Delegates and members across the country assembled at Socialist Action's Ninth National Convention to discuss and debate the major national and world political issues confronting revolutionary socialists today. The March 23-26 convention was preceded by a four-month written pre-convention discussion that included 23 bulletins with some 70 separate contributions from party members. The major convention … Continue reading Socialist Action’s Ninth Annual Convention
Month: April 2000
Youth in Action
The Aftermath of Proposition 21 By JAVIER ARMAS A series of ballot propositions have been passed recently in California that severely attack the democratic rights of youth, people of color, and the working class in general. The worst one yet, concerning the rights of minors, was approved by voters in early March by 65 percent. … Continue reading Youth in Action
Joe Walsh
One of the most faithful supporters of the Irish republican cause in San Francisco died on March 2 at the age of 82. Joe Walsh was a leading activist in the fight to free Bernadette Devlin McAliskey's daughter Roisin. His political roots went back to the Irish civil war of 1922-23. As a young child, … Continue reading Joe Walsh
Teamsters Notebook
Drivers Out-Tough Bakery Bosses When 1400 Teamster drivers walked off the job at Wonder Bread bakeries in Biddeford, Maine, and Wayne, N.J., a Teamster official told the press that the union would shut down one bakery every day the union was forced to stay out. "It's a wave that's going to go right across the … Continue reading Teamsters Notebook
The Crisis of W-2 in Milwaukee
By ANALISA L. DREW MILWAUKEE-It comes as no surprise that since the implementation of W-2, or Gov. Tommy Thompson's Welfare "Reform," in Wisconsin, Milwaukee is in the throes of a crisis of unparalleled proportions. As more people are faced with the awful reality of their situation: losing government aid, having to work in minimum wage … Continue reading The Crisis of W-2 in Milwaukee
Labor Briefing
Miners' union scraping bottom? There was a time when the United Mine Workers Union (UMW), led by the world-famous John L. Lewis, could force even the federal government to bend to its will. But since the union still led by Lewis began its collaboration with the mine owners to "modernize and consolidate" the coal industry, … Continue reading Labor Briefing
The Myth of ‘Too Many People’
by Nat Weinstein The March 27 edition of the San Francisco Chronicle published a debate in its "Open Forum" section on the recent decision of the AFL-CIO to reverse its long-standing hostility to the rights of immigrant workers. The writer taking a position in support of the AFL-CIO decision was David Bacon, co-chair of the … Continue reading The Myth of ‘Too Many People’
Labor’s Turn Toward Immigrant Workers
By NAT WEINSTEIN The following report is based on the lessons drawn in last month's article by Charles Walker on the AFL-CIO's policy shift; that is, the reversal by labor's top officialdom of its long-standing hostile stance toward undocumented immigrant labor in the United States. Rather than viewing undocumented immigrant workers as unfair competition, the … Continue reading Labor’s Turn Toward Immigrant Workers
He Really Does Look Like Huey Newton!
By GAETANA CALDWELL-SMITH I thought it ironic that the night I went to see Michael Gene Sullivan's solo performance, "Did Anyone Ever Tell You-You Look Like Huey P. Newton?" an ex-Black Panther Party member and leader, H. Rap Brown, allegedly shot and seriously wounded two sheriff's deputies near downtown Atlanta. The deputies were serving a … Continue reading He Really Does Look Like Huey Newton!
The Battle for London
LONDON-For the first time since Margaret Thatcher closed down the Greater London Council (GLC), which had become a thorn in her side under the leadership of charismatic Labour Party left-winger Ken Livingstone (coined in the press as "Red Ken") London, along with some other big cities, is once again being allowed to have some limited … Continue reading The Battle for London
Paris Commune
By JAN BIRCH Today many workers feel discouraged looking at the way society is run. The economy and the governmental structure seem so complicated. The seats of power seem omnipotent. It can make us feel that social change is impossible. And our rich history of heroic struggles by the working class is often hidden from … Continue reading Paris Commune
Book Review: “Weaving the Web”
By ROD HOLT The business of foretelling revolutions has largely been taken away from the oracles, prophets, and madmen that Western civilization depended on in the past. Even as capitalism was barely started, prognostication was just too profitable an activity to be left to amateurs. This became abundantly clear when some entrepreneur discovered how easy … Continue reading Book Review: “Weaving the Web”
Conflict Escalates Between NATO/UN Forces and Kosovars
By GERRY FOLEY Conflict between the UN occupiers of Kosovo-composed mainly of Western imperialist forces-and the forces that fought for independence has been growing and sharpening for some months now. In its March 31 dispatch, Kosovapress in Albanian, the press service set up by the Kosovo Liberation Army, denounced the UN administrator, Bernard Kouchner, in … Continue reading Conflict Escalates Between NATO/UN Forces and Kosovars
Louisiana Prisoners Challenge 28 Years of Solirary Confinement
By ANGOLA 3 SUPPORT COMMITTEE On Thursday, March 30, 2000, the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana filed a civil rights lawsuit on behalf of the Angola 3-Robert King Wilkerson, Herman Wallace, and Albert Woodfox-who have spent the past 28 years in solitary confinement at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. The suit alleges that … Continue reading Louisiana Prisoners Challenge 28 Years of Solirary Confinement
Robeson, Sweet Robeson
By EDDIE HATCHER ROBESON, N.C.-Today, a trial ended in Robeson County Superior Court. This trial has already ended one time before. It ended last year in a hung jury. District Attorney Johnson Britt wanted to retry it. Today's trial also ended in a hung jury, but no one should be surprised. The trial started yesterday … Continue reading Robeson, Sweet Robeson
International Call to Action on May 13: Save The Life of Mumia Abu-Jamal! Mobilize on May 13!
Leonard Weinglass, Chief Legal Counsel for Mumia Abu-Jamal, has sounded the alarm: The next 90 days will be more critical to the life of Abu-Jamal, than the preceding 17 years. Federal District Court Justice William Yohn must decide whether or not to grant review to the record of false evidence and official perjury that punctuated … Continue reading International Call to Action on May 13: Save The Life of Mumia Abu-Jamal! Mobilize on May 13!
Critical Court Decision Ahead for Mumia
By JEFF MACKLER Within the next 60 days, Leonard Weinglass, chief legal counsel for Mumia Abu-Jamal, expects a critical decision to be issued in the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal. Condemned to death in Philadelphia 18 years ago by the notorious racist "hanging judge" Albert Sabo, award-winning journalist Abu-Jamal has set an example for all on … Continue reading Critical Court Decision Ahead for Mumia
N.Y. Police Go On Rampage at Funeral of Patrick Dorismond
By PAUL SIEGEL NEW YORK-Police here went on a rampage against a crowd of mourners, estimated by WBAI-Pacifica and the New York Daily News at more than 10,000, at the March 25 funeral of Patrick Dorismond. Dorismond, a 26-year-old security guard and the son of a well loved Haitian singer, had been killed by a … Continue reading N.Y. Police Go On Rampage at Funeral of Patrick Dorismond
AFL-CIO Backs Anti-IMF, World Bank Protest in Washington: “Dump the Third World Debt”
By NAT WEINSTEIN It's no secret that the Mobilization for Global Justice, scheduled for Washington, D.C., April 16-17, is intended to be a bigger and better sequel to the Seattle anti-WTO demonstration at the end of last year. The Washington event has received a fairly wide endorsement-including that of the AFL-CIO as well as the … Continue reading AFL-CIO Backs Anti-IMF, World Bank Protest in Washington: “Dump the Third World Debt”
Fightback: The Happy Imperialist
The happy imperialist is one who can ride roughshod over the world without any worry about getting their just rewards. No one has the strength to "get even." NOT YET! In the March 30 San Francisco Chronicle there is an article entitled, "Drug Task Force Conducts Sweep South of Border." The article starts, "Arresting a … Continue reading Fightback: The Happy Imperialist
EDITORIAL: The Elian Gonzalez Gase
As we go to press, it appears that the U.S. government is finally preparing to turn Elian Gonzalez over to his father, after more than four months of delays and anti-Communist drum-beating. U.S. capitalist politicians and the media in general have exploited the case of this six-year-old child to try to make propaganda points against … Continue reading EDITORIAL: The Elian Gonzalez Gase
Russian Dissidents Denounce Western-Backed ‘New Stalinism’
By GERRY FOLEY The election of ex-KGB official Vladimir Putin to succeed Boris Yeltsin as president of Russia was notoriously predetermined. This was not only because he continues to ride a wave of chauvinism directed against the Chechen people and because of his total control of the media. All of the major components of the … Continue reading Russian Dissidents Denounce Western-Backed ‘New Stalinism’