to register: bit.ly/VZRESISTS.
FB event page: An Inside View of Venezuelan Resistance to US Imperialism
April 23, 2020 Webinar: ‘An Inside View of Venezuelan Resistance to U.S. Imperialism and How to Build International Solidarity’
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Monthly Archives: April 2020
Join the April 19, 2020 Webinar by the International League of People’s Struggle
ILPS US Webinar: What is Imperialism? Understanding the Deeper Pandemic & Its Cure
Sunday, April 19 | 12pm Pacific / 2pm Central / 3pm Eastern
COVID-19 & US Sanctions: Sign the Open Letter to the Government of the United States and the United Nations
UNAC is working with antiwar leaders and groups from around the world to get a massive amount of letters to the US government, and the United Nations, to demand an end to sanctions, especially during this period of the fight against COVID-19. Please sign the letter below and pass this on to others.
When you sign, a letter will automatically be sent in your name.
Dear Friends of Peace, Justice and Human Rights Around the World,
The global spread of COVID-19 has exposed the illegal and immoral practice of imposing unilateral coercive measures (economic sanctions) by the United States government against more than thirty nations. The economic war against those nations had already resulted in unimaginable suffering of the people in the targeted nations even before the COVID-19 pandemic.
With the devastation of the global pandemic, the targeted countries — especially Venezuela, Cuba, Iran, Syria and Zimbabwe — are finding it prohibitively difficult to protect and save the lives of their citizens in the face of the ongoing global emergency. These sanctions constitute crimes against humanity.
Instead of helping these countries fight the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the government of the United States is now using the public distraction caused by the pandemic to intensify its military actions against the targeted nations. It is increasing its threats against Iran and Syria by engaging in a silent buildup of its military forces in Iraq again, and has dispatched its Naval warships to the shores of Venezuela, demanding the total surrender of the Venezuelan government to the United States.
Only a global wave of popular protest can stop these anti-human policies and actions.
Please use the link provided below to sign the Open Letter to the Government of the United States and the United Nations, addressed to the President of the United States and Secretary General of the United Nations, demanding that all U.S and UN sanctions against the targeted nations be lifted, and all U.S. military threats and actions against them be stopped immediately.
We are dealing with a global emergency and must act quickly.
April 18, 2020 Webinar: The Prosecution of Julian Assange and the Fight for Free Speech
Rona-Virus HotSpots: WTF Is Real Going On?
The COVID-19 pandemic is shaking up the working class
The COVID-19 pandemic is shaking up the working class as we witness illness in our loved ones and callous bosses who are willing to put workers’ lives on the line to keep their own profits flowing.
Our union has issued a call to both our members and nonunion workers to stand up and fight, created new resources to help nonunion workers take action to win safe workplaces, published a special issue of the UE Steward on how to organize members on COVID-19 issues in the workplace, and is providing organizing support to workers who are ready to take on their boss. Our members, in both organized shops and workplaces where we have organizing campaigns, are winning concessions from their employers through militant and creative tactics.
Many people who are still receiving a paycheck are considering donating some portion of the stimulus check they are about to receive to worthy causes. If you are among them, we ask you to consider donating to the UE Research and Education Fund to help us continue to support working people.
We hope that this message finds you and your family in good health. We look forward to working with you to advance the rights of working people now and in the future.
In solidarity,
Kari Thompson, UE Co-Director of Education
TAKE ACTION TODAY TO PROTECT MOUNTAIRE WORKERS!
Good morning! Please post this on social media and email your networks to support Mountaire workers. Over 1,500 people are at work right now risking their own and their community’s safety. We need to take action now. This response is being organized by the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival who were approached by Mountaire workers.
TAKE ACTION TODAY TO PROTECT MOUNTAIRE WORKERS!
Mountaire Farm is a poultry plant in Siler City that employs over 1,500 people, mostly Latinx immigrants. On Wednesday, workers were told that there are 3 confirmed COVID-19 cases among workers and that the plant will not close until there are 20 confirmed cases. Workers are still expected to show up for work today.
Mountaire Farm is a poultry plant in Siler City that employs over 1,500 people, mostly Latinx immigrants. On Wednesday, workers were told that there are 3 confirmed COVID-19 cases among workers and that the plant will not close until there are 20 confirmed cases. Workers are still expected to show up for work today.
If and when the plant does close, workers have been told that they will not receive paid leave. Temporary workers have been told that they will be fired and will have to reapply if they want their jobs back in the future, while also being told that they most likely won’t be rehired.
The plant opened today at 6am, and workers and their families are once again at risk of being exposed to COVID-19 as they work together in close proximity. If they do not show up, they are at risk of being fired, and not have the income to support their families. We need your support.
Take action today by clicking this link to send an email to Mark Reif, HR Employee and Community Relations Manager, at the Mountaire Plant to demand that Mountaire Farms guarantee that all workers (including temporary workers) will NOT lose their jobs if they choose to stay home due to COVID-19 concerns and will receive paid leave. You will also find a call script and phone numbers to call Mark Reif at the Siler City Plant and the Mountaire National Headquarters.
To stay updated on ways to support Mountaire workers, email justice4mountaireworkers@gmail.com
Press Conference condemns PA DOC cruel hoax that claimed Mumia Abu-Jamal was ill with COVID19
215-724-1618 / Mobilization4Mumia.com / mobilization4mumia@gmail.com
PRESS RELEASE April 16, 2020
Contact: Sophia Williams 917-806-0521, Pam Africa 267-760-7344 or Joe Piette 610-931-2615
Press Conference condemns PA DOC cruel hoax that claimed Mumia Abu-Jamal was ill with COVID19
When a PA Department of Corrections official falsely claimed Mumia Abu-Jamal was being hospitalized with COVID-19 at 5pm on April 15, the news was shared worldwide in minutes. Supporters around the world, who have been misled by DOC statements in the past, immediately called the institution and demanded confirmation from Mumia himself. By 8:45pm, the DOC allowed Mumia to call his supporters and he confirmed that the official report was false. “I am fine, I am not hospitalized,” he can be heard on the recorded call saying, part of which was played at the press conference, “…What I need is freedom.”
The whole incident adds to a long list of lies and misinformation by the PA DOC since Mumia was first unjustly incarcerated in 1982. Why did a person at the SCI Mahanoy Superintendent’s Office on an official phone tell a concerned advocate that Mumia was being hospitalized with COVID-19?
How would you react if someone in authority falsely told you your elderly relative was sick with COVID-19? As a concerned person, you would be outraged. So were the participants in the April 16 virtual press conference.
Santiago Alvarez, the UC Santa Cruz student who called the prison, not only described the recorded conversation he had with the DOC official but played a portion of it. The person clearly said “Mumia was taken to the hospital 30 minutes ago … suffering from headaches and breathing problems … to be tested for COVID-19 as a precaution.”
Johanna Fernandez, Baruch College professor whose uncle died as a result of the pandemic last week, explained US prisons have the highest rates of infection in the world. She demanded that the official’s callous misinformation, which was recorded, should lead to disciplinary procedures and his firing.
Temple Professor and activist Marc Lamont Hill exposed high rates of infection at Rikers Island prison many times worse than in New York City or in Italy. He explained that imprisoning people for small crimes like gambling and prostitution basically sentences them to the possibility of death because of the pandemic. Hill called the prison spokesperson’s actions “shocking — a stunning level of cruelty and indifference.”
Megan Malachi’s statement from the Philadelphia activist group Philly For REAL Justice said in part: “The false statement issued by the prison in the middle of a global pandemic is yet another example of the inherent violence of mass incarceration. This cowardly attempt to spread fear amongst the family and supporters of Mumia has not stopped our efforts…to demand the release of Mumia Abu Jamal and all prisoners. Free Mumia! Free ‘em all!”
Delbert Africa, recently released MOVE 9 member, recounted how these “racist, sadistic guards and staff did the same thing to me, denying I was sick, denying I was hospitalized”, misleading his friends and family when he was actually very ill in prison. Calling for the release of Mumia, Russell Maroon Shoatz, Mutulu Shakur, Jalil Muntaqim and other political prisoners, he complimented the solidarity movement for forcing the DOC to take Mumia from his cell to make the call confirming his condition – a very unusual step.
Dr. Suzanne Ross described the support for Mumia by solidarity organizations in Japan, Europe and Latin America. Recounting how the movement forced the PA DOC to make hepatitis C medicine available to Mumia and other prisoners, she is in the process of filing a lawsuit forcing the state to release Mumia because they are incapable of preventing the epidemic from infecting Mumia and other prisoners.
As of April 15 there have been a total of 53 tests out of 45,000 Pennsylvania inmates with a 17% positivity rate. Officials are not testing in high enough numbers to understand the full transmission of the virus. The prison reduction mitigation efforts are not at all commensurate with the epidemic. In the last month there has only been a reduction of 474 state prisoners.
Instead of reducing incarceration numbers, the DOC is making a dire situation more tense by imposing system-wide lockdowns. On the call Mumia reported “everyone’s locked down – 23 hours in cell, 45 minutes to clean cell, shower, plug up tablet to kiosk, to the yard every 3 days – all in 45 minutes. It’s insane. The fear is getting sick and dying. Guards are in fear too.”
Abu-Jamal also mentioned Rudolph Sutton, incarcerated at SCI Phoenix, who died April 8 of respiratory distress due to COVID19, “with contributing factors of hypertensive cardiovascular disease and liver cirrhosis.” Mumia also suffers from cirrhosis of the liver, caused because of the refusal of the DOC to treat him years ago for hepatitis C in a timely manner. Like Mumia, Sutton had fought for his freedom for over 30 years. Innocence Project Legal Director Nilam Sanghvi said on April 15: “Mr. Sutton should never have been incarcerated in the first place. … His tragic death underscores the urgent need for the Governor, the Department of Corrections, the legislature, and the courts to act quickly so that another factually innocent person does not risk death in prison due to COVID-19.“
Mumia was convicted because of police, judicial and prosecutorial misconduct. Like Sutton, COVID-19 threatens to end his life before he can prove his innocence.
The pandemic disproportionately affects people of color because of the effects of low wages, poor nutrition, inadequate housing and inability to pay for healthcare. Black men are hesitant to wear recommended masks to prevent infection for fear they will be falsely seen as a threat by racist whites and cops. And as in society as a whole, disproportionately imprisoned Black and Brown incarcerated prisoners face higher risks of death from the pandemic because of their increased rate of compromised health.
Organizers have planned a series of events marking Mumia’s 66th birthday from April 23 to 26, including a press conference on April 23rd, a Teach-In on 4/24, “Mumia Libre, an Instagram Live Dance Party” on April 25 and “Poetry in Motion, a 24 hour reading of Mumia’s works” on April 26. Go to https://mobilization4mumia.com/new-events or https://www.facebook.com/cbmhome/ for more details.
Cuba Leads In Global Fight Against COVID-19, Webinar April 18, 2020
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Voces de la Frontera Direct Relief Fund: COVID-19 Relief for Undocumented Workers
(Español Abajo)
The Voces de la Frontera Direct Relief Fund for Covid-19 Relief in Wisconsin is currently raising funds to assist the victims of the Covid-19 Pandemic, which threatens thousands of undocumented workers with losing their jobs and livelihood across the state.
Only one-in-six Latino workers have a job suited for telework, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the lowest proportion among ethnic groups. Many of Wisconsin’s Latinos work in the restaurant, service, or construction industries, which have ground to a halt.
To make matters worse, the Covid-19 pandemic also jeopardizes immigrant families who are undocumented or of mixed-status, to which federal help is not available. Unlike other pandemic victims, undocumented immigrants do not qualify for federal assistance such as FEMA nor Unemployment benefits.
Even when an immigrant family has a child that may be eligible for resources, their lack of immigration status, limited English proficiency, and fear of immigration enforcement may disincentivize parents and guardians from seeking assistance.
For these reasons and more, Voces de la Frontera, Wisconsin’s largest grassroots Latinx organization, is raising critical funds to ensure the most vulnerable members of our communities will be able to make their basic needs. Voces de la Frontera is a trusted organization to many undocumented residents, and we’ve built our foundation on serving immigrant and working-class families across the Dairy State. As a result, our organization has a higher chance of reaching undocumented pandemic victims than other relief efforts
Voces de la Frontera Fondos de Ayuda Directa: COVID-19 Ayuda para Trabajadores Indocumentados
*Para obtener más información o aplicar por el Fondo de Ayuda Directa, comuníquese con Paola al 262-346-4027
Los Fondos de Ayuda Directo de Voces de la Frontera para ayuda del Covid-19 en Wisconsin actualmente está recaudando fondos para ayudar a las víctimas de la pandemia Covid-19, cual pone en riesgo de pérdida de trabajo a millas de trabajadores indocumentados a lo largo del estado.
Voces de la Frontera, la organización latinx de base más grande de Wisconsin, está recaudando fondos críticos para garantizar que los miembros más vulnerables de nuestra comunidad puedan cubrir sus necesidades básicas. Hemos construido nuestra base para servir a las familias inmigrantes y de la clase obrera en todo el Estado Lácteo.
