Chicago, IL – Frank Chapman is Field Organizer for the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, a leading organization in the fight against police crimes in Chicago. The Alliance created the legislation for the elected, Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC) that is gaining support among progressive candidates for the Chicago city council. The Alliance also has led the mobilization of over 400 people since the Sept. 5 start of the trial of Jason Van Dyke, who shot Laquan McDonald 16 times in October 2014.

DOJ, FBI, and DHS fail to disclose records on CVE initiative

Chicago, IL – On Sept. 26, the Arab American Action Network (AAAN), a grassroots community organizing and social services institution based in southwest Chicagoland, filed a federal lawsuit against the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, and the FBI to force them to release records about a secretive and controversial federal initiative called Countering Violent Extremism (CVE), and how it has spread to Illinois. The CVE initiative is a collection of federal programs and grants, allegedly designed to prevent homegrown terrorism by identifying potentially ‘radicalized’ people in local communities.

Black liberation is a not a state of mind that can be characterized as “Black Marxism” or the “Black Radical Tradition.” Nonetheless, there is an ideological need to settle accounts on this question of the identity between the “Black Radical Tradition” and Marxism.

Chicago, IL – The memory of murdered Illinois Black Panther Party Chairman Fred Hampton, Sr. was marked at a “Streetz Party,” August 30, at 2337 W. Chairman Fred Hampton Way (also known as Monroe Street), the site of his martyrdom. Chairman Fred Hampton, Sr. would have been 70 years old on August 30 of this year.

Chicago, IL – More than 100 people rallied at South Michigan Avenue and Congress Parkway, Sept. 15, to demand justice for Laquan McDonald.

Chicago, IL – A piece was published at Jacobin recently by Alex de Jong. He’s a representative of a Trotskyite Fourth International journal in the Netherlands. Normally, I wouldn’t waste time responding to anything written by anyone affiliated with the Fourth International, but Jacobin has a wide readership among young leftists today. Therefore, this is first an objection to Jacobin running such trash.

Chicago, IL – Voting instructions will arrive in the mail as soon as Sept. 10, for over 200,000 Teamsters affected by the proposed 5-year National Master UPS Agreement. The only two UPS locals not in the agreement are Local 705 and Local 710, which are currently still in negotiations.

Chicago, IL – Members of the U.S Palestinian Community Network from Chicago (USPCN) reported, August 24, on their summer delegation to Palestine. Bassem Kawar stated at the beginning of the event that their purpose was “to take our leading members and organizers to get a firsthand understanding of the occupation and the resistance on the ground.” They met with over 20 Palestinian organizations in the different “Fronts of Struggle,” which was the title of their talk.

Chicago, IL – Mickiel Ward and Kenneth Williams have been found guilty of the murder of Hadiya Pendleton, and the battery with a firearm on Sebastian Moore and Lawrence Sellers. The news media are rejoicing with the family of the slain 15-year-old honor student who marched in President Obama’s second inauguration parade. Pendleton’s mother appeared after the verdict on television saying that she and her family intended to “celebrate” after the verdicts.

Organizers firm in calling for Sharon Brannigan’s resignation

Chicago, IL – On Monday, August 13, the #ResignBrannigan campaign organized its 14th protest in Palos Township, marking a milestone in this anti-racist movement led by Arabs and Muslims, as residents protested not only Trustee Sharon Brannigan, but also the Nazi Congressional candidate Arthur Jones and his supporters, forcing them to leave the meeting. Jones was there to defend Brannigan and her racist hate speech.

Chicago, IL – Representatives of Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) met this morning, August 8, with Maria Rincon, Consul General of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

Chicago, IL – Hundreds of thousands of UPS Teamsters received a robocall, July 28, from UPS management announcing a “Town Hall” conference call to sell the tentative five-year agreement by UPS and Teamsters national negotiating committee.

Chicago, IL – Over 500 people rallied and marched for a third night in Chicago's South Shore neighborhood, July 16, where Harith “Snoop” Augustus was murdered by a Chicago police officer on Saturday evening. The protest was called by the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and Black Lives Matter-Chicago.

Chicago, IL – The Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, and Black Lives Matter-Chicago are calling for a protest Monday, July 16, 6 p.m., at 71st and Jeffrey to demand Justice for Harith Augustus, who was shot in the back Saturday afternoon by a Chicago police officer.

Interview with Bassem Kawar, of the Campaign to TAKE ON HATE

Fight Back! interviewed Bassem Kawar, national coordinator of the Campaign to TAKE ON HATE, a project of the National Network for Arab American Communities.

“The combination driver will create animosity in the work place” —Teamster Central Region International VP Robert Kopystynsky

Chicago, IL – Teamster Chief Negotiator Dennis Taylor and UPS shook hands on a tentative agreement, June 22, which will include a new driving position called Full-Time Combination Drivers (Combo Driver). Full details were released July 10. UPS Teamsters across the country are calling the new position a two-tiered concession that spells doom for future package car drivers.

To my comrades and friends in the Black Liberation movement I say: Yes, it is important to point out the mutual suffering of separation of Central American and Mexican children from their families at the border and Black children daily separated through policies of mass incarceration and police perpetrated genocide; it is important if our point is to demonstrate that no oppressed people should be alone and isolated in the struggle for their humanity.

Chicago, IL – About 50,000 people rallied and marched in Chicago’s Loop, June 30, to protest the Trump administration for separating kids from parents at the U.S.-Mexico border. The cruelty of this practice brought together over 100 organizations under the slogan Families Belong Together.