By Abayomi Azikiwe
Editor, Pan-African News Wire, http://panafricannews.blogspot.com/

Palestine solidarity actions were held all over the U.S., whose government and ruling class have been the staunchest supporters of Israel internationally. Rallies and marches took place in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Detroit, among other municipalities.

In the city of Detroit, whose metropolitan area has the largest concentration of people of Middle Eastern descent in the U.S., a rally and march was held on December 8 in the heart of downtown. The demonstration was called by Palestinian American youth with the assistance of anti-imperialist activists from several organizations.

Speeches were delivered at Hart Plaza while people carried placards saying that “Jerusalem is the Capital of Palestine.” Later the crowd marched north on Woodward Avenue to Campus Martius where another speak out was held.

United Nations Security Council Holds Unprecedented Session in Response to U.S. Policy

A UN Security Council meeting was convened on December 8 where the executive order of Trump was debated. Only the State of Israel’s representative spoke in favor of U.S. policy.

Even Washington’s allies within the European Union and the Middle East objected to the declaration by the White House. This emergency session was convened by eight of the 15 members of the council being the U.K., France, Sweden, Bolivia, Uruguay, Italy, Senegal and Egypt.

Nonetheless, no resolutions condemning Washington were put forward. The U.S. has veto power as a permanent member of the UNSC.

teleSUR English

http://www.twulocal100.org/story/cta-goodwins-good-name-restore

A Manhattan judge on Friday posthumously dismissed the bogus criminal charges police levied against Station Agent Darryl Goodwin in May. Local 100 Stations Division Chair Joe Bermudez, and a contingent of union officers and members, attended the court proceedings, fulfilling a union promise to see Goodwin’s good name cleared. “Darryl never should have been arrested in the first place,” TWU Local 100 President Tony Utano said. “Even though he is no longer with us, it was important to his family, and to us, that these charges be dropped.”

Goodwin, 54, passed away of an apparent heart attack in August, approximately 3 months after a police lieutenant from a Midtown North precinct claimed Goodwin thwarted his pursuit of a fleeing shoplifter through the 59^th St./Columbus Circle station. The lieutenant claimed Goodwin twice refused to buzz him through a service gate and then resisted arrested on an obstruction charge. Goodwin adamantly denied the allegations, saying he opened the gate remotely once he became aware of the situation. He initially was focused on taking care of a rider at his booth, he said prior to his passing. “These charges were bogus,” Vice President of Stations Derick Echevarria, who knew Goodwin since high school, said. “Darryl was a quite guy. A gentle giant. He wasn’t someone who would be starting trouble.”

Police officers are issued MetroCards. The lieutenant could have simply swiped himself through the turnstiles – or jumped the turnstile – if he was in fact in hot pursuit, Echevarria said. The case was in an early pre-trial stage when Goodwin died. He was under a lot of stress from the case and working a lot of overtime to make up for time lost while he was suspended by the MTA. “I think that played a role in his death,” Echevarria said.  – Pete Donohue

Local 100 outside Manhattan courthouse where a judge posthumously dismissed the case against CTA Goodwin

220 6th St E, Ashland, 11:30 A.M.

Gather with us to share concerns about Ashland County Sheriff’s Department. Sheriff’s deputy Brock, who shot and killed 14 year old Jason Pero, has been put back to work within the department. Our community needs healing, but how can we heal when the wound is festering? We’re calling for the resignation of sheriff Mick Brennan and deputy Brock Mrdjenovich. Help us heal.

3020 W. Vliet Street, Milwaukee, WI  53208, 6-8 p.m.

A celebration for the whole family with music, family games and food.

KUJICHAGULIA:  Self-Determination

Wednesday, December 27, 2017

Wisconsin African -American Women’s Center

It’s a Kwanzaa celebration for the whole family with music, family games, and food. Bring all and let’s celebrate our right and responsibility to determine our own destination as a free African people.

“One had better die fighting injustice than die like a rat in a trap.”  — Ida B. Wells

“Freedom is not something that one people can bestow on another as a gift. They claim it as their own and none can keep it from them.” — Kwame Nkrumah

The event is free and dinner will be served free of charge.

http://wisaflcio.typepad.com/

The Koch Brothers are pulling the strings of Wisconsin legislators yet again. Ideological Republican legislators in Wisconsin have picked-up and pushed multiple bills developed by the Koch Brother network to attack, weaken and undermine safe professional and occupational licensing standards in Wisconsin. De-licensing proposals have been backed by the Koch Brother organization Americans for Prosperity and the anti-worker Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty.

Reckless proposals, outlined below, will intentionally undermine our state licensure system which protects both workers and consumers.

Value of Licensing: State licensing provides the critical link between the customer and professional. Wisconsinites have come to trust that we will receive high quality work by licensed professionals. Whether it is electricians, plumbers, barbers, radiology technologists, or welders, the public can rest easy knowing that these workers have been adequately trained, tested and licensed by the state to ensure high-quality, safe service for all consumers as well as a safe, stable workplace for every worker.

When someone enters an exam room, turns on the air conditioning, or takes a drink from a bubbler, they can rely on the state licensure of the worker behind the service because that licensure means that the professional has been trained and tested for the job.

Licenses also protect the safety of the worker and the integrity of the industry. Wisconsin’s trained workers rely on the value of their licenses, ensuring that their colleagues and co-workers have also received training and appreciate high safety standards, as well as ensuring a consistent work product. State licensing protects the industries within Wisconsin as the industries have been built by trained employees and therefore ensure the skills are high, so that consumers don’t question entire industries or their skilled workforce.

Weakening or eliminating licensing standards will lower wages and lower quality.

What You Can Do: As you go about your daily life this holiday season, think about how many people you come into contact with occupational licenses that provide you and your family with a safe service or reliable good. Think about the value behind the license you have come to expect and appreciate. As you are reconnecting with family and friends, talk about safe licensing standards and the systematic attacks on safe professional licensing standards currently in the legislature.

A lot is happening behind closed doors in our state capital and flying under radar. Many people may not be aware these bills are out there to weaken whole industry standards.

Make a call to your legislators at 1-800-362-9472 and tell them you support safe licensing standards and oppose any legislation (outlined below) that calls into question safe, quality services that consumers have come to expect in Wisconsin.

http://wisaflcio.typepad.com/

https://fighttoxicprisons.wordpress.com/2017/12/06/fl-prisoners-announce-operation-push-starting-jan-15-to-cripple-prison-system/

FL prisoners announce Operation PUSH starting Jan 15 aimed at crippling the prison system with non-cooperation in the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr

The following message is from a group of prisoners who are spread throughout the Florida Department of Corrections (DOC). It was sent anonymously and compiled from a series of correspondences received on November 26 and 27 by both the Gainesville chapter of the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee (IWOC) and the national Campaign to Fight Toxic Prisons.

We have been able to verify the authenticity of this message which was also posted on SPARC (Supporting Prisoners and Real Change), a social media page for Florida prisoners and their families.

According to their statement, these prisoners plan to initiate a work stoppage or “laydown” beginning Monday, January 15th, coinciding with MLK Day, in nonviolent protest of conditions in FL prisons. They are calling it Operation PUSH.

Their primary demands are clear and concise: end prison slavery, stop price gouging, and fully return parole. They believe these issues have directly created the overcrowding that is responsible for the deplorable conditions in Florida prisons.

Their statement also raises other major issues that need to be grappled with, including the death penalty, voting rights and environmental health conditions.

https://fighttoxicprisons.wordpress.com/

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/panafricanjournal/2017/12/18/pan-african-journal-special-worldwide-radio-broadcast

Listen to the Pan-African Journal: Special Worldwide Radio Broadcast hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire. This program features our regular PANW report with dispatches on the second day of the 54th African National Congress National Elective Conference being held at NASREC in Johannesburg, South Africa; Zimbabwe’s ruling party ZANU-PF is assessing the recently-held Extraordinary Congress which took place last week; Egypt is continuing with its development of the natural gas industry in this North African state; and yet another report is surfacing in the United States corporate media related to the death of an African American Green Beret in the West African state of Niger. In the second and third hours we continue our coverage of the 54th ANC NEC featuring analysis of the event along with an interview with the ANC Women’s League President Bathabile Dlamini. We listen as well to a portion of the nominations process chaired by ANC speaker of the parliament Baleka Mbete…

Hosted by BLM Women of Faith

People United Against Oppression

Answer Chicago

When Trump and the 1% attack, we will fight back!

A year into his and presidency, Trump, the 1% and the establishment, feeling more confident that they will not have to face resistance in the streets, have gone on the offensive, approving the racist travel ban, empowering racist police departments and ICE, attacking Native lands and the environment, promoting the Tax Plan assault, threatening LGBTQ rights with the phony “religious liberty” nonsense, funding and escalating the Saudi genocide in Yemen, preparing for a disastrous war against perhaps Korea or Iran, backing election fraud against a progressive candidate in Honduras, threatening net neutrality, attacking the Arab and Muslim world by declaring Jerusalem the capital of Israel and much, much more.

We will not be idle! We will not wait another minute, month or year to take action. We will march in the largest numbers possible. Spread the word! Bring your signs, banners and voices of resistance!

The initiating cosponsors of this action are BLM Women of Faith, Answer Chicago & People United Against Oppression. We welcome cosponsors as full partners. Give us a call at 773-885-3991.

Additional cosponsors: Chicago Students Union; Freedom First International;Gay Liberation Network; Illinois Green Party; Centro Autónomo de Albany Park, Chicago; Anakbayan Chicago: International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines – Midwest; Free from Harm; Refuse Fascism Chicago; Chicago Workers World Party; The Party for Socialism and Liberation Chicago; Chicagoland Teamsters Against chump

Trump and the congress of millionaire’s agenda of unrestrained capitalism and white supremacy and the warmongering and fake resistance of democratic politicians can only be defeated by a united people’s movement to stop racist police terror, imperialist war, environmental destruction, the fascist mobilization and the attacks on immigrants and all oppressed people.

We stand with and will continue to defend immigrants, LGBTQ people, Muslims, People of Color, women, workers, the youth, poor people, the disabled and all those who are under attack!

Takiyah Thompson WWP Chicago Meeting Feb 3 2018 COLOR

Takiyah Thompson WWP Chicago Feb 3 2018 B&W

Chicago Workers World Party