• BRECHA DE CONCIENCIA • ATAQUE CONTRA INMIGRANTES 12

Workers and oppressed peoples of the world unite! workers.org Vol. 59, No. 49 Dec. 7, 2017 $1 Get rid of Trumpism? FBI no, mass resistance YES!

By Fred Goldstein tal protection and threaten hundreds against Trump. Mueller and his grouping struggle against Trump must take center of thousands of undocumented immi- will do it in an entirely unprincipled way stage. Dec. 4 — While the Trump administra- grants. which will do nothing to impede the at- tion’s attacks upon the masses continue On the other hand, the special prose- tacks on the people. Mueller v. Trump: Pushback against without letup, the political struggle with- cutor’s office under Robert Mueller has Many, many struggles have been right-wing move in the ruling class intensifies and the po- just forced Michael Flynn, Trump’s for- waged on numerous fronts against cap- The move by Mueller against Flynn litical crisis of the system deepens. mer national security adviser, to enter a italist reaction — on the picket lines, in is calculated to undermine Trump at On the one hand, the Republican Par- plea agreement that can implicate high the communities, on the campuses, out- the moment that he is moving to push ty and Trump are about to finalize a tax Trump officials in secret dealings with side detention centers, in the prisons things even more sharply to the right. In giveaway to millionaires and billionaires the Russians during the election cam- and on the reservations. These struggles fact, the Mueller investigation is as much to the tune of hundreds of billions of dol- paign of 2016. must grow stronger and wider until they about Trump as it is about Russia. Muel- lars, even as they starve social services, It is harmful to the masses to let a eclipse the Mueller investigation and the ler took Trump totally by surprise by not health care, education and environmen- faction of the ruling class lead the battle FBI — enemies of the people. The popular giving the White House even a moment’s Continued on page 10

Hondurans challenge U.S.-backed regime 11

Dec. 5 bulletin: Observers in Tegucigalpa report that the national police, including an elite unit previously trained by U.S. experts called the COBRAS, have refused to enforce the curfew ordered by the U.S.-backed regime. This is the first indication that the massive popular uprising has driven a wedge into the apparatus of state repression itself. Tax thievery 3

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Students  In the U.S. protest Get rid of Trumpism? FBI no, mass resistance YES! . . . . . 1 Students protest Chicago school closings ...... 2 Rob the poor to pay the rich ...... 3 Chicago Net Neutrality to be given away to cable monopolies . . 3 Syracuse, NY: Grad workers denounce tax plan ...... 4 Seattle school bus drivers strike ...... 4 school closings PHOTO: CTU TWITTER FEED Brooklyn, NY tenants insist: ‘The city is not for sale!’ . . . 4 Students strike, sit down in hallways. Notorious Philly DA appointed ...... 5 By Becca Tellgren-Leng and Steinle verdict: Bigots call for sanctuary cities boycott . .5 Thomas Tellgren-Leng ‘We will protest until oppression ends’ ...... 9 Chicago ground, sending her to Mercy Hospital in an ambulance. Not only are Chicago schools infested with rats, 113  Workers World Conference 2017 schools (out of 660 in 2014-15) tested positive for unac- Students at Harper High School staged a sit-in on Dec. Lessons from Detroit and beyond ...... 6 1, protesting the closing of all four public high schools in ceptable levels of lead in the drinking fountain water! Disability rights: A working-class issue ...... 6 the historically Black, working-class neighborhood of En- Drive to gentrify, privatize glewood on Chicago’s South Side. Fighting Native Erasure ...... 7 The schools are slated to close next June, with a re- Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel closed 50 public schools Oppressed, working women must lead ...... 7 placement school not set to open until the fall of 2019. in 2013. These closings affected 46,000 children — the Dialectics and dreaming the impossible ...... 8 The proposed replacement school will be developed un- majority of them Black — and were 10 times more likely The working class and mass struggle ...... 8 to target schools that had a majority-Black teaching staff. der Distinctive Schools, which has ties to Edison Learn- Low wage and oppressed workers in the struggle ...... 9 ing. That for-profit charter network has received criticism As members of the Chicago Teachers Union who work from communities in San Francisco and Michigan, Dela- in a West Side neighborhood, it is very apparent to us  Around the world ware and Florida for mistreatment of teachers and their that Emanuel’s latest proposal — motivated by continued Hondurans fill streets, resist electoral fraud ...... 11 gentrification of Chicago’s South Side and the profits that role in penalizing and displacing students. Fidel Castro remembered in the former Soviet Union . . . 11 The replacement of public schools with charter schools generates — is an attack on Chicago’s Black working-class in Chicago is an attack on unionized teachers in Chica- communities.  Editorial go Teachers Union Local 1. Charter schools are also an Activists have been protesting the installation of a $95 Behind the unthinkable ...... 10 attack on students, especially Black and Brown students million cop training academy in Garfield Park, another  with disabilities. historically Black, working-class neighborhood on the Noticias en Español In the network of Chicago charter schools, where one West Side of Chicago. Cerrando la brecha de conciencia ...... 12 of the writers of this article worked, the rigid discipline, Closing public schools and opening police academies Ataque contra inmigrantes dirigido inflexible learning environment and rejection of restor- are both racist attacks on Chicago’s Black and Brown a todos los trabajadores ...... 12 ative justice caused many students, both with and with- communities. Instead of working to improve the condi- out disabilities, to drop out, transfer, repeat grades or be tions in schools and fund public resources, Emmanuel expelled — all so the school might have a more “rigorous” and his cronies are bent on policing and privatizing the learning environment. remaining services available to Chicago’s most oppressed Another South Side school is also in the news. Mollison communities. Elementary, located in Bronzeville, is experiencing an in- Chicago doesn’t need another racist charter school. We festation of rodents. A protest at the school broke out the need sustainable community schools equipped with clean Workers World morning of Nov. 30 when a school security guard crushed drinking water and clean classrooms where students can 147 W. 24th St., 2nd Fl. a Local School Council representative and parent to the flourish and learn. New York, NY 10011 Phone: 212.627.2994 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.workers.org Vol. 59, No. 49 • Dec. 7, 2017 Closing date: Dec. 5, 2017 Join us in the fight Editor: Deirdre Griswold Managing Editors: John Catalinotto, LeiLani Dowell, for socialism! Kris Balderas Hamel, Monica Moorehead, Minnie Bruce Pratt; Web Editor Gary Wilson Workers World Party is a revolutionary Marxist-­ Wages are lower than ever, and youth are saddled with Leninist party inside the belly of the imperialist beast. seemingly insurmountable student debt, if they even make Production & Design Editors: Coordinator Lal Roohk; We are a multinational, multigenerational and multigen- it to college. Black and Brown youth and trans people are Andy Katz, Cheryl LaBash dered organization that not only aims to abolish capital- gunned down by cops and bigots on a regular basis. Copyediting and Proofreading: Sue Davis, ism, but to build a socialist society because it’s the only WWP fights for socialism because the working class Bob McCubbin, Jeff Sorel way forward! produces all wealth in society, and this wealth should re- Contributing Editors: Abayomi Azikiwe, Capitalism and imperialism threaten the peoples of main in their hands, not be stolen in the form of capital- Greg Butterfield, G. Dunkel, K. Durkin, the world and the planet itself in the never-ending quest ist profits. The wealth workers create should be socially Fred Goldstein, Martha Grevatt, Teresa Gutierrez, for ever-greater profits. Capitalism means war and aus- owned and its distribution planned to satisfy and guar- Berta Joubert-Ceci, Terri Kay, Cheryl LaBash, terity, racism and repression, joblessness and lack of antee basic human needs. Milt Neidenberg, John Parker, Bryan G. Pfeifer, hope for the future. No social problems can be solved Since 1959, Workers World Party has been out in the Betsey Piette, Gloria Rubac under capitalism. streets defending the workers and oppressed here and Mundo Obero: Redactora Berta Joubert-Ceci; The U.S. is the richest country in the world, yet no one worldwide. If you’re interested in Marxism, socialism Andrea Bañuelos, Alberto García, Teresa Gutierrez, has a guaranteed right to shelter, food, water, health care, and fighting for a socialist future, please contact a WWP Carlos Vargas education or anything else — unless they can pay for it. branch near you. Supporter Program: Coordinator Sue Davis Copyright © 2017 Workers World. Verbatim copying Contact a Workers World Party branch near you: workers.org/wwp and distribution of articles is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved. National Office Boston Detroit Los Angeles Rockford, Ill. 147 W. 24th St. 2nd Fl. 284 Amory St. 5920 Second Ave. 5278 W Pico Blvd. [email protected] Workers World (ISSN-1070-4205) is published weekly except the first week of January by WW Publishers, New York, NY 10011 Boston, MA 02130 Detroit, MI 48202 Los Angeles, CA 90019 Salt Lake City 212.627.2994 617.286.6574 313.459.0777 [email protected] 801.750.0248 147 W. 24th St. 2nd Fl., New York, NY 10011. Phone: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] 323.306.6240 [email protected] 212.627.2994. Subscriptions: One year: $30; institu- Madison tions: $35. Letters to the editor may be condensed and Atlanta Buffalo, N.Y. Durham, N.C. 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Tax “reform” Rob the poor to pay the rich

By Chris Fry ers, the Senate bill allows owners to re- premiums will go up, duce their taxable income by deducting 23 and could cause 13 mil- Dec. 4 — Faster than a speeding corpo- percent of those profits. This is a favorable lion people to lose their rate PAC contribution to campaign cof- change from the current 17.4 percent. health insurance. fers, the U.S. Senate passed its version of Boss Trump’s family, which owns some It allows the well-off the infamous “tax reform” bill after mid- 500 pass-through companies, stands to to use tax-free dollars night on Dec. 2. All but one of the Repub- save tens of millions in reduced taxes from to fund K-12 private and lican senators voted for the bill. this provision alone. (cnbc.com, Dec. 1) religious schools, while The legislation now goes to a joint And a lot of his billionaire buddies will at the same time it low- House-Senate “reconciliation” commit- see their top income tax rate reduced ers the tax deduction for WW PHOTO: ANNE PRUDEN tee, where both corporate giveaway ver- from 39.5 percent to 35 percent, saving property taxes, which In New York City, union workers march Dec. 1 against new tax plan. sions of the bill will be merged into one fi- them millions upon millions for more will put the pinch on nal bill. The Senate and House each tried yachts, more mansions, more private public education. the middle class,” and it will drive up the to outdo the other in showering favors on jets. They even get a new maintenance In the proposed Trump budget, sub- deficit. True enough. But payoffs to mil- the wealthy. deduction for those jets. sidies for the Affordable Care Act are itary contractors are their real priority. Some of the senators’ changes aimed already slated to be slashed. That budget When the massive $700 billion Pentagon at pleasing the rich were hand-scrawled More attacks on poor to follow also calls for a 47 percent cut to Medicaid budget came up for a vote in November, on the margins even as the bill was be- But for the workers and oppressed, this with a 30 percent cut to food stamps. nearly all Democrats voted for it, even ing debated. “After Oregon’s Ron Wyden tax giveaway for big business, combined Pell Grants and student loans will be though they know it makes social pro- expressed outrage that the bill couldn’t with the Trump budget plan, represents devastated. Funding for K-12 schools will grams more vulnerable because it will be read before the vote, Senate Majority devastating cutbacks and a new wave of be reduced by 30 percent. Head Start will hike up the deficit. Leader McConnell insisted Wyden would austerity, all designed to rob the workers lose nearly 200,000 kids. Job-training Should the Dems regain control of have ‘plenty of time to read (it) — after- and poor to pay the rich. cuts will rise to 40 percent, and nearly 1 Congress next year, you can be sure what wards.’” (msn.com, Dec. 2) These senators have made their agen- million households will lose rental assis- they will say when the next recession hits Blithely labeled a “middle-class tax da quite clear. According to Sen. Orrin tance. All of these attacks are especially — and it will. They will tell the workers cut” by both Trump and these millionaire Hatch: “We’re spending ourselves into harmful to Black and Latinx communi- and oppressed to quietly accept that the senators, the legislation is, in fact, a huge bankruptcy. … You don’t help the poor by ties. (theroot.com, Nov. 16) Treasury lacks money to rescue them. giveaway to corporations, banks and the continually pushing more and more lib- That’s what the Democrats did in the billionaire class. eral programs through.” More debt for workers 2008 Great Recession. For workers — well, as an ar ticle in Roll- Sen. Marco Rubio told the press: “The These fat-cat legislators proclaim that That the capitalist system provides ing Stone put it: “The last best estimate driver of our debt is the structure of So- the tiny tax cuts for workers will stim- tax cuts for big business and its billion- we’re left with is the JCT [Joint Commit- cial Security and Medicare for future ben- ulate the economy by hiking consumer aire owners while imposing austerity on tee on Taxation] scoring that shows that eficiaries.” (washingtonpost.com, Dec. 2) spending. But the Center for Microeco- workers means that capitalism has failed. more than 80 percent of Americans wind Neither noted that the biggest discre- nomic Data, part of the Federal Reserve, Now the wizards of high finance can no up in 2027 with either a tax increase or a tionary item in the yearly federal budget reports: “Total household debt reached a longer rely on their “normal” exploitation benefit of less than $100.” is always military spending. new peak in the third quarter of 2017, ris- to generate enough profits. Out of desper- While all the much-touted tax breaks Meanwhile, workers are contributing 83 ing $116 billion to reach $12.96 trillion.” ation and greed they have directed their for workers are temporary, the maximum percent of the total federal budget through (newyorkfed.org, Nov. 1) minions to squeeze the working class corporate tax rate is permanently reduced their income and payroll taxes for Medi- So workers will be forced to spend harder to fill their vaults. from 35 percent down to a measly 20 per- care, Social Security, worker’s compensa- much of any savings from their meager Workers face a choice: To meekly ac- cent. And for “pass-through” businesses, tion and so on. (tinyurl.com/yd9nudye) tax reduction to pare down their debt. cept wave after wave of these terrible which are privately owned companies The Senate tax plan ends the mandate All Democratic senators did vote attacks — whose profits “pass through” to the own- for health insurance, which means that against the tax bill, saying it is “unfair to Or to fight. Net Neutrality to be given away to cable monopolies

By Gary Wilson or from making charges based on favor- was passed in 2015 only because it was gressive challenge to the internet cable ing one source over another. so widely supported, with literally mil- monopolists, the so-called service pro- Not every move by the Trump admin- Did net neutrality regulations estab- lions of comments recorded at the FCC in viders. That can only come from an inde- istration is done with a Twitter shoutout. lish a completely open internet? No. Did support of strict regulation of the inter- pendent, grass-roots movement. Quietly on Nov. 21, right before a holiday, they prevent price gouging by the mo- net service providers. a news release from the Federal Commu- nopoly service providers? No. Almost 90 Polls show that sup- nications Commission reported that the percent of the United States is restricted port for the regulations 2015 net neutrality regulations would be to getting internet service only from the has only increased, not reversed at a Dec. 14 commission vote. four monopolies — AT&T, Charter, Com- ­decreased. The chairman of the FCC, Ajit Pai, was cast and Verizon. Today, what might selected by Trump and given a five-year As an essential utility, internet service be called the internet appointment by the Senate on Oct. 2. should be free, like the city streets, or at monopoly capital- Pai has been at the FCC since 2011 in a minimal cost, like water. That would be ists — Amazon, Ap- Republican Party position and had long essential for an open internet. ple, Facebook, Google advocated at the FCC for his previous em- and Microsoft — have ployer, Verizon. No longer a freewheeling voiced little opposition The announcement got some but not a World Wide Web to the repeal of net lot of notice. The repeal of the net neutral- The internet itself is not the freewheel- neutrality regulation. ity regulations is a big giveaway to four of ing World Wide Web that it started out Perhaps because the the most hated monopolies in the United as in the 1990s. Today, the internet is change in regulations States: AT&T, Charter, Comcast and Ver- controlled by gatekeepers and monopo- will not challenge their izon. All are cable companies, and the lists. Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google control in any way. change will mean that internet service and Microsoft control almost everything Of course, no one will become a mirror of cable service. online. New York Times tech columnist should expect the in- No one needs to be reminded how ex- Farhad Manjoo calls them “the frightful ternet monopoly cap- pensive cable service is, nor how bad. five” and notes that they are “collectively italists to lead a pro- The future will be “Basic Internet” with more powerful than many governments.” Facebook-Messenger-WhatsApp-Ins- (Oct. 26) tagram, Google-YouTube, Amazon and Google and Facebook have a direct in- CAPITALISM maybe Skype. Premium channels might fluence over 70 percent of all web traffic. AT A DEAD END include Netflix and Hulu. Mobile internet traffic is now the major- Job destruction, overproduction The net neutrality regulations intro- ity of all internet traffic worldwide, and and crisis in the high-tech era duced in 2015 classified internet service most mobile devices are used primarily EL CAPITALISMO EN UN as a utility, a communications service to access Google and Facebook networks. like the telephone. As a utility, inter- In the big business media, there is lit- CALLENJON SIN SALIDA net service providers were banned from tle coverage of popular opposition to the For other writings by the author, Fred Goldstein, go to www.LowWageCapitalism.com throttling or blocking service in any way repeal of net neutrality. Net neutrality Available at major online bookstores. Page 4 Dec. 7, 2017 workers.org

Syracuse University union drive Grad workers denounce tax plan By Minnie Bruce Pratt part of a national graduate which has the highest rate of concentrat- Syracuse, N.Y. student walkout to protest ed poverty for those populations in the the tax bill, with participa- U.S. Worker outrage and organizing was tion in #gradtaxwalkout International grad students spoke of the order of the day on Nov. 30, as some at more than 50 colleges how the economic burden would add to 150 members of Syracuse Graduate Em- and universities. special difficulties they already suffer: ployees United and their supporters extra travel and living expenses, being rallied on Syracuse University’s central ‘Build power in the work- targeted by white supremacists and Is- quad. SGEU was speaking out both for place’ lamophobes, isolation from their home the right to a union and against the cur- Speaker after speaker, countries and cultures, fear of losing rent federal tax bill that was on the verge ranging in academic de- their documentation status. of passing the U.S. Senate. partments from Physics Students affiliated with the disability SGEU was making its first public an- to Journalism, from Dis- rights movement said that SU was just nouncement of a drive to unionize all ability Studies to Geog- beginning to make the school accessible graduate teaching assistants (GAs and raphy, gave devastating to all students, and the tax plan barriers TAs), research assistants (RAs) and fel- WW PHOTO: MINNIE BRUCE PRATT details on the impact of would effectively cut access for grad stu- lows at SU. After the SU administration Student workers affiliate with SEIU Local 200United Nov. 30. the tax bill’s proposed dents with disabilities. tried to take employee health insurance conditions in the form of comprehensive provisions. Under the current tax code, Scott Phillipson, president of SEIU away from grad student workers in spring and affordable health care, decent wag- tuition benefits received by grad stu- Local 200United, described the GOP tax 2015, many began to meet and reach out es, accessible childcare, adequate men- dents are exempt from taxation. The tax plan as “a kick in the gut for the working to other student workers to build a union. tal health support, and other benefits to plan would repeal that exemption, so a class.” An SU School of Law graduate, he At the rally, SGEU declared its affil- make graduate life viable, particularly for grad worker earning $5,000 yearly for said that under that plan he could not iation with Service Employees Local oppressed groups largely excluded from teaching, who receives $36,000 in un- have afforded to attend SU as “a hard- 200United. This local represents ap- accessing graduate education. taxed tuition benefits, would go from scrabble Rochester working-class kid,” proximately 900 building and grounds, “A union gives us collective bargaining paying virtually no taxes to owing over and that he was honored to be with the dining services and library employees at power,” she continued, “and enables us to $3,456 in taxes — on an actual income graduate workers as they fight for a union. Syracuse University. democratically make decisions that im- of $5,000. Student loan interest would He pointed out that untaxed tuition Laura Jaffee, a key SGEU organizer, prove our work lives. The power to have also not be allowed as a tax deduction. benefits, available to all SU employees has worked as a teaching assistant in some say over the conditions of our work (Daily Orange, Nov. 28) for their children, are the only way union the Cultural Foundations of Education is a really basic acknowledgement of the Rally speakers stressed the tax plan members who clean the classrooms and Department. She told WW: “I support a value of the work we do.” would make Syracuse University even cut the grass can afford to give their chil- union because the work TAs, GAs, and Jaffee emphasized that a union would less accessible to Indigenous students dren a college education. RAs do is necessary for the university to help fend off future attacks on graduate on whose land the school stands, and He ended: “Our dreams are getting function. We deserve to be compensat- workers, like the blows now threatened to Black and Latinx students, especially squashed. We have to build power in the ed for that labor with dignified working by the new federal tax plan. The rally was those from the city of Syracuse proper, workplace.”

Seattle school bus drivers strike

By Jim McMahan after First Student unilaterally cut back its Seattle medical plan for the workers. A driver on the picket line described not having access to the Four hundred school bus drivers held a one- health care plan despite the fact that she has day strike Nov. 29 against First Student, the big cancer. The workers are also striking against national contractor. The strike shut down all a woefully inadequate retirement plan. school bus transportation in the Seattle school A big turnout of multinational drivers was district, which has almost 50,000 students. on picket lines at both First Student bus lots. Teamsters Local 174 announced the strike a Another strike could be called at any time if day early to give families notice that they would a fair agreement is not reached. And “it will need to find other means of transportation. not just last one day,” asserted Local 174 Pres- The unfair labor practice strike was called ident Rick Hicks.

Brooklyn tenants insist Cops move in at City Hall in New York City, Nov. 30. ‘The city is not for sale!’ WW PHOTO: ANNE PRUDEN

By Anne Pruden would become 100 percent affordable. three years has been vic- New York City But the plan Cumbo backed in the coun- torious in forcing the pol- cil meeting included over 150 market-rate iticians and developers to Brooklyn tenants against gentrifica- apartments. include 250 low-income tion were threatened with arrest on Nov. Not long after the protesters opposed apartments in the armory 30 during a New York City Council meet- to gentrification and displacement filled plan. Only 10 percent of ing. Earlier, these advocates for afford- seats at the council meeting, another the projected apartments able housing occupied the flight of steps City Council member praised Cumbo’s are designated for people leading up to New York City Hall. Two armory plan. When the crowd’s demands who are homeless. hundred tenants, members of Laborers of “Kill the deal!” rang out, people were As Imani Henry, a Union Local 79 and other supporters threatened by police with removal by leader in the Brooklyn had rallied for over an hour to demand physical force of anyone who spoke out. Anti-gentrification Net- that Brooklyn’s publicly owned Bedford The protesters condemned any praise work, told WW: “What is Union Armory in the Crown Heights for Cumbo’s plan because market rate evident and clear is that neighborhood be turned into 100 percent means high rents and continued dis- the vast majority of the affordable housing. placement of poor and working-class City Council are Demo- Politicians walked by this very strong renters. As community leader Berta Lew- crats, who are pro-gen- protest on their way to the council meet- is of NY Communities for Change said: trification in line with ing, where they would soon vote against “[Cumbo] has no shame. She will do any- big real estate. Even the so-called pro- the council members and the de Blasio the interests of the community. thing!” Lewis noted that politicians “will gressive ones are at the bidding of big administration know what they are doing Laurie Cumbo, City Council represen- talk progress and walk for profit.” realtors. is wrong. They’re scared to death of the tative for the tenants’ area, had promised The community’s strong organizing “That there was so much police pres- people, when the people of the city con- during her run for office that the armory and working-class pressure over the last ence for our rally speaks to the fact that tinue to rise against them!” workers.org Dec. 7, 2017 Page 5 Serious questions after Notorious Philly DA appointed By Joe Piette he chose Castille, who bragged during his election campaign for State Supreme Court Longtime Philadelphia civil rights at- in 1993 that he was responsible for putting torney and newly elected District Attor- 45 men on Pennsylvania’s death row. ney Larry Krasner has appointed former Krasner campaigned that he would DA and retired State Supreme Court Jus- reduce mass incarceration, yet Castille tice Ron Castille, a notorious death pen- boasted about strengthening state laws alty advocate, to his 16-member transi- against drug trafficking, which more than tion team. Krasner’s official term begins tripled the conviction rate of local drug in January. dealers. In other words, Castille contrib- A number of supporters of Mumia uted mightily to mass incarceration. Abu-Jamal and other community activ- Castille and the state’s other DAs per- ists criticized the selection of Castille to a suaded the Pennsylvania Legislature to committee that features 15 other elected approve mandatory sentencing for drug officials, city power brokers and attor- dealers — one of many state laws for neys (including noted civil rights defense which Castille took credit as legislative attorney Michael Coard). chairperson of the Pennsylvania District WW PHOTO: JOE PIETTE Some Krasner supporters are sug- Attorneys Association in the late 1980s. Demonstrations earlier this year call for freeing Mumia Abu-Jamal. gesting that it’s only his transition team, Castille asserted that he took on “every which includes people who will not nec- child advocacy group in the state” to push may be accused of. As Philly DA, Cas- recorded during Castille’s term as DA. essarily be in his official administration, through a tougher law on juvenile crime. tille concluded that despite the deaths On May 8, 2013, state Justice Castille so it’s not that important. This law let police photograph and fin- of 11 Black adults and children after the wrote the opinion that allowed unneces- There are many reasons, however, to gerprint youths arrested for felonies and city bombed the home of MOVE, a Black sarily gerrymandered legislative districts ask what good could come from Krasner’s gave the DA the power to veto judges’ de- liberation group, in 1985, there was in- for the next eight years in Pennsylvania, appointment of Castille. cisions to send youths into probation-like sufficient evidence of criminal intent to especially obstructing the voting rights Castille refused to recuse himself from programs. (Philadelphia Daily News, justify a prosecution of any city officials. of Black, Brown and poor communities. ruling on Abu-Jamal’s appeal at the State Sept. 25, 1989) More than 100 members of the racist This practice in Wisconsin and other Supreme Court level, even though the Krasner promised to end the civil asset Fraternal Order of Police attended Cas- states is currently being challenged in the former Philly DA was instrumental in forfeiture law; yet this law was actually tille’s victory party in 1985. The organi- U.S. Supreme Court. denying Mumia’s appeal years earlier. written by Castille. The American Civil zation had sent out 16,000 letters urging Krasner has the right to appoint any- Mumia currently has a case under liti- Liberties Union of Pennsylvania says that members to “bring their moms, their one he wants to his transition team. But gation, which could lead to his freedom, under this law, “[T]he government can brothers, their sisters, their aunts” to the if he chooses to invite a former DA with a that hinges on whether a federal Supreme legally take property it claims is connect- polls. Retired officers staffed telephones long history of supporting the death pen- Court decision against such practices ap- ed to illegal activity but without actual- and drove 26 vans to deliver the message alty, mass incarceration and the FOP, and plies to him. ly charging, much less convicting, the on Castille’s behalf. of being anti-justice, the people have a Castille’s inclusion on Krasner’s team property owner of a crime.” (aclupa.org) The FOP named Castille FOP Man right to raise questions. Many politicians gives a false impression that the former In Philadelphia, up to $1 million a year of the Year in 1986. (Philadelphia Dai- have been elected after making many DA and justice is somehow progressive. in cash is seized from innocent residents. ly News, Nov. 6, 1985) Unsurprisingly, promises to voters, only to do an about- This couldn’t be further from the truth. (aclupa.org, June 2, 2015) Castille was named attorney for the state face once in office. Krasner gained his reputation as a civil FOP in 1993. Krasner now has to answer what many Castille’s long reactionary history rights attorney willing to take on police The unconstitutional McMahon tapes, people are asking: Is the appointment of While Krasner often stated opposition brutality cases, but Castille is notorious which train DA attorneys how to keep Castille the first sign of compromise with to the death penalty during his campaign, for defending cops, no matter what they Black and Brown people off juries, were Philadelphia’s racist power structure? Steinle verdict Bigots call for sanctuary cities boycott

By Terri Kay a cloth. (The gun had been stolen from silent following the killing of anti-racist in twice the numbers. They shouted the San Francisco a federal Bureau of Land Management Heather Heyer during a white suprema- right-wingers down with slogans like agent’s car several days before.) cist rally and counterprotest in Charlot- “Nazi punks, fuck off!” It took only 20 Furious, threatening tweets by #45. The prosecution was unable to present tesville, Va. (tinyurl.com/yb3hv2mh) minutes before the Nazi and racist pro- These were the president’s response to any evidence of murderous intent or mal- On the day of Garcia Zarate’s acquittal, testers, backed by a police escort, had to the Dec. 1 acquittal of undocumented mi- feasance on Garcia Zarate’s part. He was eight white supremacists stood outside disappear. (tinyurl.com/y7l9nas) grant Jose Ines Garcia Zarate on murder acquitted of the prosecutor’s charges and San Francisco City Hall protesting sanc- Far-right-wingers have called two and manslaughter charges in the 2015 convicted only as a felon in possession of tuary city policies. Two days later, Dec. events on Dec. 16 under the pretense shooting death of Kate Steinle. Trump a firearm. 3, a group of about two dozen neo-Nazis of “justice” for Kate Steinle and against had made this tragic accidental shooting Garcia Zarate had been released by and white supremacists gathered in front sanctuary cities and the new California a hallmark of his election campaign as the San Francisco County sheriff several of the White House, using Steinle’s death Values Act, SB 54. a way to build support for his proposed weeks before Steinle’s death, after mar- to call for stricter laws on immigration. That state bill, going into effect Jan. 1, U.S./Mexico border wall and his threat to ijuana possession charges against him Featured speakers there were Richard 2018, mandates statewide limitations on deport immigrants. had been dropped. That release went Spencer, a man now synonymous with so- local law enforcement cooperation with The day after the acquittal, an editori- against a federal Immigration and Cus- called “alt-right,” neo-Nazi politics; Mat- Immigration and Customs Enforcement. al in the so-called liberal San Francisco toms Enforcement request to hold him. thew Heimbach of the explicitly neo-Nazi Counterprotests supporting sanctuary Chronicle said that an inmate with Garcia Trump had used Garcia Zarate’s previ- “National Socialist” group, the Tradition- cities and SB 54 are in the works. Zarate’s record “could be released on the ous release and later acquittal to attack alist Worker Party; and Mike Enoch, a Kate Steinle’s death was a tragic acci- streets today,” implying that following San Francisco and other local sanctuary well-known white supremacist blogger. dent. The use of this tragedy to foment sanctuary city policies would bring vio- city policies. In the 24 hours following Despite recent brutal suppression of anti-immigrant hatred is not only unwar- lence. The editorial didn’t explain what the acquittal he whipped up an anti-im- protest in Washington, D.C., anti-fas- ranted, but deeply racist in character. No in this worker’s totally nonviolent record migrant, right-wing frenzy over the ver- cist, antifa counterprotesters showed up walls, no deportations, no bans! would make such a release a threat to the dict, with thousands calling for a boycott community. of San Francisco and all sanctuary cities. In 1989 San Francisco was among the (tinyurl.com/y7cpcd4u) MARXISM, REPARATIONS first U.S. cities to establish a sanctuary Trump’s tweets, in typical fashion, fal- law as part of a national wave of local pol- sify information, claiming erroneously & the Black Freedom Struggle icies intended to help Central American that Garcia Zarate was deported seven An anthology of writings from Workers World newspaper. refugees. (tinyurl.com/ybab8bum) times as a violent felon. He had previous- Edited by Monica Moorehead. Trial testimony showed Steinle had ly been deported five times, but had never Racism, National Oppression & Self-Determination Larry Holmes • Black Labor from Chattel Slavery to Wage Slavery Sam Marcy • Black Youth: been hit with a bullet that had ricocheted been charged with any violent crimes. All Repression & Resistance LeiLani Dowell • The Struggle for Socialism Is off a concrete pier. Prosecutors presented charges against Garcia Zarate were drug Key Monica Moorehead • Domestic Workers United Demand Passage the jury with the choice of first- or sec- or immigration related, with no sugges- of a Bill of Rights Imani Henry • Black & Brown Unity: A Pillar of Struggle BARRON SAHU GRAPHIC: COVER ond-degree murder or involuntary man- tion of violence. for Human Rights & Global Justice! Saladin Muhammad • Harriet Tubman, Woman Warrior slaughter charges. The defense argued As Trump renewed calls to build his Mumia Abu-Jamal • Racism & Poverty in the Delta Larry Hales • Haiti Needs Reparations, Not Sanctions Pat Chin • Alabama’s Black Belt: Legacy of Slavery, Sharecropping & that Garcia Zarate had found the gun border wall, other tweeters pointed out Segregation Consuela Lee • Are Conditions Ripe Again Today? Anniversary of the 1965 under a bench on the pier and that it ac- the hypocrisy of boycotting San Francis- Watts Rebellion John Parker cidentally fired as he unwrapped it from co after Trump and supporters remained Available at all major online booksellers. Page 6 Dec. 7, 2017 workers.org H Workers world party National Conference H Excerpts based on talks given on Nov. 18 - Nov. 19 at the 2017 Workers World Party national conference in Newark, N.J.

Socialist methodology and the mass struggle: Abayomi Azikiwe culture into a city showing capitalism’s decline. Editor, Pan-African News Wire It requires a Leninist party to consistently inter- vene in the mass struggle. Lessons from Detroit WW PHOTO: JOE PIETTE That is why we have organized around the housing cri- tremendous insights into the sys- sis for years. Housing is a fundamental human right of tem’s recent transformation. working people. All oppressed people must be free from and beyond In the fall of 2002, five months the racist capitalist state’s tyranny and police terrorism. prior to the U.S.-led bombing We opposed the pseudo-legalized theft of pension and This year represents the centenary of the Bolshe- and invasion of Iraq, and after health care benefits from municipal retirees, privatiza- vik Revolution in Russia — a socially transforma- the U.S. invaded Afghanistan, tion of public resources and erosion of bourgeois demo- tive occurrence which served as a political model the Michigan Emergency Com- cratic rights. These rights — gained through decades of for all peoples seeking to liberate themselves from mittee Against War & Injustice civil rights and labor campaigns — belong to the working capitalism and imperialism. was formed. MECAWI’s slogan class and the oppressed. They are being reversed as a by- As a group concerned with building a revolution- “Money for our cities, not for product of capitalism’s crises. ary party of the working class and the nationally war” captures the direct link be- We must interject revolutionary class politics into the oppressed, we need to study V.I. Lenin’s ideological and tween the Pentagon budget and the impoverishment of mass struggle. Our work has clarified a principled ap- organizational contributions. We must adopt a dialecti- cities. Its program is anti-imperialist, with uncondition- proach to a popular movement, as contrasted with an cal materialist approach to the struggle against exploita- al support of the right of self-determination and national opportunistic one, as outlined in “What Is to Be Done?” tion and oppression, and to understand our enemy. liberation of all oppressed peoples. ‘The State and Revolution’ The destruction of the world capitalist system is a pre- A great achievement by MECAWI was founding requisite to the emancipation of humanity. Socialism the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day march. We Lenin’s important contribution, “The State and Revo- leading to a communist society provides the only hope sought to reclaim Dr. King’s social justice and anti-war lution,” written just before the Bolsheviks seized power for realizing world peace, security and sustainability. legacy, and rejected the false, distorted history of the in October 1917, discusses the imperatives of proletari- Civil Rights Movement. We emphasized that move- at state control. A revolutionary organization must take Leninism and building a revolutionary movement ment’s progressive contributions to the struggles against control of the state apparatus in order to build a socialist Nonetheless, the freedom of the proletariat and op- racism and economic exploitation by stressing its merger society, paving the way toward communism. pressed nations will not be achieved spontaneously. Per- with the struggle for Black Power, Black Liberation and After the Bolsheviks seized power, amid the armed haps the Bolshevik Party’s most profound lesson is its solidarity with national liberation movements. January struggle to defeat the counterrevolutionaries, and un- emphasis on scientific organization based on democratic 15 will mark Detroit’s 15th commemoration of MLK Day. der threatened reversals of the revolution’s gains, Lenin centralist principles. An effective alliance resulted with principled veter- maintained the party’s objectives and what is necessary Still relevant today, Lenin published his groundbreak- ans of the 1960s and 1970s Civil Rights and Black Power to eradicate all exploitation and oppression. ing work, “What Is to Be Done?” in 1903. Here, Lenin told movements. Subsequent generations of activists gather Lenin’s lecture on “The State,” delivered on July 11, the socialist movement that “our primary task [is] to estab- yearly to celebrate the struggles’ gains, and are inspired 1919, at Sverdlov University, asserts: “We shall place this lish an organization of revolutionaries capable of lending by the possibilities of future advances. machine [the state] in the hands of the [proletariat] class energy, stability and continuity to the political struggle.” that is to overthrow the power of capital. … We shall use During World War I, Lenin explained in “Imperialism: Moratorium Now Coalition this machine … to destroy all exploitation. The Highest Stage of Capitalism,” the increasing concen- The Moratorium Now Coalition to Stop Foreclosures, “When the possibility of exploitation no longer exists tration of industrial ownership and the banks’ eventual Evictions and Utility Shut-offs grew out of MECAWI’s anywhere in the world, when there are no longer owners of domination over all sectors. Today, this is even more pro- work. It is not enough for revolutionaries to do anti-im- land and ... factories,” and when no one gorges while oth- nounced. Consequently, we must focus on finance capital perialist work. Detroit’s population is 82 percent African ers starve, only then “shall we consign this machine to the to fight this exploitative system. American. It has been impacted by the ravages of nation- scrap­­heap. Then there will be no state and no exploitation.” al oppression and superexploitation, and constitutes an We must build a revolutionary organization of wo­ rkers Organizing in Detroit integral demographic within the oppressed African na- and oppressed people to suppress the capitalists. The As revolutionaries we have no other choice than to re- tion in the U.S. empire. Marxist-Leninist party, guided by scientific analysis of the spond to capitalism’s continuing crises. Detroit was the Detroit changed from being a center of African-Amer- conditions facing the exploited and oppressed, tutored by birthplace of advanced industrial capitalism, and provides ican working-class politics, social activity and national its own work, is the only hope for transforming society.

Disability rights WW PHOTO: BRENDA RYAN

and their caregivers. Recently, Kan- sas activists won a pay raise for their A working-class issue support workers. Mary Kaessinger But it engraved superexploitation in stone, Activists barricaded buses Disability rights activist allowing a subminimum wage for many In Denver, the Atlantis Commu- workers, including disabled people. It cod- nity (later Americans with Disabil- ified that these workers are “precarious” — ities for Accessible Public Transpor- Are disability rights a working-class issue? Yes. We marginalized, discarded and made invisible. tation) surrounded buses for three work for a living, or want to. At the same time, capitalism The often-revised law has never elimi- days in 1978. At night, they placed grinds us down, so we have to fight for essential services. nated the subminimum wage. The National their placards under the buses’ For decades we were invisible — warehoused in insti- Federation of the Blind, which has demon- windshield wipers, climbed down tutions or hidden away by our families. Now we’re out strated countrywide, and Sen. Bernie Sanders have from their wheelchairs and slept on the ground. Three and demand our rights to housing, education, public proposed amendments to raise or eliminate it. Neither years of demonstrations won accessible buses. transit and employment. We have to change public at- succeeded. After a 13-year struggle for comprehensive feder- titudes and laws, which let employers discriminate and The hourly minimum wage should be $15 for all able al legislation to codify the rights of the disabled, the exploit us. and disabled workers. Americans with Disabilities Act was passed in 1990. It The disabled rights movement started during the De- specified these rights and the criteria for removing ar- pression era, prompted by the economic situation, and Outrage at Goodwill chitectural barriers. energized by the labor and civil rights struggles. Goodwill Industries uses FLSA waivers to pay submini- Annual parades commemorate the ADA’s signing. NYC mum wages to thousands of employees, while its top exec- Mayor Rudy Giuliani refused to issue parade permits af- 1930s sit-downs for jobs utives rake in millions of dollars. CEO’s leave it to “local” ter 9/11, so they stopped. However, Disability Pride pa- Six workers formed the League of the Physically Hand- affiliates to decide wage rates and ignore the inequities. rades resumed in 2015 and grow every year. icapped in New York City to protest discrimination in Workers World Party showed its support for disabled We brought a political note to this year’s parade with hiring by the Works Progress Administration. A nine-day workers by picketing a Goodwill facility, demanding our banner and People’s Power Assembly signs saying: sit-in occurred after managers refused to meet with them. higher wages, during our 2014 national conference in “Subways Should Be 100% Accessible,” “Hands Off the A weekend sit-in at WPA headquarters in June 1935 Queens, N.Y. ADA” and “Defend the ADA.” This law is endangered by won 1,500 jobs in New York. The League gained several In the 1960s and 1970s, institutional warehousing be- reactionary politicians. hundred members and started a speakers’ bureau that gan to wane, and disabled people started moving into the educated unions on disability issues. community. The independent living movement intensi- Cuba: leader in disability rights At least two sit-ins of visually disabled workers oc- fied, with struggles to access housing, education and The movement for independent living is global. Brian curred in 1937, one in Pittsburgh and one in New York — public transit. Shea attended a conference in 1996 in Cuba on this sub- remarkable feats, considering they were prohibited from Betsy Gimbel, as secretary of NYC Disabled in Action, ject. (See WWP’s pamphlet entitled, “Disability Rights forming unions at exploitative “sheltered” workshops. led sit-ins at strategic locations, demanding accessible and the Class Struggle.”) Some 300 delegates, the over- The league was red-baited and eventually dissolved. buses and curb renovations for wheelchair users. Even- whelming majority with physical disabilities, attended. The “Fair” Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 legal- tually, they succeeded. Delegates came from Latin America, the Caribbean, the ized long-fought-for rights like the eight-hour day, the 40- Medicaid has been crucial, as it finances necessary United States, Spain and the former Soviet Union. hour workweek, overtime pay and an end to child labor. services. A close bond develops between disabled people The Cubans had to become expert in treating the ul- workers.org Dec. 7, 2017 Page 7

WW PHOTO: JOE PIETTE Excerpts based on talks given on Nov. 18 - Nov. 19 at the 2017 Workers World Party national conference in Newark, N.J. Fighting Native Erasure Every time we speak and raise Stephanie Tromblay, Huron/Metis raise awareness among members of our class all the struggles to connect the nonstatus and Tsalagi heritage unenrolled that Native peoples are not dead and gone. We fight against imperialist war live among you, despite smallpox, genocide and with fights against racism at We meet on stolen Lenni-Lenape land. The history of constant warfare perpetrated by colonizers and home, make sure to mention Na- this country is founded on lies meant to erase Indigenous the U.S. military. From coast to coast, Native tive people, too. Keep Indigenous nations and cultures. A great heritage has been stolen, people live in urban areas and small towns, as nations on the front burner with commodified and sold to the whole capitalist world — well as on the reservations. all of the other struggles. One from tobacco to tomatoes to the fringe on leather jackets. We discuss smashing white supremacy as part of our way to do this is to simply recognize whose land you are Native nations originated chocolate, chili, potatoes, political work. Native people discuss the subjects of “Na- standing on at the opening of every event. over half of the world’s foods by volume and species, sun- tive Erasure” and decolonization. The term Native Era- The leadership of oppressed communities understands glasses, most of the original medicinal pharmacopeia sure means leaving out Native peoples in everyday dis- we need solidarity. Black Lives Matter of Chicago kept a (formulary) in this country and the world’s first apart- course, from the mass media to the educational system. presence at Standing Rock Reservation throughout the ment buildings. The concept of living in harmony with Our vast heritage and contributions to the world are made encampment. Several of the arrested water protectors the biosphere — from which we are not separate — has to appear to come from anywhere but Native peoples. will soon go to trial on serious charges. They urgently inspired environmental movements. The Haudenos- Native people might be referred to when there is a hot need movement support. aunee nations’ matrilineal society inspired the original struggle, like against the Dakota Access Pipeline at the Let’s give a special shout out to the Ramapo Nation a feminists. All of this is part of the heritage of the Indige- Standing Rock Reservation. When our political struggles few miles north of here in New Jersey. They are fight- nous peoples of this hemisphere and their contributions are raised and connected — and they are broadcast any- ing against Native Erasure, extraction of the Earth’s re- to world culture. where in the media — there are Native people listening, sources and racism every day of their lives. Water is Life! Every Communist fighting capitalist lies has a duty to and they immediately note if they are left out. End Native Erasure! Smash white supremacy!

WW PHOTO: BRENDA RYAN Oppressed, working women must lead

I first joined Workers World Party in 1975 due to the Monica Moorehead party’s unique understanding that the struggle against national oppression and white supremacy can never take a back seat to fighting capitalism and imperialism in or- domination by a petty-bourgeois, reform-capitalism der to carry out a socialist revolution in the largest impe- leadership with no clue about class solidarity with the rialist country. most oppressed women. Since then, I have appreciated so many other struggles. One of those is women’s liberation. When I witnessed the Marxism and feminism emergence of the women’s movement in the early 1970s Workers World Party challenged this backward ideol- as a Black teenager living in the South, I could not relate ogy while attempting to influence the movement by being to a majority white movement that didn’t take seriously a part of it. The party had so many women leaders during that women’s liberation for Black women is rooted in na- this period that we were referred to in the movement tional liberation. as “the Party of the Matriarchy.” Dotty wasn’t the only That changed after my being influenced by Dotty Bal- leading comrade to elevate the revolutionary potential of lan, a party founding member who wrote “Feminism and working-class women. Our late chairperson, Sam Marcy, Marxism.” Her pamphlet accessed what was progressive wrote his groundbreaking book, “High Tech, Low Pay: A The #MeToo campaign has been liberating for many about the women’s movement as a mass movement, and Marxist Analysis of the Changing Character of the Work- women who have lived in silence and the deep-seated also its narrow limitations, its political and ideological ing Class,” over 33 years ago, where he stated: pain of being sexually assaulted, but now realize they “Today the working class is of a thoroughgoing mul- are not alone. This campaign has brought widespread tinational character. ... Statistics appear almost daily in awareness of this war on women. the bourgeois press which show how much of the work- But how can any real change be made when the voices ing class today is Black, Latin, Asian, Native as well as of millions of other women haven’t been heard because cers that result from sitting in a wheelchair all day be- women. The most recent study shows that white males of who they are, due to being marginalized and disen- cause the U.S. blockade prevented them from acquiring are no longer predominant in industry. The workforce is franchised under capitalism? suitable cushions for the chairs, cushions that would al- already composed of over 40 percent women. They are migrant women facing rape and death daily leviate pressure sores. “But what has not been pointedly brought to the atten- by the U.S. Border Patrol when forced to flee their home- tion of the public is that the working class as a whole in land due to imperialism. They are Black and Brown single ‘Kill the bill! Don’t kill us!’ the U.S. has changed dramatically. … In almost all of the mothers whose bosses threaten their low-wage jobs if they Enter Trump. Trump’s first post-election goal was dis- service industries, there is a growing preponderance of don’t submit to sexual “advances.” They are women pris- mantling the Affordable Care Act, especially Medicaid, a new, low-paid workers.” oners, including trans prisoners, sexually assaulted daily life-and-death issue. This brought the struggle to a new Sam understood that this pauperization of labor, in- by brutal guards, or homeless women facing similar fates pitch. Disabled people are fighting for their lives. tensifying with the global capitalist crisis of low wages, in shelters. They are young women assaulted daily in high Members of ADAPT (renamed Americans Disabled had created the feminization of labor. schools and on college campuses, knowing they can’t get Attendant Programs Today), a national organization, oc- Sam explained: “The further development of the pro- justice because administrations and police are complicit. cupied Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell’s office cesses of capitalist production has forced many more #MeToo can go only so far when dominated by liber- for several days, protesting a bill undermining Medicaid. women out of the home and into the workforce. It is these als with allegiance to the Democratic Party. The most Wheelchair users were arrested, picked up and thrown objective trends more than any subjective factors which oppressed working-class women must lead struggles in into police vans. have broken up the old family structure headed by the order for those to become more independent, anti-racist, The fight escalated a few weeks later when disabled male breadwinner. The pauperization of labor has made anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist, and lay the basis for activists marched through the Senate chamber shouting it imperative that women work.” socialism to liberate women of all nationalities. “Kill the bill! Don’t kill us!” The inhumane bill was voted Now, this feminization of labor manifests itself with Marx and Engels stated in “The Communist Manifes- down for the time being, but “tax reform” endangers all women workers, especially the most oppressed — Black, to”: “The essential conditions for the existence and for the federal health programs. Latinx and Native — being in the forefront of not only sway of the bourgeois class is the formation and augmen- economic, but also political, struggles. Like the Fight tation of capital; the condition for capital is wage-labour. Accessible transit now! for $15 movement, Indigenous water rights at Standing Wage-labour rests exclusively on competition between Disabled people in WWP, along with the PPA, are Rock, Black Lives Matter led by Black trans women, and the labourers. The advance of industry, whose involun- campaigning to make the subway system more acces- the struggle for reproductive justice. tary promoter is the bourgeoisie, replaces the isolation sible, and to increase bus service. Every working-class As an activist with the International Working Wom- of the labourers, due to competition, by the revolution- New Yorker rides the subways and buses, and everyone en’s Coalition, I also find there is no more important is- ary combination, due to association. The development of hates it. sue that impacts women — no matter their nationality, Modern Industry, therefore, cuts from under its feet the The 113-year-old system hasn’t been repaired or up- gender expression, socioeconomics, youth, age or abili- very foundation on which the bourgeoisie produces and dated for decades. Delays and breakdowns occur daily. ties — than the issue of sexual oppression: rape, assault, appropriates products. The fares go into the banks’ coffers for debt service. We harassment, domestic violence. “What the bourgeoisie therefore produces, above all, pay the fare twice — through taxation and MetroCard are its own gravediggers. Its fall and the victory of the payments. Working-class women’s liberation proletariat are equally inevitable.” MTA officials are refurbishing and building new sta- The #MeToo campaign exploded as women actors ex- The most militant of all the gravediggers will be wom- tions in gentrified neighborhoods. We want to end racist posed movie mogul Harvey Weinstein as a sexual predator. en. In tribute to Dotty Ballan and all women who have policing in the subways. And we want justice for transit But the real catalyst was the election of white supremacist given their lives to the liberation of all humanity, work- worker Darryl Goodwin, unjustly arrested by police, who Donald Trump, with his well-known history of misogyny. ing and oppressed women of the world unite! We have soon after died of a stress-related heart attack. Now, every day, another misogynist is being exposed. nothing to lose but our chains. Page 8 Dec. 7, 2017 workers.org H Workers world party National Conference H

Excerpts based on talks given on Nov. 18 - Nov. 19 at the 2017 Workers World Party national conference in Newark, N.J. Dialectics and dreaming the impossible

We organized the momentum into a broad-based coa- What happens then when we raise the stakes? When L.T. Pham lition fighting white supremacy, in solidarity against the we sharpen the contradictions? We know the answer — state’s attempts to repress organizers and sow division. we win; we get closer to revolution; once in a while, our This formation has pushed thousands to take action class gets a revolution. through petitions, national days of action and call-ins to We’ve seen this in 100 years of socialist and nation- the district attorney. al liberation movements. We’ve seen disruptive actions With new and strengthened alliances, we are now shift us from the defensive to the offensive. tasked to continue to organize resistance in dialogue We should reflect on key moments in history — to with history, accurately assess conditions and make cal- when the Bolsheviks overthrew the tsar and estab- culations about how to advance the class struggle. lished Soviet Russia; when the DPRK defeated the U.S. In Durham we are building a People’s Tribunal and empire and liberated its people; when Cuba forced out WW PHOTO: JOE PIETTE Commission of Inquiry to charge the state with ob- [dictator Fulgencio] Batista; when Vietnam defeated the We are positioned to take the lessons of the past and struction of justice and conspiracy in its persecution of French colonizers and claimed another victory against shape them to help determine the future. As Marxist-Le- our class. This tribunal will raise mass consciousness; the U.S. empire. ninists and dialecticians we are charged with making connect spontaneous moments to a legacy of struggle; These shifts are possible here. We have a history that sense and use of what is seemingly out of our control. keep us in motion and maintain a basis to create bold, shows what’s possible — from the resistance of Indige- The past few months in Durham, N.C., have been an militant actions; and offer direction to our class toward nous peoples to colonizers, of Black revolts to slave mas- intensified period of dialectical struggle for our com- revolution, not demoralization or reformism. ters and the fight back of lesbians, gay men, queer and rades. Understanding the conditions and contradictions Let’s put on trial the capitalist system and its armed trans people at Stonewall and in ACT UP; from sit-ins, that led to the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, men, puppet politicians and corporate bosses. What bus boycotts and community defense efforts of the Black Va., allowed us to take revolutionary action. would it look like to hold a People’s Tribunal for repa- Power movement; from strikes and picket lines, unions In Durham, a city shaped by slavery, tenant farming rations for the Puerto Rican people? To indict killer of all stripes; and, recently, the emergence of the Occupy and Jim Crow segregation, tearing down the monument cops who murder Black, Brown and Indigenous people? Movement that held fire to corporate exploitation, the honoring “the boys in gray” was a necessary, direct and To expose the wealth stolen from workers through stu- Black Lives Matter movement, Standing Rock and be- revolutionary response to Charlottesville and the white dent debt and austerity? Let’s build People’s Tribunals yond. We are on par with the global history of resistance. supremacy of this wretched capitalist system. It recog- Against Racism, Repression and Capitalism! I hope that everyone has seen the wonderful poster nized the working class as agents of revolutionary change. Building organized resistance should be a practice of designed by our comrades commemorating 100 years The state allowed the erection of this racist statute in dialectical analysis and action. Our world is shaped by of global revolution. Under the year 2017 it reads, “The front of the courthouse in 1924 to send a chilling message change, by dialectics that emerge as patterns. Through next revolution is up to us.” to the Black community: that the white power structure struggle, we can strengthen our ability to seize these This is what is in our control: the fight for revolution would fight to control the social, political and economic patterns in service of the movement. from the belly of the beast. This seemingly insurmount- life of Black people. We should make it a primary objective to take action able task is inevitable; it is necessitated by dialectics and Following the people’s removal, dozens of cities wit- that can raise the stakes and propel our class to a dif- change, it is necessitated by sharpening contradictions, nessed an upsurge in actions to deface, vandalize and ferent and higher phase of struggle. Anything short of it is necessitated by the future of humanity. remove racist monuments. Our bold action presented to this puts our class in jeopardy of being paralyzed by the I end with the spirit of Che Guevara, who said, “We our class what could be possible in this phase of struggle. attacks under this capitalist system. are realists — we dream the impossible.” The working class and mass struggle

It might be helpful to look at the question of work- “Bread, land and peace!” The Russian bourgeoisie had tista regime came ing-class and mass organizing through the lens of the neither the will nor the ability as defenders of private into the struggle centennial of the Bolshevik Revolution and the anniver- property to fulfill these rather straightforward demands. with backward ideas, sary of the assassination of Che Guevara. Poor people and the working class were hungry and including anti-com- In the case of the Bolshevik Revolution, there is hard- starving, the peasants despised the landlords, and the munism. There were ly a way of discussing it without referring to Lenin’s soldiers who came from both the working class and the a lot of rumors that leadership. I think a large number of the comrades and peasants, who were used as cannon fodder in the im- “Che was a rotten, friends are familiar with Lenin’s theoretical contribu- perialist war, were weary, exhausted and ready to turn evil communist.” tions on imperialism and the national question. their guns around. They came with What has to be understood is that the theoretical The workers in the cities wanted power! the prejudices that Sharon Black works produced by Lenin were written in the heat of bat- Revolutions, uprisings and insurrections are perhaps are the stamp of the WW PHOTO: BRENDA RYAN tle, even in exile. Lenin wrote as a means to intervene in the most democratic expression of the will of the mass old society. the struggle. On the other hand, there is less discussion of people. As Marxists, we recognize this. Love is not always about not being angry or not strug- of Lenin’s role as the organizer of the Bolshevik Party. [On another field of battle], Comandante Che Gue- gling; it is about persevering, hanging in there and not vara insisted not only on teaching political theory to giving up! In this case, love means not giving up on the Lenin, Che and the working class the peasants and workers in the mountains of Cuba, but broad working class, regardless of all of its character- Lenin paid immense attention to, and developed an also on requiring literacy as a prerequisite for partici- istics. More importantly, love means not giving up on unparalleled understanding of, the working class and pating in the guerilla army. He had the confidence in the each other. peasants of Czarist Russia. poorest of the poor in Cuba. This could not have happened if the Bolsheviks were This story shines light on the Che quote referenced Our party takes a page from the Bolsheviks not deeply engaged in the struggles of the masses and many times, his statement that revolutionaries are guid- Our party has an amazing history guided by our had not recruited workers into the ranks of their party. ed by great feelings of love. founding leaders: Sam Marcy, Vince Copeland, Dorothy Krupskaya, his companion, who was a revolutionary I’m positive that the love Che refers to is not the ridic- Ballan and others. Sam continuously insisted that the and leader in her own right, wrote about how feverishly ulous Hallmark-card version of love, but rather the deep- party turn its face to the workers and that it had to par- Lenin, even in exile, followed every detail of what was er sentiment of concern, service and care for the people ticularly recruit and defend the oppressed communities. happening in the working-class struggle. Without this which involves action and sacrifice — the kind of action The All Peoples Congress, which was convened in De- work, without the building of the party, a great revolu- that Che took in teaching peasants to read and write. troit on Oct. 18, 1981, in response to the crisis of Rea- tionary development might have been missed or delayed. I’m convinced that this work was not without huge ganism, was the conception of Marcy and was charac- What were the rallying call and demands of the Bol- frustrations. Many of those who deeply hated the Ba- teristic of many of Sam’s tactics and strategies. shevik Revolution? The 2,000-plus delegates who convened this congress called for “Days of Resistance” and called for assemblies Tear down white supremacy everywhere. In a very modest way it borrowed its con- BULLETIN: Durham, N.C., ception from the early Soviets. ­activists charged in toppling Today, we cannot allow the fight against Trump to be a Confederate statue were co-opted by the Democratic Party. Instead of the sick- once again in court Dec. 5 ening, mind-numbing attacks on Russia, which have to defend themselves, with done nothing but sideline the masses, the fight instead must be against white supremacy; against the wave of their case continued to Jan. anti-immigrant attacks; about health care; about wom- 11, 2018. They ask supporters en, LGBTQ and trans rights; and about the general mis- to keep making those phone ery and state of affairs for the working class. The fight calls to ‘drop all charges’ to should be to turn the lights back on in Puerto Rico! the Durham County District Build Workers World Party! Fight for Socialism! Attorney, 919-808-3010. Workers and oppressed of the world unite! workers.org Dec. 7, 2017 Page 9

This article is excerpted from a talk given at the National Day of Mourning on Nov. 23 at Cole’s Hill in Plymouth, Mass. James is co-chair of United American Indians of New England. The full talk is available at workers.org. ‘We will protest until oppression ends’

By Moonanum James the first “thanks-taking”? According to Plymouth, Mass. popular myth, the Indians (us) and the white folks (them) sat down and had a Once again on the fourth Thursday wonderful dinner. Everyone lived happily in November, United American Indians ever after. of New England and our supporters are Here is the truth: The first thanksgiv- gathered to observe the National Day of ing did not take place in 1621. ... The first Mourning. Today marks the 48th time we official day of thanksgiving feasting in have come here in all kinds of weather to Massachusetts was proclaimed by Gov. mourn our ancestors and speak the truth John Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay about our history. Many elders who stood Colony in 1637. He did this to give thanks on this hill and organized that first Day of for the safe return of men from the colo- Mourning are no longer with us, but we ny who had gone to what is now Mystic, feel their spirits guiding us today. Conn., to participate in the massacre of over 700 men, women and children of the 1970: First National Day of Mourning Pequot Nation. … The National Day of Mourning should The pilgrims did not find an empty always have been part of the history of Iand any more than Columbus “discov- this country. Forty-seven years ago, my ered” anything. Every inch of this land father, an Aquinnah Wampanoag man is Indigenous. The pilgrims who called WW PHOTO: STEVAN KIRSCHBAUM Elder Bert Waters reading Leonard Peltier’s statement at the 2017 National Day of ­Mourning, named Wamsutta Frank James, was in- themselves “saints” did not come here flanked by his grandsons. vited to address a gathering of so-called seeking religious freedom. ... They came “dignitaries” celebrating the 350th anni- here as a commercial venture. versary of the pilgrims’ stumbling ashore. The Mayflower Compact was noth- the truth. We will do so as long as sports Today, on liberated territory, we will When asked to provide an advance copy ing more than a group of men sticking teams and schools use racist team names correct some history in a country that of [his] speech, Wamsutta agreed. together to get a return on their invest- and mascots. We will continue to gather on still glorifies butchers such as Christo- Within days, Wamsutta was told his ment. They introduced sexism, racism this hill until the U.S. military and corpo- pher Columbus, glorifies slave-owning words were not acceptable. Fearing the and a class system to the shores. They rations stop polluting our mother, the presidents, such as George Washington truth, the gathering’s planners told him he did not even land at Plymouth Rock — a Earth. We will continue to stand here and and Thomas Jefferson — and even carves could speak only if he was willing to speak monument to racism and oppression we protest until racism is made illegal. their faces into the sacred Black Hills of false words in praise of the white man. are proud to say we buried, not once, but We will not stop until the oppression of the Lakota. Wamsutta refused. National Day of twice — in 1970 and in 1995. our Two-Spirited sisters and brothers is a Native speakers will be our only speak- Mourning came into being as a result of There are now two plaques erected by thing of the past, when the homeless have ers today. This is one day when we speak his refusal to speak untrue words. In- Plymouth, one on Cole’s Hill to honor Day homes, when people from Mexico and for ourselves without non-Native people, stead, he and hundreds of Indigenous of Mourning, and another to honor Meta- Central and South America are no longer so-called “experts,” intervening to interpret People from throughout the Americas com or King Philip in Post Office Square, targeted. When no person goes hungry or and speak for us. Our very presence frees gathered here and observed the first Na- part of an agreement we signed with is left to die because they have little or no this land from the lies of the history books, tional Day of Mourning in 1970. Plymouth in 1998. Those of us here in 1997 access to quality health care. When union the profiteers and the mythmakers. … Plymouth is planning to celebrate 400 will never forget what happened [when po- busting is a thing of the past. Until then To our beautiful Native youth, I say years of the same myth in 2020. I don’t lice arrested 25 peaceful protesters]. After the struggle will continue. learn about and remember what your an- think that anyone from UAINE, myself a powerful show of unity, Plymouth was That first Day of Mourning in 1970 was cestors went through to bring you here. included, is going to be invited to address forced to drop the charges and erect the a powerful demonstration of Native uni- We are like the dirt, the sand and the that banquet! Rest assured that no ad- plaques. At least, there are now two rocks ty. Today is a powerful demonstration not tides. We shall endure. In the spirit of vance copy of our remarks will be sent. in Plymouth that speak the truth! only of Indigenous unity, but also the uni- Crazy Horse, in the spirit of Metacom, in ty of all people who want to speak truth to the spirit of Geronimo, and above all to The first ‘thanks-taking’ ‘We will protest until oppression ends’ power — people who want to see an end all people who fight and struggle for real What really happened at the first These plaques do not end the need for us to the oppressive system brought to these justice, we are not vanishing. We are not “thanksgiving” — or what some of us call to continue to come to Plymouth and speak shores by the pilgrim invaders. conquered. We are as strong as ever.

H Excerpts based on talks given on Nov. 18 - Nov. 19 at the 2017 Workers World Party national conference WW PHOTO: JOE PIETTE Low-wage and oppressed workers in the struggle Mond Jones

When most people hear the word “worker,” they of the blade of capitalism. berment of their neighbor- imagine probably a scruffy-looking white dude in denim The Chinese Revolution could not have happened hoods and families, and overalls with a wrench in his back pocket or some shit without the peasantry. Even the Russian Revolution re- the police war on Black and like that. Sure, lots of workers look like that. However, quired an alliance with rural farmers. Brown people. They know what this system does. the majority of workers don’t fit that description at all. There will be no revolution here without two things. Imagine the revolutionary potential of every pris- What’s a worker? A worker, in the Marxist sense, is The first is an understanding of the concept of the glob- oner, unjustly imprisoned, tortured and exploited by someone who sells their labor power for a wage and does al working class. There are two camps: the oppressed the “justice system.” Denied health care, privacy, basic not own the means of production. and the oppressors, the imperialists and the anti-im- ­human rights. That’s most of us in this room. perialists, the capitalists and the communists. Any win If anyone knows the effects of capitalism, if anyone We aren’t just talking about people with union jobs. against imperialism is a win for our class camp. wants to see this system crumble, it’s them. A large portion of the working class goes unrecognized. [The second is] understanding that the “lumpenpro- We have to show solidarity with Black Lives Matter, We believe that the revolution will be led by the most op- letariat” — part-time, non-union, non-legal, low-wage BYP100 and any other organization of oppressed people pressed elements of society, because they have the least workers — are part of the global working class and nec- fighting against this racist system. As a multinational, to lose and the most to gain. essary for the building of a revolutionary force against working-class, socialist, anti-imperialist organization in The antagonisms are much more severe for the lower capitalism, imperialism and white supremacy. the imperialist center, that’s one of the ways we operate. strata of the working class: Black and migrant workers, Historically, the people with the most revolution- We have a responsibility to our class and to the strug- queer workers, disabled workers, sex workers, etc., and ary potential are the people who, under no conditions, gle to be in solidarity with any force fighting against therefore these elements of the working class have the could gain anything from playing into the capitalist capitalism and racist oppression. most revolutionary potential, historically. game of destruction. We know that the racist Republicans, the Democ- When Brother Bobby and Brother Huey were organiz- Imagine the revolutionary potential of a low-wage rackers and social chauvinists are leading the people ing and recruiting for the Black Panther Party, one of the worker. Working three jobs under horrible conditions astray. Through building class consciousness among most advanced Black Liberation movements in the U.S. and abusive management, just barely making enough to the most oppressed, moving through the people like a to this very day, where did they go? support their family and feed themselves. Watching their fish through water, we will see the end of the oppressive, They didn’t sweep the university halls for philoso- water be shut off for petty delinquencies, while corpora- Western regime and the hyper-exploitation of the peo- phers or look around in coffee shops or join leftist book tions rack up thousands of dollars in unpaid water bills, ple at home and abroad. discussion groups. but go unpunished. They know what this system does. U.S. imperialism? Down with it! They went straight to the oppressed communities Imagine the revolutionary potential of these hustlers Racist cops? Down with them! with the science of Marxism-Leninism because they and drug dealers and gang members, disenfranchised White supremacists? Down with them! knew that poor Black folks were feeling the sharpest end from society and the job market by the strategic dismem- Capitalism? Down with it! Page 10 Dec. 7, 2017 workers.org

Behind the unthinkable DPRK

A potential crime of historic propor- lacked the ability to retaliate. Yet voices strike groups. Such exercises are fueling tions is being openly discussed and evalu- associated with the Trump administration the speculation that a U.S. nuclear attack south KOREA ated in the U.S. imperialist media. They’re are calling for an increase in the threats, on the DPRK is indeed possible and plau- debating the pros and cons of whether or some even including an all-out war. sible. not millions of people should have their What kind of apocalyptic thinking “ ‘The Trump team is begging for a nu- lives snuffed out in an instant, instead of breeds such a stance? Is it all bluster? clear war by staging an extremely dan- immediately rejecting that possibility. They should already know that bluster gerous nuclear gamble on the Korean The “analysts” are discussing the nu- does not work with the DPRK. Peninsula,’ he said.” clear destruction of the Democratic Peo- It should be noted that the People’s Re- In quoting the DPRK foreign ministry, significantly compared to that of other ple’s Republic of Korea by the Pentagon. public of China takes these U.S. military China is sending a message to the U.S. imperialist countries — consider Western That there can possibly be “two sides” in exercises very seriously. An article in the warhawks. Europe and Japan — and also compared such a discussion is itself a confession People’s Daily of Dec. 4 reported: What impels the U.S. rulers toward to that of People’s China, once home to of how bankrupt this imperialist system “The DPRK foreign ministry spokes- war? hundreds of millions of peasants on the has become. man said this drill would be unprece- At the end of World War II, the U.S. edge of starvation. Bloomberg News pre- The DPRK has declared it now has a dented in its size and nature of simulat- ruling class controlled the only nuclear dicts China will overtake the U.S. in GDP reliable nuclear deterrent to any U.S. at- ing actual combat situation and have the arsenal in the world. U.S. productive ca- within a decade. tack and has completed tests of both nu- highest number of U.S. major strategic pacity, virtually untouched by the war’s The unbridled ideologues of the right, clear weapons and the missiles that could assets including the F-22 Raptor and destruction elsewhere, amounted to 50 who this administration has moved to deliver them to targets in the U.S. F-35 stealth fighters. percent of the entire world’s gross do- the top, would rather risk a holocaust Despite this, the U.S. just carried out “ ‘The U.S. is publicly touting the objec- mestic product. Its corporations could, than yield on their ambition to rule and its most threatening war “games” ever, tive of the drill as enhancing the actual and did, scour the globe in search of exploit the world. But the DPRK, a small right on the border of the DPRK. combat capability to disable the DPRK’s ­super-profits, with little competition. socialist country, has shown unparalleled Many voices in the U.S. foreign poli- major strategic bases in the early stages Today, the U.S. is still the world’s big- courage in refusing to be pushed around. cy establishment have recently admitted of war,’ the spokesman noted. gest military power. But even as the rul- That may strike fear into the hearts publicly that the DPRK’s nuclear program “He pointed out that Washington has ing class here has enriched itself to as- of the U.S. imperialist ruling class, but is motivated by its need for defense, and just wound up a large-scale nuclear war tronomical proportions at the expense it should encourage all who struggle to even cite the havoc the U.S. wreaked on drill against the DPRK which involved of workers everywhere, the relative eco- build a world free of class and national countries like Iraq and Libya once they three nuclear-powered aircraft carrier nomic strength of the U.S. has shrunk oppression. Get rid of Trumpism? FBI no, mass resistance YES!

Continued from page 1 ey to Trump in recent years is Deutsche advance warning of the deal with Flynn. It is harmful to the masses to let a faction of Bank, which was recently fined $630 While the ruling class is salivating over million for laundering $10 billion worth the planned tax cuts for billionaires, oil the ruling class lead the battle against Trump. of Russian money. (cnn.com, Jan. 31) The companies, real estate moguls, etc., they big New York Wall Street banks won’t are also applauding Trump’s attack on all Mueller and his grouping will do it in an entirely lend to him because he has gone bank- forms of regulations that limit the dam- rupt six times, stiffing investors, contrac- age the bosses can do to the workers, the unprincipled way which will do nothing to tors and workers.” (Wash. Post, Sept. 26, environment, immigrants, education and 2016, and wsj.com, March 20, 2016) so on. impede the attacks on the people. John Norris and Carolyn Kenney wrote But while they are using Trump for of his relation to Russian oligarchs in their own enrichment, the imperialist all standard, mainstream imperialist po- be able to bring down Trump or push him “Trump’s Conflicts of Interest in Russia”: rulers don’t want him to tear apart the sitions expressing the basic interests of back over the Russian connections. That “As Fortune Magazine notes, during the global system of alliances and networks Wall Street and the Pentagon. is because they do not want to confront 1990s, Trump found himself more than $4 of subversion that they have built up over him politically for his racism, sexism and billion in debt to more than 70 banks, and decades to protect their profit interests. Pompeo: extreme Islamophobe, bigotry and his warmongering, Islam- a series of bankruptcies, heavy financial The announcement of Flynn’s plea deal warhawk, Trump confidante ophobic, anti-working class, authoritari- losses, and debt restructuring lead almost came shortly after White House plans to But Pompeo is far more right wing. an style of rule. all major American banks to simply refuse move CIA Director Mike Pompeo into He spends hours with Trump every day, The liberals and moderates, especial- to do business with him. … [H]e began to Rex Tillerson’s post as secretary of state traveling from Langley, Va., to the White ly the Democratic Party leadership, feel rely very heavily on foreign banks for his were made public. Tillerson is no dove. House to brief Trump on developments. that Trump and his family and adminis- lending.” (americanprogess.org, June 14) He was CEO of the biggest private oil He is an ultra-warhawk who has spoken tration are vulnerable because they are Many more examples could be cited, in- company in the world, ExxonMobil. He is of assassinating north Korean leader so entangled with Russian officials and cluding how a former Soviet official turned a reactionary, worth hundreds of millions Kim Jong Un, sabre-rattled at Iran, and capitalists. These anti-Trump forces have capitalist opened up his world headquar- of dollars, who spent his career dealing is a fanatical Islamophobe on the same elected to confront him on a reactionary, ters in Trump Tower. But there is not space with the heads of oil states and planning wavelength as the neofascist Britain First anti-Russia basis, rather than on the ba- enough in this article to elaborate. the plunder of oil-rich countries. organization. sis of his reactionary policies and politics. Trump, in other words, was too crook- Unlike Tillerson, Pompeo is regarded For them, the anti-Russia campaign ed for the crooks on Wall Street. But the Tillerson: watchdog for Wall Street as a trusted consultant by Trump. Trump has the twin virtues of keeping Penta- Russian oligarchs, who had become bil- Yet Tillerson is a watchdog for Wall just retweeted three concocted and vio- gon military contracts flowing as well as lionaires overnight by plundering the de- Street who has differed with Trump on lent anti-Muslim videos to his 144 mil- promoting a geostrategic position of the stroyed socialist economy after the coun- many things and has tried to uphold lion followers that came from Britain military encirclement of Russia. That is terrevolution, first under Boris Yeltsin many of U.S. imperialism’s standard po- First. Pompeo defended the tweets. what the attempt to seize all of Ukraine and then under Vladimir Putin, had litical positions in the world. Pompeo is also an ally of Frank Gaffney, was about. Now U.S. battalions and an- money to spare to be invested and laun- Tillerson helped keep Trump from pull- who runs the Center for Security Policy. ti-missile batteries are being moved dered. The Trump family, being shut out ing out of the Iran nuclear agreement. He Gaffney considers following the Koran to within miles of Russia. The excuse given of Wall Street financing, was inevitably opposed pulling out of the Paris environ- be “sedition,” which should be prosecut- for these hostile maneuvers is that they drawn to them. mental accord. He held out for negotia- ed. Pompeo has been on Gaffney’s radio are aimed at protecting Poland and the Of course, politics follows the money, tions on the Korean crisis and was publicly program 20 times. Pompeo has publicly Baltic satellites of NATO. and the Trump family became entangled rebuked by Trump, who said Tillerson was agreed with Gaffney that President Barack with Russia, financially and perhaps po- “wasting his time.” Tillerson was opposed Obama was anti-Christian and pro-Islam- Trump’s Russia entanglements litically. This is what makes Trump legal- to Trump’s alignment with Saudi Arabia’s ic State group. (theatlantic.com, Dec. 3) and the banks ly vulnerable under U.S. capitalist law. It blockade of Qatar, where there is a giant For the moment, Trump has pulled back Trump’s vulnerability flows from his is on this that the neoliberals, Democratic U.S. airbase. He tried to patch up U.S. re- on the removal of Tillerson, undoubtedly years of dealing with Russian oligarchs. Party bigwigs and anti-Trump sectors of lations with NATO after Trump called the in response to the Mueller attack. During the 1990s and after the 2007 eco- the ruling class are pinning their hopes. NATO alliance “obsolete.” nomic crisis, Trump’s access to big impe- When asked about Trump’s views that Democratic Party leaders, liberals, mod- rialist banks ran dry. Workers and oppressed must there were “good people” among the erates push Russian card against Trump As this author wrote in an article titled take advantage of split to fight back torch-carrying fascists in Charlottesville, The anti-Trump sectors of the ruling “Behind the firing of Comey: A struggle Whatever the particulars of the case, it Va., Tillerson replied that Trump “speaks class, and especially the ruling-class ad- within the U.S. ruling class,” which ap- would be to the detriment of the working for himself.” And it has been report- visory ranks in the media and the think peared in the May 16 issue of Workers class to let the ruling class lead the battle ed that Tillerson had deep reservations tanks, as well as the Democratic Party World: against Trump. about the Muslim travel ban. These are leadership, are hoping that Mueller will “[T]he only big bank that has lent mon- Continued on page 11 workers.org Dec. 7, 2017 Page 11

Hondurans fill streets, resist electoral fraud

Dec. 5 bulletin: Observers in Tegucigalpa report that the national po- ican Empire.” process that legitimizes the continuity lice, including an elite unit previously trained by U.S. experts called the Barahona said the U.S. interest in of the model of repression and death, di- COBRAS, have refused to enforce the curfew ordered by the U.S.-backed Honduras involved its central location in rected by Juan Orlando Hernández.” regime. This is the first indication that the massive popular uprising the Americas. Over decades, the Penta- The platform called for “a permanent has driven a wedge into the apparatus of state repression itself. gon has launched military interventions mobilization” of the people, exhorted against Cuba, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El communities to organize their own pro- By Martha Grevatt fraud, voter obstruction, bribery of the Salvador and the Dominican Republic. tection from the military, held the JOH extremely poor, and intimidation that With the Pentagon’s sights trained on government responsible for human Dec. 4 — Amid substantial allegations included physical assaults and assassina- Venezuela, Palmerola Air Base in Hondu- rights violations, and charged the U.S. of mass electoral fraud, the Honduran tions of LIBRE candidates and campaign ras is the military facility with the longest government and its servants such as the government is moving to impose the dic- workers. airplane runway in Central America. Organization of American States with tatorship of Juan Orlando Hernández on Xiomara Castro Zelaya is the spouse The Dole and Chiquita agribusiness complicity. The communique concluded the people for another four years, using of former President Mel Zelaya, who was monopolies have huge plantations in with a call for international solidarity. its U.S.-backed Honduran military forces. ousted in a 2009 U.S.-backed coup. The Honduras. Honduran company Dinant, Solidarity is growing. The Venezue- Tens of thousands of people defied people resisted the 2009 coup and took whose shareholders include major world lan government has unequivocally con- the army-police takeover of the capital to the streets en masse after the 2013 sto- finance capitalists, is a big producer of demned the electoral coup. Within the of Tegucigalpa in a mass march and ral- len election. African palm oil. U.S., organizations around the country ly. People around the country are erect- Under JOH’s rule, the Honduran police Since the 2009 coup, the reactionary have signed a letter of protest circulated ing roadblocks and flaming barricades, and army increased their repression be- regimes have handed over large tracts by the Honduras Solidarity Network and blocking toll booths and occupying stra- yond that of the illegitimate coup regime of land and waterways to foreign mining held protest demonstrations. Parties of tegic bridges in the port city of La Ceiba. of 2009-13. Rights activists, Indigenous interests, areas formerly held communal- the revolutionary left in the Dominican Salvador Nasralla Salum, candidate communities, Afro-Hondurans, women, ly by Afrodescendente and Indigenous Republic came together to issue a joint of the Opposition Alliance Against the teachers, journalists, LGBT people, chil- communities. statement demanding “sovereignty, de- Dictatorship (the Alianza), called for a dren and youth, and trade unionists have On Nov. 29, the Platform of Social mocracy and justice for Honduras.” general strike on Dec. 5 and called on “all been terrorized and murdered by police, and Popular Movements of Honduras Grevatt was a member of the Inter- members of the armed forces to revolt military and right-wing paramilitaries. (­PMSPH) issued a five-point communi- national Action Center observer del- against your bosses. You all over there, Murders included those of environmental que declaring its “absolute and categor- egation to Honduras during the 2013 you shouldn’t be there, you should be activist Berta Cáceres and human-rights ical rejection of the fraudulent electoral stolen election. part of the people.” (CBC News, Dec. 4) leader Margarita Murillo. Washington and Honduras’ wealthy This year, the people again challenged oligarchs back the current president and the dictatorship. Formed earlier this right-wing National Party candidate year, the Alianza consists of three oppo- Hernández, referred to as JOH. Wash- sition parties: LIBRE, the Anti-Corrup- ington, under President Barack Obama tion Party and the Party of Innovation Fidel Castro remembered and now under Donald Trump, has given and Unity. tens of millions of dollars to the heavily Nasralla was the presidential can- militarized Honduran state. didate of the Anti-Corruption Party in in the former Soviet Union Soon after the Nov. 26 election, Nas- 2013. Xiomara Zelaya was his running ralla appeared to be the clear winner. mate this time. The Alianza is essentially By a guest author a center-left bloc against the dictatorship. Nasralla led by 5 points Workers World is sharing these re- ‘¡Fuera JOH!’ The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) ports from the Donbass-Cuba Friend- announced that, with 57 percent of the Protests demanding “¡Fuera JOH!” ship Society and I.B. Khlebnikov ballots counted, Nasralla had 45.7 per- (JOH out!) have rocked the country since Workers’ University to mark the first an- cent of the vote, with 40.2 percent to this repeat of the 2013 stolen election. niversary of Cuban leader Fidel Castro’s Hernández and the rest to other can- JOH’s regime responded by suspend- death. The text was translated by WW didates. Records of the Alianza, which ing the Constitution for 10 days, impos- contributing editor Greg Butterfield. had its own poll workers at every polling ing a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew and threat- Donetsk: On Nov. 25, an evening of place, also show Nasralla winning by 5 ening to enforce an “anti-terrorism” law memory for Fidel Castro was held in the percentage points. that could impose a 6- to 12-year prison capital of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Yet, after some suspicious technical sentence for protesting. It allows prose- under the slogan #YoSoyFidel (I Am Fi- problems lasting as long as 10 hours, only cutors to charge journalists for incite- del). The event was organized by the Don- state flag of Cuba and the flag of the 26th of after four days did the TSE claim that, ment to “psychological terrorism.” bass-Cuba Friendship Society. The me- July Movement. A heavy minute of silence as the rural votes were tallied, JOH had Police and the military have fired on morial brought together different kinds was observed, and we watched a solemn retaken a tiny lead. JOH had appointed protesters with water cannons and paint of people — supporters of leftist and an- and sad video of the changing of the guard all TSE members. The Alianza refuses guns — using the paint to later identify ti-fascist ideas, students and schoolchil- at the Comandante’s tomb. to accept the TSE’s offer to recount only demonstrators. Scores have been wound- dren, workers, journalists — all united in The evening’s program was very rich: around 1,000 ballot boxes. ed and detained. Government forces have their interest in the history of Cuba and a fiery speech by the secretary of the Em- In 2013, the TSE declared Hernández reportedly killed at least eight people. Latin America, as well as respect for the bassy of the Republic of Cuba to the Rus- the victor over Xiomara Castro Zelaya, Told that the TSE forwarded its records personality of Fidel Castro, who inspired sian Federation, Oscar Redondo; speech- candidate of the LIBRE (Liberty and Re- on the election to the U.S. Embassy, Juan thousands of people to fight injustice. es by social scientists (A.V. Kharlamenko, foundation) Party. Barahona, coordinator of the National Svetlana Licht, a member of the A. Lepeshkin) about the high moral and International human rights observ- Front of Popular Resistance, said: “Yes, I Friendship Society, not only prepared a humanistic level to which the revolution- ers, including this writer, witnessed and do understand why. ... It’s because we are report about the personality of the leader ary movement rose thanks to Fidel; the heard firsthand testimony of widespread a country dependent on the [U.S.] Amer- of the Cuban Revolution, but also made development of the revolutionary pro- Russian subtitles for an interesting video cess in Cuba today; the life of the work- about the life of the Comandante and the ing people of the Liberated Island and the #YoSoyFidel campaign. We learned a lot place Fidel occupies in it in the memories of new things, saw how he appeared in of E. Letova; the revolutionary songs per- Get rid of Trumpism? the eyes of ordinary Cubans, how he in- formed by D. Chernov; and poems from teracted with people and how it changed the heart read by L. Rebrova. FBI no, mass resistance YES! their lives. Many participants gratefully The initiators and organizers of the recalled the assistance provided by Cuba meeting were the New Communist Continued from page 10 to the Ukrainian children who suffered Movement, the I.B. Khlebnikov Work- If the top labor leadership were not in exercises against the Democratic People’s from the Chernobyl disaster. ers’ University and Red TV. Represen- the pockets of the bosses, it would have Republic of Korea, hands off Venezuela After taking pictures with Cuban flags, tatives of various left parties, Moscow mounted massive struggles against the and Honduras, and an end to the block- we continued to talk about Fidel, Cuba students, musicians, a large number of tax bill, opened up the fight for universal ade of Cuba. and the whole situation in Latin Ameri- foreign guests from different countries health care and defended the 800,000 It would wage a struggle to shut down ca. Despite the fact that the occasion was of Latin America, all gathered — with DACA immigrants, as well as the tens of the Dakota Access Pipeline, not only in sad, the atmosphere at the meeting was a burning desire to pay tribute to Fidel, thousands of immigrants from the Carib- the interest of the environment, but in warm and at ease. reaffirm the ideals that he embodied and bean facing deportation. solidarity with the Native people whose Moscow: November 25 is a sad date. express readiness to move along the trail It would fight for a massive raise in the land is being destroyed. It’s exactly one year since the great son of he blazed. minimum wage and, above all, open up This would be the beginning of a min- the Cuban people passed away, perhaps As one of the guests wrote in the me- the battle against racism/white suprem- imal independent working- class pro- the last of the giants the 20th century morial book: “Fidel did not die, he dis- acy, sexism and anti-LGBTQ oppression. gram. gave mankind. A person who, in his life- solved into humanity.” It would demand U.S. troops out of the This is the way to fight Trump and time, became a legend — Fidel Castro. Original: Middle East, Afghanistan, Africa and Trumpism, as well as the neoliberalism On a frosty November evening, in a small https://prometej.info/blog/obyavleni- south Korea, and an end to U.S. military of the Democratic Party imperialists. room of the Workers’ University, hung the ya/pamyat-nuzhna-zhivym/ Correspondencia sobre artículos en Workers World/Mundo Obrero Tegucigalpa, Honduras pueden ser enviadas a: [email protected]

¡Proletarios y oprimidos de todos los paises unios! workers.org Vol. 59 Núm. 49 7 de diciembre 2017 $1 FOTO DE GREENLEFT.ORG Cerrando la brecha de conciencia

MO/WW Editorial

La conciencia social a menudo va más allá de la realidad. Las cosas cambian, pero nuestra comprensión de ellas se ve obstaculizada por las viejas concepciones, nacidas de las condiciones previas. Y luego, cuando la brecha se vuelve completamente absurda, puede haber grandes saltos hacia adelante a medida que la conciencia alcanza a la realidad en lo que parece ser un zumbido vertiginoso. Los marxistas han entendido desde hace tiempo que las sociedades progre- san no de manera uniforme o en línea recta, sino por lo que algunos llaman “desarrollo combinado y desigual”. Lenin escribió sobre el desarrollo capitalista extremadamente rápido de Alemania y Japón en la era del imperialismo, cuan- do alcanzaron e incluso superó algunas de las potencias coloniales europeas más establecidas en algunas décadas. Lo que es verdad del desarrollo mate- rial también es verdad de la conciencia. No avanza lenta y uniformemente, sino que avanza hacia adelante, y a veces hacia atrás, a medida que cambian las FOTO DE WW: BRENDA RYAN condiciones. En la conferencia del Workers World Party/Partido Mundo Obrero 2017. ¿Estamos viendo los comienzos de un cambio amplio y profundo en la concien- cia dentro de los EUA? Hay muchas ra- liberalismo capitalista debe aparecer del brando a los propietarios del capital con días en que los progresistas temían ser zones para pensar eso. lado de la justicia. la promesa de desprenderse de los traba- perseguidos y aislados! Primero, por supuesto, está la emer- Junto a esto están las muchas encues- jadores para obtener mayores ganancias, Esta lucha solo está comenzando. Pero gencia de la prominencia de los movi- tas en los últimos años que muestran que los tweets de Trump se desgastaran. ya están claros los lineamientos de un fu- mientos populares que han sido reprim- el capitalismo se ha convertido en una En este momento, los trabajadores turo infinitamente mejor. Nosotros, los idos durante mucho tiempo. Las luchas mala palabra. ¿Por qué más un político jóvenes están a la vanguardia de la con- humanos, hemos progresado en nuestro continuas de los negros y los latinos millonario demagogo pero calculador ciencia. Vimos a algunos de ellos el 18 y conocimiento hasta el punto en que ten- contra el racismo y la opresión nacional, como Trump hablaría tanto sobre los 19 de noviembre en Newark, N.J., en la emos los medios para terminar con el de las mujeres contra el patriarcado, de trabajadores? Está tratando de renovar conferencia nacional del Workers World trabajo agotador para que todos puedan las personas LGBTQ contra los ataques la imagen del capitalismo vinculándo- Party. Orgullosamente multi genero tener lo que necesitan sin que les trabajen homosexuales continúan, ya que estas lo a “buenos empleos”, culpando a otros y multinacionales, hicieron un traba- hasta la muerte. Una clase cada vez más condiciones se ven reforzadas tanto por países por “robar nuestros trabajos”. jo espléndido al defender y explicar la pequeña de individuos cada vez más ri- el estado como por el funcionamiento del En un momento de la historia en que la necesidad de un cambio revolucionario cos se interponen en nuestro camino. capitalismo. Sin embargo, la conciencia automatización, los robots, los camiones en este país. Y no tenían miedo de darlo Envuelve tu cabeza en eso, y la con- de decenas de millones ha sido cambiada autónomos y un millón de innovaciones a conocer a todo el mundo, a través de ciencia revolucionaria seguramente por estas luchas, hasta el punto en que el que ahorran mano de obra están deslum- las redes sociales. ¡Qué cambio desde los ­seguirá. Ataque contra inmigrantes dirigido a todos los trabajadores

Por G. Dunkel cerca de 275.000 niños, que nacieron nacional bruto de los tres países que rep- de la Copa del Mundo intentaron ingresar aquí y son ciudadanos de los EE. UU. resentan la mayoría de los destinatarios a los Estados Unidos en EPT. Terminaron En su forma cruel habitual, la admin- Aproximadamente un tercio está com- de EPT. (Pew Research Center, 2015) yendo a Canadá cuando no pudieron in- istración de Trump hizo obvio en la pri- prando una casa. El tiempo promedio Pero en el esquema de Trump, inflamar gresar a los EE. UU. Hay comunidades mera semana de noviembre que tiene la que han estado viviendo en los EE. UU. la supremacía blanca e incitar al racismo haitianas importantes en Montreal y la intención de poner fin al programa de Es- es de 19 años. (Center for American Prog- vale el riesgo de compromisos menores a ciudad de Quebec. tatus de Protección Temporal, (EPT) ress, 10 de octubre) la economía. Hasta agosto, un gran número de hai- El programa EPT permite a los refugia- La administración de Trump proclama Cuando Elaine Duke, la Secretaria tianos cruzaron desde los EE. UU. A dos de países donde ha habido desastres en voz alta que fue elegido para poner Interina de Seguridad Nacional, decidió Canadá y solicitaron asilo. Si hubieran in- naturales como huracanes o terremotos, fin al EPT. Estos intolerantes identifican que no tenía suficiente información sobre tentado un cruce legal, se requeriría que o violencia política como una guerra civ- a las personas de color en el programa Honduras y extendió el EPT para los hon- Canadá los envíe de vuelta en virtud de los il, vivir y trabajar legalmente en los Es- EPT, proclamando que son la razón por dureños otros seis meses, John Kelly, el tratados existentes con Washington. Pero tados Unidos. Lo otorga el Secretario de la cual los salarios son bajos y los empleos general retirado que es el jefe de personal un cruce “ilegal” les permite solicitar asilo. Seguridad Nacional con el asesoramiento escasos, —en vez de admitir que así es de Trump, la llamó a larga distancia de El gobierno canadiense se está prepa- del Secretario de Estado. como funciona una economía capitalista Asia para decirle que reconsidere. Ella se rando para una gran afluencia de refu- La mayoría de los que estan dentro del cuando puede explotar al máximo a los negó y dijo que se retirará cuando se con- giados de los EE. UU., Especialmente si la EPT provienen de El Salvador (195.000), trabajadores porque su estado precario. firme una secretaria permanente. protección de EPT se retira a los 195,000 Honduras (57.000) o Haití (50.000). (Re- Varios economistas dicen que la pres- La decisión del EPT para los haitianos salvadoreños en marzo. El sistema cana- vista sobre Migración y Seguridad Hu- encia de trabajadores protegidos por vendrá a finales de enero y para los salva- diense para escuchar solicitudes de asilo mana, julio de 2017). EPT realmente beneficia a las economías doreños a principios de marzo. está muy retrasado, pero las personas con Cerca del 90 por ciento ahora son tra- de las áreas donde están concentradas. Una cantidad de haitianos que se un reclamo de asilo pendiente pueden ob- bajadores en áreas metropolitanas de las Además, el dinero que envían a las famil- habían mudado a Brasil para trabajos rel- tener trabajo antes de que se escuche su costas este y oeste. Se estima que tienen ias equivale al 15 por ciento del producto acionados con las Olimpiadas y los juegos caso. (Globe and Mail, 7 de noviembre)