Democracia proletaria, Parte 2 12

Workers and oppressed peoples of the world unite! workers.org Vol. 62, No. 32 August 6, 2020 $1 Boston school workers blast ‘reopening plans’

By Steve Gillis, Financial Secretary, Panther Party branches. USW Local 8751 and G. Lechat, Chisholm’s legacy unified Boston’s Harvard TPS Coalition majority-women teachers and nurses and the majority-Black bus drivers in Boston Public School nurses, teachers their demand that BPS workers be deci- and bus drivers occupied City Hall Plaza sion-makers in any school reopening on July 29, vowing to defend public safety plan. “Our expertise and knowledge have by any means necessary. been shut out of the assessment, planning The action was a response to the threat- and decision-making process,” charged ening, dangerous demands of the White Boston Teachers Union President Jessica House, Wall Street and Massachusetts Tang. Gov. Charlie Baker to “get back to school The crowd cheered USW Local 8751 and work” in September. President André François, who said that School bus drivers—​whose every bus driver “applauds the [BTU’s] … 1,000-strong members of United nonnegotiable demand for union nurses Steelworkers Local 8751 work for pri- in every school. Because the school bus vate corporations Transdev and First is the first daily contact for tens of thou- Student—​joined BPS nurses and teach- sands of Boston’s most precious cargo, ers. With folding chairs, picket signs Local 8751 also demands BTU nurses and loudspeakers in tow, the workers be stationed at the bus yards to enforce WW PHOTO: MAUREEN SKEHAN demanded no reopening of Boston pub- safety procedures at the frontline.” Team Solidarity -Boston School Bus Drivers’ delegation in solidarity with nurses protest. lic schools until they’re safe for students, François continued, “As the pandemic workers and communities. spread worldwide, our employer and Emergency COVID-19 Worksite Standard 160,000, with nearly 5 million official Nurses raised the cry of Shirley responsible parties failed to act, and in Operating Procedures stopped [addi- infections, scientific evidence mounts—​ Chisholm—​elected in 1968 as the first April, Local 8751 suffered the deaths of tional] infections among our members. … from summer camps and parties in Black woman in Congress—​who once four drivers to COVID-19. They were Local 8751 pledges to our members and states where governments have pushed said, “If they don’t give you a seat at the active in the city’s food home-deliv- the children, families and communities for reopening—​that children contract table, bring a folding chair.” In 1972 ery program to thousands of BPS chil- we serve: Not One More Death!” (USW and transmit COVID-19 at high rates. Chisholm was the first Black woman to dren. Only the union’s forceful, on-site Local 8751 statement, July 29) (New York Times, July 31; YJ Park et al. run for U.S. President, backed by Black intervention and job actions to enforce As the U.S. pandemic’s death toll nears Continued on page 4

John Lewis & Selma legacy 3 Black Lives Matter Remembering Garrett Foster, Disabled people: anti-racist fighter 6 ‘Part of the working class’ 3 Pensacola solidarity 6 #SEIUDropTheCops 4 N.C. protests: ‘Smash the police state’ 7 Portland, Ore.: Fight is not over 7

Pandemic relief sabotaged 8 Sahara dust cloud 9 Heat waves & socialism 9

Editorial Prison uprising ignites Black August Virus, GDP & profit motive 10

Roots of Prisoners Solidarity Fidel Agcaoili ¡presente! 10 Committee 5 Jonathan Jackson Brazil 10 China vs. lies 11 Page 2 August 6, 2020 workers.org ‘Hero pay, not zero pay!’ this week

◆ In the U.S. Boston school workers blast ‘reopening plans’ . . . 1 ‘Hero pay, not zero pay!’ ...... 2 6th annual Sandra Bland #SayHerName protest . 3 Disability movement: ‘Part of the working class’ . .3 John Lewis and the Edmund Pettus Bridge . . . .3 #SEIUDroptheCops makes demands ...... 4 A tribute to Assata Shakur ...... 4 Black August to Black Lives Matter movement . . 5 What is the Prisoners Solidarity Committee? . . . 5 Austin, TX: Remembering Garrett Foster . . . . .6 Pensacola protests federal war on the people . . .6 North Carolina: ‘Smash the Police State’ . . . . . 7 Essential workers protested July 30 in a flash-mob temporary store closures and route cancellations. Portland struggle far from over ...... 7 action in front of a newly remodeled Tops Market, a Neither multimillion-dollar company offered masks Negotiations delay pandemic relief package . . . .8 supermarket chain based in Western New York. The event or worker protections until mandated by the state. At was organized by the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) the North Buffalo location, where the protest took place, ◆ Around the world Division 1342 and the Food and Commercial Workers renovations and cosmetic changes were ongoing through- Who created the Saharan dust cloud? ...... 9 (UFCW) Local 1. out the pandemic. Social distancing was impossible with Record-breaking heat waves, need for socialism . .9 Demands included hazard pay, sick leave and actual a narrow temporary entrance and large portions of the enforcement of the New York state mask mandate. store closed off. Brazil: From pandemic to genocide ...... 10 Workers at Tops Market locations, as well as the Niagara At their action, the workers promised that the fight was Workers World Party salutes Fidel Agcaoili . . . 10 Frontier Transit Authority, have caught COVID-19 far from over. China pushes back U.S. empire of lies ...... 11 on many separate occasions since March, leading to —Report and photo by Thomas Answeeney ◆ Editorial The virus, the GDP and the profit motive . . . . 10

Free Mumia Abu-Jamal! Build Workers World! ◆ Noticias en Español The U.S. has the high- wrong with the world’s Democracia proletaria, Parte 2 ...... 12 est percentage of its pop- largest center of incarcer- ulation in city, county, ated workers: the U.S. state and federal pris- Those who understand ons—more than any how this racist, classist, other country in the world capitalist system works and disproportionately were in the streets over Workers World people of color. That’s not the last four decades to 147 W. 24th St., 2nd Fl. even counting detention save Mumia’s life and New York, NY 10011 centers for im/migrants promote his message. Phone: 212.627.2994 who flee their homes to Workers World was there, E-mail: [email protected] escape U.S. crimes of demanding his freedom Web: www.workers.org imperialist aggression. from the get-go. Now Vol. 62, No. 32 • August 6, 2020 Here they are brutally WW’s Prisoners Solidarity Closing date: August 5, 2020 mistreated, some even Committee is promoting suffering cruel separation an internationalist call to Editor: Deirdre Griswold from their children. Free Mumia. Managing Editors: John Catalinotto, Martha Grevatt, Don’t let Fourth of July We know why you read PHOTO: TAHIR ASAD, VIRTUOUS LION PRODUCTIONS Monica Moorehead, Betsey Piette, Minnie Bruce Pratt fireworks distract you Workers World—for Web Editors: ABear, Harvey Markowitz, Janet Mayes from the streets and from formulating ways to disman- news free from corporate lies and geared to working and tle the deadly, institutionalized, second-class system that oppressed people. We need you to help us do our job. Prisoners Page Editors: Mirinda Crissman, Ted Kelly oppresses Black, Brown and Indigenous people. That sys- Join the WW Supporter Program, founded 43 years ago, Production & Design Editors: Gery Armsby, Mirinda temic inequality and injustice are responsible for the big- to help keep the paper strong. Crissman, Sasha Mazumder, Scott Williams gest proportion of those dying from the pandemic being For a donation of at least $75 a year—or $100, $300 Copyediting and Proofreading: Paddy Colligan, people of color. or much more if possible—members receive a year’s sub- Sue Davis, S. Hedgecoke What would really show solidarity with the already scription, a monthly letter about timely issues and five vibrant Black Lives Matter movement here and abroad? free subscriptions to give to friends. Write checks, either Contributing Editors: LeiLani Dowell, G. Dunkel, Raising the struggle to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal so it monthly or once a year, to Workers World and mail them, K. Durkin, Sara Flounders, Teresa Gutierrez, Joshua becomes a worldwide cry. The very reasons why Mumia with your name and address, to 147 W. 24th St., 2nd Floor, Hanks, Makasi Motema, Gloria Rubac is in jail are that he used his voice and his pen to expose New York, NY 10011. Or sign up to donate online at work- Mundo Obero: Teresa Gutierrez, Carlos Vargas racism, especially the role of police terror in Philadelphia. ers.org. Supporter Program: Coordinator Sue Davis Then the system framed him, denied him a fair trial and We’re grateful for your help in building Workers World attempted to kill him. Mumia’s case personifies everything —sign up today! ☐ Copyright © 2020 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of articles is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved. If you are interested in joining Workers World Party contact: 212.627.2994 Workers World (ISSN-1070-4205) is published weekly except the last week of December by WW Publishers, National Office Boston Durham, N.C. 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By Dianne Mathiowetz residents who had been engaged in multi- Rights movement and was a key action in Atlanta ple attempts to register to vote, were pre- forcing President Lyndon Johnson to call pared to walk all the way to Montgomery, for passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Bill, Many readers of Workers World news- the state capital. They were keenly aware of signed five months later. paper may have watched on July 26 as a the assault on Rev. C.T. Vivian the month In the decades since 1965, tens of thou- horse-drawn caisson carried John Lewis' before, when Dallas County Sheriff Tom sands of people have joined John Lewis body over the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Clark struck him in the face and knocked and the original marchers on the "Bloody Selma, Ala. him to the ground as Vivian waited on the Sunday" annual re-creation each March, It was on March 7, 1965—​a Sunday—​ courthouse steps to try to register. including this writer. The experience is that this bridge and 25-year-old John Vivian famously and immediately got always quite emotional, even though the Lewis were inextricably joined together up to his feet, face bloodied and contin- mood is now ceremonial and celebratory. in the long history of the Black struggle ued to demand the right to the vote for As one looks through the railings at When marchers crossed Edmund Pettus for liberation. the Black citizens of Selma. The esteemed the Alabama River flowing so many feet Bridge on Bloody Sunday in 1965, John Since Lewis' death on July 17, a black- Rev. Vivian died the same day as Lewis in below, it is easy to imagine the terrifying Lewis led at the front. and-white video of that day has been the early morning hours of July 17. sounds of night sticks striking bodies, of shown countless times in programs hon- John Lewis and Hosea Williams were the shouts and screams as tear gas envel- oring the 17-term Georgia congressper- at the head of the marchers that day on oped the marchers, the panic of trying to time in the thousands—​on their way to son. The sight is chilling no matter how the bridge. The image is unforgettable as escape off the bridge, the fear of being Montgomery. many times one views it: Scores of white all of them walked face-to-face with the pushed into the river. There is a national call to rename the Alabama state troopers—​some armed threatening state forces and were quickly And yet, whether you are there sur- Edmund Pettus Bridge as the John R. with vicious batons, others on horse- beaten, teargassed and trampled by rounded by the throngs who come to Lewis Bridge. Pettus was a general in back—and​ a mob of rebel-yelling racists horses. Lewis, knocked unconscious after honor those heroes of Selma or come with the Confederate army and was a Grand by their side, all waiting at the foot of the being billy clubbed in the head by a state a group of family or friends, you sense the Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan. The bridge bridge to assault Black marchers for free- trooper, suffered a fractured skull. power of people who were united, deter- was built and named for him in 1940, dom and civil rights. The brutal assault on the Edmund mined to be free—and​ who just days later during Jim Crow segregation when Black The 600 marchers, mostly Selma Pettus Bridge galvanized the Voting in 1965 marched across that bridge—​this people were not allowed to vote. ☐

New York City 6th annual Sandra Bland #SayHerName protest Special to Workers World other agents of white supremacy. and informative New York City Womxn, girls and femmes were memo- Zoom webinar titled rialized in a ceremony featuring photo- “Black Womxn, A spirited group of about 100 protest- graphs and cards of some of the many Girls and Femmes: ers gathered July 13 in Union Square in killed. Their names were read aloud, and Intimate Violence New York City to demand justice for Black folks present murmured after each name and Community Lives Matter activist Sandra Bland and “Ashe,” a West African term defined as Accountability.” The all Black womxn, girls and femmes. The “the power to make things happen and presentation dis- People's Power Assemblies/NYC was the produce change.” cussed domestic and main organizer of the 6th annual Sandra Rousing and uplifting speeches were gender violence in Bland #SayHerName rally and march. then given by Iman of the December the movement and The day's program was titled, “Black 12th Movement; Brenda Stokely from what accountability PHOTO: COLIN ASHBY Womxn, Girls and Femmes Fight Back!” the International Working Women's could look like using New York City march honoring Sandra Bland, July 13. July 13 marked the 5th anniversary of Coalition; Monica Cruz from Party for transformative and the death of Sandra Bland, an outspoken Socialism and Liberation; Sista Shirley restorative justice, after the U.S. criminal We call for abolition of the police, pris- supporter of the Black Lives Matter move- from Staten Island; and Alexandria punishment system is abolished. ons and all carceral apparatus of the state ment, who was found hanging in a jail cell James, Terrea Mitchell and Samaiyah that continues to murder, maim and dis- in Waller County, Texas, three days after Patrick from PPA/NYC. Elizabeth Bezile PPA/NYC demands able Black womxn, girls and femmes. being violently arrested for, supposedly, enraptured everyone with her beautiful We will not be fooled or derailed by We must continue to highlight the many not using a turn signal on a highway. spoken word pieces. Speakers from other fake reforms like body cameras and Black women—​among them numerous Her death at the hands of the police endorsers included Workers World Party, so-called community policing, which transwomen—​who are killed and bru- state sparked a national outcry. The July NYC Shut It Down, Gabriela/NYC and further increase the budget and power talized by the police in the streets, in the 13 event uplifted those who have been many more. of the racist and brutal New York Police jails, in the prisons. ☐ murdered by the state and by extension The rally was preceded by a dynamic Department! Disability movement: ‘Part of the global working class’ The following slightly edited remarks It has been 30 years since passage of hard to come by. How are you supposed to LGBTQ2S+ people. were made by Kristen Turgeon from the Americans with Disabilities Act. I was get hired when whoever is interviewing you The disability movement is tied to all the Boston branch of Workers World born in 1996 so I grew up under it, and judges that either you couldn't do the work other movements because we are part of Party on a July 30 webinar sponsored the word that comes first to mind when I or that it would cost too much to hire you? the global working class. This system was by WWP’s Disability Rights Caucus think about the ADA is access. I was lucky We aren't even given the chance to sell not designed for any of us. We, as work- and titled “Smash Ableism, Racism, All to have a wonderful advocacy team in our labor. But why are we stuck in this ers across all struggles, must unite to take Bigotry & Oppression!” school, but when I graduated and moved trap? The answer is capitalism. The sys- down capitalism. We sell our labor to the into the wider world, having experiences tem needs a reserve army of unemployed bourgeoisie; therefore we have the power. and talking to other disabled folks, I dis- people so that when workers bring their This pandemic has exposed the ugly face of covered how rare that is. Like many dis- complaints to the bosses, the bosses can capitalism and its clear profit-over-people abled people I am unemployed. say, there's a bunch of people who would motives. More people worldwide are real- The blind community alone faces a take those jobs. izing that the only future is a socialist one. 75% unemployment rate. Like many Some things have been won. Screen read- If all us workers organize, take our folks, especially during this time period, ers allow visually impaired folks like myself labor back from the bosses, we can cre- I receive government benefits. It's not to access technology we wouldn't have been ate a society in which everyone has equal enough to live on and a little too much to able to use 5 years ago. Buildings and train access to food, housing, health care, a die. It seems we have the right to acces- stations are slowly becoming accessible job and education. That's what all of our sibility, but not the access itself. If you to everyone. While these rights are very struggles are about. As it says in the labor have more than $2,000 and are on Social important, they are not enough. song, “Solidarity Forever”: "We will bring Security, they can cut you off. But how did we win this small amount to birth a new world from the ashes of the Yet things like accessible equipment, of accessibility? We struggled, marched old. For the union makes us strong!" health care and paying for necessary ser- and fought. Real change only comes We will unite in solidarity and struggle vices are expensive — not to mention rent, from below. We can see this in the his- for a world where people and the planet bills and food. Many disabled folks are tory of every movement from the struggle are considered over profit and corporate trapped in this cycle of being consistently to end racism and police brutality to the greed. Workers and oppressed of the WW PHOTO: STEVAN KIRSCHBAUM Kristen Turgeon poor, and if we want jobs, they are very fight for im/migrants, to the struggle of world unite! ☐ Page 4 August 6, 2020 workers.org #SEIUDropTheCops makes demands By calvin deutschbein International Brotherhood of Corrections International Brotherhood of Police acknowledge in word and action the cen- Officers, be expelled from SEIU. Officers and other law enforcement offi- trality of being in solidarity with Black Following weeks of intensive internal cers, jail and prison guards, probation workers and communities to the labor organizing, research and analysis, the Demand 2: SEIU Beyond officers, and armed security officers movement. We demand SEIU adopt the (Service Employees) #SEIUDropTheCops Policing and Prisons bargaining units, such as the Fraternal Movement for Black Lives platform as an campaign—a rank-and-file-led initia- We demand an SEIU beyond policing Order of Police, Police Benevolent organizing goal and concretely enact the tive with SEIU members in locals from and prisons. We demand SEIU divest from Association and International Union of platform through its labor and political coast to coast and across different sectors campaigns organizing law enforcement Police Associations, from labor councils organizing. of the economy—has released detailed officers, jail and prison guards, probation on which SEIU locals participate. demands to their International. After officers, and armed security officers. We For updates on the campaign, go wide-ranging discussions on solidarity, demand SEIU invest in union organiz- Demand 4: SEIU Drop Cop Candidates to the Facebook page at tinyurl.com/ class, class character and the role of labor ing campaigns to protect, empower and We demand SEIU drop cop candidates. y64qhglm/. in the movement, #SEIUDropTheCops expand sectors where workers prevent We demand SEIU provide no sets forth actionable demands, which violence or harm as their work, such as support to any political can- when met will immediately empower the essential workers, educators, healthcare didate who accepts donations working class and the oppressed, espe- workers, social workers, and food service from law enforcement officers, cially in the U.S., but around the world. workers. We demand a strong, unionized jail and prison guards, proba- movement to eliminate policing, both as tion officers, and armed security Demand 1: SEIU Drop the Cops an action against the community and as a officers locals or who intends to We demand SEIU drop cops from the profession providing employment oppor- act against defunding the police union. We demand any job classification tunities, to enact transformational social or the platform of the Movement including law enforcement officers, jail change beyond policing and prisons for Black Lives while in office. and prison guards, probation officers, and Demand 3: SEIU Labor Drop the Cops Demand 5: SEIU For Black Lives Body cam footage from June 12 in Atlanta shows armed security officers and their bargain- Rayshard Brooks being interrogated by his soon-to- ing units, for example, in the International We demand labor drop the cops. We We demand an SEIU for be-killer Garrett Rolfe, represented by police union Brotherhood of Police Officers and the demand that SEIU fight to expel the Black Lives. We demand SEIU affiliated with SEIU. Boston school workers blast ‘reopening plans’ Continued from page 1 never been more necessary,” referring to No Reopening Without Safety First!” workers who are subjected to privatiza- the failure of Mayor Marty Walsh and At the rally, nurses, teachers and a bus tion at charter schools and transpor- Emerging Infectious Disease 2020) BPS Superintendent Brenda Cassellius driver echoed many other demands for tation vendors, Local 8751’s statement Dr. William Hanage of the Harvard to involve worker experts. “We join you health and safety protocols that would take demanded: “Full Hazard Pay and Benefits School of Public Health condemned “the in your fight,” the statement concluded. massive emergency funding to accomplish, for All School Workers, Now!” hybrid option” of alternating children (massnurses.org) including universal availability of personal In the face of this growing outcry and from school to day care as “among the The American Federation of Teachers—​ protective equipment and safe distancing scientific evidence, Boston’s Mayor Walsh worst that we could be putting forward, the nearly 2-million-member teachers’ logistics, universal virus testing, in-school announced July 31 that the city had can- if our goal is to stop union not affiliated with worker preparation time, proper venti- celled plans for a full reopening of schools the virus getting into the BTU—​has also vowed lation and disinfecting of facilities and in September. schools” (WBGH. At the rally, nurses, to “fight on all fronts for the buses, and universal internet and computer This is only the first of many conces- org, July 30 ) teachers and a bus safety of our students and access. All need to happen before children sions that the ruling class must make as Boston University their educators,” said AFT can safely and equitably return to school in the workers’ unions plan further actions in epidemiologist driver echoed many President Randi Weingarten person. their newly formed and strengthened coali- Helen Jenkins told during the union’s annual All the unions called for mass hiring tions to put safety, health and the economic the Boston Globe other demands for convention, held online July of health care workers, bus drivers and well-being of children, families, communi- that workers’ unity health and safety 28-30. Weingarten added: monitors, teachers, custodians, HVAC ties and workers first before the hell-bent in not going back “[I]f authorities don’t protect and construction workers, and day care surge of Wall Street profiteering. ☐ makes sense from a protocols that the safety and health of those workers. For both public employees and public health point we represent … and serve of view: “I think would take massive … nothing is off the table, their demands are emergency funding including safety strikes.” totally reasonable,” (NPR, July 28) she said. (July 29) to accomplish. The Boston bus driv- Warning of trag- ers’ union joined the AFT’s edy to come from rapid reopening, resolve in its statement: “Local 8751 raises Massachusetts Nurses Association lead- 1,000 fists of Solidarity with the American ers showed up in solidarity with the BTU Federation of Teachers’ July 28 power- nurses. The MNA posted a Facebook ful commitment and warning to federal, statement that read in part: [The] “full state and local governments that ‘Safety and transparent collaboration BTU school Strikes’ will be the result if the workers’ nurses seek from your administration has health and safety demands remain unmet: Education workers rally in front of Boston City Hall for school safety during pandemic.

In honor of her 73rd birthday A tribute to Assata Shakur By Monica Moorehead for Workers World Party chairperson Sam enslavement, only to escape to join the recapture those trying to escape the slave Marcy, Assata sent a moving message of Underground Railroad, where, as a con- masters. This kind of terrorist atmosphere The great African American rev- condolence to our organization. Assata ductor, she brought hundreds of enslaved did not impede Harriet Tubman from her olutionary, Assata Shakur, turned has been living in political exile in Cuba people of African descent to freedom in political activism until she died 107 years 73 on July 16. The following slightly since 1979. the North, including to Canada. She was ago in 1913. edited article first appeared online on So when the FBI posted a $2 million so hated by the slavocracy that a $50,000 May 7, 2013, with the original headline, bounty May 2 for the return of Assata bounty — big money in those days — was Assata’s political journey “Assata Shakur is a modern-day Harriet to the U.S., not only did it anger me and put on her head for capture, dead or alive. Born in New York City in the late 1940s, Tubman.” countless others, but it also reminded During Tubman’s era, the slavocracy Assata moved to Wilmington, N.C., to live me of another bounty put on the head of had at its disposal the federal government, with her grandmother when she was three I had the distinct honor of meeting another freedom fighter over 160 years with the Supreme Court refusing to rec- years old until her teenage years. She Assata Shakur in person at the 1997 World ago — Harriet Tubman. ognize escaped formerly enslaved people eventually joined both the Black Panther Youth Festival in Havana, Cuba. I was all Both of these courageous women sac- as citizens based on the 1857 Dred Scott Party and the Black Liberation Army. the more surprised when she recognized rificed much in their lives, including decision. The Constitution counted Black The Panthers were beloved and me as the 1996 presidential candidate any kind of a normal family life, to join people as “three-fifths of a human being,” respected within numerous poor, Black for Workers World Party. A year later, in important movements to free humanity and the Dred Scott decision encouraged urban communities where they provided 1998, during a New York City memorial from oppression. Harriet was born into armed white vigilantes, who were paid to Continued on page 8 workers.org August 6, 2020 Page 5

50 years of struggle WW Commentary Black August to Black Lives Matter Movement By Judy Greenspan — who heroically joined this action. The Jonathan Jackson knew that the state Role of repressive state exposed young Jackson and his group grabbed a wanted to execute his brother. One year The movement outside supporting the This Aug. 7 marks the 50th anniver- judge, a prosecutor and a juror as hos- later, prison guards assassinated George Black Lives Matter movement is waking sary of the heroic attempt by Jonathan tages and attempted a daring escape from Jackson in San Quentin Prison on Aug. up to the understanding that the repres- Jackson, younger brother of George the courthouse. Police opened fire on the 21, 1971. This assassination set off a sive organs of the state — the courts, the Jackson, to free three Black revolution- van as they were escaping, killing young spark which was felt across the coun- prisons, the police, the prison guards and aries from the clutches of the California Jackson, three of the prisoners (except try, as prisoners in Attica State Prison the ICE detention centers — cannot be state prison system. The fact that this Ruchell Magee) and the judge. in New York state rebelled shortly there- reformed. They cannot be legislatively bold attempt failed has no bearing on its Magee remains in prison today as the after. When the siege by the brutal state altered or changed in a meaningful way. historical and revolutionary significance longest held U.S. political prisoner. And was over, more than 40 unarmed Attica They must be abolished. to the movements for Black Liberation this is a history that we need to revisit to prisoners were murdered by guards and Jonathan Jackson understood that and prison abolition in this country and understand what is happening today. state police. Since the assassination of when he attempted the bold rescue of the around the world. George Jackson, August has been called Prisons sowed seeds of insurrection Soledad Brothers. He exposed the barbaric Jonathan Jackson was only 17 years old Black August in honor of Black freedom nature of the capitalist state that would when, armed with a rifle, he burst into a The Black Liberation movement of fighters who dared to rebel against the rather shoot its own foot soldiers, a judge Marin County courtroom while a hearing the 1960s and, in particular, the Black prison system. Black August started in and a prosecutor, than give in to the just was in session. There he demanded free- Panther Party, educated and inspired California, but it is commemorated all demands of the oppressed. The state made dom for his brother and two other prison- thousands of Black prisoners in this over the country. an example of Jonathan and the other ers, Fleeta Drumgo and John Clutchette, country. In many prisons, Black Panther The movement inside the prisons has brave prisoners who joined with him in who were known as the Soledad Brothers. Party chapters were organized in prison not been dormant these 50 years. What we that Marin County courtroom. But rather The young revolutionary boldly declared, cells. George Jackson, who was serving are seeing today — fueled by the rebellion than strike fear into the prisoner move- “We are revolutionaries. We want the an indeterminate (1 year to life) sentence against police terror led by the Black Lives ment at the time, it helped fuel a resistance Soledad Brothers free by 12:30.” (“The for stealing $70, was one such Black Matter movement and by the inhumane movement that continues today. Heroes of San Rafael,” WW, Aug. 31, 1970) revolutionary. treatment during COVID-19 — is a resur- The California state prison system and While incarcerated at Soledad State gence and reignition of the prisoner liber- its shock troops are still terrified of the Prison, Jackson emerged as a leader in ation movement. In every prison and jail, defiant legacies of both Jonathan and the Black Freedom movement. His writ- incarcerated activists are expressing their George Jackson. The recent brutal and ings and teaching inspired prisoners all support for the movement against systemic racist cell extraction of 200 Black pris- over the state prison system. Needless racism and police brutality. People inside oners at Soledad Prison, where guards to say, the criminal (in)justice system are using what little access they have to confiscated the revolutionary writings of from the cops to the judges to the prison the phone system to call out and speak at George Jackson and other prisoner lead- guards hated him. demonstrations and to the media. “Black ers, demonstrates that. Even the taunts of Jonathan Jackson’s bold attempt to free Lives Matter” are often the first words the racist guards that “Black Lives Don’t his brother was a dramatic expression of shouted by these prisoner activists. Matter” won’t turn back the movement revolutionary anger and outrage against a Prisoner demands around COVID-19 behind the walls. state system that continues to this day to echo the cries of health care workers, bus On this 50th anniversary of the Marin oppress Black, Latinx and other prisoners drivers and others for adequate personal Soledad Brothers, George Jackson, County Courthouse uprising, let us Fleeta Drumgo, and John Clutchette. of color — a prison system with its roots protective equipment. Unfortunately, redouble our efforts to tear down the in enslavement. It was an uprising to free in prisons, jails and Immigration and prison walls and abolish the prisons and Jackson proceeded to gather four Black revolutionaries, as well as part of the Customs Enforcement detention centers, the police once and for all. Long live the other brave prisoners in the courtroom insurrections that were taking place at that with no chance of social distancing or con- heroes of San Rafael! Long live the spirit sistent PPE access, COVID-19 has spread — James McClain, William Christmas, time in cities across the country against of George and Jonathan Jackson! ☐ Ruchell Magee and Khatari Gaulden racism and police terror. like wildfire and deaths are spiking.

Breaking through the walls of isolation What is the Prisoners Solidarity Committee? This slightly edited statement first The prisoner never sees a lawyer, is pre- pain that is a daily part of prison life. But Thus it was a small wonder that when appeared in the Sept. 17, 1971, WW as vented from defending himself, herself these letters all told something else. They the heroic Attica prisoners met with a part of a special eight-page Prisoners and themselves, is estranged from his, were not pathetic appeals from beaten small group of observers during the rebel- Solidarity Committee insert, “A Report her or their family just out of the sheer people; they rang with hope and strength lion, it was the PSC delegate, Tom Soto, from Inside Attica,” in tribute to the impossibility of visits to isolated prisons, and willingness to struggle. Moreover, the who they most wanted to see. It was to Attica Prison uprising that occurred Sept. and can look forward to desperation and writers were thrilled that they were finally him that they entrusted the greatest num- 9-13. This justified rebellion resulted in disappointment when and if he, her or breaking out of their isolation, that peo- ber of messages, for their loved ones and the massacre of over 40 prisoners by the they ever hits the streets again. ple outside were lis- for the movement as a storm troopers made up of the National For thousands of prisoners, especially tening and working whole. Guard and state police of billionaire New the large percentage of Black, Brown, with them. The PSC, on hearing of York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller. Some Indigenous and other oppressed people The PSC published the rebellion, had imme- terms have been updated. routed into the prisons from birth, these some of these let- diately mobilized all its conditions have become unbearable. The ters in the pamphlet, strength: It sent a dele- Once in a very great while, a rich man terrible isolation imposed by the rac- “Prisoners Call Out: gation to Attica, arranged goes to prison. Maybe he is taking a six- ist authorities has been broken again Freedom!” transportation for rela- month rap for a company that defrauded and again in the only way left to human The PSC raised tives and organized many the people out of millions; when he gets beings who have been literally sealed in some money with this demonstrations through- out after his brief stretch, he’s set for life. their own tombs: by open rebellion. These pamphlet and social out New York state and And even while he’s in, every little com- rebellions are specifically directed at the affairs, and rented a in several major cities fort is provided for him, so that the time numberless injustices that read like a bus so that prisoners’ elsewhere. The prisoners passes as pleasantly as possible. description of the Chamber of Horrors; relatives could get knew that what they had Most of all, he is never really isolated, but they are also something more. to Auburn and visit to say would be heard on never forgotten. His lawyers visit him The Prisoners Solidarity Committee is them. For many of the outside. constantly, the guards treat him like a another absolutely indispensable prod- them, it was the first At the most difficult “gentleman,” and he is able to conduct uct of this new spirit; it was formed less visit in years. moment, when ruling-class fury against his business affairs from prison. than a year ago [1970], when prisoners at the prisoners reached its height, the PSC Prisons weren’t made for people like Auburn, N.Y., wrote to organizations on Building outside support announced from inside Attica that it this. The fact that a handful of them may the outside for help. Youth Against War When the Auburn Six had several court unconditionally supported the prisoners’ be in a few federal institutions is largely Fascism responded, and soon helped form hearings, the PSC got sizable demonstra- demands. A further bond of love and trust an accident. the Prisoners Solidarity Committee. The tions of support, even in blizzard condi- was forged in those tense hours. But the prisons are full, overflowing, committee has expanded to many cities tions. More and more, the PSC became a The isolation of the prisoners has been exploding with poor, oppressed men, since then and includes relatives of pris- vehicle whereby the prisoners themselves permanently shattered. Even the highest women and gender-oppressed people for oners and released prisoners themselves. could speak to the people outside, could concrete wall, the darkest cell, the cruel- whom prisons have meant the end — of When the news of the PSC reached the generalize their struggle, fuse their griev- est solitary “hole” can no longer hold the life, of happiness, of friends and family. jails, it released a dammed-up flood of ances and their hopes in the main current terror it once had, for 1,500 men at Attica The first stretch becomes a stigma that letters from brothers, sisters, and siblings of rebellion that is rising in the country have looked the worst in the face. ☐ dooms a young person to life behind bars. telling of the indignities, the brutality, the as a whole. Page 6 August 6, 2020 workers.org Remembering Garrett Foster, slain anti-racist fighter By Viktoriya P. charges depend on findings from a further about Foster’s life, his commitment to Austin, Texas investigation. Mitchell and his commitment to Black The bourgeois media and Austin Police Lives. Many people and members of On July 25, groups of protesters Department representatives wasted no groups spoke, including Patricia Kirven, marched in Austin, Texas, for Black lives time reprimanding and victim-blaming Mitchell’s mother, and some of Foster’s and in solidarity with Portland activists Foster. Both “liberal” and “conservative” friends and relatives. Also speaking were who are facing repression by Trump’s news outlets have written their so-called some coordinators of the previous night’s secret police. It was nearly the 50th “accounts” of events based on informa- march, who also helped to organize the day that Whitney Mitchell, a disabled tion that has come directly from the per- vigil. Toward the end, there was a pro- Black woman, and her fiance of 10 years, petrator’s report to the police. longed moment of silence for Foster and Garrett Foster, were there. They both con- On the one hand, there are the anti- his family. Bringing the vigil to a close, sistently marched at Black Lives Matter gun liberals blaming Foster for carrying attendees knelt with their fists up. demonstrations. Foster assisted Mitchell, a legally permitted firearm to protect Once the vigil concluded, the leaders and he armed himself to protect her and his disabled fiancee. On the other hand, led an impromptu march that took the other demonstrators from potential fas- there are the reactionary, neo-fascist same path from the intersection all the cist violence. pundits who are celebrating his death, way to police headquarters and back. The Based on the video recorded by local while praising the rich white lawyers in march was tight and well-organized. It journalist Hiram Gilberto, the protest- St. Louis, Mo., who pointed their guns at moved continuously to ensure every per- ers approached a blocked-off intersection peaceful protesters on June 28. son’s safety. Armed vigil attendees and Garrett Foster and Whitney Mitchell at Black when a blue sedan rushed through the Austin Police Chief Brian Manley took volunteer medics rushed to each inter- Lives Matter protest, June 28, Austin. barricades where people were still walk- the opportunity to reiterate the need for section as marchers passed. They created ing, with the intent of instilling fear in full police funding, citing a rise in vehic- makeshift barricades with bikes, scooters, once called for defunding and reforming them. Demonstrators turned toward the ular crimes, even though Foster’s mur- traffic cones and their bodies to make sure the police are now looking toward total vehicle and forced it to stop. derer was released! These pigs haven’t no other vehicles tried to recreate the hor- abolition and liberation of the people. Meanwhile, Foster crossed the inter- done anything at all about the vigilantes ror of the night before. Kirven set up a GoFundMe page for section with Mitchell. Upon seeing what because they are too busy policing Black One vehicle drove through the bike and funeral, burial and other expenses, which was happening, he stepped in between and Brown communities. The calls to traffic cone barricades as the marchers raised over $107,000 within 24 hours. her and the vehicle to make sure that she abolish the police are getting louder and passed. No one was in that area at the That highlighted the support people will and others weren’t hit. Five shots rang more frequent. time, so no one was hurt. Toward the end give to care for one another during these out from the vehicle, while three addi- of the march, participants placed their difficult times. She wrote about Foster in tional shots were fired by a random pro- Vigil honors fighter for justice candles at the site of the murder, along a heartfelt way on the fundraising page. tester toward the vehicle as it drove away. A day later, July 26, protesters, fam- with signs, flags and flowers to create a Kirven described Foster as “a great The initial five shots were aimed at Foster. ily members and mourners gathered memorial for Foster. person, taken away from his fiancee and Witnesses said Foster never aimed his at the intersection of Fourth Street and loved ones,” and said he “always fought rifle at the driver. (Dallas Morning News, Congress Avenue in downtown Austin, Militance projected amid grief against injustice, served in the military July 27) Foster was pronounced dead an the spot where Foster was murdered, and Revolutionary chants resounded and was fiercely protective of his fiancee.” hour and a half later. held a vigil in honor of his life. People of throughout the evening. They included: Mitchell and Foster have both been The gunman turned himself in to the all ages, nationalities and genders came “F--k the police!” “One solution, active in the community, feeding the police, cooperated with officials and gave to pay their respects to Foster. Families, Revolution!” and “Stand Up! Fight Back!” houseless, protesting against evictions his “account” of the events that trans- college students and even bystanders Through the chants, the pain and anger in and demonstrating for Black lives. They pired. Police released the murderer from attended the vigil. Barricades with armed people’s voices could be heard. are both shining examples of people who custody the same night, without naming volunteer defenders were stationed Those who preached nonviolence in have given their lives and bodies to the him or charging him with a crime. Even around the perimeter to make sure every the face of state and state-sanctioned vio- fight for justice. Garrett Foster ¡presenté! though Foster’s blood was on the shoot- attendee was safe. lence are now looking at other tactics, as er’s hands, the police took his word for Candles were lit throughout the the fascist police and their collaborators The writer attended the July 26 vigil. what happened. Officials said criminal blocked-off intersection as people spoke violently attack them. Many activists who Pensacola protests federal war on the people By Shannon Dover the state for power and control, especially Eventually, there were officers from the so much money on police militarization? Black people who live in the U.S. Federal Protective Service of Homeland Why spend most of the budget of a county Workers World Party-Pensacola When laws were passed restricting Security, ICE (Immigration and Customs or city on police? branch held a demonstration Aug. 1 in the activities of enslaved people, when Enforcement), BORTAC (Border Patrol The answer is because the only way solidarity with Portland’s resistance to those laws didn’t work as intended, then Tactical Unit), and U.S. Marshals on the slavery is still legal nowadays is through federal forces that have assaulted and kid- any adult white man was allowed to ground in Portland. Federal officers are incarceration to punish for a crime. The napped Black Lives Matter protesters in enforce those laws. And when individ- not trained for “crowd control” but that U.S. has the largest prison population Oregon. Joining in the protest were mem- ual action was insufficient, slave patrols didn't stopped them. They attack unpro- [in the world]. Three million people are bers of Strive (Socialist Trans Initiative) were formed that were an offshoot of the voked. Night after night, they have blan- in prison in the U.S., and 56% of the and the local branch of the Party for militia. With the slave patrols, participa- keted the streets with tear gas, struck prison population is Black or Latinx, Socialism and Liberation. About 20 dem- tion was mandatory, and so that made protesters with batons, used flash bangs, when together they make about 30% of onstrators gathered on Palafox, a main the entire white male population directly pepper balls and “less lethal” munitions the total U.S population. Black people are thoroughfare at Florida Square. Its name involved in maintaining slave society. to “control” the crowd. They struck a pro- 5 times more likely to be arrested than was recently changed, after pressure from As the Industrial Revolution devel- tester with a “non-lethal” rubber bullet white people. these and other progressive forces, by the oped, slave patrols moved into the city in the head causing a skull fracture that Spending more money on mental Pensacola City Council from the previous and became professionalized, becoming needed surgery. They attacked members health services, social services and edu- white supremacist designation as Lee what we would call today the modern of the press. They detained protesters and cation would actually prevent crime. Square. The council also voted to remove police force. Today the role of police is pulled them into unmarked cars. But capitalists don’t want to prevent the Confederate soldier statue there. The basically the same: to maintain the hier- This is urban warfare. When protest- crime. They want people in jail to be low- following is a slightly edited speech given archical nature of society, especially in ers try to protect themselves with gas cost laborers—​specifically Black peo- by Shannon Dover at the rally. terms of class and race. masks or duct tape shields, they are called ple to produce goods for companies like The Ku Klux Klan, the oldest terrorist “aggressors.” This U.S. president is dou- McDonald’s, Walmart, Victoria’s Secret, The police were not created to protect organization in the U.S., worked along- bling down and ignoring demands from Sprint, Verizon and Starbucks. the innocent. They were not made to pre- side police to suppress the Black Civil local government to leave Portland alone. The answer is not defending the police, vent crime. They have always been a tool of Rights Movement. The police worked This is warfare! This is a racist, white and the answer definitely isn’t reforming with the KKK to fight for white suprem- supremacist goverment fighting for white the police. The only answer is to abolish acy and unite against those fighting for supremacy. The protesters are calling for the police and the prison-industrial com- oppressed people to have equal rights. an end to police brutality, for defunding plex. The police have always been here to For almost two months, the people the police, and are saying Black Lives protect white supremacy, to protect white of Portland, Ore., have been protesting Matter because Black people are the elites and to defend capitalism. There is against police brutality in the wake of ones most affected by police brutality no fixing, only dismantling. George Floyd’s death. These protests have and the high rate of incarceration. The We can build a better future. A future been nonviolent. In late June, President only response protesters are getting from that protects that protects the most Trump signed an executive order sending the government is more and more police vulnerable—​that protects Black men, federal officers to Portland to “protect” violence. women and children. We can build this federal property from destruction when At present 40% of murders, 70% of sex- better future. We can have this better protest in Portland became centered ual assaults and 90% of burglaries in the future when we work together as com- around a U.S. District Courthouse and a U.S. go unsolved. This begs the question: rades to destroy capitalism and white Pensacola, Fla., Aug. 1. PHOTO: T. BAIN building housing federal agencies. Why do we even have police? Why spend supremacy. ☐ workers.org August 6, 2020 Page 7 North Carolina comes together to ‘Smash the Police State’

By calvin deutschbein Sanford Federal Building, homebase for Raleigh, N.C. Department of Homeland Security forces and U.S. marshals from the Department Hundreds gathered here in Nash of Justice. It is also an environmental Square, where demonstrations have been threat to nearby historically Black neigh- held daily since May 30, for a July 29 borhoods where it has spewed untreated demonstration—“Smash​ the Police State: sewage for decades. Portland, Gastonia, Roxboro”—​high- The militant march went through gen- lighting the anti-racist struggle in those trified downtown and nearby housing three cities. developments, which had displaced many Protesters in Portland, Ore., are strug- of the marchers or their friends and fam- gling to repel federal forces attacking ilies. The march continually raised the the Black Lives Matter movement. In ‘Stop the war on Black America,’ Raleigh, July 29. WW PHOTO: CALVIN DEUTSCHBEIN names of some of those murdered in Gastonia, N.C., unidentified, camouflaged North Carolina by cops, including Keith agents dragged Black demonstrators into doing something right.” are a violation of our constitutional rights. Collins, Akiel Denkins, Kyron Hinton, unmarked cars on July 24 during a protest Dedan, a member of Black Workers We need to abolish [Immigration and Soheil Mojarrad, Marcus Smith and David after a white racist drew a firearm on a Black for Justice, representing the Greenville- Customs Enforcement], get the feds out of Brooks Jr., who was killed only days ear- woman wearing a #BlackLivesMatter but- based revolutionary Black formation Portland, defund, demilitarize and abol- lier by the Roxboro Police Department. ton in a local ice cream parlor. In Roxboro, “Mapinduzi,” said, “We have to under- ish the police. I don’t know about y’all, but Chanting along with drums, march- N.C., police pulled over and immediately stand as Black, Brown and other colo- I remember the words of Malcolm X—​ ers shouted “Black Lives Matter,” “Fire, shot to death a Black man on July 24, then nized people, we have a relationship with cuz I’m feeling like X these days: “By any Fire Gentrifier” and anti-police slogans. later teargassed mourners who came to domestic colonialism, and it has always means necessary.” Signs read, “Stop Killing Us,” “Abolish honor him. been that way. We know that talking James, with the Democratic Socialists the Pol[ice]” and “Stop the War on Black Speakers from community and socialist about smashing the police state goes far [DSA]-Durham branch, said, “As aboli- America.” Above the crowd flew Pan- organizations addressed the attacks, each beyond these lapdogs who are riding tionists, we believe in the fight to abolish African flags and U.S. flags turned upside linking the federal invasion of Portland to around in our community. We gotta talk the police. The fight to abolish capitalism down, a traditional signal of distress. the ongoing violence of U.S. forces against about the police of the world as well. We is not just a fight to change how we man- The demonstration moved through communities, especially Black communi- gotta talk about the military that spends age public safety or manage the means Raleigh, leaving street art with the names ties, in North Carolina and around the an obscene amount to perpetuate war all of production, it is a fight to restore our of those killed by police and marking world. The rally, anti-imperialist and over the world, while people right here in humanity. It is a fight to reclaim the prin- known lynching sites around the city, anti-capitalist, lifted broad demands for the home country ain’t even got decent ciple that every human being, regardless before coming up against a police line. revolutionary social change. health care. No matter who you put in that of their citizenship, regardless of their Protesters formed up to hold a major seat, Democrat or Republican, you gotta race, regardless of their gender, regard- intersection and shout down the cops. The Voices of protest understand their interest is always in the less of their class deserves to live a life of police line, weakened as individual offi- Cameron of the Working-class imperialist agenda.” human dignity—​free from hunger, free cers faltered, until the state—as​ always—​ Homeless Organizing Alliance pointed Dedan continued, “The only way this from homelessness and free from state turned to force, brought out riot control out: “A Black man [Marcus Smith] was country is able to maintain its power is violence. From Portland to Bolivia, from weapons and made a false arrest. The sin- lynched [in 2019 in North Carolina]. The that people, places and resources have Gastonia to the Philippines, from Roxboro gle arrest was met with jail support from pigs who did the lynching still walk the to be continually exploited. From South to Palestine, we are not free until everyone Smash Racism Raleigh, the Working-class beat with a badge and a gun, and the chief America, from Africa, AFRICOM [U.S. is free.” Homeless Organizing Alliance and the pig himself got to retire with dignity in a Africa Command] can steal resources. A statement was also read from the National Lawyers Guild. pension paid for by the community. How … If we want to make sure our children Party for Socialism and Liberation-Central The rally and march were safe, power- can we peacefully protest an occupying have a better world, free from occupa- North Carolina branch, emphasizing links ful and one of the largest and most mil- force that takes any expression of defiance tion or policing and all types of environ- between U.S. police violence, imperialist itant actions of the recent uprising here. as an act of aggression?” mental injustices, then we have to uproot militarism and capitalist oppression of the Raleigh and North Carolina show no signs Lydia McCaskill, the Black woman capitalism.” working class. of backing down, and this powerful dis- threatened in Gastonia, said defiantly, “I The Wake County Black Student play of many organizations and people have 400 death threats right now; I have Coalition was represented by Sanga: Marching on Homeland Security will be a force to be reckoned with going security right now, all because I say I was "Police can’t be reformed. The federal After the speeches, Victoria and Micah, forward. Black Lives Matter! ☐ discriminated against. ... They hate me, agents and the police actions in Portland, organizers with Smash Racism Raleigh, and I love it. Why? Because it means I’m North Carolina and all around this nation called for a march to the nearby Terry

Portland, Ore. Struggle makes headway, fight far from over

By Joshua Hanks Tents were set up in Lownsdale Square, has now apologized for his authorization Federal and local officials seem to have Portland, Ore. directly east of the federal courthouse of the unrestrained use of tear gas against come to terms with the fact that the pro- where federal officers had centralized protesters. This came only after the mayor tests cannot be quelled through repressive When federal officers entered Portland, their operation. For weeks protesters at and other local officials were themselves violence alone and that attempts to do so Ore., over the July 4 weekend and began the square continued to offer free food, teargassed by federal officers. will only embolden the movement, now to confront Black Lives Matter protesters, medical aid, water, clothing and other A broad coalition—​made up of social well over two months old. it quickly became clear that the protesters supplies donated by the community. justice organizations, radical activists, trade The only path forward for the move- were not going to be driven out. Finally, after massive demonstrations, unionists, teachers, medical workers and ment is to increase unity and draw in The presence of federal officers only Oregon Gov. Kate Brown announced that concerned residents—​continues to turn more and more segments of society. It galvanized protesters, who turned out by on July 23 federal officers would begin out and demand racial justice in support of must continue its momentum and consol- the thousands night after night. Militant withdrawing and would be replaced with Black Lives Matter. While there have been idate its gains, while pushing the struggle demonstrations and broad support from Oregon state police. This represented disagreements within the movement over further and further forward. the community were met with heavy clouds a clear, but qualified victory for the tactics and other issues, the unity of this Many speakers at the protests have of tear gas and heavy-handed, repres- protesters. coalition has been the key to its success. connected the Black Lives Matter move- sive responses from federal officers. The Since the drawdown began, the area The overall political discussion has ment to an anti-capitalist political stance kidnapping of protesters into unmarked around the protests has been markedly shifted as a result, with demands for that advocates for demands like univer- vehicles by unidentified agents in Portland more quiet, with no further use of tear defunding and even abolishing police sal health care and housing for all. Until became a flashpoint for outrage against gas reported. But the tents in Lownsdale becoming much more widespread and the basic necessities of life are guaranteed state repression throughout the U.S. Square were taken down by city authori- accepted. Many local officials have felt for all, all lives will not matter, especially ties, and the square was cleared. the pressure of thousands of demonstra- Black, Brown and Indigenous lives. Protests have continued, as not all tors in the streets and are realizing that This becomes even clearer in the con- federal officers are believed to have business-as-usual cannot continue. text of the coronavirus pandemic, which left the city. The state police replacing Thousands of people participated in a disproportionately impacts Black, Brown them aren’t necessarily viewed more march over the Aug. 1 weekend, making and Indigenous communities and under- favorably by many of the protesters. their way for miles through the city’s east- scores the need for universal, not-for- The Portland Police Bureau—which side into downtown. Large demonstra- profit health care. The mounting eviction deployed tear gas nearly 100 times tions were held at Portland’s waterfront crisis will also make this point clearer: during protests that began after the park, with people later converging in front The system of capitalism will not and can- May 25 murder of George Floyd—is of the federal courthouse several blocks not meet even the most basic needs of the similarly held in contempt. away. During the weekend, firefighters people, especially the needs of the most Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, who also staged a demonstration in support of oppressed. ☐ WW PHOTO: JOSHUA HANKS Portland activists. is also the city’s police commissioner, the movement. Page 8 AugustJuly 23,30, 6,2020 2020 workers.orgworkers.org

Republicans sabotage as Negotiations delay pandemic relief package

By John Catalinotto a Public Justice Center attorney and coordinator of the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel. (New Aug. 3—​Talks between the Republican adminis- York Times, July 29) tration and its majority Republican Senate with the The Democratic Heroes Act also provides major fund- Democratic Party House and Senate leaders have failed ing for state and local governments to deliver needed so far to reach agreement. This impasse holds up the services, for public health measures to confront the pan- emergency relief, which Republicans call CARES-2, demic, and for increased funding for Medicaid, as well as beyond the date when vital unemployment supplements for subsidizing public education at all levels. expired and the rent and mortgage moratorium ended. Months ago, the Democratic House passed a relief Need for ‘Heroes Act’ and much more plan they called the Heroes Act, valued at about $3.4 The Democratic Party plan falls short by omitting trillion. The Republican side dragged their feet for two undocumented workers from any relief— though they months and now has barely agreed on their own plan, People wait to receive help at a food bank distribution in do much of the essential labor on farms and in construc- whose meager total value of only $1.1 trillion itself shows New York City in May. tion and retail services. They must be included. As must its inadequacy. gig workers and any of the working population who labor People fear this pandemic, and with good reason. As one-time “stimulus” payment doled out last spring. beyond the bookkeeping of official capitalism. These August begins, COVID-19 cases are spreading faster in Trump maneuvered to get his name on the checks’ memo workers are all members of the modern proletariat. most of the U. S. than they did last spring. Whatever state line to take credit for payments that were mailed, and The Democratic Party, despite its Heroes Act, remains governments decide about opening or closing businesses, he will likely find a way to claim a pro-imperialist party. Along the COVID-19 spread will impede much economic activity. credit for this payment. with Republicans, its majority This means the need for emergency relief is greater The biggest battle looms over The message is that the supported next year’s $741 bil- than in March for what are now tens of millions of unem- the Democrats’ proposal to Republicans are willing to lion Pentagon budget, which pays ployed workers, who, along with their families, face evic- extend the $600 per week sup- the armed forces that police the tion, hunger and COVID-19. plement to unemployment insur- allow unemployed workers world for U.S. imperialism. The Human solidarity impels a socialist society. The drive ance for the rest of the year. This Democrats backed U.S. aggres- to maximize profits drives capitalist society. The last five payment has kept tens of millions to sink into despair and sive sanctions against China, months have already shown that socialist societies are of unemployed workers and their chaos rather than aid Russia and Iran and joined the far more effective in confronting this pandemic than cap- families from economic catastro- conspiracy against Venezuela. No italist societies. phe. But those payments expired them. They cater instead to one should forget this. Compare noncapitalist China, Cuba and Vietnam, last week. Regarding this week’s nego- for example, where in early August, COVID-19 is under The Republicans now propose the biggest capitalists and tiations, there is a risk the control, with rampant unregulated capitalism in the paying only a $200 a week sup- base their election drive on Democrats will agree to a bad United States, Brazil and most of India where its spread plement. They say no one should compromise for the U.S. work- is unchecked. get more than 70% of their sal- Trump’s racism, misogyny ing class. That may avoid com- While the need to fight for socialism provides a beacon ary. This payment is inadequate plete disaster and chaos, but still revolutionaries can aim for, the immediate struggle over for keeping the economy afloat, and xenophobia. throw millions more into pov- the relief package is taking place in the U.S. Congress not to mention the workers. It erty, hunger and houselessness. between the two pro-imperialist, pro-capitalist parties reinforces the inequality of U.S. capitalist society—​ To survive and prevail in the triple crisis of pandemic, that represent the U.S. ruling class. which means it reinforces racism, misogyny and other economic collapse and racist police repression, workers forms of bigotry. must unite to demand a program for which the Heroes Conflict in Congress The Republicans say they don’t want to pay people Act is only a minimum. This conflict takes place in the midst of an election more for staying unemployed than for working. Bull. Extend the Heroes Act to all workers, including undoc- year battle where—​if anything near a normal elec- If that were really their concern, they should pass laws umented workers. Make the corporations pay. Show sol- tion takes place, something that seems unlikely —​the to raise wages for all low-wage workers—​many of them idarity with Black Lives Matter. Republicans face the potential loss of the White House “essential workers”—​and all who contribute to soci- Easier said than done. But the Black Lives Matter and the Senate, along with the House of Representatives. ety with their labor. Republican politicians speak the movement has inspired the movement of workers and That makes it even more significant and revealing that thoughts of capitalists, who grab the profits produced by oppressed peoples through the whole world by showing the Republican proposals provide so little. the workers, and the executives whose salaries skyrocket what is possible, even during a pandemic. The failure of The message is that the Republicans are willing to when they cut workers’ wages. Congress to provide even the bare minimum of emer- allow unemployed workers to sink into despair and chaos Republicans also refuse to extend the moratorium on gency relief may be forcing the entire working class to rather than aid them. They cater instead to the biggest rents and mortgages that ended on July 25, after 120 respond with the same energy against the same enemy capitalists and base their election drive on Trump’s rac- days in force. If Congress fails to extend this morato- – capitalism and the repressive state apparatus. ism, misogyny and xenophobia. rium and fails to extend the unemployment supplement, This precarious situation certainly gives new meaning One thing the Democratic and Republican party pro- the likely result “will be a staggering surge in homeless- to the Black Panther Party slogan: “Repression breeds posals agree on is renewing some version of the $1,200 ness unlike anything we have seen,” said John Pollock, resistance.” ☐ A tribute to Assata Shakur

Continued from page 4 years in men’s and women’s prisons before she was able to escape to Cuba where she was welcomed with open arms. free breakfast programs, health clinics and other vital Acoli has been imprisoned for almost 50 years. services, while at the same time promoting the right There are now posters in post offices and even a huge to armed self-defense against police terror and state billboard in New Jersey calling for the arrest of Assata repression. The Panthers were forerunners with their as a “terrorist.” The CIA has falsely accused Cuba of call for community control of the police. “exporting terrorism” since soon after its revolutionary COINTELPRO or Counter-Intelligence Program was leadership defeated the U.S.-backed invasion at the Bay created by the FBI then led by notorious J. Edgar Hoover of Pigs in 1961 and declared the country to be socialist. Assata Shakur (left) and Monica Moorehead in Havana, in the early 1950s. The aim of COINTELPRO was to use It is important for the progressive movement here Cuba, 1997. every dirty tactic, including demonization in the media, and worldwide to expose the U.S. as being the biggest to discredit and eventually destroy national liberation exporter of terrorism. Its deadly weapons, including movements like the Panthers and their leaders. Assata, drones, maim and kill to protect the profits of the bosses Moorehead saw Assata again in June 2000 as part for instance, was harassed, arrested and falsely accused and bankers. of a U.S. delegation that met with Fidel Castro on the of several bank robberies beginning in the late 1960s. The bounty on Assata will boomerang and eventually cases of political prisoners Mumia Abu-Jamal and the She was acquitted each time of the bogus charges. help to introduce her inspirational story to a whole new martyred Shaka Sankofa. The delegation also partic- Then on May 2, 1973, Assata and two other Panther generation of younger activists who are already disen- ipated in a Cuban TV panel on the growth of the U.S. members, Sundiata Acoli and Zayd Malik Shakur, were chanted with capitalism and all its ills. And it will bring prison-industrial complex. stopped by white state troopers on the New Jersey about a deeper solidarity with Cuba. Read Assata’s open letter published May 3, 2013: rev- Turnpike. Shots were fired, which resulted in the death Black activists pay homage to Assata at many move- olutionaryfrontlines.wordpress.com of Shakur and Assata being shot multiple times. One of ment events with her own words: “It is our duty to fight The following link is a two-hour meeting Assata the troopers died. Assata and Acoli were charged with for our freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love Shakur held with activists during the World Youth murder and convicted by all-white juries. and protect each other. We have nothing to lose but our Festival in Havana in 1997 taped by People’s Video Both were railroaded to prison based on their political chains.” Network founding member, the late Key Martin: beliefs and convictions. Assata spent more than six brutal U.S. hands off Assata and Cuba! tinyurl.com/y625j2we/. workers.orgworkers.org AugustJuly 30, 6, 2020 Page 9 Who created the Saharan dust cloud? By calvin deutschbein former French colonies and five remain tied to the French banking system. Each year, massive dust plumes rise National treasuries have had to deposit from the Sahara, lifted by local winds after at least half or more of their reserves being unmoored by desert conditions. (formerly 100%) in Paris. National credit However, over the past four decades, policy remains substantially determined the plumes have been getting larger, and by decisions taken in France. Thus, the this year marks the largest soil displace- former colonizer is absorbing financial ment on record. The plume reaches from resources needed to combat soil degra- North Africa across the North Atlantic dation and many other needs. to the Caribbean, making landfall across the eastern shore of the Americas from U.S. imperialism impacts land, climate Guyana and Venezuela to the U.S. South. An example of the role of U.S. imperi- The cloud contains approximately alism in Africa via its proxy NATO can be 180 million tons of dust, begins approxi- seen in the case of Libya, which is approx- mately a mile above the surface, is about PHOTO: JEREMY GILCHRIST imately 95% desert and makes up about two miles thick and extends over 5,000 The Sahara Dust Plume over Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh, N.C., at sunrise, June 28. 20% of the Sahara, as defined by its land miles as seen from space. It is the thick- area receiving fewer than 4 inches of pre- est, densest and largest since at least to operating the machinery of war. By greater impact. cipitation per year. 1979 when satellite monitoring began. 2019 the U.S. and the European Union Another aspect of unsustainable agri- From March to October 2011, a NATO- (National Geographic, June 2020) (including Britain) had produced 47% of culture is labor intensification— led coalition of states, ranging from As with any natural phenomena, the the world's greenhouse gases according to increasing the number of worker hours Belgium to Qatar, launched over 160 tons dust plume itself and its historic size arise the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate per unit of land—usually by letting land of cruise missiles and multiple air strikes from a number of factors. The Sahara Change. (ipcc.ch/sr15) lie fallow for a shorter period of time and against the anti-imperialist state of Libya. cycles between savanna grasslands and Rising global temperatures are felt doing more work on the land between During that assault, the U.S. installed, desert roughly every 10,000 years, and is sharply in the Sahara as drought condi- plantings. This is resulting in longer and recognized and funded with billions of about halfway through a desert cycle. But tions. Since 1950, average temperatures harsher hours for workers and more prof- dollars in seized Libyan assets “National the year-to-year increases in size seem in the Sahara have risen about 3°F, evap- its for bosses. Transitional Council” forces. They ulti- well beyond the natural cyclical process. orating more of the limited moisture, In the Sahel, 80% to 90% of the econ- mately captured, tortured and killed the “It does look like there’s been an while the temperature extremes, both omy is agricultural and the population is former head of state, revolutionary leader increase in dustiness over the 20th cen- hot and cold, have spread further from growing rapidly. As many as 80% of peo- Col. Muammar Gadhafi. tury,” according to Natalie Mahowald, a the average, severely taxing the vegeta- ple in the Sahel live by subsistence farm- The attacks also destroyed the critical climate scientist at Cornell University. tion that holds the soil in place and pre- ing, herding and fishing, with relatively infrastructure of, and the political power Mahowald says the size of this year's vents erosion. Rainfall has also declined few cash crops, like cotton and peanuts. to repair, an ambitious Libyan de-desert- cloud and the decades of increasing size across the region. While it is difficult to In some countries pre-COVID-19, other ification project, the “Great Man-Made are attributable in roughly equal parts to measure rainfall in the Sahara, parts of industries contribute to the economy, River.” It was the world's largest irriga- land degradation in North Africa and to which may go over a year without rain, like mining and tourism. The subsis- tion project, with a network of under- human-caused climate change. (National since 1920 the contiguous area receiving tence economy, even with growing pop- ground pipes bringing water from an Geographic, June 2020) fewer than 4 inches of precipitation annu- ulations, would probably be sustainable. underground aquifer. It also provided a Just as the Sahara dust plume takes local ally has expanded by 10%. (tinyurl.com/y6bqo3hp) regional jobs program in North Africa. conditions and globalizes them, the plume But profit-motivated practices, tied to The U.S.-backed destabilization of Libya itself emerges from global conditions, cre- Land degradation, colonialism and war the export market, push the Sahel into ended the de-desertification effort and ated primarily by imperialism. At least two Land degradation is of prime concern unsustainably high usage and degrade the flooded the Sahel with refugees fleeing of the factors involved—land degradation in the Sahel, the semi-arid transition zone soil, making it more vulnerable to being U.S. aggression. Most refugees were from and climate change—point to the U.S. on the south of the Sahara. A beautiful swept away. According to the Transafrican the Sahel originally, and had gone to Libya empire’s profiteering in the context of the and biodiverse annually forming grass- Journal of History, the World Bank and for jobs and as a way station on the route global history of colonialism. land stretching across the African con- EU (including British) investment into the to Mecca. Their return further strained the tinent—and nine countries—the Sahel region is oriented toward commodifying scarce soil and water resources of the Sahel. Climate crisis is under continuous strain to provide for vital resources as cash crops for export From the debt imposed by global finan- Capitalist production has relied on a growing population. Over the past few and profit by finance capital. (Vol. 21, pp. cial capital to military intervention, world extreme consumption of nonrenew- decades more of the Sahel has been used 36-50, tinyurl.com/y3q36cp5) imperialism has created unjust and unsus- able coal and oil for everything from for agriculture, and agriculture in some Six Sahel nations (Senegal, Mauritania, tainable conditions in pursuit of wealth heating homes to powering industry areas has been industrialized, causing Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad) are and power. ☐ Record-breaking heat waves Urgent alert to need for socialism

By Quell Nessuno frequency and intensity. are structured to serve the needs Under capitalism, ecological con- of the people, to provide for their As Muslim worshippers prepared for cerns and human life take a back seat to collective well-being. Socialism the holiday of Eid al-Adha during the increasing the power and profits of the enables people to be truly last days of July, the Middle East was ruling class. Environmental devastation, free—free from scorching heat, rocked by record-breaking heat waves. In pollution, death, deforestation, species war, famine and poverty. This is Baghdad, the mercury rose to over 125⁰F, extinction and the dangerous warming of much different than the false cap- Wildfire at Tambo Complex near Victoria, Australia, the highest temperature ever measured in our planet are all seen as acceptable losses italist notion of “freedom”—free- Jan. 18, 2020. the Iraqi capital. These heat waves are not in the pursuit of private property. dom to ravage and exploit others. an extreme, unpredictable weather aber- Capitalist countries contribute heav- A socialist economy would ration. Rather, they are both a symptom ily to ecological destruction through dedicate productive forces toward facili- the globe, Indigenous people must have of capitalism and a sign it is destroying war. Imperialist countries such as the tating human life in a way that does not self-determination so that these rightful life on the planet. U.S., England, France, Germany and ravage the planet. Socialism means a protectors of their lands can fully return For decades now, average Earth tem- Israel spend trillions of dollars and ded- world in which the planting of trees, the their carefully developed understandings peratures have continued to rise, with each icate enormous industrial capacity to cleanup and restoration of ecosystems into practice. successive year hotter than the last. From expanding their military might, all for and the elimination of deadly pollution If the death cult of capitalism is allowed “unseasonably” warm winters to killer heat the purpose of defending their economic are taken seriously. to stay its course, humanity will continue waves, the planet’s unnaturally warming interests worldwide. Socialism recognizes the necessity and to see untold suffering. Hotter heat waves, climate cannot be ignored. In May 2015, As the undeniable truths of anthropo- importance of Indigenous self-determi- massive droughts, blights and crop fail- over 2,500 died in India due to severe heat genic climate crisis are felt more intensely nation and stewardship in relation to the ures, wars over resources, mass human and drought conditions. Between August with each passing year, many people call climate crisis. Capitalist economic and displacement, new diseases—all these 2019 and March 2020, wildfires raged for reform or a “greener” capitalism. political structures are inherently hostile to and more will become the new normal. across Australia, burning 46 millions acres, The reality is that capitalism cannot be Indigenous peoples, their sovereignty and This cannot be allowed to happen. killing 34 people and over 3 billion animals. reformed; only socialist economic plan- their methods for living respectfully with The working class must push for social- Unless action is taken to dismantle ning can resolve these contradictions. the land. From Turtle Island to Aotearoa—​ ism and work to undo the deep scars of the horrific capitalist economic system, Rather than serving the desires and prof- known to settlers as North America and capitalism, for the good of all life on this incidents like these will only increase in its of the powerful few, socialist economies New Zealand—and​ everywhere else across planet. ☐ Page 10 August 6, 2020 workers.org

editorial The virus, the GDP and the profit motive

“The coronavirus pandemic’s toll on strong economic recovery, after a smaller feature of capitalism. They occur when the The loss of benefits will further drive the nation’s economy became emphat- drop—​ 6.8%—​in the GDP during the working class produces more goods and down purchasing power and with it the ically clearer Thursday,” the New York country’s lockdown in the first quarter. services than the capitalist class is able to GDP. Millions of jobs are not likely to Times wrote July 30, “as the government This raises questions the Times is sell for profit. come back, regardless of when a vaccine is detailed the most devastating three- clearly avoiding. For one, why are capi- Crises of overproduction have caused developed or the pandemic is under con- month collapse on record, which wiped talist economies so much more vulnerable tremendous suffering for the working trol. The recession, in the making since away nearly five years of growth.” to the pressure of the pandemic? And is class—the​ only class that creates value—​ before COVID-19 hit, has morphed into Specifically, the gross domestic prod- the economic crisis caused entirely by the and especially for the most oppressed. an economic catastrophe on top of a pub- uct, “the broadest measure of goods and pandemic? Or is capitalist overproduction Now capitalism is at a dead end; the nor- lic health nightmare. services produced,” fell 9.5% in the sec- at play here? mal cycles of “boom and bust” are operat- But not everyone is suffering. The filthy ond quarter of 2020, according to the There were signs of a recession in early ing in the context of a permanent systemic rich are getting richer, including the own- U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau 2020 even before the coronavirus had crisis. We have seen the phenomenon of ers of Apple, Facebook, Alphabet (owner of Economic Analysis. This translates to an impact on the U.S. economy. These the “jobless recovery” as technology is of Google) and Microsoft. Amazon’s earn- an annual rate of decline of 32.9%—​the included an oil glut, a decline in manu- used to generate more value with fewer ings doubled while the company took biggest since the bureau began tracking facturing activity and a slump in retail and fewer workers. away workers’ “hazard pay.” the GDP. In the first quarter of this year sales. General Motors had closed plants in Under capitalism, profits come before Capitalist mouthpieces like the Times the GDP dropped 5%, breaking a five-year Michigan and Ohio as well as in Ontario, human needs. Even health care, a basic don’t want workers to see beyond the growth spurt. Canada. right, is dominated by for-profit pharma- coronavirus’s impact. Their job is to sup- Other capitalist economies, including ceuticals, insurance companies and pri- press class truth. But more and more France and Germany, experienced a sim- What the Times won’t say vate care providers. No wonder COVID-19 workers and oppressed people are realiz- ilar collapse. When workers receive wages, they are has been so devastating in the capitalist ing that mass unemployment, the geno- The Times would have us believe the only partially compensated for the value U.S.—from​ the nearly 160,000 who have cidal impact of the coronavirus, racist downturn was entirely due to the coro- they produce. What Karl Marx called died as of Aug. 4 to the tens of millions police violence and capitalist exploitation navirus—​wholly independent of the “surplus value” is pocketed by the boss in of unemployed and their families. Many are all connected. organic workings of the capitalist system. the form of profit. Crises of overproduc- are still waiting for jobless benefits, which This rotten system must be However, socialist China, where the virus tion—​recessions, which often become have now been cut as provisions of the overthrown! ☐ was first discovered, is experiencing a depressions—​are an inevitable, cyclical CARES Act expire. Brazil: From pandemic to genocide By Makasi Motema in these densely packed favelas only fuels needs of the Indigenous pop- the spread of the virus. ulation. Showing a shameless Since the pandemic began on March level of racism and contempt 11 according to the World Health Race and Class for human life, Bolsonaro Organization, Brazilians have suffered The economic and health impacts seen vetoed several key measures. 96,000" deaths and 2.8 million infec- across Brazil have disproportionately He blocked the provision of tions—​the second highest number of affected Brazilians of African descent. emergency funds and clean infections in the world after the United Brazil has the largest Black population out- water to Indigenous commu- PHOTO: SERGIO NOBRE ON TWITTER States. Far from marshaling his country’s side of Africa. As the descendants of slaves, nities, along with distribution Brazilian unionists demand ‘Fora Bolsonaro’ — resources to battle the disease, President Black people in Brazil have endured a long of disinfectants and ventilators Bolsonaro out — July 29. Jair Bolsonaro has intentionally sabo- history of racist oppression. The COVID-19 and an increase in intensive taged Brazil’s COVID-19 response. Like crisis has perpetuated that oppression. care units and hospital beds. All of these are However, Indigenous people have his U.S. analog, the right-wing Bolsonaro According to The Guardian, 34% of badly needed in Indigenous communities. suffered from the spread of disease by has shown a brazen defiance of scientific the Brazilian population lives without According to official counts, which Europeans for centuries. When the pan- data as well as basic common sense. He basic sanitation. Of that population, 66% may be artificially low due to limited test- demic began, Indigenous communities has repeatedly claimed that fears of the are nonwhite. In addition, 80% of Black ing, more than 8,000 Indigenous people responded quickly. Many territories have virus are overblown and often appears in Brazilians do not have health insurance. have contracted the coronavirus in Brazil. set up roadblocks, encouraged commu- public without a mask. With limited access to sanitation and Their death rate is 9.1% in contrast to nity members to isolate, and begun sew- This is in spite of the fact that both adequate medical facilities, Black people 5.2% of people in the general population. ing and distributing masks. Bolsonaro and his spouse have contracted in Brazil are at an incredibly high risk of (National Geographic, June 2020) The longstanding contradictions within the disease. Parallels to the self-destructive suffering from COVID-19. (June 9) To make matters worse, government Brazil with regard to race, Indigenous sov- foolishness of conservatives in the U.S.— The numbers bear this out; in hospi- health care workers dispatched to pro- ereignty and class have been sharpened by exemplified by the recent death of Trump tals, 55% of Black and mixed-race patients vide medical care in Indigenous territory the COVID-19 crisis and Jair Bolsonaro’s supporter Herman Cain—are striking. die compared to 38% of white patients. were accused by Brazil’s attorney general hateful right-wing policies. Bolsonaro’s President Bolsonaro has allowed the Economic and class discrepancies only of “flagrant negligence” of safety precau- cruelty is only the newest phase in a long coronavirus to decimate the economic increase the disparity. A study showed tions. The magazine reported that four history of racism and genocide. lives of Brazil’s poorest residents. Unlike that an illiterate Black COVID-19 patient government workers who traveled to an But oppressed people are doing every- most world leaders, Bolsonaro vetoed a was 4 times more likely to die than a white Indigenous village tested positive. thing they can to resist. Community moratorium on evictions. In the city of São patient with a college degree. The continued encroachment onto groups in Brazil’s favelas are organizing Paulo more than 2,500 families either face Indigenous land by loggers, gold pros- to provide aid; labor unions and social eviction or have lost their homes already. Land, health care, and Indigenous rights pectors and miners is a long-standing dis- organizations are pushing for Bolsonaro’s (Yahoo News, July 30) Favelas—commu​ - Recognizing Brazil’s long history of ease vector. Since he took office, President removal from office; and Indigenous orga- nities of improvised housing consisting stealing Indigenous land and murdering Bolsonaro has prioritized dismantling nizers have brought their fight for sover- mostly of corrugated metal shacks—​are Indigenous people—​either through direct regulations limiting capitalist land incur- eignty to the international stage. It’s vital expanding as more and more Brazilians violence or the spread of disease—​the sions. It is feared that the weakened mon- the working class and oppressed in the are forced from their homes by ruthless Brazilian legislature attempted to pass a itoring of Indigenous borders will lead to U.S. and around the world act in solidar- landlords. The limited access to sanitation package of laws responding to the health more land theft—and​ more deaths. ity with their struggle. ☐ Workers World Party salutes Fidel Agcaoili

Workers World Party sends its deep- in 1974 during the Marcos regime, stead- solidarity between the movement in the est condolences and firm solidarity to fastly refusing to abandon his revolution- Philippines and organizations of working the National Democratic Front of the ary principles. and oppressed people around the world. Philippines, the Communist Party of the As a member of the NDFP Peace These are only some of many signif- Philippines and the world proletarian Negotiating Panel since 1989, he spent icant contributions Fidel made to the movement on the death of an extraor- decades working toward a just and last- struggle against imperialism, feudal- dinary Filipino revolutionary, Fidel ing peace in the Philippines. Since 2016, ism and bureaucratic capitalism in the PHOTO: NDFP Agcaoili, on July 23. he had served as the chairperson of the Philippines—contributions​ which include Fidel Agcaoili Fidel’s deep, lifelong dedication to panel. substantial work in the underground organizing working and oppressed peo- Fidel supported and participated in the movement when fascist repression made resist. Forced to make demands for change. ple must be held high as an example and International League of Peoples’ Struggle, aboveground organizing impossible. Forced to move in order to achieve their inspiration for revolutionaries around the a broad, worldwide, anti-imperialist In this time of a radically deepening aspirations. And that is what will guarantee world and in particular the youth. and democratic alliance of mass orga- imperialist crisis, we take to heart Fidel’s that the revolution will win.” He endured more than 10 years of incar- nizations, since its foundation in 2001, words that “precisely, because of these Fidel Agcaoili ¡presente! Eid ceration as a political prisoner beginning and he worked to build international social transformations, people are forced to al-Adha! ☐ workers.org August 6, 2020 Page 11 China pushes back U.S. empire of lies

By calvin deutschbein China. The New York Times cited U.S. research that most New York coronavirus The U.S. ruling class has increasingly cases did not come from Asia. turned to misinformation and propa- China put Wuhan under a temporary ganda to maintain control during the lockdown as of Jan. 23 — meaning that COVID-19 epidemic. This includes con- no outbound commercial flights or train cocting imperialist conflict with China. services took place from Jan. 24 through In response, Chinese journalists have April 8. It was impossible for Wuhan consistently pushed back. An article titled residents to travel overseas during this “Reality Check of US Allegations Against period. China on COVID-19” from Xinhua pro- When Wuhan was shut down on vides a comprehensive accounting to Jan. 23, only one case had been publicly set the record straight. The document is confirmed in the U.S. When the U.S. on loosely summarized below. Feb. 2 closed its borders to all Chinese citizens and foreigners who had been to Chinese solution, not ‘Chinese virus’ China within the previous 14 days, there While Wuhan, China, was the first were only eight confirmed cases in the region in the world to report the virus to U.S., according to official data. When the China builds second hospital in 10 days. the international community, it does not U.S. declared a national emergency on mean that it originated there. In fact, the March 13, the number of its confirmed a three-part series published in March the virus. What has happened shows origin has still not been identified. cases had ballooned to 1,896. When China and April titled “Truth and Propaganda that the social system and development Source tracing is a serious scientific lifted the lockdown on Wuhan, the num- about Coronavirus,” it concluded that path chosen by the Chinese people suit matter that should be based on science ber of confirmed cases in the U.S. had the attempt of the imperialist media to China’s national conditions and that the and studied by scientists and medical risen to 400,000. It took less than 100 describe what happened to Dr. Li as evi- CPC enjoys the firm and broad support of experts. Historically, viruses have not days for the number of confirmed cases dence of the Chinese government’s sup- the Chinese people. been first identified at their places of in the U.S. to surge from 1 to 4 million. pression of information about the virus At a press conference of the WHO- origin. For example, HIV infection was was simply illogical. China Joint Mission on COVID-19 on first reported by the U.S., yet it is unclear China collaborated with WHO and U.S. Feb. 24, Dr. Aylward said that China had whether it originated there. Much evi- against COVID-19 China reports accurately on the virus rolled out probably the most ambitious, dence also suggests that the 1918 pan- On Dec. 27, 2019, Dr. Zhang Jixian, China’s relatively low number of con- agile and aggressive disease containment demic (H1N1 virus), sometimes called director of the respiratory and criti- firmed cases and fatalities is attribut- effort in history. China’s bold approach “Spanish flu,” did not originate in Spain. cal care medicine department of Hubei able to the comprehensive, rigorous and changed the course of the disease and Today, the World Health Organization Provincial Hospital of Integrated Chinese thorough measures taken promptly by encompasses the most successful mea- has strict guidelines against naming dis- and Western Medicine, had reported the Chinese government — such as com- sures known to contain COVID-19. eases after their purported origins. three cases of pneumonia of unknown pletely shutting down transportation China committed to internationalism While far from conclusive about the cause immediately after receiving the from Wuhan. Science magazine estimated origins of COVID-19, an article in the patients. This was the first report of sus- in one of its reports that these measures China firmly supports multilateral- International Journal of Antimicrobial pected cases of a new disease by local helped prevent at least 700,000 infec- ism. All along the country has been in Agents dated June 2020 is titled “SARS- authorities in China. On the same day, tions in China. good communication and cooperation COV-2 was already spreading in France the Wuhan CDC conducted epidemio- On March 3, Dr. Bruce Aylward, a senior with WHO and has never attempted to in late December 2019.” It reports that logical investigation and testing on those advisor to the WHO Director-General, manipulate the organization. The sus- researchers found that an intensive care patients. noted in an interview with U.S. digital pension of funding by the U.S., which had unit patient who had been admitted for After the first public reporting of the media Vox that China is not hiding any- been the largest contributor to WHO, has an influenza-like illness between Dec. 2, pneumonia by the Wuhan Municipal thing. He expected that the data he col- been widely opposed by the international 2019, and Jan. 16, 2020, was later shown Health Commission on Dec. 13, 2019, lected through talks with physicians from community. to have tested positive for COVID-19. The China completed the identification and various hospitals and other stakeholders China’s actions with respect to U.S. patient had no link to China and had not sequencing of the virus as early as Jan. 7. would help corroborate China’s data. journalists have been in response to the recently traveled abroad. It shared the genome sequence informa- On April 17, in accordance with the law long-term repression of Chinese media in To label a virus after the first location tion with WHO and other countries on of the People’s Republic of China, Wuhan the U.S., especially given the recent expul- that puts up an effective response only Jan. 11. issued a notification that revised upward sion of 60 Chinese journalists. China has serves to demonize responses to new dis- On Jan. 10, the Wuhan Institute of the number of confirmed cases by 325 to released information in an open, trans- eases, especially when that label is meant Virology of the Chinese Academy of a total of 50,333 and fatal cases by 1,290 parent, responsible and timely manner. to place blame. Sciences and other professional institu- to a total of 3,869. While Taiwan, as part of China, has no A pandemic is a global public health tions were developing preliminary testing Acting out of a high sense of respon- right to join WHO, whose membership emergency. There is no such thing as a kits and stepped up research on vaccines sibility to history, to the people and the requires sovereign statehood, the techni- “state responsibility” attached to the first and effective medication. lives lost to the coronavirus, Wuhan took cal cooperation channel between China’s country reporting cases. HIV/AIDS was the initiative to revise the numbers to Taiwan and WHO is unimpeded. first detected in the U.S. in the 1980s. It China honors Dr. Li Wenliang reflect the facts it had gathered. The Chinese government and people has since spread to the whole world, but The U.S.-based corporate media have have provided many shipments of much- the international community has never spoken at length and with great inaccu- China’s style of government was a boon needed medical supplies to over 150 demanded that the U.S. take responsibil- racy about Dr. Li Wenliang, including Viruses do not distinguish between ide- countries and international organiza- ity or pay reparations. a CNN Opinion piece on Feb. 11 titled ologies or social systems. The Communist tions, and these efforts are still ongoing. On May 4, one of the world’s top sci- “China's hero doctor was punished for Party of China and the Chinese govern- China has also leveraged its strong pro- ence magazines, Nature, published a telling truth about coronavirus.” The real- ment have played a decisive and critical duction capacity and promptly opened up study by experts from China, the U.S. ity is far more tragic and less favorable to role in leading the Chinese people in the its medical supplies market and export and Britain showing that the three major the political program of CNN and other successful fight against COVID-19. channels. groups of nonpharmaceutical interven- corporate media. China’s political system, which has Preliminary statistics indicate that by tions taken by China — inter-city travel Dr. Li Wenliang was a good doctor effectively united and mobilized 1.4 bil- May 6, Chinese provinces, autonomous restrictions, early identification and isola- who died on Feb. 6 while treating coro- lion people on a vast land of 9.6 million regions and municipalities, institutions tion of cases, plus contact restrictions and navirus patients. He was a member of square kilometers, provided a strong and companies had donated more than social distancing — not only contained the Communist Party of China, not a political guarantee for China to overcome 9.6 million masks, 500,000 testing kits, the spread of COVID-19 in China, but so-called “anti-establishment figure.” On the difficulties faced by a country in order 305,900 pairs of medical and other also bought precious time for the world. March 5, he was named a “national model to pool all its available strengths and gloves, and 133,500 goggles to 30 U.S. The study details that without these mea- healthcare worker in fighting COVID-19.” resources in winning the battle against states and 55 cities. ☐ sures, Chinese coronavirus cases would On April 2, he was honored as a martyr. probably have been multiplied 67 times Labeling Dr. Li Wenliang as an “anti-es- to over 7 million. tablishment hero” or “awakener” is very disrespectful to Dr. Li and his family. It How China contained COVID-19 100 Years Later is purely political manipulation with no Some Lessons of the Great Bolshevik Revolution While China has been accused of failing sense of decency. On April 28, the Central to stop COVID-19, in fact it took the most Committee of the Communist Youth By Deirdre Griswold stringent measures within the shortest League of China and the All-China Youth Contents: From Marx’s view of social evolution to possible time, keeping the virus largely Federation jointly issued “May Fourth Lenin’s ‘Imperialism’ ◆ Social gains in the early years of within Wuhan. Statistics show that very Medals” to honor outstanding represen- Soviet power ◆ ‘Whose state? Our state’ — meaning all few cases were exported from China. New tatives and role models of Chinese youths. nationalities ◆ External and internal problems, strengths York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has pointed Dr. Li Wenliang was among the honorees. and setbacks to research by Northeastern University The Independent Media Institute con- showing that strains of the novel coro- ducted a thorough investigation into the Download it free from www.workers.org/books navirus found in his state were not from media’s unjust reporting about Dr. Li. In Correspondencia sobre artículos en Workers World/Mundo Obrero pueden ser enviadas a: [email protected]

¡Proletarios y oprimidos de todos los paises unios! workers.org Vol. 62 Núm. 32 6 de agosto 2020 $1

El Frente Nacional de Liberación de Vietnam Revolución y democracia proletaria

Por Makasi Motema de los campesinos y el proletariado. discapacitados y los trabajadores sin discapacidad, Más allá de la administración de la aldea, también los ancianos y los trabajadores indocumentados, solo Esta es la 2da. y última parte de un análisis inspirado se crearon Asociaciones de Liberación para que varios puede avanzar a través de la organización de los tra- en el levantamiento antirracista. grupos pudieran usar la lucha para combatir la opresión bajadores ‘Asambleas a lo largo del modelo soviético.’ que enfrentaban. Hubo asociaciones de liberación de Y ese nivel de unidad solo se puede lograr a través de Estrella roja sobre China agricultores, asociaciones de liberación de mujeres, una organización profunda. Este es el deber ineludible En China, una dimensión completamente nueva del asociaciones de liberación juvenil y asociaciones de de los socialistas revolucionarios durante un período de poder dual se desarrolló cuando el Partido Comunista liberación estudiantil, entre otras. Las asociaciones de cambio monumental. Chino (PCCh) se vio obligado a rebelarse abiertamente agricultores tuvieron el mayor impacto en la expansión contra el gobernante Partido Kuomintang, el terrateni- del FLN debido a la naturaleza rural de Vietnam. Las ¿Puede existir doble poder en los Estados Unidos? ente-capitalista (KMT). Esa dimensión era el control del Asociaciones de Liberación de Mujeres causaron el cam- La creación de la democracia de la clase trabajadora territorio físico por parte de los trabajadores, los camp- bio social más profundo, y el FNL adoptó una postura crea inherentemente una crisis de legitimidad para la esinos y el PCCh. muy dura en apoyo de los derechos de las mujeres. clase dominante capitalista. Solo el excepcionalismo Durante la década de 1920, el movimiento de tra- Lo más notable acerca de los esfuerzos organizati- estadounidense podría llevar a creer que la clase dom- bajadores en las principales ciudades de China creció vos del FNL fue que a menudo ocurrieron directamente inante de los EE. UU. sería especialmente invulnerable rápidamente, impulsado en gran parte por los esfuerzos bajo las narices de los imperialistas estadounidenses y a tal crisis si los trabajadores de este país se organizan de organización del PCCh. Al mismo tiempo, los cam- sus gobiernos títeres. A principios de la década 1960, los contra sus opresores. pesinos del campo rural se estaban organizando para Estados Unidos y su régimen títere Diem instituyeron el Una clase trabajadora unificada sería, en primer lugar, derrocar el dominio de los terratenientes opresivos. programa de “aldea estratégica”. Este era un sistema de totalmente desestabilizadora para los explotadores cap- Finalmente, el PCCh también respaldó el movimiento campos de concentración con otro nombre. Las grandes italistas. La unidad de los trabajadores en la economía campesino. aldeas se convirtieron en zonas de seguridad altamente más grande del mundo probablemente resultaría en la En 1928, Mao y otros miembros del PCCh estab- militarizadas con puntos de control y cercas de alambre caída de las ganancias de la clase dominante. Una clase lecieron el Jiangxi Soviet en la remota y montañosa de púas alrededor de la frontera. trabajadora unificada que lucha por ganar mejores sal- región fronteriza entre las provincias de Jiangxi y Fujian. Sin embargo, los organizadores del FNL pudieron arios y beneficios podría cerrar sectores enteros de la La creación no solo de un gobierno de clase trabajadora acceder a estas aldeas estratégicas y continuar orga- economía. Si la clase dominante capitalista cediera a las y campesina, sino de un territorio soberano requirió una nizando la revolución. De día, los aldeanos obedecían demandas de los trabajadores, las ganancias capitalistas gran cantidad de organización política como condición al gobierno títere. Pero por la noche, los organizadores se desplomarían, causando un efecto dominó para los previa. Como dijo Mao: del FNL proporcionaron agitación política, educación capitalistas de todo el mundo. “[Las] regiones donde el poder político rojo de China y organización. La cerca de alambre de púas no pudo Políticamente, el gobierno capitalista de los Estados surgió por primera vez y es capaz de durar mucho bloquear la propagación de la revolución en Vietnam Unidos ya se tiene en baja estima. Se ha demostrado tiempo no han sido las que no se vieron afectadas por del Sur. Al igual que en China, los cambios sociales que es totalmente incapaz de manejar los desafíos de la la revolución democrática ... sino regiones ... donde causados por la revolución no podían deshacerse si los sociedad moderna, lo que se demuestra más agudamente las masas de trabajadores, campesinos y soldados imperialistas simplemente tomaban o mantenían el por su respuesta fallida a la pandemia de COVID. aumentaron en gran número en el curso de la revolu- control militar. Cualquiera que aún tenga la falsa impresión de que el ción democrática burguesa de 1926 y 1927. En muchas gobierno de los EE. UU. no está completamente impul- partes de estas provincias se formaron sindicatos y aso- George Floyd sado por la avaricia capitalista tendría esas nociones ciaciones campesinas a gran escala, y la clase obrera y Hoy, Estados Unidos se encuentra en medio de una rápidamente deshabilitadas por el surgimiento de una el campesinado libraron muchas luchas económicas y rebelión que podría transformarse en una revolución. verdadera democracia de la clase trabajadora. No hay políticas contra la clase terrateniente y la burguesía”. ¿Qué clase está en movimiento? Es la clase obrera negra, duda de que la clase obrera llegaría a las mismas conclu- (tinyurl.com/y2mfyke6) y aquellos que lucharían junto a ellos en solidaridad, siones que la clase obrera rusa hace un siglo. Nuestras El soviet de Jiangxi inició políticas radicales de estimulados por la intolerable violencia perpetrada por opciones serían aceptar el “gobierno supremo de los cap- reforma agraria. Los campesinos promulgaron estos la policía a diario. Según el New York Times del 3 de italistas” o “avanzar hacia la democracia real”. cambios a través de las Asociaciones Campesinas, que julio, las protestas de Black Lives Matter pueden ser las Es solo el poder del estado, que algunos de la izquierda eran organizaciones políticas muy parecidas a los sovi- más grandes en la historia de Estados Unidos. aún respetan y temen de mala gana: el poder de la policía ets obreros y campesinos de la Revolución Rusa. A lo Esta no es la primera vez que una rebelión liderada para aplastar los movimientos sociales con violencia largo de la revolución, el PCCh pudo expandir su terri- por los negros ha envuelto al país. ¿Por qué la lucha despiadada. ¿Pero dónde estaban estos poderosos sol- torio físico a través de medios militares y su influencia negra causa cambios tan dramáticos en el panorama dados de asalto hace seis semanas cuando los luchadores política a través de medios organizativos. Cada vez que político de los Estados Unidos? Es por el papel esencial por la libertad en ciudades de todo el país incendiaron los militares del PCCh, el Ejército Rojo, expulsaron a los que la opresión del pueblo negro ha jugado en el proceso vehículos y recintos policiales? ¿Dónde estaba el poder soldados del KMT de una aldea o condado, los organi- de producción de riqueza capitalista. del estado cuando los trabajadores se apropiaron de la zadores del PCCh lo siguieron de inmediato, estableci- El sistema capitalista de los Estados Unidos no podría riqueza corporativa al romper los escaparates y tomar lo endo asociaciones campesinas, reduciendo el alquiler y haber surgido, ni puede continuar manteniéndose, sin que necesitaban? luchando contra la opresión de las mujeres. la ayuda de la supremacía blanca y la opresión de los La policía, como tantas instituciones en los Estados negros. Del mismo modo, el racismo anti-negro no Unidos, está en decadencia a pesar de la afluencia de Vietnam y la aldea estratégica podría continuar frente a los poderosos movimien- equipos militares caros. La rebelión actual ha mostrado Más allá de la creación de áreas de base liberadas, el tos sociales que intentan ponerle fin, sin el poder y la las limitaciones del poder coercitivo del estado para PCCh también se dio cuenta de que el proceso de revolu- influencia de la clase dominante capitalista, que aviva el detener incluso la resistencia espontánea y desorgani- ción, de organizar la democracia de la clase trabajadora, racismo para dividir a la clase trabajadora, suprimir los zada. No tiene esperanzas de controlar una clase obrera creó cambios sociales duraderos que permanecieron salarios y mantener control político. unida que actúe con decisión. Bajo estas condiciones, el incluso cuando el enemigo recuperó el territorio del Cualquier revolución de la clase trabajadora en los surgimiento de un estado obrero, la clase trabajadora PCCh. Posteriormente, los revolucionarios del Frente EE. UU. tendrá que desafiar directamente el estado de la actuando en defensa propia, no solo es posible, sino de Liberación Nacional de Vietnam (FLN) aprovecharon clase trabajadora negra como trabajadores súper oprim- probable. esta idea durante su lucha contra el imperialismo idos, así como la represión violenta que sufrió la comu- estadounidense. nidad negra a manos de la policía. Revolución La unidad organizativa básica de los trabajadores y En los Estados Unidos, como en todos los países Estamos en el precipicio de una revolución que será campesinos vietnamitas era el Comité de la aldea. Los donde la clase trabajadora y los oprimidos se han alz- rápida en su expansión y abarcará todo en su alcance. comités de aldea ejecutaron una política social agraria ado contra la explotación capitalista, el único medio La clase dominante capitalista nunca ha enfrentado un radical. Esa política incluía educación política, redis- para crear estos cambios sociales es a través de la orga- desafío directo a su hegemonía en el corazón del imperio tribución de tierras que habían sido controladas por nización de la democracia de la clase trabajadora. En los estadounidense desde la Gran Depresión de la década terratenientes ricos, reducción de rentas y castigar a últimos años, ha habido un aumento en las Asambleas de 1930. quienes prestaban dinero a tasas exorbitantes. El FLN de Trabajadores, que reúne a miembros de la clase tra- El impacto de tal choque tendrá repercusiones dev- también trabajó para aumentar la producción agrícola, bajadora para luchar contra la opresión. astadoras. El resultado de este conflicto estará determi- abrir escuelas, castigar la corrupción y eliminar a los bru- Esta expansión de la democracia real debe contin- nado por la voluntad de la clase trabajadora: la voluntad tales funcionarios y líderes de las aldeas. El Comité de la uar y debe acelerarse. La lucha de la clase trabajadora de organizarse, la voluntad de luchar, la voluntad de Aldea, como la Asociación de Campesinos en China y los negra, así como la tarea de unirse con los blancos, ganar. ☐ Soviets de los trabajadores en Rusia, era una democracia otras personas de color, los oprimidos por género, los