Posted on

LA Teachers and Staff Win Strike

In Los Angeles, 34,000 school personnel went on strike and won. In the face of attacks from a pro-corporate school board with an agenda to charterize the school district, these educators went on the offensive.

They secured a new union contract, won concessions (including smaller class sizes), and stopped the charter school agenda in its tracks, affirming that public schools are not only the lifeblood of education, but the heart of the community. They won a statewide moratorium on new charter schools.

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is the second largest school district in the country, serving 694,000 students, most of whom come from low-income, working class families; 90% are students of color.  Strikers included not only teachers, but nurses, counselors, librarians, and other school staff. This is the first LA school district strike since 1989. It comes almost one year after the teacher strike wave started in West Virginia swept the country.

The victory is even more impressive when we understand just how rotten the LAUSD school board is. Although is board is elected, its members are bought and paid for by the rich. Corporate interest groups pumped $13 million into the last election. Much of it came from the Walton family (the owners of Walmart). Their hand-picked superintendent is Austin Beutner, a former Wall Street banker who worked for the U.S. State Department to help the rich seize the state assets of Russia once counterrevolution had defeated the USSR. Beutner’s plan was for LAUSD was to carve up the district into clusters and then sell off “weak performers” as if they were stock portfolios.

We may be used to thinking that the rich vultures will always get their way, but this amazing movement has shown that old fashioned organizing—and especially going on strike—empowers working class people to take on the 1% and win.

Unity and community support did the trick. Large numbers of teachers were joined by parents and students at the picket lines. Over 50,000 people participated on the first day.

New Orleanians should take note of what is possible in the struggle for education. The situation in New Orleans may be worse, but privatization is not irreversible.

Last month, the first ever charter school teacher strike went down in Chicago and the teachers’ union won a new contract with major concessions. This shows that it is possible to wage struggle in places where the charter movement has seemed to have triumphed. Last month, over 200 New Orleanians packed into a school board meeting, protesting the planned conversion of McDonogh 35 into a charter school. The anger over the intentional destruction of public education is still intense here in the city. This anger must be organized into action.

Posted on

Grounded by Sky: A Southern Epitaph

A construction worker cheers as a monument of Robert E. Lee, who was a general in the Confederate Army, is removed in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S., May 19, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Bachman

By A Scribe Called Quess?

knowing that I walk atop the bones of my ancestors

in the shadow of their oppressors

towering statuesque above me

I cannot look down without feeling

the puzzled pieces of my past beckoning me back together

cannot look up without feeling

the weight of history break me into pieces

 

I cannot leave this ground and feel whole

cannot stand it either

without its heavy sky

pummeling my dreams into nightmares

the ground is a haunt

is a restless cauldron of simmering spirits

bubbling over beneath the soles

of callous sojourners singed

by the heat beneath their feet

yet numb to the stories in its foment

 

the sky is riddled in dead eyes

the probing gaze of ghastly men

now ghosts cast into iron

who when flesh

owned men, women, and children my kin

who when flesh

beat men, women, and children my kin

who when flesh

raped men, women, and children my kin

who when flesh

slaughtered, maimed, murdered

men, women, and children that looked like me

 

I cannot leave this ground

where the scattered bones of my ancestry

lay namelessly

without tomb nor headstone

sans burial ground much less monument

and not feel the echoes of a chorus

of gnashing teeth testimonies hissing at my heels

can not stand this ground

their once slavers hovering above us

without feeling

the frozen laughter of gilded antebellum

the sky a glacier of silence

that yet speaks so loudly

if you dare to listen closely

you’ll hear their names

whispering proclamations of self praise

form the perch of street signs

that hang like still nooses

suspended in time

lynching the esteem of listless passersby

the stories beneath their feet

and above their heads

having passed them by

 

yet the themes having ground their weight

into their subconscious

making of their minds infertile soil

insufficient to nourish the seeds of dreams

for the dead eyes have probed

and made lifeless the soil

the bones have spoken

but their voices have been muted

by the cast iron gaze above

 

I live in New Orleans

where the bones of my ancestors

beat the ground like a drum

bang Bamboula rhythms

through the soles that walk this land

 

I live in the South

where monuments to Robert E. Lee

Andrew Jackson & Jefferson Davis

stand taller than most homes

and the street signs are noosed

in the names of slavers

 

I cannot leave this ground & feel whole

 

cannot stand it either

and not feel history

trying to break me

on its cyclic wheel

Posted on

St. James Residents Are RISING Up to Fight the Oil Industry!

By Peyton Gill

I drove to St. James, LA, a slightly rural town 55 miles west of New Orleans along the Mississippi River, to meet up with a local woman born and raised in the town, Ms. Sharon Lavigne. She started RISE St. James, an organization in her living room with 10 people, then increased to dozens. They spend time outside their homes and work life, not getting paid, organizing to fight the oil and gas industry plaguing their parish, polluting the air and causing the citizens to have deadly health issues.

This town was deemed an Industrial Zone in 2014 by Parish Council members without open discussions amongst the townspeople. In September 2017, a couple of local organizations and church groups held a rally and march, ‘Rise for Cancer Alley,” which was a success for the residents. It brought New Orleanians out there to engage in the struggle. We got a firsthand look at these homes, sitting not even a mile from gas plants spewing toxins ‘round the clock.

Burton Lane, also known as Cancer Alley, is currently still waiting for an evacuation route. In the case of an explosion or oil leak, these residents would have no way to escape as the street has only one way in, one way out and is surrounded by oil reservoirs. The latest court hearing for the evacuation route will probably be delayed once again as city officials keep messing with the date, probably to deter angry citizens from being able to attend and demand a route.

Ms. Sharon said the latest news is that a Formosa plastic manufacturing company wants to build a plant two miles from a school! But Formosa does not have a 100% greenlight yet, because residents like RISE St. JAMES are showing up to the meetings between town council members and Formosa board members to state their disgust at the idea of adding another pollution factory to an already over burdened area. The organization put in an appeal to the court opposing the decision to welcome Formosa and are currently awaiting to hear the verdict.

Another resident organizing is Travis London. Travis stated, “The council members say that Formosa is supposed to pay for and build the evacuation route [for Burton Alley residents]. If Formosa wants to build here, Formosa has to agree to fund it. It’s the government getting away with not using their funds, and it makes the citizens think, ‘Ok we need Formosa to put a plant here so we can finally get an evacuation route!’ But residents don’t want any more industry here!” The people organizing in RISE St. James are fighting for their lives, and they have the power to win. They are banding together, and collectively stopping the capitalist oil thieves from coming in any more giving cancer to families and destroying their environment.

Ms. Sharon said, “It was about time someone said NO. HELP (another local group ‘organizing to stop’ the industry) was not doing anything. All they would do is tell us at the meetings when another oil plant would be coming in, and they would say there is nothing we could do about it.” Well, RISE St. James has a separate agenda, to fight the oil and gas industry and keep ‘em out.

Posted on

Paul Robeson: Giant Voice for Socialist Revolution

By LaVonna Varnado-Brown

PAUL ROBESON was one of the most outstanding examples of the artist as revolutionary. He was beloved by revolutionaries and ordinary working people around the world for his public and vociferous support of the Russian revolution, the USSR, and the revolutionary struggle for socialism. For his stance he was hated by the US capitalist ruling class.

Robeson was an all American Athlete in college, a professional football player, concert and opera singer, film star and stage actor, writer, linguist (he sang in 25 languages), scholar, orator, lawyer, and activist in the civil rights, labor, and peace movements. He attended Rutgers University and graduated from Columbia University. In the early 1930s Roberson leaned on his intrinsic gift of a powerful baritone and began working with composers and directors and became so popular that he was booked for international tours. In the 1930s and 1940s, Robeson was one of the most well-known American artists with comrades around the world.

The bedrock of the revolutionary spirit is integrity. The planks which build up the framework are the people in struggle. It’s the comrades and associates building trusting relationships through the struggle that actualize revolution. The roof is our ancestors, those who have transcended the physical struggle to leave legacies and stories for us to steel our struggle today. One freedom fighter whose name resonates far and distant yet still rings clear is Paul Robeson.

Robeson’s father was born into chattel slavery and purchased his freedom. His mom died in a kitchen fire. He describes a childhood that was loving, nurturing, and amicably stern. Despite the world his father was born into, Robeson envisioned a world in which he could be free. He worked and created that space for his four children. Robeson recalls in his biography Here I Stand watching how other people reacted to his father’s presence and knowing early that equality may have denied him, but he knew he was not inferior.

In 1929, he was intrigued upon encountering Welsh miners while singing in London. The spirit in the songs of the miners touched his soul, and he stopped to know their story. So he sat and sang to them and heard their stories. From then on everywhere he went he spoke up for workers.

Paul Robeson is special because he was truly an internationalist.  He had compassion for all people engaged in the freedom struggle against the imperialist system. Not only people of African descent; but working people of all nationalities.

The best example of his commitment to the struggle was Robeson’s refusal to testify before the anti-communist witch-hunt McCarthy hearings in Congress. While other artists caved in, he stood firm in his beliefs. Even at the sacrifice of his career he maintained his principles. Both he and his family received death threats and were prohibited from traveling, yet he remained active and spoke his truth. In Here I Stand he states, “…I have publicly expressed my beliefs, … my deep convictions that for all mankind a socialist society which is economically, socially, culturally, and ethically superior to a system based upon production for private profit.”

Paul Robeson’s name deserves to be lifted as the hero he was. Present-day Marxist-Leninist organizers should look to his life as an example of allowing one’s convictions to call to them action. Every artist, scientist, teacher, server, hostess, mother has within them convictions—burning feelings that this world ain’t right. Let us not sit in solemn silence. Let us rise. Educate ourselves. Agitate our fellow workers. Then organize in the streets. Meet us at the barricade!

Posted on

New Orleans: We Must Fight Get the Stolen Taxes Back

Every year non-elected commissions of capitalists steal $180 million in taxes. These commissions include the Convention Center, the Superdome, Tourism Commission and others. Every year, the city of New Orleans brings in billions because of the hard work of hospitality workers. That labor also brings in the $180 million in taxes. But instead of this going into the city budget and set aside for workers’ benefits and community needs, they are used to produce more profit for the white capitalist hospitality owners.

The Hospitality Workers Alliance, Peoples’ Assembly and a coalition of organizations representing the working women of New Orleans are demanding these stolen taxes be used to support the workers with childcare resources, healthcare, and other services that are needed for our survival. For months, the HWA has been protesting this theft and highlighting the lack of benefits workers in the city face, including protesting at the Tourism Commission and the Convention Center. Together with the Peoples’ Assembly, they are calling for a March 16th protest.

Recently, Mayor Cantrell has requested $12 million of these tax dollars be returned to the city for infrastructure. This is a small request and doesn’t acknowledge the workers or community needs. Even this minor request was met with racist arrogance by Stephen Perry, head of the Convention Center, who earns $500,000 a year from the stolen taxes. Governor Edwards and reactionary state legislators also dismissed Cantrell’s modest demands, once again denying right of home rule to the people of New Orleans.

While it’s good that Mayor Cantrell is even raising this demand, at a recent meeting she stated that she is not trying to start a fight or divide the city. Well, the city is already and increasingly divided between the rich, majority white ruling class who owns everything and the majority Black working class who struggle with low wages and gentrification. The city should be calling the people out to fight for not only $12 million but the whole $180 million that rightfully belongs to the people.

The racist attitudes of the hospitality bosses and state legislature are reflected in the treatment of workers in the city. Recent studies from the Data Center report that people of color, especially women, are paid less, intentionally hired for lower paying positions while white men are given better paying jobs. Big Easy Magazine cites that 68% of hotel housekeepers, 81% of whom are Black and LatinX, earn an average of $10.60/hr. Over half of all hotel workers are women, but the majority earn much less than $15/hour. It is widely acknowledged that at least $19 an hour is necessary to live in the city.

Although hospitality workers are responsible for the city’s wealth, they see little of it themselves. This is our city. This is our money. We demand that it be used to serve us, not the super-rich.

Posted on

Community Protests Election of Homophobic School Board Vice President

On Thursday, January 17, the Orleans Parish School Board suspended its own rules so it could re-elect an openly homophobic school board member as Vice President. Despite the vocal opposition of the LGBTQ community and the Erase the Board Coalition, the board voted to re-elect Leslie Ellison and John Brown to their current positions, against the will of the people of Orleans Parish. Instead of responding to the 30 people who spoke in opposition to Ellison (and the entire board), they offered only a token acknowledgment of the outrage by changing the elections and putting another board member up for Vice President at the last minute. Still, they voted 4-3 to reinstate the same officers who have sold New Orleans schools off to private hands. Ellison’s history of homophobia came to light as she was running for President of the board, with community members revealing her testimony against anti-bullying provisions for LGBTQ youth and her history of supporting pro-charter school policies and officers. The OPSB chose to maintain the status quo instead of listening to the voice of the people. Their long history of disservice to the New Orleans community shows that they have no respect for the students they should be serving. The board must be replaced and schools turned over to the control of the community.

Posted on

Trump Backs Down in The Face of Massive Anger Over Shutdown

January 14: members of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 3553 at the head of a march in New Orleans to protest the government shutdown, called by the New Orleans Peoples Assembly and the Congress of Day Laborers. Photo: @fotografi.ando

By Gavrielle Gemma

Real Layoff Was 18 Million Workers

Trump used disgusting lies about immigrants in a failed attempt to justify the denial of essential services and pay. But this only further unmasked Trump and his Wall St. cronies as enemies of the people. On what planet do the super-rich live?  Trump suggested workers get credit at grocery stores while his billionaire Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross suggested we get loans from his banker buddies. It was mass anger and the strike threat by air traffic controllers and pilots that forced him back, not the Democratic Party.

What was this shutdown really about?

First, this was a test run to see how far a despised billionaire president can go by executive order. Trump wanted to declare a national emergency which could have suspended all civil rights. This would be like a mini coup, undemocratic and dangerous. With a pen stroke he can wipe out the pay for 4.5 million workers (direct and contracted workers doing federal jobs). It’s much worse considering that 4 times as many workers depend on the paychecks of laid off workers. That’s 18 million workers, most of whom will not get any back pay.

Second, Trump and Wall Street want to privatize all government services so their friends can profit.  Already 2/3 of federal jobs are being done by contract workers (see box).  Trump imposed an illegal pay freeze in December and has tried to bust the union, American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) which is fighting back.

Millions are imprisoned in for-profit prisons, immigrant detention camps, and jails for children. Trump’s capitalist buddies get millions of dollars from homeland security contracts. The wall would mean even more profits for them.

Third, Trump & Wall Street want to cut all social services from food stamps to Medicare and Medicaid.  This is totally unpopular, so they resort to cutting services by the back door. Beware!  Two thirds of the federal budget—our money—is already looted by banks for interest payments or by private war profiteers and repressive agencies of all kinds. The ultra-rich want it all for themselves leaving nothing for the people.

Fourth, Trump wants to see how far he can divide the working class by scapegoating immigrants. Drugs do not come in by refugees.  With the assistance of the U.S. military, they come in through ports. Profits from the drug trade mean profits for the banks.  The head of the NRA, Oliver North was a drug runner while he worked for the Reagan administration. Refugees are workers just trying to feed their families. More often than not, they are seeking refuge from the repressive economic and military policies of the imperialist U.S. government.

Trump is threatening to shut down the government again. We cannot count on the Democratic Party to stop him. We need mass action, workers solidarity and militancy in every city. NO MORE SHUTDOWNS!

Photo: @fotografi.ando

NO WALL, NO WARS, NO PRIVATIZATION, NO CUTS

BETTER WAGES, HEALTHCARE FOR ALL That’s national security!  NO NEW SHUTDOWN!

Who Didn’t Hurt

  • Special exemptions to the shutdown were given to:
  • Oil & Gas companies whose offshore leases and permits to drill in the Arctic and in national parks were still being processed and approved while employees assigned to renewable energy were not working.
  • Mortgage lenders processed by IRS. Ordered by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, who was dubbed “Foreclosure King” during the 2008 crash.
  • U.S. military/CIA/NSA and all forces of repression
  • Congressional gym reopened
  • Billionaire capitalists

Who Got Hurt

  • 800,000 federal workers were not getting paid even though they were forced to work.
  • Native Americans lost access to critical health services and food pantries
  • Air travelers subjected to dangerous conditions according the Air Traffic Controllers Union
  • 3.7 million contract workers.  These were formerly direct federal jobs that have already been privatized. These are essential workers in agriculture, transport, serving meals, senior care and more. Due to privatization there 2 outsourced workers to every direct federal worker. They make 34% of the pay direct federal workers get (which is already too low) with almost no benefits.  This has had a disproportionate effect on Black workers. Trump used an executive order last year to undo safety and pay regulation for contract workers. Many contract workers have been the victim of wage theft yet the government paid out $18 billion to contractors with multiple wage violations. Contract workers will not get back pay.
  • There are also 13,5 million workers who service the needs of the nearly 5 million who weren’t getting paid. These people work in restaurants, child care, auto shops, etc. The ripple effect of a layoff/no pay is always 4 times the number directly affected. They may not get unemployment and will get no back pay.
  • Women, Infants, Children (WIC) program provides funds for nutrition for infants and mothers
  • Domestic Violence Shelters
  • School breakfasts and lunch programs that cut back on fresh food around the country
  • Food safety inspections
  • Weather bureau storm forecasting
  • Children’s toys inspections
  • Airport security
  • Prisoners family visits, medical care, compassionate release stopped
Posted on

Wall Street Profits from Trump’s Border Wall, Prisons

Photo: @fotografi.ando

Five Wall Street firms stand to line their pockets if Trump manages to “build a wall,” according to a recent report by Partnership for Working Families. These firms are: Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, Renaissance, BlackRock, and Dimensional, all of which have investments in Sterling Construction Company, Inc. (the company hoping to build Trump’s wall). All 5 of these firms also profit from private prison companies CoreCivic and Geo Group. These private prison companies rake in billions off of prison slave labor. Dimensional and Renaissance are major Republican donors, but BlackRock, Wells Fargo, and JP Morgan Chase have all backed the Democrats as well. This just goes to show that the Republicans and Democrats are both the big banks’ parties, and they’ll do whatever it takes to make a profit, no matter who suffers.

Posted on

Bigot Trump’s Military Ban Won’t Stop Fight for Trans Rights

By Sally Jane Black

The Supreme Court voted in January to uphold the Trump regime’s ban on transgender people serving in the imperialist U.S. military. The ban is an attack on the trans community, designed to whip up transphobia and continue the process of forcing trans people back into the closet. This has been the administration’s agenda since they took office. This move baits people into promoting the idea that those who are fighting for trans rights should also aspire to serve the U.S. military, reinforcing the lie that the U.S. military is a force of progress for oppressed people. The truth is, the U.S. military is the armed wing of the U.S. capitalist class, destroying other countries that stand up to the exploitation and destruction of imperialism. Even with access to the military, trans people would not be made equal in society, nor would participation in imperialist violence bring liberation for any oppressed people.

LGBTQ people consistently experience a higher rate of sexual and physical assaults, arbitrary and outdated restrictions for trans service members, and other forms of control and abuse that are meant to force them to submit their own interest to the interests of U.S. imperialism. The military has preyed on LGBTQ people and our lack of access to healthcare and other basic needs in order to convince us it’s in our interest to bomb and kill our fellow workers in other countries. The answer to this ban is not to demand trans people be allowed to serve, but to demand healthcare, housing, education, and jobs, anti-discrimination rules, and solidarity with the working class worldwide. The answer to the transphobia fueling this ban is solidarity among the working class and the oppressed people of the world.

Posted on

Stop Imperialist U.S./ CIA Intervention In Venezuela

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro addresses his supporters at a rally on January 23.

U.S. Is Trying to Seize Venezuela’s Oil

On Jan 10, Pres. Nicolás Maduro was inaugurated for a second term as President of Venezuela with three times the votes of the opposition candidate. In response to Maduro’s overwhelming democratic victory, Trump and his Wall St. coalition are ramping up the war drive against Venezuela. The US State Department have imposed sanctions, blocking Venezuela from the oil trade. U.S. sanctions against Venezuela have already cost its people $20 billion. Sanctions are an act of war whose purpose is to impoverish the people to attempt to turn them against the government. They have failed. For three days in a row, massive rallies of workers and youth in support of the Bolivarian revolution have take place. Protests against U.S. intervention have been held all around the world.

The U.S. government bribed a few officers and encouraged them to attempt a coup. They failed. The vast majority of the military are loyal to the people, refusing to become puppets for the super-rich.  Now Trump is talking about “a military option.” All this is done to seize the oil and make Venezuela another country that is bled to death by foreign banks and owned by foreign capitalists.

“In our country, there’s the largest certified oil reserves in the world. Those who lead the empire in the United States want to put their hands on it as they did in Iraq and Libya. That wealth belongs to us.”
—President Nicolás Maduro

Against the will of the people, Trump & Co. handpicked their own candidate who went to George Washington University, a school known as a CIA nursery.  They picked Juan Guaidó, the candidate of the rich, oil companies and a C.I.A. puppet.  The U.S. attempted to get a United Nations resolution against Venezuela.  They have failed. For years the CIA has underestimated the determination of the Venezuelan working class that wants justice, independence and sovereignty.

The Maduro government has not only loyalty among the military but also has the support of popular militias in working class and poor neighborhoods. Pres. Maduro grew up in a poor neighborhood. He was a bus driver and president of their union. He is a man of the people and is Mestizo/Indigenous/African.

His government built 2.5 million affordable homes and directly delivers 6 million food boxes to families every 3 weeks. Healthcare and education are free in Venezuela. Where do the funds for this come from? The Venezuelan government pays for these programs with money from their oil industry. U.S. oil corporations hate this because money is going to the people instead of into their wallets.

Trump, his advisor John Bolton, V.P. Pence, Sec. of State Pompeo, and other cronies all have ties to the oil industry, including Exxon-Mobil. The for-profit weapons industry (companies like Lockheed Martin and Raytheon) are also thirsty to cash in on Trump’s war drive.

The current attempt by the ultra-right wing to illegally seize control of the government has been cheered on by Wall St. Reuters News writes “the excitement has spread…to the trading rooms of Wall Street, where investors have driven up the prices of the country’s defaulted bonds on hopes for a new government that will be more likely to resume debt payments.” They want the government treasury to be turned over to them rather than to peoples’ needs.

U.S.-LED CHILEAN COUP LED TO A BLOODBATH OF THE PEOPLE, POVERTY AND RULE OF THE GENERALS

The US military has attacked Latin American and Caribbean countries 56 times since 1945, and once in 2002 in Venezuela. Elliot Abrams, who was appointed US special envoy to Venezuela on January 25 played a leading role in the attempted 2002 against Chavez. He also helped to arm the right-wing death squads responsible for mass murder in Nicaragua and El Salvador. The U.S. has carried out many coups against other elected governments such as Chile in 1973 and Honduras in 2014 after which dictators were installed to destroy social benefits. There is not one democratic goal in U.S. intervention, that’s just the lie to cover up their evil intentions.

January 29: Protesters at a demonstration in solidarity with the Venezuelan people, called by the New Orleans Workers Group. Photo: Mya Ebanks

STAND UP NOW WITH MADURO AND THE PEOPLE!

The Venezuelan people and working class New Orleanians have a common enemy: the ultra-rich who are suffocating communities here. The military buildup against Venezuela is at the expense of food stamps, schools, and other social programs at home. Oil companies and arms dealers are out to make profits no matter who suffers.

Republicans and Democrats Hate Any Government That Puts Workers & Poor First.

Once again, we see that the feud between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party is superficial.  Just like the European imperialists who criticize Trump but unite against Venezuela, these two parties of Wall Street come together to pursue imperialist intervention on behalf of the oil companies and military profiteers.

WORKERS HERE AND IN VENEZUELA HAVE COMMON NEEDS AND A COMMON ENEMY – U.S. IMPERIALISM

We workers here in the U.S. have no interest in supporting a CIA intervention in Venezuela or anywhere else, but a lot to gain when workers anywhere can liberate themselves from imperialism and the rule of the super-rich like they have done in Venezuela.  Hands off Venezuela! U.S/CIA out of Latin America!