Chicago, IL – Instituto Justice and Leadership Academy (IJLA) is a small two-floor building that rests on the corner of Western and Blue Island Avenues in Pilsen, Chicago. At first glance you would notice the mural that decorates the wall – women of color with fists in the air, “La Lucha Sigue.” You might ask yourself, “Is this a school?” and the first answer is: yes. Though, the more accurate answer is: “It’s a home, a safe haven.”

Chicago, IL – The Chicago Alliance requested a meeting with Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot regarding the proposal for an all-elected, all-Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC) on March 11 on behalf of the 68 community organizations and leaders who support the proposed legislation. They have renewed that request, and demand to know why, as of May 24, she has not acknowledged their request for a meeting.

Chicago, IL – The U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) commemorated the Nakba, “Catastrophe” in English, which marks the ethnic cleansing of over 750,000 Palestinians, and the massacre of thousands more, by Zionist militia groups in 1948, in the wake of the establishment of the settler colonial state of Israel. Palestinians and their supporters all around the world remember the Nakba every year on or around May 15.

Chicago, IL – Educators at EPIC Academy College Prep who are seeking to join the Chicago Teachers Union celebrated the afternoon of May 18, when the NLRB – the National Labor Relations Board – blocked their employer’s reckless demand that they hold an in-person union election at the school. Such an election would have forced workers to risk their own health and the health of their loved ones during the shelter-in-place order.

Chicago, IL – On May 11, over 30 Arab and Muslim community members and their allies joined a Palos Township online meeting to continue demanding the resignation of the racist trustee, Sharon Brannigan.

Chicago, IL – I have lived into my sixties without giving really serious thought to 19th century English literature. My Catholic school teachers like Sister Irene and Sister Bridget continuously tried, but 45 years ago I was living the life of Eric Forman from That 70s Show. Younger and hipper lay teachers successfully introduced me to African American authors like Claude Brown, Richard Wright, Langston Hughes and James Baldwin. As a result, at the time I consumed Charles Dickens’ literature largely through a series of second-rate movies, cartoons and uneven theatrical performances that typically undermined the author’s work.

In response to the wave of repression unleashed by the U.S.-backed regime of Philippines President Duterte against the militant trade union grouping the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU)/May First Movement, progressive forces in the U.S. are speaking out.

Chicago, IL – Close to 400,000 students in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) are in their seventh week of remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through this haze of attempting to teach the children of Chicago one thing is becoming crystal clear: disparity. According to NBC Chicago 52% of coronavirus deaths are of African American people and 25% are Latinos. Working-class African American and Latino neighborhoods on the South and West Sides are being hit much harder than predominantly white neighborhoods downtown and on the North Side.

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

Chicago, IL – 500 cars from around Chicago converged on the State of Illinois Building as Governor J.B. Pritzker held his daily COVID-19 press briefing May 7. The horns could be heard clearly from inside the building.

Chicago, IL – In a dramatic development on May 4, two U.S. mercenaries were captured among an invasion force on the coast of Venezuela. Luke Denman and Airan Berry, ex-U.S. soldiers from Texas, were captured by the Venezuelan Navy and can be seen in photos, face down with their hands behind their backs on the shoreline. This failed “Bay of Piglets” comes as the U.S. Navy continues to patrol aggressively along the coast of Venezuela.

Chicago, IL – While the U.S. Navy aggressively patrols their coast, another U.S.-inspired attack on Venezuela failed during the morning of May 3. Venezuelan military and police captured two, and killed eight, armed mercenaries during the confrontation. Traveling by speedboat from Colombia, the invaders’ plan was to join local accomplices near the port of La Guairá. La Guairá is next to Venezuela’s international airport and only 20 miles from Caracas.

Chicago, IL – The headline in the Chicago Tribune Wednesday, April 19 blared: “Two charities have bailed scores of felony defendants out of Cook County Jail. Some were soon charged with new crimes.” The headline could have said, with equal validity, that “Millions of Chicagoans were not arrested last year. Some were charged with new crimes.”

Second UIC hospital worker confirmed dead of COVID-19

Chicago, IL – A University of Illinois health operating room technician, represented by SEIU Local 73, passed away this week of COVID-19 complications. An UI Health RN, represented by Illinois Nurses Association (INA), passed away last week. Over 200 hospital workers have tested positive for COVID-19. The two workers who died were not assigned to COVID-19 designated floors. There is a growth of infection outside the COVID-19 designated floors. Many employees throughout the hospital are only given surgical masks and gloves as protection.

Chicago, IL – These are hard days for people the world over. The COVID-19 virus has forced billions of people to stay at home, bringing the global economy to a near standstill. At the moment of writing, nearly 3 million people have been confirmed to have COVID-19 across the world, and over 200,000 people have died.

Chicago, IL – Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) will be marking International Workers Day virtually with talks from leaders of workers struggles in Chicago. The Sunday, May 3 forum will be streamed from the FRSO Chicago page via Facebook Live at 4 p.m.

Chicago, IL – 100 cars surrounded the Thompson Center in Chicago’s Loop, April 20, during Governor J.B. Pritzker’s daily press briefing on COVID-19. The caravan protest was held to demand Pritzker free police torture survivor Gerald Reed and all vulnerable prisoners at Cook County Jail, Illinois Department of Corrections prisons and ICE detention centers in Illinois – especially those over 60, those with medical conditions, and those who the governor’s own Torture Commission has already confirmed are victims of police torture and therefore wrongfully convicted.

Chicago, IL – Hundreds of people took their cars to Chicago’s jails and detention centers on Tuesday morning, April 7, to demand a mass release of incarcerated people in the city. Isolated from each other in their cars, they were united in their message: Jails, prisons and detention centers must be depopulated before the spread of COVID-19 turns them into death camps.

Chicago, IL – Hundreds of prisoners at the Cook County Jail have tested positive for COVID-19 as of April 6. Frank Chapman, the interim Executive Director of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, stated, “Right now, the Cook County Jail is a death trap for the prisoners because it is overcrowded, and the prisoners can't practice social distancing. This jail must be depopulated at once to save lives.”

Interview with Frank Chapman

Frank Chapman, a long-time leader in the Black liberation movement, talks about the November 22- 24 Chicago conference to refound the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. The interview was prepared for the print edition of Fight Back! which is now on hold due to the pandemic.