By JEFF MACKLER The week of Sept. 19-25, "Mumia Awareness Week," saw countless marches, rallies, teach-ins, concerts, car caravans, film showings, and other coordinated actions to publicize the case of innocent death row political prisoner, Mumia Abu-Jamal. Organizers estimate that the original goal of 100 cities was far exceeded with college and university events … Continue reading ‘Mumia Awareness Week’
Category: Actions & Protest
Military Shoots Protesters in Streets of Jakarta
By GERRY FOLEY The Indonesian government and military have suffered their third major defeat in the last two years at the hands of student protesters with broad support among the population of the country's main city, Jakarta. The fighting in Jakarta Sept. 23-24 revived the image of a country gripped by a revolutionary crisis, … Continue reading Military Shoots Protesters in Streets of Jakarta
How Not to Fight the Klan!
By SHIRLEY PASHOLK CLEVELAND - For over a month, the local media focused on a Ku Klux Klan rally planned here for Aug. 21. Political posturing by Mayor Michael White, Cleveland NAACP President George Forbes, and the police department turned this into a long-running summer soap opera. But lost in this media circus was … Continue reading How Not to Fight the Klan!
In Defense of Black Youth: Defend the Million Youth March!
For the second time in a year, Black youth in New York City are being denied their democratic right to assemble and demonstrate on their own streets. On Aug. 26, Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani announced that he has denied a permit for the Sept. 4 Million Youth March (MYM) in Harlem, being organized by the … Continue reading In Defense of Black Youth: Defend the Million Youth March!
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 frequencies … Continue reading Thousands Rally to Defend KPFA Radio
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
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
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
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 … Continue reading Workers in India Strike Over Health and Safety
Boston Amtrak Workers Rally to Save Jobs
By JACQUELINE BOYLE and DAVID WALSH BOSTON-On June 12, over 300 Amtrak workers of the commuter rail system here attended a rally to defend their jobs. Members of the 16 rail unions gathered to oppose the contracting-out of the system to private companies and the resulting threat of mass layoffs. The extensive rail system has … Continue reading Boston Amtrak Workers Rally to Save Jobs
BOOK REVIEW: Whose Millennium?
Daniel Singer, "Whose Millennium? Theirs or Ours?" Monthly Review Press, 1999. 295 pp. $17.95 (paper). By PAUL SIEGEL Daniel Singer, the well-known European correspondent of The Nation, seeks in "Whose Millennium?" to demonstrate both the possibility and the need for creating a new society through collective political action. Marxists have often falsely been portrayed by their … Continue reading BOOK REVIEW: Whose Millennium?
Santa Cruz Cops Beat Protesters at Antiwar Rally
Socialist Action spoke to activist Steve Argue, who was arrested on May 22 at an antiwar protest in Santa Cruz, Calif., along with four other protesters. Donations for Steve's legal defense can be sent to the Steve Argue Solidarity Committee c/o Tracy DeAngelis, 234 High St., Apt. #3, Santa Cruz, CA 95060. Socialist Action: What … Continue reading Santa Cruz Cops Beat Protesters at Antiwar Rally
Who Won the War?
By NAT WEINSTEIN President Clinton claimed a "victory for a safer world, for our democratic values and for a stronger America." But polls show that fewer than half of Americans agree with him. Whether or not the proportion who agree with him is greater than, less than, or exactly right, however, we can be sure … Continue reading Who Won the War?
Santa Cruz Cops Beat Protesters at Antiwar Rally
Santa Cruz Cops Beat Brotesters at Antiwar Rally Police break up legal protest. Officer brutalizes woman and child before Steve Argue intervenes. Socialist Action spoke to activist Steve Argue, who was arrested on May 22 at an antiwar protest in Santa Cruz, Calif., along with four other protesters. Donations for Steve's legal defense can … Continue reading Santa Cruz Cops Beat Protesters at Antiwar Rally
Youth in Action: Cuba, Cuba, Cuba!
Cuba, Cuba, Cuba! Youth for Socialist Action is organizing a youth delegation to Cuba this December. The trip will be co-sponsored by the Cuban Union of Communist Youth, and will be an opportunity for YSAers to learn first hand about the Cuban Revolution, and the ongoing struggle of the Cuban people against the U.S. blockade. … Continue reading Youth in Action: Cuba, Cuba, Cuba!
Youth in Action
UC Berkeley Students Occupy Campus Building By ADAM RITSCHER On April 14, students at UC Berkeley responded to ominous moves against the Ethnic Studies program on the campus by occupying Barrows Hall. After a 10-hour occupation, during which banners were hung from the balconies and a crowd of students gathered in front of the building … Continue reading Youth in Action
Police Beat Antiwar Activist
SANTACRUZ, Calif.-On May 22, during a protest by the Santa Cruz Coalition to Stop the Bombing, anti-war activist Steve Argue was brutally beaten by Santa Cruz police and arrested. The anti-war protest had been called to protest a black-tie fundraiser for U.S. Rep. Sam Farr, who has voted for war appropriations. Police attacked several of … Continue reading Police Beat Antiwar Activist
‘Letter to Albanian Friends’ from Non-Governmental Organizations in Belgrade
Belgrade - April 30, 1999 Dear friends, We are writing to you in these difficult moments of our shared suffering. Convoys of Albanians and other citizens of Kosovo, among whom [are] many of you, were forced to leave their homes. The killings and expulsions, homes destroyed and burnt, bridges, roads, and industrial buildings demolished … Continue reading ‘Letter to Albanian Friends’ from Non-Governmental Organizations in Belgrade
Youth in Action
S.F. State Teach-In Promotes Student/Faculty Unity By ADAMRITSCHER For several months now, the faculty at San Francisco State University has engaged in a contract struggle with the administration over such important issues as "merit" pay, the increasing use of part -time professors, working conditions, and the move to do away with tenure. While obviously all … Continue reading Youth in Action
Mumia Speaks to April 24 Marchers
By MUMIA ABU-JAMAL The following message from Mumia Abu-Jamal was read to the Philadelphia demonstration: I greet you all, and thank you all for coming here today. For perhaps the first time in her history, your presence here today proves that Philadelphia can become a City of Brotherly Love. We stand today in support of … Continue reading Mumia Speaks to April 24 Marchers
Thousands March to Protest N.Y. Police Killing
By CLIFF CONNER NEW YORK-On April 15, some 20,000 to 25,000 New Yorkers marched across the Brooklyn Bridge to rally at Federal Plaza in Manhattan to express their outrage over the police shooting of Amadou Diallo, a 22-year-old African immigrant. Diallo, who was unarmed and innocent of any crime, was killed on Feb. 4 by … Continue reading Thousands March to Protest N.Y. Police Killing
ILWU Leads April 24 March for Mumia Abu-Jamal in San Francisco
By JEFF MACKLER SAN FRANCISCO-A magnificent, youthful, multi-racial, shouting and chanting, two-hour column of 25,000 protesters marched here on April 24 in defense of the Pennsylvania death row political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal. Close to 50,000 people attended the coordinated actions in San Francisco and Philadelphia, making April 24 the largest demonstration for a U.S. political … Continue reading ILWU Leads April 24 March for Mumia Abu-Jamal in San Francisco
April 24: Thousands March in Philadelphia for Mumia
By MARILYN VOGT-DOWNEY PHILADELPHIA-The largest event ever held for Mumia Abu-Jamal in his home city took place on April 24, his 45th birthday. Organizers estimated that from 20,000 to 25,000 participated in the event. The energetic crowd was approximately 40 percent people of color and in large proportion youth. Buses and vans brought people from … Continue reading April 24: Thousands March in Philadelphia for Mumia
FIGHTBACK: Mothers Day 1999
By SYLVIA WEINSTEIN The first Mothers Day proclamation was proclaimed by Julia Ward Howe in a poem titled "Mothers Day Proclamation, 1870." Julia Ward Howe wrote the lyrics for the Battle Hymn of the Republic. Her poem starts out with: "Arise, then, women of this day! Arise, all women who have hearts, whether your baptism … Continue reading FIGHTBACK: Mothers Day 1999
N.Y. Killer Cops Indicted as Protests Grow
By MARILYN VOGT-DOWNEY NEW YORK-A Bronx grand jury indicted four New York City police officers on charges of second-degree murder in the Feb. 4, 1999, death of West African immigrant Amadou Diallo. This is a great step in the battle for justice but a long way from conviction. Diallo was gunned down by Edward McMellon, … Continue reading N.Y. Killer Cops Indicted as Protests Grow