OCTOBER 2014, VOLUME 41, NO. 9 DONATION $1
National march for justice in Ferguson, MO., against police killing of Michael Brown. Protesters demand that the officer be charged with murder. PHOTO/SARAH LEWISON INSIDE: Ferguson: The impact THE PEOPLE of class on race 2 Teachers and parents CONFRONT THE turn to politics 4 Militarization of police 3, 6-7 MILITARIZED $15 fast food strikes 7 Homeless under attack 10 POLICE Benton Harbor under dictatorship 12 Also, read about ‘Water Wars’ on page 5 An economic system that doesn’t feed, clothe and house its people must be and will be overturned and replaced with a system that meets the needs of the people. To that end, this paper is a tribune of those struggling to create such a new economic system. It is a vehicle to bring the movement to- gether, to create a vision of a better world and a strategy to achieve it.
Labor-replacing electronic technol- ogy is permanently eliminating jobs and destroying the founda- tion of the capitalist system. The people’s needs can only be met by building a cooperative soci- ety where the socially necessary means of production are owned by society, not by the corporations. We welcome articles and artwork from those who are engaged in the struggle to build a new society that is of, by and for the people. We rely on readers and contributors to fund and distribute this paper. The People’s Tribune, formerly pub- lished by the League of Revolution- aries for a New America, is now an independent newspaper with an editorial board based in Chicago. Protesters in Ferguson, Mo., demand the arrest of the police officer who killed Mike Brown. PEOPLE’S TRIBUNE EDITORIAL POLICY: PHOTO/TORRIUAN AND DERRICK, INSTAGRAM: @FMPHOTOGRAPHY13; 314-299-8740/314-695-6923 Articles that are unsigned, such as the cover story and editorials, re- flect the views of the editorial board. Ferguson: The impact of class on race Bylined articles reflect the views of the authors, and may or may not re- sion of something new emerged workers almost totally white. mum wage did not cover service flect the views of the editorial board. EDITORIAL in Ferguson. The fact that both sectors and agriculture, explicitly ex- Deadlines for articles and art: The Pundits of all political out- were workers was forgotten. Karl cluding most of the Blacks, brib- deadline for articles, photographs The murder of Black, un- looks rushed to examine the Marx reminded the white work- ing the white worker and harden- and other art is the first of each armed Michael Brown by white murder and the response. Ka- ers who were struggling against ing the color division in the class. month for the issue that comes out Police Officer Darren Wilson reem Abdul-Jabbar’s editorial, their semi-slave-like exploita- The hard fought battles for labor at the beginning of the following month. For example, the deadline in Ferguson, Missouri, created published in Time.com describes tion that “Labor cannot emanci- unity could not be won so long for the June issue is May 1. Articles a massive national and inter- the unrest in Ferguson as not just pate itself in a white skin, where as such economic and political should be as short as possible, national response. The police about racism, but also about class in the Black it is branded.” inequality existed. and no longer than 500 words. We would not allow the parents to warfare. Others declared this was After the Civil War, the coun- Unity can only be achieved reserve the right to edit articles to claim or cover the body and Mi- simply resurgent fascist racism. ter-revolution against emancipa- when white and Black workers conform to space limitations. chael Brown’s corpse lay unat- What are we dealing with— tion institutionalized the color are equal. Electronics applied People’s Tribune Editor: Bob Lee tended in the street for over three race or class? The answer is both. division in the working class. In to production, and the ending of Editorial Staff: and a half hours. When demon- The real world does not exist in the main, the Black worker was human labor, has finally created Brett Jelinek, Sarah Menefee, Shamako Noble, strators gathered to protest the logical boxes, but in fluid, strug- consigned to service and agricul- the elementary conditions for Joseph Peery, Nelson Peery, killing, they were met by ar- gling, constantly transforming tural labor and the white worker such unity. Sandra Reid mored military personnel carri- opposites that move a process to industry. Ferguson expresses that with- Photo Editor: Daymon Hartley ers, camouflaged, masked police forward. Racism is an ideology The Roosevelt era labor re- out a fight against racism the carrying automatic rifles, rubber justifying the super exploitation forms guaranteed the right to workers cannot rise out of pov- People’s Tribune, P.O. Box 3524 Chicago, Illinois, 60654 bullets, snarling K-9 dogs, clubs of the Black worker. Racism industrial union organization. erty. Without a fight against pov- e-mail: [email protected] and clouds of tear gas. The scene must be fought to create the con- There was understanding that erty they cannot destroy racism. Phone: 773-486-3551 was more reminiscent of the ditions for class unity. there would not be southern As one demonstrator said during Toll Free: 800-691-6888 Sharpsville massacre in apart- The basis of the historic race trade union organization. This the Freedom struggles, “Why Fax: 773-486-3552 heid South Africa than in “post- versus class discussion was cre- meant that most of the Black fight for the right to buy a cup of Web: www.peoplestribune.org racial America.” The worst of ated when slavery became al- workers would be excluded from coffee in that restaurant if I don’t Publisher: People’s Tribune something old and a frightful vi- most totally Black and the free unions. Social security and mini- have the quarter?” ISSN# 1081-4787 Reach us at: Chicago 773-486-3551 Ann Arbor, MI WHY THE MOVEMENT NEEDS A PRESS [email protected] From the Editors Atlanta, GA [email protected] We are sometimes asked “Why does the movement to build a new America need a press?” The answer has to do with this moment Carbondale,IL [email protected] in history. People are struggling just to get the basic necessities of life. Historical forces beyond anyone’s control have set the stage Denver: for a new society to be built, but from this point on, how things turn out depends on what people think. This means that those of us [email protected] who are seeking fundamental change are engaged in a battle of ideas, a struggle to win the hearts and minds of the people. If we Detroit, MI 313-438-6115 don’t raise the consciousness of the people and unite them around a vision of a better world and a strategy to achieve it, then we’ll Houston, TX fail in our effort to build a just and free society. To win the battle of ideas, we need a press. P O Box 231281, Houston, TX 77223-1281 Los Angeles, CA 310-548-6491 Visit us on the web at www.PeoplesTribune.org Oakland, CA [email protected]
2 PEOPLE’S TRIBUNE | OCTOBER 2014 www.peoplestribune.org The people confront the militarized police
COVER STORY
The militarization of the po- lice in America has reached frightening proportions. We are practically living under an open, fascist police state, and more people must take a stand or things will only get worse. The heavily armed military- style units that turned out to con- front protesters in Ferguson, Mo., after the police execution of Mi- chael Brown are just one of the latest examples. The people dare not show up in the street to raise their voices without running the risk of confrontation with what amounts to a local army. The militarization of local police departments began in the 1980s and escalated radically after 9/11. The “war on drugs” and the “war on terror” created the justification to turn local po- lice forces into armies of occu- pation and instruments of terror. Local police across the country acquired tanks, helicopters, ma- chine guns and armored vehicles, among other things, some of it donated by the Pentagon and some of it bought with $35 bil- CARTOON/ANDY WILLIS lion in grants to state and local police from the Department of Homeland Security. nomic system based on the pri- the people own the means of worst of the attacks by the po- Police SWAT teams are now vate property of the billionaires producing what we need to live lice. But make no mistake: They Contribute to the dispatched on such routine mis- and that is unable to provide and where everyone has the ne- are moving toward an attack on sions as serving warrants for jobs, livable wages, food, water, cessities of life. That means the the entire working class and the People’s Tribune: nonviolent offenses. SWAT team housing, health care or a safety people forced out of the system whole of society. 100% volunteer run deployments escalated from net for tens of millions of people. are a threat to the ruling class. The police are becoming a just 3,000 in the early 1980s to Jobs are automated or shipped The same automation that is law unto themselves, standing 100% donation funded 50,000 a year now. More than overseas, and the wealthy own- eliminating jobs could give us a above the people and dictat- 120 SWAT team raids occur in ers of industry and finance will world of abundance if the people ing to them. But the people are The People’s Tribune America every day, often result- not pay to support labor they controlled our society. beginning to open their eyes to brings clarity to the ing in deaths or serious injuries. don’t need. The legacy of discrimina- this. We must fight every attack growing movement. It Demonstrations against police Labor-replacing electronic tion and racism that came out on our liberty, and do so with the unites the movement violence or for jobs, decent wag- technology has created a new of slavery left the bulk of Black understanding that we are fight- around a vision of a better es, health care, etc., are often section of the working class—a workers in those jobs that were ing for a new society, for the met with tear gas, billy clubs and new class—that has no future in eliminated first by labor-replac- world of peace and freedom that world and a strategy to rubber (and real) bullets. an economy based on wage la- ing technology, so they are at the electronics makes possible. achieve it. It has no paid Government repression bor. Their needs can only be met heart of this new class. Thus the staff and gets no corporate marks the last stand of an eco- in a cooperative society where Black workers are suffering the grants. We need your support to continue telling the truth.
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www.peoplestribune.org OCTOBER 2014 | PEOPLE’S TRIBUNE 3 Flint, MI: Vote while you still can! Financial emergency “fixes” corporation, Uptown Reinvest- cause health emergency ment, $5.65 million in grants crises and low-interest loans to create The United Nations has de- “an emerging health and well- clared “safe, clean, accessible, ness district” downtown. Flint’s and affordable drinking wa- Emergency Manager also award- ter and sanitation” to be a hu- ed Uptown a 12-year, $1 mil- man right. Water shutoffs and lion tax abatement and $880K in unsafe water deny this right federal community development and put entire communities at block grants for the project that: risk of disease and other health • Privatized control of the once- complications. public Flint Farmers’ Market. The recent multiple fecal • Gifted publicly-owned Gene- contaminations of Flint’s wa- see Towers to Uptown for $1. ter supply (triggering boil water • Setup Michigan State Univer- alerts) are the direct result of the sity’s Public Health program decision to abandon the Detroit as Uptown’s tenant in the old water supply for a new Lake Hu- Flint Journal building. ron pipeline. Independent audi- If State resources exist for tors commissioned by the State “public health districts” that ben- called this a “major risk” and efit wealthy private interests, said Flint and Genesee Coun- Governor Snyder can allocate re- ty residents would be better off sources to address actual public staying with the Detroit regional health emergencies arising from authority, but Governor Snyder’s soaring water rates, water shut- Emergency Manager pushed the offs, an unsafe water supply, and plan through anyway. the theft of local democracy. Now everyone is paying high Lower Water Rates Now! Protest against Governor Rick Snyder in Flint, MI. PHOTO/ANTHONY FOCUSINGONTHEKIDS TURNER water rates because those fees Stop Water Shutoffs Now! are the security for bondholders Safe Water Now! Restore De- By Bob Mabbitt the 12, 2014. They held a dem- have no power. Residents have in the new pipeline deal under- mocracy Now! onstration opposing Michigan’s no voice. All local decisions are written by J.P. Morgan Chase Editor’s note: Nearly 200 pro- current Governor Snyder’s cam- made by Gov. Snyder and car- and UBS. That’s the “comeback Contact us at Democra- testors mobilized by Flint City paign fundraiser. ried out by an Emergency Man- kid” in action! [email protected] Councilman Wantwaz Davis, in- ager he appoints. cluding people from local unions FLINT, MI — Under Michi- This is dictatorship and it is Our public health at the ex- (UAW, MEA, SEIU), community gan’s Emergency Manager law, dangerous!—not simply dan- pense of our public wealth activists, and residents alike the city of Flint is run from Lan- gerous to our fundamental Through Snyder’s Emer- gathered at Flint’s Farmer’s sing, the state capital. Flint’s rights, but dangerous to our very gency Manager, the State of Market on Friday, September city council, mayor, and charter health. Michigan handed private Flint New school year: Teachers and parents turn to politics backs, and despite money trans- dents’ lives are at risk because of Chicago wards. Once in of- fers to privately run charters, fire alarms don’t function prop- fice, they will be blocked by a CPS students in traditional pub- erly. What will happen, they city facing bankruptcy. lic schools are improving faster asked, when the heating system Chicago Teachers Union than students in comparable can’t keep children and teachers president Karen Lewis has filed charter schools. Gale has been warm this winter? CPS claims to run for mayor. Chicago Mayor on probation for poor academic it has removed the lead paint in Rahm Emanuel has a plummet- performance, but the school is the school, but no effort has been ing approval rate. Should she win leading, or close to leading, all made to monitor either teachers office, will Karen Lewis be free the other nearby neighborhood or students exposed to lead. to take on the Wall Street thugs and charter schools in growth, What’s true about one school who are dictating the municipal despite losing $300,000 last is likely true throughout the sys- workers’ pension crisis? year. tem. I talked with one former The mayor and aldermen are To add insult to injury, CPS CPS teacher who left her job all Democrats. Any challenge ended its citywide contract with after 15 years, partly for safety to the established order can be- its unionized janitors. CPS con- reasons. CPS again and again come a challenge to the Demo- tracted with Aramark, the 23rd ignored health and safety issues cratic Party, as they maneuver to largest employer in the Fortune such as asbestos; other teachers corral their base. The February Chicago students march for an elected school board in August, 500, with revenue of close to $14 throughout the system routinely election will give us a glimpse of 2014. PHOTO/SARAH JANE RHEE billion. Schools have reported a complained about it. how the electorate sees the pos- decrease in janitorial staff with CPS won’t listen or act, and sibility of independence and how By Lew Rosenbaum opening, Gale school was down this shift. In many cases teach- that’s why so many teachers deep the fissures are in the Dem- 40 students from last year. Af- ers and parent volunteers had to and parents have turned to the ocratic Party itself. Let’s get in CHICAGO, IL — Now that ter 20 days, Chicago Public scrub the schools to get ready for political arena to get answers. this campaign and make it part school is back in session, princi- Schools (CPS) could cut anoth- opening. School by school battles have of a battle for a new society. pals wait to the end of the first er $200,000, meaning the loss Anxiety is intense. At the not worked, because the cause is 20 days to calculate their enroll- of teacher positions and pos- first Gale School Local School systemic. The first step is -elec ment. Schools that show a drop sible combining of classes and Council (LSC) meeting of the toral: independent candidates in enrollment below last year grades. year, LSC members and others stand a good chance of winning suffer further budget cuts. At Despite these funding cut- objected to a facility where stu- aldermanic battles in a number
4 PEOPLE’S TRIBUNE | OCTOBER 2014 www.peoplestribune.org Water is a human right!
By Maureen Taylor, Michigan a payment arrangement to re- mation clarifies just what - dan when pinched into a fold. In in- Agency recommends that fami- Welfare Rights Organization, store them, is a close-kept se- gers can be found if water is fants, sunken fontanels—the lies spend no more than 2.5% of and Dr. David Apsey cret. The rise of technology turned off. soft spots on the top of a baby’s their pretax income on water and has gutted the urban workforce Water is necessary for hu- head. Low blood pressure. Rapid sewage but, after the recent price DETROIT, MI — As funda- along with the rise of banks, man survival. The human body heartbeat. Rapid breathing. No increases, some Detroit residents mental economic changes un- who have openly packaged cannot survive past three days tears when crying. Fever. In the pay 20% of their pretax income wind in Detroit, measures cre- deals leaving the City hemor- without water. This is why chil- most serious cases, delirium or for these services. ated to harm the poorest section rhaging, with properties fami- dren cannot live in a home with unconsciousness. Society is here for coopera- of working families are offered lies cannot afford, has caused no water service. What about We do not need this debate in tion and development of human that challenge the basic laws a level of pain no one has ever the adults? Here are a few of our society, especially in Detroit beings and to release us from im- of humanity in a way that has experienced. the symptoms of dehydration with fresh water surrounding us mediate survival needs so we can shocked many across the globe. To add injury to this engi- which all develop before three on all sides and potable water improve ourselves with culture In February through April 2014, neered insult, the Director of days without water. Extreme available from the tap at a low and education. Depriving people the Detroit Water and Sewer- the Detroit Health Department thirst. Extreme fussiness or cost for all. Those who can pay of access to water constitutes a age Department started shutting was sent a letter asking that sleepiness in infants and chil- should pay, those who cannot crime against humanity and will off water at the residences of they state what medical prob- dren; irritability and confusion pay need a water affordability cause preventable deaths and de- low-income families who were lems might surface should wa- in adults. Very dry mouth, skin program on a sliding fee scale struction of families in our be- at least two months delinquent, ter be disconnected at thousands and mucous membranes. Little at no more that 2.5% of annual loved Detroit—Mayor Duggan: and $150 in arrears. Over these of Detroit addresses. Only the or no urination—any urine that income. Those in arrears must Turn The Water Back ON! last seven months, some 17,000 Nurses Union out of Los Ange- is produced will be darker than be contacted personally since households were targeted and les found the courage to speak normal. Sunken eyes. Shriveled many lack the means of contact- the number of those still with- out on what dangers lie in such and dry skin that lacks elastic- ing the Water Department. The out water, unable to manage practices. The following infor- ity and doesn’t “bounce back” U.S. Environmental Protection
Protest against water shut offs to thousands of low-income Detroit, MI residents. The march ended up in Highland Park, MI, which is also suffering from skyrocketing water prices and shut offs. People throughout the US and world are morally outraged at the denial of running water to families simply because they cannot afford to pay. PHOTO/DAYMONJHARTLEY.COM ‘Water needs to be provided to all based on need’ Editor’s note: The People’s Tri- be as much as three times that though only 10-12,000 people to regionalize it for our benefit. on a national level. bune’s Joseph Peery interviewed of the water. You can’t drink live here now. So the cost of that They are going to regionalize Marian Kramer, Co-Chair of the the water without sewerage was on our backs. We were pay- it in the interest of the corpora- PT: What is the solution? Highland Park Human Rights treatment. ing for a bunch of ‘ghosts.’ We tions. If that doesn’t work for MK: They are moving to priva- Coalition. People are in danger of hav- were also paying for all those them, they can still send in an tization, we’ve got to move to ing their children taken from plants that closed and left. They Emergency Manager and over- nationalization of the water. Na- People’s Tribune: Tell us the them because they can’t pay didn’t pay for the water bill ride everybody to privatize the tionalization is the opposite of problems faced by Highland their water bill. We also face the when they left. water. privatization. In other words, Park residents from corpora- danger of them making the wa- You have to understand that keep it public for the benefit of tions attempting to privatize ter bill part of the property taxes water is today’s gold. The cor- PT: What is the lesson about the people and under our con- your water. that put people in danger of los- porations want the Great Lakes. the struggles around water trol. The only way you can do Marian Kramer: We’ve been ing their homes. If they get Detroit and Highland privatization? that is to nationalize it, not in the involved in this fight to main- We found out that High- Park water they get the key to MK: If they can get away with interests of the corporations or tain Highland Park’s water as a land Park used to pump water privatize the Great Lakes. this nonsense, changing laws the banks like they did with our public utility since 2001. High- for 50,000 people that lived They are trying to regional- and all that type of stuff, without moneys that bailed them out. Na- land Park, MI, pays the highest here. That was the population ize the water in Highland Park the public having an opportunity tionalization has to be under the water bills in the country. We of Highland Park at one time. right along with Detroit. Corpo- to have any say-so in the pro- control of the public and in our are paying not just a water bill, When we confronted the Emer- rate people are going to be on the cess, then they can come to your interest. Water needs to be pro- but sewerage treatment supplied gency Financial Manager, she Regional Water Authority Board neighborhood and do the same vided to all based on needs rather by Detroit as well, which is the said that we still had to pump working in the interest of the thing. This is just the stomping than ability to pay. biggest part of the bill, and can water for 50,000 people even corporations. They’re not going ground of what they want to do
www.peoplestribune.org OCTOBER 2014 | PEOPLE’S TRIBUNE 5 From Ferguson to fast food strikes – One struggle The Mike Brown rebellion has begun By Tef Poe have sworn to protect. A bold, power in my city are completely roaches but are expected to sim- of Mike Brown would become trigger-happy army occupying unbalanced, and the poverty gap ply pull ourselves up by the boot- such a horrifically historical mo- Editor’s note: Tef Poe is known the streets of Ferguson. This is is irrefutable. St. Louis County straps. As a young black man I ment. But now my eyes have as one of the best rappers telling not a normal police force. This stays afloat through the revenue feel defeated. I feel as if every- witnessed armored vehicles and the story of St. Louis. We are is a completely militarized group collected from speeding tickets. one has failed us. body-armored soldiers in the reprinting excerpts from his of wild cowboys. They lack dis- These tickets stockpile and turn Prior to this I disliked the po- streets of a suburban community complete article published at cipline and have even aimed into warrants. Black people and lice, but I wouldn’t say I hated that I once considered home. We blogs.riverfronttimes.com. their guns at the media. poor white people are arrested them. Now, that has changed. are fighting the militarization Missouri is one of the most for petty offenses on the regular. Why? Because I feel as though of our neighborhood. If we fail, ST. LOUIS, MO — My body is racially backward places in the Black people in St. Louis have they hate us… Originally I did then this agenda will spread to fatigued as I type this. At this United States. The scales of been stomped to the ground like not know nor think that the death other cities with a high minor- point I have been out in the ity populations, such as LA, Chi- streets of North County for what cago, Memphis, Baltimore, New feels like an eternity. I am con- York and Detroit. fused and dazed by what has …you have to understand the taken place in my city … Mike feelings associated with seeing Brown was shot down like a your hometown go up in smoke dog in the street, and the Fergu- … I never imagined I’d one day son police refuse to give us an- see armored vehicles on these swers. His killer remains free, grounds. North County has sud- uncharged and shielded by the denly turned into the Middle badge… we’ve all watched Mike East… Brown’s parents grieve. Once a person gets over the We have protested for justice initial fear of dying or going and encountered a cruelty that to jail, there’s essentially noth- resembles the brutality of the ing the police can really do to Jim Crow demonstrations in the you. At this moment, many of 1960s. President Obama gave the young men and women in an address recently, and even he Mike Brown’s age bracket are tacitly endorsed this treatment by not afraid to die. We are also not referring to us as “violent pro- afraid to sleep in a jail cell if it testers.” I have seen men and means we are pushing the agen- women, both black and white, da of justice further. beaten and rounded up like cat- The Mike Brown Rebellion tle. I’ve seen officers forcefully has begun, and I believe we will push the barrels of assault rifles Curfew is lifted in Ferguson, but the “State of Emergency” is still in place with the right to detain win. into the faces of the people they and arrest people for nothing. PHOTO/JACOB CRAWFORD, WECOPWATCH Interview: ‘Hands Up United’ in Ferguson, MO Editor’s note: The People’s Tri- say “Why did they kill my son?” militarized police. Fast food bune’s Sandy Reid interviewed She was crying. I tweeted out workers from the Show Me 15 Taurean Russell, a spokesperson and asked people to meet me at came and protested with us. for handsupunited.org who was the police station. A little over They know there’s something in the front lines of the Ferguson 100 people were there. I made about being poor—that some uprising, and was targeted by a statement that Black people kind of hierarchy has to keep you police and jailed because of his have been done wrong in this in place. Whites from the com- organizing. country for 400 years, and they munity came out; even a white can’t make 400 years right in business owner. She’s not one People’s Tribune: How did you one night. Every day since then of those people who have the “I get involved? I have been protesting and strat- Love Ferguson signs.” Taurean Russell: I was just a reg- egizing and coming up with de- Most people who support ular person before this happened. mands. I’ve interviewed five wit- Mike Brown see that as a slap Police in Ferguson confront protesters. PHOTO/WECOPWATCH I’d go to Black things and try nesses. People are in fear for their in the face. Do you support the to think about conscious things lives. One witness said that Of- police chief or the Mayor— that affect oppressed people. ficer Wilson stood over Mike the ones who are covering up out to vote and sign others up that one day they can become part of What brought me out was see- Brown and shot him in the head. the execution? this wouldn’t happen. But those the system, but they can’t. One ing the tweet with Mike Brown’s The police were going to peoples’ who did vote don’t vote in police person might make it, but what dead body. It was shocking to houses, offering money and free PT: Speak about the poverty in officers. We do vote for the pros- about the whole community that see police officers standing over rent for video of the shooting. the area. ecutor but he’s a Democrat, so you left? a dead kid. There were babies One girl traded it for rent. TR: Three of the poorest zip that doesn’t do us any good. and young kids, elementary age codes in the state are here. They PT: What’s the next step? children looking at the body. Peo- PT: Speak about the support you have the worst schools, the high- PT: Can people unite? TR: We’re discussing wheth- ple compare it to a public lynch- are getting. est poverty and public assis- TR: There’s a trick of racism. er the Department of Justice has ing. The police were trying to say: TR: Palestinians came in tance rate. People vote for the It tricks Blacks to believe they the right to try our case; whether “This is going to happen to you and showed us how to make same people and get the same can be full participants in the to take it to the United Nations; next; this is what we’re here for.” homemade gas masks. You don’t result, whether Democrat or Re- system, and it tricks whites, es- and whether we just need to take I heard Mike Brown’s mother have to be Black to know about publican. People say if we come pecially those in poverty, that it to people who are our allies. 6 PEOPLE’S TRIBUNE | OCTOBER 2014 www.peoplestribune.org From Ferguson to fast food strikes – One struggle Fast food workers help point the way By the People’s Tribune benefits to survive. Editorial Board As soon as the strikes emerged last year, articles began to pop up Fast Food worker strikes are about European fast food chains sweeping the nation. City after replacing thousands of workers city documents the impact of in a single technological stroke. minimum wage workers taking a In fact, most recently the Busi- stand. The fight for fifteen move- ness Insider, along with various ment, funded and organized by other publications, covered the SEIU, has brought workers out invention of a hamburger-mak- in major cities like Atlanta, Bos- ing robot that can produce over ton, Charleston, Hartford, Mi- 360 sandwiches an hour! Indeed, ami, the Bay Area, New York we can imagine what type of and Philadelphia. Recently in abundance technology like that Taco Bells, McDonalds, and could produce for hungry fami- KFC’s all over the United States, lies without the barrier of capital- workers walked out on the job, ist ownership of the socially nec- participated in coordinated civil essary means of life. We can also disobedience and were arrested imagine how many workers in in city after city. this industry are going to perma- Over the past few years, nently lose work and their live- we’ve seen the rise of many low- lihood as technology replaces Fast food and other low wage workers rally in New York for $15 an hour wage. Strikes took place in wage worker movements. The labor. dozens of cities with 400 arrests nationwide. PHOTO/MICHAEL FLESHMAN workers describe the harshest of The situation of the fast food economic conditions. There’s workers—the low wages, the class that is forced to confront an sities of life would be distributed on course. little to no health care and irregu- just-in-time scheduling, the threat economic system that can no lon- to all based on need, not money. In pointing the way forward, lar hours with little to no control of being replaced by robots—is ger meet their needs. The computer and the robot spell Jeanina Jenkins, a McDonald’s over one’s life. Management is a harbinger of the future for all The same technology that the end of economies based on employee in Ferguson, MO said abusive. The fast food workers workers. Labor-replacing tech- is wiping out jobs and driving private ownership of the means she believes the police brutality strikes have resonated deeply nology is eliminating jobs and down wages could end poverty of life. We cannot fix a dying protests will be on the minds of with a population that is tired of driving down wages worldwide. forever if the people owned and system. If we keep the vision many striking fast food workers. working 60 hours a week only to The fast food workers are part of controlled it in a cooperative so- of a new society in mind as we “We’re fighting for the same thing, need rapidly diminishing public a global section of the working ciety. In such a society the neces- fight, that will keep the struggle basically,” she said. (MSNBC) Industrial bust leaves cities plagued with poverty many communities. is happening everywhere there low-income people who can’t When the community gath- are communities of poor under- pay in Georgia and Alabama. ered in protest following Mi- employed and unemployed work- Whether jailed or kept in a state chael’s murder, the militarized ing class families of all ethnic of poverty and fear trapped in our police response evoked a righ- backgrounds. Here in southern communities, we are at the mercy teous defiance especially among Illinois, police departments are of predatory corporations and the the youth who are fed up with making more stops, issuing fines police that protect this system. We the daily police occupation and and collecting exorbitant fees to must open our eyes and see that harassment of their community. enhance revenue. One local po- the same system that executed Calling the protesters “f---ing lice department accepted federal Michael Brown in Ferguson is the animals” and launching tear gas grant money which requires of- same system that killed many oth- into their peaceful demonstration ficers to write more citations, a ers who are deemed expendable only strengthened the youths’ slippery slope for sure. What has human beings by a system that no resolve to take back the streets. followed is increased harassment longer needs our labor. One of many protests in Ferguson demanding justice for Michael “Enough is enough” was their and abuse, especially of the poor, Let us unite with the youth Brown. PHOTO/BOB SIMPSON battle cry. students and the homeless. in Ferguson and around the Revealed through interviews “To Prison For Poverty,” from world who are saying “Enough BY Cathy Talbott neighborhood where Michael of residents, it is now known that Brave New Films, documents is enough!” Let’s take back our Brown faced his executioner, the the second source of revenue in the system that allows private birthright and create a world of CARBONDALE, IL — Fergu- St. Louis suburb has a history of Ferguson is from petty fines and probation companies to profit sharing and caring for our broth- son, Missouri, like many oth- racial and income disparity which fees, especially traffic tickets. In from charging excessive fees to ers and sisters! er working-class communities has carried over into the post-in- 2013 alone, $2.6 million was col- across the country, has under- dustrial present. As the tax base lected, nearly twice the amount gone many changes since the in- dwindled, those who could, both of the two years prior. In north dustrial boom era of post WWII. Blacks and whites, fled to areas St. Louis County, this is the norm PEOPLE’S TRIBUNE Once a thriving community, it is with better funded schools and with upwards of 40% of revenue now plagued with poverty much services. Much of the northern annually from such fines. It is a DISCUSSION GROUPS! like the town in which I reside area of St. Louis County mirrors vicious cycle that keeps the poor Call or email us to find out if there is a People’s Tribune 100 miles southeast of St. Louis. Ferguson. Unemployment and in a constant state of stress and Home to Emerson Electric, a $24 underemployment is rampant, despair. reading group in your area. billion multi-national corpora- with nearly 50% of Black men But this is not unique to north (800) 691-6888 [email protected] tion just down the road from the in their twenties unemployed in St. Louis County communities. It www.peoplestribune.org OCTOBER 2014 | PEOPLE’S TRIBUNE 7 ‘DC for the People’ campaign of Eugene Puryear in America. It also has become rate stood at 14.1 percent. The people in the District is lack of the operational unity between one of the most unequal. A study rising cost of housing in D.C. is an advocate for progressive leg- the interconnected struggles in 2012 estimated that the top turning formerly poor neighbor- islation such as the $15/hr. mini- of those marginalized by local fifth of D.C. income earners had hoods into playgrounds for the mum wage, building affordable elites. average earnings that were 29 rich. Gentrification has result- housing, keeping down the cost Actual social movements that times higher than that bottom ed in a median monthly rent of of childcare, defending public overturn powerful forces are not fifth! That was good enough to more than $1,400! education and taking on the ef- just about one tactic or method make D.C. the third most un- The D.C. for the People elec- fects of mass incarceration. of struggle, but the strategic uni- equal city in the country. Almost tion campaign I am waging is a By joining the Council my ty of the various tactical fronts. 20 percent (18.4) of District resi- response to this state of affairs. goal is to advance whatever The D.C. for the People election dents live below the poverty line; The District government is com- legislation possible, but to also campaign is fighting to win ev- Editor’s note: Eugene Puryear, when including those living just pletely beholden to capitalist in- use each piece of legislation as ery gain for working and poor DC Statehood Green candidate at or just above the poverty line, terests, particularly in the real a point of organizing linked to people possible, while facilitat- for Councilmember-At-Large, it jumps to 24.1 percent. estate sector. Poor and working broader strategies to achieve so- ing a broader movement to over- talks to Tim D’Emilio of the Looking at the 2013 annual people have no consistent advo- cial change. In addition, it is to come their exploitation. Togeth- Peoples Tribune about his candi- averages, “official” unemploy- cate on the D.C. Council. expose the backroom dealing er we can make it happen! To dacy and the D.C. for the People ment in D.C. last year was 8.6 The campaign has two main where powerful interests subvert get involved, visit EugenePur- campaign. percent. If we look at what per- goals. First and foremost to win, any pretension of democracy. year.com or call the Campaign haps is a more meaningful mea- which is a well-recognized possi- This leads to our second main HQ: 202-556-1651 WASHINGTON, D.C. — Wash- sure, the U6 rate, which mea- bility even among the media and goal which is movement build- ington D.C. has seen a major sures as unemployed all those our opponents. One of the key ing. We’ll use the campaign to boom over the past decade, be- not looking for work, and those strategic weaknesses of move- bring together people from di- coming one of the hottest cities forced to work part-time, that ments of the poor and oppressed verse movements and increase Ferguson and the country’s struggle for basic needs By Al Gladyck The Huffington Post pub- gy battling our allies instead of we still talk about more jobs, but The lished a post by Lawrence J. our enemies.” in fact, jobs are lost permanently DETROIT, MI — Time.com Hanley, who is International Both authors have identified as human labor is eliminated in Gleam published an opinion post by President, Amalgamated Transit the class content of Ferguson, the workplace. In addition, 44% Kareem Abdul-Jabbar entitled Union in D.C., Member of the MO., and consequently the class of the people working in this in memory of Billy “The Coming Race War Won’t AFL-CIO’s Executive Council, content of the struggle in this country today are paid the min- Watkins Be About Race.” It says, “Unless entitled, “The Hidden Violence” country. imum wage. So if the solution we want the Ferguson atrocity to which added, “As Abdul-Jab- This class content is global. is more jobs, they will be more “There’s a gleam comin’ also be swallowed and become bar said in Time,” “Rather than Underlying Ferguson is the qual- minimum wage jobs. The solu- through,” nothing more than an intestinal uniting to face the real foe—do- itative change in how things are tion is producing for everyone’s you said that day irritant to history, we have to ad- nothing politicians, legislators, now produced, not just here but human needs instead of produc- with your arm held up dress the situation not just as an- and others in power—we fall worldwide. Since the “micropro- ing for the profit needs of a few and your eyes fixed other act of systemic racism, but into the trap of turning against cessor” was applied to produc- billionaires. as what else it is: class warfare.” each other, expending our ener- tion, starting in the early 1980s, In this respect, Mr. Abdul- straight Jabbar raises another key point: He says, “The U.S. Census Re- We, your comrades, felt port finds that 50 million Ameri- what you could see cans are poor. Fifty million vot- and we knew it was true ers is a powerful block if they ever organized in an effort to “There’s a gleam comin’ pursue their common economic through, goals. So, it’s crucial that those and if you don’t see it, in the wealthiest One percent then you must be blind keep the poor fractured…” The road to class unity is the or something.” struggle for our basic needs. The fight for food, shelter, running Something is changing. water, education, healthcare, im- migration rights, etc., are all part A light at the end of the struggle for the future of of the tunnel, all of us. Currently, who gets a peace, the necessities of life is based a word so fragile, on who owns the means of life, only the bravest dare not on who needs them. Soci- speak it: ety must own the giant produc- tive processes, the robots and the computers, and distribute the Hope. world of plenty to all based on need. That was you, What we lack is the inde- dear comrade, pendent political movement to dear friend. make the transition to the future that the microprocessor requires. - Adam Gottlieb Will that future benefit all hu- Feeding the hungry in Detroit, due to the massive plant closings and retooling. A new study says man beings or will it be another millions of Americans are living on less that $2 a day (Luke Shaefer and Kathryn Edin). class system that will benefit the PHOTO/DAYMONJHARTLEY.COM few?
8 PEOPLE’S TRIBUNE | OCTOBER 2014 www.peoplestribune.org Our Walmart leaders attend union conference in Brazil By Chuck Parker trip from California to a union countries enjoy the protection of their families, full 40 hour work ing, and thinking. Graciela and conference in Sao Paolo, Brazil union membership, and the ben- weeks, free uniforms, half of Marilola said that various points DESERT HOT SPRINGS, CA proved to be a voyage of dis- efits of union contracts. Some their lunch hour is paid, and the of view were offered, so they — For Marilola Ledesma and covery. What they found was of the benefits include medical cashiers can work sitting down. could choose what they liked Graciela Blancas, their recent Walmart employees in all these insurance for the workers and They even have burial insurance, and reject what they didn’t. and a medical clinic in the store! Their hosts in Brazil were When they shared copies of two large Brazilian unions, the the Tribuno Del Pueblo (sister UGT (Uniao Geral Dos Trab- publication of the People’s Tri- alhadores) and the CUT (Con- bune) with their compatriots federacao Nacional Dos Tra- from Brazil, Argentina, Chile, balhadores No Comercio E and South Africa, it became a Servicos.) These unions invited voyage of discovery for them too. them to a spirited rally with the These workers were surprised to slogans displayed on large ban- find that Walmart workers in the ners and flags, “JUSTICE AT U.S. do not have a union, and do WALMART” and “WE STRUG- not enjoy any of these benefits! GLE AGAINST: DICTATOR- They were also surprised to find SHIP AT WALMART, MORAL that there were so many other HARASSMENT, AND ANTI- problems in the U.S. which they UNION PERSECUTION.” thought was a paradise where They agreed it was a won- everyone was well off. derful experience, and an inspi- Marilola and Graciela were ration to continue their struggle. sponsored by the Our Walmart They will be attending a con- Organization which organized ference during September at the international conference for the headquarters of the United Walmart Employees. They at- Farmworkers Union in Keene, tended seminars which taught Ca. where they can share what Workers rally against Wal Mart in Sao Paolo Brazil. PHOTO/MARILOLA LEDESMA them new ways of organiz- they learned in Brazil. Poem reflecting on the
‘Trail for Humanity’ walk People’s Tribune Radio podcasts are available at peoplestribune.org. Hear from people at the forefront of the struggles for a new America.
People’s Tribune annual Walkers and supporters of the Trail for Humanity 350 mile walk from Merced to San Ysidro, CA, in support of undocumented children and women crossing the border. PHOTO/EDWARD CASTRO subscription drive It is October and the People’s Tribune begins its annual subscription drive which will run By Valeska Castaneda we decided to walk an extra two through November 15. If you are a subscriber, we ask you to renew your subscription now. If miles to be greeted by the com- not, please become a subscriber now. MERCED, CA — It starts in the munity of Pacioma, ending at In addition to subscriptions, we rely on donations and sustainers. We rely exclusively on pit of my stomach. Then I feel it 287 miles, showing the world the support of those who read and those who write for the People’s Tribune. We offer our fiercely grow. It starts pulsing and how deep the will of human- pages to those in the movement who want to get coverage of their struggles out to others. At transforms into a powerful ache ity runs when it refuses to be the same time we offer analysis, direction and solutions to the problems our society faces. We that moves like water through the silenced. In Lak’ech Ala K’in, tell the truth! rest of my body and refuses to (You are my other me. If I do The corporations are tightening their fascist grip on all of U.S. society, with a developing end until I have walked my last harm to you I do harm to myself. Surveillance State, police brutality and killings, criminalization of refugee children, emer- steps of the day. If I love and respect you I love gency manager laws that replace government elected officials, cutting off people’s access to Something deeper is moving and respect myself.) running water and the privatizing of the public domain. us all now, and I honestly feel it The People’s Tribune is needed now, more than ever! is the prayers and thoughts of the Valeska Castaneda, mother Renew your subscription, or become a subscriber now. Become a consistent, regular donor community, even now as I write and one of the organizer’s of the to the People’s Tribune. Become a monthly sustainer. this, there are hundreds praying Trail for Humanity. They walked Donate via Pay Pal at www.peoplestribune.org or send a check to PO Box 3524, Chicago, for our health and safety. That’s 350+ miles to support the plight Il 60654-3524. the only explanation I have. I’ve of undocumented children/ Thanks in advance. walked 19 days straight and still adults crossing the border. They have no blisters and today we marched from Merced to San —Editorial Board of the People’s Tribune were supposed to end our 15 Ysidro, CA. miles in Sylmar, California, but www.peoplestribune.org OCTOBER 2014 | PEOPLE’S TRIBUNE 9 Memorial for Ernesto Garcia square to grieve. They mourned the earth who are now redundant Ernesto Garcia and they mourn- in a economy driven by market ed what is happening to our manipulation and robotic pro- community—to our country. As duction. The wealth belongs to a people struggled to keep their tiny few and they are not “shar- candles lit against the wind, the ing” no matter what their reli- symbolism of those tiny fragile gious traditions tell them. lights was understood by all. A homeless prophet once in- These Logan Square church- structed that humans could only es participate in food banks and know God in how they treated meals for the growing number of the least of these. By that mea- homeless among us. Yet no one sure we have the right to worry. could quite visualize Ernesto Gar- Our sacred duty is to build a new cia. Some one must have liked society to share the abundance him, to plan a celebration of his that technology makes possible. birth. There was no photograph. Deciding to make sure no one Chicago’s Logan Square Ecumenical Alliance brings together community members and others to No one knew of a family. Ernes- dies like Ernesto Garcia will in- memorialize Ernesto Garcia, a homeless man who was beaten to death. PHOTO/ANDY WILLIS to Garcia had left nothing when volve changing the fundamental he left the world, but his life and laws and rules of society. It will By Andy Willis was beaten to death. gan Square neighborhood liked death meant enough to bring 50 involve a revolution. The me- Mr. Garcia came from Gua- him. They were planning his people together for contemplation morial program for Ernesto had CHICAGO, IL — Ernesto Gar- temala to Chicago searching birthday party. They said he was and prayer over his fate and ours. three specific sections: mourn- cia was beaten to death, by two for a better life. He was beaten a gentle person. The economic system we ing, solidarity and revolution. To men while he tried to sleep in an to death in the street. He was a Fifty people led by the Lo- live under has less and less need this disappeared one we make alley. Ernesto Garcia was home- few days shy of his 60th birthday. gan Square Ecumenical Alli- for the Ernesto Garcia’s of this our pledge—not one more! less. That was the only reason he People who knew him in the Lo- ance came to the neighborhood world. Billions of paupers roam Action necessary everywhere to be true to the gospel By Rev. Bruce Wright an experienced denomination- ers can talk all they want about And, I know no one likes the Certain Nazis weren’t allegedly al clergy person. Challenging justice, but action must follow analogy between the US and cruel, but watched others com- ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Ac- your congregation to join in re- to truly represent the Gospel. Nazi Germany, but the Germans mit murder and stood by. In a tions are the Gospel and in my sistance is the call of the Gos- Reread Matthew 22, Isaiah 10, were supposedly amongst the court of law they would not be words I have always tried to pel, and the prophets. Isaiah 58. God has a preferen- most enlightened and they let considered innocent bystanders. back them up by actions. I do not Dr. King did this and with- tial option for the Poor clearly it happen to not only Jews, but They would be held accountable buy the Spiritual immaturity ar- out the Churches participation throughout the scriptures. other minorities, political dis- too. Can we do no less than what gument as an excuse for not tell- actively, not passively, the Civ- Most preachers are coward- senters, people of color, the gyp- the prophets, Jesus, and even de- ing the truth as ministers. What il Rights movement could not ly because they do not want to sies (homeless of that day), men- cent humanism have called all of Jesus did was revolutionary; he have moved forward. Jesus was lose or offend donors, especial- tally ill, and the Gay community. us to do? challenged Imperial and reli- not a reformist. Why do we im- ly those with money. “It is eas- gious power. To call Jesus Lord ply that revolution is violent? It ier for the Camel to go through was to challenge Caesar, the can become that only because the eye of a needle, then for a lord of the Roman Empire. of the violence of the govern- rich man to enter heaven...” It is not immature to chal- ment and the police brutally “You cannot Serve two mas- ACT lenge power or your congrega- oppressing African people, La- ters… God and Mammon…” In the name of those washing others’ clothes tion to action; it is the height of tino people, Indigenous people, “Take up your cross and follow (and cleaning others’ filth from the whiteness) maturity to do so. I have always and the poor and homeless. me…”—all said by Jesus. tried to speak truth to power as The community of believ- Why must we always be In the name of those caring for others’ children apologists for cowardly preach- (and selling their labor power ers, and Christians in general? in the form of maternal love and humiliations) The police in Ferguson, under the cloak of prayer, at every In the name of those living in another’s house press conference, spin false- (which isn’t even a kind belly but a tomb or a jail) hoods. Where are the preach- ers challenging this misuse of In the name of those eating others’ crumbs prayer? (and chewing them still with the feeling of a thief ) I have witnessed and been a victim of excessive police ag- In the name of those living on others’ land gression. They routinely brutal- (the houses and factories and shops ize, harass, beat, mistreat the streets cities and towns poor. Unfortunately until you rivers lakes volcanoes and mountains have experienced it you will always belong to others not see. More people have been and that’s why the cops and the guards are there killed by the cops then Ameri- guarding them against us) can troops in Iraq during the same time period. In the name of those who have nothing but Police brutality is real! They hunger exploitation disease have assault rifles, machine a thirst for justice and water guns, tear gas, rubber bullets, persecutions and condemnations tanks, armored vehicles, and he- loneliness abandonment oppression and death licopters! This is a war on the I accuse private property poor, and courage must be had of depriving us of everything. to speak the truth. Cops who The homeless protest in front of City Hall in St. Petersburg, cover up for other cops and don’t —Roque Dalton (El Salvador) Florida. PHOTO/CHRIS ERNESTO, ST. PETE FOR PEACE speak out are just as guilty. Translated from Spanish by Jack Hirschman 10 PEOPLE’S TRIBUNE | OCTOBER 2014 www.peoplestribune.org Howie Hawkins: A Green New Deal for New York there are looking for an inde- one of the workshops where you pendent candidate, and if we spoke. can win their votes, then we can HH: We talked about Kshama replace the Republicans as the Sawant’s victory in Seattle. The second party and the alternative Greens supported her in Seattle, to the Democrat, Gov. Cuomo. and she came to the Left Forum Gov. Cuomo’s corruption is a in New York and did a fundrais- national and even international er for me, so we already have a issue now, so that changes the Green-Socialist Alliance. The at- ballgame. tempt of human to dominate hu- man extends into nature as well SN: What are your feelings about and creates our environmental the Green Party nationally mov- problems. ing forward at this time? What we need is a social sys- HH: I am very encouraged. I tem that harmonizes with nature came here because our cam- on the basis of reharmonizing paign is really national. It can re- human with human. We need to ally open the door for Greens to be organizers, not just mobiliz- have a similar impact elsewhere. ers. It is less important what our We are running on a Green New name or label or program is, but Deal for New York. We are talk- to stand with working people ing about the economic human speaking and acting for them- Supporters of the Howie Hawkin for NY governor campaign protest fracking. right to jobs with a living wage, selves. As Eugene Debs used to PHOTO/HOWIE HAWKINS FOR NY GOVERNOR to good education, affordable say, if a Moses comes along and Shamako Noble of the People’s and received 60,000 votes. That Green Party at the grass roots, housing, affordable transit, and could lead you into the promised Tribune interviewed Howie was enough to get a ballot line, so we have more local organi- a public health care system. We land, then somebody else could Hawkins, Green Party candidate and that was our first goal. The zations across the state, and the call it a Green New Deal be- come along and lead you out. for Governor of New York at second goal was to move the de- fourth goal was to get 5% of the cause we have got to get to 100% After the election we need the recent Green Party national bate, which we did in 2010. We vote. That would be the biggest clean energy fast if we are go- to get people involved in or- gathering. got the ban fracking issue on vote for an independent left par- ing to avoid catastrophic climate ganizing our local Green Party the agenda, and also progres- ty in New York history. We are change, and that is a full em- groups, so we can be active be- Shamako Noble: Why did you sive tax reform, revitalizing the already at 6% in the polls right ployment program. tween elections as well as during decide to run for Governor? public sector, and a bottom up, now and we think we can go elections. Howie Hawkins: The Green wage-led development policy. much higher. SN: Please talk about the “So- My web site is howiehawkins.org Party asked me. I ran in 2010 The third goal was to build the A quarter of the voters out cialist-Green Alliance” that was Billionaires pit young against the old By Marilyn Daniels their parents’ and grandparents’ generations were fed nearly the DETROIT, MI — Wall Street same line thirty years ago. We financiers are targeting young were told that the World War II people with a warning: “The generation was set to go on the older generation is stealing your generous gravy train of Social future!” They generate continu- Security, but the Baby Boom ous “educational campaigns” generation would “break the (such as “The Can Kicks Back”) system” and maybe wreck the that claim “the burden of entitle- country. ments” is responsible for ruinous Congress devised the fix of cuts in education, research, and nearly doubling the FICA taxes! job opportunities. The Baby Boom generation has Since the devastating capital- paid a whopping 12.4% of pay- ist crisis of 2008, neither young rolls over decades. We expected nor old trust the Wall Street this would make Social Security “solution” of converting Social totally solvent. It did! Unfortu- Security into a privatized, indi- nately, over decades Congress vidualized, “investment-based” transferred massive FICA rev- pension system. We’ve seen the enue surpluses toward fund- stock market reduce the em- ing of year-to-year general ex- ployer-based retirement system penditures (including wars and to shreds. Pensions have been corporate welfare.) By means cut or eliminated entirely. Even of “inter-governmental borrow- Protest against cuts to workers’ pensions in Detroit. PHOTO/DAYMONJHARTLEY.COM constitutionally-protected work- ing,” they’ve taken trillions of ers pensions are being “legally” real dollars out of Social Secu- publicans call Social Security a of federal funds spent every year debt. Still, polls show that even gutted. rity and other federal trust funds. “Ponzi scheme.” Democrats in- is borrowed? The promise of young people who don’t think There’s more to it than capi- They’ve left only IOUs from one sist there’s nothing wrong that Social Security is only as good Social Security benefits “will be talists’ lust for privatization! part of the government to anoth- minor tweaking won’t fix. as the economy. The capital- there for them” support Social Wall Street is also trying to drive er. There is no remaining pool of Here lies the threat: Any re- ist system will need to diminish Security and oppose cutting it! home the message, “The mon- dedicated Social Security funds payment to the Social Security all social programs--even Social Our young people have a differ- ey’s not there.” This is ideologi- in reserve to draw on, only the Trust Funds rests on the “full Security. ent sense of morality than cyni- cal preparation for a crisis ahead. taxes that come in each year. faith and credit” of the U.S. Young workers are vulnerable cal billionaires. They believe in They want youth to believe Politicians of both parties Treasury to re-pay itself. Do we because their incomes, savings, caring for seniors, the disabled, “there is no other choice” but still hide the crisis they’ve cre- really think they will be able to and retirements will be much and the orphaned. to cut essential benefits. Young ated in Social Security. They pay back trillions of dollars to lower than past generations. people have no way of knowing generate ongoing confusion. Re- Social Security, given that 40% Many are already burdened with www.peoplestribune.org OCTOBER 2014 | PEOPLE’S TRIBUNE 11 Standing together for a new America By Rev. Edward Pinkney Within this dictatorial po- litical environment, the Benton BENTON HARBOR, MI — The Harbor community exercised USA pro- their democratic right to recall claims itself a corporate (Whirlpool) allied the “land of mayor. With absolutely no evi- freedom,” but dence, I was charged with voter the reality is fraud and bound over for trial. we live under This attack was intended to stop the world’s the community’s recall election most corrupt legal system. It from going forward. In a hear- has rigged courts, bribed judges, ing to determine if there was evi- phony trials, extortion by law- dence to take me to trial, Mark yers, and over two million pris- Goff, a forensic document ex- oners. You can be sent to prison aminer with the Michigan State and even put to death with abso- Police (who is nothing but a lutely no evidence. The truth is hired gun,) testified that chang- hidden by America’s corporate es to the election petitions were owned media, and by Berrien made with different ink. But he County’s media. They are afraid could not determine who made to tell the truth about Michigan’s the changes, when they were Emergency Manager system made, or whether the person where rule is without the consent who signed the petition changed of the governed. it. His testimony provided no Benton Harbor now has four evidence against me. However, plicate signatures that had been ment and the corporations. nothing in common with the bil- Emergency Mangers. They are Judge Sterling Schrock, Judge invalidated based upon a faulty Democracy has been stolen lionaires, their corporations and called a transitional team. Ap- Charlie LaSata and Prosecutor practice by the Berrien County from the people. Water rights government. We must stand to- pointed by the governor, they are Mike Sepic all stated that you do Clerk’s Office. Attorney John have been stolen. Poverty is gether for a new America. the direct representatives of the not need evidence to go to trial. LePetrie said, the Berrien Coun- growing. We, the people have corporate giant, Whirlpool, that The government is counting on ty clerk, “armed with $20,000 in runs Benton Harbor. This “team” an all white jury that may be mo- funding from the County Board, can overrule decisions from tivated by something other than appealed (that ruling) with sup- the democratically elected city the truth to convict. port from two major law firms council. They can sell off public Soon after, in a momentary and the Attorney General’s of- Attend Pinkney trial! assets to private interests. The victory for the people, Judge fice, representing the Secretary Trial begins October 27 at Berrien County team includes two former Whirl- John DeWane ruled that the con- of State and the Bureau of Elec- Courthouse, 811 Port St., St. Joseph, MI. pool employees, one county trea- tested mayoral recall election tions.” The Court of Appeals re- surer, and a member of the State should be placed on the Novem- versed Judge Dewane’s favor- Donations for defense urgently needed. Send to: Treasury Department. This is ber ballot based upon the First able ruling, and it was essentially BANCO, what fascism in Michigan looks Amendment’s political core upheld by the state’s Supreme 1940 Union Street like—the merger of government Freedom of Speech. The issue Court. This scenario once again Benton Harbor , MI 49022 and the corporations. boiled down to admitting 21 du- shows the unity of the govern- Michigan corporate dictatorships spread across the country By Women’s Economic officials that citizens voted for. verting $544 million in lifetime re- since a commission threatened to Agenda Project And a growing number of Detroit tiree health benefits into a $5.1 mil- yank its accreditation. The threat residents are losing the human lion one-time payment. That gives had nothing to do with its qual- OAKLAND, CA — The cor- right to running water because workers just under a penny for ity of education and everything to porate agenda that has captured they can’t afford their water bills. every dollar promised them. And do with its budget, including pen- both major political parties and In California, the global cor- a judge’s ruling due any time now sion and health care costs. deprived working people of their porate agenda is using other tac- could declare Stockton’s pension- In the San Francisco Bay Area, basic rights is most fully devel- tics to achieve the same goals, ers no more worthy of protection home of Silicon Valley million- oped in the state of Michigan. making sure corporations get than any of its other debtors. Such aires, corporations are fighting But it is taking shape in different the highest profits possible at the a ruling could encourage other Cal- against a livable minimum wage. ways in California and elsewhere. expense of the rest of us. Busi- ifornia cities to file for bankruptcy Business lobby pressure watered That agenda’s goal is maximiz- nesses are trying to use the state to cut worker pension costs. down minimum wage proposals ing profits by transferring public to shift millions of dollars away San Bernardino stopped pay- in Berkeley and Richmond, and worth into private hands and rav- from pensions and wages and ing into California’s public work- killed a state legislature proposal aging the rights of workers. The into paying off corporate debt. er pension fund for about a year. to raise the state minimum wage. excuse used is austerity: workers Stockton, California was While it is once again making pay- These are just a few examples must sacrifice to help corpora- the largest U.S. city to file for ments, it has refused to make up of a push toward a national corpo- tions make more money. bankruptcy until Detroit filed in $13.5 million worth of back pay- rate dictatorship. Corporate leaders The corporate agenda has mid-2013, and San Bernardino ments. A court-imposed gag order have a plan to secure their profits stripped basic democratic rights was the second largest. Both of prevents a proposed settlement by using the power of the govern- from large numbers of Michigan these California cities first tried from being publicly disclosed. ment to enforce austerity on the A dozen people are arrested residents, including more than half to protect retiree pensions. But The equivalent of Michigan’s working class. Workers need a at the labor protest at a San the state’s African Americans. In as business interests ramped up Emergency Manager system runs counterplan to put the tremendous Francisco Apple Store. the name of austerity, Governor- the pressure, and Detroit retirees San Francisco City College, once abundance from the microchip into PHOTO/STEVE RHODES appointed Emergency Managers twisted in the wind, those initial the state’s largest community col- the service of all society. take all financial and operational protections were whittled away. lege. Its original 85,000 enroll- decisions away from the elected Stockton now proposes con- ment has shrunk in the 15 months
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