El voto en Bessemer 12

Workers and oppressed peoples of the world unite! workers.org Vol. 63, No. 16 April 22, 2021 $1 SPIRIT OF MAY DAY: FIGHT BACK! After Amazon vote: Smash police violence Unionize ALL workers and white supremacy

By Larry Holmes on all levels, not just the leadership, not By Monica Moorehead just the Executive Council of the AFL- The following edited remarks were CIO, but most importantly at the rank- May Day, International made on an April 9 webinar entitled and-file level. Workers Day, was born in the “The struggle continues—​Next Steps That’s why I agree with Saladin U.S. out of the struggle for the for BAmazon Union and beyond—​ Muhammad about going around and eight-hour day in 1886. Workers, Organizers’ Meeting” organized by having meetings to talk to workers on many of them socialists and supportamazonworkers.org. Holmes is a rank-and-file basis about this. The anarchists who migrated from Workers World Party’s First Secretary questions must be posed: What is labor other countries, risked their and an organizer with the Workers going to do about this now? What is lives. Some—​including the five Assembly Against Racism in New York the response going to be? The only true Haymarket Martyrs executed City. answer is this: The working class and its by the state of Illinois Nov. 11, organizations—not​ only the biggest and 1887—​sacrificed their lives so My heart, my solidarity goes out to most important at the moment because all workers around the world the organizers and workers in Bessemer of its resources—​the organized labor could be treated with dignity, who fought so hard for this vote. The movement must come up with a plan to winning better working condi- Retail, Wholesale and Department respond to this, to organize Amazon—​ tions, a livable wage and decent Store Union was outmatched and out- not just Bessemer—which​ has a million benefits. Brooklyn Center, Minn., protest, April 16. More on p.3. gunned by this behemoth of a monster workers in this country, not including May Day is viewed by millions global capitalist corporation, Amazon. Whole Foods, which they own. around the globe as a socialist commem- International Working Women’s Day, But still they did what, frankly, bigger How are the unions going to work oration, honored with marches, rallies May Day is a constant reminder that every unions should have done, who had more together? What’s and strikes where it social issue is a worker’s issue. May Day resources, infinitely more resources. their strategy? Bulletin: Chauvin found is not a paid holiday. 2021 carries forth that tradition. The union took it on. But as comrade What is their plan? Over many decades, The courageous but unsuccessful first Saladin Muhammad said, this is one Which unions guilty. Convict all killer workers have used attempt by the majority African American battle; this is the beginning. are going to work cops! Abolish the police! May Day not only Amazon workers in Bessemer, Ala., to The vote in Bessemer is not just a together and not to fight the greedy, organize a union at the second-largest pri- problem or crisis or a setback, or how- compete with each More on workers.org profit-hungry bosses vate employer in the U.S., has an import- ever you want to characterize it. It’s other? How are for economic rights, ant lesson: Classwide solidarity is decisive not just a problem for the workers in they going to win over the militants in but to raise important political demands. in pushing forward the struggle against Alabama or for the workers in the South groups like Amazonians United and Fifteen years ago, on May 1, 2006 an capitalist exploitation. As long as private or for Amazon workers; it’s a problem Whole Worker groups—​like my good estimated two million migrant workers, the ownership dominates global production, for the whole working class, for the friend, Chris Smalls, the founder of the majority from Central and South America, no one workplace, large or small, whether whole labor movement and for the left. Congress of Essential Workers. They took to the streets in U.S. cities, large and a factory or a restaurant, can take on a cap- Most of us understood that we should have a base in these Amazon and Whole small, sparked by the racist, reactionary italist on their own without the solidarity not rely on 6,000 workers in Alabama Foods sites, and they feel alienated by Sensenbrenner legislation that would deny of the rest of their class. to take on the biggest corporation in the the unions. legal documents to allow migrants to live world, a corporation that pretty much Unions are not who they run to, and and work in the U.S. Joined by migrants Police violence is a workers’ issue defines 21st-century global capitalism. they have good reasons for this; that—​ from Africa, the Caribbean and allies, it is The phrase “every issue is a work- It’s our crisis. Now labor must be chal- most of us agree on. But the problem is, to date the largest May Day gathering in ers’ issue” is true in the ongoing strug- lenged. This has to intensify a very nec- the reality of the situation means that U.S. history. The main sentiment echoed gle against police terror. At the present essary crisis inside the labor movement we must deal with the labor movement, was: “Sí, se puede” or “Yes, we can.” moment, there are three current incidents Continued on page 11 Just like the socialist-inspired of state-sanctioned violence that have Continued on page 3

Release Mumia Viva now! Ramsey Clark! 5

Bigots thwarted 2 ‘The fire has started’ 4 Celebrate Mumia Abu-Jamal’s 67th birthday. WW PHOTO: JOE PIETTE Free him now! See pages 6-7. Trans resistance 4, 10 In solitary for free speech 7 Editorial FedEx massacre 10

Madawaska Nation 4 Cuba 8 Haiti 9 Syria 9 Puerto Rico 9 Page 2 April 22, 2021 workers.org Working class activists beat back anti-choice bigots this week ◆ In the U.S. By Devin Cole remained “neutral” to the right-wingers’ presence. Finally, Pensacola, Fla. after four and a half months of pressure by clinic defend- After Amazon vote: Unionize ALL workers . . . 1 (Occupied Creek Muscogee land) ers, all but one of the businesses have signed a No Trespass Smash police violence and white supremacy . . .1 Order, meaning that the anti-choice bigots are no longer Working class activists thwart anti-choice bigots .2 For four and a half months, abortion rights advo- permitted anywhere on their property. cates have been defending the only abortion clinic in Additionally, the road the clinic sits on was designated San Antonio activists take on cop ‘unions’ . . . .3 Pensacola, Fla. The defense effort is led by Workers World a “No Trespass Zone,” meaning that the anti-choice bigots Portland on fire again over police killings . . . .3 Party Central Gulf Coast branch, Strive (Socialist Trans can no longer stand or park anywhere on the road in front In Alabama ‘the fire has started!’ ...... 4 Initiative) and Women’s March Pensacola. Every Saturday of the clinic. They are now banned from both the front and Students protest anti-transgender school staff . .4 and most Fridays, working-class people have shown up left side, which is where most of the entrances are and to hold signs, chant and even set up fences made of tarp where patients are dropped off and picked up. Ramsey Clark, human rights fighter, 1927-2021 . 5 around American Family Planning (AFP), Pensacola’s ‘Mumia is a fighter’ ...... 6 One ‘neutral’ holdout reproductive health clinic. Demand Mumia Abu-Jamal's release now! . . . 6 This is to keep the patients and clinic workers safe and One business has still refused to sign the order, claim- Lavender and Red solidarity with Mumia! . . . 7 away from anti-choice reactionaries, who often set up hor- ing it wants to “remain neutral.” Unfortunately, its prop- rific, photoshopped signs in front of the clinic and scream erty line abuts the clinic, allowing anti-choice bigots to Prison punishes Bryant Arroyo for free speech . .7 at patients and clinic workers. The “harmless” anti-choice walk up and down the property, screaming at people Brick by brick, wall by wall, we will free Mumia . 7 bigots have responded to the ongoing clinic defense by inside the clinic or, even worse, at patients who have had Trans women and police brutality in history . . 10 verbally and physically threatening clinic defenders, going surgery and are waiting to be picked up. So patients who even so far as to call the police multiple times on clinic have just had a safe, legal abortion procedure still have ◆ Around the world defenders who play music they don’t like. to exit where a group of hateful reactionaries can harass Despite this, the clinic defenders have persisted in put- and berate them. Madawaska Nation wins settlement in Canada . .4 ting pressure on business owners not to allow the anti- Clinic defenders, as of this writing, are continuing to Cuban unions build socialism ...... 8 choice bigots on their property. AFP is almost completely mount pressure on the business to sign the No Trespass Raúl Castro honored ...... 8 surrounded by several businesses that have all previously Order and remove the bigots from its property. Haiti at the abyss ...... 9 The clinic backs up to some woods, which are local government property and subject to ¡Fuera LUMA! — LUMA out of Puerto Rico! . . .9 its rule. So for this last business to sign the Statement supporting the Syrian people . . . . 9 No Trespass Order would effectively ban the bigots from being anywhere around the clinic. ◆ Editorial There is a long, violent history of reactionary Racism, worker rights and the FedEx shooting . 10 anti-choice attacks on this clinic. It was bombed twice in the 1980s. In 1993 Dr. David Gunn, ◆ Noticias en Español the OB/GYN at the clinic, was murdered. The following year, Dr. Gunn’s replacement, Después del voto en Amazon ...... 12 Dr. John Britton, was murdered by another anti-choice reactionary, Paul Jennings Hill. The clinic was firebombed in 2012. The clinic defenders are putting their safety and wellbeing on the line, but it is what must be done. And now it is paying off. WW PHOTO: SHANNON P. Pensacola clinic defenders stand up to bigots, Jan. 2. Continued on page 3 Workers World 147 W. 24th St., 2nd Fl. New York, NY 10011 Phone: 212.627.2994 Join us in the fight E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.workers.org for socialism! Vol. 63, No. 16 • April 22, 2021 Workers World Party is a revolutionary Marxist-Leninist and trans people are gunned down by cops and bigots on Closing date: April 21, 2021 party inside the belly of the imperialist beast. We are a mul- a regular basis. Editors: John Catalinotto, Martha Grevatt, Deirdre tinational, multigenerational and multigendered organiza- The ruthless ruling class today seeks to wipe out Griswold, Monica Moorehead, Betsey Piette, Minnie tion that not only aims to abolish capitalism, but to build a decades of gains and benefits won by hard-fought strug- Bruce Pratt socialist society because it’s the only way forward! gles by people’s movements. The super-rich and their Web Editors: ABear, Harvey Markowitz, Janet Mayes Capitalism and imperialism threaten the peoples of the political representatives have intensified their attacks on world and the planet itself in the neverending quest for the multinational, multigender and multigenerational Prisoners Page Editors: Mirinda Crissman, Ted Kelly ever-greater profits. working class. It is time to point the blame at—​and chal- Production & Design Editors: Gery Armsby, Mirinda Capitalism means war and austerity, racism and repres- lenge—the​ capitalist system. Crissman, Ted Kelly, Sasha Mazumder, Scott Williams sion, attacks on im/migrants, misogyny, LGBTQ2S+ WWP fights for socialism because the working class Copyediting and Proofreading: Paddy Colligan, oppression and mistreatment of people with disabili- produces all wealth in society, and this wealth should S. Hedgecoke ties. It means joblessness, increasing homelessness and remain in their hands, not be stolen in the form of capi- impoverishment and lack of hope for the future. No social talist profits. The wealth workers create should be socially Contributing Editors: LeiLani Dowell, G. Dunkel, problems can be solved under capitalism. owned and its distribution planned to satisfy and guaran- K. Durkin, Sara Flounders, Teresa Gutierrez, Joshua The U.S. is the richest country in the world, yet no one tee basic human needs. Hanks, Makasi Motema, Gloria Rubac has a guaranteed right to shelter, food, water, health care, Since 1959, Workers World Party has been out in the Mundo Obero: Teresa Gutierrez, Carlos Vargas education or anything else—​unless they can pay for it. streets defending the workers and oppressed here and Copyright © 2021 Workers World. Verbatim copying Wages are lower than ever, and youth are saddled with worldwide. If you’re interested in Marxism, socialism and distribution of articles is permitted in any medium seemingly insurmountable student debt, if they even and fighting for a socialist future, please contact a WWP without royalty provided this notice is preserved. make it to college. Black, Brown and Indigenous youth branch near you. ☐ Workers World (ISSN-1070-4205) is published If you are interested in joining Workers World Party contact: 212.627.2994 monthly by WW Publishers, 147 W. 24th St. 2nd Fl., New York, NY 10011. Phone: 212.627.2994. Subscrip- National Office Bay Area Central Gulf Coast Philadelphia tions: One year: $36; institutions: $50. Letters to the 147 W. 24th St., 2nd floor P.O. Box 22947 (Alabama, Florida, Mississippi) P.O. Box 34249 editor may be condensed and edited. 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By Lyn Neeley Portland, Ore.

Protests erupted in Portland April 12 fol- lowing the police killing of Daunte Wright in Minnesota. They escalated four days later after police killed a homeless white man with a history of struggling with men- PHOTO: SUZETTE SMITH, PORTLAND MERCURY tal health issues. Protesters set fire to the North Portland Over 100 protesters immediately Police Association building in response to responded to Wright’s murder. Calling for the police killing of Daunte Wright. the abolition of police, they shattered win- dows and tore down light fixtures at the like Nordstrom and Nike. They started fires downtown offices of the Portland Police in dumpsters downtown and outside the Bureau and Multnomah County Sheriff. Apple store. Another fire blocked the mass The next night, they set fire to the North transit light rail. At times crowds of around Lombard headquarters of the Portland 100 faced off with the police. Police Association, chanting: “Every This week’s protests were an extension of San Antonio—Black​ Lives Matter activists in San Antonio came out April 16 city, every town, burn the precincts to Portland’s 100 days of protests beginning and 17 to demand an end to police killings of Black and Brown people, nationally the ground!” and “Say his name! Daunte last May that were sparked by the lynching and locally. The first demonstration, sponsored by the San Antonio Coalition for Wright!” of George Floyd. One of their demands was Police Accountability, Fix SAPD and others, was focused on Proposition B. This Three days later, protests grew and inten- the defunding or abolition of the Portland referendum on the May 1 ballot would cancel collective bargaining rights for sified after a 46-year-old homeless man, Police Bureau. In response to the demon- so-called police “unions,” eliminating contract provisions that shield cops from Robert Douglas Delgado, was shot, the first strations, Oregon state government lead- discipline or firing—even​ for the most horrendous acts. police killing in Portland since 2019. ers banned the choke hold and eliminated Activists, including members of several unions, picketed outside the San Zakary DeLong, the cop who shot use of tear gas, except in the case of a “riot,” Antonio Central Labor Council’s meeting. Shamefully, the SACLC opposes Delgado, has worked for the Portland and cut $15,000 from the Portland Police Prop B—to​ the point of going door to door to urge people to vote it down. That Police Department for eight years. Before Bureau. very day, San Antonio cops had killed two people sitting in their car during a that he was a sniper in special operations A leading protester responded to these traffic stop. with the U.S. Army Rangers in Afghanistan. concessions in a video summarizing the The scores of people gathered at a park in the Black community to demand DeLong was one of 19 Portland cops who effect of the demonstrations on Portland: justice for Daunte Wright and Adam Toledo, along with all the San Antonio “liked” another officer’s post reading “I am “They threw us some bread crumbs Police Department’s victims. Darren Wilson,” referring to the Ferguson, with their first little attempt at defund- Pictured here is Deborah Bush, whose nephew Marquise Jones was killed by Mo., cop who killed Michael Brown. ing the police. It wasn’t what we asked SAPD cops. (tinyurl.com/5db6eyt4) for. We asked for $50 million a year until — Report and photo by Shelley Ettinger Protesters attacked police vehicles and the whole system has been dismantled.” smashed windows of banks and businesses (tinyurl.com/524ndmrk) ☐ Smash police violence and white supremacy Continued from page 1 call for both “defunding the police” and finally made public April 15. Toledo was and even stopped to get him a hamburger “abolishing the police.” shot in the chest by officer Eric Stillman before taking him into custody. taken center stage. These protests were connected to other in a split second, as he was putting his The same treatment was afforded Kyle The first is the trial of killer-cop Derek police murders, like Breonna Taylor, the empty hands in the air. Rittenhouse, a teenaged white vigilante, Chauvin, charged with third-degree 26-year-old Black EMT worker shot mul- As of April 18, Stillman has not been who fatally shot two anti-racist activists murder, second-degree intentional mur- tiple times March 13, 2020 while in her arrested or charged with the murder of protesting the shooting of 26-year-old, der and second-degree manslaughter bed in Louisville, Ky. The cop who killed Toledo. This is another reminder how the Jacob Blake, shot in the back and paralyzed charges for lynching a 46-year-old Black her was exonerated by a secret grand jury police not only criminalize Black youth by white police in Kenosha, Wis., Aug. 23, man, George Floyd, on May 25, 2020, in in September. but also Brown youth. 2020. The police allowed Rittenhouse Minneapolis, Minn. Second, protests broke out again in We approach the 29th anniversary of to walk past them in their armored vehi- Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee Brooklyn Center, Minn., a mere 10 miles the historic, weeklong Los Angeles rebel- cles after the shooting before arresting and full body weight on Floyd’s neck for away from the Chauvin trial, when on lion that began April 29, 1992—​incited by him hours later. Before these shootings nine minutes and twenty-nine seconds, April 11 white police officer Kim Potter the acquittals of four white police officers occurred, the police were videotaped giving while Floyd could be heard multiple times fatally shot 20-year-old Black father for the savage beating of Black motorist water to other fascist vigilantes. saying, “I can’t breathe” and calling out Daunte Wright during a minor traffic Rodney King, caught on videotape. One Father and son Klan members stalked for his deceased mother until he lost com- stop. Potter claimed she “mistakenly” important element has changed since then: and murdered Armaud Abery, a 25-year- plete consciousness. This heinous crime thought she was using her taser when she the regular use of camera phones to create old Black jogger, on Feb. 23, 2020, in was captured on videotape for the whole fatally shot Wright. videos that go viral, serving as clear indict- Glynn County, Ga., on videotape. world to see. A verdict is expected some- Potter was arrested and charged with ments of police crimes on social media. Anti-Asian violence is on the rise in time in the coming week. second-degree manslaughter after she the U.S. due to the frenzy stirred up by In response to the murder, rebel- resigned. Protests are continuing in the White supremacy and police Trump with his anti-China tirades during lions, including the burning down of a streets despite daily curfews, mass arrests are closely connected the pandemic. On March 16, vigilante Minneapolis police station, broke out in and assaults on activists by the police. Police violence would not exist without Robert Aaron Long massacred eight peo- the streets all over the country, lasting Solidarity actions calling for justice for the existence of white supremacy which ple, seven of them women including four throughout the summer. Neither curfews, Daunte Wright are occurring around the permeates every sector of class society. of Korean descent, in three massage spas the militarized local and state police nor country. The police grew out of the “slave patrols” outside of Atlanta. the National Guard could stop the angry And third, there is the fatal shooting to capture enslaved African peoples who Six Sikh worshippers died at the hands resistance of multinational crowds led by of 13-year-old Adam Toledo, of Mexican dared to resist by escaping their life in of a white supremacist in August 2012 Black Lives Matter activists. These sus- descent, on March 29 in Chicago. Police chains. at a temple in Oak Creek, Wis. And just tained rebellions launched a countrywide body camera footage of the killing was White supremacy is an ideology that recently eight FedEx workers, four of the bosses rely on to keep their prof- them Sikhs, were fatally shot at their it-making system intact by dividing the workplace in Indianapolis by a 19-year- Activists beat back bigots multinational working class—​primarily old white youth. by nationality which also intersects other It is in the interest of every worker to Continued from page 2 Abortions must remain safe and legal, oppressions—​misogyny, xenophobia, understand that the deepening capitalist and it is up to those such as the clinic LGBTQ2S+ oppression, ableism and more. economic crisis is the root cause of more That a disciplined group of workers defenders in Pensacola, Fla., to make sure Historically the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Na- and more mass shootings and police exe- and oppressed people have single-hand- it stays that way. zis, White Citizens Councils gave birth to cutions. May Day must become a rallying edly mounted a campaign of pressure today’s Oath Keepers and Proud Boys. cry, not only for organizing the unor- on local businesses to force anti-choice Devin Cole is a transgender Marxist There are individual white supremacists ganized and to abolish the police, but bigots away from an abortion clinic is organizer and writer. They are the presi- who have, consciously or not, targeted peo- to unite and liberate our class from all extraordinary. Patients and clinic work- dent of Strive (Socialist Trans Initiative), ple of color. A prime example is Dylann forms of capitalist exploitation and fight ers alike have reported to this writer and a transgender advocacy organization Roof, a self-proclaimed racist, who killed for a socialist future, free from want and other members of the WWP-CGC branch in northwest Florida, and a member nine Black parishioners in Charleston, oppression. that the presence of abortion rights advo- of the Workers World Party–Central S.C. June 17, 2015. Unlike Floyd, Wright Organize the organized at Amazon and cates has made them feel better and safer Gulf Coast (Alabama, Florida and and Toledo, the police captured Roof alive everywhere! Fight police terror! ☐ at the clinic. Mississippi) branch. Page 4 April 22, 2021 workers.org In Alabama ‘the fire has started!’ By Minnie Bruce Pratt grind up their lives are their been met with resistance. Labor organi- equivalent of the mechani- zations, comprised primarily of African April 18—​Miners at Warrior zation and robotization that American miners, were formed in the Met Coal in Brookwood, Ala., Amazon uses to squeeze 1870s. Alabama miners affiliated with the struck April 1 and are still picket- profit from workers’ labor newly formed UMWA in 1890 as District ing as of this writing. On April 9 power. (See Workers World, 20. Opposition to the convict lease system they voted 1,006 to 45 to reject a “Workers are not robots,” sparked the largest strike in the District’s contract that would have restored March 8) history—the​ Great Strike of 1894. only $1.50 of a $6-an-hour pay A key demand by During the Great Depression, Alabama cut workers took in 2016—​to pull BAmazon workers seeking UMWA locals were revived under the the company out of bankruptcy. union representation by leadership of Walter Jones, an African The rejected contract would have the Retail, Warehouse and American organizer from Shelby County. continued brutal disciplinary Department Store Union In the 1930s the International Union of and firing policies and dangerous was for more control over Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers orga- PHOTO: TUSCALOOSA THREAD working conditions. (See Workers Miners on strike in Brookwood, Ala., April 8. backbreaking working con- nized iron ore workers, who were about World, “After BAmazon, Alabama ditions. Amazon alleges that 80% African American. (Encyclopedia of mine workers go out on strike,” April 2) one said: “The union backs us … if it wasn’t monitoring workers through the Mojoul Alabama) Photos on social media showed workers for them, that would be a death house. It is SmartBelt has improved “safety,” but The Brookwood strike and the recent and their children burning copies of the a death house.” (tinyurl.com/hb9mkr) research suggests ramped-up robotics have Amazon organizing have been led by local contract. One picture of a miner’s hand actually increased injuries. Bessemer workers—​children, grandchil- Solidarity with BAmazon workers on top of a “No” ballot revealed a missing In 2019, Amazon recorded 14,000 dren and great-grandchildren of union index finger—​lost in a mine accident. On April 11 a contingent of striking min- serious injuries across its “fulfillment heroes. For many of the miners, this is The miners labor in one of the world’s ers traveled to Bessemer, Ala.—​25 miles centers”—​its warehouses—​equating their first strike, but they proudly claim most life-threatening workplaces. The to the east—​to attend a “Hold Amazon to an injury rate of 7.7 serious injuries their tradition of labor militancy. Brookwood mines are sunk 1,400 to Accountable” rally. They were there in per 100 employees, nearly double the Jeff Fleenor, who has worked at 2,100 feet underground—​some of the solidarity with the majority Black, major- industry average. Plus it’s possible that Warrior Met and its predecessor for 16 deepest vertical shaft coal mines in North ity female Amazon warehouse workers, Amazon is underreporting worker inju- years, told the Tuscaloosa Thread: “I spe- America. In 2001 methane gas explosions who had launched a historic organizing ries. (tinyurl.com/2z7w6r4h) cifically came back [for the vote] to ensure and a cave-in at one of the mines killed 13 drive against the corporate behemoth. we got a fair contract and that I wasn’t workers, including a former high school (See Workers World, “Bessemer: the Alabama’s militant union tradition the generation that let all the sacrifices classmate of this writer. whole world is watching,” Feb. 22) The Walker Met mines in Tuscaloosa that people in the UMWA fought for 90 Coal is extracted in the Warrior Met Larry Spencer, president of the County—and​ other coal mines, past and to 100 years ago fade into obscurity. Our mines with highly mechanized “long- Alabama Coalition of Black Trade present in adjoining Walker, Jefferson, sacrifices pale in comparison to those at wall” machines. Physical dangers are Unionists, voiced solidarity with the min- Shelby and Bibb counties, like the mines the start of the labor movement and the omnipresent, including potential for ers and invited workers to join the CBTU. of Belle Ellen, Marvel and Piper—are​ part early years of the UMWA. I keep up on gas explosions, strata failure that shears Amazon worker and organizer Jennifer of the “Birmingham Mineral District.” my history; I know about the Battle of limbs, dust that permanently damages Bates said: “We came out to fight for the These mines are in the southernmost Blair Mountain, Bloody Harlan and the lungs, longwall mechanisms that cause rights of working people, and we aren’t extension of the Appalachian Mountain Pittston Strike, where my dad partici- head and neck injuries and deafening going anywhere. The fire has started. chain in Alabama. pated. These were major milestone events machine noise. Burn—​let it burn!” (Listen to the rally: The exploitation of both mineral that led us to where we are today. I owe The Black and white members of Local tinyurl.com/368yyx8v.) resources and mine workers has gone on it to miners of days gone by, my family 2245, United Mine Workers (UMWA) on The miners’ solidarity was more than for two centuries. and myself to fight for what we deserve.” strike are functioning in tight solidarity. As symbolic. The longwall machines that For just as long, that exploitation has (tinyurl.com/y2pbcm3h) ☐

Nearly 250 years after land theft Madawaska Nation wins settlement in Canada

By Ted Kelly almost 2,000 acres of land that had been few months after the Mosquito, Grizzly reserved for the Madawaska Maliseet Bear’s Head, Lean Man First Nation in An agreement negotiated by the Nation in the northwestern corner of Saskatchewan were awarded $127 million Madawaska Maliseet First Nation and what is now called New Brunswick. When for a 1905 land theft. (Global News) the Canadian government April 13 has the railway abandoned the area in 1936, Since March of last year, the federal become the largest compensatory land the Madawaska Maliseet began efforts to government of Canada has now paid $1.7 settlement in the country’s history. The reclaim the territory. Today there are still billion in land theft compensation to var- Ministry of Crown-Indigenous Relations 50,000 people who report First Nations, ious First Nations in 36 separate claims, PHOTO: CANDO has agreed to pay $145 million to the Métis or Inuk identity living in the region. over half of the 51 total claims brought “We will be consulting with the community Madawaska Maliseet First Nation after Chief Patricia Bernard was a univer- forward. Four more are currently being to determine what type of land and what Canadian courts ruled that a specific 18th sity student majoring in history when reviewed by the country’s high court. uses of that is going to be for,” said Chief century settler land grab was illegal. she learned this history and discovered (Yahoo Finance) Patricia Bernard of the Madawaska Maliseet Townships of Algonquin-speaking that the seizure of her Nation’s land had First Nation. Shown here Oct 25, 2018, Maliseet people were the most densely violated a royal proclamation issued First Nations people face accepting a Community of the Year award. populated areas in Madawaska territory by King Geroge III in 1763. During her widespread discrimination by the mid 1700s, when European land research, she also learned that the first Across Canada, First Nations and Inuk seeking work is a major barrier to theft intensified. Settlers used the stolen person who resisted the encroachment people face a staggering 40% unemploy- employment, and men are more likely to resources of the land to develop logging on reserve land by bringing the case to ment rate. The Métis are people with a find work than women. and wood pulping industries, the growth a local magistrate was 90-year-old Louis mixed heritage of Indigenous and mostly Poor housing, lack of transportation of which was accelerated by the creation Bernard—​her great-great-grandfather’s French European backgrounds and have infrastructure and difficulty acquiring of the Canadian Pacific Railway. great-great-grandfather. (Aboriginal a high but lower jobless rate of approxi- driver’s licenses are part of the institu- In 1787, European settlers, in violation People’s Television Network) mately 25%. (Statistics Canada) tional white supremacy in Canada that of their own legally binding treaties, stole The historic settlement comes just a Lack of adequate childcare for those forces the underdevelopment of First Nations communities. In addition to the unprecedented Middle school students in Grants Pass, Ore., financial compensation, the settlement grants the Madawaska Maliseet the right to acquire 1,935 acres of land—​the same protest anti-transgender school staff amount that was stolen from them almost 250 years ago. By Johnnie Lewis much struggle and protests. the teacher be fired. The teacher and prin- #LandBack, the struggle for resto- The students put up posters inside the cipal have been suspended. ☐ ration of Indigenous people’s sovereignty In Grants Pass, Ore., a North Middle school and wrote their pro- over occupied or stolen land, is a global School assistant principal and a sev- nouns on their foreheads anti-colonial, anti-racist movement. The enth-grade teacher started a petition and slogans on their face- liberation of oppressed nations—​from calling for “anatomically male” and “ana- masks demanding equity. Palestine to Mexico, from Nunavut to tomically female” bathrooms. Eighth- Stephanie started an online Bolivia—lies​ in the land. grader Stephanie and several of her petition to fire the staff In the words of Fannie Lou Hamer, the classmates began protesting April 8. members, getting more than legendary African American sharecrop- The petition, which garnered 90 sig- 300 signers. per-turned-organizer and founder of the natures, was in opposition to federal and Students are now holding Freedom Farm Cooperative: “In order for state laws guaranteeing freedom of choice in-person protests in front any people or nation to survive, land is PHOTO: STEPHANIE for transgender students regarding bath- of the school on Tuesdays Posters protest anti-trans school staff at necessary.” ☐ room use. The laws were won through and Thursdays demanding North Middle School in Grants Pass, Ore. workers.org April 22, 2021 Page 5 Ramsey Clark, human rights fighter, 1927-2021 By Sara Flounders role as former attorney general to act for the impoverished and voiceless. Ramsey Clark was a founder of the International Action Center. He inspired Vietnam, Iran, Cuba, Venezuela the political activists who used the IAC’s In 1972 he traveled to North Vietnam structure to defend liberation struggles, during President Richard Nixon’s bomb- oppose U.S. wars of aggression and ing campaign. He was in Tehran, Iran, in defend political prisoners from the U.S. to 1979, on days when millions of Iranians U.S.-backed dictatorships worldwide. braved machine guns of the Savak Police IAC militants joined international and overturned the brutal U.S.-backed delegations who defied the blockade of shah and his whole regime. He visited Cuba and sanctions on Iraq, contested Cuba numerous times to challenge the the U.S.-NATO war on Yugoslavia or U.S. blockade and expressed deep admi- joined the wave of resistance then sweep- ration for the dramatic changes the Cuban ing Latin America. Clark guided the pro- Revolution made possible. duction of hundreds of books and videos, Along with demonstrations of tens of mass meetings, internet campaigns and thousands against U.S. wars in 1991 and demonstrations the IAC organized. 2003, Ramsey Clark headed significant The IAC has received tributes to Clark mass meetings in solidarity with Cuba at from all parts of the world his work Javits Convention Center in 1992 and with touched and is continuing to publish Bolivarian Venezuela at Town Hall in 2005. IAC Co-director Sara Flounders, Ramsey Clark and WW Managing Editor Monica them. Please send your memories to: Clark stood by the 1979 Sandinista Moorehead in New York, Jan. 2015 [email protected]. revolution in Nicaragua and the struggle See tributes from around the world for liberation of El Salvador in the 1980s of Saddam Hussein. Three of his Iraqi attack by the U.S., he also defended doz- at iacenter.org against a U.S.-backed dictatorship. He defense lawyers were assassinated for ens if not hundreds of political prisoners traveled to Panama after the December their role defending him. Saddam Hussein of the empire, in and outside the United 1989 U.S. invasion to document the enor- was executed Dec. 30, 2006. States. These included Indigenous activ- mous toll in life. ist Leonard Peltier; and Imam Jamil While many embraced the collapse of the Sudan, Yugoslavia Al-Amin (aka H. Rap Brown), who is held Soviet Union as ending the Cold War and In 1998 the U.S. bombed a small phar- in a Super Max prison. He and Lynne ushering in an era of peace and prosperity, maceutical plant producing the only Stewart were willing to defend Egyptian Clark held the view that this would lead anti-malaria drugs in Sudan, claiming it Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman. (For her role, to endless wars of U.S. expansion and an was a secret VX nerve gas facility. Ramsey Stewart was charged and imprisoned.) effort to recolonize many countries. immediately organized doctors, pharma- He supported independence for Puerto cists and videographers to expose this Rico and freedom for its many political Opposed U.S. war on Iraq crime against the civilian population, and prisoners. He traveled to Peru to defend At great personal risk, Ramsey Clark led a delegation to travel there. U.S. citizen Lori Berenson, held by Peru’s traveled to Iraq during the height of the In the biggest and most dangerous dictatorship, and to the Philippines. He 1991 U.S. bombing. Extending personal aggression within European borders since defended José María Sison against “ter- courage to political and legal skill, he wrote 1945, the U.S., determined to expand the rorism” charges. Clark publicly supported WW PHOTO: BRENDA RYAN a 19-point indictment of the Bush adminis- NATO military alliance into the Balkans Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani woman Ramsey Clark at his 85th birthday tration for War Crimes and Crimes Against and Eastern Europe, launched the 1999 tortured in Afghanistan and serving an celebration, Jan. 12, 2013. Humanity that resonated around the world. war to dismember and destroy Yugoslavia 86-year sentence in U.S. federal prison, as The indictment became the basis of a during the Bill Clinton administration. well as Mumia Abu-Jamal in Pennsylvania We salute Ramsey Clark, who died Commission of Inquiry that held mass Ramsey Clark was in Yugoslavia twice state prison. April 9, an outspoken defender of all popular hearings in 19 countries and 26 during the 78 days of relentless U.S. He traveled to Nepal, when a revolu- forms of popular resistance to oppression, U.S. cities. Ramsey attended every mass bombing, expressing solidarity with peo- tionary upheaval brought in a new gov- a leader always willing to challenge the hearing. The final tribunal was held in ple under attack, documenting that the ernment, and to the DPRK (North Korea) crimes of U.S. militarism and global arro- New York City in February 1992 before Pentagon consciously targeted civilians. to protest against U.S. war games and gance. He remained optimistic that the thousands of people and international Clark gave priority to visiting bombed nuclear threats. power of people could determine history. delegates. The events drew strong media schools, hospitals, marketplaces, water His courageous voice will be missed. coverage around the world and total cen- purification plants, grain silos and phar- Solidarity with Palestine Ramsey Clark will be remembered by sorship in the corporate U.S. media. maceutical plants, as he did in other coun- When Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat people and struggles around the world During the years of the deadliest sanc- tries the U.S. bombed. Following the war, was targeted by U.S. and Israeli forces, as a prominent individual who used tions on Iraq that caused the death of a he drew up a public indictment of Clinton Clark met with him in Lebanon and later his name, reputation and legal skills to half-million Iraqi children within four and other leaders of NATO countries and traveled to Gaza under total Israeli shut- defend people’s movements and lead- years, Ramsey brought international dele- inspired a mass People’s Tribunal on U.S. down and met with Hamas leadership. ers whom the corporate media had thor- gations each year to challenge and expose war crimes in Yugoslavia, whose final Clark’s long years of support of the oughly demonized. the impact of the sanctions. hearing was in June 2000. Palestinian struggle for liberation meant Clark’s early belief in the U.S. role These fact-finding and human rights del- Clark dared to meet with Yugoslav Zionist forces always denounced him. turned, through harsh experience and egations almost always included videogra- President Slobodan Milosevic in Yugoslavia Clark denounced every aspect of the observation of what he considered to phers, journalists and photographers to during the U.S. bombing and later at the “U.S. War on Terror” as a War Against be U.S. war crimes, to a determination document the impact on defenseless civil- Hague after the kidnapped president Islam with endless military operations, to challenge U.S. policy and defend the ian populations. He encouraged others to faced an international kangaroo court the sanctions, drone strikes, regime change victims of U.S. aggressions regardless of also organize solidarity delegations. U.S. established to try Yugoslav leaders. operations, assassinations, secret deten- personal cost. His actions, leadership and Following the 2003 U.S.-British inva- Ramsey’s view was that the wrong lead- tions and a series of bases throughout writings showed his political develop- sion and occupation of Iraq, and under ers were being charged. According to his Africa to Central Asia and the Gulf States. ment over the past 60 years—​above all, even more dangerous conditions, Clark indictment for the 2000 tribunal, Clinton In 2011, NATO imperialists took his actions. traveled to Iraq numerous times. He pro- should have been in the dock, along with advantage of an opening provided by the Born into a prominent Texas family in vided legal defense for Saddam Hussein, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Arab Spring, and the mass upsurge that 1927, his father Supreme Court Justice Iraq’s captured president, whom the U.S. the corresponding leaders of Germany, overthrew the dictatorships in Tunisia Tom Clark, Ramsey was raised to believe and its Iraqi lackeys put on a show trial. Britain, France and other NATO powers. and Egypt, to open a 220-day bomb- in the power of U.S. laws. He came of age at Though the outcome was inevitable, ing of Libya and murder Libyan leader the apex of U.S. power at the end of World Clark was determined to expose that the U.S. political prisoners Muammar Gaddafi. This destroyed the War II and experienced the U.S. empire’s real crime was the U.S. destruction of While much of Ramsey Clark’s work country with the highest standard of liv- long decline and decay. He was appointed Iraq and was unapologetic for his defense focused on defense of nations under ing in Africa. assistant attorney general in 1961 during U.S. imperialism then turned its full the John F. Kennedy administration efforts into pulling down the government and attorney general during the Lyndon of Syria. Ramsey traveled to Syria several Johnson administration in 1967. times in an effort to again focus atten- The 1960s power of the Civil Rights tion on the impact of U.S. subversion on Movement and Black liberation struggle civilians. Traveling at personal risk, Clark demanded sweeping change in govern- exposed what U.S. sanctions, the arming ment. As attorney general, Clark enforced of tens of thousands of mercenaries and desegregation of schools across the South then bombing vital infrastructure was and supervised the drafting of the Voting doing to whole countries. Rights Act of 1965 and the Civil Rights Act Even as the decades rolled by, Ramsey of 1968. He drafted housing legislation maintained an intense schedule of lis- and enforcement of Indigenous Nations’ tening to and involving activists in chal- treaty rights under the Constitution. lenging projects, along with speaking, Unlike nearly every other Cabinet level traveling and consulting with peoples official, who leveraged their post into a under attack. multimillion dollar career after leaving PHOTO: GLORIA LARIVA government, Ramsey Clark leveraged his Dennis Banks, Fidel Castro, Alice Walker and Ramsey Clark in Havana, Cuba, April 1993. Flounders is a co-director of the IAC. Page 6 April 22, 2021 workers.org ‘Mumia is a fighter’ By Johanna Fernandez the police, accused of crimes they did not The Fraternal Order of Police is the commit and sentenced to death. In the organization that has sought to silence These remarks, edited for print, were early 20th century, Sacco and Vanzetti, Mumia. First through the demonization made by Dr. Johanna Fernandez on a two anarchists, were executed by the of Mumia and an attempted execution—​ March 18 Workers World Party webinar, state. In the 1950s, the Rosenbergs who which failed because an international pig represented, and it was used often in “Mumia Abu-Jamal: The Only Treatment were communists were executed by movement saved his life in the 1990s. And the United States. In response, the police Is His Freedom.” Dr. Fernandez is an the state. And in the post-Civil Rights finally, he got off death row in 2011, when launched a counter propaganda campaign associate professor in the Department Movement era, Mumia became the figure the state itself determined that his death against the Black Panthers. They embla- of History at Baruch College of the City that the state wanted to make an example sentence was obtained unconstitution- zoned the words “to serve and protect” on University of New York, and author of of to send a message to those who dare ally. The Fraternal Order of Police, whose their cars—you​ might remember this. “The Young Lords: A Radical History.” poster child is Mumia Abu- And essentially, this was the co-opta- She is a leader of the Campaign to Bring Jamal, is the most power- tion of the Black Panther slogan to “serve Mumia Home. Go to workers.org/videos ful police organization in the people.” That was their more benign to watch the entire webinar. the world and its power maneuver of co-opting what the Black is comparable to that of Panther Party represented. The most det- Mumia is a fighter. And he’s got a pow- the NRA [National Rifle rimental of the maneuvers of the police erful movement behind him that has saved Association]. ideologically was the popularization of the him numerous times—​and we’ll continue Mumia is important term “cop killer.” Cop killer became this to do that. But ultimately, we want him because his case is at the ideological weapon that in the post-six- home. I [referenced] the vitriol with which center of the struggle ties period replaced the mythological rape the state approaches the figure of Mumia. against the homicidal char- of a white woman as the basis for the legal And the question is, why the vitriol against acter of the police in the lynching of Black men in particular. And Mumia? And it’s because of everything United States. And if you when you think about cop killers, you Mumia represents: his political analysis, look at his case, a third of think of Black men, but the vast major- his attention to root causes of social prob- the police officers involved ity of people who kill cops in the United lems, his commitment to solidarity. in collecting evidence in States are white men. Johanna Fernandez at a press conference WW PHOTO: JOE PIETTE Mumia writes about domestic prob- his case, within weeks of So why do we need to free Mumia, to for Mumia in Philadelphia, March 3. lems as much as he writes about interna- the end of his case, were support him, stand with him? Because tional problems, and he has a critique of convicted and jailed for he represents all of us, and he has been the state and of capitalism. This means resist authority, resist the state, resist corruption, and manipulating evidence identified by the cops, by the Fraternal that he represents a continuity in the capitalism, resist Empire—​that this is to obtain convictions in unrelated cases. Order of Police, by the state as one of the Black radical tradition, a continuity in what will happen to you. And if you look at the evidence in this most dangerous figures in this country Black radical descent from the 1960s to case, the cops pretty much framed Mumia because of what he stands for, which is the present. And his voice is essentially Why is Mumia important? and cooked up the crime scene. resistance—​an unrelenting determina- dangerous. And historically, the state has So when you ask the question, “Why do I want to go back to Mumia as a Black tion to expose inequality, to expose the sought to make an example of people who we need to be with Mumia?” it’s because Panther. In the 1960s, the Black Panthers police and its character, but also to fight dare challenge Empire. if we allow the state to get away with mur- popularized the term pig, to demolish for a completely different world orga- So in the late 19th century, labor activ- der in the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal, we’re the notion that the police are our friends, nized around human needs. A fight for ists who were identified as part of the giving the state license to do the same with and they succeeded. And by the end of Mumia is a fight for ourselves and our Haymarket Affair were rounded up by people who dare stand up for justice today. the 60s, everyone knew what the term highest aspirations. ☐ Mumia Abu-Jamal’s life in jeopardy— Demand his release now! By Betsey Piette legal, law enforcement and judicial profes- guilty. At this stage in his life, after spend- Philadelphia sionals who have not met proper standards. ing decades in prison, the only relief is his Even prior to the diagnosis of congestive freedom.” Family and supporters of Pennsylvania heart disease, Abu-Jamal suffered from Wadiya Jamal gave a passionate appeal political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal hypertension, liver cirrhosis and diabe- for justice for her spouse, expressing her became alarmed when they did not get tes—​induced by court-documented medi- anguish when he was not allowed to com- his routine daily calls after April 10. On cal neglect—and​ the worsening of a severe, municate with her for days. She reminded April 14 officials at SCI Mahanoy finally debilitating chronic skin condition. people that “as an investigative journalist, responded to inquiries from Abu-Jamal’s he was the people’s truth teller. We needed medical attorneys and admitted that, after Virtual press conference him to tell the truth. Now it is our turn to complaining of chest pains, he had been In response to the state’s latest attempt help him.” Due to international pressure and clear are the echoes of chattel slavery taken to a hospital and was scheduled to to murder and silence Abu-Jamal, a vir- on state and prison officials, she was finally in the Americas, that developed handcuffs, have surgery. tual press conference was organized by his able to talk with Mumia earlier in the day. shackles and fetters to control the enslaved The prison’s cruel and inhumane atti- international support movement April 15. Longtime freedom fighter Angela Davis population. This practice is now common in tude toward Abu-Jamal and his loved The key demands raised were that Abu- stated: “I have deep revolutionary love prisons throughout the U.S. Pennsylvania ones could not be more evident. First the Jamal be allowed immediate contact with for Mumia, and we stand with him as he Department of Corrections administrator renowned Black journalist was kept incom- his spouse Wadiya Jamal, his principal grapples with the power of the state. His John Wetzel publicly denounced white municado for four days. Then, the minimal spokesperson Pam Africa, his personal predicament mirrors that of so many other supremacy, but his prisons are practicing information officials provided intentionally physician Dr. Ricardo Alvarez and his spiri- people behind bars. When we win a victory a system of racist barbarity.” left out the name of the hospital, the nature tual advisor Dr. Mark Taylor; that he not be for Mumia, it is a victory for all prisoners—​ Dr. Ricardo Alvarez, Abu-Jamal’s medi- of the alleged surgery and why he had not shackled over the course of his treatment men, women, cis and trans.” cal advisor emphasized: “It is a basic right been allowed to call family, attorneys or so as not to aggravate his skin condition; that a patient be allowed to seek counsel medical and spiritual advisors. and that as an innocent man, Abu-Jamal Echoes of slavery from loved ones, supporters, spiritual This marked the second time in just over should be freed based on compassionate Dr. Johanna Fernandez with the advisors and chosen medical counsel. a month that Abu-Jamal became ill and medical release. According to Dr. Alvarez, Campaign to Bring Mumia Home said: There was no call to family, and his med- was taken from the prison to a hospital, “release is his only real treatment option.” “Prison is about control and the severing ical lawyer has suggested that his location and his support network was again kept Speakers at the press conference of prisoners from families and loved ones. was kept intentionally secret. Mumia has in the dark. It mirrors the state’s practice included Pam Africa, Wadiya Jamal, But as soon as you start ringing the alarm, a deeply well-founded distrust of institu- when MOVE 9 members Merle, Phil and Mumia’s grandson Jamal Hart Jr., pro- shining light on it and exposing the terror tions, including medical institutions, and Delbert Africa became ill in prison, but fessor and lifetime activist Angela Davis, in prisons, the bully starts backing down. the behavior of the PA DOC perpetuates were denied family contact. journalist and professor Marc Lamont “Mumia was sequestered and disap- his trauma. At the end of February, Abu-Jamal told Hill, professor Johanna Fernandez, attor- peared. Does that sound familiar? Echoes “Before this week’s health emergency, family he was experiencing COVID‑19 ney Bob Boyle, Dr. Alvarez, Erica Caines of slavery—​separation from community. Mumia Abu-Jamal was already suffering symptoms, including chest pains. The from Black Alliance for Peace, Dr. Taylor Prison officials would not even give straight from COVID-19, congestive heart failure, prison claimed three administered COVID and Philadelphia Black Lives Matter activ- answers to his attorneys, who have chal- hypertension, diabetes, liver cirrhosis and tests were negative. In early March he was ist Gabriel Bryant, who reported on the lenged this prison over medical issues in a worsening of a severe and debilitating taken to a hospital in Allentown, Pa., where upcoming Freedom Weekend April 23-25. the past. He was barred from reaching out chronic skin condition. Treatment can only he was diagnosed with congestive heart Speakers stressed that it is Abu-Jamal’s to his loved ones in the run-up to surgery. go so far in the setting of a prison. We sup- failure and tested positive for COVID-19. basic human right to seek counsel from Think about the barbarity of a system that port Mumia from the only possible treat- During that hospitalization, Abu-Jamal loved ones, supporters and advisors, espe- feels there are no rights of a prisoner that ment, which is freedom.” was cruelly shackled to his bed and denied cially before going into heart surgery. To the state must respect. To deny this, the Later in the day Dr. Alvarez was inter- family contact, until a movement outcry deny this contact can only add unneces- state is establishing conditions for failure viewed by TeleSUR English about Abu- forced them to allow him to call supporter sary stress that could negatively impact of the surgery. We charge the state with Jamal’s condition. (https://tinyurl.com/ Johanna Fernandez. There is significant the outcome. genocide by medical neglect.” fdt55bsw) evidence, both legal and medical, that he Opening the event Hill stated: “Mumia Dr. Fernandez concluded: “Mumia is As of now, Abu-Jamal’s surgery is sched- has suffered severe harm from medical, is both factually innocent and legally not shackled to a hospital bed right now. Loud uled for April 19. ☐ workers.org April 22, 2021 Page 7 Lavender and Red solidarity with Mumia! From the LGBTQ+ Caucus of across the United States; and Workers World Party 3. Mumia, an innocent man, be immedi- ately released from prison. We, the LGBTQ+ Caucus of Workers In order to seek actual, accessible treat- World Party, are outraged, disgusted ment for his health problems, Mumia and alarmed by the continued attempts Abu-Jamal must be released from prison to silence and kill Mumia Abu-Jamal, a immediately. He has been locked away Black revolutionary political prisoner who for almost 40 years, suffering from mis- has been inside the imprisoned nation for treatment and negligence by the pris- almost 40 years—​first railroaded into a on-industrial complex. His health is not death sentence and then, because of the good, and he must be properly treated, as movement rising up to defend him, spared all incarcerated persons should be. an execution but given a life sentence. From Philadelphia to Paris, and else- The capitalist imperialist state has not where across the world, supporters flooded given up their attempts to kill Mumia; in the offices of Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf PHOTO: DIANE GREENE LENT fact, they have doubled down. Currently Simon Nkoli Queer Crusaders for Mumia, Philadelphia, 1999. and Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Mumia Abu-Jamal is suffering from severe Krasner with letters, emails and phone dermatitis, has tested positive for COVID by the white-supremacist, colonialist state. 1. Before surgery, Mumia be allowed to calls demanding Mumia be released. and has been diagnosed with congestive It was announced April 14 that Mumia call his spouse, Wadiya Jamal; his long- We, the LGBTQ+ Caucus of Workers heart disease. Additionally, he has suffered had been taken to the hospital after expe- time supporter, Pam Africa; his chosen World Party, echo and affirm this demand from cirrhosis of the liver due to untreated riencing chest pains and that he would doctor, Dr. Ricardo Alvarez; and his called out from all across the world: Free hepatitis C. Efforts to get treatment for undergo heart surgery. This caucus Spiritual Advisor, Mark Taylor; Mumia Abu-Jamal immediately! Free Mumia have been delayed as a part of a echoed and affirmed the demands of mil- 2. Mumia not be shackled to his hospital all political prisoners immediately! An decades-long punishment inflicted on him lions of Mumia's supporters, those being: bed, as is the rule in Pennsylvania and Injury to One is an Injury to All! ☐

Prison officials punish Bryant Arroyo for free speech By Joe Piette the ability to hug and touch and see each for “observation” for 15 days, because offi- other face to face. cials needed to conduct “further investiga- Bryant Arroyo, an incarcerated worker The DOC uses video technology in many tion.” Why was he required to be in solitary at Pennsylvania SCI Frackville, was placed other ways, such as conducting court pro- confinement for this investigation to hap- in isolated custody for several days—​in cedures without the accused actually being pen? No one would give him a clear answer other words, thrown in the hole, the in court and for virtual medical visits. The to that question. “Restricted Housing Unit”—​for suggest- DOC has installed hundreds of surveillance Arroyo is a well-known advocate for ing on separate phone calls to this reporter, cameras throughout state prisons. environmental justice who has been out- his daughter and another person that they While it has taken to using video cam- spoken against abuse by the PA DOC, keep recordings of their video conference eras in many daily operations, the DOC of especially during the COVID crisis. Mumia calls with him. He then asked that what he course reacted to Arroyo’s proposal with Abu-Jamal recognized him as a “jailhouse says be shared through social media so the alarm. While prison officials are fine with environmentalist” in a 2013 Prison Radio public can learn how bad the Department using video technology to enable repres- column. (tinyurl.com/yh38gmnj) of Corrections treats incarcerated people. sion, Arroyo’s proposal to share video visits Bryant Arroyo on a Feb. 3 video call with After many phone calls to SCI Frackville No one has actually yet shared such a on social media would shine a spotlight on Joe Piette. and PA DOC Secretary John Wetzel by video on social media. But Arroyo was pun- deplorable prison conditions. friends, family and community activists, ished just for raising the idea. There is actually nothing the prison hier- Frackville. The hearing ironically took Arroyo was finally released from RHU The PA DOC has actually been encour- archy can do technologically to prevent the place on video through Skype, with hearing April 15. He was then transferred to aging incarcerated people to use video public from recording and sharing video officers who were in SCI Mahanoy. another prison 25 miles away, SCI Coal conferencing with their loved ones since conference visits with incarcerated people. Arroyo was found not guilty on 2 of 3 Township. the shutdown of in-person visiting rooms So they went after Arroyo, though he didn’t charges and returned to the general pop- in March 2020, supposedly due to COVID. violate any rules. ulation. Arroyo wasn’t guilty of anything Arroyo thanks everyone who made a Guards and some prison officials say In fact, the U.S. Constitution guarantees except exercising free speech. call on his behalf. Supporters can write to they would like to do away with prison vis- Arroyo’s right to free speech—​and that of Officials punished him anyway, denying him by way of the prison mail distribution iting rooms for “cost savings” and “secu- any incarcerated person. him access to video conference calls for 60 company: rity.” In fact, video conferencing is another A hearing on whether Arroyo’s spoken days. Friends and supporters of Arroyo Smart Communications way for corporations to make a profit from words on phone calls somehow violated have since been contacted by Frackville Bryant Arroyo, CU1126 mass incarceration. Many imprisoned prison regulations took place April 5. Superintendent Kathy Brittain and told SCI Coal Township workers are worried that virtual visits will Arroyo was made to wear a bright orange their visits with him will be restricted P.O. Box 33028 permanently replace in-person visits with jumpsuit, with hands cuffed and chained indefinitely. St. Petersburg, FL 33733 ☐ their families and friends, denying them behind his back, though he never left SCI He was returned to the RHU hole April 7

Brick by brick and wall by wall, we will free Mumia Abu-Jamal By Erica Caines transforms seconds into hours and hours However, despite these realities of the into days. In Mumia’s case, the state of prison system and his unjust trial and This lightly edited presentation was Pennsylvania is deeply invested in ensur- sentencing, Mumia’s invaluable voice given by Erica Caines, with Black Alliance ing that there will be no more days for him. and clear analysis of our material cir- for Peace and Hood Communist editor, at Instead of adhering to the longtime cumstances as Black people within the an April 15 press conference to demand the demands of the people to free Mumia, the U.S. could be heard on Prison Radio or immediate release of Mumia Abu-Jamal. state, including Philadelphia’s popular read in one of his many books, like “Have progressive prosecutor [Larry Krasner], Black Lives Ever Mattered?” Or “Murder, I am a member of the Black Alliance has refused to do so. Incorporated.” ​These were all produced Erica Caines for Peace, and I’m also co-editor of Learning about Mumia's case, I’ve got- from behind the prison walls, encourag- the African revolutionary blog Hood ten more opportunities to publicly advo- ing, informing and inspiring countless prison walls serve as a warning to any Communists. I’m very honored to speak cate on behalf of his freedom. This has youth who are marching and organiz- of us who refuse to normalize this set- a bit about Mumia Abu-Jamal and his especially opened my eyes to the delusions ing around a collective demand that our tler-colonial state that depicts Blackness present influence on this movement era. of any justice being found within the U.S. Black lives do, in fact, matter. as innately criminal and Black people as Mumia once said that prison is a sec- justice system. It has been clear since the Mumia does not simply serve as a point deserving of injustice. ond-by-second assault on the soul, a three-decades fight to remove Mumia from of inspiration. Mumia and all political So brick by brick and wall by wall, we’re day-to-day degradation of the self, an death row was won, that he is being pun- prisoners who are aging away and dying—​ going to free Mumia Abu-Jamal. May we oppressive steel-and-brick umbrella that ished for not dying, both then and now. rest in peace to Chip Fitzgerald—​behind all catch one another in the whirlwind. ☐ Page 8 April 22, 2021 workers.org Cuban unions build socialism By Stephanie Hedgecoke out that 97% of Cuban workers belonged the U.N. Educational, Member, Communication Workers Local 14156 to unions, which are entirely self-financed Scientific and Cultural from dues. Cuban unionists enact their Organization recog- What are the differences between own laws and constitutions. The rank nized the first Biosphere unions in capitalist countries and socialist and file directly nominate and elect their Reserve in Cuba. countries? What is labor’s role in a social- own leaderships in a regular series of elec- Our guide Ida ist country? I first became a supporter of tions far outnumbering those of other explained the impacts of socialist Cuba as a labor activist in the San countries. global warming. Some Francisco Bay Area, and I learned about We learned Cuba had free health care varieties of plants have Cuba’s unions in the course of two trips to and free or affordable daycare, and rents disappeared from the Cuba, 27 years apart. were limited to 10% of income. Women forest due to the heat; In 1992, I joined a group of 22 mem- had three months paid leave before giving others are in season bers of over a dozen U.S. unions for the birth, six months paid leave afterward and earlier and longer, like U.S.-Cuba Labor Exchange’s second trip. the right to return to their jobs. (Parental mangoes. The past aver- As guests of the Confederation of Cuban leave was later extended to fathers.) age year-round tem- Workers (CTC), we visited all manner of The CTC reviews all new laws before perature in Cuba was 75 WW PHOTO: STEPHANIE HEDGECOKE workplaces—factories,​ ports, agricultural they are enacted, and labor law has work- to 77°F; in 2019 they had May Day, Havana, 1992. projects, hospitals, clinics and schools. ers’ rights at its center. In a joint-venture a new high of 103.64°F. We met with many Cuban union mem- hotel with Spain, the workers voted out The next day, the Brigade sent me The increased blockade by the U.S. bers and leaders. And we had most eve- three managers in a row before they got to work in a lime orchard to clear inva- has shut down Cuba’s ability to obtain nings free to explore Havana! one who complied with Cuban labor law. sive vines choking the trees. Afterward, machinery parts from overseas. Pérez Our visit was during the Special Period, But in 1992 what most impressed me—​ the local workers regaled us with a fiery said, “Our factories are old; our machin- when Cuba lost 85% of its trade as a con- coming from white-supremacist U.S. recounting of historic Cuban freedom ery needs parts and frequently breaks sequence of the fall of the Soviet Union during the Rodney King Rebellion—​was fighters on horseback, machetes in both down. We keep them running through and Eastern European socialist countries. the deep respect the working people dis- hands, terrifying the Spanish overlords! the creativity of the workers solving the Cuba had to make do with less than half played toward each other and Later that week, sev- problems. But we won’t accept the loss of its usual oil supply. the kindnesses we visiting eral Brigadistas gathered our independence, our social justice and Many shortages resulted as the U.S. unionists experienced. in the camp library to hear equity. We are not paradise, and we are intensified its economic war on Cuba’s Our final workplace visit Ismael Drullet Pérez, General not hell.” ability to sell its nickel ore, sugar cane and was to the H. Uppmann Secretary of the National Brigadistas asked about the private sec- other agricultural products. Cubans made tobacco factory. The work- Union of Education, Science tor and what role unions have with pris- up shortages of some foodstuffs with what ers told us they worked six and Sports Workers, the larg- oners. As blockade-imposed hardships was available, in order to ensure adequate months, then took a month’s est Cuban union. Pérez said the resulted in some turning to crime, Pérez nutrition. In 1992, Cuba was selling its vacation. Windows were wide CTC’s main mission is to repre- said the CTC represents those who were entire lobster catch to buy milk for first- open while they worked with sent the needs of the workers arrested for petty crimes of corruption; grade children. their hands, some singing, others smok- and their families before the state and “insertados” have representation to help CTC Secretariat member Joaquin ing—​I could be happy working there! society. them transition to get work. Bernal Camero told us: “You will never Workers are active in the CTC at munic- The CTC still has final say over new find a Cuban union leader asking for pri- Going back to Cuba ipal, provincial and national levels. In a laws; workers in joint ventures can still vatization of enterprise. We’re not going In the Special Period, Cuba increased national survey, Cuban workers wanted vote out hostile managers. Pérez noted, to give back the land to the former land- resources and built up its biopharmaceu- the work of the CTC strengthened. “The Labor Code of Cuba regulates all owners or corporations. Our unions are tical and tourism industries. But in 2019 Although there was no single opinion, joint ventures and private employers. independent, but also independent of the former President Donald Trump invoked it was clear “all workers understood the Problems that come from the past we capitalists. We don’t take a coin from the Title III of the Helms Burton Act, further continued need for their trade unions in reshape and eliminate. We accept the government, and all the dues collected go increasing the illegal blockade’s economic the process of construction of our social- workers as they are.” back into the union work.” strangulation, threatening the working ism.” Pérez emphasized, “the enemies of The CTC sometimes intervenes with Membership is voluntary, yet we found people. the Revolution lie that the CTC is under small employers in the private sector; I returned in summer 2019 with the the government. But we were a union 20 for example, in one case the union had to 50th Venceremos Brigade, which travels years before the Revolution. The unions enforce labor law against gender discrim- in solidarity with the Revolution to con- were strengthened with the coming of the ination in restaurant work. Pérez empha- tribute materially to it. The day after we Revolution.” sized: “We are working on this issue on an arrived, we toured Las Terrazas in the Cuban union members meet every two inherited legacy of slavery and colonial- Sierra del Rosario region, where in 1968 months to ask questions, to get answers—​ ism—​hundreds of years of colonialism local villagers created a reforestation in each of the 19 sectoral unions, at vs. 60 years of revolution.” plan with support from the revolutionary every level. All managers are required to During the COVID pandemic, tourism government. account for the budget, given from the has taken an enormous hit. Yet Cuban sci- Within eight years, the rural people in government, to a general assembly of the ence workers created their own vaccines. the valley had planted 6 million trees in workers. Union membership remains vol- In 1992 Bernal Camero had said that an area totally denuded during Spanish untary, with membership held by 95% of during the Revolution, “Cuban workers colonization. Over 80% of the food eaten workers in the state sector and 65% of the occupied the factories.” Cuba’s unions in the biosphere is locally grown, all workers in the private sector. And as we continue to remain key to building social- Ismael Drullet Pérez, General Secretary of organic. Some 7 million indigenous trees were visiting, the entire state sector had ism in that Caribbean island nation. ☐ the National Union of Education, Science have now been planted; biodiversity of just received significant salary increases and Sports Workers. flora and fauna has recovered. In 1985, after economic studies by the CTC.

Raúl Castro honored The excerpts below are from the Cuban daily news- my modest contribution until the end of my paper, Granma, April 17. life,” he insisted. The moving historic moment sealed the “Let no one doubt that as long as I live, I will be ready, reading of a Central Report which, in a clear with a foot in the stirrup, to defend the homeland, the and objective manner, reviewed what had Revolution and socialism,” stated Army General Raúl been done over the last five years, with respect Castro Ruz, first secretary of the Communist Party of to each of the country’s strategic issues. Cuba Central Committee, who, like another Mambi or The first session of the Congress, which will guerrilla, always ready with his horse saddled and a rifle continue through April 19, was also attended under his pillow, reported that his task leading the polit- by Political Bureau members Miguel Díaz- ical organization had reached its conclusion. Canel Bermúdez, President of the Republic; Ending his presentation of the 8th Party Congress José Ramón Machado Ventura, second secre- Central Report, on the gathering’s opening day, Raúl tary; and Esteban Lazo Hernández, President Raúl Castro Ruz at the 8th Congress of the Cuban Communist Party, expressed the satisfaction of having fulfilled his duty and of the National Assembly and Council of State; April 16. conveyed his confidence in the future of the homeland, as well as other Party and government leaders. but emphasized his unchanging commitment to partic- In his opening remarks, Machado Ventura asserted independence of generations of patriots who preceded us ipate as a member of the party ranks. “I will continue that the Party constitutes “a guarantee of national unity and those who have made these ideas their own, over all serving as one more revolutionary fighter, ready to make and a synthesis of the ideals of dignity, social justice and these years of struggle and victory.” ☐ workers.org April 22, 2021 Page 9 Haiti at the abyss By G. Dunkel leading them away under full view of the Petionville, Port-Au-Prince, and officiated cameras. The church put up a GoFundMe at a mass before a packed congregation, According to the Miami Herald, not a page and freed the abducted members. The with a large crowd gathered outside. single vaccination against COVID-19 had kidnappers haven’t been caught. As the bishops’ procession was leaving taken place in Haiti as of April 9. Lack Bus drivers, who generally rent or own the church, the mostly young crowd—​ of planning, no health system, bureau- their own bus and run their businesses on with fists in the air—​began chanting cratic inertia were all given as reasons. a cash basis, have been a particular target. “Nou bouke!” (“We’re fed up!”) over and (tinyurl.com/fkz9s75a) Kidnappers take the bus—their​ transpor- over, along with “Aba Jovenel!” (“Down A protest against kidnapping in Port-au- Eighty percent of Haitians live on less tation out of the situation—​along with with Jovenel!”—​Jovenel Moïse, the cur- Prince, Haiti’s capital. than $2 a day. (tinyurl.com/yfkf5jp9) the driver’s cash, and can rob the passen- rent president of Haiti who has refused to The minimum wage is $6.41 for an eight- gers. The drivers and their communities obey the constitution and leave office.) president. Martelly’s party, the Haitian hour day. The official unemployment have begun fighting back with strikes and Cops then fired tear gas into the church; Party of Tèt Kale (PHTK) in 2016 picked rate is over 13%, but most jobs are catch- road barricades, often made of burning some panicked people collapsed into the Jovenel Moïse, a businessman, to be pres- as-catch-can—​loading trucks, digging tires. (Miami Herald, April 14) pews; others rushed out. There were no ident, with the blessing of U.S. diplomats. ditches, pushing carts, selling sugar water Drivers have reported at least one immediate reports of asphyxiation, but The U.S. openly attacks Haiti’s auton- in the market and so on. instance of cops working to clear an “acci- it can happen when tear gas is used in a omy when that suits U.S. economic Food insecurity is high. Relief Web esti- dent” on National Route 1 that had caused confined area. and political interests—​starting with mates that 4 to 5 million Haitians expe- traffic to back up so kidnappers could the U.S. 1804 economic blockade of rience acute hunger, going without food seize the bus drivers and their vehicles. History of U.S. interference the country after Haitian liberation for a considerable period of time. If you The response of the U.S. government fighters under Jean Jacques Dessaline don’t work in Haiti, usually you don’t eat. Accelerating crisis has been muted. The State Department crushed the French slave masters to win In major cities there are foreign-funded On April 12, five Catholic priests, one has issued its most severe level of warning independence. nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) of whom was French, two nuns and three on the danger of traveling to Haiti and has Currently the U.S. appears to be using that might provide some spot relief. laypeople were seized on their way to urged the government there to improve NGOs like Human Rights Watch to indi- Kidnapping has been both a political an investiture service. The Archdiocese the security situation. But the current U.S. rectly intervene. and financial tool in Haiti. A special U.S. of Port-Au-Prince immediately issued a ambassador to Haiti, Michele J. Sison, is It is clear that the U.S. is actually sup- SEAL force kidnapped Haitian President statement requesting their release. The not functioning as such, having been nom- porting the slide of Haiti into an eco- Bertrand Aristide to exile in the Central kidnappers were asking for $3 million. inated to be assistant secretary of state for nomic and political abyss, as a warning African Republic in February 2004. The On April 15, the Catholic hierarchy asked international organization affairs. to poor countries oppressed by imperi- Haitian bourgeoisie has hired gangs to all Haitians to participate in a work stop- This is a milquetoast response from alism against asserting their own road to kidnap political rivals. page and also to pray for the kidnapped a U.S. government whose secretary of development. As times have grown harder and rival- priests and the others. The 11 Haitian state, Hillary Clinton, directly intervened ries sharper, gangs have adopted kidnap- bishops came to the Church of St. Peter in in Haiti in 2011 to make Michel Martelly Twitter @dunkel_greg. ping as a fundraising affair that lets them pay for their neighbors’ support, buy weapons and support a more-than-sub- sistence lifestyle. Their targets have broadened. ¡Fuera LUMA! — LUMA out of Puerto Rico! Associated Press reported that, in Call to Action on Puerto Rico demonstrated April 13 in New December 2020, a woman in Port-au- York City’s Union Square to say ¡Fuera LUMA!—​LUMA out! Prince—who​ made her living selling hot We demand the cancellation of this $1.5 billion colonial gov- dogs in the market and recruiting students ernment contract with LUMA. This is a company created to pri- for a cosmetology school—was​ kidnapped vatize Puerto Rico’s energy network. It will drive the increase from a car that a friend was driving. Her in electricity rates and use financially weak companies to sup- friend’s family raised enough money to port its privatization work. With the sole objective of obtaining get her back, but she is still afraid to go to federal funds, LUMA may withdraw, leaving the island at the work. (tinyurl.com/ep7kaamr) mercy of any disaster if such transfers do not materialize at the On April 1, Holy Thursday, the Gospel level or on the schedule provided. LUMA promotes the contin- Kreyol Ministry was livestreaming its ser- uous use of fossil fuel consumption by promoting natural gas vice from Haiti when a group of armed as the main source of energy. people burst into the studio and kidnapped the well-known pastor and the organist, — Report by Lorraine Liriano, WW photo by Toni Arenstein Statement supporting the Syrian people The following intro- to Iran. U.S. proxies are selling Syrian grain in Turkey, and its allies have put forth accusations about Syria using duction and statement and a U.S.-based corporation now operates a refinery in chemical weapons and terror against its own people, which was issued by the United the Syrian territory occupied by U.S. troops and proxies. have now been totally discredited and disproved. National Antiwar Last year, Congress passed the Caesar Sanctions as an Coalition April 14: amendment to the massive Defense Appropriations Bill. Therefore: These sanctions cause the Syrian people to go without 1. We condemn the illegal occupation of Syrian terri- Pro-Western Syrian exiles have initiated a state- the basic necessities such as food, energy and medicine. tory by U.S. forces and their proxies and their illegal ment supported by a number of “progressive” individ- They have destroyed the Syrian currency and are literally and unprovoked military attacks on Syrian soil and uals and organizations. The statement is titled,“Erasing causing starvation. At this time, it is impossible, even for Syrian people. people through disinformation: Syria and the ‘anti-im- the United Nations, to bring aid into Syria. 2. We condemn the ongoing theft of Syrian oil and perialism’ of fools.” In this statement, which supports Moreover, these sanctions block reconstruction and the Syrian grain by U.S. proxies, resources desperately the goal of the U.S. and its allies of regime change in return of hundreds of thousands of refugees from impov- needed by the Syrian people. Syria, the authors attack those who have consistently erished camps in surrounding states. Syrians can’t return 3. We condemn the so-called Caesar Sanctions, illegal, supported an end to intervention in Syria by the U.S., if there is no potable water, food or housing for their fami- immoral unilateral coercive measures. NATO, Israel and other repressive states in the Middle lies. Meanwhile, the only Syrians who can receive interna- East. Their statement was signed by a number of people tional aid are those in U.S.-occupied territories and those 4. We condemn the U.S. war on the Syrian Republic in the U.S. and around the world. UNAC was one of the in areas controlled by the U.S. ally, Al Nusra/Al Qaeda. and the callous violation of Syrian sovereignty. groups that this statement criticized. There has been a recent swell of anti-Syria propa- 5. We demand the withdrawal of ALL U.S. troops and The war on Syria has been an especially divisive ganda, supported by prominent activists on the “left.” U.S. funding of foreign mercenary forces and U.S. issue for the peace movement, so we and others have This has included attacks on the majority of the U.S. funding of armed, internal opposition forces from put out the statement below explaining our posi- antiwar movement, which has focused on opposing U.S. Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, and a lifting of the U.S. tion. If you agree with this statement, we ask that and outside aggression against Syria and which sup- naval blockade of Yemen. you sign as an individual or an organization. Go to ports the right of Syria to defend its national sovereignty 6. We demand an end to illegal U.S. sanctions on Syria. unac.notowar.net. against this outside aggression. The clear fact is that the U.S. government, along with its allies in NATO, Israel Initial signers: United National Antiwar Coalition, As the Biden Administration took office in the U.S., and other reactionary Middle Eastern states, is the pri- Syria Solidarity Movement, Black Alliance for Peace, one of their first actions was to increase U.S. troop levels mary cause of the current devastation of the Syrian peo- U.S. Peace Council, Hands off Syria Coalition, Hamilton in the northeastern region of Syria currently occupied ple. The U.S. and its allies have facilitated the entry into Coalition to Stop the War, Popular Resistance, by the United States and its proxies. Shortly thereafter, Syria of tens of thousands of foreign fighters to support Arab Americans for Syria, Youth Against Empire, the United States bombed a Syrian town on the east- their regime-change agenda. International Action Center, Veterans for Peace, ern border killing as many as 30 Syrians, purportedly to As with the lies about weapons of mass destruction that Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Socialist Action, target hostile “Iraqi militiamen” or to “send a message” led to the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq, the U.S. Hands off Syria—Australia,​ BAYAN USA. ☐ Page 10 April 22, 2021 workers.org Racism, worker rights and editorial the FedEx shooting The mass shooting April 15 at a FedEx facility in Black, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian, Arab, Muslim, Jewish, priority for FedEx bosses. Last November, Leanell Indianapolis took the lives of eight workers and injured LGBTQ2S+ and other communities. They can get weap- “Troy” McClenton filed a wrongful death lawsuit against seven more. Half of those slain were members of the ons, explosives, lumber and fuel for cross-burnings, FedEx over the 2019 death of his son, Detate Young, who Sikh community, and one was a young African American propaganda leaflets, media access, rally permits, police was killed on the job when an unlocked door holding woman. The murderer, 19-year-old Brandon Hole, killed protection—​and in this era, internet and social media piles of packages swung open. Young, who was in the himself after the shootings took place. access. way, was crushed. There have been many hate crimes against Sikhs, espe- Young white men with white-supremacist views—​the Workers at the FedEx World Hub in Memphis, where cially following the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World profile of many mass shooters—​have no trouble gaining Young worked, complain about the speed of work and Trade Center. Haters ignorantly linked the turbans worn access to firearms, including semiautomatic weapons. the dangerous conditions. Thousands of the company’s by Sikh men with Osama Bin-Laden. In 2012 six people We are all told the fascists have a First Amendment right 500,000 workers worldwide have tested positive for were killed and four injured in an attack on a Sikh house to spread hatred. But racist ideology—recklessly​ fomented COVID. of worship—​a gurdwara—​in Oak Creek, Wis. during the Trump administration—​fuels racist violence. At the Indianapolis facility, workers are not allowed to Immediately following the Indianapolis massacre, the have their phones with them while they are working. This Sikh Coalition explained in a statement: “It was no acci- Like Amazon workers, FedEx workers need a union meant they could not call for help after their co-workers dent that the shooter targeted this particular FedEx facil- The white supremacy driving so many mass shootings were shot. Their relatives, frantically calling to find out ity where he had worked and knew was overwhelmingly is the number one tool that capitalists use to keep the if they were among the victims, could not reach them. staffed by Sikhs. This was not a crime of convenience working class divided—​and unorganized. This is the 21st century high-tech version of the 1911 or a spur of the moment attack; it was one of methodi- Package handlers and drivers at FedEx earn on the Triangle Shirtwaist tragedy in New York City and the cal planning and selection which echoes the targeting of average $14-15 an hour; drivers at UPS make about $10 Imperial Foods chicken processing plant fire 80 years Asian American spa parlors in Atlanta exactly one month an hour more. The difference? FedEx, number 70 on the later in Hamlet, N.C., fires which killed 146 and 25 work- ago. The people that were shot and killed were not ran- Fortune 500 list of wealthiest companies, is nonunion. ers respectively. In both cases the workers were locked dom targets.” (sikhcoalition.org) Lower wages have helped FedEx earn billions in profits in by the bosses. Historically and now, white supremacists from the annually, most recently almost $900 million in the quar- Without a union, the workers did not have a voice to Klan to the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys have never ter ending Feb. 28. demand safe working conditions. had trouble obtaining the tools they use to terrorize the Safety of the workers who make them rich is not a Union YES! White supremacy NO! ☐ Trans women and police brutality throughout history By Princess Harmony hid that aspect of our history. the place. It was beautiful, The next trans and gender noncon- it really was. It was really The “protect and serve” motto embla- forming rebellion in the U.S. was the beautiful. I wanted to do zoned on police vehicles acts as cover for rebellion at Compton’s Cafeteria in San every destructive thing that their aggressive and oppressive activities Francisco’s Tenderloin in 1966. It was I could think of at that time against people of color and working and illegal to “impersonate a female,” so trans to hurt anyone that had hurt poor people in general. Among groups women, drag queens, and cross-dressers us through the years.” most impacted are trans women, who have went underground. Due to the fact that Another elder there was been oppressed and maligned openly for they were so oppressed, they had to turn Marsha P. Johnson. Like centuries. Throughout the 20th century, to underground economies, such as sex Rivera, she was a founder of trans women and our self-expression were work or drug dealing. This was a fact of Street Transvestite Action repressed legally and violently. life and still is. Revolutionaries. In an inter- Possibly the most blatant example of In this environment, dirty cops took view that was reprinted in a state-sanctioned violence against trans advantage of their situation by shak- book about STAR, she talks Sylvia Rivera (left) and Marsha P. Johnson women was in Nazi Germany. During their ing down queer people for sex or money about being arrested for rise to power, the Nazis launched attacks acquired from selling drugs. This mis- “prostitution” simply because she was been disrespected by the police. It’s also against the Institute for Sexual Science treatment set the stage for a queer orga- a Black gender nonconforming person. stated that trans people of all genders are that researched the trans phenomenon and nization—​Vanguard—​to come on the This sort of thing continues to this day. treated with extreme disrespect based helped trans women transition. The Nazi scene. In 1992 Johnson’s body was found on their economic status. People of color regime treated trans women as homosex- Vanguard demanded equal rights and floating in the Hudson River, cause of (Indigenous, Asian, Black, Latinx, and ual men, twisting the knife. protections for the trans and gender non- death officially “undetermined,” but there multiracial) all reported that they had Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler conforming community. In August 1966, is strong evidence she was murdered. been abused by the police. Responders gave speeches targeting gay people, essen- the management of Compton’s Cafeteria across the board—​from trans feminine tially saying that sexuality is not a private called the police to arrest people for vio- Police still target trans women of color to trans masculine people—reported​ dis- affair but a key problem in their racist, lating the “female impersonation” law. In the 21st century, abuses of trans comfort with police interactions. sexist, and queerphobic ideology. Being Someone spilled coffee on the manage- women by police continue. In 2006, a Transgender women are often harassed queer was harmful to the “Master Race.” ment, sparking a trans woman in New and abused by cis police but escape with While the main targets of the Holocaust rebellion. When the York City, Mariah Lopez, their lives. This is not always the case. In were Jewish, Roma and Slavic people, rebellion started, it These repressions was arrested for walking 2002, Black trans woman Nizah Morris the Holocaust remains one of the largest was 60 trans peo- forced trans women, while transgender unof- was murdered by Philadelphia police state-organized assaults on queer people—​ ple fighting for their ficially and “loitering officers while being escorted home after who were made to wear the pink triangle. rights, lighting fires cross-dressers, with the intent to solicit” she got drunk in an integrated queer bar. In the U.S., it was once illegal in many and battling the officially. When she was In 2020, Roxanne Moore was shot to localities to “dress as the opposite sex.” In police. and other gender in police custody in the death by police in Reading, Pa. She was fact, some towns still have rules like that The biggest and nonconforming people Sixth Precinct, she was in the middle of a mental health crisis today, though they may not be enforced. most well-known called “he/she,” “it” and and wielded a gun that couldn’t actually These repressions forced trans women, queer uprising is to go underground, or “f*ggot.” Police beat her fire. Protesters in Reading came out with cross-dressers, and other gender noncon- the 1969 Stonewall to hide who they were. and refused to take her to Black Lives Matter signs and the queer forming people to go underground, or to Rebellion in New the hospital, acting like and trans people of color flag. hide who they were. York City. This was it was no big deal to beat Fortunately, alongside the tireless work In response to both police and commu- not an exclusively In response to both up a trans woman just of activists in many locales, trans women nity mistreatment, they rebelled! trans event, but many police and community because she was trans. are fighting for their dignity. In February trans women and When Lopez was trans- 2021, the State of New York finally From Cooper’s Donuts to Stonewall other trans feminine mistreatment, ferred to the Department repealed its “walking while trans” law. One of the very first recorded instances people were present of Corrections, she was Trans women can no longer be arrested of trans and gender nonconforming people and fought hard for they rebelled! abused by guards who on suspicion of being sex workers, at least rebelling against police and social tyranny trans people. didn’t believe her story not officially. was the Cooper’s Donuts “riot” in May 1959 Sylvia Rivera was chief among them. about being abused by the police while in But the white supremacist heterosex- in Los Angeles. Little information is kept About Stonewall, she said, “Once the tac- NYPD custody. On top of that, they called ist bourgeoisie and petit-bourgeoisie will on this uprising because it was a revolt by tical police force showed up, I think that her a “f*ing f*ggot.” On July 18, 2006, she never entirely make us equal to cis peo- trans people. They threw everything that really incited us a little bit more. Here this was additionally charged with “assaulting ple. Only a revolution can do that and we wasn’t nailed down at police and burnt queen is going completely bananas, you officers.” Because she couldn’t afford bail need to remember that. police cars to a crisp. They forced the cops know, jumping on, hitting the windshield. and couldn’t stand the living conditions For all the trans people afraid of police, to flee, though they returned with more The next thing you know, the taxicab was of prison, she took a plea deal to get out. we can join revolutionary organizations force and the revolt was defeated. being turned over. The cars were being According to “Injustice at Every Turn: that fight for the memory of our elders. ☐ History is hidden by the victors—the​ Los turned over, windows were shattering all National Transgender Discrimination Angeles Police Department successfully over the place, fires were burning around Survey,” 25 percent of trans women have workers.org April 22, 2021 Page 11 After Amazon vote: Unionize ALL workers!

Continued from page 1 executive order. differences on big and small issues, not We want to talk about the formation minimizing that. because the labor movement has the of workers assemblies. In the example But clearly for any of us who are seri- resources, the infrastructure, the mus- and spirit of what the Southern Workers ous, we can’t make any motion—we​ can’t cle and the power. And the workers and Assembly has done, we can learn a lot. do anything unless there’s some serious the militants that have been organizing Where the labor movement is weak in left unity. Our organizations alone are Amazon and Whole Foods are brave, the South, the Assembly has filled the too small. If we just want to comment strong; they’re salting Amazon and Whole vacuum. on stuff, if we want to criticize, which Foods, but they can’t do it by themselves. They have organized workers in states is necessary, that’s okay. But if we want It’s important for the unions—​not to where it’s illegal to be in a union, where to do something, if we want to actually ignore them and not to dismiss them—​ you can’t pay dues, but do something that but you’ve got to work with them and win they’ve done it. They’ve makes a difference them over. Another critical reality is the got much to teach us. The vote in Bessemer to transforming our largest percentage of the working class And the way the union class, to organizing is not in the union movement. But they movement is now, it’s is not just a problem workers, to trans- must be told that even though they only not welcoming, except in or crisis or a setback, forming the work- order, if they can afford to, from Amazon, the most rare instances, ing-class movement, they’re important to the struggle. to migrant workers, to or however you to changing what Of course, it’s the workers who work undocumented workers, it is now to what it for Amazon and Whole Foods who are to incarcerated workers, want to characterize should be, we got to critical to organizing Amazon and Whole WW PHOTO: G. DUNKEL to sex workers, to trans it. It’s not just a work together. Foods. But the rest of us who are part of Larry Holmes speaking at March 20 rally workers, to gig workers, Different organi- the working class, we’re on the outside; for Amazon Bessemer workers in New to Uber drivers. Who’s problem for the zations, socialists we are in the tens of millions on a global York City. going to organize these and communists basis. We are in the hundreds of mil- assemblies? workers in Alabama worked together in lions, but we have a stake in this; this is workplace organizing. I want to just men- These workers assem- or for the workers the 1930s. They did our fight. tion some strategies going forward which blies, organized on a it from Minneapolis That’s why some of the mass mobiliza- I hope that others will echo on, disagree local basis, attempt to in the South or for to Flint to every- tions that we helped to organize Feb. 20 with or add to. both organize work- where—​they did and March 20, in solidarity with the union ers and support unions Amazon workers; it. We’ve got to fight in Alabama, were important. Those Strategies for moving forward and struggles and sol- it’s a problem for move in that spirit. actions helped push the labor move- A lot of us are organizing around the idarize themselves The Democratic ment, which on many levels was not even right-to-organize legislation known as with ongoing workers’ the whole working Socialists of America, involved in Alabama, to get involved in it. the PRO Act, which is progressive, good struggles locally and by far the biggest left What we are saying now is that a part of and helpful. But it does not include rec- internationally. class, for the whole grouping and not a our reaction to what happened yesterday ognizing card collection as the basis of They are essential at labor movement homogeneous group and today is the disclosure of this vote, an employer having to recognize a union. this time to transform- politically, even they which made our days more difficult; we They still have to go the National Labor ing the working-class and for the left. are not big enough. have got to respond to that. Relations Board route, which was a big movement and making And those of us in What’s important is that the left, that problem in Alabama. We want “card it radical, making it inclusive and not smaller groups, where we don’t have the is seriously concerned about the working check” that organizes collecting those exclusive. And it’s up to us. We can’t wait size in certain areas, we have the experi- class and that is in this fight and not just cards, and once you have enough of them, for somebody else to do it. ence to be helpful. observing it, has to find its voice. that should be it. May Day 2021 is coming up. How can So as we move forward, let’s try to do And we have to try to get others to The boss has to sit down and negotiate we make May Day meaningful to what what we did over the past two months. If come with us and say: No. We’re going with you, end of story. That’s not in the happened in Alabama, to the right-to-or- we can do that, and we’re really serious, I to demand an end to this union busting PRO Act. We’ve got to demand its inclu- ganize legislation, to organizing the unor- don’t think there’s any end to what we can that Amazon is involved in, the multi- sion in the PRO Act. Also that bill is hung ganized? Should we issue a national call do. The main point—​and I’m repeating million-dollar union busting that they up in the Senate, which makes it easy for for May Day actions or with some key myself—​is that it’s one thing to have a brought to bear on these workers in President Biden and others to say they’re issues that we recommend that activists meeting and sit aside and comment and Alabama. No. for it, but basically do nothing about it. around the country take up? criticize. And that’s important, especially We’ve got to say that, while at the end We’re trying to understand why Biden if it educates and doesn’t demoralize of the day, the decisive struggle will be has got all these powers and said he’s like Left unity is crucial views, or isn’t just cynical. based on the workers in these workplaces, FDR, pro-labor, but waited until the mid- I want to speak to the need for left But we also have to be concerned the whole working class has got to be dle of the campaign to say something, not unity. In a lot of ways what we saw over about what we can do when we’ve worked mobilized to say we demand that Amazon at the beginning. the past two months in organizing the together. And if we have to struggle over and Whole Foods, and whatever other Why doesn’t he issue an executive national days of solidarity with the work- the kind of structures that we need for entities that have workers that it buys order or series of executive orders that ers in Alabama, was a kind of left unity. real left unity, let us do that. But let us because it’s so rich, we have to demand essentially puts the right to organize the It wasn’t organized; it wasn’t groups that do that honestly. And let us do that with that they accept the unionization of the PRO Act into law right away, including got together and talked to each other. revolutionary determination to have an workers. card check? We want to hear what peo- But all of a sudden this group was doing impact on the future. ☐ The working class has to say that’s ple think about that and maybe orga- it and that group and these groups that a very necessary complement to the nize a campaign around that to use that don’t work together, despite a lot of

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MO FOTO: G. DUNKEL Larry Holmes en la manifestación del 20 de febrero para los trabajadores de Amazon Después del voto en Amazon: Bessemer en la ciudad de Nueva York. La organización laboral es un derecho Por Larry Holmes ¿Cómo van a trabajar juntos los La clase obrera tiene que decir que eso Se acerca el Primero de Mayo de 2021. sindicatos? ¿Cuál es su estrategia? ¿Cuál es un complemento muy necesario para ¿Cómo podemos hacer que el Primero de Los siguientes comentarios editados es su plan? ¿Qué sindicatos van a trabajar la organización en el lugar de trabajo. Mayo, dentro de unas semanas, sea signi- fueron realizados en un seminario web juntos y no competir entre sí? ¿Cómo Sólo quiero mencionar algunas estrate- ficativo para lo que ocurrió en Alabama, del 9 de abril titulado “La lucha con- van a ganarse a los militantes de grupos gias para avanzar, de las que espero que para la legislación del derecho a orga- tinúa—​Próximos pasos para el sindi- como Amazonians United y Whole otros se hagan eco, estén en desacuerdo nizarse, para organizar a los no organi- cato de BAmazon y más allá—​Reunión Foods United, como mi buen amigo o añadan algo. zados? ¿Deberíamos hacer un llamado de organizadores” organizado por Chris Smalls, fundador del Congreso de nacional para las acciones del Primero de supportamazonworkers.org. Holmes Trabajadores Esenciales? Tienen una Estrategias para avanzar Mayo o con algunas cuestiones clave que es el Primer Secretario del partido base en estos sitios de Amazon y Whole Muchos de nosotros nos estamos orga- recomendamos que los activistas de todo Workers World Party/ Partido Mundo Foods, y se sienten alienados por los nizando en torno a la legislación sobre el país asuman? Obrero y organizador de la Asamblea sindicatos. el derecho a organizarse conocida como La unidad de la izquierda es crucial de Trabajadores contra el Racismo en la Los sindicatos no son a los que acuden, Ley PRO, que es progresista, buena y útil. ciudad de Nueva York. y tienen buenas razones para ello; en eso Pero no incluye el reconocimiento de la Quiero hablar de la necesidad de estamos de acuerdo la mayoría. Pero el recogida de tarjetas como base para que la unidad de la izquierda. En muchos Mi corazón, mi solidaridad está con problema es que la realidad de la situa- un empresario tenga que reconocer a un sentidos, lo que vimos en los últimos dos los organizadores y los trabajadores de ción significa que debemos tratar con sindicato. Todavía tienen que ir por la meses al organizar las jornadas nacionales Bessemer que han luchado el movimiento obrero, ruta de la Junta Nacional de Relaciones de solidaridad con los trabajadores de tanto por este voto. Los porque el movimiento Laborales, lo que fue un gran problema Alabama, fue una especie de unidad de la trabajadores del comercio ¿Cómo podemos obrero tiene los recur- en Alabama. Queremos una “comproba- izquierda. No estaba organizada; no eran minorista, mayorista y de hacer que el sos, la infraestructura, el ción de tarjetas” que organice la recogida grupos que se reunieran y hablaran entre los grandes almacenes se músculo y el poder. Y los de esas tarjetas, y una vez que se tengan sí. Pero de repente este grupo lo estaba vieron superados por este Primero de Mayo, trabajadores y los mili- suficientes, eso debería ser todo. haciendo y ese grupo y estos grupos que monstruo de la corpora- tantes que han estado El jefe tiene que sentarse y negociar no trabajan juntos, a pesar de muchas ción capitalista global, dentro de unas organizando a Amazon contigo, y punto. Eso no está en la Ley diferencias en temas grandes y pequeños, Amazon. semanas, sea y a Whole Foods son PRO. Tenemos que exigir su inclusión en sin minimizar eso. Pero aun así hicieron lo valientes, fuertes; están la Ley PRO. Además, ese proyecto de ley Pero está claro que para cualquiera de que, francamente, debe- significativo para salpicando a Amazon y está atascado en el Senado, lo que facilita nosotros que sea serio, no podemos hacer rían haber hecho los sin- a Whole Foods, pero no que el presidente Biden y otros digan que ningún movimiento—no​ podemos hacer dicatos más grandes, que lo que ocurrió en pueden hacerlo solos. están a favor, pero básicamente no hacen nada a menos que haya una unidad seria tenían más recursos, infi- Alabama, para Es importante para los nada al respecto. Estamos tratando de de la izquierda. Nuestras organizaciones nitamente más recursos. sindicatos—no​ ignorarlos entender por qué Biden tiene todos estos por sí solas son demasiado pequeñas. Si El sindicato lo asumió. la legislación y no descartarlos—​pero poderes y dice que es como FDR, pro- sólo queremos comentar cosas, si quere- Pero como dijo el cama- hay que trabajar con ellos laboral, [pero] esperó hasta la mitad de la mos criticar, que es necesario, está bien. rada Saladin, esto es una del derecho a y ganarlos. Otra realidad campaña para decir algo, no al principio. Pero si queremos hacer algo, si quere- batalla; es el comienzo. organizarse, para crítica es que el mayor ¿Por qué no emite una orden ejecutiva o mos realmente hacer algo que marque La votación en Bessemer porcentaje de la clase una serie de órdenes ejecutivas que esen- la diferencia para transformar nuestra no es sólo un problema o organizar a los trabajadora no está en el cialmente conviertan en ley el derecho a clase, para organizar a los trabajadores, una crisis o un revés, o movimiento sindical. Pero organizar la Ley PRO de inmediato, inclu- para transformar el movimiento obrero, como se quiera caracte- no organizados? hay que decirles que aun- yendo el control de tarjetas? Queremos para cambiar lo que es ahora a lo que rizar. No es sólo un pro- que sólo hagan pedidos, escuchar lo que la gente piensa sobre eso debería ser, tenemos que trabajar juntos. blema para los trabajadores de Alabama si se lo pueden permitir, a Amazon, son y tal vez organizar una campaña alrede- Diferentes organizaciones, socialistas o para los trabajadores del Sur o para los importantes para la lucha. dor de eso para usar esa orden ejecutiva. y comunistas trabajaron juntos en los trabajadores de Amazon; es un problema Por supuesto, son los trabajadores que Queremos hablar de la formación años 30. Lo hicieron desde Minneapolis para toda la clase trabajadora, para todo trabajan para Amazon y Whole Foods los de asambleas de trabajadores. Con el hasta Flint y en todas partes, lo hicieron. el movimiento obrero y para la izquierda. que son fundamentales para organizar a ejemplo y el espíritu de lo que ha hecho Tenemos que movernos con ese espíritu. La mayoría de nosotros entendió que Amazon y Whole Foods. Pero el resto de la Asamblea de Trabajadores del Sur, Los Socialistas Democráticos de América, no deberíamos confiar en 6.000 traba- los que formamos parte de la clase tra- podemos aprender mucho. Allí donde el que son la mayor agrupación de izquierda jadores de Alabama para enfrentarse a bajadora, estamos fuera; somos decenas movimiento obrero es débil en el Sur, la y no son un grupo homogéneo política- la mayor corporación del mundo, una de millones a nivel mundial. Estamos en Asamblea ha llenado el vacío. mente, ni siquiera ellos son lo suficien- corporación que prácticamente define los cientos de millones, pero tenemos un Han organizado a trabajadores en esta- temente grandes. Y los que estamos en el capitalismo global del siglo XXI. Es interés en esto; esta es nuestra lucha. dos donde es ilegal estar en un sindicato, grupos más pequeños, donde no tene- nuestra crisis. Ahora hay que desafiar al Por eso fueron importantes algunas donde no se pueden pagar cuotas, pero mos el tamaño en ciertas áreas, tenemos gremio laboral. Esto tiene que intensifi- de las movilizaciones masivas que ayu- lo han hecho. Tienen mucho que ense- la experiencia para ser útiles. car una crisis muy necesaria dentro del damos a organizar el 20 de febrero y el ñarnos. Y tal y como está ahora el movi- Así que, a medida que avancemos, tra- movimiento obrero a todos los niveles, no 20 de marzo, en solidaridad con la lucha miento sindical, no es acogedor, excepto temos de hacer lo que hicimos en los últi- sólo en el liderazgo, no sólo en el Consejo sindical en Alabama. Esas acciones ayu- en los casos más raros, para los trabaja- mos dos meses. Si podemos hacerlo, y Ejecutivo de la AFL-CIO, sino sobre todo daron a empujar al movimiento obrero, dores migrantes, para los trabajadores somos realmente serios, no creo que haya a nivel de las bases obreras. que en muchos niveles ni siquiera estaba indocumentados, para los trabajadores fin a lo que podemos hacer. El punto prin- Por eso estoy de acuerdo con Saladin involucrado en Alabama, a involucrarse encarcelados, para los trabajadores del cipal -y me estoy repitiendo- es que una Muhammad en ir de un lado a otro y en ella. Lo que decimos ahora es que una sexo que son trabajadores trans, para los cosa es tener una reunión y sentarse a un celebrar reuniones para hablar con los parte de nuestra reacción a lo que ocurrió trabajadores de gigas, para los conducto- lado y comentar y criticar. Y eso es impor- trabajadores de base sobre este tema. ayer y hoy es la divulgación de esta vota- res de Uber. ¿Quién va a organizar estas tante, sobre todo si educa y no desmora- Hay que plantear las preguntas: ¿Qué van ción, que hizo nuestros días más difíciles; asambleas? liza las opiniones, o no es simplemente a hacer los trabajadores ahora? ¿Cuál va a tenemos que responder a eso. Estas asambleas de trabajadores, orga- cínico. ser la respuesta? Tenemos que decir que, aunque al nizadas a nivel local, intentan tanto orga- Pero también tenemos que preocupar- La única respuesta verdadera es ésta: final del día, la lucha decisiva se basará nizar a los trabajadores como apoyar a los nos por lo que podemos hacer cuando La clase obrera y sus organizaciones -no en los trabajadores de estos lugares de sindicatos y las luchas y solidarizarse con hemos trabajado juntos. Y si tenemos que sólo la más grande e importante en este trabajo. Toda la clase obrera tiene que las luchas obreras en curso a nivel local e luchar por el tipo de estructuras que nece- momento por sus recursos- el movimiento movilizarse para decir que exigimos que internacional. sitamos para una verdadera unidad de la obrero organizado debe idear un plan para Amazon y Whole Foods, y cualquier otra Son esenciales en este momento para izquierda, hagámoslo. responder a esto, para organizar a Amazon entidad que tenga trabajadores que com- transformar el movimiento obrero y Pero hagámoslo honestamente. Y hagá- -no sólo a Bessemer- que tiene un millón pre porque es muy rica, tenemos que exi- hacerlo radical, hacerlo inclusivo y no moslo con la determinación revoluciona- de trabajadores en este país, sin incluir a gir que acepten la sindicalización de los excluyente. Y depende de nosotros. No ria de tener un impacto en el futuro. ☐ Whole Foods, que es de su propiedad. trabajadores. podemos esperar a que otro lo haga.