By ADAM RITSCHER Native Americans have been on the receiving end of an oppressive relationship with the United States since the day this country was founded. Of late a series of confrontations has taken place between the government and Native Americans over Native rights and the racist policies of the U.S. government. Among them is … Continue reading Yankton Sioux Fight to Protect Ancestors’ Remains
Month: February 2000
50,000 Protest Confederate Flag in S. Carolina
Over 50,000 Black and white South Carolinans chose to celebrate Martin Luther King day with a demonstration and rally against the continued display of the Confederate battle flag over the state capitol in Columbia. The turnout, which was the largest civil rights demonstration in the state's history, surprised both protest organizers and right-wing supporters of … Continue reading 50,000 Protest Confederate Flag in S. Carolina
Prop. 21 Targets Youth in California
By JAVIER ARMAS California voters are faced with a decision this March-whether or not to pass Proposition 21. Many California youth are threatened and becoming politicized on this issue. What is Proposition 21, and why are young people so threatened? Proposition 21 gives prosecutors, instead of judges, the power to send many juvenile cases to … Continue reading Prop. 21 Targets Youth in California
In Defense of Marxism: In Defense of the Fourth International
The politics and economy of world capitalism-its crises, its wars, and its unrelenting destruction of the environment-all have a global character. Never before has this been so plain as today. The revolutionary party that seeks to overturn capitalism must therefore also be organized on a global scale. Just as socialism cannot be realized in one … Continue reading In Defense of Marxism: In Defense of the Fourth International
Clinton’s Vision of the 21st Century: Many Colombias
By NAT WEINSTEIN Following is a talk given to a Latin American Studies class at St. Mary's College in Moraga, Calif., last month. The class is focusing this semester on the civil war in Colombia and the so-called "war on drugs" waged by President Clinton and his bipartisancapitalist government. Colombia has a more than 50-year … Continue reading Clinton’s Vision of the 21st Century: Many Colombias
River Rouge: 1941
By JAN BIRCH In 1941, tens of thousands of auto workers at the Ford River Rouge complex in Dearborn, Mich., overcame many obstacles to build a union from the bottom up and to win a strike that had a strong potential to turn into a "race riot." This is a history filled with drama, … Continue reading River Rouge: 1941
Teamsters Notebook
Storm Toopers Teamsters President James Hoffa threw Philadelphia Local 115 into trusteeship, ousting John Morris, a key Ron Carey ally and one of the few top old-line Teamsters who hasn't gone over to Hoffa. At one point it looked like Morris would be back at the helm of the union, when a judge ruled that … Continue reading Teamsters Notebook
Labor Briefing
ILWU Asks, What's Next After Seattle? Longshoreman's Union (ILWU) President Brian McWilliams writes in the union's paper, The Dispatcher (December 1999), that "the labor movement did itself proud in Seattle, demonstrating its resurgence as a progressive social force in the U.S." Then he asks, "Where does this burgeoning movement go from here? ... What should … Continue reading Labor Briefing
China Trade: The Yellow Peril?
By CHARLES WALKER Some commentators are saying that the Seattle anti-WTO demonstrations have ensured that foreign trade will be a weighty political issue in the run up to next year's presidential election. But even before the Seattle actions, organized labor intended to campaign against the U.S. Congress granting China the same access to the U.S. … Continue reading China Trade: The Yellow Peril?
Russian Troops Capture Chechen Capital
As we go to press on Feb. 6, Acting Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that Russian troops seized Grozny, the capital of Chechnya. At the beginning of the war five months ago, some 50,000 people were trapped in Grozny. Despite the high civilian casualties, the Russians bombed the city with relentless savagery. Photos of … Continue reading Russian Troops Capture Chechen Capital
Russian Paper Mill Workers Defeated by Treachery
After more than two years the militant occupation conducted by the workers of Vyborg paper mill has ended in scab treachery and defeat. Vyborg Paper and Pulp Mill, with its highly advanced machinery, is situated in Sovietsky town, strategically located between St. Petersburg and the Finnish border. Unpaid and threatened with wholesale firings in a … Continue reading Russian Paper Mill Workers Defeated by Treachery
An Afro-Cuban Speaks out for Elian
In a recent article, titled "Elian's Tragedy and the traitorous behavior of El Duke," Dr. Alberto Jones, a member of the West Indian Welfare Society in the city of Guantanamo, Cuba, who now resides in northern Florida, described the conditions to which Elian is being subjected. Jones is an activist with strong ties to his … Continue reading An Afro-Cuban Speaks out for Elian
Commentary: Just Imagine Having to Grow Up in Cuba
Dear Mr. Byrne, You write in your column today that Elian Gonzalez should return to Cuba only if his father "can guarantee that his son will enjoy all the freedoms spelled out in the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights." I think you're onto something. In fact, why don't we apply that idea to … Continue reading Commentary: Just Imagine Having to Grow Up in Cuba
May 13 Set for International Protests for Mumia Abu-Jamal
By JEFF MACKLER Pam Africa, national coordinator of the International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal, announced during a recent nine-day San Francisco Bay Area speaking tour that May 13 has been set for national and worldwide protests to demand a new trial for death-row political prisoner, Mumia Abu-Jamal. Mumia, imprisoned for the past … Continue reading May 13 Set for International Protests for Mumia Abu-Jamal
Fightback: Who Cares for Children?
by Sylvia Weinstein Articles have begun appearing in the press recently about the children of former welfare mothers who are getting sub-standard child care. Tom Zoellner of the San Francisco Chronicle writes, "Mediocre child care is harming the basic development of about 1 million American toddlers whose mothers have left welfare rolls to go back … Continue reading Fightback: Who Cares for Children?
The Hurricane: A Courageous Life Story Told Hollywood Style
By MICHAEL SCHREIBER "The Hurricane," directed by Norman Jewison. Written by Armyan Bernstein and Dan Gordon. Starring Denzel Washington. "The Hurricane," the movie about Black prize fighter and prisoner Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, is a political event. Almost never does Hollywood venture to portray the life of a political rebel in a sympathetic manner. In this … Continue reading The Hurricane: A Courageous Life Story Told Hollywood Style
Let Elian Return Home!
By ROLAND SHEPPARD The recent trip by Elian Gonzalez' grandmothers to the United States clearly demonstrated that he should be returned to his family. Elian's grandmothers returned to Cuba to a hero's welcome, honored with a motorcade past hundreds of thousands of cheering Cubans and vowing to continue the struggle to wrest the six-year-old shipwreck … Continue reading Let Elian Return Home!
Crisis in Ecuador
By GERRY FOLEY Oppressed and Exploited Indians Topple Govt. Since the mass upsurge of Jan. 21 in Ecuador overthrew the government of Jamil Mahuad, the international capitalist press has been filled with stories claiming that these events represented a new danger of military rule in Latin America. The truth is a bit different. What happened … Continue reading Crisis in Ecuador