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Pride Is More Than a Fight for Love, It Is a Fight for Liberation

By Sally Jane Black

There is a rich history of LGBTQ resistance in New Orleans. The Gay Liberation Front first held a “gay in” in City Park in 1971. The funeral-goers at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church refused to sneak away from the press after the Upstairs Lounge arson attack, inspiring people worldwide with their defiance. LGBTQ groups here have fought for decades, from the AIDS epidemic up through recent episodes of violence.

However, the spotlight has fallen on an organization—New Orleans Pride—that has strayed from its militant roots. At N.O. Pride, a select few pay to march and celebrate their own exploitation. They pander to corporate interests, the U.S. and city governments, and business owners. It is a tourist attraction.

Meanwhile, discrimination prevents queer and trans people from getting jobs, finding housing or receiving medical care. LGBTQ youth (especially black, brown, and indigenous people) are bullied in school and harassed by police. Trans people, especially black trans women, are murdered at a rate far higher than non-trans women. Queer people still face homophobic violence. The suicide rate for trans people is more than double the national average. Trans and queer prisoners (including immigrants) face abuse in for-profit prisons. Worldwide, LGBTQ people are violently oppressed by U.S. imperialism.

THEY WANT TO CONTROL OUR BODIES
Oppression of LGBTQ people is part of the capitalist drive for disposable and cheap labor. Capitalism relies on a low-wage workforce, ensured by millions of people remaining unemployed. It relies on gender roles that draw free labor in the form of childcare, housekeeping, emotional support, etc. Capitalists profit by defining “family” strictly as non-transgender man and woman plus children. Hence, they attack reproductive rights, marriage rights and benefits, and attempt to make transgender healthcare inaccessible.

DIVIDING THE WORKING CLASS–WE MUST BE UNITED
LGBTQ oppression benefits capitalists by dividing the working class. By couching these attacks in terms of “religious freedom” or “family values,” they pit working class people against each other. They divide LGBT people by turning events like Pride into corporate events promoting the police, military, and other oppressive institutions. Pride becomes another celebration of homophobia and transphobia, by excluding most LGBTQ people who do not feel safe surrounded by police, do not feel represented by corporate logos and do not want to be tourist attractions.

In the U.S., homosexuality was legalized in 2003. Without those laws, police evolved their tactics. E.g., under NOPD Chief Warren Riley, LGBTQ people (especially black trans women) were profiled as sex workers, no matter what they were doing. Despite being “legal”, we still do not have full protection of the law. The same-sex marriage victory in 2015 brought millions of LGBTQ Americans access to spousal benefits. The current administration is rolling back that victory by allowing employers to deny benefits to same-sex couples. They continue to keep medical care and jobs out of reach for us through insurance policies and right-to-work laws. The end result is the same: a limited definition of family is reinforced and unemployment remains high. Their profits are safe.

Full LGBTQ liberation will not be possible under capitalism. Until the white supremacist, anti-queer, anti-trans billionaires who fund every initiative to roll back our rights, who literally write the laws that exclude (and kill) us, who wish to see a divided working class, remain in control, every victory will be temporary. The only way forward is to unite against them, to stand in solidarity with all working class and oppressed people, and to fight against every attack on LGBTQ people all over the world. Our liberation depends on the liberation of all.

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Cops Out Of Pride! A Rebirth of Radical LGBTQ Resistance in NOLA

Working class New Orleanians marched ahead of the corporate pride parade to protest attacks on the LGBT community such as the recent Supreme Court decision allowing businesses to discriminate against LGBT people. Inspired by the struggles of the 60s and the rebellion at Stonewall, the protest retained a strong ant–cop sentiment. The chants and speeches criticized the parade’s continued rejection of the queer and trans youth of color who started the movement, in favor of the police, US military and corporations that oppress us.

Contact: queerworkersnola@gmail.com and join the fight.

A banner was dropped at Bourbon and St. Anne during the 2018 New Orleans Pride Parade, reading: “Breaking Out of Our Chains. No Pride in Erasing, Harassing, Surveilling Queer/Trans POC Youth

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Transgender Prisoners Face Brutality

Recent changes to the Bureau of Prisons’ Transgender Offender Manual will lead to increased violence against trans prisoners. The changes will sort trans people not by the gender they are, but the gender they were assigned at birth. Trans women will be sent to men’s prisons, and trans men to women’s prisons, except “in rare cases.” Under the guise of “safety concerns,” they have endangered trans people’s lives, despite the fact that trans prisoners are nine times more likely to be sexually harassed or assaulted.

In many places across the United States, the previous rules, which recommended serious consideration of trans prisoners being placed with those of their own genders (i.e., trans women with other women), were often ignored; now trans prisoners do not even have the meager protections of these rules. Over a fifth of trans people have been in jail or prison, many of them targeted by profiling (such as in New Orleans, where black trans women are routinely profiled as sex workers by NOPD) or arrested for acts of selfdefense (as in the case of Cece McDonald, a trans woman charged with manslaughter for defending herself and her friends against attack).

The recent changes by the Justice Department will also bring an end to the tracking of LGBTQ victims of crimes. The collection of statistics on these crimes have been a useful tool in the past, helping to highlight homophobic and transphobic hate-crimes and showing the need for action against oppressive policies. These new rules will mean more and more trans people will face harassment, assault, rape, or even murder in prison.

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Student Letter: Serving Others

By Rachel Ramos, High School Contributor

When Rev. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach said, “Students, in the course of their formation, must let the gritty reality of this world into their lives, so they can learn to feel it, think about it critically, respond to its suffering and engage it constructively. They should learn to perceive, think, judge, choose and act for the rights of others, especially the disadvantaged and the oppressed,” he meant a lot more than the surface of this statement.

Within our society, people live in an era where social tension and fear is an aspect of everyday life. There may never be a moment where we can sit and ‘lay back’ We live in an era where mass shootings become less of a surprise every day. We live in an era where weapons that can kill people in a matter of seconds, are more accessible than ever before. Not only are they accessible, but they are pushed to be accessible by major corporations and politicians because they profit from the demand. In order to make the difference, we have to expose ourselves to this tainted society and embrace it with our knowledge so that we may find a way to understand, accept, and control it. With this in mind, we do this work not for ourselves, but for the ones who are unable.

We live in a society that determines wealth based on your race and privilege. There are people who want their voices to be heard, but they are not heard because of the shallow values those in power may possess. For the ones who are able to be heard and make a difference, they must do it for others as well as themselves. It is imperative that we think of those who need a voice. If we have the ability to make differences or make changes, it is our ethical duty to do for everyone. In order to solve problems, we have to meet the conflict face to face, comprehend it to make a judgement and then act accordingly.

Rev. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach also said, “when researching and teaching, where and with whom is my heart?” When we are trying to find others, why are we doing it? What is our purpose? We do these things with the thought in mind that someone else could possibly benefit from our intellectual gain. As I look forward to attending Loyola University New Orleans, my heart is in the future with the individuals. My career goal is to become an orthopedic specialist in sports medicine. There will be adversity throughout my journey, but it will be worth it in the end. The classes will be strenuous, and the courseload will be excessive. However, I am ready. I will possess the gift to give an athlete their second chance after an injury. I may not be able to fulfill my dreams as a professional athlete, but my life ambition is to be the one who makes that dream survive for others. I want to live my life in service to others.

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Lobbyists: Campaign Donations or Bribes?

Mick Mulvaney, Trump’s Budget Director, Admits He Spoke Only To Lobbyists Who Paid Him

Mulvaney, former congressman in South Carolina from 2011 to 2017 said “We had a hierarchy in my office in Congress,” to the American Bankers Association conference in Washington, according to The New York Times. “If you’re a lobbyist who never gave us money, I didn’t talk to you. If you’re a lobbyist who gave us money, I might talk to you.” Mulvaney collected $63,000 from loan sharking PayDay Lenders. Since being named acting head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau last year (in addition to running the Office of Management and Budget), he has eased regulations on payday lenders. Meanwhile a candidate for the West Virginia House of Delegates was dragged out of a hearing after listing the donations received by state lawmakers from fossil fuel companies. She was testifying on a bill on oil and gas drilling rules.

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May Day NOLA 2018

On May 1, International Workers Day, over 250 protestors from various working class organizations marched on City Hall to call for the end of police harassments, racial profiling, and ICE raids. The people representing these organizations are immigrants and workers demanding that the city of New Orleans improve their working conditions in the hospitality industry, and better pay. They also demanded that the city pass the Workweek Ordinance, written by the Hospitality Workers Committee. The spirit of May Day is used to build unity among working class and oppressed communities in New Orleans.

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Disaster Capitalism Keeps Puerto Rico Suffering

By Marie Torres

When we read mainstream bourgeois media, it is easy to feel that there is heartache after heartache. What we see are the patterns in the way that the rich ruling class moves through the world — how the rich profit off of the suffering of the working class, and how the rich profit off of disasters. Borinquen (Puerto Rico) after hurricane Maria is looking a lot like New Orleans after Katrina. Thousands are left without necessities and are dying while wealthy corporations are vultures waiting to feast. A little over 6 months since the storm, people on the island are still without electricity or proper roofing, The U.S.-imposed government is closing schools and has begun privatization (charter schools). Jobs are few.

The island is a U.S. colony that pays U.S. taxes, follows U.S. law, and every Boricua is technically a U.S. citizen. Between 1990 and 2009, when it went into severe economic crisis, the island paid $73 billion in taxes– more than several U.S. states. Additionally, Congress passed the Promesa Act under the Obama Administration that aims to force Boricuas to pay an illegitimate debt of $74 billion. As you can see, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party are equally responsible for this mess. Boricuas can’t vote for the president and have no congressional representation, but they can die fighting in U.S. wars.

The history of the U.S. government’s treatment of Boricuas is not pretty. Like in New Orleans, the richest get tax breaks and are free to conduct their business for massive profit by exploiting workers. Wealthy (white) stateside businesses treat the island like a corporate playground, leaving scraps for the natives.

Hurricane Maria hit on September 20 2017, and it was the worst storm in over 100 years. The storm passed through the entirety of the island and left utter destruction behind. Maria caused the second-worst blackout recorded in world history. Many were left without clean water, food, medicine or gasoline. Government negligence has killed over 1,000 Boricuas not far off from the devastating number of 1,800 in New Orleans from Katrina. Since Maria, there have been extreme increases in deaths from diseases such as sepsis, pneumonia, emphysema and diabetes. Many of these deaths were preventable if food, clean water, electricity and medicine were available and if hospitals were fully functioning.

Like during Katrina, the government increased military occupation of the island and brokered deals for private corporations to profit off of disaster. The president visited only to bring up how the island’s debt was screwing up the U.S. budget. The government gave a Montana electricity company, WhiteFish Energy Holdings, a company that had only one truck, a $300 million contract. On April 18th, the island went into another complete blackout. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been as disappointing as it was from Katrina.– a hideously delayed response, FEMA employees are seen partying in San Juan casinos while Boricuas die in the mountains, and large shipments of supplies are not distributed to those who need it most. All the while, ads call for white tourists to swarm the island’s beaches and buy up real estate from right under poor Boricuas.

The impact on the Boricua’s mind and spirit has been heartbreaking. A forgotten people abandoned by the white supremacist U.S. government during their highest time of need, Boricuas are suffering from the daily struggle of living in 90-degree temperatures without electricity, clean water, enough food and with death all around. The suicide rate has spiked 30% since the storm. Since January, there have been over 3,000 calls of suicide attempts to the Puerto Rican crisis hotline, a 246% increase from last year. This is a tragedy that those who survived Katrina know well: following the 2005 storm, mental illness rates more than doubled, with disease rates increasing as well. However, to the rich ruling class, depression of poor and working-class people is of no concern.

Huge waves of Boricuas were forced to leave their homeland since 2009, and again after the storm, with those left behind facing a blow to the children. The government has proposed shutting 283 schools. The plan of the rich is to impose charter schools and private school vouchers and we know what that means–issues of transportation, special needs students, and limited access to quality education for working class and poor families.

However, Boricuas are fighting back. The Puerto Rico Teachers Association (Asociación de Maestros de Puerto Rico) composed of 30,000 teachers, has filed a lawsuit against a bill to implement a charter schools program and offer private school vouchers to 3 percent of students starting in 2019-2020. Teachers, students and parents throughout the island are demonstrating, calling for public education funds to be used for children, not to profit private companies!

On May Day, Boricuas took to the streets in mass to protest austerity measures. They were met with heavily militarized police (U.S. trained), were tear gassed, shot with rubber bullets and arrested without warrants. We must stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Borinquen. This attack on Latinxs’ poor and working-class people is unacceptable, and we cannot take it sitting down. The time for the people to unite to fight back against the rich ruling class is long overdue. As many Boricuas say, “Pa’lante por siempre!” (Always forward!)

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Peoples’ Assembly Continues Fight Against Mass Incarceration City Budget

By Sanashihla

Elected officials who have control over public tax dollars compromise with white supremacists and owners of major corporations who operate with capitalistic greed and a desire to maintain a white power structure.

After $7.5 billion dollars in wealth was generated for the year by tourism, the city of New Orleans should not have the extreme levels of poverty and disparities that exist here. Yet poverty is pervasive, even though many of the people living in poverty are folk who get up and GO TO WORK every single day.

The newly elected mayor, LaToya Cantrell, who is Black and the first woman to be mayor in the 300-year history of a colonized New Orleans, said “New Orleans is a city with two truths — the first is one filled with promise, while the second is one filled with crime.” Let’s take a moment to get clear what these crimes are.

New Orleans has a $647 million dollar budget, and 63% of it goes towards cops and jails that have shown NO evidence of making our city any safer. This demonstrates that the city’s primary existence is to feed mass incarceration, to exploit the labor of prisoners, fill the pockets of privatized prison owners and build the wealth of the rich ruling class on the backs of “free” working class people. Yet how free are working class people really?

Nearly 50% of children live in poverty, and only 3% of the New Orleans city budget is dedicated to children and families. This right here is a crime. A 3% investment is NOT the way to ensure New Orleans children have a fair start in life. Therefore, if such a LOW amount of money is invested into the lives of families and children, then clearly in a predominantly Black city, made up of predominantly Black families with predominately Black children the elected officials of New Orleans do not care about the overall well-being of Black families or Black children.

In New Orleans, nearly 50% of Black males are unemployed. So, to invest only 1% of the entire city budget on job development is also criminal. Investment in job development through a public jobs program that pays a living wage and provides quality “on the job” paid training would be a way to ensure residents are working and able to care for themselves and their families, in healthy, proactive, productive ways.

The city cries poor, saying that the $647 million-dollar budget is not enough to do all that is needed in the city. But does not redirect the 63% of the budget that is invested into cops and jails.

The city GIVES at least $140 million tax-dollars dollars directly to the biggest tourism corporations each year, bypassing the city budget. Rather than invest this money into the needs of the people, the city of New Orleans rings every tax dollar out of working class people and does not invest that money back into the working class. The city also refuses to pass/push/or demand an ordinance for a living wage for the same working-class people of New Orleans who keep the city running. The city should take back the $140 million into the city budget to serve the people who serve this city best. For New Orleans to make the kind of progress that it needs (symbolically & systemically), there must be:

  • no more compromises with white supremacy!
  • no more compromises with oppression!
  • no more compromises with economic exploitation!
  • We must DEMAND that elected officials stop using OUR money and OUR resources to keep the white power structure in place. 
  • We must DEMAND that our tax dollars be used to invest in children, families and job development. 
  • EVERY time the city allocates resources, we must remember, those resources are ours. 
  • Wherever there is oppression, there will be resistance!
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Does It Have To Be This Way? Bank Fees Pile Debt Upon Workers

By Gregory Williams

We live in a capitalist society, that is, a dictatorship of the rich. As we look around us, it’s obvious that the game is rigged against everyone except the billionaires. We’re so used to the B.S. that we start to believe it has to be this way. But does it?

The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. banks made over $30 billion in overdraft fees in 2016. Most of us who live from paycheck to paycheck have experienced this. You pay the rent, for instance, and your account goes into the negative. You’re already broke; then you get hit with a fee.

The banks are intentionally preying on the poorest among us. Often, they rearrange the order of a day’s transactions so as to slam you with multiple fees. Your landlord might cash your rent check a week after you write it. On the day it’s cashed (which you have no control over) you make several small purchases; the bank processes these after the whopping rent check is cashed, and there you are!

Like most other things in capitalist society, this is a racket. Banks are cashing in on struggling people, laughing all the way to…the bank. And yet, when the banks themselves were struggling during the last financial crash, their lackeys in Washington gladly bailed them out giving them $1.2 trillion of our money. The rich and powerful do what they can get away with. If workers organize, fight back, and say “No more!” it would not have to be this way.

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Cuban Doctors to Help Patients in South Side Chicago

Cuba’s infant mortality rate is lower than the U.S. according to the World Health Organization. A partnership signed between the University of Illinois Cancer Center and the Cuban Ministry of Public Health has teamed up three Cuban doctors and a nurse with their U.S. counterparts during home visits to 50 women of reproductive age in Englewood, according to Kaiser Health News.

In exchange for a US $50 stipend, the women responded to a questionnaire that includes questions such as: “In the last 12 months, have you had any problems with any bug infestations, rodents or mold?” or “Have you ever had teeth removed or crowned because of a cavity?” The questions cover a range of topics, including emotional well being and condition of one’s residence.

Cuba’s Minister of Public Health, Roberto Morales, explained Cuba’s success. “The entire health care system in the country is about lives saved, quality of life, happiness and satisfaction for our people,”.