By JEFF MACKLER BERKELEY, Calif.-Some 50 years ago, the Pacifica chain of radio stations charted unprecedented ground in U.S. radio broadcasting. Pacifica became the first network to be supported entirely by listener contributions as opposed to corporate advertising or foundation grants. Today, one in five people in America lives within reach of the FM frequencies … Continue reading Thousands Rally to Defend KPFA Radio
Month: August 1999
Youth in Action
Meet Us at the Socialist Educational Conference! By ADAM RITSCHER "I'm interested in attending Socialist Action Summer School, and joining a group of young activists." These words from a young woman college student in San Francisco exemplify the type of response members of Youth for Socialist Action have been getting in trying to sign … Continue reading Youth in Action
Youth in Action
Solidarity with Mexican Students! By DEREK SEIDMAN (Los Angeles YSA) In an amazing display of strength and resistance, Mexican students at the National Autonomous University (UNAM) have continued to keep the largest university in Latin America closed down for over three months, striking against a government onslaught to substantially raise the tuition costs, which in … Continue reading Youth in Action
Editorials
School Resegregation is on the Rise The gains of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s through the 1970s are collapsing at an ever increasing rate. The effects can be seen in housing, employment opportunities-and especially in education. Time magazine noted in 1996, "After two decades of progress toward integration, the separation of Black children … Continue reading Editorials
Teamsters Notebook: Hoffa’s First Clashes with the Ranks
By CHARLES WALKER On May 1, Teamsters President James P. Hoffa officially took office, claiming that he would restore the Teamsters Union power and pride. Hoffa said he would restore the union's unity, after three bitterly fought elections since 1991 had pitted the union's hardened bureaucratic officialdom against democratic reformers and militants. Less than three … Continue reading Teamsters Notebook: Hoffa’s First Clashes with the Ranks
Union Activists Meet in Youngstown, Ohio
By SHIRLEY PASHOLK Youngstown State University periodically holds labor history conferences. But the few area workers who attend complain that these conferences are boring and ignore workers' real life experiences and concerns. They decided a different type conference was needed-a conference aimed at workers, where present day struggles could be examined in the light of … Continue reading Union Activists Meet in Youngstown, Ohio
Workers in India Strike Over Health and Safety
Workers at the Hema Chemical Industries plant in Vadodara, Gujarat, India, have been on strike for more than seven months in protest against the company's refusal to observe the health and safety regulations in the 1948 Factory Act or even court orders. The Hema workers walked out on Dec. 11, 1998, both in response to … Continue reading Workers in India Strike Over Health and Safety
Cuba’s UN Ambassador Denounces NATO Occupation of Yugoslavia
Cuban Ambassador Bruno Rodriguez addressed the United Nations in late June on the subject of the recently ended war in Yugoslavia. Below we reprint the full text of Rodriguez's speech. It is followed by a reply by the U.S. representative to the UN and then by Rodriguez's rebuttal. Translation from the Spanish is by the … Continue reading Cuba’s UN Ambassador Denounces NATO Occupation of Yugoslavia
NY Forum: ‘NATO’s War on the Balkans and US Foreign Policy’
By LILLIAN POLLAK NEW YORK-On June 30, Socialist Action held a forum here on "NATO's War on the Balkans and U.S. Foreign Policy." About 125 people attended. In order to ascertain genuine information from eye-witnesses and journalists who are concerned with the truth, the organizers called upon four speakers to conduct the forum-Pacifica Radio commentators … Continue reading NY Forum: ‘NATO’s War on the Balkans and US Foreign Policy’
What Were the Underlying Causes of the War on Yugoslavia?
By MARILYN VOGT-DOWNEY Following is a speech given at the New York City Socialist Action forum, "NATO's War on the Balkans and U.S. Foreign Policy," on June 30, 1999. The U.S./NATO military attacks against Serbia and Kosovo represented a military offensive against the Yugoslav revolution of 1945. It was also an effort to further soften … Continue reading What Were the Underlying Causes of the War on Yugoslavia?
Mass Protests in Serbia Call for Milosevic to Step Down
By GERRY FOLEY The end of the war against Yugoslavia has been followed in Serbia by the eruption of angry mass protests against the Milosevic government. Unlike the reaction against the Serbian strongman's acceptance of defeat in Bosnia, inscribed in the Dayton treaty, the antigovernment upsurge has not come from disappointed Serbian chauvinists. Instead, the … Continue reading Mass Protests in Serbia Call for Milosevic to Step Down
Justice for Max Antoine!
By MICHAEL SCHREIBER On a hot June night three years ago, police officers in Irvington, N.J., assaulted and tortured a Haitian American man, Max Antoine, in front of his family and friends. According to the witnesses, Max Antoine had done nothing illegal, nothing to provoke the cops. And yet, the force of the attack has … Continue reading Justice for Max Antoine!
After Mandela, Will the ANC Deliver?
By CHARLIE VAN GELDEREN South Africa's second election on a full non-racial franchise has resulted in an overwhelming victory for the ANC slate, led by Thabo Mbeki, achieving an even bigger victory than Mandela's in 1994. The ANC, with 66.4 per cent of the vote, fell short of its target of a two-thirds majority. That … Continue reading After Mandela, Will the ANC Deliver?
Students Challenge Iranian Regime
By GERRY FOLEY Massive protests of Iranian students and other youth in July presented the authoritarian clericalist regime that was constituted shortly after the 1979 revolution with its greatest challenge yet. The upsurge exposed increasingly explosive contradictions. Despite the rapid political turn to the right of the Islamic leadership, the revolution set the masses in … Continue reading Students Challenge Iranian Regime
New Threats to Execute Mumia
By JEFF MACKLER According to the July 12, 1999, Philadelphia Daily News, the state of Pennsylvania intends to sign a warrant in August 1999 for the execution of innocent death row inmate, journalist, and political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal. Pam Africa told Socialist Action that she contacted the article's author, John Baer, to verify his source. … Continue reading New Threats to Execute Mumia
Commentary by Mumia Abu-Jamal: Anatomy of a Lie
By MUMIA ABU-JAMAL NEWS ITEM-A 47-year-old substitute teacher announces he heard former Black Panther Mumia Abu Jamal admit murdering a Philadelphia police officer. Vanity Fair magazine features an interview with Phillip Bloch, who tells the reporter that Jamal made the admission to him during a visit in winter of 1992 at Huntingdon prison. The FOP … Continue reading Commentary by Mumia Abu-Jamal: Anatomy of a Lie
Vanity Fair and ABC-TV Stories of Mumia’s ‘Confession’ Collapse
By JEFF MACKLER Last month, the nation's corporate media blared forth with "new evidence" demonstrating the guilt of Mumia Abu-Jamal. Former Pennsylvania Prison Society member Phillip Bloch was quoted in a lengthy article published in the July issue of Vanity Fair and repeated in an updated rebroadcast on ABC's 20/20 to the effect that Jamal … Continue reading Vanity Fair and ABC-TV Stories of Mumia’s ‘Confession’ Collapse
Irish ‘Peace’ Process in Crisis
By GERRY FOLEY The Good Friday Peace Agreement, which was supposed to end the conflict in Northern Ireland, went into crisis at the end of June, when because of new conditions posed by the pro-British Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), the deadline was missed for installing the power-sharing executive, the central pillar of the Agreement. The … Continue reading Irish ‘Peace’ Process in Crisis
FIGHTBACK: A Fungus Among Us
By SYLVIA WEINSTEIN Reading the morning newspaper is enough to strike fear in the hearts and minds of everyone of us. In The New York Times of July 27, there are two stories on the first page that should shake us out of morning lethargy. First is the story that the Environmental Protection Agency will … Continue reading FIGHTBACK: A Fungus Among Us
Clinton, Congress Work to ‘Save’ Social Security – but from Whom?
By NAT WEINSTEIN President Bill Clinton and his bipartisan Congress initiated a decade-long assault on Social Security based on a big lie cut from the whole cloth. Starting even earlier, the news media had discovered that waves of "baby boomers," born at the end of World War II, would soon start reaching retirement age. The … Continue reading Clinton, Congress Work to ‘Save’ Social Security – but from Whom?
Thousands Rally to Defend KPFA Radio
By JEFF MACKLER BERKELEY, Calif.-Some 50 years ago, the Pacifica chain of radio stations charted unprecedented ground in U.S. radio broadcasting. Pacifica became the first network to be supported entirely by listener contributions as opposed to corporate advertising or foundation grants. Today, one in five people in America lives within reach of the FM … Continue reading Thousands Rally to Defend KPFA Radio
Youth in Action: Meet Us at the Socialist Educational Conference!
By ADAM RITSCHER "I'm interested in attending Socialist Action Summer School, and joining a group of young activists." These words from a young woman college student in San Francisco exemplify the type of response members of Youth for Socialist Action have been getting in trying to sign up youth for the summer school. … Continue reading Youth in Action: Meet Us at the Socialist Educational Conference!
YOUTH IN ACTION: Solidarity with Mexican Students!
Solidarity with Mexican Students! By DEREK SEIDMAN (Los Angeles YSA) In an amazing display of strength and resistance, Mexican students at the National Autonomous University (UNAM) have continued to keep the largest university in Latin America closed down for over three months, striking against a government onslaught to substantially raise the tuition costs, … Continue reading YOUTH IN ACTION: Solidarity with Mexican Students!
Editorials
School Resegregation is on the Rise The gains of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s through the 1970s are collapsing at an ever increasing rate. The effects can be seen in housing, employment opportunities-and especially in education. Time magazine noted in 1996, "After two decades of progress toward integration, the separation of Black … Continue reading Editorials
Teamsters Notebook: Hoffa’s First Clashes with the Ranks
By CHARLES WALKER On May 1, Teamsters President James P. Hoffa officially took office, claiming that he would restore the Teamsters Union power and pride. Hoffa said he would restore the union's unity, after three bitterly fought elections since 1991 had pitted the union's hardened bureaucratic officialdom against democratic reformers and militants. Less than three … Continue reading Teamsters Notebook: Hoffa’s First Clashes with the Ranks