This year, Veterans for Peace will be holding their national convention on-line from August 2 – 9. The keynote speakers will be Dahr Jamail. To register and for more information, please go here.
Hiroshima after the US atomic bombing
On August 6, 1945 and again on August 9, 1945 the United States dropped atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. The stated reason for this first and still only use of atomic weapons was the need to hasten the end of World War II.
But Japan was devastated by months of the bombing of its cities, and numerous defeats at the hands of the United States military. Japan finally surrendered unconditionally when the Soviet Union declared war on the empire of Japan and briefly invaded Japanese held Manchuria. The instant incineration of 250,000 people and the additional tens of thousands more who died subsequently from associated wounds, radiation poisoning and radiation-induced cancers was primarily a warning to the Soviet Union whose war time marriage of convenience with the United States was about to end. [read more]
Troops in Portland
Troops in Iraq
The antiwar movement’s slogan, “End the wars at home and abroad” has never been more meaningful. As we see the federal forces in Portland and other cities in unmarked uniforms snatching people from the streets, we know that these are similar tactics used by US forces in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other countries where they operate.
These federal forces have entered the scene on top of the already rampant police violence and brutality that has been both the cause, and the response, to the mass rebellion that has brought people into the streets with the cry of “Black Lives Matter.” Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, demonstrations have taken place in more than 2000 US cities and towns and inspired actions in more than 60 countries. The murder of George Floyd, in the midst of the US government’s criminal response to the COVID-19 crisis, was the last straw for millions of people who are finally saying “enough”. [read more]
The Bronzeville RIDE: August 8th- part of Bronzeville Week- Meeting at Ubuntu Research and Evaluation 1950 N Dr. MLK Jr Drive (masks encouraged)
– A short ride tracing the boundaries of historic Bronzeville and extending into Harambee, Brewer’s Hill, Riverwest, and the East Side then back. Slow to moderate pace, some hills. About 7 miles. We Ride to Honor our History in the Bronzeville neighborhood!. Bronzeville events last a whole week August 1st-8th. Take the time to celebrate our local and broader heritage, as well as, discover, and join the movements and organizations in our area making a difference!
Join LiberateMKE for a block party to celebrate Blackness, conversations about defunding police, creating alternatives and to eat, drink, dance, and create art with our people!
Mask are required but will be provided. Social distancing will be respectfully implemented!
Class: Walter Rodney’s Book “Russian Revolution”
Join us virtually. This week we are reading Chapter 3 of Walter Rodney’s book “The Russian Revolution.” The title of the Chapter is Marx, Marxism and The Russian Left.
Here is the link to the reading.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mhvwkAJsTB34seSJuVRjy8y66KMleyGP/view?usp=sharing
During this current period of economic and public health crises along with the eruption of mass demonstrations, urban rebellions and sharpening debates around the objective nature of the state and the capitalist-imperialist system, the work of Dr. Rodney becomes even more relevant.
Before Walter Rodney was assassinated he was a renowned
Pan-African and socialist theorist on the Bolshevik Revolution and its relationship to Africa’s post-colonial legacy. Abayomi Azikiwe will lead the discussion. His scholarly approach will allow us to find insights and create a deeper understanding of this extraordinary work.
ABOUT WALTER RODNEY
In his short life, Guyanese intellectual Walter Rodney emerged as one of the foremost thinkers and activists of the anticolonial revolution, leading movements in North America, Africa, and the Caribbean. Wherever he was, Rodney was a lightning rod for working-class Black Power organizing. His deportation sparked Jamaica’s Rodney Riots in 1968, and his scholarship trained a generation how to approach politics on an international scale. In 1980, shortly after founding the Working People’s Alliance in Guyana, the thirty-eight-year-old Rodney was assassinated.
This class is presented by the Communist Workers League of Detroit. Register for the zoom meeting which will be held on Saturday, July 28, 2020 at 7 PM
Please register for the call.
When: Jul 28, 2020 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0kcemhqzwqHNWJcKZcIYyxLkUwwlREhTtR
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Freedom Fighters Legal Support
Please join FFLS in attending this meeting with the Austin Lawyers Guild on grand jury resistance and movement defense: “Grand Jury Witch Hunt: Solidarity with Resistors.”
What is a federal grand jury?
How are they used against social movements?
How do we fight back?
Join us to study up and learn how to support political prisoners and subpoenants targeted by grand juries right here in Madison.
For the zoom link, please email: AustinLawyersGuild@protonmail.com.
ATF has paid visits to several revolutionary activists’ homes lately. This morning, a new person was served a subpoena to attend federal grand jury on Wednesday morning.
Federal grand juries are a favorite tool of capitalists to shut down dissent, most recently used against Standing Rock Water Protectors and here in Madison against Black revolutionaries.
MADISON, WI. — Today, Monday, July 27, at least one of the five “persons of interest” in the City County Building so-called firebombing investigation was served a subpoena to a federal grand jury for this Wednesday, July 29. Agents from The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) served the subpoena.
ATF agents, including Agent William Fulton, have visited additional activists’ homes, their families’ homes, and their workplaces last week and this Monday, July 27th. ATF agents used an unmarked black SUV for at least one visit. They asked the following:
When ATF visits your workplace, your home, or the home of your loved ones, they may be in plain clothes, uniforms, or riot gear. They may be driving marked or unmarked vehicles. You are not legally required to open your door. If you do not open your door, they cannot serve you. Remember that law enforcement may legally lie or manipulate you into believing you or others will be protected by what you say. If they are knocking on your door or you are served, call the Freedom Fighters Grand Jury Support Line at (608) 535-9907 for immediate free legal support.
Wednesday’s federal grand jury, called by US Attorney Scott Blader, will convene at the US District Court, Western District of WI, 120 N. Henry Street. Please join us there (time TBA) by car or bike to show support to subpoenants and opposition to grand juries, both in general as a movement-dividing tactic and in particular this grand jury targeting Black revolutionary activists. Let subpoenants know we support them in resisting this tool of state violence.
If you are targeted as a person of interest or have received visits from federal agents or subpoenas to a grand jury, please call (608) 535-9907 for free legal support. If you are outside Wisconsin, please call the National Lawyers Guild Anti-Repression Hotline at (212) 679-2811 to speak with an attorney at no cost. Remember that anything you say can and will be used against you and others, so it is advisable not to talk about anything you did, witnessed, or heard about with anyone but your attorney. Memorize the line: “I will not speak without my attorney present.”
Freedom Fighters Legal Support (FFLS) is a group supporting activists and community members impacted by grand jury proceedings in Madison, Wisconsin. For previous statements on Persons of Interest, Jury Resistance, and the Grand Jury, see: https://www.facebook.com/FFLSMadison
