Chicago, IL – A delegation of activists demanding Justice for Laquan McDonald met with an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Chicago’s Federal Building. They presented a letter signed by 38 organizations and unions, as well as five elected officials, demanding federal charges against killer cop Jason Van Dyke.

Chicago, IL – On the afternoon of January 22, organizers shut down the city block in front of Governor Pritzker’s Gold Coast mansion for 15 minutes, demanding immediate action to address the surging COVID cases in Illinois prisons and jails. Organizers dropped a letter on Pritzker’s doorstep calling for a mass release of those incarcerated, beginning with the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions who are especially at risk.

Chicago, IL – On Martin Luther King Jr Day, January 17, the family of Dr. King led a march for voting rights across Frederick Douglass bridge in Washington DC. At the same time, a coalition of over a dozen community organizations and labor unions organized a caravan of over 100 cars up King Drive in Chicago for the same purpose. Activists in both cities and across the country have voiced their support of the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement (JLVRA) Act.

Marxist-Leninist Perspectives on Black Liberation and Socialism

Chicago, IL – Members of the Chicago Teachers Union’s House of Delegates voted to end a four-day remote learning action and return to school. The union announced today that by a vote of 55.5% in favor that the union would accept an agreement with Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s handpicked school board.

Fight Back! interviews Frank Chapman, Executive Director of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR). Fight Back!: One month ago, you held the second national conference of the Alliance. What came out of that?

Mayor Lori Lightfoot locks teachers and students out of virtual classrooms

Chicago, IL – On Tuesday, January 4, more than 73% of teachers in Chicago who are represented by Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) voted to not return to classrooms on Wednesday, and instead taught their classes remotely to keep the teachers, staff and students safe as the pandemic surges. As the Omicron variant intensifies, the current positivity rate for COVID-19 in Chicago is at 23% and climbing.

Chicago, IL – On Tuesday, December 22, 150 workers at the Jefferson Street UPS barn in Chicago staged a protest before work.

Activists from 22 cities attend NAARPR conference in Chicago

Chicago, IL – Two years after the refounding of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR) in November 2019, over 125 NAARPR members and affiliates from around the country convened for the second NAARPR conference in Chicago starting on Saturday, December 4. They shared updates about their work fighting against police crimes and for community control of the police, among other areas of struggle, then voted on resolutions and new leadership for the next two years.

Chicago, IL – The 30th Annual People’s Thanksgiving was held in Chicago on November 21, a fundraiser for Fight Back! and Freedom Road Socialist Organization in Chicago. More than 100 people attended, and the event raised over $4000.

Chicago, IL – A front banner read, “Stop white supremacy” as people hit the street in Chicago’s Loop on November 20 to condemn the injustice in the court in Kenosha, Wisconsin the day before. A jury complying with the instructions by a racist judge sent the message that white racists and police can kill with impunity while African Americans and other oppressed nationalities can be killed, tortured and jailed without justification.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.

Desde el otoño de 2019, SEIU Local 73 ha realizado cuatro huelgas. En ese otoño se unieron al Sindicato de Maestros de Chicago en su lucha contra las Escuelas Públicas de Chicago; en septiembre de 2020 se unieron a la Asociación de Enfermeras de Chicago en el Hospital de la Universidad Illinois en Chicago; en diciembre de 2020 realizaron una huelga de un día con 2,500 trabajadores en contra del gobierno del Condado Cook; y este verano han realizado una huelga histórica de 18 días con esos mismos trabajadores en contra de la misma administración.

Chicago, IL – After several takeback contracts in a row, the imposition of part-time status on new hires, sub-par health insurance with an ever growing price tag that eats up wage increases, and being left to fend for themselves during the pandemic with no PPE or hazard pay, CTA workers in Amalgamated Transit Union Local 241/308 are fighting back. They've organized themselves into a caucus called the Justice Coalition. This rank-and-file caucus publishes a newsletter called Finally Got the News, which was inspired by the documentary of the same name, about the League of Revolutionary Black Workers in Detroit in the late 1960s.

Chicago, IL – Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) held its annual convention from October 1-3 in Chicago. Rank-and-file union activists from around the country traveled there to plan out the next steps for the upcoming international union election. TDU is supporting the reformer O’Brien-Zuckerman slate against the other slate, which is backed by the Hoffa old guard within the Teamsters union.

Chicago, IL – One year after playing a leading role in the George Floyd Rebellion that swept the U.S. in the summer of 2020, the Black-led National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression is convening again in Chicago. The storied organization, originally founded in 1973 from the National Committee to Free Angela Davis and All Political Prisoners, was reestablished in November 2019. According to Frank Chapman, Executive Director of NAARPR, “We have 13 cities in which there is organizing against police crimes and for community control of the police.”

Chicago, IL – On September 9, nearly 200 workers, students and union organizers gathered in Millennium Park, across the street from the Art Institute of Chicago. The rally was a show of support for the Art Institute of Chicago Workers United (AICWU). AICWU is composed of two bargaining units – one of staff at the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) and the other of staff at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC).

Chicago, IL – On Sunday evening, September 12, a group of concerned Chicagoans and their dogs gathered at North Avenue Beach for a Pooch Walk to reclaim the space where a Chicago Police Department (CPD) officer attacked African American woman Nikkita Brown while she was walking her dog on August 28 at 12:12 a.m.

Chicago, IL – Several hundred striking workers and supporters rallied September 4 at the Nabisco plant on Chicago’s South Side. Strikers marched through around the plant, and even staged a sit-down action on company property.

Chicago, IL – On Sunday, August 29, there was a parade commemorating the 30th anniversary of the “renewed independence” of Ukraine. While this may at first glance seem to be no threat to labor, progressives and anti-racists, the true character of the event is revealed by the Nazi-coded language used in a letter written by the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America inviting other Ukrainian organizations to participate.