Caproni claims the changes are “more like fine-tuning than major changes,” civil liberties advocates and activists are speaking out against the new rules.
_Mick Kelly states he will donate settlement money to anti-war activists fighting repression _
St. Paul, MN – The case of Mick Kelly, whose lawyers filed the first lawsuit resulting from police violence at the 2008 Republican National Convention on his behalf, was resolved in a settlement conference at the U.S. Courthouse here.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Students for a Democratic Society's National Working Committee in support of the veteran Chicano leader Carlos Montes.
Join the National Day of Action – Thursday, June 16, 2011
Fight Back News Service is circulating the call from the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, urging cities to organize actions in support of Carlos Montes, a longtime activist for worker and immigrants’ rights.
U.S. Latin Americanist cold warriors and their far-right allies in the region kicked off a propaganda campaign in May to influence Congress and U.S. citizens against Venezuela and fellow ALBA (Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our Americas) countries. With declining attention being paid to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, neoconservatives and neoliberals want to turn our attention to rolling back social and economic advances in Latin America.
In its 2010 Annual Report, the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR), a body of the Organization of American States, noted the FBI and grand jury repression of anti-war and international solidarity activists. The Committee to Stop FBI Repression publicized the IACHR's report in a statement on May 22.
Saint Paul, MN – Three activists and their attorneys won a $50,000 settlement today in a lawsuit that challenged an August 30, 2008 police raid on a Saint Paul home in advance of that year's Republican National Convention (RNC). The plaintiffs in the case – Sarah Coffey, Erin Stalnaker and Kris Hermes – are giving most of the award to the [Committee to Stop FBI Repression](http://www.stopfbi.net), the Institute for Anarchist Studies and the formation of a national legal defense fund for political activists.
¡Viva el espíritu de lucha de la clase obrera de Wisconsin!
El 1ro de mayo es el día internacional de los trabajadores, un día para celebrar las luchas de la clase obrera y de los pueblos oprimidos. El 1 de mayo de 1886, en los Estados Unidos, cientos de miles de trabajadores se fueron a huelga luchando por la jornada de ocho horas. Ocho organizadores en Chicago, seis de los cuales eran inmigrantes, fueron falsamente acusados de matar a un policía y cuatro de ellos fueron ahorcados. El movimiento obrero internacional adopto el 1 de mayo como un día de lucha y es ampliamente celebrado alrededor del mundo.
As the news of [Osama Bin Laden’s killing by U.S. forces inside Pakistan](https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/02/world/asia/osama-bin-laden-is-killed.html?hp) reverberates across the world, it is a good time to take stock of the ‘war on terror’ and what it has brought to the world.
Chicago, IL – In building for May Day 2011 events, Tom Burke with the Committee to Stop FBI Repression (CSFR) says, “Anti-war and international solidarity activists are joining events across the country celebrating International Workers’ Day. We are gathering signatures to the ‘Pledge To Resist,’ supporting activists who face government repression today. We plan to reach hundreds, maybe thousands of people this weekend and ask them to take a stand against political repression.”
_Long live the fighting spirit of the Wisconsin working class! _
April 4 is a day to stand up and be counted. We urge all readers of Fight Back! to join the nationwide protests that are set for April 4, the anniversary of the assassination of the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. Say no to the attacks on public employees and on the rights of working people.
Tonight, March 28, we urge our readers to join an online discussion of President Obama’s speech defending the decision to attack Libya.
With missiles from French fighter jets and cruise missiles from U.S. naval forces stationed off the coast of Libya, the large scale foreign intervention aimed at overthrowing the Libyan government began on Saturday March 19 – exactly eight years after the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq began.
Chicago, IL – “The Committee to Stop FBI Repression (CSFR) is asking you to join us in supporting national anti-war protests. On March 19 there are local rallies, many with International ANSWER Coalition,” says Tom Burke, a spokesperson for the CSFR.
Following a UN Security Council vote on the evening of March 17, an attack on Libya is imminent. The United States, Britain and France are expected to begin air strikes in a matter of days or even hours. All people of conscience should stand firmly against this act of war.