• ¡LIBERTAD PARA OSCAR! • CAMBIO CLIMÁTICO 12

PHOTO: COLIN ASHBY Workers and oppressed peoples of the world unite! workers.org Vol. 58, No. 2 Jan. 21, 2016 $1 Blocking New York City traffic to protest ICE deportations. Read more on page 3. Wave of U.S. terror raids Stop deporting refugees! By Teresa Gutierrez

The Obama administration rang in the New Year with a wave of terror against undocumented workers, partic- ularly Central Americans. In an unprecedented act, the raids particularly tar- geted children, the first in this country to target minors. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson an- nounced on Jan. 3 that 121 people had been taken into custody in the states of Georgia, Texas and North Caro- lina over the New Year’s weekend to await deportation. He stated: “This past weekend, Immigration and Cus- toms Enforcement [ICE] engaged in concerted, nation- wide enforcement operations to take into custody and return at a greater rate adults who entered this country illegally with children. This should come as no surprise. I have said publicly for months that individuals who con- stitute enforcement priorities, including families and un- accompanied children, will be removed.” (Politico, Jan. 4) White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest added at a press conference that President Barack Obama sup- ports deportation of those who recently entered the U.S. illegally. Earnest said at the daily briefing for reporters,

“Certainly, people should take from this the under- PHOTO: STEVE RHODES standing that the administration is quite serious about Black and Brown unity march Jan. 6 to demand justice for Mario Woods, executed by San Francisco police. See page 7. enforcing our immigration laws.” In fact, President Obama has carried out more depor- tations than any other U.S. president. Since his election, over 2 million workers have been deported.

Raids illegal, inhumane and unprecedented The response to the raids, not only by longstanding immigrant rights associations and advocates but also by MLK’S LEGACY 8, 10 a number of legal entities, was swift and forceful. The way that the raids were carried out led to an im- mediate condemnation by advocates, and human rights and legal aid organizations. ICE agents, according to several news sources, typ- ically arrived in pre-dawn hours at the homes of peo- ple with deportation orders. One woman in Dallas told VICE news (Jan. 5) that she and her two sons were asleep ◊ FIGHT REPRESSION in her parents’ home. When her father opened the door, agents burst inside. She said she was wearing very little Justice for Mario Woods, as she was still in bed. Nonetheless, ICE took her and her two children to a detention center in south Texas to Free the Ft. Dix Five, Oscar López Rivera await deportation. Similar scenes took place in Georgia and North Car- Keith Davis, Anthony Hill 6 - 7 olina. Immigration activists report that such raids also occurred in Maryland. One reason the raids were met with such quick and strong condemnation is the context in which Central 9 American migrants are here and their unique status. ◊ OREGON STANDOFF & THE STATE Many of the children and parents who were targeted for deportation faced a rushed and unfair legal process that never gave them their day in court. Legal experts and immigration advocates point out how utterly un- fair and illegal it is to target this particular group for ◊ LOS ANGELES methane leak 5 deportation. Michelle Chen writes in the Nation (Jan. 5), “Those slated for deportation have spent months bouncing Continued on page 3 ◊ ARREST GUV! Flint’s children poisoned 4

Subscribe to Workers World 4 weeks trial $4 1 year subscription $30 ◊ ROE V. WADE & reproductive justice 4 Sign me up for the WWP Supporter Program: workers.org/articles/donate/supporters_/ Name ______

Email______Phone ______Solidarity with Korea 10 Cuba & migration 10 Street______City / State / Zip______Workers World 212.627.2994 147 W. 24th St., 2nd Fl, NY, NY 10011 workers.org South Africa 11 Page 2 Jan. 21, 2016 workers.org

Unforgettable: Natalie Cole (1950-2015)

By Mumia Abu-Jamal in a moment of sun-touched beauty, her eyes ablaze like  In the U.S. a laughing lioness? Taken from a Jan. 2 Natalie Cole. “Unforgettable.” ... Yes. But also, unbe- Stop deporting refugees ...... 1 audio column recorded lievable. Mumia: Natalie Cole, unforgettable ...... 2 by prisonradio.org. When she, the daughter of the dazzling dark crooner, Protests denounce ICE raids ...... 3 Her voice, rippling like Nat King Cole, was able to sing a duet with her long-dead Detroit autoworkers protest ...... 3 warm lake water, has father, a thing of magic and beauty was born. Daughter been moving through my and father, joined across time: “Unforgettable.” It won ‘Arrest Gov. Snyder!’ The poisoning of Flint’s children . . .4 memory for hours now, her a Grammy in 2008, but, more importantly, it won the Attacks on abortion rights spiked in 2015 ...... 4 ever since I heard of her hearts of millions to hear the two united in song. “This Methane leak endangers Los Angeles and environment . 5 shocking passing. Will Be” and “Our Love” were some of her biggest hits. Overflow crowd attends Duka appeal hearings ...... 6 How many hours had Natalie Cole suffered for years from hepatitis C and I enjoyed her playful, en- Natalie Cole its side effects. She even had a kidney transplant. Muslim woman stands up to Trump’s Islamophobia . . . 6 chanting, enthralling alto, Her remarkable voice will now, like her father’s, echo The best birthday present – Free Oscar López Rivera! . . .6 contralto, her soprano peaks? Countless. How many through time. Baltimore cops shoot, then frame up Keith Davis Jr. . . . 7 times had I stared at her photos, emblazoned on album Natalie Cole, “Unforgettable Still,” joins the ancestors, San Francisco: Justice for Mario Woods! ...... 7 covers, a beaming smile in a pecan-colored face, caught after 65 winters in America. In murder of Black veteran – Georgia cop to face grand jury . 7 Dr. King’s legacy and the struggle for the cities ...... 8 Baltimore PPA ‘Repair all public housing!’ ...... 8 Continue the new year right Mumia: When a child dies – Tamir Rice ...... 8 If finding a new copy of Workers World in your mail- financial footing. Keeping the paper strong during the ”The Big Short” shows capitalism has nowhere to go . . .8 box or on your computer every week excites you, it’s time coming election year is essential to showing what sets Oregon standoff and the role of the state ...... 9 you started giving back to WW. our socialist candidates apart from other third parties, Impact of Cuban Adjustment Act on migration . . . . . 10 This weekly delivery of class truth — an infusion of let alone the two ruling-class parties. Marxist-Leninist thought and class struggle — is now Write checks to Workers World Fund Drive, and send  Around the world unusual in the United States. Workers World is one them to Workers World, 147 W. 24th St., 2nd floor, New of the last weekly revolutionary socialist newspapers York, NY 10011. Include your name and address. Or do- WWP sends message of solidarity to Koreans ...... 10 printed and distributed in this country. We are proud nate online at workers.org/articles/donate/. South Africa: Instability shows revolution is unfinished . 11 that we are able to hand the paper directly to workers If you’d like to help build the paper throughout the at union meetings or on picket lines, in the subways or whole year, you can join the Workers World Supporter  Editorials at bus stops, or at protests against police violence, or for Program and give either a lump sum or a monthly dona- Dr. King’s legacy still relevant ...... 10 $15 an hour and a union. tion. We set up the Workers World Supporter Program 38 But printing, mailing and posting the paper 51 weeks years ago to invite our subscribers to join in building WW.  Noticias en Español a year cost a lot of money. Much more than is covered by Members receive a year’s subscription to WW, a monthly Cambiando el medioambiente: De Kioto al temporal Frank 12 our modest $30 subscription fee or $1 per issue. We feel letter about timely issues or new publications from World Libertad para Oscar López Rivera, ¡YA! ...... 12 strongly that we need to keep the price low so that the vast View Forum, and five free trial subscriptions to give to majority of people can afford it. And all our staff contrib- friends — all for a donation of $75 a year. For $100 a year ute their time, talent and socialist viewpoint to help sub- you also get any book from World View Forum. For $300 sidize the paper and make it so accessible to our readers. a year (only $25 a month) you get your pick of five books That’s why we appeal to our readers and subscribers or PVN videos. You can always contribute more. for various kinds of financial help. Twice a year, we make Take the time today to keep the voice of struggle for an appeal for funds to specifically help subsidize pro- revolutionary socialism loud and clear by mailing a Workers World 147 W. 24th St., 2nd Fl. duction of WW. Now we’re about to conclude the Fund check to Workers World and indicate how you wish to Drive. We hope you’ll give as generously as you can so contribute — either to the Fund Drive or by joining the New York, N.Y. 10011 WW can continue a new year of struggle on a sound Workers World Supporter Program. Phone: 212.627.2994 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.workers.org Vol. 58, No. 1 • Jan. 21, 2016 Closing date: Jan. 12, 2016 Editor: Deirdre Griswold Managing Editors: John Catalinotto, LeiLani Dowell, Who we are & what we’re fighting for Kris Hamel, Monica Moorehead; Web Editor Gary Wilson Production & Design Editors: Coordinator Lal Roohk; Hate capitalism? Workers World Party fights for a ­degrading people because of their nationality, sexual or Andy Katz, Cheryl LaBash ­socialist society — where the wealth is socially owned gender identity or disabilities — all are tools the ruling and production is planned to satisfy human need. This class uses to keep us apart. They ruthlessly super-ex- Copyediting and Proofreading: Sue Davis, Keith Fine, Bob McCubbin outmoded capitalist system is dragging down workers’ ploit some in order to better exploit us all. WWP builds living standards while throwing millions out of their unity among all workers while supporting the right Contributing Editors: Abayomi Azikiwe, jobs. If you’re young, you know they’re stealing your of self-determination. Fighting oppression is a work- Greg Butterfield, G. Dunkel, K. Durkin, Fred Goldstein, future. And capitalism is threatening the entire planet ing-class issue, which is confirmed by the many labor Martha Grevatt, Teresa Gutierrez, Larry Hales, with its unplanned, profit-driven stranglehold over the struggles led today by people of color, immigrants and Berta Joubert-Ceci, Terri Kay, Cheryl LaBash, Milt Neidenberg, John Parker, Bryan G. Pfeifer, means of production. women. Betsey Piette, Minnie Bruce Pratt, Gloria Rubac Workers built it all — it belongs to society, not to a WWP has a long history of militant opposition to im- handful of billionaires! But we need a revolution to perialist wars. The billionaire rulers are bent on turning Mundo Obero: Redactora Berta Joubert-Ceci; make that change. That’s why for 57 years WWP has back the clock to the bad old days before socialist revolu- Ramiro Fúnez, Teresa Gutierrez, Donna Lazarus, been building a revolutionary party of the working tions and national liberation struggles liberated territory Carlos Vargas class inside the belly of the beast. from their grip. We’ve been in the streets to oppose every Supporter Program: Coordinator Sue Davis We fight every kind of oppression. Racism, sexism, one of imperialism’s wars and aggressions. Copyright © 2014 Workers World. 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[email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] New York, N.Y. 10011. workers.org Jan. 21, 2016 Page 3 Protests denounce ICE raids PHOTO: STEVE EBERHARDT PHOTO: JOE BRUSKY PHOTO: COLIN ASHBY By Kris Hamel Atlanta Milwaukee New York City When the Wash- ington Post leaked on Dec. 23 that the Barack Obama administration would begin a series of raids by U.S. Immigra- tion and Customs En- forcement and the De- partment of Homeland Security, and start de- porting some 100,000 people in 2016, immigrant rights groups One More Deportation: Cut the Fence” advice, frightened to send their children support of refugee community members did not sit back. Protests to the raids, and “Fuck ICE.” to school or to open their doors — situ- and called on ICE to stop the raids. which mostly target migrants from Cen- “It was empowering to see people’s ations so similar to their fearful lives An upcoming “Know Your Rights” tral America who fled violence in their response to the action and to see the in the violence-wrought countries from workshop and other resources for com- home countries in the prior year, were community come together within a day which they had tried to escape. munity self-defense were announced. immediately in the works. The raids be- to speak out against the raids. This is The protest was supported by the Mil- gan the first weekend of the new year. just the first step,” said Claudia Palacios, Wisconsin says #StopTheRaids waukee Teachers Education Association On Dec. 30, a noisy demonstration a PPA organizer who took part in the Voces de la Frontera and the New and other labor and community organi- was held by immigrant families and ac- ­protest. Sanctuary Movement in Milwaukee held zations. See vdlf.org and #StopTheRaids. tivists outside the White House. (wusa9. Seven protesters were arrested. Orga- a protest Jan. 7 at the ICE office there to Toni Arenstein, Dianne Mathiowetz, com) On Jan. 6, according to Mission Lo- nizers outside the police headquarters demand an end to the latest raids and Lyn Neeley and WW Milwaukee Bureau cal, protesters gathered outside the San heard that because of the way the seven deportations. Participants pledged their contributed to this article. Francisco ICE headquarters. On Jan. 7, were tied together and because they al- activists protested outside the federal legedly refused arrest, they were still be- building which houses ICE in Newark, ing kept after 24 hours. N.J., reported nj.com. Other demonstra- Wave of U.S. terror raids tions have occurred in Boston; New Hav- Predawn raids start in Atlanta en, Conn.; Homestead, Fla.; and Auburn, Several dozen immigrant women and Ore. (democracynow.org, Jan. 8) children, one of them only 4 years old, Following are reports on protests and were seized from homes throughout Stop deporting refugees! press conferences from Workers World metro Atlanta by ICE agents in the pre- Party activists. dawn hours of Jan. 2. Continued from page 1 This lucrative industry for the banks By nightfall, at least 47 refugees from and the entire drug business means ICE-free NYC Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador around a legal gauntlet that baffles even that drugs won’t be stopped until the With arms locked together and shield- were on a plane to Texas where they were attorneys, let alone 7-year-olds who don’t movement for justice stops them. In the ed with large black piping, heroic immi- taken to a detention center in prepara- speak English, or young mothers suffer- meantime, drug violence soars in Central grant rights activists blocked traffic for tion for deportation. ing post-traumatic stress.” America and Mexico so the business can nearly an hour outside the ICE offices On Jan. 7, at a press conference in The Southern Poverty Law Center im- carry on. and immigration court in lower Manhat- front of the Atlanta ICE office called by mediately filed a Freedom of Information Central American youth in particular tan. The action was publicized as a noon- the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Act request just hours after the raids were are being returned to their deaths. Many time press conference in response to the Rights, Johanna Gutierrez provided the announced. They wrote that the raids of the migrant families report that they Obama administration’s authorization of terrifying details of how her niece and “raise serious questions about whether fled Honduras or El Salvador only after more raids, detentions and deportations nephew were removed by armed men federal agents violated constitutional family members had already been target- of migrants. from her Norcross, Ga., home. standards or used illegal tactics to detain ed and often killed by drug lords. Fam- Following the press conference, or- Gutierrez described how agents came immigrant families seeking safety.” ilies are fleeing for their lives. One mi- ganizers held a short march of 250 peo- barging through the door, claiming they The group filed a FOIA request to in- grant mother told a member of Congress ple, who were accompanied by the cops. did not need a warrant to enter. Going vestigate the legality of the raids and that she could live in poverty but she Then, suddenly, another group of mostly from room to room, they separated the called the actions “simply unconsciona- could not live under conditions of war. immigrant youth activists and migrants, scared, crying children from the adults. ble.” They continue, “Our preliminary In 2014, more than 100,000 work- in touch with the march, moved in and They threatened to arrest her when investigation indicates that ICE and co- ing-class people came across the border shut down one of the largest and busiest she sought to comfort and reassure the operating local law enforcement agencies fleeing these conditions. Thousands were thoroughfares in New York City. ­children. used coercion and deception as part of unaccompanied minors. Young people Toni Arenstein, from the People’s Pow- Gutierrez’s niece, Ana Lizeth Mejía, the raids in Cobb, DeKalb and Gwinnett recounted how they were pressured to er Assembly, told Workers World: “Police and her young son had fled Honduras counties in Georgia.” join [the so-called gangs] or die. were totally unprepared. They really in the summer of 2014 after her brother Throughout the country, immigrant On Oct. 12 a Guardian newspaper didn’t know what to do. Not only were was killed by gang members. Gutierrez groups and advocates responded swift- headline read: “U.S. government deport- the people blocking the intersections, said that her niece wore an ankle mon- ly and mobilized in defense of their ing Central American migrants to their but everyone in the area went into the itor and had an upcoming court date on communities. Press rallies, forums and death.” The newspaper’s investigation street.” her application for asylum. know-your-rights outreach took place in documented that many of the deportees Protesters prevented the cops from The GLAHR office has been inundat- cities throughout Texas, Wisconsin, Cali- sent back by the Obama administration opening up two corners by quickly ed with phone calls since the raids took fornia, New York and elsewhere. had been murdered just days or months stretching banners across the street place. Some are relatives trying to find Immigrants were advised not to open after returning to El Salvador, Guate- stating their demands: “ICE Free NYC,” out where their loved ones have been the door without being shown warrants, mala or Honduras. The study said that “Close Prisons — Open Borders,” “Not taken. Other immigrants call seeking as ICE agents were knocking on doors as many as 83 returnees had been killed and using chicanery and deception to get since 2014. Immigration activists say in. Agents say they are looking for John that is just the tip of the iceberg. Three Doe or Tal Fulano — a person that no one Honduran men were gunned down just Detroit autoworkers protest knows in that home — and use that as a days after being returned home. pretext to get in and pick up someone The blood of migrants — whether Despite bitter cold and wind, rank- else. killed by drug violence, attacks by car- and-file autoworkers and supporters tels, during travel to the U.S., or losing protested Jan. 10 outside the North Deported back to die their lives in the deserts or on the rail- American International Auto Show in The targeting of migrants from Hon- road tracks near the border — is on the Detroit. The action was called by the duras, El Salvador and Guatemala in hands of U.S. imperialism. Autoworker Caravan and was sup- the New Year’s raids is especially un- Instability in Central America, just as ported by members of the Morato- conscionable, as well as racist and crim- in Mexico, is absolutely and totally due rium Now! Coalition to Stop Foreclo- to U.S. imperialist policies. This is why sures, Evictions and Utility Shutoffs inal, because of the conditions the youth, and the National Action Network. children and families are being deported Central American migrants in particular AWC attacked the “gigantic profits” back to. deserve refugee status immediately. And of the auto companies, made at the Decades of imperialist intervention in immigrant groups are absolutely correct expense of workers in the plants — Central America have created unstable in demanding an immediate end to the here and around the world — as well social conditions. The so-called U.S. war raids and deportations. as the environment. on drugs served not to stop illegal drugs Will more raids continue? If they do, — Report and photo but to build and expand the drug indus- the movement will respond with an even by Martha Grevatt try, including the cartels. greater fightback. Page 4 Jan. 21, 2016 workers.org ‘Arrest Gov. Snyder!’ Behind the poisoning of Flint’s children WW PHOTO: MARTHA GREVATT By Martha Grevatt

The lead poisoning of children in Flint, Mich., now a national scandal, was en- tirely preventable. Lead is poison. People exposed to lead have known this for centuries. According to the Centers for Disease Control, lead exposure can affect nearly every bodily system and no safe blood level in children has been identified. The brain is the or- recommended the obvious: reconnect to July. In it, Muchmore admits “these folks sa Mays, who has suffered along with her gan most vulnerable to lead, particularly Detroit until the new project is finished. are scared and worried about the health children, spoke, along with Sharif and in children, whose brains and bodies are Instead, the emergency manager paid impacts and they are basically getting Detroit water activists. not fully developed. The effects of lead on the notorious Veolia Corp. $40,000 to blown off by us.” Behind the crisis children — most frequently learning, de- conduct a study which recommended Snyder has apologized and state DEQ velopmental and behavioral disabilities reducing other unsafe pollutants with head Dan Wyant and spokesperson Brad Public Act 436, passed in 2012, allows — are well known. chemicals and using filters. Veolia did Wurfel have resigned. After a federal the governor to appoint an emergency Prevention of lead poisoning, however, not address the lead pipe corrosion issue. investigation of this horrible crime was manager over a city or school district in is straightforward: Avoid ingesting, in- Now that it will cost well over $1 billion announced, Snyder declared a state of financial distress. The EM has broad dic- haling or making skin contact with lead. to replace the corroded pipes, will Veolia emergency. tatorial powers. Elected city officials have For decades, Flint received its water emerge with an offer to rebuild the infra- Efforts to get bottled water and water no standing beyond what the EM grants from the Detroit Water and Sewerage structure in exchange for being allowed filters to residents were slow to get under them. This appointed overseer can uni- Department, whose water quality is to privatize the water department? way. Solidarity donations from Detroit laterally overturn union contracts, sell among the country’s best. In 2014, how- LeeAnne Walters, whose son Gavin water rights activists and the United Auto off city assets, declare bankruptcy and ever, after haggling over what Detroit has lead poisoning, had the water de- Workers helped temporarily. generally make his or her own rules with was charging, the Flint City Council vot- partment test her water when her fam- Even when the water is deemed to be one exception: Bondholders must be ed to join a new water authority. With its ily developed skin rashes after bathing safe, many families will still be without paid. This bankers-first, dictator law was infrastructure not yet built, the decision or using the kids’ pool. While no level is service. These households had their water a slightly modified version of Public Act to unhook from Detroit and get Flint’s considered safe by the federal govern- shut off when they fell behind in their bills. 4, which the voters rejected at the polls. water from the highly polluted Flint Riv- ment, a lead level of 15 parts per billion or Despite being undrinkable, Flint’s water All but one of the Michigan cities that er was made by Jerry Ambrose, the un- higher is deemed cause for concern. The is the most expensive in Michigan and have had an EM imposed are majority elected emergency manager of this ma- first test measured 100 ppb. A second test among the most expensive in the country. African-American. All of the cities that jority African-American city. a week later showed 400 ppb! Residents of the mostly white suburbs of have been under emergency manage- The pollutants in the Flint River — a Officials in the state Department of Genesee County pay much less. ment have a high poverty rate. Flint’s is result of decades of unchecked chemical Environmental Quality, appointed by 40 percent. (Democracy Now) Arrest Gov. Snyder! dumping by General Motors and other Gov. Rick Snyder, and even the governor Flint, the birthplace of GM, was not companies — have made the river water himself, repeatedly assured Flint res- There are many links in the chain of always poor. The town grew in the 19th highly corrosive. This allowed lead to idents the water was safe to drink and blame, but the prime suspect is Gov. century as a center for carriage building leach from the aging pipes in Flint’s sys- bathe with. ­Snyder. and in the 20th century shifted to auto- tem. This leaching could have been pre- Meanwhile GM, after expressing fears “I feel like he should be arrested,” said mobile manufacturing. People from all vented by adding anti-corrosive chemi- that the corrosive water would dam- Flint activist Nayyirah Sharif of the De- over the country and the world flocked to cals to the water at a cost of roughly $100 age equipment, was allowed to discon- mocracy Defense League. “He can take GM’s plants. GM had 10 plants in Flint per day. Now, the corrosion of the lead nect from Flint city and connect to Flint his apology and flush it down the toilet.” in 1937, the year of the sit-down strikes, pipes has destroyed the entire infrastruc- Township’s water supply, which does not More than 60,000 people have signed an employing most of the population. ture. Even though the city has reconnect- draw from the Flint River. online petition by filmmaker and Flint The city’s tax base never recovered ed to the Detroit system, the water is still native Michael Moore for Snyder’s arrest. from the wave of GM plant closings in The people expose the truth not safe because of the corroded pipes. Over 200 Flint residents and Detroit the 1980s, made famous in Michael It took an independent effort by com- supporters rallied outside Flint City Hall Moore’s documentary, “Roger and Me.” Too late for Flint’s children munity activists, aided by University Jan. 8 for an “Arrest Snyder Road Show” Two decades later, Flint, like Detroit, was This switchback to Detroit came too of Virginia professor and water safety demonstration. The action featured a gi- hit hard by the foreclosure crisis caused late for Flint’s children. Complaints to specialist Marc Edwards, pediatrician ant papier mache head of Snyder, with by racist predatory lending. Debt service authorities about the brownish color and Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, and Michi- the person wearing the puppet head clad to the banks has been a strain on the city the foul taste and smell of the water, no- gan ACLU investigative journalist Curt in a prison jumpsuit. budget. ticed immediately after the switch to the Guyette, to expose both the toxic lead The protest was called by the Flint These are the economic facts behind Flint River, were repeatedly ignored. Re- levels in the water and the lead poisoning group “Water You Fighting For,” “We the toxic cost cutting decisions. This ports of skin rashes, hair loss and diges- already impacting the children. the People of Detroit,” the Detroit Peo- is capitalist austerity at its worst. Sny- tive disorders were dismissed. Edwards used the Freedom of Infor- ple’s Water Board and the Detroit Light der has committed a horrific crime and Bob Bowcock — an associate of envi- mation Act to obtain the now scandalous Brigade, who carried lighted signs that should go to jail. So should the GM boss- ronmental activist Erin Brockovich — af- email sent by the governor’s chief of staff, spelled out “Arrest Snyder 4 Flint Water.” es and the bankers for their role in the ter studying the situation for no charge, Dennis Muchmore, to Snyder back in “Water You Fighting For” founder Melis- mass poisoning of a population. On Roe v. Wade anniversary Attacks on abortion rights spiked in 2015 By Sue Davis en’s right to access safe, legal abortions Cherisse Scott, founder and CEO of Sis- and state organizations, the campaign took place in Colorado Springs, Colo., terReach, a reproductive justice group in initiated by “All* Above All,” a reproduc- Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme on Nov. 27, when Robert Dear murdered Memphis, Tenn., told RH Reality Check: tive justice organization run by a mul- Court decision legalizing abortion in three people at a Planned Parenthood clin- “Our greatest fear has come to pass, and tinational group of mostly young wom- 1973, took a beating in 2015. Yet despite ic and injured nine. (While this and other it could have been avoided. Women are en, would effectively overturn the Hyde all the attacks limiting access to abortion state and federal attacks on Planned Par- attempting to self-abort due to restrictive Amendment. Passed in 1976, Hyde denies passed by the states, especially in the last enthood were clearly motivated because abortion and punitive fetal assault legis- Medicaid coverage for abortions for poor five years, the ruling still will stand, on the organization is the largest provider of lation.” (Dec. 14) women, who are disproportionately wom- Jan. 22, its 43rd anniversary, as a testa- abortion services in the U.S., the ongoing Meanwhile, some court rulings af- en of color, young, immigrants, victims of ment to the struggle for women’s repro- attempts by federal and state governments firmed Roe regulations when judges domestic violence, women with disabili- ductive rights. to defund Planned Parenthood were not struck down Arkansas’ ban on abortion ties and those living in rural areas. Of nearly 400 anti-abortion bills in- specifically tied to those services.) after 12 weeks, Idaho and North Dakota’s troduced in the states in 2015 — up from That brings the total to 11 people mur- 20-week bans, and Alabama and Wiscon- Supreme Court to rule on Texas law 335 in 2014 — 57 of them were ultimate- dered due to their association with abor- sin’s laws requiring abortion providers to Attacks on the right to abortion “could ly passed, mostly in southeastern states, tion services — the majority physicians, secure admitting privileges at a hospital. get worse in 2016,” predicted Elizabeth according to statistics compiled by the health care professionals and clinic The most pro-active move for abortion Nash, a Guttmacher Institute state pol- Guttmacher Institute. These included workers. Such domestic terrorism began rights occurred in Congress on July 8, icy analyst. “It does not appear that the regulation of medication abortions, man- in 1993. when Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D- pending U.S. Supreme Court case is slow- datory waiting periods and parental con- One possible result of 12 bills restrict- CA), along with more than 64 congres- ing down abortion opponents.” (Mother sent, bans on abortions after 20 weeks’ ing abortion in Tennessee is that Anna sional co-sponsors, introduced the EACH Jones, Dec. 30) The court will hear ar- gestation and all-out bans on the most Yocca attempted to self-induce a mis- Woman Act. The bill would ensure health guments from both sides about the Texas common method for second-trimester carriage at 24 weeks with a coat hanger coverage for abortion for every woman, case on March 2. Their decision is expect- abortions after 14 weeks. in September and was charged with at- no matter how much she earns or howev- ed in late June. The most devastating attack on wom- tempted first degree murder on Dec. 9. er she is insured. Backed by 36 national The Supreme Court agreed on Nov. 13 workers.org Jan. 21, 2016 Page 5 Massive methane leak endangers Los Angeles and environment WW PHOTO: SCOTT SCHEFFER

By Scott Scheffer Los Angeles

A rupture in a 7-inch gas pipe at a well belonging to the Aliso Canyon Natu- ral Gas Facility in Los Angeles has been spewing between 50,000 and 100,000 pounds of methane into the atmosphere each hour since Oct. 23. Roughly equiva- lent to adding the emissions of a half mil- lion cars to the environment, the gas leak has raised California’s methane output by 25 percent. Residents of the nearby Porter Ranch neighborhood have suffered headaches, vomiting, heart palpitations, shortness of breath and nosebleeds. Nearly 3,000 have evacuated their homes, and 2,000 more are in the process. Two schools have had to close. California Gov. Jerry Brown, after 11 weeks of inaction, has declared a state of emergency, and the Federal Avia- tion Administration has taken the unusu- The company is a de facto monopoly. It reservoir at Aliso Canyon is typical of the news, that uses an infrared, time-lapse al step of declaring the area a no-fly zone. owns three other reservoirs in southern state’s dozen reservoirs. Built in 1953 as technique to make visible the gas leak- When methane rises into the atmo- California and has no competitors be- an oil reservoir, it was converted after 20 ing from the well. FWW has also worked sphere, it traps the sun’s heat 25 times as cause of a 2003 legal maneuver agreed to years into a natural gas facility and has hand in hand with community group efficiently as carbon dioxide. It is the sec- by the Public Utilities Commission. It is not been updated since. Save Porter Ranch to canvass neighbor- ond-biggest contributor to global warm- a subsidiary of Sempra Energy, the larg- Had a safety valve been in place in hoods, push for evacuations, organize ing. This leak has been called the worst est natural gas utility in the United States 2015, it might have relieved some of the rallies and generate 1,800 phone com- environmental accident since the BP oil and a major force in international mar- pressure and made it possible to plug plaints about the health symptoms and spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. kets, with profits of $11 billion in 2014. the leak. But after such a valve broke in odor. They also pushed the Air Quality The scope of the disaster was well 1979, it was removed and bypassed by Management Board to hold hearings to Health dangers on top known by the time of November’s cli- the company instead of being replaced. consider shutting down the Aliso Canyon of environmental ones mate conference in Paris. Gov. Brown No federal or state regulation said it had facility completely. Gas company officials have dismissed attended the conference as a climate to be there. On Jan. 9, some 300 people gathered claims of illness and assert that methane, change crusader, uttering not a word Capitalism is a recipe for environmen- outside the high school where the first also known as natural gas, is harmless in about the Porter Ranch well rupture. tal crises. The agencies supposed to en- hearing was being held. They rallied and the atmosphere. The symptoms reported Brown’s family has old ties to oil and gas sure safety and transparency are a sham then packed the meeting hall. Nalleli so far are from mercaptan, an additive interests, and he inherited a stake in the and provide high-paying jobs for worth- Cobo, a 15-year-old student, told the ral- that emits the smell of rotten eggs and al- family business. less bureaucrats. Politicians like Jerry ly: “I lived in South Central in front of an lows people to detect the otherwise unde- The Brown administration has been Brown depend on corporations for their oil site called Allenco whose toxic emis- tectable gas. But natural gas also contains more than friendly to California’s energy political fortune. sions made us sick. I suffered nosebleeds, benzene, a known carcinogen. Warnings billionaires. In the last few years Brown Sempra Energy will fight tooth and headaches, stomach pain, heart palpita- have been issued about prolonged expo- has accepted $1.72 million in donations nail to continue making profits regard- tions and I developed asthma. I realized sure for oil workers, but not enough study from the energy industry. Two weeks be- less of the consequences to health and my community was sick as well. Porter has been done to determine what dangers fore the Aliso Canyon crisis, he appointed safety. And it’s not the only one. In south- Ranch and my community have a neigh- might be posed by exposure to leaks like an oil executive to regulate the state’s oil ern California many oil wells are situated bor that doesn’t belong.” this one. industry. And he has been silent about close to residential neighborhoods. After a news white-out, the conse- Aliso Canyon is the largest methane the fact that his sister, Kathleen Brown, is quences of the Porter Ranch disaster are reservoir in the West and one of the larg- a paid board member of Sempra Energy, Grass-roots struggle breaks now being closely followed by the capital- est in the country. Southern California drawing a $188,000 annual salary. media silence ist media, thanks to the pressure of activ- Gas, which owns and operates the facil- The federal government leaves regula- Every step forward since the Porter ists. No one knows how many more crises ity, has tried seven times to plug the leak tion of natural gas up to the states. Cal- Ranch leak has happened because of are in the making. Only united struggles and now says it has to drill two relief ifornia has virtually no regulations for grassroots struggle. Activists in both by the people and communities most af- wells 8,700 feet below the surface, which construction or maintenance of natural Food and Water Watch and Earthworks fected by capitalist chaos can ensure that will take three to four months. gas facilities. The decrepit state of the created a video, finally shown on the health and safety are top priorities. On Roe v. Wade anniversary Attacks on abortion rights spiked in 2015 to hear a suit brought by abortion provid- which will be argued by the Center for turn, has led to an increase in abortions immigrants, mothers, low-wage work- ers in Texas — Whole Woman’s Health v. Reproductive Rights, abortion providers later in pregnancy and in illegal abor- ers and Latinas who are all three, se- Cole — which challenges Texas’ HB 2 law. state: “A woman in Texas is currently 100 tions.” (msnbc.com, Dec. 30) curing an abortion means navigating a Two provisions of that law limit access to times more likely to die from carrying a On Jan. 5, a dozen Latino/a health state-created obstacle course. If the chal- abortion services. One is that all clinics pregnancy to term than from having an and civil rights advocates, representing lenged provisions are not struck down, in the state meet standards for “ambu- abortion in a licensed abortion facility.” 2.5 million women of reproductive age more clinics will close [only 17 out of 41 latory surgical centers,” including regu- Providers note abortion complication in Texas, filed a friend of the court brief are currently open], women will have lations concerning buildings, equipment rates are very low — rarely do they need supporting the providers’ case. In a press to wait even longer, and many will face and staffing. The other requires doctors to admit patients to hospitals. conference that morning, Jessica Gonza- higher costs to access the abortions they performing abortions to have admitting The 62-page brief that the plaintiffs lez-Rojas, executive director of the Na- need. Those unable to overcome these privileges at a nearby hospital. filed on Dec. 29 on behalf of 5 million tional Latina Institute for Reproductive obstacles will be forced to carry an un- While Texas officials say these pro- women of childbearing age in Texas, stat- Health, stated that the effects of HB 2 wanted pregnancy to term or take mat- visions are needed to protect women’s ed unequivocally that the requirements on Latinas are “direct, documented and ters into their own hands.” health, providers say they are expen- are intended to reduce women’s access disproportionate. For many the burdens How will the Supreme Court rule? That sive, unnecessary and intended to put to legal abortion. “Together, the require- imposed by HB 2 act as a de facto ban on hinges on the concept of “undue burden,” many clinics out of business. In fact, the ments would close more than 75 percent abortion.” which Justice Sandra Day O’Connor orig- American Medical Association and the of Texas abortion facilities and deter new Lucy Felix, the Texas Latina Advoca- inated in the 1992 ruling she authored in American College of Obstetricians and ones from opening. Indeed, more than cy Network senior field coordinator for Planned Parenthood v. Casey. The “un- Gynecologists assert that this provision half of these facilities are currently closed NLIRH, testified during a Fifth Circuit due burden” concept will be discussed in is “medically unnecessary,” while provid- because the admitting privileges require- appeal hearing last year, which led to future WW articles. ers note that running an ASC costs about ment is largely in effect. The impact of the current case, that the law has “al- $600,000 to $1 million more than run- these closures has been dire, delaying ready had a devastating impact on Lati- Davis is a longtime reproductive jus- ning a facility that met prior standards. many women — and preventing others — nas’ ability to access safe and affordable tice activist and author of the pro-choice In their case against the restrictions, from obtaining a legal abortion. This, in health care in the Rio Grande Valley. For novel, “Love Means Second Chances.” Page 6 Jan. 21, 2016 workers.org Overflow crowd attends Duka appeal hearings

By Joe Piette would hold hearings to hear from us, and we need the truth Camden, N.J. (one for each Duka to come out, especially when you are in- brother) limited to nocent.” Attorneys Michael Huff, Troy The courtroom was packed. one issue: whether Archie and Michael Riley all denied the Despite 20 degree Fahrenheit they had been de- charges against them. weather, a rally outside the nied their constitu- Judge Kugler gave the attorneys until courthouse before the hearing tional right to testify Feb. 16 to submit final documents. A de- started drew over one hundred at their own trial. cision will be made after that date, prob- loud, sign-carrying support- Kugler is the same ably in March. ers. Most of the extensive press judge who sentenced Shain Duka’s attorney, Robert Boyle, coverage before and after the the three men to life told Democracy Now! after the hearings: hearings questioned wheth- in prison. “Well, we’re hoping that the court rules in er the Fort Dix 5 should have Mohamad Shnew- our favor on the narrow factual issue as to been convicted. er and Serdar Tartar, whether they were unconstitutionally de- But will the pressure from who were co-defen- prived of their right to testify. If the court WW PHOTO: JOE PIETTE the community be enough to WW PHOTO: JOE PIETTE Supporters rally on Jan. 6. dants with the Dukas rules favorably on that, we’ll have anoth- compel the judge to reverse at trial, are also sepa- er hearing where they will, in more de- course and rule in favor of justice for Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms; The rately pursuing Section 2255 hearings. tail, describe what they would have said three of the defendants? Aafia Foundation; the Philly Coalition Attorneys Robert Boyle, Chad Edgar had they testified at trial. If we prevail on In 2008, five Muslim men, including for Racial, Economic And Legal Justice; and Charles Swift represented the Duka that part of it, we’ll get a new trial.” (ti- three brothers, were entrapped in an FBI Project SALAM; the Brandywine Peace brothers in the three separate hearings nyurl.com/zoeyety) sting operation for allegedly plotting to Community; and the Catholic Worker that day here in Camden. Each Duka No matter what Kugler’s ruling is, the attack the Fort Dix military base in New Movement. The widespread support at brother testified under oath that their Camden hearings revealed that there is Jersey. In an atmosphere of Islamopho- the hearing showed that the Duka broth- conspiracy convictions are flawed be- a growing movement of people willing to bia fueled by ambitious politicians and ers are not alone. cause their lawyers in 2008 wouldn’t let oppose Islamophobia in all its manifes- sensationalist media headlines, the Duka Using agent provocateurs, govern- them testify at their trial. In explaining tations, even in politically charged cases brothers were convicted for a plot they ment strategy over the last decade or so why he wanted to testify during the tri- where the government falsely claims a literally had never heard of before their is to arrest people whom the FBI suspects al, Shain Duka stated, “The jury needed terror threat. arrest. Eljvir, Dritan and Shain Duka “might” commit crimes. The government received life sentences plus 30 years for hopes to obtain convictions before any their disputed role in a government-man- crimes actually occur. Since Sept. 11, ufactured “conspiracy” to attack the mili- 2001, there have been hundreds of unjus- tary base 33 miles from Philadelphia. tified arrests based on evidence unfairly Heroic Muslim woman stands up to Trump’s Islamophobia The federal government paid two infor- concocted and/or twisted to convict inno- mants hundreds of thousands of dollars cent Muslims. Prosecutors have appealed By Minnie Bruce Pratt Visible behind Trump in media cover- to entrap the men, who became known to irrational fears of Islam — Islamopho- age, Hamid wore a white hijab and a tur- as the Fort Dix 5. Chris Christie, current bia — to gain convictions, often based Rose Hamid, a 56-year-old flight at- quoise shirt emblazoned with “Salam, I New Jersey governor and U.S. presiden- on the testimony of unethical FBI agent tendant, rose up against Donald Trump’s come in peace.” tial candidate, in 2008 was the U.S. at- provocateurs or informants. Many more Islamophobia at a Rock Hill, S.C., rally on Hamid silently stood up in protest when torney who prosecuted these defendants. details can be found at projectsalam.org, Jan. 8. Republican presidential candidate Trump Eight years later, Islamophobia still where a database of these cases is kept. made racist insinuations pervades the media but opposition to it that Syrian refugees is more widespread. The Fort Dix Five Hearings limited to one narrow issue fleeing U.S.-instigated Support Committee organized the Jan. On Dec. 28, 2011, the United States war were “terrorists.” 6 rally in front of the federal courthouse Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit Trump supporters be- here. About 20 family members attended refused to overturn the Dukas’ convic- gan shouting at Hamid the rally and hearings. tions. The Duka brothers consequent- to leave, with one person Supporters traveled from Texas; New ly raised seven “ineffective assistance saying, “Do you have a York; Maryland; Washington, D.C.; of counsel” claims in what are known bomb?” She replied, “No. Pennsylvania; and Maine as well as New as Section 2255 motions. U.S. District Do you?” (CNN, Jan. 9) Jersey. Organizations present included Judge Robert B. Kugler denied six of Hamid is president Witness Against Torture; the National the motions but surprisingly ruled he Rose Hamid at S.C. Trump rally. of Muslim Women of The best birthday present Free Oscar López Rivera!

By Dolores Cox port for Oscar López has included Nicolás political prisoner Herman Bell, who sends Information was given about ongoing New York Maduro, Venezuela’s president; Alejandro his love to everyone from prison. gentrification and privatization of public García Padilla, Puerto Rico’s governor; The event also focused on sick prison- land, particularly the beaches. The peo- The year 2016 will represent the 35th and Carmen Yulin, San Juan’s mayor. ers and aging political prisoners who’ve ple are fighting to defend their right over year of imprisonment of Puerto Rican Present at the celebration were sever- been behind bars for decades because of their land and to have access to a beach freedom fighter, Oscar López Rivera. On al former political prisoners, who spoke their beliefs and for daring to speak out designated for the construction of a new Jan. 6, he turned 73 years old. briefly about their imprisonment and against the hypocrisy of so-called U.S. Marriott hotel. However, the federal court Oscar López was born in Puerto Rico. what Oscar López represents to them. democracy. As an example of white su- has ruled that the people have no right to His family emigrated to the U.S. when he Lynne Stewart, who received a compas- premacy, mention was made of the con- intervene. They are calling for a boycott of was 9 years old. He was drafted into the sionate medical release from prison on trast between this government’s peace- the Marriott. One of Oscar López’s dreams U.S. Army and served in Vietnam. After- Jan. 1, 2014, described prisons as “death making treatment and response to the is to see a Puerto Rican beach again. wards, he became a community activist camps” and “hell holes.” She announced armed terrorist militia takeover by white At the end, there was consensus that and a member of Fuerzas Armadas de that she’s still alive two years after dis- cattlemen of Oregon’s Wildlife Refuge, the long fight against capitalism requires Liberación Nacional. The FBI persecuted charge, when authorities had predicted as opposed to their racist, murdering re- more activism in the streets, among oth- López for five years, and he went under- and hoped that she would be dead with- sponse to unarmed Black men and youth. er things, with increased demands for ground. He was captured in May 1981 and in six months. “Re-entry gives life,” she In the 1870s, white men stole that land social justice. sentenced to 55 years in prison for “sedi- said, and added that she “will never show from the Indigenous peoples. “Agitation, organization, resistance, tious conspiracy” and has been in solitary the enemy that they can win. Live like A historical overview was given on the struggle and love are the ingredients that confinement for most of those years. His Oscar!” She urged everyone to develop a European invasion and colonization of will guarantee us victory!” — Oscar López release date is July 27, 2027. relationship with political prisoners by Puerto Rico beginning with Columbus Rivera, Puerto Rican political prisoner. Activists in New York City celebrat- writing to them. in 1492, which culminated in the massa- Free Oscar López Rivera! Oscar López ed the birthday and life of Oscar López The other former prisoners present mu- cre and extermination of the Indigenous Rivera, presente! at the 1199SEIU union headquarters in tually stated that Oscar López represented Taíno people and the exploitation of en- Send a letter or postcard to Oscar López Manhattan on Jan. 8. The event was high for them the ultimate defiance toward the slaved Africans. The Spanish language Rivera #87651-024, FCI Terre Haute, P.O. energy in a packed room. evil U.S. empire: a steadfast, uncompro- was imposed. These developments led Box 33, Terre Haute, IN 47808. Or do- At the beginning of the program, Cu- mising commitment to freedom, humanity to the formation of the Puerto Ricans as nate to his commissary by money order ban Mission to the United Nations dele- and mutual solidarity, and an inspiration people with a Spanish, African and Taíno to Federal Bureau of Prisons, Oscar López gates dropped by to express their support to others to continue in Oscar’s tradition. heritage. The subsequent U.S. invasion Rivera #87651-024, P.O. Box 474701, Des for Oscar López and for Puerto Rico. For Former political prisoner Laura White- and colonization resulted in the imposi- Moines, IA 50947-0001. Print his name the past several years, international sup- horn mentioned that she recently spoke to tion of the English language. and prison number on the money order. workers.org Jan. 21, 2016 Page 7 Baltimore Cops shoot, then frame up Keith Davis Jr. By Steven Ceci with RT: “As a result, the crowd scattered. cutors said they were unprepared to pres- Baltimore Davis and some others sought shelter at a ent evidence. The officers involved in the nearby auto garage. Davis was then shot case have yet to give formal statements Baltimore police officers shot a 24-year- in the arm and called Holsey. Holsey de- about what exactly happened on June 7, old African American, Keith Davis Jr., scribed hearing a ‘constant pop-pop-pop’ but the police added another indictment Keith Davis brutalized by cops. twice — once in the face and once in the while Davis told her, ‘Babe, I’m gonna of Davis. According to Davis’ lawyer, arm last June 7. Police had chased Davis die.’ ” (tinyurl.com/huqybb5) Holsey since the prosecution had already been into a garage where they fired at him 44 said the call lasted one minute and seven given two postponements and was sup- the office of Baltimore State’s Attorney times. After shooting Davis, police pro- seconds; she heard one last gunshot and posed to go ahead with the trial, the new Marilyn Mosby to demand that charges ceeded to charge him with robbery. then the call dropped. indictment was simply a tactic to delay be dropped. The Baltimore Bloc and the The Baltimore Sun reported that offi- Davis was taken to a hospital to be the proceedings. People’s Power Assembly have been at- cers Catherine Filippou and Lane Eskins treated and at first was not charged. Supporters of Keith Davis gathered tending the court hearings and plan to had received a call at 10 a.m. that day about The police gave no information as to his outside the courthouse after the post- keep the pressure on until the charges a car accident. Responding to the call, the whereabouts. This pointed to there being ponement and decided to march over to against Keith Davis Jr. are dropped. officers were informed by an unlicensed no evidence to support a reason for the cab driver that he was being robbed. The police to have shot Davis twice — let alone cops charged Davis with the robbery. firing 44 shots in a garage where there Davis’ family members and supporters were bystanders. The cops finally arrest- assert that Davis is being framed for a ed Davis at the hospital and charged him Justice for Mario Woods! crime he did not commit. Davis says that with armed robbery. he did not rob the driver and that he was They claim that Davis fired a 22-caliber By Terri Kay graphically show Woods surrounded by among a group of spectators at the scene gun at them, but a 22-caliber gun found San Francisco officers and up against a wall when the of a hit-and-run accident when an offi- in the garage had not been fired and didn’t firing began. Police claim Woods was car- cer arrived with his weapon drawn and have Davis’ fingerprints on it. In addition, Ever since the Dec. 2 firing squad exe- rying a knife. pointed it at the crowd. the driver who reported he was robbed cution of 26-year-old Mario Woods in the Most recently, protesters disrupted the “It wasn’t [pointed at] Keith in specific; never identified Davis as the assailant. San Francisco Bay View neighborhood by inauguration ceremony of San Francisco it was at the crowd,” explained Davis’ fi- On Jan. 8, the state was granted a third cops, the Black community and its sup- Mayor Ed Lee on Jan. 8. Starting with a ancée, Kelly Holsey, in a Jan. 9 interview postponement in the Davis case. Prose- porters have been in the streets and at rally on the steps of City Hall, the demon- City Hall, disrupting meetings and block- strators then marched inside. Refusing to ing intersections. be herded into an isolated viewing room, A newly formed organization, The they gathered on the second floor balco- Last 3 Percent Coalition, and Black Lives ny, shouting “Fire [San Francisco Police Heroic Muslim woman stands up to Trump’s Islamophobia Matter Bay Area have worked to support Chief Greg] Suhr!” and “Justice for Mario Woods’ family in their struggle for justice. Woods!” Cops in riot gear kept swooping the Carolinas and supports the rights of all Syrian refugees in the U.S. He has pre- The very name, “The Last 3 Percent,” epit- in on the crowd, grabbing signs and any the Palestinian people, a stand now being viously floated proposals to create both a omizes the plight of San Francisco’s Black people they could call disruptive. used to vilify her on social media. database of Muslims and a ban on Mus- community, diminished by gentrification. On Jan. 6, there was a Solidarity Night Several protesters accompanying her lims entering the country. Three now famous bystander videos march. This move to build Black/Brown also wore yellow, eight-pointed stars, a Protests of Trump’s racism and Is- solidarity combined the supporters of jus- common symbol in the Islamic world. lamophobia have become more common San Francisco tice for Mario Woods with those of the Alex These bore the words “Muslim” or “Stop and forceful since lone Black Lives Mat- Nieto Coalition. It was held on the 50th an- Islamophobia.” The yellow stars echoed ter protester, Mercutio Southall Jr., was niversary of the 1966 Bayview “riots.” the six-pointed badges that the Nazis kicked and beaten by Trump supporters In the pouring rain, there were two forced Jews to wear during the European at a Birmingham, Ala., rally on Nov. 22. marches. One, organized by The Last 3 Holocaust. (Washington Post, Jan. 9) During Trump’s Dec. 4 rally in Raleigh, Percent Coalition, originated in the Bay Marty Rosenbluth, who wore this N.C., activists from a statewide coalition View, where Mario Woods was killed. The badge and stood next to Hamid, is a North constantly interrupted him. On Jan. 7, other, organized by the Alex Nieto Coali- Carolina pro-bono lawyer for immigrants in Burlington, Vt., hecklers repeatedly tion, started in Bernal Heights. The two and is Jewish. He has previously worked disrupted Trump despite his staff asking then marched towards each other for a with the General Federation of Palestin- in-line ticketholders if they supported convergence and culminating ceremony. ian Trade Unions. (Indy Week, Jan. 2013) Trump — and kicking out anyone who PHOTO: ALEX NIETO Nieto was killed in a hail of 59 bullets At the rally, Trump called for a ban on said, “No!” Left, Gwendolyn Woods, Mario Woods’ by the San Francisco Police Department mother, during Black/Brown unity march. on March 21, 2014, when police respond- ed to a 911 call about a “suspicious per- son.” Nieto, on his way to work as a se- curity guard, was carrying his licensed For the murder of Black war veteran taser and was far from anyone else when the police confronted and killed him. During a Dec. 24 press conference and Georgia cop to face grand jury rally at San Francisco City Hall, Clar- ence Thomas of the International Long- By Dianne Mathiowetz side effects and had made torney Robert James held shore and Warehouse Union Local 10 Atlanta a follow-up appointment a press conference to an- announced that the San Francisco Labor at the Veterans Admini­ nounce that on Jan. 21 he Council had unanimously passed a reso- According to research done by the At- stration. will bring to a criminal lution calling for the prosecution of the lanta Journal Constitution, 184 people In the early afternoon of grand jury two charges of cops who killed Mario Woods. have been killed by police in Georgia in March 9, a neighbor called felony murder, as well as Susan Soloman, executive vice-pres- the last five years. 911 requesting help after aggravated assault, two ident of United Educators of San Fran- In not one case, even when the victim seeing a naked Hill, climb- counts of violating the cisco, said that her union had passed the was unarmed or shot in the back, has the ing down from his sec- oath of office and pro- same resolution. After the rally outside, police officer been prosecuted for any ond-floor balcony, and then viding false statements they marched into City Hall to meet with crime. crawling and rolling on the Anthony Hill against Officer Olson. Mayor Ed Lee. When told he wasn’t in, the That wretched record may be about to ground. One unique feature of crowd promised to come back another day. change. Olson claimed he was in fear of his the Georgia grand jury process that has In a fiery speech during a police com- On March 9, 2015, DeKalb County life when he fired twice at Hill and killed made indictments against police officers mission hearing on Dec. 9, Cat Brooks policeman Robert Olson killed Anthony him. Some witnesses say that Hill was in even more unlikely is the extraordinary of the Anti Police-Terror Project dressed Hill, a 26-year-old Iraq and Afghani- a prayer-like position when Olson pulled privilege of the officers being allowed to down Chief Suhr and told him, “You are stan war veteran who was suffering from up in his squad car and had his arms out- observe the entire proceedings. This not inciting the rage of the people. … A new post-traumatic stress disorder and being stretched as he walked toward the officer. only includes hearing all the witness tes- day has come. … It’s a movement sweep- bipolar. Hill’s body lay in the parking lot as the timony and forensic evidence, but also ing this country and we are not going to Hill was a singer/songwriter who as- school bus bringing the complex’s chil- being able to make a final statement be- stop until you stop killing us. … We will pired to have a career in the music busi- dren home drove onto the property. An- fore deliberation that cannot be cross-ex- continue to shut it down, interrupt your ness. Always smiling, he was loved by gry that police had not covered him, his amined or rebutted by the prosecutor. business as usual. We’re going to take to the children in his mostly Latino/a and neighbors quickly put a sheet over the Hill’s family and friends, the Black the streets. We’re going to interrupt your African-American, Chamblee, Ga., apart- corpse. Lives Matter movement and the Atlanta election cycle. And I have news for you, ment complex for his willingness to play Hill’s death evoked large and militant social justice community are determined Chief Suhr. We are going to shut it down sports with them. protests with hundreds blocking the to win justice — no matter the odds — until you resign or until all of you get the According to his partner, Bridget An- downtown streets of Decatur, the county not just for Hill but for all the others too, courage to fire him. And Oakland will be derson, he had recently stopped taking seat, and in Chamblee. whose lives have been taken by a racist here! We’re bringing the East Bay!” (ti- his medication because of its debilitating On Jan. 7, DeKalb County District At- and unjust system. nyurl.com/jbdaedl) Page 8 Jan. 21, 2016 workers.org Dr. King’s legacy and the struggle for the cities

By Abayomi Azikiwe Rights with the demand for unilateral ism and administrators’ lack of sensitiv- The SCLC, in alliance with local or- withdrawal from Vietnam; and support ity to the demands of African-American ganizations, exposed the hypocrisy of This year’s national commemoration for striking African-American sanitation students as well. These demonstrations Democratic Party-controlled political of the 87th birthday of the Rev. Dr. Mar- workers in Memphis, who were fighting during the fall of 2015 began on some of machines such as that of Daley in Chi- tin Luther King Jr. comes during a period for recognition as a union against the the most elite higher educational insti- cago, which provided lip service to Civ- of renewal in the anti-racist movement. racist city administration of Mayor Hen- tutions and were led by those African il Rights but practiced segregation and King was born on Jan. 15, 1929, in ry Loeb. Americans whom the ruling class had therefore facilitated super-exploitation. Atlanta. The annual official commemo- considered privileged and destined to find The Chicago campaign, coming in the af- ration of his birthday always falls on the King’s legacy and the 2016 anti-racist a secure position in bourgeois society. termath of the Watts Rebellion of August third Monday of the month. Since 1986, struggle Within the purported “color-blind” 1965, prompted the escalation of tensions the date has been designated as a federal Since the police killing of Michael social context, schools and buildings between the Chicago authorities and the holiday. Brown in Ferguson, Mo., on Aug. 9, 2014, named after slave owners and ideological African-American community. This led However, almost no information is much media focus has rightly been on the racists had remained unchallenged. The to mass demonstrations against racism transmitted by the corporate media, the rash of police killings of African Amer- dreaded Confederate flag was still flying and a full-blown rebellion on the West educational system or through numerous icans in cities, suburbs and small towns on state Capitol buildings and public lo- Side in late July of 1966. organizations that hold events in honor of across the United States. These killings cations 150 years after the conclusion of Rebellions had erupted in numerous the holiday that speaks directly about the exploded the myth gaining currency the Civil War in 1865, which ostensibly cities in 1966, including Cleveland and work that the Civil Rights and anti-war within certain political circles that the ended legalized enslavement of 4 million Omaha, Neb. Chicago’s would prove to be leader was involved in. U.S. had become a “post-racial” society. Africans. the most violent and disruptive. Instead These official channels almost never The vigilante murder of Trayvon Mar- These realities were further magnified of granting the demands of the Chicago mention that King was arrested more tin in Sanford, Fla., in early 2012 and the when Dylann Roof massacred nine Af- Freedom Movement in totality, the ruling than 30 times, nor that toward the end of subsequent acquittal of his assailant in rican Americans in Charleston, S.C., on class blamed King and the other organi- his life he became a staunch opponent of 2013 had already re-awakened the con- June 17 last year at one of the most histor- zations for inciting the rebellions. the United States military invasion and sciousness of oppressed and anti-racist ic places of worship, the Mother Emanu- There are profound lessons from the occupation of Vietnam. Neither is there youth around the country. el African Methodist Episcopal Church. Chicago Freedom Movement and the any recognition of his desire to eradicate Even though President Barack Obama This church dates back to the antebellum plight of cities today as relates to the poverty in the U.S. or the call for a guar- has been elected twice as the first White period in one of the most concentrated housing question, police brutality, polit- anteed income as well as mandatory full House occupant of African descent, race slave production states in the U.S. ical and economic power. employment. relations and the social plight of African Nevertheless, despite mass demon- Although the housing question in Three major campaigns of the South- Americans had worsened under his ten- strations and three significant rebellions 2016 takes on a different character than ern Christian Leadership Conference, ure. Census data and a series of reports in Ferguson and later Baltimore in 2015, in 1966, it is still a pressing concern for co-founded by King in 1957, during the looking at the correlations between pov- the federal government has taken no ef- oppressed and working people. Millions final two years of his life (1966-68), have erty and race illustrate clearly that na- fective action to redress the worsening were driven from their homes during the tremendous bearing on the task facing tional and class oppression is intensify- situation, regarding either police racism Great Recession, while the administra- African Americans, the working class ing during the current period of capitalist or the overall economy. The administra- tions of both President George W. Bush and the progressive movement in gener- downturn and restructuring. tion claims that the financial crisis of and Obama did nothing to alleviate the al today. These efforts center around the Consciousness is rising not only in ur- 2008 has been corrected and that the suffering of the people. SCLC’s intervention in the Chicago Free- ban areas. A series of demonstrations at jobless rate stands at only 5 percent. In 1966 de facto segregation was prev- dom Movement of 1966 demanding open university and college campuses high- Yet the labor participation rate is at alent in cities like Chicago, Cleveland, housing; linkage of the struggle for Civil lighted the symbols of institutional rac- its lowest level in four decades, and Af- Detroit, Los Angeles, New York and rican-American poverty is rising as a many other municipalities. Five decades direct result of the Great Recession of later the marginalization and oppression 2008. This downturn is testament to the of African Americans through the denial ‘Repair all public housing!’ failure of the current Democratic White of jobs, decent wages, quality education, House. The campaign of presidential as- access to water and utility services, envi- By Baltimore Workers World Bureau idents, the repair of all public housing and pirant Hillary Clinton has not proposed ronmental justice and affordable housing the commissioner’s firing. They will also any legislative or executive programs to represent the continuation of institution- January 7 was the 50th anniversa- demand the rehiring of housing authori- improve the social conditions of African al racism well into the 21st century. ry of the Chicago Freedom Movement, ty worker Lucky Crosby, who helped blow Americans. It will take an even more revolution- launched by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. the whistle on the sex-for-repairs scandal. This vacuum leaves the political land- ary movement than that which emerged in 1966 to end slum housing in Chicago. The PPA has launched a campaign to scape open for left forces to articulate and during the 1950s and 1960s to complete This campaign, also known as the Open win rights for housing project residents organize around a program that speaks the struggle for absolute equality and Housing Movement, led to the passage of and to end slum housing. The group has directly to the status of the oppressed national liberation. These efforts, like the Fair Housing Act of 1968. It opened visited hundreds of homes in housing and workers in the U.S. King’s in 1967-68, must bring togeth- up a fight not only for housing rights but projects and collected an equal number er progressive elements from all the also for jobs and against police brutality of signatures on petitions demanding Reigniting the movement in the cities oppressed nations in alliance with the in the North. repairs, going door-to-door in Gilmor Some 50 years ago, Dr. King and the workers and the poor. To mark this anniversary, on Jan. 16 Homes, McCullough Homes, Latrobe and SCLC moved into Chicago to join the Ultimately socialism must become the the Peoples Power Assembly in Baltimore O’Donnell Heights. Freedom Movement in that urban area. rallying cry of the majority of the people will be gathering outside the downtown Recently, the federal government has The African-American masses in Chica- in capitalist society. A genuine anti-capi- office of Housing Commissioner Paul awarded close to $10 million in a class go exploded in anger after Democratic talist movement that will upend private Graziano. That’s at 417 E. Fayette St., action suit to women who were victims Mayor Richard Daley refused to serious- property and all exploitative relations of across from City Hall. The protesters will of being forced to trade sex for repairs of ly consider demands for the abolition of production is the only solution to the cur- demand justice for all public housing res- their homes. slums and a policy of open housing. rent crisis in the U.S. and globally.

Movie review shows capitalism When a child dies ‘The Big Short’ has nowhere to go By Mumia Abu-Jamal By G. Dunkel happen that way. Or, worse yet, if it did. The movie uses a model/star named Taken from a Dec. 28 audio recording Tamir Rice “The Big Short” is a true crime story, Margot Robbie in a bubble bath to define by prisonradio.org. What job? a heist movie about the housing bubble mortgage securities. Later, the singer News break: Cleveland officials an- What so-called profession? built on subprime loans that crashed in Selena Gomez, with the assistance of the nounce no charges to be filed in the police What office? 2007-2008. economist Dr. Richard Thaler, stands at a killing of 12-year-old Tamir Rice. What state? Adam McKay, the director of “The blackjack table to describe collateralized There is something shattering about When a child dies, adults don’t deserve Big Short,” deliberately uses outrageous debt obligations and then goes on to de- the death — the killing — of a child. to breathe their stolen air. scenes to explain the Wall Street “con- scribe synthetic CDOs. When a child dies, the natural order When a child dies, the living must not structs,” perhaps a better word would be Synthetic CDOs are bets on bets. In is torn, the stars weep and the earth rest until they have purged the poison “obfuscations.” These explanations are the housing boom preceding the bubble quakes. that dared harm such a one. necessary to understand the tale of the burst of 2008, these were built up layer We have become so accustomed to this When a child dies, time runs backward small band of Wall Street operators who upon layer. It was possible to start with system that we suppose it is natural, in- and attempts to right such a wrong. saw the housing crash coming and fig- an actual mortgage pool of $50 million stead of a human imposition. Politicians, This should inspire movements world- ured out how they personally could profit and build this up to a $1 billion synthet- in the pocket of so-called police unions, wide, to fight like never before. from it. ic CDO. And it was far easier and more bow before bags of silver, and blink away For something vile has happened be- He also breaks the “fourth wall,” hav- profitable to speculate on this froth than the death of a child; especially if a Black fore our eyes. ing actors face the camera and speak di- to go out and find land, materials and child. A child has been killed; and in Amer- rectly to the audience about the events. workers to build housing, which might What man-made institution is more ica, because it’s a Black child, it means They let the viewers know if what is hap- not be sellable, anyway. precious than a child? next to nothing. pening on screen didn’t really exactly Continued on page 10 workers.org Jan. 21, 2016 Page 9 Oregon standoff & the role of the state By Sara Flounders The reactionary nature of the racist Bundys’ takeover must be exposed among the powerful economic interests. and the demands of wealthy ranchers for unlimited access to land However, neither the government nor the Heavily armed right-wingers have oc- and resources opposed. But a violent government siege of this banks assisted small farmers; millions lost their lands as banks foreclosed. Sub- cupied the Malheur National Wildlife grouping is not the answer. It would only strengthen the capitalist Refuge outside of Burns, Ore., since Jan. sidies grew for corporate agribusiness’ 2, declaring they are ready to “kill or be state’s power and use of repression — and that won’t help large-scale production. killed.” Ammon Bundy and his brothers, oppressed peoples, the working class or other progressive forces. Today’s small ranchers cannot com- leaders of the takeover, are demanding pete with corporate ranching operations, the federal government turn over mil- bers are serving 100-year prison sentences exists under county ­jurisdiction. such as those owned by the billionaire lions of acres of publicly owned and fed- for asserting their right to self-defense. In this era of privatization, it is not sur- Koch brothers and Ted Turner, the sec- erally administered land to ranching, When the Oglala Lakota Nation and prising there are demands to seize public ond largest U.S. landowner. They and lumber and mining industries. American Indian Movement held a 71- lands and privatize them for profit. The other mega-ranchers hold subsidized The response to this takeover starkly day encampment at Wounded Knee, S.D., Bundy gang is demanding this land and grazing leases on hundreds of thousands exposes the role of the capitalist state as a on Pine Ridge Reservation in 1973, they more — for free and with unlimited ac- of acres of federal land — another govern- repressive apparatus and as an arbiter of were met by a brutal siege of police and cess. But the Paiute Nation says the land ment handout to billionaires. private property rights and ownership in federal agencies, even facing assassina- is theirs. They say if they had occupied Many large ranch owners view Bundy’s class society. tions. The Native people were protesting the Malheur refuge, site of their original reactionary movement as a convenient The state functions historically and mistreatment by the government and reservation, the government would have battering ram for them to gain greater in Burns, Ore., in contradictory ways demanding that it abide by treaty obliga- treated them very differently than the control of public land. The big investors’ toward people of different classes and tions. Hostile media conjured up a new Bundy occupiers. political influence may explain the favor- nationalities. Response is never based “Indian War.” Charlotte Rodrique, chairperson of the able media coverage of Bundy’s militia. on equal rights, equal justice and equal Moreover, Muslims, whether in the Burns Paiute Tribal Council, told Nation- They know these forces will not challenge ownership. These double standards must U.S., Europe or anywhere, who carry any al Public Radio on Jan. 10, “If I, as a na- their wealth. The Bundys and their ilk are be exposed and challenged. type of weapon, are labeled “terrorists.” tive person, a person of color, were to go seeking to build their own fortunes, via Well-known racists, Cliven Bundy and Even the use of a paintball gun in play down there and do the same thing, they land theft, racism and violence. his sons, are wealthy Nevada ranch own- is treated, as in the case of the Fort Dix would have hit me on the forehead with a It should be pointed out that the state ers and armed states’ rights advocates. Five, as proof of criminal activity. baton” and dragged her out. of Oregon was founded on a racist basis in They led a stand-off in 2014 against the Burns Paiute Tribal Council member 1859. African Americans were prohibited Lands stolen from Black Bureau of Land Management by refus- Jarvis Kennedy recounted his people’s vio- from living, working or owning proper- and Native peoples ing to pay more than $1 million in fees lent dispossession at a Jan. 6 press confer- ty there. In 1922, the Ku Klux Klan had for grazing their cattle on publicly owned After the Civil War, lands of white plan- ence, stressing, “We weren’t removed; we 14,000 members in the state, including top land. They have asked supporters to bring tation owners, who had waged war on the were killed.” He demanded that the occu- officials. Even Portland, now a “progres- arms and join the occupation. federal government to maintain slavery, piers “get the hell out” of the Malheur Na- sive” city, maintained segregated facilities. Some corporate media have ludicrous- were supposed to be expropriated to pro- tional Wildlife Refuge. (KGW.com, Jan. 6) The capitalist state arbitrates among ly described these racist extremists as vide reparations to the formerly enslaved. competing business interests in an eco- Stop privatizing public lands “patriotic militia,” “freedom fighters,” It didn’t happen. Union leaders’ promises nomic system based on theft of labor, land “leaders of a ‘populist uprising’” and even of 40 acres and a mule to each formerly The capitalist state’s role in land dis- and resources. So the federal land policy as “peaceful protesters.” FOX News, CNN enslaved Black person did not materialize. putes must be examined to refute the the ranchers are denouncing is wholly and radio talk shows sympathetically Instead, federal troops were withdrawn ranchers’ outrageous demands for free ac- corrupt and based on bribery and graft. portray these forces and all but champion from the South and sent to expropriate cess to public lands. The federal govern- The struggle over water rights, espe- their demands for unrestricted control of and exterminate the West’s Indigenous ment owns more than half the land in the cially during this decade-long drought, public land. population, leaving formerly enslaved West, including 80 percent of Nevada and the fracking industry’s impact and the So far, local and federal law enforce- peoples defenseless from the former Con- half of Oregon. The Bureau of Land Man- collapse of commodity prices are raising ment have had a hands-off policy and not federacy and plantation owners. agement manages 245 million acres of competition among corporate property imposed martial law or called in the Na- Since 1865, government agencies have U.S. public land. The capitalist state seeks owners to a fever pitch. tional Guard to end the armed occupation. expropriated 95 percent of Black farm- to allocate, mainly for private profit and The power and influence of most small Law enforcement’s inaction in Oregon ers’ land. some public use, the vast Western lands ranchers and businesses pale before the stands in stark contrast to the massive po- Native people were driven to unviable expropriated from Indigenous peoples. overwhelming economic influence and lice response and hostile corporate media land after their lands were seized. Even Federal land policy in the West in- power of the transnational corporations, coverage of the Black Lives Matter move- after treaties were signed, their land was volves balancing agribusiness, lumber, banks, hedge funds, weapons manufac- ment. After the police killing of 18-year- again expropriated if resources were mining, railroads, commercial and other turers and oil corporations. The Bureau old African-American Michael Brown on found on it, such as gold in the Black Hills interests. Costs are exorbitant for build- of Land Management and state agencies Aug. 9, 2014, in Ferguson, Mo., protests or oil in Oklahoma. ing roads, bridges, dams and water allo- seek to buy out the small ranchers and by the city’s African-American residents, Historically, white militias have played a cation, but free to businesses. business owners. They are no longer Black Lives Matter members and their al- reactionary role when they grabbed Native Vast tracts of national forests are public highly profitable, so their profits are not lies demanded “Justice for Mike Brown!” peoples’ lands and used the Ku Klux Klan timber farms for private logging contrac- guaranteed, but neither are subsidies. How did the state respond then? Mar- to terrorize formerly enslaved African tors. The 1872 Hard Rock Mining Law still This drives their desperation. tial law was declared and the National Americans in order to expropriate their la- allows mining companies to annually take The reactionary nature of the racist Guard was called out. Military equipment bor, land and small businesses. $1 billion of minerals from public lands Bundys’ takeover must be exposed and and armored vehicles were positioned without paying royalties or fees, and they the demands of wealthy ranchers for un- across from unarmed, peaceful protest- Paiute Nation: ‘The land belongs to us!’ avoid liability for environmental damage, limited access to land and resources op- ers; high-tech rifles were pointed at them. The Paiute Nation lived in the Malheur says Pew Trusts. (tinyurl.com/zxt7nwo) posed. But a violent government siege of In Baltimore, Chicago and other cit- Refuge’s region for 10,000 years. In 1872, Federal irrigation systems bring arid this grouping is not the answer. It would ies, the courageous Black Lives Matter Malheur Reservation was created on a land into cultivation at highly subsidized only strengthen the capitalist state’s pow- movement has been met fraction of the 1.5 million rates for agribusiness. Grazing fees that er and use of repression — and that won’t by repressive police who acres of land promised by some ranchers are refusing to pay are a help oppressed peoples, the working class threaten protesters with the federal government. 93 percent subsidy over market rates. or other progressive forces. tanks, helicopters, drones Ranchers opposed this, In the 1800s, range wars raged be- Rather than allowing the very individ- and other weapons and wanting the land for their tween cattle and sheep ranchers over uals or companies that have devastated aggressively make arrests. cattle. grazing land, and then were aimed the land to grab more acreage, these lands This is in response to basic In 1878, the Malheur against settlers and small farmers. Each should be put under the guardianship of demands for justice and Reservation was dissolved, economic grouping fighting for grazing Indigenous nations. That would be one Militarized police occupation and hundreds of Paiutes land and resources had its own militia. an end to police killings. of Ferguson Mo., August 2014 step toward justice and reparations. A few days after police were shackled and forcibly The railroad industry and big banks Sara Flounders is the author of “War were exonerated for killing 12-year-old moved, in the dead of winter, to the Ya- had the largest stakes in these con- Without Victory,” available at online African-American Tamir Rice who was kima Reservation in Washington state. flicts. The federal government arbitrated booksellers. playing with a toy gun in Cleveland, Some Paiutes hid or returned home. They white, armed militias pointed their real were given 10 acres of the Burns town MARXISM, REPARATIONS & the Black Freedom Struggle guns at federal officials in Oregon. Po- dump. Their children were barred from An anthology of writings from Workers World newspaper. Edited by Monica Moorehead. lice routinely kill Black youth holding cell attending local schools. Racism, National Oppression & Self-Determination Larry Holmes phones, toy guns or nothing at all. Painstakingly over the next 100 years, Black Labor from Chattel Slavery to Wage Slavery Sam Marcy The capitalist state does not recognize the Paiutes purchased 760 acres of their Black Youth: Repression & Resistance LeiLani Dowell the right of oppressed people to defend tribal lands and re-established the Burns The Struggle for Socialism Is Key Monica Moorehead themselves, even in their own homes. Paiute Reservation. In 1972, the Burns Domestic Workers Demand a Bill of Rights Imani Henry Black & Brown Unity Saladin Muhammad When the MOVE family, supporters of Paiutes were finally recognized as an inde- Harriet Tubman, Woman Warrior Mumia Abu-Jamal pendent Indian tribe. Today, they have se- John Africa, attempted to do so in Phila- Racism & Poverty in the Delta Larry Hales delphia in 1985, police bombed their home cured more than 11,000 acres of allotment Haiti Needs Reparations, Not Sanctions Pat Chin and 65 others in their community; 11 peo- lands, which are leased by local ranchers Alabama’s Black Belt Consuela Lee ple died, including five children. Based on for cattle grazing. This tribal land is con- Anniversary of the 1965 Watts Rebellion John Parker another police attack, nine MOVE mem- sidered federal land; it is tax-exempt but Available at major online booksellers. Page 10 Jan. 21, 2016 workers.org WWP sends solidarity message

The government of the Democratic killed millions of Koreans and leveled People’s Republic of Korea announced cities and towns in the north with “con- the successful test of its first hydro- ventional” bombing. The U.S. govern- gen bomb on Jan. 6. It reiterated in a ment still refuses to negotiate a peace Dr. King’s legacy statement that it will never be the first treaty that will normalize relations with to launch nuclear weapons, pledging to the DPRK. still relevant use them in defense only if attacked by Given these undisputed facts, it should nuclear weapons. China and India have be obvious to any honest person that the made similar no-first-use pledges. DPRK has every right to develop what- “I have worked too long now and too An excerpt from his historic April 4, However, the United States and its ever weapons it needs to defend itself hard to get rid of segregation in public 1967, Riverside Church address in New imperialist NATO “partners” have long against U.S. aggression. accommodations to turn back to the York City reads: “There is at the outset a refused to make such a commitment, On Jan. 11, Workers World Party point of segregating my moral concern. very obvious and almost facile connec- arrogating to themselves the right to use in the U.S. sent the following message Justice is indivisible. Injustice anywhere tion between the war in Vietnam and the nuclear weapons if attacked in any way. of solidarity to the Workers’ Party of is a threat to justice everywhere. And struggle I and others have been waging On Jan. 10, the U.S. flew a nuclear-ca- Korea. wherever I see injustice, I’m going to in America. A few years ago, there was pable B-52 bomber and two fighter jets take a stand against it whether it’s in a shining moment in that struggle. It on a low-level flight across south Korea WWP reaffirms solidarity with Mississippi or in Vietnam.” seemed as if there was a real promise of in an open threat to the DPRK. Workers’ Party of Korea — Martin Luther King on “Face to hope for the poor, both black and white, The U.S., since it started the nucle- Workers World Party reaffirms our Face,” July 1967 (antiwar.com, through the poverty program. There ar arms race by dropping two atomic solidarity and support of the Korean May 16, 2008) were experiments, hopes, new begin- bombs on Japanese cities in 1945, has people’s struggle for self-determination Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the heroic nings. Then came the buildup in Viet- built 70,000 nuclear warheads. Even and socialist construction, including the leader of the Civil Rights struggle, whose nam, and I watched this program bro- with the dismantling of many nukes right of self-defense in the face of U.S. birthday is honored with a federal holiday ken and eviscerated as if it were some since the end of the Cold War, the Penta- imperialism’s continued threats and on Jan. 18, was put under tremendous idle political plaything of a society gone gon continues to keep thousands ready pressures. pressure to stay silent on the imperialist mad on war. And I knew that America for use. As of January 2014, the official Media around the world report that war against Vietnam. He was told that would never invest the necessary funds number was 4,650 active warheads and the people of the DPRK are celebrating the only way that the political establish- or energies in rehabilitation of its poor another 2,700 “retired” nuclear weapons the successful testing of the DPRK’s first ment of his time would pass progressive so long as adventures like Vietnam not yet dismantled. At the height of the hydrogen bomb, and for good reason. No legislation would be for him not to object continued to draw men and skills and Cold War, the U.S. military occupying country on earth has suffered more at the to the brutal war against the Vietnamese money like some demonic, destructive south Korea was armed with 950 nucle- hands of U.S. imperialist aggression than people. King absolutely refused. suction tube. So I was increasingly com- ar warheads. (Brookings Institution) the DPRK, yet remained strong, sover- Infamous Birmingham, Ala., cop Bull pelled to see the war as an enemy of the During the 1950-1953 war against so- eign and united. Connor, who ordered the brutal assaults poor and to attack it as such.” (nationall- cialist north Korea, the U.S. imperialists The ability of the DPRK to march for- on Civil Rights demonstrators with dogs, journal.com, Jan. 20, 2014) fire hoses, clubs and guns in the ear- U.S. imperialism has never ceased its ly 1960s, is long dead. However, young relentless war drive, whether by open Black women and men still remain vic- invasion, as in Iraq and Afghanistan, or tims today of a racist war by cops from proxy war, as in Syria, Yemen or Libya. The Cuban Adjustment Act: Ferguson to Cleveland, from Chicago to Trillions are spent to feed the war ma- New York, from Oakland to Minneapolis chine, and millions are killed or driven By Cheryl LaBash tations of Central American refugee to Los Angeles. from their homes, while workers and op- families who sought safe haven from Certainly, the brave activists of the pressed communities here face stagnant A lingering product of the decades-long warlike conditions in their homelands, Black Lives Matter movement carry for- or starvation wages, evictions, huge col- U.S. war against the Cuban Revolution is conditions created by U.S. imperialism. ward King’s legacy to this very day. lege debts and never-ending cutbacks to visible today in Costa Rica, where nearly Where do the drug cartels, paramilitar- And King would have been proud of social programs like food stamps. 8,000 Cuban migrants wait for permis- ies and repressive coup regimes, like in activists linking the Black Lives Matter In the face of the heroic rebellions sion to cross Central American borders Honduras, get the guns? Who profits off struggle with that for immigrant rights, against the racist oppression of the Black on their trek to the U.S. the international weapons trade? At the particularly with the current Gesta- communities that broke out in Watts, in According to the Jan. 10 New York same time, the so-called U.S. Agency for po-like ICE raids and deportations tar- Newark, in Detroit and elsewhere, King Times, an additional 3,000 Cubans are International Development and the Na- geting Central American immigrants pointed to the true cause and the true in Panama. The anti-Cuba weapon is the tional Endowment for Democracy work who have fled the U.S.-caused turmoil in target of many struggles. 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act (CAA), which for “soft coup” destabilization against their home countries. King went on to say at Riverside Church: affords unique privileges — including a progressive governments like those in King said that the conditions faced “I knew that I could never again raise my quick path to citizenship and permission El Salvador and Venezuela. This double by African Americans, who were denied voice against the violence of the oppress­ to work legally — to any Cuban who reach- standard made headlines in the 1990s, voting rights; equal employment and pay; ed in the ghettos without having first es U.S. territory by any means. Although too, when Haitians attempting to reach equal rights to housing, education and spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor the Obama administration has steadfast- Florida by boat were sent back to Haiti hotel rooms; and who were trapped in a of violence in the world today — my own ly refused to consider any changes to the while Cubans were welcomed. life of poverty, were linked to the death government.” CAA, the opening of U.S.-Cuba diplomat- Noted professor and author Salim and devastation caused by the U.S. mil- King is gone now, cut down by an as- ic relations spiked the number of Cubans Lamrani wrote in a Jan. 6 public email itary adventure in Vietnam. King was sassin’s bullet just twelve months after seeking to take advantage of those special about the CAA: “This is a great tool for coming to the conclusion that the strug- he spoke those words. But his vision of benefits before the normalization process inciting illegal emigration. For nearly 50 gle of workers and the oppressed for jus- linking all the different struggles against ends them. years, the richest country in the world tice knew no borders before he was struck injustice offers a stirring example for us Contrast that to the Obama admin- has opened its doors to the population of down by an assassin’s bullet in 1968. today and many lessons. istration’s New Year’s raids and depor- a small, poor, Third World country with Movie review ‘The Big Short’ shows capitalism has nowhere to go

Continued from page 8 terest rates rose or when they lost their A recent report from the Securities claimed that housing prices could only This movie makes it clear that the real jobs. Then, home prices dropped, which and Exchange Commission claims that rise in a capitalist economy — a foolish purpose of Wall Street is not to allocate collapsed the bonds issued on the mort- the rating agencies like Moody’s and notion — strove to preserve the existing capital to projects that produce useful gages, the CDOs. Standard & Poor’s are still putting profit system. To a degree, they have. Profits products. It is instead to create profits, In one scene, a pole dancer in a club ahead of principle when they assign high and wealth have rebounded since 2008. indeed super-profits, for those who own explains her worries about refinancing grades to low-quality debt. (New York But wages have not. Millions of peo- capital or who can borrow big chunks of it. the mortgages on her five houses and Times, Jan. 8) This practice was one of ple in the United States live in absolute Where “The Big Short” falls short is her condo to one of these operators as the contributing factors leading up to the poverty, with a cash income under $2 a that it gives the false impression that she speaks to a customer. The audience 2008 crash. Reasonable people would day. (See “$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost greed, fraud and the bubble caused the quickly gets a feel for how deep and wide call their actions pure and simple fraud. Nothing in America” by Kathryn J. Edin capitalist recession. But it was capital- this speculative frenzy had gone. What is clear about this whole story is and H. Luke Shaefer.) Even people with a ist overproduction — producing houses The film presents an interesting and that Ben Bernanke, who led the Federal job are finding it hard to locate an afford- workers need but cannot afford to buy satirical way to explain a crash whose Reserve during the huge bailout of Wall able home. — that caused the recession, which burst impact is still being felt. Millions of peo- Street and the big banks, was far more The book that was the basis of the the bubble. ple lost their jobs and their homes in this concerned about preserving the econom- movie makes the same points but is a To sell the “overproduced” houses, frenzy so ably depicted by McKay and ic interests of the billionaires than the drier slog. The movie, “The Big Short,” is the Fed encouraged home buyers to take the actors. According to the Internation- jobs and homes of the millions of work- a well-made, entertaining, satirical look risky subprime and variable rate mort- al Monetary Fund, bailing out the Wall ing people who were losing them right at Wall Street’s greed and fraud and the gages. Unscrupulous brokers pushed Street and foreign banks from the effects and left. consequences, and worth seeing as long these risky mortgages on workers who of the bursting of this subprime bubble Both Bernanke and his predeces- as you don’t expect that it will challenge couldn’t afford to pay them once the in- cost the U.S. a trillion dollars. sor, Alan Greenspan, who proudly pro- the existing capitalist system. workers.org Jan. 21, 2016 Page 11 to Koreans South Africa ward with socialist construction, while Unfinished revolution causes instability never for an instant failing to maintain a strong defense, is a living testament to By Abayomi Azikiwe expulsion of Sparrow, saying there was tal basic principle of democracy and is the heroic Korean Revolution led by Mar- Editor, Pan-African News Wire no place for racists within their par- practiced throughout the world; that is shal Kim Il Sung. The revolution toppled ty. The DA’s KwaZulu-Natal provincial why it is called majority rule.” Japanese colonial rule and its local col- Several developments in South Africa leader, Zwakele Mncwango, stressed in a Warning that those fomenting divi- laborators in the north of the peninsula over the last few weeks have brought to press release: “I can confirm that Penny sions will not be tolerated, the president in 1945, bringing to power the workers, the fore the ongoing unfinished quest for is no longer a member of the DA and af- said, “Tendencies such as factionalism, farmers and progressive intellectuals. national liberation and economic justice. ter serving her suspension last week I can careerism, gatekeeping, arrogance of This amounted to a huge defeat for U.S. A social media post by Penny Sparrow, confirm that she resigned this morning.” power patronage — have no place in imperialism, which had expected to pick a real estate agent and member of the op- (Eyewitness News, Jan. 8) the ANC. We also wish to remind those up all the pieces of the Japanese empire. position Democratic Alliance party, den- Sparrow is also facing criminal charges, who continue to perpetuate division and Washington actually rearmed Japanese igrating Africans went viral and ignited and will have to appear before the South counterrevolution within our movement troops in the south to keep control until a discussion on the need for stiffer laws African Human Rights Commission and that there is no place for them.” the Pentagon could send in enough forces against hate speech. the Estate Agency Affairs Board. Human to prevent the people there from joining Sparrow referred to the majority Afri- Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu in- Global capitalist crisis impacts the revolution. can population in the postapartheid na- structed the board to initiate a probe. In internal politics It is particularly infuriating to the tion as “monkeys.” addition to these developments, Spar- Like many so-called “emerging econ- Western imperialists today that the peo- Sparrow decried the policy of integra- row’s former bosses at Jawitz Properties omies,” South Africa’s is experiencing a ple of the DPRK are united behind Kim tion, where all residents of and visitors to will be pursuing legal action against her. crisis due to the decline in commodity Jong Un and the Workers’ Party of Korea, the Republic of South Africa, under the These racist comments were not the prices and the ongoing dependency upon both of whom represent an unbroken line leadership of the ruling African Nation- only ones gaining attention in South the world system dominated by capitalist of leaders committed to the Korean Rev- al Congress party, are allowed to enjoy Africa in recent weeks. According to modes of production and relations. The olution’s goals of independence, sover- beaches and other public areas of the Eyewitness News, “The SAHRC is also continuing depressed value of the national eignty and socialist construction. country. Sparrow revealed the continu- investigating after concerns about rac- currency, the rand, the rise in joblessness We demand: U.S. sign a peace treaty ing racist sentiments of many whites, ist comments made by Sparrow as well and low wages has triggered various re- with the DPRK and get out of Korea! No particularly those who constitute the as economist Chris Hart and Justin van sponses, including an apparent right-wing to sanctions and military threats! Long actual leadership of the DA. This party Vuuren on social media in recent days, demonstration in December demanding live the worldwide struggle of workers holds second place among the political saying further legal steps could be taken the resignation of President Zuma. and oppressed peoples against racism, parties in the South African parliament against all three.” On Jan. 11, there was yet another de- class oppression and imperialist war! in Cape Town, having gained 22 percent cline in the value of the rand on interna- Larry Holmes of the vote in the 2014 national elections. ANC celebrates 104th anniversary tional currency markets. This continues First Secretary In response to the furor generated over This discussion arose amid the com- a pattern begun during 2015 that precipi- Workers World Party these statements, the DA announced the memoration surrounding the 104th an- tated a change in finance ministers twice niversary of the ANC’s founding on Jan. within the course of a few days during 8. This liberation movement turned polit- December. This instability in the finance ical party is the oldest such organization portfolio was credited with a previous Its impact on migration on the continent. drop in the currency value. Tens of thousands of people attended An article published by Newscom.au limited resources and victim, moreover, W Bush said they weren’t needed! This rallies and other celebrations through- on Jan. 11 reported, “The rand fell more of extremely severe economic sanctions.” was the very same Bush who almost on out South Africa to mark this date when than 9 percent to 17.9950 against the U.S. The CAA is the carrot end of the stick the anniversary of the hurricanes in- the party was formed at the height of Eu- dollar, by far its weakest level on record, that is the U.S. economic, financial and stituted the CMPPP to lure the doctors ropean colonial rule in Africa in 1912. In on fears that China wants to weaken its commercial blockade. The architecture whose previous offer of help for New Or- five consecutive national elections since currency aggressively and boost its ex- for the blockade was laid out in an inter- leans he refused. 1994, the ANC has won well over 60 per- port competitiveness. The South African nal U.S. State Department memo dated On Jan. 8, Reuters reported the cent of the vote. unit had recovered somewhat to 16.6500 April 6, 1960. Admitting the Cuban peo- CMPPP is under review with an an- The largest opposition party to emerge by 0220 Tuesday AEDT [Jan. 12], but ple’s support for the Revolution, the doc- nouncement on whether to end it is since the democratic breakthrough of 22 was still down two per cent from Friday’s ument concluded: “The only foreseeable expected before the end of the month. years ago has been the DA. In an effort to close. It was the weakest performer in a means of alienating internal support is “With such a thaw under way, the parole obscure its racist, neoliberal and imperi- basket of 25 emerging market currencies through disenchantment and disaffection program no longer seemed to fit what the alist agenda, the DA uses various strate- tracked by Reuters.” based on economic dissatisfaction and White House has called a ‘new chapter’ gies to recruit and promote Africans. Zuma said in response to the decline hardship … a line of action which, while in U.S.-Cuban relations.” In early 2014, the DA attempted to that it was an overreaction to overall de- as adroit and inconspicuous as possible, After the 1959 revolutionary victory, stage a march on ANC headquarters velopments in the global economy. Some makes the greatest inroads in denying half of Cuba’s doctors opted for life in in Johannesburg, but was rebuffed by market analysts echoed this assessment, money and supplies to Cuba, to decrease Miami, leaving only 3,000 medical pro- thousands of ANC supporters who were although such a phenomenon does not monetary and real wages, to bring about fessionals in a country of millions with mobilized to defend the party offices. DA bode well for the immediate future of the hunger, desperation and overthrow of vast inequalities. Not only professionals, criticisms of the ANC in parliament are country. government.” (tinyurl.com/h6tm8e5) but also many wealthy and light-skinned clearly designed to agitate for the return Other factors involving relations with In addition to the CAA, since 2006, the Cubans fled to Miami. But the police, of the system of white supremacy and a the U.S. based on the Africa Growth and Cuban Medical Professional Parole Pro- military officers and torturers of the Ba- close alliance with the imperialist states. Opportunities Act have played a role in gram solicits Cuban educated “doctors, tista dictatorship came, too. The 1966 South African President Jacob Zuma the economic insecurity of the country nurses, paramedics, physical therapists, CAA was crafted for their benefit. Now, said in an address before ANC anniver- by holding up the renewal of South Afri- lab technicians and sports trainers” the anti-Cuba minority in Congress op- sary celebrations in Rustenburg in the ca’s eligibility in the program, which was (state.gov) to abandon international ser- poses the CAA, citing the current em- Northwest province, “Economic freedom established under the Bill Clinton ad- vice and migrate to the U.S., taking along igres as unworthy — pointing out that must become a reality in our lifetime. The ministration in 2000. An announcement with them their high quality professional many quickly return to Cuba and travel ANC has long set out to place our economy was made recently that the outstanding training that was provided to them with- back and forth freely, which, by the way, on a new growth path that will deracialize issues related to the refusal of South Afri- out cost by the Cuban Revolution. is a boon to the Miami economy, where the economy and make a fundamental ca to accept certain meat products due to the majority of the many, many daily break with the ownership patterns of the health concerns had been resolved. Cuba’s revolution spreads charter flights to Cuba originate. past.” (Bloomberg, Jan. 9) South African Minister of Trade free health care In place of the CAA, the U.S. govern- During the same speech Zuma also de- Rob Davies revealed on Jan. 9 that an More than 50,000 Cuban medical in- ment needs to adjust its relationship with manded that the ANC be given “space to agreement had been reached to allow ternationalists are serving in at least the world and its people. That means govern” in light of recent calls by the DA the importation of the meat products in 66 countries. Often, the Cuban doctors ending the blockade of Cuba, respecting and other opposition forces for his resig- question. Nonetheless, U.S. Trade Rep- are the very first medical professionals its sovereign right to self-determination nation. He also derided the factionalism resentative Michael Froman said while rural and poor people have ever seen. and its socialist economic plan, returning that has begun to plague the party and the Washington welcomed the progress Cuba sent medical brigades to Algeria in occupied Guantánamo, and ending the Tripartite Alliance of the ANC with the made in resolving the outstanding tech- 1961 and even earlier to Chile following a multitude of hostile policies and actions, Congress of South African Trade Unions nical issues, the real measure of the res- devastating earthquake there. From the including the CAA and CMPPP, which use and the South African Communist Party. olution would be based on the ability of hillsides of the Himalayas to tracking immigration as a weapon, and also de- Condemning what he characterized South African consumers to buy these down the sources of cholera in Haiti to funding the USAID, the NED, and propa- as “obstructions to government,” Zuma meats in domestic outlets. fighting ebola hemorrhagic fever in Libe- ganda TV and radio broadcasts to Cuba. emphasized, “You can’t lose elections The Obama administration had threat- ria, Guinea and Sierra Leone — there are It also means ending the raids and de- and hope to interrupt and obstruct the ened on Jan. 4 to suspend South Africa Cuban doctors. And we can never for- portations, recognizing the refugee status government that has been elected by from the trade agreement. The AGOA get that more than 1,500 fully equipped of the Central American migrants and ad- the people through taking every issue was reauthorized by the U.S. Congress in Henry Reeve Brigade, disaster trained, justing the status of the millions of undoc- to court or disrupting Parliament. The June. The act eliminates import taxes on medical professionals waited to help the umented without political bluster. Doesn’t party that wins elections must be given more than 7,000 products ranging from people of the U.S. Gulf Coast to survive the CAA show it can be done, at least when space to govern. The ANC must be given textiles to manufactured items in 39 Af- hurricanes Katrina and Rita. But George it serves their political purposes? space to govern — this is the fundamen- rican nations. 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. 58 Núm. 2 21 de enero 2016 $1 EDITORIAL 4 de enero de 2016 Cambiando el medioambiente: Libertad para De Kioto al temporal Frank Oscar López Por Deirdre Griswold bombeado humedad a la atmósfera. El No son el castigo por “la codicia y los año pasado, 2015, fue el año más cáli- pecados del hombre”. No surgen de la La dispersión de los seres humanos do registrado. sobrepoblación o de la “avaricia” de la Rivera, ¡YA! a todos los continentes de nuestro pla- Criminal sabotaje humanidad. Son el producto del cre- El editorial del New York Times del 31 de dic- neta ha ido acompañada de grandes de los acuerdos climáticos cimiento de las fuerzas productivas retos e innovaciones. El Homo Sapi- bajo un sistema político y económico iembre titulado “Mr. Obama’s Trickle of Mercy” Las/os jóvenes que ahora están en la ens se convirtió en la forma de vida en particular: el capitalismo, que echó (“La misericordia en goteo de Obama”) criticó universidad ni siquiera habían nacido dominante en todo el mundo debido raíces sólo hace pocos siglos. duramente el tacaño uso del proceso de clemen- cuando las/os científicos climatológicos a nuestra capacidad no sólo de adap- Sociedades anteriores tenían sus cia presidencial por Barack Obama quien solo ha comenzaron a presentar las alarman- tarse al entorno - todas las especies se problemas ambientales también. Pero liberado a 95 prisioneros federales que estaban tes noticias sobre los gases de efecto han adaptado, desarrollado o perecido aunque la tecnología de entonces esta- sirviendo penas de cárcel “absurdamente largas”. invernadero y el calentamiento global - sino también para cambiar el propio ba en un nivel mucho más bajo, la gen- Oscar López Rivera no era uno de los 95, pero en el mundo. Esto finalmente condujo medio ambiente para satisfacer nues- te encontraba maneras de hacer lo que después de 34 años, sin duda él hubiera debido de en 1997, al Protocolo de Kioto para la tras necesidades. se necesitaba para asegurar las fuent- ser uno de ellos. En cambio, el 6 de enero, cuan- Convención sobre el Cambio Climáti- Tan exitosos nos hemos vuelto en es de alimento y resguardo. do celebra su 73º cumpleaños en la Penitencia- co de la ONU, que fue acordado por 36 alterar el entorno, que ahora parece Uno de los esfuerzos más notables ría Federal de Terre Haute-Indiana, millones de países industrializados, incluyendo a que se ha convertido en lo contrario. - comenzó hace 2.250 años en China personas redoblarán sus esfuerzos para liberarlo. EUA. Ese protocolo los comprometía a El calentamiento global y el cambio durante la dinastía Qin. Fue un gran Que el presidente Obama haya optado por ig- que redujeran sus emisiones de gases a climático, resultante principalmente proyecto de recuperación de tierras y norar a López en este punto, es un ejemplo del un 7 por ciento más bajo que los niveles del crecimiento industrial y la que- control de inundaciones que implicó el castigo especial infligido a los hombres y a las del año 1990 para los años 2008-2012. ma de combustibles fósiles, plantean desvío de agua desde el río Min, que se mujeres con principios inflexibles y con con- El gobierno de EUA firmó el proto- enormes peligros no sólo para los hu- inundaba periódicamente sin control, sciencia. López fue declarado culpable de “con- colo en 1998 - pero nunca lo ratificó, a manos sino para una amplia gama de hacia el otro lado de una cordillera, spiración sediciosa” junto con otras/os miembros diferencia de los otros 35 países signa- especies animales y vegetales. donde la tierra era buena pero demasi- de las Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional. tarios. Luego, George W. Bush lo repu- La gente de algunos de los países ado árida para cultivar. Sus creencias políticas, su compromiso de por dió abiertamente en marzo de 2001, el más desarrollados constataron estos Para romper la montaña, durante 7 vida a la independencia de Puerto Rico y la au- primer año de su presidencia. Sin EUA, peligros a finales de diciembre y prin- años, los trabajadores quemaron mon- todeterminación para el pueblo puertorriqueño en el momento el mayor contaminador cipios de enero cuando las inunda- tones de heno en la superficie de las eran imperdonables a los banqueros y patronos del mundo, el protocolo tendría poco ciones en el valle del Misisipi y en toda rocas para que se calentaran y luego especuladores estadounidenses y sus tribunales. efecto. Para EUA, el Protocolo de Kioto Irlanda, Gales, Inglaterra y Escocia al- vertían agua fría para enfriarlas rápi- Ahora sus compañeras/os han sido liberados y había llegado muerto. canzaron proporciones históricas. damente, “dejando que la contracción han regresado a casa. Ya es más que tiempo para La manta de dióxido de carbono Estas inundaciones no fueron las casi instantánea abriera grietas. El liberar a López también. en la atmósfera siguió aumentando peores que afectaron a grandes pobla- corte finalmente llevó a una hendidura Todo Puerto Rico — desde el movimiento de ­vertiginosamente. ciones en los últimos años - se han pro- de 70 pies de ancho, y las aguas del río independencia a las/os proponentes de estadidad La historia de la creciente amenaza ducido desastres mucho más grandes Min ... comenzaron a pasar a través de y las/os estadolibristas (el actual estado colonial), que representa el calentamiento global, en Asia, África, América Central y ella en el momento en que la pared final a la juventud y las/os estudiantes que luchan aunque ciertamente no ha sido ignora- América del Sur - pero estas muestran se rompió”. (De “El hombre que amaba por la educación, a las/os trabajadores puertor- da por los medios de comunicación que el clima extremo, mencionado du- a China”, un libro sobre Simon Win- riqueños que luchan contra la austeridad y los capitalistas, rara vez se relaciona con rante décadas por los científicos clima- chester, un científico británico simpati- recortes de pensiones — reclaman la libertad de las guerras del último cuarto de siglo: la tológicos, está indiscutiblemente en zante de la Revolución China, que pasó López. El apoyo es tan fuerte que el gobernador guerra contra Irak, iniciada en 1991 du- marcha, y ningún país se verá librado. los primeros años de los 1940 acumu- de Puerto Rico visitó oficialmente a López en la rante la presidencia de George W Bush; En EUA, el río Misisipi y sus trib- lando datos masivos sobre los primeros cárcel. Y en la diáspora puertorriqueña, en las es- la invasión de Afganistán en noviembre utarias, después de fuertes lluvias en descubrimientos científicos de China.) cuelas y organizaciones comunitarias que López de 2001 (una guerra que aún continúa) lugar de las nevadas estacionales ha- El aniversario de este evento aún y su hermano ayudaron a fundar en Chicago, en después de la denuncia del Protocolo bituales, alcanzaron niveles récord se celebra en China, ya que trajo esta- Nueva York donde el ayuntamiento aprobó una de Kioto por Bush; la segunda guer- de inundaciones en algunas áreas a bilidad a un área que había conocido resolución para liberarlo, las voces son fuertes y ra de Irak iniciada en marzo de 2003, finales de diciembre, lo que llevó a una devastadoras catástrofes naturales y unidas exigiendo la libertad de López. de nuevo por el joven Bush; y la actu- devastación generalizada en Illinois, hambrunas resultantes. Desde 1898, cuando Estados Unidos derrotó al guerra contra el gobierno de Siria, Misuri, Oklahoma y Arkansas. Más de El proyecto del río Min mostró que a España y ocupó a Puerto Rico, Cuba y las Fil- iniciada a finales de 2011 bajo Barack dos docenas de muertes se han repor- la gente, cuando está movilizada y mo- ipinas en su expansión imperial más allá del Obama por las fuerzas de la oposición tado hasta el momento. tivada para resolver un grave problema, continente de América del Norte, la lucha por la con el apoyo de EUA y Arabia Saudita. Se esperan más inundaciones en las tiene la persistencia y el ingenio para autodeterminación y la independencia contra el Tampoco se menciona en relación próximas semanas, ya que la cresta del hacer lo que sea necesario para vencer. colonialismo ha sido incontenible. En Cuba, la con la amenaza climática, la guerra río se mueve aguas abajo hacia Tenesí, La pregunta que nos tenemos que liberación del territorio ha sido ganada. La lucha para destruir el gobierno de Libia. Ese Misisipi y Luisiana. preguntar a la luz de los desastres de continúa en Puerto Rico y las Filipinas. país del norte de África había elevado su Comenzando el 30 de diciembre, hoy y el aumento de las amenazas es ¡Libertad para Oscar López Rivera y todas/os nivel de vida al más alto del continente. la tormenta, a la que los meteorólo- la siguiente: Sabiendo lo que sabemos los presos políticos! ¡Viva Puerto Rico Libre! En todos estos conflictos y otros en gos británicos le han llamado Frank, ahora, ¿cuál es el obstáculo en el cami- África y Asia, el control del petróleo golpearon las costas y la parte norte de no de tomar las medidas necesarias del mundo ha sido un factor impor- El capitalismo en un callejón sin salida Irlanda, Gales, Inglaterra y Escocia du- para evitar que ocurra lo peor? tante. Y el petróleo, después del car- rante varios días con fuertes vientos y La tesis de este libro es que la crisis económica, que bón, es la principal fuente de gases de lluvias torrenciales, antes de girar ha- se inició en agosto de 2007, marcó un punto de inflexión efecto invernadero. cia el norte, en dirección a Groenlandia. en la historia del capitalismo. El autor sostiene que el Estas guerras han matado a cien- sistema no se recuperará, no volverá al ciclo capitalista Mientras que el daño fue generalizado, tos de miles, desplazado a millones de normal de auge y caída. las muertes parecen haberse manteni- personas, y han costado billones de Durante décadas, la clase capitalista ha utilizado a revo- do en un solo dígito. La contabilidad dólares - dinero que podría haber sido lución tecnológica digital para aumentar la pro­duc­tividad final no estaba disponible al tiempo de utilizado durante este período crítico, del trabajo a un ritmo récord. Menos trabajadores produ- escribir este artículo. cuando los científicos ya sabían lo que cen más bienes y servicios en menos tiempo con salarios Conforme se dirigía hacia el norte, más bajos. El resultado es una serie de “recuperaciones sin estaba pasando, para reestructurar la Frank también trajo lluvia y tempera- empleos” que hace que las cosas vayan aún peor. producción de energía, el transporte y turas de deshielo a las áreas arriba Goldstein utiliza las leyes de la acumulación capi- la vivienda para reducir la quema de del Círculo Polar Ártico - un insólito talista de Marx, y la tasa decreciente de ganancia, para combustibles fósiles. escenario durante el invierno del Polo demostrar por qué el capitalismo global ha llegado Norte. Las/os científicos sostienen Nada inevitable sobre finalmente a un punto de inflexión. El continuo estancamiento y el desempleo generaliza- que la gravedad de los desastres, tan- el cambio climático do provocarán inevitablemente un resurgimiento de la to en EUA como en Europa se puede Los desastres enfrentados por gran Fred Goldstein lucha de clases que no se ve en EE.UU. desde la década trazar al calentamiento global, que ha parte del mundo no eran inevitables. lowwagecapitalism.com de 1930; esta vez se dirigirá contra el propio sistema.