The lifesaving struggle to free Lynne Stewart, “the people’s lawyer,” continues. Following a full-house rally on May 9 at St. Mark’s Theatre in New York City, a vigil was held in Foley Square on May 15. The latter activity was held near the Manhattan federal courthouse where, in 2010, Stewart was unjustly convicted and sentenced [...]
The following statement was issued by the National Network on Cuba. On May 3, the U.S. government falsely branded Assata Shakur … as a “terrorist,” placing her name as the first woman on the most-wanted terrorist list, with obvious alternative motives, but supposedly for the false charges 40 years ago. This act is doubly scurrilous [...]
On May 5, a meeting called by the Boston Bolivarians celebrated the legitimate victory of the first working-class and Chavista president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro Moro. The well-attended event was held in the office of the International Action Center, together with Team Solidarity, a group to which several members of the United School Bus Workers [...]
Oakland, Calif. — More than 150 people came out to honor the memory of young Alan Blueford on May 5, the one-year anniversary of his killing by Officer Miguel Masso of the Oakland Police Department. Masso, who also shot himself in the foot, has yet to be fired, tried or held responsible in any way [...]
A major struggle is unfolding in the Republic of South Africa with the recent announcement that the Anglo American Platinum Corporation (Amplats) will lay off thousands of workers. Amplats, whose parent company is the Britain-based Anglo American, is the world’s largest producer of platinum. South Africa has deposits of 80 percent of the world’s known [...]
Haiti’s judicial police headquarters had banned demonstrations in support of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. So, on May 8, tens of thousands of Haitians marched alongside Aristide’s motorcade after he gave testimony in the courthouse in Port-au-Prince, the country’s capital. They escorted him home. Aristide provided testimony about Jean Dominique, a popular journalist who was assassinated [...]
Niagara Falls, N.Y. — Activists rallied at the gate of Niagara Falls Air Base on Mothers’ Day, May 12, to oppose plans to operate Predator and Reaper drones from the base. About 50 people from the Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars, including No Drones Niagara and the Western New York [...]
Hundreds of fast food workers strike in Detroit Hundreds of workers went on strike May 10 at more than 60 fast food restaurants in Detroit, demanding the right to form a union and a wage increase to a minimum of $15 an hour. McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC, Dollar Tree, Little Caesar’s, Domino’s, Long John Silver’s [...]
Bill Kaessinger, an anti-racist unionist and Workers World activist spanning three decades, beginning in the 1960s, died in Norwich, N.Y., on Jan. 13 after a long illness. Born Aug. 19, 1933, in New Jersey, Kaessinger was introduced to progressive politics at the dinner table. Not only was his dad a railroad worker and staunch unionist, [...]
On May 15 in Milwaukee, hundreds of workers walked off the job at fast-food restaurants, including McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Old Country Buffet and Popeye’s. The strikers from across the city, after converging with community allies at the Milwaukee County courthouse, marched in the hundreds to the Grand Avenue Mall for [...]
On April 10, 1993, racists in South Africa killed Chris Hani, the general secretary of the South African Communist Party and commander of Um Khonto we Sizwe (MK — “Spear of the Nation”), the military wing of the African National Congress. Hani went out for a morning run and was heading back home when Polish immigrant Janusz Walus approached him, saying he wanted to ask the leader a question. Soon Hani was shot dead, right outside his front door. […]
