Woody Guthrie~ All You Fascists Bound To Lose
Reply
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Public outcry forces Kroger to drop demands for “Emergency Pay” repayment
Supermarket workers at Kroger recently reported receiving collection letters from the company alleging that they were overpaid “emergency pay” while on sick leave, and demanding the workers pay the company back. Their union, UFCW Local 400, investigated each case thoroughly and were preparing to file grievances against the company, but after an exposé in Dissent Magazine featuring a Local 400 member sparked an outcry from workers and customers on social media, the company backed down. The union said it was pleased Kroger had come to its senses and urged the company to “focus their attention on extending ‘hero pay’ until this crisis is over.”
Read more here.
United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC) Statement on the Current Uprising: The Wars Come Home! Defend Black Lives!
United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC) statement:
Defend Black Lives!
NO Police State! NO Military Dictatorship!
Release all arrestees! NO more attacks on anti-racist protesters!
The United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC) stands in solidarity with communities across the country who are rising up in protest against racist police violence. As Donald Trump calls for the deployment of the U.S military in response to these national protests, UNAC condemns the use of any police and military forces being deployed to violently suppress these protests. We call on all anti-war activists to help organize or join in these actions demanding justice and an end to the state-terror being inflicted upon black and brown communities within this country. [read more]
Rockford, IL May 30, 2020 / Photo: WI BOPM
The Murder of George Floyd: Joint Statement from the AAAN and the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression
Over 20,000 people – in cars and on foot – protested in downtown Chicago Saturday afternoon, calling for justice for George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man who was viciously murdered by Minneapolis police last week.
Just like many other times when Black people here have been under attack, Arabs and Palestinians from all over Chicagoland were among the protesters, as unqualified supporters of Floyd’s family, the Black community, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC).
And we must continue to safely be out in the streets, whether in car caravans or socially distancing on foot, because the police and its bosses are violently repressing the protests. Today, Arab American Action Network (AAAN) leaders were on the southside, joining Black forces to pressure the police to release protesters who were beaten by police and arrested Saturday and Sunday.
It is our responsibility as Arabs and Palestinians in Chicagoland to understand that these protests are justified, and that the Black community has the right to fight for justice and against racism — by any means necessary.
As Hatem Abudayyeh, Executive Director of the AAAN, said in an interview with Middle East Eye, “The most important struggle in this country is the struggle for Black Liberation, and it manifests today in the struggle for police accountability and against police violence.”
The National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, and its Chicago chapter, was founded almost 50 years ago, and is the institution that organized 22 different cities to mobilize for the massive protests this past Saturday. Re-established as a national body last year, the Alliance is one of the most important Black-led organizations in the country, and has helped bring CPAC from Chicago to several other cities across the U.S.
The Chicago Alliance, and the Black community that it represents, has also stood in solidarity with Arabs and Palestinians for years, whether in the case of fighting the Muslim Ban, defending Arabs and Muslims from post 9-11 targeting and repression, upholding Palestinian rights, or promoting justice for Rasmea Odeh.
Arabs and Black people in Chicagoland are united in joint struggle because the Arab World has been devastated by direct U.S. intervention and occupation in Iraq and other countries, as well as U.S. support of the colonization and occupation of Palestine. The same imperial force that attacks Arabs overseas has militarized the police in Black communities here; ultimately, Black people and Arabs are subjected to similar surveillance, repression, and criminalization.
The AAAN and the Chicago Alliance recognize that the killing of George Floyd unleashed a justifiable uprising, and that the angry response must be understood in the context of hundreds of years of racism, white supremacy, socio-economic decay, and state/police violence.
We also know that this is a challenging time for organizing. The coronavirus and the COVID-19 disease have devastated already poor and disenfranchised communities to the point of massive health crisis, unemployment, and poverty that we have not experienced in any of our lifetimes. So it is unfortunate, but understandable, that some businesses are being targeted – just like in all rebellions.
We have written before that we recognize and acknowledge that some Arab and Palestinian small business owners have relationships rooted in racism and exploitation with the south and west side Black communities where they operate, and there are still conflicts that are not fully resolved. The AAAN acknowledges that our community must battle its own racism as strongly as we battle white racism.
Both of our organizations also acknowledge that it is understandable that business owners of all races and nationalities want to protect their properties and livelihoods. But property is not more important than people’s lives. Brick, mortar, windows, and goods can always be replaced, but a life taken can never be brought back. We uplift the many small business owners who recognize this and are doing their best to stem the tide without confrontation. We ask others to trust us and do the same at this uneasy time.
“Arab and Black community members have a longstanding relationship in this city,” said Frank Chapman, Co-Chair of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and Executive Director of the National Alliance, “and although it has not always been great, the Alliance, the AAAN, and many others continue to work to strengthen the ties.
“We will stand and march together in solidarity, and must not do harm to one another,” he added. “We have no choice. Our liberation is intertwined.”
The AAAN and the Chicago Alliance jointly call for unity at this important and sensitive time for Black, Arab, and other communities in Chicagoland.
We demand:
- Arrests of all the police officers involved in the murder of George Floyd. Call Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison at 651.296.3353, and ask him to arrest and charge them all.
- An end to police violence against, and repression of, #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd protesters in Chicago, Minneapolis, and beyond.
- Freedom and the dropping of charges against all the protesters who were arrested since the Saturday launch of protests. (Call Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx at 312.603.1880 to make this demand.)
- Charges to be brought against the police officers who physically assaulted and battered protesters in Chicago, Minneapolis, and beyond.
- Chicago City Council immediately enact the Civilian Police Accountability Council (#CPACNow).
- An increase in state and federal government COVID-19 relief for the most impoverished and affected communities.
Arab American Action Network (AAAN) & Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR)
June 1st, 2020
P.S. The AAAN’s Hatem Abudayyeh was interviewed about the #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd protest movement on June 1st, by our friend Abdulmalik Mujahid on Sound Vision’s Justice for All live stream.
Chicago June 3, 2020: Justice for George Floyd Car Caravan Day of Action
Note: next car caravan day of action is Wednesday, June 3rd, 2020! The morning action starts at 7 AM, and the evening one, at 4:30 PM. Details will be broadcast on the Chicago Alliance’s social media @CAARPRnow. Stay tuned to @aaanmarkaz as well. Facebook event page is here.
Outrage at white supremacy must fuel the fight for transit justice
The outrage at a white supremacist system that is fueling protests across the country must be kept at the forefront of our work for transit equity. We are in the same fight: for a world where all people have the freedom to move, to be in public space without fear or threat. Together we must shift public funds away from harmful over-policing of black and brown communities and towards social investments that build racial equity and climate resilience.
The work of affirming that Black Lives Matter is on-going work and must be made manifest through structural changes that uplift Black and Brown communities to both survive and thrive.
Click below to see policies we are fighting for to achieve transit equity and liberation.
Detroit: Community Leader Tristian Taylor Arrested and Charged with Felony Riot, Make Calls and Demand All Charges be Dropped!
Tristan Taylor has been arrested and charged with “inciting a riot”, a felony. Call the numbers below and demand his release and demand that the charges be dropped:
Chief James Craig at 313-224-3400
Mayor Duggan at 313-224-3400
Kym Worthy’s office. She’s the Wayne County prosecutor: (313) 224-5777
Department of Neighborhoods (313) 224-4415
and the City Council —
Brenda Jones is (313) 224-1245
Janee Ayers is (313) 224-4248
Mary Sheffield is (313) 974-6464
Moratorium Now Coalition Daily Online Meetings @ 11 A.M. (EST) Beginning June 4, 2020. Build the People’s Uprising Against Racism!
Moratorium NOW! Coalition
Friends – This past week has witnessed the largest uprising against racism in more than a generation. Here in Detroit as well as across the country in cities and towns, a huge outpouring of outrage against the murder of George Floyd has erupted. Remarkably the protests are showing African Americans shoulder to shoulder with Latinx, Arabs, Asians and whites. And the movement is overwhelmingly young people, who have seen their slim economic prospects further curtailed by the Covid-19 economic collapse.
We activists have a duty to lend our support in whatever ways we can to sustain and encourage this ongoing demand for real change. The Moratorium Now Coalition and the Michigan Emergency Committee Against War & Injustice will start meeting (over computer through zoom meetings) tomorrow, Thursday, June 4 at 11 AM and continue meeting daily as long as we feel is necessary. We want to share our experiences in the streets nightly as well as discuss how we can offer moral and material support to the protests locally.
To join the morning briefings you must first register here in advance:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0ode-gqT0vE9NvX75mNKldSZb6uGm-lXac
You will get a reply that will let you join the zoom meeting at the time set. – David Sole, Moratorium NOW! Coalition
Unions Say No to Police Terror, Demand Justice for George Floyd and all Those Killed by Police!
Ohio: Professional Staff Union Resolution Condemning Police Violence Against Communities of Color and Supporting the Black Lives Matter Movement
Friends of the Professional Staff Union
The Executive Committee of the Professional Staff Union of Ohio voted unanimously June 3, 2020 to adopt a resolution condemning police violence against communities of color and supporting the #BlackLivesMatter movement.
