News and Views from the People's Struggle
Baton Rouge, LA – On April 19, almost 200 Baton Rouge community members gathered at the State Capitol for a march to the Russell B. Long Federal Building to say no to unlawful ICE actions, illegal deportations and the attacks on vital government programs.
Decorah, IA – On a clear Saturday afternoon, April 19, members of FRSO and a crowd of over 250 people gathered at Carl Selland Wayside Park in Decorah to send a message loud and clear – “Hands off our communities, hands off our rights.” The rally, organized by NE Iowa Indivisible, was the second in an ongoing series of public actions aimed at promoting solidarity in the face of growing reactionary threats.
San José, CA – Once again, President Trump backed off in his trade war. On Tuesday, April 22, President Trump said that he would not fire Jerome Powell, chair of the Federal Reserve Bank, and that the current 145% tariffs are “not sustainable”. This led to a rally in U.S. stocks and bonds, and the U.S. dollar rose as investors showed signs of relief.
Denver, CO – On April 19, Denver joined cites nationwide in a day of action against Trump and his racist and reactionary agenda. An estimated 8000 people marched at the Colorado State Capitol in protest of the recent attacks on immigrants, and for upholding rights for Palestinians, unions, the working class, women and trans people.
San José, CA – Can the Trump administration win its trade war with China? This question is coming up more and more. On one hand, the Trump administration uses simple math to argue that the United States has the upper hand. Their logic is that since the United States has a large trade deficit with China in goods – that is the United States buys a lot more, almost $300 billion more from China in 2024, than China buys from the United States – then tariffs can reduce China’s exports a lot more than China can reduce U.S. exports.
Tampa, FL – On Friday, April 18, 15 people, including Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), students and community members, rallied near the entrance of the University of South Florida in response to the University of South Florida (USF) Police Department’s recent signing on with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The rally was in collaboration with the National Day of Action for Higher Education, a coalition of student and professor groups organizing in response to Trump’s recent attacks on higher education.
Detroit, MI – 2500 people gathered at Hart Plaza, April 19, ready to fight back against Donald Trump and his attacks on working-class people, both at home and abroad. The demonstration was a “Hands Off” march and rally, organized by Detroit Anti-War Committee, Detroit Comité de Acción Comunitaria, Detroit Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Wayne State Students for a Democratic Society, and Freedom Road Socialist Organization.
Minneapolis, MN – On April 15, the date U.S. residents must have their taxes submitted, the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition held an energetic rally outside U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar’s office in downtown Minneapolis to demand that Klobuchar stand with her constituents and insist Trump uses tax dollars to improve people’s lives and end U.S. aggression against countries across the world.
Since his January 20 inauguration, Trump has attempted to cut over $11 billion in funding to public health at the state level. While this has been blocked in the federal courts, that hasn’t stopped the executive administration from threatening to cut public education funding from K-12 programs, if they do not eliminate their diversity, equity and inclusion projects.
Over 75 protesters and community members held signs and chanted slogans calling for money for schools, jobs, healthcare, housing etc., “not for war!” while Minnesotans drove by and honked in support. The demands of the action included things like “Divest from Israel” “End U.S. forever wars” “Hands off Mexico and Gaza” and “Stop bombing Yemen.”
The first speaker was Vash Lamp from the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, who stated, “And that's the sad reality of our situation. That not only are our taxes not used to support us in areas like housing or healthcare, but they are actively used to harm and oppress us. We are having to fight against our own money.”
Abir Ismail, a math teacher and member of Minneapolis Federation of Teachers for Palestine, stated, “While our government write checks to this brutality – the bombing of Palestinian children, they are telling our own children they don’t matter – that their reading specialist is too expensive, that the paraprofessional in their classroom has to be let go, that their special education needs are just ‘unaffordable’.”
Ismail continued, “There is no neutrality when children are being slaughtered. There is no justification for genocide. And there is no excuse for abandoning our schools while we bankroll bombs.”
Wyatt Miller of the MN Anti-War Committee stated, “The war on Yemen like all U.S. wars, is unpopular. And let’s not forget, Yemen is under attack for standing with Palestine against Israel’s genocide. Fighting a new war to protect Israel is more unpopular right now than it’s ever been. People like Amy Klobuchar want us to believe that all of the millions of people who are protesting Trump think just like her, and that only a little sliver of what Trump does is truly bad, and that maybe the problem with Trump’s wars is that he’s not waging them competently enough. I don’t believe it! People aren’t stupid, people understand that the bullshit is connected, and we in the anti-war movement need to go out and find our people, build our movement into the movement against Trump rather than silo ourselves off from it.”
At the end of the protest participants were encouraged to come to the Earth Day march to the state capitol in Saint Paul on Saturday, April 19.
Las manifestaciones del 5 de abril en todo el país vieron a cientos de miles de personas salir a las calles. Muchos más se sintieron inspirados por la cantidad de gente dispuesta a alzar la voz ahora mismo contra el gobierno de Trump. En estas marchas había gente común de todos los ámbitos: trabajadores, estudiantes, activistas y familias estaban alzando la voz para exigir un cambio. Va a haber más acciones de este tipo en el futuro. Son una prueba para nosotros. ¿Daremos un paso adelante para unir a todos los que se puedan unir contra Trump y la clase multimillonaria a la que él sirve? Si nos quedamos al margen de esta, perdemos sin pelear.
San José, CA – On Wednesday, April 9, one week after President Trump declared a universal 10% tariff and for all the countries that the United States ran trade deficits with, he announced even higher tariffs of up to 50%. Even while members of his administrators were saying the tariffs were going to stick, Trump blinked and declared a 90-day pause for all countries except China.
The April 5 demonstrations across the country saw hundreds of thousands taking to the streets. Countless others were inspired by the numbers of people willing to take a stand right now against the Trump administration. At these marches were everyday people from all walks of life; workers, students, activists and families were raising their voices to demand change. There will be more of these kinds of actions ahead. They are a test for us. Will we step up to unite all who can be united against Trump and the billionaire class he serves? If we sit this one out, we lose by forfeit.
Carlos Montes es un líder reconocido a nivel nacional en el movimiento chicano, de derechos de los migrantes y en la lucha contra la guerra. Fue cofundador de los Boinas Cafés (Brown Berets), una organización chicana de la clase trabajadora en Estados Unidos a finales de los años 1960 y 1970. Los Boinas Cafés se inspiraron y a menudo fueron comparados con el Partido de las Panteras Negras (Black Panther Party).
San Jose, CA – On Saturday, April 5, several thousand San Jose residents gathered in Saint James Park as part of a wider wave of “Hands Off” protests happening around the United States. The protest was chiefly against the Trump administration's attacks on broad sections of people, including immigrants, federal workers, trans people and many more.
At a Beijing press conference, April 9, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian responded to questions about the 104% tariffs the Trump administration has placed on Chinese goods.
Kokomo, IN – On Saturday, April 5, hundreds of people gathered at the Howard County Courthouse in Kokomo as part of the nationwide “Hands Off!” protest organized by Operation Blue Horizon, a subcommittee of the Howard County Democratic Party.
Protesters rallied against billionaires Trump and Elon Musk and demanded an end to the racist and reactionary attacks on working people and against the genocide in Palestine.
Los Angeles, CA – On Saturday, April 5, over 10,000 people gathered in the heart of downtown Los Angeles, joining the nationwide in the “Hands Off!” protests which have been the largest demonstrations to date against Donald Trump and his administration.
St. Paul, MN – At least 50,000 people rallied here April 5 against Trump’s racist and anti-worker agenda. The Saint Paul rally was held in front if the Minnesota State Capitol. The rallies took place on the same day in over 1200 cities around the U.S. as part of a national coordinated protest and drew crowd sizes that far surpassed expectations.
Dallas TX – On April 5 organizers from Freedom Road Socialist Organization, DFW Anti War Committee and the National Alliance Against Racism and Political Repression joined the DFW Indivisible and 50501 groups in a rally to say “Hands off” to the Trump administration’s attacks on labor, public services and government infrastructure.
San José, CA – Over the last few days, since President Trump’s latest tariffs were announced on April 2, comments have often called them “bizarre,” “weird” or similar terms. But there is a method to what might seem to be Trump’s madness.
The tariff rates announced were calculated on the basis of the U.S. trade deficit with each country, or how much more the United States imports from said country than the amount of U.S. goods it buys. This was often dismissed as “nonsense,” but it reflects President Trump’s longstanding obsession with U.S. trade deficits.
Appleton WI – On Saturday April 5, 2500 protesters convened at Houdini Plaza as part of the national “Hands Off” day of action. The demonstration spread throughout downtown Appleton, encompassing the sidewalks of several whole city blocks.
This event comes after the one-sided defeat of Brad Schimel in the Wisconsin Supreme Court election. Schimel campaigned on banning abortion, stripping union rights and attacking immigrants, and his loss came despite the millions of dollars that Elon Musk personally poured into the campaign. Schimel’s loss is a clear indication that the people are against Elon Musk, Donald Trump and the reactionary Republican agenda expanding in Wisconsin.