By SIMON DEVILLE LONDON-Anti-racism has reached a high point in Britain following the campaign for justice for Stephen Lawrence, a Black teenager murdered in Eltham in South East London in 1993. The police investigation of the Lawrence case was dogged by racism, incompetence, and corruption. Despite 26 separate witnesses approaching the police within the first … Continue reading Lawrence Case Spurs Anti-Racist Organizing
Category: Civil Liberties
You Can’t Kill Us All!
By JANE KELLY LONDON-In April, three nail bombs exploded here. Two went off in areas of Black communities-Brixton in South London, where about 40 percent of the population is Afro-Caribbean and Brick Lane in East London, home to the Bangladeshi community. Then April 30, another bomb was detonated in a gay bar in Old Compton … Continue reading You Can’t Kill Us All!
Our Readers Speak Out
Dear editor, The Socialist Action March issue just arrived, and it seems to get better with every issue! Jeff Mackler's article on Mumia was very fine. It appears that Mumia's struggle contains within itself the seed of a new leftward movement. Incredible-so soon after the Teamster debacle! But Mackler says that "The outcome of … Continue reading Our Readers Speak Out
Marine ‘Urban Warriors’ Meet Bay Area Protests
By WILLIAM WOLFE OAKLAND, Calif.-Under the guise of providing "humanitarian aid and disaster relief" to the beleaguered masses, the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps "Urban Warriors" sailed, hovercrafted, and humveed themselves into the San Francisco Bay Area March 15-21. They planned to "penetrate, thrust, and swarm" into the "urban littorals" of Oakland's Oak Knoll Hospital … Continue reading Marine ‘Urban Warriors’ Meet Bay Area Protests
Bernadette Devlin McAliskey Speaks on Rosemary Nelson’s Murder in Northern Ireland
On Monday, March 15, Rosemary Nelson, a leading human rights lawyer in Northern Ireland, was killed by a car bomb. The murder was claimed by a shadow Loyalist group calling itself "The Red Hand Defenders." But even real Loyalists-that is, violent pro-imperialist groups-have been known to be manipulated by the Northern Ireland police, the Royal … Continue reading Bernadette Devlin McAliskey Speaks on Rosemary Nelson’s Murder in Northern Ireland
Free Lori Berenson!
Socialist Action spoke recently with Kristen Gardner, a spokesperson of the Free Lori Berenson committees. She was a college roommate of Berenson, who was jailed three years ago in Peru on charges of being linked to the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA). She has been playing a leading role in building the campaign for Lori's release. … Continue reading Free Lori Berenson!
Ocalan Case Shows Hypocrisy of U.S. Bombing of Yugoslavia
By GERRY FOLEY The kidnapping of Kurdish resistance leader Abdullah Ocalan, with the help of the United States and the complicity of its NATO allies, created a wave of public criticism and outrage in Europe against the governments involved. For the time being, these protests have been overshadowed by the fears and furor aroused by … Continue reading Ocalan Case Shows Hypocrisy of U.S. Bombing of Yugoslavia
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
Black Prison Population Approaches One Million
By JOSEPH RYAN A recent analysis of Justice Department statistics has confirmed what most African Americans have known to be true for years: The U.S. criminal justice system, the courts, and the police have had a long-standing policy of arresting, prosecuting, and imprisoning Blacks-especially young Black men-at a rate out of all proportion to their … Continue reading Black Prison Population Approaches One Million
Youth in Action
YSA at March 6 Mumia Conference By ADAM RITSCHER "We are young fists and voices for Mumia!" This was the opening cry at the Youth for Socialist Action (YSA) workshop to organize high school students at the March 6 "Race for Justice" Mumia conference at UC Berkeley. The audience, of between 60-70 youth jammed into … Continue reading Youth in Action
Youth in Action
'Mumia's Life is in Our Hands' Paul M., a high school student in San Francisco and a member of Youth for Socialist Action, spoke at a high school workshop at the Match 6 conference for Mumia Abu-Jamal in Berkeley, Calif. Portions of his remarks follow: I am going to talk about the state of Mumia's … Continue reading Youth in Action
Berkeley Conference Emphasizes Unity for Mumia
By JEFF MACKLER BERKELEY, Calif.-A March 6 "Race for Justice" Western Regional Conference for Mumia at the University of California here attracted over 1500 activists. The conference demonstrated the broadest unity yet achieved in the effort to take the emerging national mass movement to stop the execution and demand a new trial to a new … Continue reading Berkeley Conference Emphasizes Unity for Mumia
Support Grows for Mumia and April 24
By JEFF MACKLER Support is building for the April 24 mobilizations in Philadelphia and San Francisco for award-winning journalist, death row political prisoner, and former Black Panther, Mumia Abu-Jamal. In a new development, it has been announced that the San Francisco march and rally will be led by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU). … Continue reading Support Grows for Mumia and April 24
‘We Want Justice’ Says Family of Youth Killed by Cop
By JULIA STEINBERG BALTIMORE-In April 1993, a Black teenager was shot in the back by a Baltimore city policeman. Six years later, his family is still fighting for justice. Baltimore cop Edward Gorwell admitted shooting 14-year old Simmont "Sam" Thomas. He claimed to have heard a gunshot and assumed that he was being shot at … Continue reading ‘We Want Justice’ Says Family of Youth Killed by Cop
Commentary by Mumia Abu-Jamal: An ‘Impartial’ Killing
"The hungry judges soon the sentence sign, And wretches hang that jurymen may dine." -Alexander Pope (1688-1714), "The Rape of the Lock" (1712) The dog days of August 1982 drew several people to the pools in Chicago's Washington Park, strangers who would meet and be thereafter linked for life. Among them, Marilyn Green and … Continue reading Commentary by Mumia Abu-Jamal: An ‘Impartial’ Killing
Under Cover of U.S./NATO Intervention, Serbs Intensify Attack on Kosovo
By GERRY FOLEY In pursuance of its ambition to become the world's cop, Washington and its NATO allies have initiated armed action against the rump Yugoslavia. Reports indicate that bombs falling upon residential and industrial neighborhoods have caused significant civilian casualties. The Clinton administration claimed that its attack was undertaken in order to halt Serb … Continue reading Under Cover of U.S./NATO Intervention, Serbs Intensify Attack on Kosovo
The Persecution of the Los Angeles Eight
In a Feb. 24 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court gave the American rulers a new license for political repression against foreign-born residents. By a vote of six to three, it rejected the appeal of eight supporters of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in Los Angeles who immigration officials have been trying … Continue reading The Persecution of the Los Angeles Eight
Military Crushes Romanian Miners’ Protest
By GERRY FOLEY After they led the country's increasingly desperate population to the brink of a general social explosion in January, the Romanian coal miners of the Jiu Valley suffered a disastrous defeat when they tried to renew their protest in February. In January, the miners had defied a court order banning their strike and … Continue reading Military Crushes Romanian Miners’ Protest
Teachers in Mexico City Beat Back Gov’t Austerity Drive
By GERRY FOLEY Militant teacher trade-unionists in Mexico have just won a major victory against the government's attempts to break the labor movement's resistance to its austerity and privatization drive. Teachers have been a prime target of this assault, since the budget sent to the Mexican congress by President Ernesto Zedillo calls for cutting the … Continue reading Teachers in Mexico City Beat Back Gov’t Austerity Drive
Cops Attack N.Y. Mumia Conference
By MARTY GOODMAN NEW YORK-Four persons were arrested and several physically assaulted by campus security and New York Police Department (NYPD) cops at a Feb. 13 conference sponsored by the New York Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition. The conference had been called to organize support for the mass April 24 march for Mumia in Philadelphia. Among … Continue reading Cops Attack N.Y. Mumia Conference
Commentary by Mumia Abu-Jamal: Legalized Cop Violence
"When a gang member is beaten by persons unknown in a mixed neighborhood, and the Black gangs begin terrorizing WHITES, it is called racism; a bunch of cops can ride through Black neighborhoods all day beatin' ass, and call it law; when a bunch of Blacks beat one of these cops' ass it's called mob … Continue reading Commentary by Mumia Abu-Jamal: Legalized Cop Violence
FIGHTBACK: The End of Welfare as We Know It?
By SYLVIA WEINSTEIN The UN Development Program's 1998 report estimates that for the "developing" countries, "the additional cost of achieving and maintaining universal access to basic education for all, basic health care for all, reproductive health care for all women, adequate food for all, and safe water and sanitation for all is roughly $40 billion … Continue reading FIGHTBACK: The End of Welfare as We Know It?
U.S. Engineered Ocalan Kidnapping
By GERRY FOLEY Washington has not been bashful about taking the credit for engineering the kidnapping of Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan by Turkish commandos. In its Feb. 20 issue, The New York Times quoted an unnamed "senior" U.S. official as saying: "We spent a good deal of time working with Italy and Germany and Turkey to find … Continue reading U.S. Engineered Ocalan Kidnapping
NYPD Orders Dumdum Bullets
By MARILYN VOGT-DOWNEY Police Commissioner Howard Safir's first response to the Diallo killing was to order more careful training of SCU cops. Then on Feb. 13, he joined Mayor Giuliani at a press conference to announce plans to make cops' guns even more gruesome by issuing hollow-point "dumdum" bullets to the NYPD in the coming … Continue reading NYPD Orders Dumdum Bullets
New Yorkers Protest Cop Killing of Ahmed Diallo
By MARILYN VOGT-DOWNEY NEW YORK-When four cops gunned down Amadou Ahmed Diallo in the doorway to his home at 12:45 a.m. on Feb. 4, they made the institutionalized brutality and racism of the New York City Police Department into an international issue. The victim of this police murder was a 22-year-old African immigrant from Guinea … Continue reading New Yorkers Protest Cop Killing of Ahmed Diallo