NOVEMBER – DECEMBER 2011, VOLUME 38, NO. 11 DONATION $1

Joe Michnuk, former Detroit Free Press employee and presently unemployed, holds up a sign representing his feelings about the situation in this country. He is at the kick off rally of Wall Street Detroit. Photo/daymonjhartley.com INSIDE: Economic Crisis 2 Take over the Understanding Racism 5 7-12 Public Education 14 corporations Benton Harbor 16 Read Story on Page 3 EDITORIAL The Economic Crisis: An economic system that doesn’t feed, clothe and house its people must be and will be overturned More than Greed or Corruption and replaced with a system that meets the needs of the people. “If you tell a lie big enough To that end, this paper is a tribune of those struggling to create such and keep repeating it, people will a new economic system. It is a eventually come to believe it. The vehicle to bring the movement to- lie can be maintained only for such gether, to create a vision of a better time as the State can shield the world and a strategy to achieve it. people from the political, econom- ic and/or military consequences of Labor-replacing electronic technol- the lie. It thus becomes vitally im- ogy is permanently eliminating portant for the State to use all of its jobs and destroying the founda- powers to repress dissent, for the tion of the capitalist system. The truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, people’s needs can only be met and thus by extension, the truth is by building a cooperative soci- the greatest enemy of the State.” ety where the socially necessary Joseph Goebbels (1897-1945, Hit- means of production are owned by ler’s Minister of Propaganda) society, not by the corporations. If Herr Goebbels rings a wake We welcome articles and artwork up bell, it is because the state and from those who are engaged in the the corporate media can no longer struggle to build a new society that “shield the people from the politi- is of, by and for the people. We cal, economic and/or military con- rely on readers and contributors to sequences of the lie.” The lie—or fund and distribute this paper. the network of lies—that led the The People’s Tribune, formerly American people to believe that published by the League of Revolu- corporate capitalism is the best of tionaries for a New America, is now all possible worlds is beginning to an independent newspaper with an unravel. The Occupy Wall Street editorial board based in Chicago. movement is only a dramatic ex- ample of this awakening and the PEOPLE’S TRIBUNE EDITORIAL POLICY: growing anger the people feel to- Articles that are unsigned, such ward their economic situation and as the cover story and editorials, political leaders. reflect the views of the editorial The last gasp of corporate rule board. Bylined articles reflect the views of the authors, and may or is the attempt to shield the critical may not reflect the views of the nature of the economic crisis by editorial board. blaming it on greed and corrup- tion. In their words there is noth- Deadlines for articles and art: The ing wrong with the system—it deadline for articles, photographs has been mismanaged and can be and other art is the first of each month for the issue that comes out corrected by uncorrupted and less at the beginning of the following greedy people. month. For example, the deadline The capitalist system operates for the June issue is May 1. Articles according to its laws and no politi- should be as short as possible, cal law can change an economic and no longer than 600 words. We law. The capitalist system is based reserve the right to edit articles to on the production and exchange conform to space limitations. of value. Value is produced by Occupy Detroit rally against Bank Of America is in support for Moratorium Now! Coalition to Stop People’s Tribune Editor: labor. The production by labor is Foreclosures, Evictions and Utility Shutoffs! Photo/daymonjhartley.com Bob Lee exchanged with money, which is Editorial Staff: Bob Brown, Brett the measure of value of all pro- less production increasingly can- ployed, the abandoned homes and pass through simply being against Jelinek, Shamako Noble, Chuck duction. The difference between not be exchanged on the basis of the homeless families. Look at the the current rot and corruption and Parker, Nelson Peery, Sandra Reid the cost of the production of labor value, how are we to get our daily polarization of wealth and poverty, visualize what kind of a new world power and the amount of value bread? Our society and all its insti- and most of all look at the awak- we can build with these marvelous People’s Tribune, P.O. Box 3524 that labor power creates is profit. tutions is increasingly out of sync ening social consciousness of the new means of production. The Chicago, Illinois, 60654 Our entire society, production and with its changing economic foun- American people. tremendous response generated e-mail: [email protected] Phone: 773-486-3551 exchange—all our social, politi- dation. The economic revolution is The problem we face is revo- by OWS indicates the vast revo- Toll Free: 800-691-6888 cal and legal institutions are built producing a vast social revolution. lutionary. We are at an historic lutionary potential of the people. Fax: 773-486-3552 around or arise from this reality. The first stage is the step-by-step fork in the road. It is either sink Can we, the revolutionaries add Web: www.peoplestribune.org We are deep into an economic destruction of the existing order into some sort of electronic feudal- the intellectual ingredient to de- revolution (electronic production) to make way for the new. If any- ism of corporate lords and serfs or velop into change? This Publisher: People’s Tribune that is doing away with value as it one doubts this reality, look at the build a whole new world of peace future is up to us! ISSN# 1081-4787 does away with labor. Since labor- shuttered factories, the idle unem- and freedom. The first step is to Reach us at: Chicago 773-486-3551 Ann Arbor, MI Why Revolutionaries Need A Press [email protected] From the Editors Atlanta, GA [email protected] We are sometimes asked “Why do revolutionaries need a press?” The answer has to do with this moment in history. People Carbondale,IL are struggling just to get the basic necessities of life. Historical forces beyond anyone’s control have set the stage for a new [email protected] Detroit, MI society to be built, but from this point on, how things turn out depends on what people think. This means that those of us who 313-438-6115 are seeking fundamental change are engaged in a battle of ideas, a struggle to win the hearts and minds of the people. If we Houston, TX don’t raise the consciousness of the people and unite them around a vision of a better world and a strategy to achieve it, then P O Box 231281, Houston, TX 77223-1281 we’ll fail in our effort to build a just and free society. To win the battle of ideas, we need a press. , CA 310-548-6491 Oakland, CA Visit us on the web at www.peoplestribune.org [email protected]

2 PEOPLE’S TRIBUNE | NOVEMBER – DECEMBER 2011 www.peoplestribune.org Take Over the Corporations! COVER STORY

The question is simple: Are we going to live under corporate dom- ination, or will we have a free and prosperous society of, by and for the people? The corporations are destroying society in their scram- ble to grab everything they can to stay alive and profit. We either take them over and run them in the interests of society or we perish. The merging of these corporations with the government has created a corporate state to protect and ac- cumulate more property, wealth, power and privilege for a shrink- ing capitalist class at all costs. They are not fit to rule. We are at the fork in the road. One fork is found in the vi- sion of the corporate few, whose success is at the expense of the many. This fork leads to a constant lowering of living standards, in- creased poverty and outright desti- tution for the many, with no health care, housing or education, and the death and destruction of ecologi- cal disasters and war around the world. It also leads to police re- pression and fascism. The other fork expresses itself in a global movement that is be- ginning to take shape in opposition to the corporations. Its activity is spreading. In the , the cartoon/andy willis Occupy Wall Street protest, a key recent expression of this move- take this step and if necessary cre- 99% cannot be met without defeat- ple is not right. We will not live in ment, has spread to more than 1400 ate a government that will do so. ing the economic power of the cor- poverty under corporate fascism. communities and cities across the Can the corporations be tamed porations and the only way to do We have the right to freedom and Sister/Brother, country and is growing. Its poten- or reformed to provide these needs that is to take them over. a decent life. can you spare $20? tial is sustained by a youthful core of society? No, they cannot. Capi- The economic revolution is The corporate government’s that knows the system has no place talism operates according to one producing the early stages of a actions to protect private prop- The People’s Tribune or future for them. Only the cre- basic law: maximum profit. The social revolution. Eventually the erty are transforming scattered, ation of a commonly shared vision capitalist economic system of cor- social movements that are taking issue-based battles into political brings clarity to the for a new society—a new future porate production and exchange shape around the world will begin battles over what the government growing movement. It now made possible by the marvels is dying because of its inability to express themselves politically. does and whom it protects. The unites revolutionaries of electronic technology—can to create jobs, which is the result Politics is about power. We need next step forward in securing our around a vision of a bet- sustain the potential of this move- of a global electronic revolution the power to determine our fu- future is to move from scattered ter world and a strategy ment for the long run. in production that increasingly ture in this new age of electronic defensive fights to unified politi- A society constructed in the in- eliminates the need for wage la- production. The definition of cal battles. The demand must rise to achieve it. It has no terests of the vast majority would bor. Eliminating jobs eliminates power is the ability to determine from every battle that the govern- paid staff and gets no provide food, clothing, housing, the market for goods and services. outcomes. Building the power to ment should take over the corpo- corporate grants. The healthcare, education and mean- The effect of the economic revo- confront the power, to take the rations and run them in the inter- paper is financed solely ingful existence to all of society. lution is economic polarization— power, and finally to use the pow- ests of the many and not for the by our readers. We need Such a society is not possible concentration of wealth at one er to create a new society will be a private gain of the few. Either we your support to continue without taking over the corpora- pole and the expansion of poverty long, difficult struggle. There will take over the corporations or they tions and running them in the in- at the other—accompanied by the be advances and setbacks before a will take over us. telling the truth. terests of society. We need to hold destruction of the economic mid- final victory. our government accountable to dle. The growing demands of the What is being done to the peo- One-time donations are welcome. If you can spare $20 a month or SUBSCRIBE TO THE PEOPLE’S TRIBUNE! ORDER BUNDLES more, you’ll be a hero. Please make donations Please send me a one-year individual subscription Name: payable to People’s Tri- [ $20 ] bune and send to P.O. Please send me a one-year institutional subscription Address: Box 3524, Chicago, IL [ $25 ] 60654. You can also do- Please send me a bundle of _____ PTs City/State/Zip: nate via Paypal at www. [ at 30 cents per paper ] Phone/Email: peoplestribune.org. Enclosed is my donation of: $20 $50 $75 $100 $Other ______My check or money order made payable to “People’s Tribune” is enclosed. Mail this People’s Tribune coupon to: People’s Tribune, P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654-3524 Editorial Board

www.peoplestribune.org NOVEMBER – DECEMBER 2011 PEOPLE’S TRIBUNE 3 JOIN THE CAMPAIGN FOR A PEOPLE’S SHERIFF By Cheri Honkala ilies for twenty-five years trying protect each other and let’s run to teach them how to occupy their people’s sheriffs across the United This speech was delivered on Oc- homes. This next year, over a mil- States of America. tober 6, the first day of the October lion families will lose their homes. What I’m doing is not sym- 2011 of Freedom Plaza Every seven seconds, somebody bolic, it’s concrete. Bill and Ida in Washington, DC. will lose their home. and Glen, who are with me today, When the banks received bil- and millions of people are going Good afternoon. I can’t hear lions in bailout dollars, and didn’t to lose their homes unless you you! Repeat after me, raise your do a damn thing for the American take this seriously, and not just hand: “One class, one cause! One people, and while our backbone- march about it, pray about it, and class, one cause! One class, one less politicians didn’t do a damn sing about, but help me fill every cause! One class, one cause!” thing either, I decided to stand up. damn poll in . That’s I bring you greetings from After my baby sister lost her home the birthplace of revolution and poor and homeless people across to Wells Fargo this year, I said change, and we can do it again in the United States of America. I enough is enough and I’m run- this country and we can take our come to you today as a woman ning as the first female sheriff in country back. who has been arrested over two the city of Philadelphia, to be the We can stand up to the banks hundred times in the fight for the people’s sheriff. and corporate America because basic necessities of life. And dam- That means on November 8, I Cheri Honkala delivers her keynote address to the Democracy we are good people in this coun- mit, that doesn’t make me a terror- need you to ! Convetion in Madison in August. try, because we believe in a coop- ist, that makes me a patriot! Because once we make history and Photo/Brett Jelinek, olafimages.com erative society, and because our While folks have been occu- I become the people’s sheriff, ain’t movement is based on love and pying Wall Street and occupying nobody going to get kicked out of city after city after city, and we the people, not the banks, the de- care for each other. We’re going to financial districts across this coun- their homes in the city of Philadel- will tell people, why can’t we have velopers, and the speculators, and take our country back! God bless try, I have been working with fam- phia! And from there we will hit a people’s sheriff that represents corporate America. Dammit, let’s each and every one of you! Immigration Raids: It Happened on Friday the 13th tion leaders with long standing re- War,” made worse by the river of the precious investments of their cords of hard work and craftsman- weapons flowing freely south into Wall Street Banksters. ship that was the lifeblood of the Mexico, and aided by the Bureau Where is the justice for these company’s core products; and who of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and economically displaced workers, had remained loyal for up to ten Explosives, (ATF) “operations.” the parents fleeing violence, and the years, not even taking paid vaca- Political refugees from Central political refugees who came to “El tion days when production was in America flee oppressive U.S. in- Norte” in search of an honest day’s full swing. All were raising fami- stalled regimes and death squads, pay for an honest days work? lies, or sending money home; and propped up by U.S. security ser- all paid more than their fair share vices to protect corporations and of taxes, for which they would never be able to file a return, or qualify for any benefits. Although company officials Defending Human Rights: hired the best legal counsel to avert the enforcement, and to help build a case for workers, ICE policy Where we’re headed ruled. On Friday, May 13, twenty four workers were dismissed with- The following editorial is Historically, it has been used out incident; except of course, for from our sister publication, the to divide and conquer the work- Youth put themselves at risk during a Chicago protest outside the broken dreams, dismay, tears, Tribuno del Pueblo. ing class, pitting native-born a Department of Homeland Security hearing on the Secure and the sullen expressions that against immigrant. They use the Communities Program. They are undocumented and were later donned the faces of those that Immigrant rights advocates attack on the undocumented as arrested. They are fighting the case. Photo/Adrian Garcia were left to pick up the pieces. have become an assortment a smoke screen to hide a failing We struggled for the next three of strange bedfellows. Politi- economic system, capitalism. By Ricardo Trevino where mainly Spanish is spo- months to fill the gaping hole left cians, police chiefs, businesses To be able to see through ken, and low wage factory labor in our workforce, only to find a and unions, religious, commu- this smokescreen, workers need With 354,000 deportations of is needed, I know that it’s only a few good qualified and committed nity and civil-rights organiza- to see the commonality of their Mexicans in 2010 alone, and over matter of time before I will receive skilled craftsmen who were good tions, are all finding themselves struggle. Our dreams and striv- 1,000,000 total since taking of- that fateful phone call. On a cold enough to perform the work, and on the same side. ings are no different for any fice, the Obama administration has February morning, ICE officials who were willing to accept com- In this mixture of some good of us, no matter what color, or nearly doubled the immigration called and reported that the com- parable wages of those we lost. My and some very strange com- what nationality we may be. enforcement actions taken during pany was selected for a “random duties and workload doubled. Hav- pany, revolutionaries need to Our struggle is one of love the Bush Era. This is a ruthless audit” for compliance of official ing asked for assistance—and after figure out what should be our for our families. This love feat on track to surpass the Hoover employment documentation. The having been denied —I was given guiding light. makes us search for a job across Administration’s forced “repatria- subpoena required the company to my own set of walking papers. Nationally, powerful eco- borders and inter-state. We live tion” during the Great Depression hand over all employment forms More importantly, good peo- nomic forces are moving, not and work to provide our fami- that sent over 1.2 million Mexi- and copies of the identification for ple were lost, our friends, our only to dominate the govern- lies with the basic necessities of cans, many who were U.S. born all employees. co-workers with whom we broke ment, but to actually become life, such as food, shelter, health citizens and didn’t speak Span- Later, ICE issued an ultima- bread and celebrated our birth- the government. They see the care, and education. ish, back to Mexico on cattle cars. tum to the company in the face of days together. Every last one of little democracy that remains in It’s this love for our families Statistics alone fail to describe the stiff fines and jail time. Officials them was from Mexico or Central our country as an obstacle to that unites us, immigrant and suffering and injustice of the en- were to terminate workers that America, and victims of failed their rule. They are determined native-born. Though we may be forcement actions taken by U.S. ICE found to be ineligible. Al- U.S. trade, drug, and foreign pol- to destroy it before deteriorat- frightened and confused about Immigration and Customs En- though the working papers were icy. Workers were displaced by ing economic conditions kick our future, we must not let our forcement (ICE). reviewed, and several employees the free trade agreement, NAFTA, people awake. rulers divide us. Our only viable As a Mexican-American and were spared, twenty-four workers which only benefits the multi- They need to divide and path is to unite as workers—as bilingual human resource work- couldn’t document their “right to national corporations and which conquer. Herein lies the impor- one class—and fight for our ba- er, I witnessed these actions first work” according to ICE standards, caused a severe economic col- tance of the immigrant issue for sic needs, our dignity, and a bet- hand. Often contracted as the and faced termination. All of the lapse in Mexico. Mothers and fa- this ruling class. ter tomorrow. staffing manager into workplaces workers were artisans and produc- thers fled the violence of a “Drug

4 PEOPLE’S TRIBUNE | NOVEMBER – DECEMBER 2011 www.peoplestribune.org Understanding Racism in the Age of Electronics By David A. Romero tics change in that society.” The discussion was lively, away 96 billion pounds of food a based upon our human needs and Dickerson dispelled many presenting both criticisms of his year. We don’t live in a world of how we fulfill those needs. Now, Part history teacher, part an- misconceptions as to the origin of critique of capitalism as well as scarcity anymore.” we have to fight to survive. That’s thropologist, all social scientist, the African slave trade. “The failed providing hope for what could be Raquel Rodgers, a sophomore the problem. As a society, we need author Preston Dickerson launched enslavement of Native Americans accomplished in this new era of at UC Riverside, summed up what to change our ideas of our values into his lecture “Understanding and European indentured servants electronic means of production. she had learned from Dickerson’s and our needs. We need to start to Racism” at the small business and led to the permanent enslavement Demarcations between racism and lecture and discussion on “Under- ask how we can structure a society art gallery, Machine Pomona, in of African Blacks,” Dickerson prejudice, capitalism and classism, standing Racism,” “Human his- to meet those human needs.” the Arts District of Pomona, Cali- stated. African Blacks, particu- were drawn by Dickerson and the tory and human society has been fornia. Dickerson’s lecture chal- larly West Africans, were chosen audience. Challenges to a future lenged a crowd of mixed ethnic for “agricultural knowledge” and based on collectivity were levied origins, religious backgrounds, “immunity against malaria from on the basis of two arguments, and professional occupations to mosquitoes.” He continued, “the “people are too greedy and/or peo- relate racist ideologies and myths subjugation of millions of people ple are too lazy for such a society to their historical and material had to be justified with an ideolo- to exist.” Dickerson countered this foundations. gy… this ideology was racism.” skepticism with the historical fact Dickerson delivered his lec- Dickerson pointed out that that the majority of human history ture from his book, Capitalism: increased mass poverty amongst has been one of primitive commu- Another Word for Slavery, with a Blacks, whites, Hispanics and nism in which humanity engaged variety of intonations, making eye Asians in our modern era has led in cooperative economics. contact with an audience mostly to a greater class consciousness. Not one to romanticize the in their twenties. Now a seasoned He concluded his lecture with the past, Dickerson also made it clear orator and lecturer, Dickerson was statement, “if we destroy the cur- that the recent developments in able to read from his notes while rent economic situation, then we the fields of automation and robot- pausing for moments to expand destroy institutional racism.” ics have renewed the promise of a upon ideas with both facts and per- Oliver, the owner of Machine cooperative society. “Economics, sonal anecdotes. Pomona David “Judah 1,” stated and with it, human society, has Dickerson’s lecture began that he had invited Dickerson to been defined by scarcity for the with the bold statement, “We need speak at his business to “bring a past few hundreds of years,” Dick- to grasp that economics is not just different element to the space; to erson said. He continued, “We a part of human life, it is every part provide a deeper level of debate now have the tools at our disposal In San Francisco, joining together, risking arrests, to stop of human life.” He followed that and conversation.” Oliver was an to destroy the basis for economic a planned raid against the occupation ordered by Interim with, “when the economy changes, active participant in the discussion inequality.” An attendee added on Mayor Ed Lee. Photo/Myles Boisen social values change and the poli- following Dickerson’s lecture. to his point, “Americans throw CHA Evicts People For Crimes They’re Not Convicted Of 1) The vast majority of where else to go, he became housing.” lease holders were not the homeless and dropped out of The next phase of wel- one who had committed the school. “He would call and tell comed discussion must begin alleged crime for which they me he was hungry and I would with the Lease, for once it is were being evicted. bring him food,” she continued. signed, residents give up many 2) More than half of the Sometimes she would see him of their constitutional rights. evictions were based on alle- sleeping on a park bench near Nothing can cover up the fact gations that were never prov- the house and described it as that CHA was Gloria’s son en in criminal court. “the most hurtful thing.” Tyran’s last resort. And like 3) The largest numbers Tears swelled up in the most residents, no one in their of these evictions occurred wells of the eyes of people in family knew the rules because in gentrifying communities the room. Listeners called into the CHA management only where public housing devel- the station and sent text mes- gave them a four-page Lease opments were being prepped sages in support of Gloria. Part 2 without the “Terms and for demolition. Asset manager Jadine Chou, Conditions” included, which 4) No community has expe- the CHA representative on the was a common practice at that rienced more One Strike cases show, responded with the argu- time. So a child pays the price than Cabrini Green. ment that the harsh lease and and another mother weeps, but A debate opened up in the policies were there to provide not alone. Those of us who city. On September 2, Gloria safety for the other CHA resi- have a conscience weep with Franklin, a soft-spoken mother dents, but couldn’t explain how her. But not for long. Even be- of three, grandmother of two this teenager was a threat. fore all the tears have dried, the and Cabrini Green resident, The next day the New conscious join the fight. went on the radio and told her York Times reprinted one of Gloria Franklin, Cabrini Green resident, is victim of the One story. Her 16-year-old son had the Chicago Reporter articles Strike policy. A criminal case against her 16-year-old son was been arrested on a marijuana by Angela Caputo, “One And Correction thrown out of court, yet the CHA still used his arrest to threaten charge outside the home and Done.” By September 9, Carlos her entire family with eviction. Photo/Jason Reblando she got an eviction notice. Even Ponce, the CHA’s Interim CEO On Page 9 of the October, though the case against her son released a statement saying— 2011 edition of the People’s By Joseph Peery Indeed, the last sentence in Sec- was dismissed, the CHA con- ”Its’ publication allows a wel- Tribune, in an article about tion 8 Part (m)1 of the Lease tinued with the eviction. She comed discussion of the role Cabrini Green, a commentary In the September/October reads, “Criminal conviction is fought as long as she could, of public housing, the rights of by Joseph Peery at the end of 2011 edition of the Chicago not necessary to demonstrate but in the end she was forced to public housing residents—and the article was mistakenly at- Reporter, there appeared two serious violation of the lease.” go on probation for a year and their responsibilities as well. tributed to Veronica Buckley. investigative articles and an edi- The Chicago Reporter ana- remove her son from the lease. Public Housing is not a shelter, Peery’s comments began with tor’s note questioning the use of lyzed more than 1400 cases He could never come on CHA nor is it a warehouse of last re- “Public Housing was born in the Chicago Housing Author- where CHA took residents to property again or visit her. sort...” And further, “Each and the Great Depression...” We ity’s (CHA) ONE STRIKE pol- eviction court using One Strike Then her voice began to every person who rents from regret the error. icy. With this policy, the CHA over the past six years ending choke up. “Mama loves you”, or through the CHA knows the —People’s Tribune. has evicted hundreds of families in January 2011. They cited she told him. They hugged, rules. Quite frankly, it is a small based on just an arrest of any numbers which backed up the shed tears, said their goodbyes price to pay for the guarantee household member or guest. following conclusions: and he was gone. Having no- of affordable rents in excellent

www.peoplestribune.org NOVEMBER – DECEMBER 2011 PEOPLE’S TRIBUNE 5 A People’s Victory—Short Term

By Maureen D. Taylor comes the truth about raw, predato- for this system, which only knows Low income children are be- away from them. ry capitalism...it knows only feed- constant consumption, then there is ing targeted in Michigan. In the The State is today hard at The status of residents in De- ing. If you can no longer produce no need to keep you alive. worst job market, the worst hous- work, correcting the form that will troit is precarious and we all know ing market, with the cost of liv- be sent out, so that it is in full and it. Here is the landscape on which ing going up and the chances of demonic compliance when they we live: living going down—the governor strike again at the poorest among 1) The only state to lose of Michigan has decreed that the us—blond, blue-eyed children. population in the last census was first 40,000 welfare families who Fact: Some 57,000 job open- Michigan; have received 48 months of cash ings have been posted on-line 2) Of all the manufacturing assistance will be separated from for the entire state on the official jobs that disappeared, 50% van- those dollars permanently. Moth- Michigan Job Site for this year- ished from Michigan; er can’t pay rent, mortgage, or to-date. 3) Detroit’s population fell utilities. This is not the first time Fact: Approximately 1,100 to 717,000, confirmed in the last that mothers were told that their jobs were posted the week of Oct census; “first-born” children had to be 1, 2011 for the entire state. 4) Some 235,000 Detroit resi- sacrificed. The difference in this Fact: Some 835,000 re- dents receive unemployment ben- class-attack is that the entire fam- sumes are on file that drop off after efits, not counting those who ben- ily is being tossed out into the one year—about 8 to 1. efits have exhausted; streets—forced into homelessness Welfare Rights continues to 5) Some 95,000 parcels of and whatever else awaits them. recruit visionaries to the Resur- vacant lots and vacant homes are This decree from this corporate rection Marches that happen every standing empty as of this writing; Pharoah was to have taken place on Thursday at the State Building in 6) Michigan is one of the top Oct. 1, 2011. Federal Judge Paul Detroit—3044 W. Grand Blvd., five states leading in home fore- Borman ruled on Oct. 4th, that the from noon to 1PM. We resurrect closures. notices sent to these households the spirit of social justice, of resis- The foundation on which were flawed and that the proper tance, and are talking about what a workers live has changed for- steps required for notification were new society based on the needs of ever. Gone are the middle income not followed. He ruled further that the many looks like, or we collapse producing jobs that used to be tied funds taken away incorrectly must under the dead weight of what we to auto-manufacturing. Gone are be restored immediately. are suffering through today. the benefits that workers fought so A cry of victory went out that hard to secure. Gone are the days could be heard across the land Maureen D. Taylor is State when the expectation was that our Protest against Michigan welfare cuts that will throw up to from those parents, grateful to Chairperson, Michigan Welfare children would do better that their 40,000 children off welfare. Families won a short term victory have more time allowed between Rights Organization parents. Technology that used to when a judge ruled that notices sent to households were them and the shear terror that en- enhance labor, now replaces labor flawed, and that funds taken away incorrectly must be restored gulfs extreme poverty as those and, with that fundamental change, immediately. Photo/daymonjhartley.com October dollars could not be taken

PROGRESSIVE CINEMA The People’s Tribune By Bill Meyer who could face charges of harbor- the baby that we soon find out ing “illegals,” contemplates the was the result of a prison rape in One of the more prominent ethical questions that define the Libya. The hardships of their long needs your financial themes at this year’s Toronto In- role of the church and just being journey from Ethiopa, the reluc- ternational Film Festival was im- human. The police eventually ar- tance of the daughter to accept the migration. With the world facing rive and the movie offers a poi- Africans, the villagers who pride support increased poverty as the rich get gnant resolution to the crisis. This their island as a resort town free richer, filmmakers are examining is possibly the last film from this of “illegals,” and the eventual con- We need your help. The revolutionary movement in this coun- the ramifications of shifting popula- revered director. cerns about how they will get off try needs a national press to help tie the movement together. We tions. The richer countries are facing With a different locale, but the the island with increasing police need a press that gives us a vision of the new society we can build. the realities that the poor of the earth same issue of immigration, TER- surveillance, infuses this drama The People’s Tribune is striving to become that press. We have have to find new lands to survive. RAFERMA takes us to a sunny is- with one moral (and political) opened our pages to the movement. This paper is a means for the Two great new films from It- land off the coast of Sicily, where dilemma after another. Director leaders of this growing movement to have a dialogue with each aly address the moral and human an old fisherman takes his grand- Emanuele Crialese, appearing af- other. We have no paid staff, we get no grants, we are completely aspects of the growing phenom- son out to sea to learn the fishing ter the screening, revealed that the dependent on donations and subscriptions, and we depend on our enon of so-called “‘illegal” im- trade. As the sun begins to set, they woman playing the African moth- readers and contributors to distribute the paper. Please make a migration. CARDBOARD VIL- see a starling vision in the horizon: er actually was an immigrant from donation today. No amount is too small. You can make checks LAGE directed by the veteran a raft overloaded with human be- Somalia who encountered the trag- payable to “People’s Tribune” and send them to: People’s Tribune master Ermanno Olmi (TREE ings frantically waving for help. edies depicted in the movie. P.O. Box 3524 Chicago, IL 60654. OF WOODEN CLOGS), tells As several take the risk and jump Acclaimed Finnish director, You can also donate through PayPal at peoplestribune.org. about a group of North African off the raft, desperately heading Aki Kaurismäki (MATCH FAC- Thank you. refugees who take shelter in a towards their boat, the old fisher- TORY GIRL, MAN WITHOUT Catholic church that’s set for de- man chooses between the new law A PAST), has also turned to the molition. The lonely aging priest, of the land that punishes those who hot button issue of immigration. played by famed actor, Michael pick up ‘illegals,’ versus the law of Applying his trademark style of Lonsdale, (MUNICH, OF GODS the sea that directs a person with dry humor, simple camera move- AND MEN and FREE MEN) that moral conscience to pull drown- ment and a warmth for the work- also appears at this year’s Toronto ing people from the water. A preg- ing class, he offers a story about International Film Festival), con- nant mother and several others are a man faced with the moral di- fronted with this final challenge loaded onboard before a Coast lemma of harboring an “illegal.” in his decaying parish, takes the Guard boat arrives and they leave LE HAVRE won the FIPRESCI moral high ground and defends before getting caught. The story Award at the 2011 Cannes Film their right to seek shelter against takes us through an emotional roll- Festival, and this ‘fairy tale’ comi- the impending threat of starvation er coaster. A pregnant woman and cal approach to a serious social is- and possible death. In defiance, a her son are taken in while the oth- sue is as effective as a hard-hitting tent city is constructed inside the ers flee once they reach land. The documentary. empty church, while the priest, fisherman’s daughter helps deliver

6 PEOPLE’S TRIBUNE | NOVEMBER – DECEMBER 2011 www.peoplestribune.org Occupy Wall Street–Detroit Vision Of A New Society From the Editors any semblance of a democratic America with an economy The People’s Tribune is based on the law of maximizing devoting the following pages corporate profits. We have to or- to coverage of the Occupy ganize a cooperative economy Wall Street sweeping or we won’t be able to feed and the nation. house ourselves and our fami- The demand of the Occupy lies. We have to break the power Wall Street movement for a just of these giant corporations by and democratic America where taking them over and make them corporations are placed under work for society, rather than for the rule of law is a reflection of the profits of the 1%. However, this epochal moment in history this cannot happen until the peo- and points the way forward. The ple themselves have the politi- polarization of wealth and pov- cal power to make fundamental erty has reached extreme levels changes in the economy, society globally. More and more people and the political structure. This are barely eking out an existence is the pathway to a new coopera- while the number of billionaires tive America. is multiplying. The corporations In such a society, the abun- in the U.S. have merged with dance that science and technol- the government, a prescription ogy makes possible today will for fascism. Underlying it all is be distributed to all based on the fundamental change in the need—without money. Every- way society produces its neces- one will have the opportunity to Photo/daymonjhartley.com sities; this is bringing about the contribute their talents and skills By General Baker against the bad bus service in this have a commitment for 60 days, end of capitalism and producing back to society. To achieve this city. So they are blending them- until mid December. a struggle for a new society. age-old vision, made necessary Occupy Wall Street Detroit is selves into the struggles. One of The Occupation makes deci- Capitalism, a system based and possible by the new elec- at Grand Circus Park in Detroit. the big things is their international sions through the General Assem- on the buying and selling of la- tronic technology, we must go There are about 100 protesters solidarity. There was a joint protest bly (GA). If you want them in- bor power, is dying, not because beyond the struggle to simply from the Greater Detroit area and with the Occupation in Windsor, volved in something, you take the someone wants it to, or because reign in the corporations. We about 50 tents are set up. The po- Canada. They almost closed down issues to the GA and have it dis- it is so corrupt and immoral, but must gain the political power in lice aren’t bothering them. one of the bridges. Some local cussed and voted on. Most of the because of the labor-eliminating order to create a totally new so- Michigan is in the heart of the people in involved in the bridge participants are are white. Howev- computer and robot. No corpo- ciety of, by and for the people. Rust Belt and Detroit, the former struggle joined that struggle. er, when it comes to Detroit, you ration is going to buy your la- The first step in this long and auto capital, has some of the highest The occupation movement is have to involve the multinational bor power when greater profits difficult, but historic battle for unemployment and poverty in the settling in! It was a little raggedy makeup of the population, the Af- can be made by producing with humanity and the earth itself, nation. Overall, the idea of the 99% at the start; a lot of learning was rican American, the Arab and His- a robot. The jobs aren’t com- is to orient our struggles to take helps move forward our understand- needed. When you start something panics into the struggle. Generally, ing back; yet under capitalism, over the banks and all the rest of ing of classes in society, but we are downtown in Detroit, you can get people are working together. without a job, you starve. the giant corporations and run trying to stress that we represent the overrun by the homeless. Down- The Occupy Detroit effort We are not going to achieve them in the public’s interest. very bottom of the 99%. town Detroit has hundreds of home- needs to be welcomed into the city. Occupy Wall Street Detroit has less people. So we had to point out It brings more forces and more op- been sending people to the Resur- that they weren’t down here to feed portunities to learn and it helps rection Marches that have been the homeless; they were down here sharpen the class contradictions struggling around the government’s to Occupy and to do the work of we are trying to expose. welfare cuts. They have supported the occupation. There are plenty of OCCUPY FLINT the foreclosure struggle. They sent places in Detroit where the home- General Baker is an interna- We are citizens of the Flint Our General Assembly is all of their forces into the struggle less can go and eat. Lists were made tionally known autoworker (now area. We come from all walks structured as a Direct Democra- against Bank of America and its up so they would know where to retired) and a leader of the Detroit of life. We are not affiliated with cy; we have no specified leader, foreclosure policy here. They sup- send people. Now the Occupation rebellion in the 1960s. any political party. We each bring everyone has a voice, and we ported people in demonstrations is going into its third week. They different views, skills, and ex- vote on all major issues. We re- periences to the movement. We spect and value all viewpoints, come together insisting the status ideas, and opinions. quo be changed. We further insist We believe that every hu- Occupy Carbondale on a paradigm shift to a system man being has the right to food, By Cathy and Sheridan Talbott people of this country, the 99%. like one of the next big economic that is citizen-oriented. shelter, education, health care, a The people of Southern Illi- bubbles to burst. We must examine the train safe working environment, and People from across Southern Il- nois have watched their jobs go up They’re watching want and wreck our society has become. a working wage equal to no less linois are gathering on a regular ba- in smoke and vanish into thin air. need increase while “Wall Street” We must ask hard questions and than the cost of living. sis in Carbondale in solidarity with They’ve watched funding for state and the top 1% gorges itself in demand answers. We must edu- We are tired of living in an the “Occupy Wall Street” move- functions that benefit the people, the wealth we create. Politicians cate ourselves on the problems economy where a two-income fam- ment going on in New York, across like education and health care, be keep telling us there is no money. facing the 99%. And most impor- ily struggles to pay bills and cannot the country and across the world. cut and cut again. The ever-higher There’s plenty of wealth and mon- tantly, we must come together. afford to save for retirement. They come from all walks of life. spiraling cost of healthcare moves ey. Only problem is the 1% has it Though we may not agree, this is For further information, con- They are young and old, mothers, any meaningful healthcare out of all and keeps wanting and getting a conversation we must have. tact OccupyFlint.org. fathers, and grandparents. They reach. As union members, they’ve more and more. The corruption is are laid-off factory workers, teach- watched and are watching their systemic. And so the people of ers, students, veterans. They are all collective bargaining rights be sys- Southern Illinois are now stand- here will grow and expand. election of Barack Obama. We saying basically the same thing. tematically attacked and eroded. ing up with all the others in unity So what now? Are we going need to set our own independent They want a future, a future for To get an education the students at saying “meet human need and not to again let them march us around path. And we can start with the themselves, for their children, for Southern Illinois University have corporate greed.” I know from in a circle, give us a donut, send demand in a single voice that this everybody. They want a social sys- to accumulate heavy debt. If they talking to people in various com- us home, and tell us to vote demo- one percent and these corporations tem that doesn’t serve Wall Street graduate, they ask, “Where are the munities that everyone knows we cratic? This rapid slide into deep be taxed. Together, we can and and the top 1% like we’ve had for jobs?” And who makes big money do not have a system that works poverty didn’t start with George will find the answers and -imple so long now, but one that serves the on that debt? Student debt looks for the majority. The movement W. Bush. Nor did it end with the ment solutions.

www.peoplestribune.org NOVEMBER – DECEMBER 2011 PEOPLE’S TRIBUNE 7 Occupy A New Class of Workers San Francisco Who Are Revolutionaries From the Editors by electronics is no longer able to paradise that is possible if the survive under capitalism. marvelous new electronic means What will it take to bring As electronics entered the of production are taken over by about a new society? Society is economy in the 1970s, we first the people. With the means of transformed when something saw the jobs of unskilled and production in the people’s hands, qualitatively new is added to the semi-skilled laborers eliminated. we could eliminate back-breaking economy that disrupts the exist- Today, workers from every section toil, we could feed, clothe and ing economy. Economic revolu- of society, from skilled industrial shelter everyone, provide every- tion begets social and political workers to people with advanced one with health care and education revolution. college degrees, are being forced and everything needed for a civi- Something new has been add- into the new class. lized life. The productive power Occupy San Franscisco has suffered two attacks by police but ed to our economy and to econo- The needs of this new class of electronics should be raising the protest continues to thrive. Photo/Myles Boisen mies across the globe: it is produc- can only be met by creating a new our standard of living. Instead, tion using computers and robots society where the means of pro- in the hands of the capitalists, it By Sarah Page of campers formed and stayed the (electronics). For 40 years, the duction are publicly owned and is plunging masses of people into night, including a couple travel- new robotic production has been what we produce is distributed poverty. The electronics that, in On September 17, 2011, Oc- ers who had intended to leave San wiping out jobs by the millions and according to need. It is therefore capitalist hands, is strangling us, cupy the San Francisco Financial Francisco when they saw a flyer driving down wages. This growth a revolutionary class. It is forced could set us free if it were in the District kicked off in solidarity for the event and were compelled of electronics-based production is to fight to overturn corporate pri- people’s hands. with Occupy Wall Street, at 555 to stay, and a young man who had reflected in society as the growth vate property and build a new so- We can have a society and a California Street, outside the Bank taken a train from Vancouver, Can- of a new class of workers. Millions ciety to meet its economic needs. world free of poverty and oppres- of America building, aka the “Wall ada to support the movement. in this class are permanently un- It is forced to fight for the political sion. It’s right in front of us. We Street of the West.” Approximate- The camp is continuously employed. Some are destitute and power to shape society. just have to take it. Class con- ly 150 people participated in the growing and we have been pro- homeless. Millions of others are The essential task of revolu- sciousness is the weapon that will opening rally. Members of U.S. testing and organizing ever since. among the part-time, contingency, tionaries today is to make this de- propel us to victory. Uncut and the Revolutionary Po- There are now daily meetings at below-minimum wage workers cisive new class conscious that it ets Brigade were present, as well the camp at 6PM and General As- within the employed sector of the is fighting for a new society, and as people of all ages and interna- semblies every Saturday in Union new class. This new class created give it a vision of the economic tional students. Independent me- Square at noon. This is a leader- dia documented the event with less movement that operates on a photographs, tweets and video. very democratic and open consen- meetings at the camp have had up We shared the megaphone with sus basis. We developed a process to 20 people. people in the crowd to hear stories for measuring consensus during We want an end to corporate The Shifting Of The Tides of how they have been affected by our meetings. Raised hands with personhood, to corporate greed. Marching protesters fill the roads corporate greed. US currency was moving fingers indicate agree- That is our main focus right now. Tent cities line the streets in rows set on fire. ment with what is being said, arms Ultimately our demands are the They are taking back the land that has been stolen After a couple hours the ral- crossed over the chest in an X in- same as the Occupy Wall Street Declaring that the jig is up ly split up into one group who dicate disagreement with what is demands. For now they have had enough marched to Wells Fargo and down being said, rolling your forearms Occupations have popped up And the people are demanding revolution Market Street, and another group over each other indicates disin- in cities all over the US, including Like the morning sun, it glides who stayed and met in a public as- terest in what is being said. The Boston, Chicago and LA. This is sembly. Plans were made to meet General Assemblies on Saturday really a global movement, inspired They too are now on the rise again in Union Square the fol- attract about 60 people, this week by people organizing like this in And they’re gonna be putting it all in lowing Saturday. A small group will likely bring more. The daily Israel, Egypt, Spain, Iceland, and Oh, it’s the shifting of the tides, let them shift, let them shift beyond. We have had involvement by young people from several of Oh, it’s the shifting of the tides, let them shift, let them shift, oh! these countries here in SF. Also, I Like the seas are bound to transform received a phone call from a doc- Riot police attack #OWS A nation too can be reborn tor in Uganda one night when I was meeting with some people The moon is always moving across the sky San Francisco protest from the occupation in a Starbucks & as life keeps moving down the line By Sarah Menefee supporter Jim Byron: “After planning a newsletter. He left a Even mountains erode with time two police raids in which ‘pub- message saying: “We are all wait- Change is the only thing that is constant After two recent attacks lic works’ employees jacked as ing for and anticipating” the suc- Men and insects build their empires on the Occupy Wall Street San much stuff as they could fit into cess of your movement to “wrestle The sun explodes with furious fires Francisco occupation site by their truck and riot-geared po- from that evil government” your Hear the call of the people taking back their own land a large number of riot police, licemen pushed people around “just demands” which will “re- who beat up protesters, arrested and arrested them, you might move the pressure” from the “mil- Oh, it’s the shifting of the tides, let them shift, let them shift some campers, and confiscated think that the Occupy San Fran- lions suffering under the yoke of Oh, it’s the shifting of the tides, let them shift, let them shift, oh! tents and food, public support cisco movement would be on American Imperialism.” “I have for the movement and its de- the brink of collapse. But, the a radio station and will” report on The cheating politicians scramble mands is stronger than ever, opposite is true. It is stronger what is going on there. “One day The vigilantes light their candles and the occupation is growing, than ever. It is thriving. We are justice will be done.” He said he Camping outdoors neath the twilight moon glow with outpourings of donations building a new society in which would call again. Reclaiming the broad boulevards and on-site solidarity to prevent every human being is provided www.occupysf.com Under the eyes of countless stars further attacks. This eyewitness with everything they need to www.occupytogether.org Who bear witness to the pangs of evolution account was written by poet and survive.” Crowds gather large all over the land To make the whole world understand They are greater than the few who wish to rule them JOIN THE PEOPLE’S TRIBUNE DESIGN TEAM! Oh, it’s the shifting of the tides, let them shift, let them shift Donate your graphic and print design skills to the People’s Tribune. Oh, it’s the shifting of the tides, let them shift, let them shift, oh! Let’s put everyone’s skills together to introduce a vision of a new America! —By Jim Byron Call us at 800-691-6888 or email us at [email protected]

8 PEOPLE’S TRIBUNE | NOVEMBER – DECEMBER 2011 www.peoplestribune.org The General Strike By Steve Miller failing city, Oakland symbolizes the far in the . He The police attack on Occupy The Port represents the politi- privatized future of the Race To The called for a total re-imagining of campers was seen around the world. cal power of the 1%. Though it pro- When Occupy Oakland took Bottom that the 1% offers to soci- what we mean by democracy, of Later that night, police continued duces billions of dollars in revenue over the plaza in front of City ety… and everyone knows this. work, of public education and what firing tear gas into crowds of protes- a year, and in fact is the port of Hall, they renamed it “Oscar Grant Occupy Oakland soon reflected it means to be a human being. tors and fractured the skull of Iraq Silicon Valley, the Port is “legally Plaza” in honor of the man who three distinct, but closely related, “… it’s not only taking back Veteran, Scott Olsen, with a direct separate” from the city, which gets was murdered by BART police in sections of the working class: the our democracy. We have to remake hit. Their goal was more than to dis- nothing at all. The Port should be 2009. Young people put their bod- long-term homeless, the Youth who it. We have to transform it. We perse the Occupiers. It was to stop public space to benefit the people; ies on the line to reclaim a public work temp jobs when they work have to build something better than the process of Re-Imagining that since it’s not—shut it down! space that is increasingly denied to at all, and organized labor. The en- that… It’s let us down. It’s failed has gripped the spirit of Americans The Battle of Ideas within the victims of society. campment also strongly reflected us. It’s failed us in our homes. It’s and the world. (Editor’s note: As the movement moves forward as Homeless people, who sleep the city’s multi-racial character. This failed us in our communities. It’s the People’s Tribune goes to press, people consider “Next Steps”. The every night separately and invisibly dynamic, and contradictory, mix has failed us state by state. But it’s also the world is hearing about the bru- Democratic Party seeks to tie the in downtown Oakland doorways, driven the process ever since. failed this fragile planet we live on, tal beating by Oakland police of an- Occupations to the timid politics quickly joined the encampment. Actor Danny Glover addressed this fragile Mother Earth, which other veteran, Kayvan Sabeghi.) of incrementalism and begging that Unions responded by sending porta- Occupy Oakland in mid-October nourishes us.” (Search YouTube, This attack was not just com- has so obviously failed. Movements toilets and thousands of meals. As a with one of the great statements so Danny Glover, Oakland) mon police brutality. This was the self-organize around ideas. New Police in action, a squad of Do we fight backwards to the 17 agencies that had been welded old status quo, or do we fight for- into a strike-force by the Home- wards to a new system? Are we here land Security Agency as a part of to patch up the system? Or does the its policy of militarizing the police public have to seize the corpora- across the country. tions, before they destroy society? Rather than be intimidated, Oc- Do we continue to fight on cupiers called for the first General the scattered fronts of single-issue Strike in the U.S., since the one in politics, or do we unite the move- Oakland, in 1946. Over twenty thou- ment into a real political battle sand people marched and rallied all against the state? Thousands of demonstratiors participaged in Oakland’s General Strike that shut down the Port of day and shut down the Port of Oak- The political independence of Oakland, the fifth busiest port in the U.S. Photo/Austin-Long Scott land, the country’s 5th largest, by the 99% will grow from how these blocking access to the gates. questions are answered. The Uprising of the 99%: A Century After the Uprising of the 20,000, We Must Rise Again By Andi Sosin & Joel Sosinsky worker compensation systems. On October 5 Labor When the national economy unions support Occupy With Occupy Wall Street dem- collapsed during the Great Depres- Wall Street with a onstrators encamped in New York sion, unemployed workers raised massive rally and march. City since September, and occu- their voices in frustration and anger. Retired garment workers pations developing nationwide, They camped out in “Hoovervilles” from Workers United, protesters are now encountering across the country, making them- successor union to efforts from corporate media out- selves the evidence of the system’s the ILGWU, carried a lets and politicians to silence the failure. Franklin Roosevelt’s Secre- banner and shirtwaists occupiers’ voices and shut down tary of Labor, Frances Perkins, who to symbolize the Triangle their occupations. But demonstra- witnessed the Triangle fire, was in- fire, which galvanized the tors can be heartened by learning strumental in passage of the many union movement over 100 that over 100 years ago activism laws that ended the Depression, years ago. set a precedent for successful out- including the Fair Labor Standards Photo/Roy Campolongo comes to solving social and eco- Act, the Social Security Act, and the nomic problems. Positive changes National Labor Relations (Wagner) did not happen swiftly, and did not Act, which authorized collective come without darker moments, but bargaining and the right to form and ultimately change did come. join a union. These New Deal laws During the late 19th and early were designed to end protests and 20th centuries, when the robber bar- industrial strife, and provide jobs. us to raise our voices in protest. ons of industry used their wealth They created the American middle Occupy Wall Street makes and political power to oppress the class, and established a social safe- it clear that its primary goal is to Now available: American working class, workers all ty net for all, that is today in peril. change an unfair economic system, across the nation engaged in numer- Since the end of World War and to reform politics so that the will The New York City Triangle Factory Fire, ous strikes, wherein marchers took II, technology has revolutionized of the people is done. Reform may Copyright 2011 by Leigh Benin, Rob Linne, Adrienne Sosin, and Joel to the streets to demand change. In industrial production, reducing the be difficult to accomplish, but re- Sosinsky with Workers United 1909, the power of worker solidar- need for human labor. In the name membering the example of the out- (ILGWU) and HBO Documen- ity became clear when New York of corporate profits, globalism, war pouring of citizens’ ire following the tary Films. Published by Arcadia City’s striking shirtwaist workers and environmental plunder have Triangle fire that resulted in a strong Publishing. E-mail sales @ ar- picketed outside garment factories. decimated economic prospects labor movement and institution of cadiapublishing.com, or 1-888- Their strike, called the Uprising of and reduced freedom for 99% of our social safety net, affords a histor- 313-2665. This is a living pho- the 20,000, gained public sympathy, the American people. Unemploy- ical model of success. Taking to the tographic history which presents and when 146 mostly young im- ment, the burden of student loans, streets in solidarity for nonviolent the finest collection of pictures migrant female shirtwaist workers and the housing foreclosure crisis demonstrations, exposing corporate of the Triangle Fire and the mon- died in the infamous Triangle fac- have taken place because an inhu- excesses and crimes, and organizing umental labor struggle that it ig- tory fire of 1911, the funeral proces- mane and corrupt capitalist system, for political power to demand justice nited in the streets of New York sion brought over 400,000 people facilitated by bought politicians, has a model in the actions taken by 100 years ago. It is a stirring ex- into the streets to mourn. In the has allowed corporate speculation American workers over one hun- posé which is suitable for use in Triangle fire’s aftermath, outrage and corruption to ruin the US and dred years ago. Although the strug- the classroom, or among today’s turned into purpose, forcing politi- world economies. Exposure of the gle for democracy and a fair and just fighters for economic justice in cians to heed the people’s will. New unfairness and the wide disparity economic system is unending, it is a America. It is an invaluable tool York State and other states passed between the 99% who work for struggle that can and must be won for teaching while we fight. laws that improved worker safety, a living, and the 1% who possess by the 99% today. prohibited child labor and instituted most of the wealth, now prompts www.peoplestribune.org NOVEMBER – DECEMBER 2011 PEOPLE’S TRIBUNE 9 Fascism is arising Declaration of in America Occupation Atlanta Proposed by the Demands Committee to the General Assembly on October 7, 2011

Preamble: We hold this truth to be self-evident, that the 99% de- serve equal rights, equal protections, equal access, and equal oppor- tunity as the 1% who benefit disproportionately from the current sys- tem. We therefore freely assemble to assert our rights and demands:

1. We demand greater democratic control in all spheres of life, from the home to the government, from the economy to the workplace. It is a moral, logical, and political imperative that people should be in control of their own lives to the greatest extent possible. 2. We deserve an economic system that meets human needs, reduc- es , shrinks the income gap, and doesn’t reward decisions that have a negative impact on society. 3. We recognize that the market will not regulate itself. What is good for profit is not always good for people or the environment. 4. We assert the right of every human being to adequate shelter, food, clothing, hygiene, and other basic necessities. 5. We assert the right of every individual to adequate protection from the economic uncertainties of old age, accident, unem- Occupy Oakland street protest October 25. Peaceful protesters face off against police with full ployment, and other hardship. riot gear, tear gas, rubber bullets, helicopters. photo/Myles Boisen 6. We denounce all predatory lending and fraudulent banking practices and demand accountability. From the Editors tance. The rapidly deteriorating under the so called “REX” pro- economic situation is changing gram, the President could de- 7. We recognize that no society should allocate more resources The Occupy Wall Street all that. clare a state of emergency, em- to warfare than to the public good. protests have spread to over At the root of this process is powering FEMA to take control 8. We demand a more democratic, publicly representative, and 1400 cities in the U.S., involv- the antagonism between capi- of the internal infrastructure of accountable media. ing over 250,000 people. The talist private-property relations the U.S. and suspend the con- 9. We insist that the Internet is a basic human right and as such powerful corporate media has and the labor-replacing instru- stitution. The President could should remain absolutely free and neutral. tried, unsuccessfully, to smother ments of production. Millions invoke executive orders that 10. We assert our right to public spaces and our right to freely the movement. The widespread are losing their jobs, homes would 1) draft all citizens into inhabit them because they are essential to democracy and our use of brutal police terror to and livelihood. Although the work forces 2) register all men, right to assemble. dislodge peaceful protesters, in- rulers will try to disorient the women and children, 3) seize 11. We denounce a criminal justice and for-profit prison system cluding the infliction of serious developing mass struggle, ul- all airports and aircraft and 4) that relies on mass incarceration, especially when it reinforc- head wounds on an Iraq-war- timately, they have no solution seize all housing and establish es the marginalization and disenfranchisement of people. veteran in Oakland is provid- for them outside of fascism. Its forced relocation of citizens ing a glimpse of what American features have been developing (i.e. concentration camps). It We are the people. We are not Republicans, Democrats, or any fascism could look like. for some time. It is seen in the is all in place awaiting only a other party. We occupy because no party represents the 99%. We are What is fascism? Why is it merging of the corporations and presidential declaration to be not affiliated with any union or organization. Our movement does not developing now? Fascism is the government which is the politi- enforced by both military and align with organizations. Organizations align with our movement. naked, unrestrained rule of cor- cal foundation for fascism. It civilian police. porate power. It is arising now is seen in the widening police The reality is that this because the capitalists need to brutality, the rounding up and country is in trouble and can- secure corporate private prop- deportation of immigrants, the not be fixed without fundamen- starting point is that this is our section of society, while one erty in the face of a changing stripping of democratic rights, tal changes in the economic country. Fascism is not inevi- in five Americans live in dire economy and potential chal- and the fear promoted by the relations. Nothing less than re- table. We have already seen poverty. We, the people, have lenges to their rule. “terrorist” bogeyman. placing this military-financial the little victories that can be truth and justice on our side. Fascism has not been fully Old repressive laws have oligarchy with a co-operative won when we stand together We must unite around the basic unleashed because there has been updated and new ones economy where everyone’s against an immoral system that demands of the people to save been no serious organized resis- have been written For example, needs are met can save it. Our creates such abundance for one the country. My experience of By Michael Sosin and immediately we were deluged and ideas and the crowd responded out “Fuck The Fed,” they main- a sense of community in this tent with supplies donated by both with both applause and thoughtful tained a respect for the police. They city. The movement has shown me Upon arriving to Dewey members of the protest and outsid- consideration. Despite it being a maintained the principle of non-vi- that democracy works when we Square across from the Boston ers who supported us. While we Friday night in the financial district olence and just chanted, sang, and take care of our own. As a medic Federal Reserve, I could see that still did not have a tent or space set and very nearly deserted, a march danced to express their frustration I was able to see this firsthand as I Occupy Boston was going to be up, we gathered together to set up was organized and I volunteered to at a broken system. changed bandages, checked throats, something. I could only estimate a field hospital that would be used carry an EMT bag along with an- I returned to Dewey Square and checked up a few protesters the crowd to be around 300 people both for emergencies and protect- other medic to go with the crowd Monday afternoon to find a new who were ill. The Occupy move- waving signs, chanting, and get- ing the health of all involved. just in case there was need for med- world. A tent city had been estab- ment does not ask for money, po- ting ready for the long sleep-in At around 8 PM, the people’s ical attention. The march snaked its lished with a system of boards litical capital, or fame; we just want that was coming. By around seven, microphone called us to a general way along downtown Boston with acting as a makeshift sidewalk our shot at the American Dream groups were forming for different assembly, where the goals and rea- plenty of people emerging from the between the tents. I went back to that was promised to us when we tasks that the movement would sons for why we had gathered were bars and restaurants to get a closer medical to do a 4-hour shift as an were young, and we don’t want that need in the coming weeks. Legal, announced. By this time, the crowd look and pictures of a group of at oncall medic and I was astounded dream to be taken from us due to Tactical, Media, Arts and Culture, had swelled to at least 700 people. least 500 chanting in the streets. by the amount of supplies we had the greed of the 1% who control the Food, Medical, and a few others There were no demands made; this The circuit of the city culminated received over the weekend. The banks and financial markets. It is dispersed to discuss logistics and was just a protest to show our anger at the Federal Reserve, where the medical team had gotten tons of best summed up by one quote spo- what would eventually happen. I against the corporate system that crowd gathered in the park in front donations over the weekend. Even ken at the general assembly, “The joined with the medical group be- had led our country into financial of the building. There we were met so, at least 20 times an hour people 99% is too big to fail.” cause that is where I felt most use- decline. The meeting was orderly. with a line of both Boston police approached me to ask if we needed Reach Michael at ful (I had CPR and First Aid train- All who wanted to speak were given and the Federal Reserve’s private any medical supplies. People were [email protected] ing when I worked as a lifeguard) the chance to voice their opinions guards. While the crowd did chant giving us so much that I truly felt

10 PEOPLE’S TRIBUNE | NOVEMBER – DECEMBER 2011 www.peoplestribune.org Occupation Comes to Los Angeles By Mark Lipman week organized a movement like in every corner of the country and Occupy Houston I’ve never seen before. around the world, over economic Despite a media blackout, “We are the 99%” and “We are injustice. word spread like wildfire. The In- leader-full,” people spoke in full “We stand in solidarity with ternet made the main stream media consensus, referring to how every- the protesters on Wall Street and in obsolete. Yes, I heard about Occu- one’s voice mattered. On October 76 cities across the United States py Wall Street and so did everyone 1, the occupation of Los Angeles that have turned out today,” a voice else across the country. Calls went City Hall began, overshadowed by could be heard in the crowd. out and people gathered here in the tall towers of Wells Fargo, U.S. Amazingly, in a move unprec- Los Angeles—200 strangers came Bank and Bank of America. Over edented in memory, members of together in Pershing Square, near 3,000 people turned out to give the Los Angeles City Council in- the financial district, and in one voice to the swelling anger visited structed their police department to cooperate with the peaceful pro- testers who had assembled, say- ing that their eye would be on the police, and not the occupiers—a welcome difference to the horrific stories of police brutality in New York City that streamed constantly on the web. “Our battle is not with the police, we are peaceful, we are non-violent,” the general assem- bly agreed. “Our battle is with the system, with capitalism, with the greed of Wall Street and the banks, who have mortgaged our lives for profit.” Occupy Houston demonstrators rally for jobs, healthcare, “The world is watching,” the education, to stop “Corporate Greed,” to “Get Big Money group chanted in unison. Out of Government,” to protest “Bad Bankers” and to One demonstrator noted that demand that government put “People over Profits.” Over “Capitalism will create the tools 800 protesters marched and demonstrated earlier in front to overthrow itself. We are every- of the JP Morgan Chase Bank tower before proceeding to where. They cannot silence the City Hall. truth. They can only ignore us for Photo/Maria Elena Castellanos so long.” No, we are not winning, we Occupy LA leads a march on banks. Photo/Rosemary Lee have already won. Occupation Movement Gets a Boost from LA City Officials By Dan Bluemel and the world. The website Oc- my day.” “The comparison would Occupy Wall Street for its first five gan. “I was in tears,” he said. “To cupy Together reports occupation be the robber barons,” he added. days, had a much different reaction hear them coming back at us with Two days of rain has not meet-ups in 405 cities across the “[They are] all doing very, very over the news of the City Council words of support and compassion, quelled the energy of the “Occupy globe. Aside from Los Angeles, well for themselves just like in the resolution. He said it helped him and wanting for us to be safe and Los Angeles” sit-in demonstration California has “occupy” groups in 1890s. Once again, they seem to regain some faith in his country. carry on our message, it is a huge occurring at City Hall. However, it San Jose, Santa Cruz, San Fran- have the upper hand.” He has camped out at City Hall motivation builder for us.” helps when your city officials got cisco, Orange County and Long Allan Eaton, who had attended since be- your back. Beach to name a few. Councilmen Richard Alarcón “This is global now,” said Lip- and Bill Rosendhal introduced a man. “To many people are fed up resolution to support “the con- with being stepped on and having tinuation of the peaceful and vi- a sliver of the population living in brant exercise in First Amendment the lap of luxury.” “It’s a good day rights carried out by ‘Occupy Los for democracy,” he added. Angeles’ on the City Hall lawn,” Gary Boatwright wasn’t so en- according to the blog The City thusiastic about support from city Maven. Councilmen Jose Huizar, officials, feeling they acted out of Paul Koretz, Ed Reyes, Dennis political motivations. “I don’t trust Zine and Eric Garcetti seconded them a bit,” he said. Boatwright, the motion. 59, has been homeless since 2006 Mark Lipman, an Occupy and lives on Skid Row. He has LA demonstrator, who attended suffered, he said, from much ha- the council meeting, said there rassment from police concerning is already enough support for the camping, jaywalking and shop- resolution to pass.“[This] will be ping carts. As a result, he has had the first government body in the numerous court appearances. He country to endorse the occupa- joined the protesters yesterday tion,” he said. after reading about the demonstra- According to Lipman, Council tion online. He said he has shared members Jan Perry and Bernard the same sentiments of the “occu- Parks gave no support for the reso- py movement” for a long time. lution and remained silent after its “Here we are. Same thing all introduction. over again, only different,” he Since the “Occupy Wall said. “[It’s] pretty much the same Street” demonstration began in message about the capitalist pigs, New York on Sept. 17, solidarity the greedy motherfuckers. They A General Assembly is held daily at 7:30 p.m at the Los Angeles OWS. photo/Rosemary Lee actions supporting economic jus- seem to be worse and more so- tice have spread across the country phisticated than they were back in

www.peoplestribune.org NOVEMBER – DECEMBER 2011 PEOPLE’S TRIBUNE 11 The Occupy Movement Comes to Washington, DC

By Eric Sheptock son Park is occupied by hundreds of 20-something people while the The occupation of Freedom Freedom Plaza crowd has an aver- Plaza in downtown Washington, age age of about 50. While both ac- DC by “Stop the Machine-Create tions are placing emphasis on the a New World” began on October creation of a “horizontal, leaderless 6, inspired by the . movement”, everyone knows who Stop the Machine led a march the organizers of Stop the Machine through the streets of the capi- are. There are no clear leaders of tal which culminated at the U.S. Occupy DC, which presents us Chamber of Commerce where with a new set of challenges. There some people ascended the front has been disagreement over the steps and began to demand job- level of civil disobedience which creation so vehemently that sev- people would be asked to engage eral police ran inside and away in. The older, staid protesters have from the crowd. This just goes proven to be more comfortable to show that they don’t share our with being arrested than the young analysis of societal conditions or people who are just beginning their our realization that the job market lives as adults and have a stake in is shrinking due to an increase in the system. labor-replacing technology. The horizontal, leaderless as- The rallying cry of Occupy pect of the local movement has DC has been “We are the 99%! created issues insomuch as some You (while pointing at bystand- homeless people claimed they Stop the Machine protest in Washington, D.C. on October 6. Photo/Eric Sheptock ers) are the 99%!” This group has were told that they weren’t wel- made a point of raising conscious- come in a park that was frequented carrying out actions at the offices at branches of Wells Fargo and we are fighting for will look like. ness–differentiating between the by the homeless community be- of various war profiteers, banks the Bank of America. We’ve dis- And, though the media doesn’t wealthiest 1% of Americans who fore October 2011. It turns out and Capitol Hill Offices. We have rupted business at the Hart Senate always portray us favorably or hold at least 40% of the nation’s that they’d been turned away by a made our demand for a new sys- Office Building and we’ve held convey our message effectively, wealth and the other 99% of us. couple of people who didn’t repre- tem known. We’ve caused the impromptu marches in the streets, the aggregate effect of the contin- These two actions which are sent the group as a whole and the National Air and Space Museum holding up traffic. ued coverage will be that the gen- separated by six city blocks (.6 group stated its acceptance of the which has U.S. drones (unmanned We’re also having discussion eral public gets the message and is miles) and a world of differences homeless during one of its general aircraft which kill civilians) and groups where we talk about the moved to join us. This is proving to have created a teachable moment assemblies soon thereafter. other war machines on display to problems experienced in our soci- be a teachable moment. in movement building. McPher- Both groups are continually close early. We’ve done the same ety and what the new society which The Postal Service Is Yours, America Don’t Let Anyone Dismantle It By Donna Macris Federal Employees Retirement and Restoration Act is sponsored 2884: Extension Act would give and slash postal jobs (110,000) System (FERS), estimated to be be- by Rep. Stephen Lynch D-Mas- the Postal Service a 90-Day Ex- opening it to privatization. The United States Postal Ser- tween $50-$80 Billion, returned to sachusetts and supported by 226 tension until December 30, 2011 Senator McCain (R-AZ) has vice is under attack. its postal accounts and be allowed members of Congress. It allows to pay its prefunding payment. introduced an equally restrictive As the second largest em- to use this surplus to pay its bills. the Postal Service to recalculate And HR 2967, the Innovate to De- companion bill in the Senate: S ployer in the U.S. (second only to Most of the Democrats in its overpayment of $50-$80 Bil- liver Act, would lift Postal Service 1625: the Postal Reform Act of WalMart) and with the country’s Congress support this effort. lion and use these returned funds restrictions, allowing innovations, 2011. largest single-employer union HR 1351: U.S. Postal Service to pay its bills. efficiency and profitability. However, Congress has no membership (over 575,000 largely Pension Obligation Recalculation Rep. Elijah Cumming’s HR Democrats in the Senate have Constitutional right to dismantle union workers), the U.S. Postal introduced companion bills: Sen. the United States Postal Service. Service (USPS) is being targeted Max Baucus’ S1649: Recalcula- The U.S. Postal Service was by Republicans to be dismantled tion and Restoration Act and Sen. explicitly established for the people and privatized. Barbara Mikulski’s S 1688: Save by the nation’s founders in the U.S. Among the SPIN of ‘going Our Postal Worker Job Act, which Constitution in 1789 under Article bankrupt, insolvent, and can’t allows the Postal Service to restore I, Section 8, Clause 7. This ‘Postal compete with the internet’ is a sel- its funds and use its own money to Clause’ states that Congress “shall dom told truth that the U.S. Postal save jobs, rural postal sites and have the power to establish Post Service is being crippled by a pay bills. Offices and Post Roads.” 50-Year-Pay-It-Forward Pension However, Rep. Darrel Issa, In defense of this Constitu- requirement. R-California, as Chairman of the tional right, an estimated 50,000 Congress created this mess Republican dominated House Americans including Postal Union in 2006 under Bush’s Public Law Committee on Oversight and Gov- members, Progressive Democrats, 109-435, targeting the Postal Ser- ernment Reform, appears to be Farm Worker Unions, the AFL- vice as the only American busi- blocking the Democrats’ bills. CIO and the public joined in Ral- ness, governmental or private, Issa has just passed his own lies outside of 550 Congressional mandated to prefund its retirement bill through his own committee: offices nationwide September 27, health benefits 50 YEARS into the HR 2309: the Postal Reform Act 2011, to fight back to ‘Save Amer- future (2006-2056) including cov- of 2011, identified as a destructive ica’s Postal Service’ and gain sup- erage for employees not yet born and jobs-killing postal bill. port for HR 1351. and payable over ten years. Issa’s HR 2309 would not re- This is not a fight for postal One of those ten annual pay- calculate nor return billions of dol- workers alone but a fight for all ments of $5.5 Billion was due lars in overpayments to the USPS. Americans. After all, the U.S. September 30, 2011, creating a Instead, Issa’s bill would cut postal Postal Service belongs to the predictable financial crisis. Postal Service Workers Rally outside Rep. Jim Costa’s services, decrease postal delivery American people. The Postal Service wants to D-California Fresno office for national Save America’s Postal days, decrease rural postal service, have its prior overpayments to the Service Day, September 27, 2011. Photo/Donna Macris heavily regulate the Postal Service,

12 PEOPLE’S TRIBUNE | NOVEMBER – DECEMBER 2011 www.peoplestribune.org A Letter From Martin Luther King, Jr. To The United States Of America By Adam Shapiro is more interested in serving the needs of the corporate elite than it Editor’s Note: This article comes is in serving the people. On the day from The Community Homeless when my birthday is celebrated, the Street Newspaper, Atlanta politicians and these same elite sit in Overlook. It has been updated their comfortable churches and talk since its original publishing. It is about my dream. I wish that they a fictional, imagined account of understood what I tried to do. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s imagined America, you are beautiful, address if he were able to do and I love you, but just like the so today. It is not meant to be Old Testament prophets, I must representation, only symbolic. speak the truth. When I was alive, you were fighting a war with Viet- Dear America, nam. Now you have troops in Libya, Afghanistan, and Iraq. You I bring you greetings from my may even have troops in countries home in the sky. Life is wonder- that I don’t know about. There are ful here. I have everything that any some who live lives of abundance, human being could possibly want. while others have little or nothing. There is no government harass- After the flood, God said that he ment, no segregation, and no class would not destroy the world. Hu- warfare. mankind, however, seems willing I am surrounded by family and to do just that. You are not given friends. I made my peace with Mal- dominion over the earth so that colm X before he died, and I see him you could make it uninhabitable. Martin Luther King’s 1963 Speech in Washington, D.C. fairly regularly. Sometimes John Obviously, I could say much more and Robert Kennedy stop by. about your transgressions, but found coverage through govern- nesty International and the NAACP suffer at the hands of Pha- As you know I was forced to space will not permit. ment programs. For many Geor- using social media to rally world- raoh, I can only say: keep fight- leave planet earth with my business Georgia has just reached its gians a life in poverty and without wide support. More than 700,000 ing, and don’t give up. There is unfinished. I would give up every- highest poverty rate since 1983 ac- insurance is something new. names on petitions asked that Troy still time to make things right. thing that I now have, if I were able cording to the Census Bureau fig- The state of Georgia just ex- Davis be granted clemency. to come back down so that I could ures. 1.83 million Georgians live ecuted Troy Davis. There was in- For those of you who are —Martin Luther King, Jr. make the world a better place. in poverty, 61,000 more than a year ternational outcry against the death engaged in struggle and who I grieve for my Atlanta. Neigh- ago. Georgia is the third-highest penalty due to many doubts in this borhoods, like Sweet Auburn, Old rate among states. Nationally, the case. Davis was sentenced to death Fourth Ward, and Cabbagetown poverty rate climbed more steeply for the 1989 killing of Savannah, are nothing more than shadows of and reached 46.2 million of Ameri- Georgia police Officer Mark Allen their former selves. cans who live below the poverty MacPhail. There were dignitaries, REMEMBERING My homeless brothers and sis- level. The rate of Georgians without including former President Jimmy ters can no longer live on the streets. health insurance, 19.4 percent was 3 Carter, Pope Benedict XVI, and Of course, they wouldn’t have to points higher than the national num- former FBI Director William Ses- REVEREND if we were willing to provide ad- ber. The state’s uninsured rate fell sions calling for Davis’ life to be equate housing. City government slightly from 2009 as more people spared. Supporters included Am- SHUTTLESWORTH

St. Joseph, Michigan The People’s Tribune, its The cotton-picking ma- staff and contributors join pro- chine, the mechanization of gressive Americans in paying Southern agriculture, made the Nursing Homes: Stop Corporate tribute to and mourning the segregated, near total exploita- passing of Reverend Fred L. tion of Black labor superflu- Corruption, Elderly Need Better Care Shuttlesworth. A founder of the ous. No longer indispensable Southern Christian Leadership to Southern profit and tractor- By Lenette Evans 1.6 million Americans live in nurs- for themselves and could care less Conference and an unflinch- ed off the land, a new freedom ing homes! for the patients at Royalton Manor ing, courageous leader of the became possible. At that point The re- When my Dad was in ROY- and other nursing homes alike. Civil Rights Movement, Rev. everything depended upon the searchers from ALTON MANOR Nursing Home I have seen patients at Roy- Shuttlesworth leaves American clarity, vision and determination the National In- in St. Joseph, Michigan for 12 alton Manor drop like flies out of revolutionaries a legacy of dedi- of the people and upon the intel- stitute of Aging months to get rehabilitated Medi- wheelchairs because of lack of cation and militancy. ligence, honesty and self-sacri- used Medicare care only paid for 100 days for his care and most are ignored, neglect- We live in a country where fice of their leaders. Reverend records from stay, his medications, food and re- ed, and isolated. Patients and fami- the schools, the media and all Shuttlesworth, with humility, 2000 to 2007 habilitation. After those 100 days lies have shared with me their hor- the institutions daily uphold the courage and dignity, answered to identify what would qualify as it was costing my family $220 a ror of experiences and neglect. acquisition of material posses- the call of history. “burdensome” and unnecessary day out-of-the-pocket which ran Where is the love and com- sions as the goal of life. Under Today’s revolutionaries transitions of care: uprooting sick an outrageous bill of over $6,500 passion in our corporations and such conditions, only a person faced an even more difficult and elderly patients in the last three for a month’s stay. nursing homes to truly care for of lofty ideals, moral clarity and complex goal – putting an end to days of life, carting them to hospi- From the day we had to pay the elderly which matter the most. conscious determination can re- all exploitation and oppression tals multiple times in the last three ourselves I asked employees and a Its time for people to get involved sist such temptation and dedicate forever. Again and on a global months of life and moving them in manager to please look into getting and families to make a difference ones self to the actual and lasting scale, new productive equipment such a way that they landed in a him out of the nursing home and to and to be a voice for the elderly, goal of life – that is bettering the is making the exploitation of la- new nursing home afterward. bring him home. They ignored my and to stop corporate corruption in condition of humanity. bor superfluous. Again, for the Disgusting enough, these request on five to six different oc- America! Reverend Shuttlesworth’s working peoples of the world a hospital transfers were also more casions and did absolutely nothing task was clear – to force the new freedom is possible. Again, common with Black and Hispanic for my family to get my Dad home American government and peo- everything depends on the clar- Elderly Patients. This means nurs- to get homecare. Lenette Evans ple to put an end to the illegal, ity, vision and determination of ing homes are not only selfishly Why? Because its all about Saving Souls Ministry destructive, exploitative system the people, and upon the intelli- hospitalizing elderly patients that keeping patients longer in nurs- 269-876-1848 of American Apartheid. Blood- gence, honesty and self-sacrifice are terminally ill for financial ing homes, giving them poor [email protected] ied by assassination attempts– of their leaders. gain, they are also trying to get rid food quality and very little to no jailed, beaten by police and We are indebted to Rever- of them for racist reasons as well. rehabilitation so they end up as a racist mobs, he never retreated end Shuttlesworth for illuminat- The result of this is significantly permanent patients because the from this goal. ing our path. eye opening because more than corporation is all about for profit

www.peoplestribune.org NOVEMBER – DECEMBER 2011 PEOPLE’S TRIBUNE 13 Online Invasion of Public Universities By Steve Teixeira He asked if it could improve edu- with an online system in 2009, stu- Higher Education Policy Analysis’ are counting on government of- cation, or just save money. But a dent failures rose to almost 40%, report Making it Happen: Increasing ficials to help them, even though A battle’s brewing over online third possibility is that online in- from just 25% the year before. College, which urges that California this has proven to be bad for stu- courses in public universities. In struction masks a campaign to in- Only when faculty were allowed government create a new higher dents as well as employees. That’s October, the University of Cali- crease the corporate privatization to re-design the online course did education planning board to openly why Bob Samuels, UC-AFT presi- fornia lecturer’s union (UC-AFT) of public universities. student performance improve. link public and private institutions dent, says “We are not standing in won the right to bargain over the The California Faculty As- “We’re not getting what we’re (both non-profit and for-profit). The the way of progress, but we are impact of online instruction. But sociation in the California State promised and what we’re paying Board would oversee enrollment trying to block the downsizing of UC spokesperson Dianne Klein University system is also negotiat- for,” student leader Vanessa Rojas shifts from public community col- academic jobs and the degrading assured the press that to stop any ing to protect teaching standards told the local press. leges, CSU, and UC to private in- of instructional quality”. online program, the union would in online courses. CSU’s manag- In addition to issues of educa- stitutions, and allow students at pri- The battle to defend public ed- have to endure “mediation, fact- ers first proposed online instruc- tional quality, there is concern that vate companies to receive Cal Grant ucation can be won if these faculty finding, and, if necessary, a uni- tion to help entering students with online instruction is a screen for financial aid. Other goals would be and staff can come together with versity mandate and potentially a so-called “remedial” skills in math injecting private companies into to “outsource” remedial courses and the thousands of students who are union strike.” or English. Then, they required all public universities. At first, CSU online instruction to “private insti- exposing corporate abuses in the “Online education has prolif- 20,000 remedial students to take Online’s goals stated that “A busi- tutions”. Which is exactly the path “Occupy Wall Street” movement. erated, from community colleges summer “Early Start”, much of it ness partner for CSU Online might already being pursued by CSU and After all, they’re really fighting to M.I.T.”, wrote Bill Keller in online. But when the “CSU On- be needed”—but then the job an- UC leadership. the same enemy. the New York Times October 3. line” goals were presented, they nouncement for its Executive Di- As America’s economy included much more than just re- rector position required applicants evolves from one based on mil- Steve Teixeira is an officer of medial courses. to have “Experience in higher lions of jobs in heavy industry to the CSU staff union Academic Pro- The quality of the university education and experience working one based on global hi-tech, capi- fessionals of California. The Peo- is at risk here. When Cal State Ba- for/with for-profit agencies”. Is it tal is sniffing around public - ser ple’s Tribune asked him to sum up The Fight kersfield laid off some remedial paranoid to worry about that? vices like education to see what it his remarks from a recent speaking for Public math faculty and replaced them Not if you study the Center for can shift into and privatize. They tour of Cal State campuses. Education: Race to the Top. Road to Where? Take the Education Revolution on the March Offensive By Todd Alan Price From the Editors The Federal Department of Education clearly intends for their U.S public education is flagship program,Race to the Top to designed to meet the labor serve not only as a springboard for a needs of the capitalist class. major overhaul of the public educa- During the industrial era, tion system, but also as a powerful public education guaranteed metaphor. ‘Race’ is critical; compe- a supply of educated work- tition is implied and ‘to be globally ers to design and operate the competitive’ is trumpeted in official sprawling factories of the 20th pronouncements as a compelling century. Under the electronic rationale to ‘drive’ the ‘engine’ of (laborless) production meth- public education reform. ods of today, most workers Occurring with the backdrop are becoming increasingly un- of Occupy Washington, national necessary to the globally inte- education policy is spinning with grated production process. twists and turns. The question re- The capitalist system has mains: whose interest is being no need to educate those it served by the politicians in Wash- can’t employ. Public educa- ington D.C. and at what cost to tion is now being privatized Main Street Americans gathered The Chicago Teachers Union leads a march outside of the Chicago Board of Education, by the corporations; it will be outside Wall Street? protesting policies that harm students and teachers. Photo/Brett Jelinek, Olafimages.com available to the select few. The While the battle rages on right to an education is be- around getting financial houses Still other major issues emerge many teachers applaud, the devil porations, military, and big busi- coming a thing of the past. and investment banks to pay their on the national scene, reflecting a is in the details; waivers granted, ness interests are leveraging their Today, laborless produc- fare share of taxes, another battle tenuous grip by administrators, the states would then be forced to power to water down even mod- tion is creating a growing has been raging in the streets with politicians, and venture capital- accept as federal mandate the re- est reforms to a system which has mass of people who are per- teachers taking the lead. That bat- ists concerning the events on the quirements of lifting caps on Char- served so many so poorly. manently jobless or reduced tle is for the heart of public educa- ground that call for authentic pub- ter schools, of embracing the Com- Tweaks around the edges to working part-time or as tion, and The People’s Tribune has lic education solutions, like fix- mon core curriculum standards won’t do; in order to really turn contingent labor. Their needs been diligently documenting the ing the school funding, not phony and aligning teacher pay ever around the poorest performing can only be met by a society skirmishes ranging from pay cuts, education reform, the AstroTurf more closely to high stakes, stan- schools and lift up the most under- where the socially necessary to outright layoffs, from attempts reform that has been forwarded at dardized tests scores. While no served children, America needs a means of production are pub- at dismantling elected school the behest of the multi-billion dol- one loves NCLB, the NCLB waiver revolutionary vision: education for licly owned and what we pro- boards (Mayoral takeovers), to lar foundations process is a backdoor to Race to all. A truly educated society begins duce is distributed according union busting (going after public To be specific, the United the Top where the federal govern- when we stop bailing out the banks to need. sector workers’ benefits and com- States Congress, having failed to ment can pick winners and losers and take back the money that was A free, universal system pensation). The latest front is for revise the No Child Left Behind for badly needed school funds. It lost to greed and speculation. The of public education is the ‘wedge’ issues, like longer school (NCLB) law since it came due in sets up a dangerous precedent. necessary struggle is to educate cornerstone of a democratic days in Chicago Public Schools, 2007 has now, given the Obama But the problem is deeper still; and agitate for socially just ends. society. A first step toward and merit pay, to divide and con- administration an end run around education reform is bound to come Citizens on the streets, across the ensuring the education sys- quer those logging hard hours in the law. The Federal Department up short when it is disconnected country are taking the first step, tem we need is to fight for the teaching profession. The teach- of Education has seized on the op- from the real issue: the need for learning while they march. The nationalizing education under ers are having none of it, returning portunity, short-circuiting the ef- education revolution. The public time has come for education revo- the leadership and control of the favor by going after the TIF’s forts in the Senate and the House, has painfully come upon the re- lutionaries to frame the debate: those who pay for it and re- (tax incremental financing dis- by granting ‘waivers’ from the law alization that the political game is no more layoffs, or bank bailouts, ceive it—the working class. tricts), which hide tax dollars that to states that apply for them. While largely rigged; subsequently it is Save our Schools! should be going to the students. getting rid of NCLB would make no surprise that increasingly cor-

14 PEOPLE’S TRIBUNE | NOVEMBER – DECEMBER 2011 www.peoplestribune.org ORDER THIS BOOK: MOVING ONWARD: The Future FROM RACIAL Is Up To Us DIVISION TO CLASS By Nelson Peery An excerpt from the book:

UNITY The capitalist system is moving into crisis because By Brooke Heagerty and Nelson Peery computerized production is making fifty cars today with five workers. Fifty industrial workers are making The people of the world, especially the people of the five cars. The workers cannot reproduce their wages. United States, are again approaching an historical fork in Therefore, the capitalist class is getting wealthier and the road. Yet this is one of history transforming propor- the people of the earth are getting poorer. They are go- tions. Robotics and globalization are doing away with the ing to organize to get what they need for their daily foundation of “racial” unity. The world’s population is lives. We have to show that given the automated char- being reduced into two categories—the global rich and acter of production, the goals of peace, freedom and the global poor. The once privileged white worker, and in social democracy are only attainable with a collective a descending order of privilege, all workers of the world or communist system. are cast adrift by a new ruling class of multi-colored, What is communism? Many people think commu- supra-national financiers. This new international ruling nism is a political system. It is difficult to tell them that class cares no more for or has no more need of the worker it is an economic system. First, it is a system that allows in Chicago than one in Rio De Janeiro. every person to contribute to society. I place this first Within this process a new class of workers—created by because self worth, the foundation of happiness, is based automation—is forming. If conscious, they have the power on social contribution. Secondly, it is the rational dis- to break the formula of control that has been used to exploit tribution of the necessaries of life according to need. and divide the workers in this country and in the world since What is needed today is educators who will help Columbus first set foot in the Americas and the first slaves the people understand what they already know. More were driven from their homeland to live in bondage. than that, we need speakers who are capable of ex- Throughout the history of the U.S., whites and Blacks who form the core of the new class and the growing num- plaining the situation and the inevitable resolution in have joined together from time to time and place to place, ber of impoverished whites joining its ranks unmistakably such a way as to excite people for their historic revo- but they have been unable to truly unite. The social privi- have common interests which grow out of not morality lutionary tasks. leges granted to the white poor over the Black poor have alone, but objective economic interests. Unifying the new always kept them apart. These social privileges were made class is today’s most pressing political question. Send $12 to Speakers for a new America, PO Box possible by the super-profits from imperialism. Today, 3524, Chicago, IL 60654-3524 or pay via pay pal at capital has expanded to the limits of the Earth. There is Send $8 to Speakers for a New America, PO Box speakersforanewamerica.com. Click on “Books.” no more expansion. Now, the mass of African Americans 3524,Chicago IL 60665-3524.

The Battle of Benton Harbor: Detroit The People Versus The A History of Corporations in America’s Struggle, A Vision Rust Belt of the Future This booklet discusses the victories and next steps By Brother Waistline in the struggle against the corporations in Benton Har- bor, MI. A battle has been won, and this should be cel- My first involvement was in 1968-9. I was a young ebrated, but there is still a war going on. Will America man. I was driven by the Civil Rights Movement and have prosperity and democracy, or live in poverty un- the kind of struggle that no longer exists today. I want der the heel of open corporate power? Will the Ameri- to place everything in that framework. The world that I can people move grew up with no longer exists. When I was in high school, to take over the I knew what I was going to do with my life. I went to corporations be- a school with different trade programs. We had music fore they take classes. You could learn how to cook. You could learn a over society? This trade. My point is that I grew up in a society with a dif- booklet holds les- ferent orientation: industrial. At 16 or 17 I knew I could sons for everyone find my place in life. I could get a job and make a man’s fighting for a just wage and marry the girl I always wanted to. That’s not America. the case today. Something has happened. I grew up as part of the last generation of what we would call the great Send $4 per industrial “middle class” of America. Once upon a time, copy to Speak- people in America made money. We made money in this ers for a New town [Detroit]. That’s not the case today. Today, 60% of America, PO Box the American working class makes $14 an hour or less. 3524, Chicago, That’s pathetic. Something has happened. We have to fig- IL 60654-3524 ure out what that was. or pay via pay- Our story is the story of the development and the pal at speakers- rise, and the fall of the industrial working class. It is the foranewamerica. story of all the phases we went through to try to get or- continue to struggle for a new society. com. Click on ganized. Bound up with our story is the history of the “Books”. development of industrial capitalism. We have to know Send $4 to Speakers for a New America, PO Box what it was that we were fighting and why we have to 3524, Chicago, IL 60654-3524 or pay via paypal at spea- have another vision and do things in a way so that we can kersforanewamerica.com. Click on “Books.”

www.peoplestribune.org NOVEMBER – DECEMBER 2011 PEOPLE’S TRIBUNE 15 Voices From Benton Harbor, MI Invest in People, Envision Power An Interview with Cynthia McKinney

Cynthia McKinney, former Green Party that Soros is Wall Street—so is Obama. The Presidential candidate in 2008, was keynote response was “we will not be co-opted.” speaker at the Benton Harbor/Twin Cit- So if that is the case, that’s marvelous. Our ies NAACP Second Annual Freedom Fund young people have been watching what’s Banquet on October 8, 2011. The People’s been happening and they are as disgusted as Tribune interviewed Cynthia McKinney. the rest of us. So I am happy that there is an appearance of people being fed up. People’s Tribune: Cynthia, could you speak about your views on the direction of the PT: What is your vision of a new society? country? CM: First, we would make investments Cynthia McKinney: I haven’t had a chance in people. The objective is to be color in- to read the US controllers report yet, but formed, not color blind, so we would see apparently it says approximately 25 banks the rich diversity of this country and the are responsible for $300 trillion worth of strength. And we would invite people to derivatives. There was a time when the give us their strength. We would invite peo- U.S. actually exported something, but now ple to become more than they ever thought we export war, hatred, ethnic division and they could become so that our country could financial fraud. It is imperative that people become more than we ever thought our have some time to actually think about what country could be. So that means that you it means to be a citizen of the U.S. What have to divest from the way you do things are their values? Who are they? Who is now, divest from trying to commodify the our country? If our country diverges in any planet, divest from the status quo politics, way from the image or definition that they divest from the political and military-indus- give for themselves and the vision that they trial-financial-media complex, divest from hold for their country, then they have to do all of that. Divest from the current political something about it. We have to distance our- structure and we would go to direct democ- selves for a few minutes from the perception racy where people govern themselves. management that is ABC, CBS, Fox and all the rest of them and have some time with PT: What is the most important idea to get ourselves. over?

PT: Can you comment on the developing in- CM: That we are powerful if we envision dependent political motion. ourselves as powerful. We limit ourselves by what we think of ourselves. It’s just CM: There are a lot of individuals who are saying we’re going to do it and being fear- so disappointed—they shouldn’t have got- less about it. The visit here and seeing Rev. ten their hopes up so high—but they are Pinkney made me ask him: do the people looking for another way. If people look for that you do what you do for—do they rec- another way, they’ll find it. What we have ognize the tremendous sacrifice? Is it worth to guard against is fabricated efforts by it? I got such a powerful response from him Cynthia McKinney (left) is awarded Benton Harbor’s NAACP Malcolm X Award wealthy individuals to create the idea of that it made me almost embarrassed that I by Rev. Edward Pinkney (right). photo/Brett Jelinek, olafimages.com another way so they can swoop in and be- had asked. So I hope that this was a success- come the other thing. Wayne Madsen wrote ful event. There’s a lot of people standing on a piece about Soros and his effort to co-opt Rev. Pinkney’s shoulders. the OWS movement. Wayne reminded folks Hold the Fort: Our Time Is Coming By Rev. Edward Pinkney businesses, on the crime rate, and the qual- ity of life of all residents. It will continue Michigan is a great observation point what is essentially a depression in minority People’s Tribune for the corporate takeover of America. The communities—and beyond. P.O. Box 3524 PRESORTED duly elected officials in Benton Harbor It will only worsen America’s financial STANDARD were effectively fired—terminated and re- situation. Hundreds of thousands of indi- Chicago, Illinois 60654-3524 U.S. POSTAGE placed with a Emergency Financial Man- gent children going homeless and hungry Return service requested PAID ager with ties to Whirlpool, the blood suck- will not reverse the downward spiral Amer- CHICAGO, IL ing corporation. ica is in because of corporate theft and mili- PERMIT NO. 874 The residents claim the city deficit tary spending. Abandoning the poor will which gave the corporations and govern- make this nation like a third world country, ment the opportunity to put in an Emergen- where war is constant and life is cheap. cy Manager was caused by Whirlpool’s tax We must stop the greedy corporations. breaks to the tune of hundred of millions of We must stop Whirlpool and the PGA se- dollars. There are now over 400 Emergency nior golf tournament in Benton Harbor, Managers in training to take over cities in Michigan. Come to a mass demonstration Michigan, and it may become a model for in May 2012. Our pathway must be through U.S. cities. the soil up through the swamps, through the The state of Michigan is in a crisis with forest, up through the stream and rocks, up roughly over 35,000 families who will lose through the commerce, education, and re- their welfare benefits. Welfare recipients ligion. We must say enough is enough and ordinarily spend 100% of their monthly the time is now. We, the people, must build income. The decrease in consumer spend- a powerful movement to break that the grip ing will have a negative effect, not only on that the corporations have over the country indigent families with dependent children and life itself. who rely on that income, but also on state