On Saturday, January 25, 2020, Milwaukeeans held a stand for peace, to protest the escalating threat of war with Iran. The event was organized by Peace Action of Wisconsin, Party for Socialism and Liberation, Greater Milwaukee Green Party, Milwaukee DSA, Milwaukee Solidarity, War and Peace: the Artists Conflict, Wisconsin Bail Out The People Movement, and Wisconsin FRSO. Let’s not forget that the threat of war is still very much with us. #NoWaronIran #USOutofIraq

Embassy Protection Collective

Innu demonstrate against NATO and RCMP repression

https://bit.ly/2OAP24f

By M. Gouldhawke (Métis & Cree)
Updated: February 2, 2020
(Originally published December 21, 2019)

“The myth of the RCMP is that they came to protect us from the whisky traders and bad guys. They came to protect the conqueror’s property and they still protect the conqueror’s property.”
– Maria Campbell, Toronto Star, 1989

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) raid of the Gidimt’en checkpoint on Wet’suwet’en territory on January 7, 2019, was not only the enforcement of an injunction on behalf of a pipeline company but also the continuation of the colonialist, imperialist and capitalist history of the force itself.

The RCMP are not so much a domestic policing agency as an occupying foreign army, as highlighted by the fact that the RCMP still maintain their own camp in Wet’suwet’en territory and continue to harass people at the long-running Unist’ot’en healing centre which the nearby Gidimt’en checkpoint had been set-up in solidarity with.

Canada was only six years old when it established the North-West Mounted Police in 1873. This original name for the RCMP outlined their colonial purpose, as the Northwest was not yet fully part of Canada at this time, having only been fraudulently purchased from the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) three years earlier and remaining largely under the effective control of the Métis, Cree, Saulteaux and other Indigenous nations.

Indigenous effective control ran contrary to all fraudulent claims to the territory by Canada, since the HBC had never purchased the land from Indigenous peoples in the first place in order to sell it to anyone, and the Canadian military had to be sent to Red River (Winnipeg) in 1870 to remove the Métis Provisional Government there, and then again in 1885, further west (in what is now Saskatchewan), to put down the Northwest Resistance….

….While the RCMP’s entire history is certainly abhorrent, such behaviour is clearly not aberrant for the force. The RCMP are part of the global structure of colonialism, imperialism and capitalism, and varied forms of oppression must remain part of its working repertoire in order for it to fulfil its function. Only systemic social change can fundamentally address the systemic oppression the RCMP both defends and partakes in itself….

Further reading and sources:

BC Native Blockades (Warrior Publications)

Violence Against Indigenous Women (Warrior No.2, 2006)

List of Controversies involving the RCMP (Wikipedia)

Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (2019)

Books:

An Unauthorized History of the RCMP, by Lorne & Caroline Brown

The RCMP’s official 125th anniversary book portrayed Indigenous people as ghosts in the wake of the “March West” which expanded Canadian colonialism by force.

RCMP attack a Lil’wat/St’at’imc logging blockade and Mohawk solidarity action in 1990
(photo by David Buzzard)

International Day of Solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en

This is an international day of solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en. If you can’t make it to this event join us outside of Kaslo City Hall, or find an event near you!!

The RCMP have raided the Yintah and made arrests of Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs, their land defenders, and their allies!! We are gathering outside of Michelle Mungall’s office in Nelsonl to stand with the Wet’suwet’en Nation and tell our government that Indigenous Rights and Title need to be respected and honored before the rights of corporations.

#LandBack2020 #WetsuwetenStrong

By Abayomi Azikiwe, MLK Day Detroit

A broad range of organizations united in Detroit on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to extend the struggle into the third decade of the 21st century. On Monday January 20, the 17th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Rally & March was held in the city of Detroit at the Historic St. Matthew’s-St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church on Woodward Avenue in the North End section of town.This event has become a hallmark for social justice activists and organizations within southeastern Michigan.

The church was filled to capacity with many youth attending alongside community residents, artists, representatives of trade unions and religious groups. Despite the cold weather and snow, people came out in response to the call issued by the MLK Committee aimed at generating continued engagement around questions of racism, national oppression, economic exploitation, climate change, imperialist militarism, mass incarceration, disability rights, universal suffrage and the organization of low-wage workers.

A tribute to the late former United States Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (1929-2019) was delivered by City Councilwoman Emeritus Rev. Dr. Jo Ann Watson. As a longtime Civil Rights and community activist, Watson served on the staff of Congressman Conyers for many years. Watson pointed out the role of Conyers as an elected official representing the people of Detroit and other suburban communities. He would hire the late Mrs. Rosa Parks, the woman who would initiate the mass Civil Rights Movement after being arrested for refusing to concede her seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama on December 1, 1955. Parks moved to Detroit in the late 1950s after facing tremendous social and economic pressure in the state of Alabama.

Conyers, who served in Congress for over 50 years, was a frequent guest at the Detroit MLK Day event prominently seated annually in the front row due to his pivotal role in engineering the national holiday in honor of the martyred Civil Rights and Antiwar leader. Just several days after the assassination of Dr. King in Memphis, Tennessee on April 4, 1968, the Detroit legislator would submit a bill to designate January 15 as a national holiday.

Eventually the holiday commemoration went into effect in January of 1986. King’s birthday is celebrated on the third Monday of January when government offices, banks and many educational institutions and businesses are closed in his honor. The Detroit MLK Day commemoration is designed to highlight the peace and social justice legacy of Dr. King. There was an opening rally which featured a myriad of organizations actively working on issues relevant to the local, national, international communities.

After the rally there was a march through the North End in solidarity with the people against property tax foreclosures, water shut-offs, gentrification, political repression and in support of jobs, community stabilization and democratic rights. The North End as an historic community in the city has been a central target of the existing corporate-imposed administration in Detroit for the forced and systematic removal of residents through the seizure of homes for over assessed delinquent property taxes, the termination of water services to households and the re-population of the area utilizing high-rents and increased property values.

Since the founding of the Annual MLK Day March & Rally in 2004, the idea has been to reconnect the people with the actual work of King over a period of his active political life from 1955 to the time of his martyrdom in 1968. During the last two years of his life, the co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) attempted to refocus his work to address the plight of African Americans living in large urban areas of both the South and the North.

This reorientation was carried out through the work of SCLC during the summer of 1966 in the Chicago Freedom Movement and their work in Cleveland utilizing boycotts and demonstrations to demand housing reforms and jobs for the unemployed and poor the following year. The work of Dr. King in Chicago and Cleveland during 1966 and 1967 respectively, exposed the continued existence of institutional racism in the northern cities and the need for fundamental social reforms which would guarantee housing, healthcare, jobs and an annual income for all families living in the U.S.

By early 1967, Dr. King had come out solidly against the U.S. intervention in Vietnam. He often described the war as unjust and an enemy of the poor. Dr. King viewed the genocidal war in Vietnam as a reflection of a much deeper malady within the American system where the history of African enslavement and ongoing national oppression was a driving force for imperialism throughout the globe.

Participant Speakers and Presenters Highlight Rich Political and Cultural Legacy in Detroit and Beyond

The keynote speaker for the 2020 MLK Day Rally was Rev. Dr. Luis Barrios, the President of the Board of Directors at the Inter-religious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO) based in New York City. Barrios, an intellectual and clergyman, is also a faculty member at the City College of New York (CCNY) where he teaches young people about the social impact of the Criminal Justice system in the U.S.

Barrios spoke on the attempts by MLK to build an alliance of nationally oppressed groups in the U.S. in order to eliminate racism and poverty. A large aspect of Barrios’ work is centered around support for the Cuban Revolution through travel challenges and campaigns aimed at eliminating the decades-long blockade against the Caribbean nation which has been building socialism since the Revolution in 1959.

Other performers and speakers included: Bobbi Thompson of the Springwells Choral based in Detroit; Cosecha Detroit, the local affiliate of the national organization concerned about improving the social plight of migrant workers who in Michigan are denied the right to driver’s licenses; the African Bureau of Immigration and Social Affairs, which works directly with undocumented workers from the continent who are often overlooked in the national discussions surrounding immigration; Fight for $15, a labor organization campaigning for a significant hike in the minimum wage; Sunrise Movement, a youth-led organization, organizing around climate change; and Geopolitics Alert, a news website educating the public around the role of U.S. imperialism in many areas of the globe.

The MLK Committee each year presents a “People’s Spirit of Detroit” award to some outstanding activists and organizations. This year the award was granted to members of the Denby High School Football team which came under racist attacks during the semi-final game held against Almont in the Oakland County City of Walled Lake. The attacks began after several members of the team “took a knee” in solidarity with the people combatting racism and injustice in the U.S.

After the rally and march, a community meal was provided free of charge by the Wobbly Kitchen. Later a cultural program coordinated by Aurora Harris was presented featuring poets and musicians such as Joe

Kidd & Sheila Burke, One Single Rose, Maryam Lowen, Jim Perkinson, Wardell Montgomery, Shushanna Shakur, and others.

Event Sponsored and Endorsed by Many Organizations

MLK Day was made possible by the generous monetary and in-kind contributions of a host of community organizations, individuals and institutions. Many other groups endorsed the activity and helped to publicize the event.

Some of the co-sponsors were: the ACLU of Michigan, Avalon Bakery, the Buck Dinner Fund, the Detroit Active and Retired Employees Association (DAREA), Detroit Disability Power, the Detroit Greens, Detroit Wobbly Kitchen, Yvonne and Nelson Jones, Jewish Voice for Peace, Michigan Coalition for Human Rights, Michigan Emergency Committee Against War & Injustice (MECAWI), the Moratorium NOW! Coalition, Michigan League of Conservation Voters, Michigan Welfare Rights Organization (MWRO), Mosaic DesignGroup, NextGen Michigan, People’s Water Board, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Sugar Law Center for Economic & Social Justice, Linda Szyszko, Truth Telling Project from Ferguson & Beyond, UAW Local 160, Unite Here Local 24, Viola Liuzzo Park Association, We the People of Detroit, A. Phillip Randolph Institute, National Lawyers Guild, and others.

The rally and march was widely covered in the local media through the presence of television stations and the City of Detroit communications division.

https://www.facebook.com/MLKDayDetroit/

17th Annual Detroit MLK Day Rally & March

‘https://www.marxists.org/archive/connolly/1915/10/forca.htm

From Workers’ Republic, October 30, 1915.
Transcribed by The James Connolly Society in 1997.

By James Connolly

The Irish Citizen Army was founded during the great Dublin Lock-Out of 1913-14, for the purpose of protecting the working class, and of preserving its right of public meeting and free association. The streets of Dublin had been covered by the bodies of helpless men, women, boys and girls brutally batoned by the uniformed bullies of the British Government.

Three men had been killed, and one young Irish girl murdered by a scab, and nothing was done to bring the assassins to justice. So since justice did not exist for us, since the law instead of protecting the rights of the workers was an open enemy, and since the armed forces of the Crown were unreservedly at the disposal of the enemies of labour, it was resolved to create our own army to secure our rights, to protect our members, and to be a guarantee of our own free progress.

The Irish Citizen Army was the first publicly organised armed citizen force south of the Boyne. Its constitution pledged and still pledges its members to work for an Irish Republic, and for the emancipation of labour. It has ever been foremost in all national work, and whilst never neglecting its own special function has always been at the disposal of the forces of Irish nationality for the ends common to all.

Its influence and presence has kept the peace at all labour meetings since its foundation, and the knowledge of its existence and of the spirit of its members has contributed to prevent the employers and the government from proceeding to extremes against the fighting unions. It has in a true and real sense added many shillings per week to the pay of the union members, since it and it alone has prevented the Government doing in Dublin what it has done in Barry, namely, send soldiers in to do dockers’ work during a strike. Nationally it has done much more.

When the great betrayal was perpetrated on Ireland, and John Redmond and his followers, aided by all the capitalist press of the country, joined in a conspiracy to rush the young men of Ireland into the ranks of the British Army, the first stirring blow struck against that betrayal was the historic meeting in Stephen’s Green on the night of Redmond’s Mansion House fiasco.

Who took the field that night in spite of the massed battalions of the British Army, waiting the word in every barrack square in Dublin? It was the Irish Citizen Army sprang into the gap, and by its fearless presence gave new heart and hope to the dismayed and betrayed people of Ireland.

When the first deportation order was issued to the first victim, Captain Robert Monteith, who leaped to arms and invited the people of Dublin to hurl their defiance in the teeth of the Government? Who rallied to the meeting despite torrents of rain, and in face of the open demonstration of armed force by the Dublin garrison? Again it was the Irish Citizen Army.

Who on every occasion on which the enemy has struck his blow at those who stood for freedom has ever hastened to the side of the victims declaring their cause to be its own? THE IRISH CITIZEN ARMY!

Who, when the protest meeting was held in the Phoenix Park under directions of the Volunteer Committee, were the only armed body to attend and declare their adhesion to the cause of their imprisoned brothers in arms? THE IRISH CITIZEN ARMY!

An armed organisation of the Irish working class is a phenomenon in Ireland. Hitherto the workers of Ireland have fought as parts of the armies led by their masters, never as members of an army officered, trained, and inspired by men of their own class. Now, with arms in their hands, they propose to steer their own course, to carve their own future.

Neither Home Rule, nor the lack of Home Rule, will make them lay down their arms.

However it may be for others, for us of the Citizen Army there is but one ideal – an Ireland ruled, and owned, by Irish men and women, sovereign and independent from the centre to the sea, and flying its own flag outward over all the oceans.

We cannot be swerved from our course by honeyed words, lulled into carelessness by freedom to parade and strut in uniforms, nor betrayed by high-sounding phrases.

The Irish Citizen Army will only co-operate in a forward movement. The moment that forward movement ceases it reserves to itself the right to step out of the alignment, and advance by itself if needs be, in an effort to plant the banner of freedom one reach further towards its goal.

http://www.easter1916.net/proclamation.htm

The Electronic Intifada 4 February 2020

A Palestinian woman and her children sit in a shelter as a winter storm approaches in the al-Maghraqa neighborhood of Gaza City on 7 January. Thousands of residents of the area live in poor conditions in UN shelters and homes damaged in Israeli strikes.

 Mohammed Zaanoun (ActiveStills)

Hamas supporters in Gaza City take part in a protest to show solidarity with al-Aqsa mosque and Jerusalem on 3 January.

 Mahmoud Ajjour (APA images)

MKE YES Leadership Meeting

Voces de la Frontera/YES Headquarters: 1027 S 5th Street, Milwaukee 5:30 – 9:30 P.M. 

A weekly meeting with Y.E.S leaders throughout the Milwaukee area. We plan and coordinate our actions, learn from each other in our struggle for justice, and receive training on how to become better organizers. Food is provided. Transportation available.
Call Alejandra Gonzalez with questions at 262-290-5343

At a Feb. 7 protest at the Federal Courthouse in Milwaukee protesters demanded justice Ty’Rese West who was killed by cop Eric Giese in 2019.

“It’s not over. People may think it died down, but, really, it hasn’t. This is not over. This is just the beginning,” said Monique West, the mother of Ty’Rese West. West’s family has a pending civil rights lawsuit filed.

Federal Courthouse Milwaukee, Wisconsin Feb. 7, 2020

Remembering Tony Terrell Robinson Jr Memorial Celebration

Please join us in celebrating Tony Terrell Robinson Jr’s life and legacy. His murder has been a catalyst for meaningful necessary change in our community. From an audit of MPD, resulting in 177 recommended changes, including an Independent Monitor and a Community Oversight Committee, to beautiful art, heartfelt music and poetry made in his honor. It’s been 5 long years fighting for justice and we’re only just getting started.

WHAT’S HIS NAME?
TONY ROBINSON!!! ✊🏽✊🏽✊🏽💙💙💙

The celebration at Wilmar will include dinner, poetry, music and a fashion show with designs by Pranamaker. Performers include UCAN, Chaos New Money, UpRise Productions, Jordan King and various poets. If you want to contribute music, poetry or visual art please contact Lorrian Carter

3-5PM CELEBRATION & FASHION SHOW by designer Pranamaker
-Wilmar Neighborhood Center

5:30PM CANDLELIGHT VIGIL
-Social Justice Center

7PM OPEN MIC & PHOTO EXHIBIT by photographer Leslie Amsterdam
-Social Justice Center

9PM OPEN MIC 21+
-Cafe Coda