25th Annual People’s Thanksgiving Dinner
Saturday, November 19th, 2016
4:00 – 8:00 pm
Dinner at 5:00, Program at 5:30
Location: Teamster City, Basement Level, 300 S. Ashland
Brothers and sisters –
We are excited to announce our special guest:
Standing Rock Sioux Historian, LaDonna Brave Bull Allard
With introductory remarks by Chicago’s own Rasmea Odeh
We’ll also present our annual awards to honor local activists Aislinn Pulley of Black Lives Matter; Michael Brunson, CTU Recording Secretary and head of the CTU Black Caucus; Dave Bernt of Teamsters United; and Juan Rojas and Cassie Robledo, who helped Shut Down Trump at UIC this spring.
Musical performances by KoStar
And an activity for children that teaches them about the struggles of indigenous people from Standing Rock to the Philippines
In these last months of 2016, it’s hard to miss that there are two things happening in the U.S.
First, there is a continued outpouring of protest coming from people suffering under racist, national oppression. The movement against police crimes continues, and with each murder of another unarmed Black or Latino person, the protests are growing. In North Dakota, the largest mobilization of Native Americans in over a century continues to stop the Dakota Access Pipe Line (DAPL) from carrying tar sands oil across indigenous lands and waters.
Second, the presidential elections reveal the crisis in the money-dominated two-party system. Wall Street’s candidate, Hillary Clinton, a war hawk, is running against a misogynist, racist, reality TV star, Donald Trump. Dissatisfaction with the status quo campaign of Clinton led to Bernie Sanders receiving 12 million votes in the primary. The racist base of the Republican Party pushed Trump into the nomination, leading to a massive movement to stop him. Nothing better expresses the urge to defeat Trump than the protest of 5000 led by students at UIC that confronted the hate show he brought to Chicago in March. It was clear that people rejected him, as we expect him to be on Election Day.
After the elections, we know that the coming years will feature a government with an austerity agenda, with continued attacks on working people and the poor, immigrants and the undocumented, Arabs and Muslims, and the racially and nationally oppressed. It is clear to everyone that the next administration will be militarily more aggressive.
What we need to do is to build and strengthen the people’s movements, including a revived, rank and file led labor movement. The best local example in the country of class struggle unionism is the Chicago Teachers Union, and nationally, the reform movement in the Teamsters. Movements of working people are our real hope.
We invite you to join us at the People’s Thanksgiving, where we’ll recognize those movements and activists that have inspired us this past year.
In struggle –
Joe Iosbaker, Freedom Road Socialist Organization
25th Annual People’s Thanksgiving Dinner
Fundraiser for Fight Back! /¡Lucha y Resiste! Newspaper
Hosted by Freedom Road Socialist Organization
Saturday, November 19th, 2016
4:00 – 8:00 pm
Dinner at 5:00 pm, Program at 5:30
Location: Teamster City, Basement Level, 300 S. Ashland
Tickets: $30
Please RSVP
Includes dinner. $5 for little children & the unemployed. Cash Bar.
To order tickets, and if you need childcare, email joeiosbaker@gmail.com
Wisconsin Bail Out the People Movement 