Reforestación en Cuba 12 Workers and oppressed peoples of the world unite! workers.org Vol. 61 No. 39 Sept. 26, 2019 $1 Millions of youth say Planet, not profits! By Betsey Piette took place on every continent and in every At least a quarter of a million people filled The strike coincided with the start major city. The list is too long to enumer- New York’s Foley Square, followed by a of the United Nations climate summit Sept. 20— Around the world today, ate here. march to Battery Park. called in response to the urgency for gov- it’s estimated that 4 million people took The Global Climate Strike was the Recent climate catastrophes— super ernment actions needed to restrict rising to the streets in an unprecedented Global third in a worldwide series of climate ral- hurricanes in the Bahamas and Puerto global temperatures. Climate Strike, led for the most part by lies organized by students in the last 12 Rico, rapidly melting ice caps in Greenland The common factor in most of these youth under 18. Many students walked months. September 20 may go down in and out-of-control fires in rainforests in actions was that leadership came from out of school in unexcused absences, history as the largest global demonstration the Amazon, Africa and Indonesia— cer- youth— students and workers— whose while others came with teachers or par- in the fight against climate crisis— to date. tainly accelerated the turnout. Protests concern for their future is fueling this ents. Many young workers left their jobs Australia reported its largest turnouts in the Solomon Islands and elsewhere in movement. In many cities children led to join in. for social protests since anti-war demon- the South Pacific targeted rising sea lev- the marches, in some cities even request- The day of global coordinated actions strations in 2003 preceding the U.S. war els which have wiped out entire commu- ing that older activists take up the rear. took place in over 185 countries start- on Iraq. In the U.S. alone climate strikes nities. In South Africa, a major concern The average age of participants in many ing in the South Pacific islands, through were organized in over 1,000 cities— was toxic waste, in India air pollution and protests was between 12 and 18 years. Australia, across Asia, Africa, into Europe many reporting numbers from the hun- plastic waste, and in Australia coal expan- Many young participants see the climate and finally the Americas. Demonstrations dreds to the tens of thousands or more. sion. (theguardian.com, Sept. 20) Continued on page 6 U.S. sends troops to Gulf region, threatens new war By John Catalinotto Sept. 22— The Pentagon announced Sept. 20 that it will “deploy additional U.S. troops and missile defense equip- ment to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.” This deployment is allegedly in response to a missile attack the weekend before that stopped half of Saudi daily oil production and temporar- ily raised oil prices worldwide. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Battery Park in New York City, Sept. 20. More on pages 6-7. WW PHOTO: BRENDA RYAN and Vice President Mike Pence blamed Iran for the attack, calling it an “act of war.” While Iran denies making the attack, the Houthi organization in Yemen says its forces did it. As of Sept. 22, nei- Smash racism! ther the U.S. nor Saudi Arabia has pro- duced evidence of Iran’s involvement. Donald Neely 2 Washington, most recently the Trump administration, has carried out continu- Rodney Reed 3 ous hostile acts against Iran. These acts WW PHOTO: G. DUNKEL include breaking the 2015 nuclear treaty Solidarity with migrants 3 Protesting wars and threats to climate, updates 5 Herald Square, New York City, Sept. 22. Continued on page 11 Space wars 8 Labor resists Editorial Being homeless is not a crime 10 GM strike rolls on 4 Medicare for all 4 Subscribe to Workers World On the picket line 8 ☐ 4 weeks trial $4 ☐ 1 year subscription $30 ☐ Sign me up for the WWP Supporter Program: workers.org/donate Name _______________________________________________________________ Charlotte, N.C. PHOTO: WWP DURHAM BRANCH Email _______________________________ Phone _________________________ Street _______________________________________________________________ City / State / Zip _______________________________________________________ Indonesia 6 Hong Kong 9 Workers World Weekly Newspaper workers.org 147 W. 24th St., 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10011 212.627.2994 Venezuela 10 BDS solidarity 11 Page 2 Sept. 26, 2019 workers.org Galveston, Texas Rally honors Donald Neely this week By Mirinda Crissman that history and also understood and ◆ In the U.S. Galveston, Texas spoke to the local community’s leg- Galveston, Texas, rally honors Donald Neely ..... 2 acies of resistance and the inhabi- Some 350 demonstrators gath- tants’ position as collective carriers Texas: Stop Rodney Reed's execution ........... 3 ered here Sept. 15 to support Donald of history. Galveston is the birth- Portland demands ICE off Greyhound buses ..... 3 Neely, drawn in part by an Aug. 3 place of Juneteenth, which is the Sept. 16: Day Without Immigrants SF ........... 3 video that garnered national atten- oldest nationally celebrated com- Class war at GM..............................4 tion. The video showed two police memoration of the end of U.S. slavery officers on horseback leading Neely on June 19, 1865. Medicare for all .............................. 4 by a rope. The disrespect shown this Speakers at the rally called for a Fight to free Mumia enters historic new phase.... 5 43-year-old Black man aroused wide- moment of silence as the Sept. 15 day Philly cops lash out at district attorney .......... 5 spread outrage. Police documents of action since it was also the anniver- The climate crisis is a working class issue . 7 showed they knew Neely as a home- sary of the day in 1963 when a bomb less, mentally ill person who was not set in a Birmingham, Ala., church On the picket line ............................8 at all dangerous before the incident killed four young Black girls— Addie Thousands reject Modi-Trump racism ......... 10 ever took place. Mae Collins (14), Cynthia Wesley Lift U.S. sanctions off Zimbabwe ...............11 Demonstrators came together (14), Carole Robertson (14) and Carol from across the state in the scorch- Denise McNair (11)— and left a fifth ◆ Around the world ing September heat to call on law young girl, Sarah Collins Rudolph, Planet, not profits .............................1 enforcement to release body cam- who still carries the traumatic history era footage from the incident and to of that day. (For the story of the fifth U.S. sends troops to Gulf region .................1 drop all charges against Neely. Their girl, see tinyurl.com/y6h2jnfj/). Indonesian fire threatens millions . 6 signs read that poverty and men- WW PHOTO: GLORIA RUBAC Neely’s legal counsel, Houston- Astronomical imperialism! ....................8 tal illness should not be a crime and based civil rights attorney Ben Hong Kong: Make colonialism great again ....... 9 made demands for dignity and jus- Much like the surrounding areas, Crump, reminded Neely’s hundreds tice. Those who gathered in Neely’s Galveston also has a well-documented of supporters: “When they drug him Venezuela: Pact with sections of opposition ..... 10 name rallied in a local park and then history of leasing convicts for unpaid down the center of town, it was like Writers support Shamsie for defending Palestine .11 marched along the same route police labor in the post-emancipation era. they drug all of us.” Crump then led had forced him to take. Convict leasing was a system com- a chant of collective resistance, “Pull ◆ Editorial The community and all who under- parable to slavery in which vagrancy the rope, for Donald Neely!” Being homeless is not a crime ..................10 stand the historical context of the laws were weaponized against poor Galveston knows the ghastly leg- area know that Neely’s blatant mis- Black people in particular. Laws were acies of colonial inhumanity and ◆ Noticias en Español treatment is part of the legacy left by used by officers to arrest people— raises its vital legacies of resistance Reforestación: Cuba lidera el camino ............ 12 slavery. Galveston is a deep-water often for little reason— and use them in defiance. The community sup- port on the Gulf Coast, with the oldest as an expendable labor source under ports the ongoing legal struggles of city police force in Texas. The city’s harsh conditions for the profit of the Neely and collectively carries him. law enforcement origins can be traced prison system. And he ain’t heavy. ☐ to slave patrols. Everyone who showed up knew Workers World 147 W. 24th St., 2nd Fl. New York, NY 10011 Join us in the fight Phone: 212.627.2994 E-mail: [email protected] for socialism! Web: www.workers.org Vol. 61, No. 39 • Sept. 26, 2019 Workers World Party is a revolutionary Marxist-Leninist people are gunned down by cops and bigots on a regular Closing date: Sept. 25, 2019 party inside the belly of the imperialist beast. We are a basis. Editor: Deirdre Griswold multinational, multigenerational and multigendered orga- The ruthless ruling class today seeks to wipe out nization that not only aims to abolish capitalism, but to decades of gains and benefits won by hard-fought strug- Managing Editors: John Catalinotto, Martha Grevatt, build a socialist society because it’s the only way forward! gles by people’s movements. The super-rich and their Monica Moorehead, Minnie Bruce Pratt Capitalism and imperialism threaten the peoples of the political representatives have intensified their attacks on Web Editors: Ben Carroll, John Steffin world and the planet itself in the neverending quest for the multinational, multigender and multigenerational ever-greater profits.