Posted on

Puerto Ricans Still Left in the Dark

By Ashlee Pintos

Beginning on September 22nd, 2017, a modern colony of the “greatest country in the world” went into complete darkness. The small island of Puerto Rico with its 3.4 million citizens suffered in isolation while Hurricane Maria ravaged the entire country. It was not until day 4 or 5 that the millions of anxious Puerto Ricans living in the states were able to hear any information about their loved ones.

The government has declared only 48 deaths as direct results of the hurricane. However, The U.S. is only counting deaths directly related to the storm itself and does not address the hundreds of deaths caused by the failure of the U.S. government to help the island during Maria’s aftermath. There have actually been reports of over 450 deaths, island wide, with 69 people reported missing. Many of the island’s hospitals are not functioning at full capacity: they are running out of medications and fuel for their generators. This has resulted in hundreds of deaths from a lack of medication, oxygen tanks, and the sanitation that electricity provides to prevent the spread of disease. Relief resources are not being distributed to the island’s remote villages. Instead, the U.S. immediately began the militarization of the island, sending in hundreds of police and military officials.

After almost 2 weeks, Trump finally visited the capital of San Juan, the epicenter of the tourism industry and site of his own personal investments. He has not addressed the villages where dead bodies of humans and livestock have yet to be moved, there is no running water or electricity, and people are desperate for food, clean water, cash, and gasoline. One of his first responses to this catastrophic event was to acknowledge the island’s illegitimate debt of $74 billion and remark that the island is throwing the “budget out of whack.” But that debt has been caused by over 100 years of abuse by the U.S., and compared to state debts such as New York at $143 billion, Puerto Rico’s debt is manageable. Not to mention, the U.S. military budget is well over $800 billion, a figure that could pay PR’s debt 10 times over. Puerto Rico’s debt should be pardoned and the island should be granted liberation!

Posted on

Blood in the Cane Fields: An Interview with Chris Dier

By Gregory William

Chris Dier was born and raised in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana. He was displaced by Katrina, but returned home in 2010. Like his mother, he is a history teacher at Chalmette High School, and author of a new book, Blood in the Cane Fields: The 1868 St. Bernard Parish Massacre.

W.V.: What was the St. Bernard Parish Massacre?

Chris Dier: In St. Bernard Parish there was a massacre in 1868, right after the Civil War. Following the war, many black males had gained the right to vote and that threatened the economic relations of these parishes, where white supremacy ruled the land. Around New Orleans, there were sugar-producing regions where black people were the majority, and had been locked into slavery. When they were emancipated and gained voting rights, many voted for the Republican Party, which in that time had sided with liberation. This threatened the white political and economic elite. That elite pushed the narrative that all the problems after the Civil War were caused by the freed people and a lot of poor whites bought into it…1868 was the first presidential election after the war. The Republican candidate was Union veteran, Ulysses S. Grant, and the Democratic candidate was Horatio Seymour, an opponent of Reconstruction and rights for African Americans…Days before the election, armed white groups, many poor planters – not the elites themselves, who had been stoking the fire – carried out one of the most violent episodes of the Reconstruction era in Louisiana. These groups went from plantation to plantation and executed up to 135 people in the streets.

W.V.: So this was a reaction to Reconstruction, which was coming down from the federal level, but did you also uncover information about what freed people were doing in the region at a grassroots level to secure their rights?

Chris Dier: Yes. The first Republican meeting in St. Bernard was a group of freed people coming together. They had their own processions and meetings. There were a lot of grassroots efforts in Louisiana. Interestingly, 19 years after the massacre, in 1887, black and white St. Bernardians marched in unison against the planter elite. That unity is terrifying to the rich…The idea of race had to be strongly imposed over the centuries, going back to the 13 colonies, where there were many instances of poor whites joining in struggle with enslaved people… During the labor movement in New Orleans, blacks and whites came together in 1892 and 1907 along the Mississippi River fighting for their common rights, and this is what brought about some of the harshest reactions from the rich…There are many lessons in this history for the struggle now.

W.V.: How have your students responded to this research?

Chris Dier: My students have been very eager to explore this event. Many see their last names in the book. Some of the last names of perpetrators as well as victims are those of students sitting in the same classroom today. This is their history and most knew nothing about it…It is so important for young people to learn about history, because they are the ones who are going to carry struggle forward.

Posted on

Oppose the Stepped Up FBI-Led War Against the Black Liberation Movement

By Malcolm Suber

The New Orleans Workers Group (NOWG) strongly opposes the August 2, FBI report that named so-called “black identity extremism” as a terrorist movement motivated by retaliation for incidents of police abuse and terrorism against African-Americans. The report predicts an increase in violence based on 6 attacks against police between 2014 and 2016, including Michael Johnson on July 7th, 2016 in Dallas where 5 cops were killed.

In all 6 incidents, a total of 8 police officers were killed, but this doesn’t compare to the hundreds of black people killed by cops according to the Washington Post. In 2015, police killed 259 black people. This move by the FBI to claim that black identity extremism is equivalent to white extremism and nazism is ridiculous on it’s face. We know that the racist white supremacist Donald Trump and the justice department under the leadership of Jeff Sessions are encouraging white supremacists and hell-bent on continuing the slaughter of black people in this country. The (BIE) designation is putting old wine in a new bottle. This is a continuation of the infamous COINTELPRO program created by J Edgar Hoover, designed to disrupt and derail the Black Liberation struggle.

The resurgence of the Black Liberation struggle, inspiring the Black Lives Matter movement, causes great consternation to the white racist billionaires who now run this country. They are hell-bent on preventing the resurgence of a strong black liberation struggle that may spark struggles among other oppressed peoples and segments of US society. NOWG calls for all of us to become more vigilant about infiltrators and agent provocateurs, which are trade tools of the FBI. Hopefully this latest program will not end with the murders and imprisonment of the newly developed leaders of the Black Liberation struggle.

We must all be vigilant and understand that the US state controlled by the billionaire ruling class is not neutral and has always been part of the lynch mob attitude towards the black masses and their struggle for freedom and liberation. We ask all working people and our allies to stand up and expose the fraudulent nature of the BIE designation. The real terrorists, the white supremacist neo-nazi elements of society who are trying to continue the terror campaign of the government and the Ku Klux Klan must be combatted and exposed as racist scum.

If all the oppressed and exploited stand together, we can turn back this assault by the FBI and the government and move closer to the day of the triumph of the workers revolution that will eliminate white supremacy and the billionaire ruling class.

Posted on

100 Years Later: Workers of the World Celebrate the Russian Revolution

By Quest R.

In October and November, workers and oppressed people on every corner of the globe celebrated the 100-year anniversary of the first Socialist Revolution: the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution of Russia. The downtrodden people of the Earth have looked to the Russian Revolution for inspiration since 1917, and in 2017, we have proven that the revolutionary legacy is still alive in the hearts of the masses everywhere.

The New Orleans Workers Group held a public celebration of the Bolshevik Revolution on October 29. Speakers gave talks regarding the historical context and significance of the Revolution and its implication on our struggles today. After brief talks, we celebrated with food and drinks and we sang the “Internationale”, the song of working class revolution.

Russian Revolution 100 year anniversary celebrations in South Africa, Russia, Bangladesh, Venezuela, and Italy.

Posted on

Celebrate Black August! Free all political prisoners!

By Malcolm Suber

August has been the month when the Black resistance to national oppression has been expressed most sharply going back to the days of enslavement.

August 2017 marks the 50-year anniversary of the widespread Black rebellions against racist national oppression in the USA. The Black masses came out into the streets of America to challenge state enforced segregation, poverty and police terror. Detroit, Newark and more than 180 cities and towns went up in flames representing the fire in the belly of the black masses for freedom and liberation. Unfortunately, conditions for the Black masses have not fundamentally changed since the 1960s. Poverty and police terror are still rampant.

The response of the US state to these righteous Black rebellions was the creation of the FBI’s COINTELPRO whose aim was to destroy the Black revolutionary leadership by murdering many leaders such as Fred Hampton and jailing many others. The ruling class feared that the Black rebellion would spread and allies would join the liberation struggle to overthrow the racist capitalist government. There are still dozens of political prisoners in the United States, many of whom have been incarcerated for more than 40 or 50 years. They have become elders inside prison- Black, Puerto Rican, Native, Chicano/Latino and white revolutionaries who have dedicated their lives to the freedom struggle.

The New Orleans Workers Group supports the commemoration of Black August as a time to recognize the life, work and struggles of these revolutionary fighters who have been held as political prisoners. The NOWG is composed of workers and the oppressed that consciously call for and organize toward ending the rule of the billionaire capitalist class. We see ourselves as part of the revolutionary heritage of resistance that harks back to the founding of this racist settler country. From the resistance of indigenous tribes against the settler-colonialists to the first flight to freedom by the enslaved African captives, there have been outstanding leaders and organizers who have fought for the freedom and liberation of the oppressed.

In 1979, revolutionary captives in the California prisons began to call on revolutionary supporters to commemorate Black August to focus on the fact that the US capitalist state had many political prisoners in its gulags. They called on supporters to begin the necessary work of exposing the capitalist state and working to free our heroes and sheroes from imprisonment.

Black August, as noted by one of our most famous political prisoners, Mumia Abu-Jamal, is “a month of divine meaning, of repression and radical resistance; of repression and righteous rebellion; and collective efforts to free the slaves and break the chains that bind us”.
The triggering event for contemporary Black August can be found in the actions of Jonathan Jackson who was gunned down at the Marin County courthouse on August 7, 1970 as he attempted to liberate three imprisoned Black liberation fighters: James McClain, William Christmas, and Ruchell Magee (still imprisoned), the sole survivor of the August 7th rebellion.

George Jackson was assassinated on August 21, 1971, a deliberate move by the US state to eliminate his revolutionary leadership. Three prison guards were killed in the rebellion sparked by George’s assassination. The government charged six Black and Latino prisoners with the guards’ deaths. These six brothers became known as the San Quentin six and were later acquitted of all charges.

Black August is a time for revolutionaries to rededicate themselves to struggle and to study the revolutionary history of the Black Liberation Movement. A brief listing of Black struggles in August include:

• The arrival of the first enslaved Africans in Jamestown, VA in August 1719

• The start of the Haitian revolution in August, 1791

• Gabriel’s rebellion of August 30, 1800 • Nat Turner’s rebellion August 21, 1831

• The Watts Rebellion of August 1965

• The Detroit rebellion August 1967

• The RNA 11 shootout with the FBI in Jackson, MS on August 18, 1971

• The bombing of MOVE by Philadelphia police August 8, 1978

Long live the spirit of Black August! Free all our political prisoners!

Posted on

Socialists Must Fight Imperialism!

by Quest R.

Socialism is the weapon that workers and oppressed people in every corner of the globe use to resist the constant abuse that capitalists and imperialists have inflicted. It has a rich history with both victories and defeats. Today, billions of people consider themselves part of this tradition, and they struggle under the banner of socialism. It is the responsibility of all who fight under this banner to study its history, the lessons that have been learned through bitter struggle.

Socialists have had to learn many lessons about nationalism and Internationalism. Through all this, the movement has suffered many splits, with some refusing to take up a revolutionary position. These people took the easy, “respectable” way out to appear non-threatening to the ruling class. The modern “democratic socialists” operate in this counter-revolutionary manner.

Long ago the revolutionary movement established two basic principles that lay the groundwork for consistent anti-imperialism.

First, is the right of oppressed nations to self-determination, which affirms the progressive role of nationalism in the countries dominated by imperialism. One reason for this is that the workers in imperialist countries like the U.S. and the people of oppressed countries, for example Venezuela, share a common enemy: the imperialist ruling class in the U.S.

And second, is the counter-revolutionary nature of nationalism in imperialist countries. Revolutionaries in imperialist countries realize that when their ruling class is in a conflict (whether military, political, or economic), it is good for the workers everywhere when imperialists are defeated or weakened. To be a nationalist in an imperialist country is both a betrayal to the people of oppressed nation and the workers in the imperialist country. The downfall of imperialism requires that we identify with the workers of the world instead of some imperialist flag, which represents the system that terrorizes both us and the people of the world.

On both these points, the “democratic socialists” reject the revolutionary outlook and side with imperialism. They consistently side with the imperialists in military conflicts. From Vietnam, to Iraq, to occupied Palestine, and the whole Cold War, the “democratic socialists” have encouraged workers to accept the U.S. government’s narrative. Time after time they’ve proved themselves unwilling to take the hard road: organizing people against the imperialist war machine and its media spokespeople. They deny the legitimacy of the oppressed people’s continuous fight to ward off imperialism. They refuse to lend support to almost any movement or government that bumps heads with the U.S., even though weakening the U.S. establishment strengthens our movements. When the movements and governments of the third world have the courage to strike blows against U.S. imperialism, then they are, in a sense, doing our own work for us. We should strive to be as fearless and self-sacrificing as the revolutionaries who have stood up to our government. But the “democratic socialists” will always encourage you to play by the rules of the establishment. If allowed, they will only lead our movements for liberation into a dead end: defeat and cooperation with the enemy. The only politics relevant to working and oppressed people, the only politics that stand a chance of winning real victory for the exploited here and the super-exploited abroad, is revolutionary politics. Without liberation for oppressed nations around the world, U.S. workers will never have a society that works in our interests.

Posted on

“La Vida es Lucha Toda”: Revolutionaries in the fight for Puerto Rican Independence

by A.M.P.

Pedro Albizu Campos, Oscar López Rivera, Lolita Lebrón, Rafael Miranda, and Andrés Cordero: these are a few names of Puerto Ricans who have taken up the struggle for Puerto Rican Independence. Many discount their valiant efforts because of their use of violence; however, we must evaluate the violence that the U.S. has committed against the Puerto Rican people for over a century.

When your country has been deemed “Rich Port” by colonial conquest, when your native people were murdered, raped and enslaved, when your country experienced independence for only 8 days before the U.S. invaded and seized control, deeming your currency worth only 60% of the U.S. dollar and sending your population into poverty: you and your ancestors have been victims of continuous violence.

In 1937, policemen with tommy guns massacred 19 people while hundreds more were shot in the back while attending a peaceful march in Ponce. The U.S. conducted sterilization surgeries on over 33% of Puerto Rican women between 1936 and the 1970s as an attempt to control population growth. For over 60 years, the U.S. Navy used the eastern half of Vieques, an island off the coast of P.R., to test billions of tons of bombs and chemical weapons. This resulted in alarmingly high rates of cancer, hypertension, diabetes, and infant mortality among Vieques. In addition to these atrocities, the U.S. holds P.R. under its thumb as a de-facto colony. They are not allowed to have representation in the U.S. government, therefore having no control over their own destiny. When the U.S. executes these actions, your people are the victims of incessant violence.

This is the most malicious type of violence; an abusive relationship in which your people are helpless against the deviant acts of an imperialist state that feeds you propaganda to make you believe they are helping you. Unless your people recognize their power. Unless your people accept a call to action and unite in the struggle for independence by any means necessary. The only relief from egregious violence is self-determination.

¡Que viva Puerto Rico libre!

Posted on

Homes Instead of Real Estate

By J.R.

Are you living in an “underinvested neighborhood”? Would it be easier to pay the bills and make the rent if only your neighborhood were “revitalized”? Workers know better than to be duped by these catchwords and empty phrases. After all, they can do the math for themselves: since 2000, rents in New Orleans have increased 50 percent while income has increased a mere 2 percent.

It turns out that however much the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority spends ($1.5 million) on the ‘urgent’ task of Façade RENEWals, workers cannot be persuaded that their housing has become any more affordable. But who even pretends that NORA’s sponsorship of a new Whole Foods is a gift to the public—-much less to workers? No doubt the neighborhood has seen a rise in property values but just how many of Whole Foods’ “Team Members” own their own homes?

And among the 30,000 households waiting to redeem their section 8 vouchers, who believes that their interests come before those of the real estate developers and landlords with whom HANO does their business? How many more millions of dollars in tax credits will the public be required to sacrifice in order to convince the developers and their investors to ‘meet demand’?

Once housing comes under the control of the working majority, such absurdities—such ’public agencies’— will seem an ugly joke of the past. Until such control is achieved, workers should remind each other that they are the public that the state pretends to serve. Workers must pursue their interests in conflict with the interests of their exploiters. Safe and adequate housing is chief among workers’ needs. Working people should no longer be content with the ‘affordable housing’ doled out in ever smaller proportion to the riches afforded to real estate capital.

Our simple demand amounts to this: homes in place of real estate or in other words, the welfare of the people in place of bourgeois property.

Posted on

“¡Viva Puerto Rico!” Part 1 of 2

by A.M.P.

With a debt of over $74 billion dollars, Puerto Rico has been in financial trouble for decades. Over half of Puerto Rico’s children live in poverty, and the unemployment rate is over 12%. Since 2010, the island has experienced the greatest migration since WWII, with a 10% population decrease. Thousands have fled the debt-ridden country in hopes of a better life on the US mainland.

The origins of this crisis can be attributed to the abuse that the U.S. has inflicted upon the island over the past century. Currently, the island’s commonwealth status stymies any hopes of recovery. The only answer is liberation for Puerto Rico.

The beautiful island has only known 8 days of independence since the Spanish invaded the Caribbean. Although Spain granted the island a Charter of Autonomy in 1897, 16,000 U.S. soldiers invaded the southwestern portion of Puerto Rico in 1898 as part of the Spanish-American War. This was only a little over a week after PR had begun its first autonomous government. The U.S. annexed P.R. after the signing of the Treaty of Paris without any elections, even though it was no longer a Spanish Territory. As a result, the people of Puerto Rico have been subjected to over 100 years of suffering under the weight of U.S. imperialist violence. Since the very beginning, US-Puerto Rico relations have been drenched in oppression and violations of civil rights. This comes as no surprise as the U.S. has a colorful history of committing atrocities against nations to satisfy imperialist interests.

Following WWII, the US developed several economic programs that would boost the financial gain of corporations and the rich ruling class. Among these initiatives were federal tax breaks given to US companies, such as Section 936, which was implemented in 1976. This brought in a wave of companies (largely pharmaceutical companies) seeking immense profits, turning what was once a majority rural society into a manufacturing powerhouse. Fast forward 20 years and the greedy U.S. realizes that the tax break incentives were costing them money, Congress repeals Section 936, companies no longer have interest in profiting off the backs of Puerto Ricans, and the result was the plummeting of Puerto Rico’s economy. Left in the dust, the bourgeois government began to borrow large sums of money to sustain life for its citizens.

Currently, the major issue lies within the search for a solution. Puerto Rico is de facto an American colony and in effect has no input in U.S. Congress. The island is not protected by U.S. bankruptcy codes and is therefore unable to declare bankruptcy in order to restructure its crippling debt. The only hope for Puerto Rico is independence.

Posted on

The Brotherhood of Timber Workers (BTW)

By Malcolm Suber

Many of our readers will be surprised to learn the history of a militant, multi-national, anti-capitalist, industrial union active in Louisiana over 100 years ago. At its high point the BTW had 30,000 members who openly challenged the capitalist class and fought to achieve working class unity. The BTW was a union of sawmill workers from east Texas and southwest Louisiana that was organized by Arthur Lee Emerson and Jay Smith in 1910. The BTW was best remembered for the Grabow uprising when the workers went on strike against the Galloway Lumber Company in Grabow, Louisiana. The BTW was also notable for the fact that they were an anti-racist union in the deep South, where segregation and Jim Crow were the order of the day.

The BTW was created because of the terrible working conditions at the sawmills in the southern piney woods region. The sawmill work was dangerous and depended on the ability of the worker to keep up with the machinery. In 1909, there were a reported 125 deaths and 16,000 accidents in the southern lumber industry.

In 1910, Emerson and Smith began to recruit members for the BTW. They moved from camp to camp to recruit hundreds of black and white sawmill workers. Interest grew rapidly and workers flocked to the BTW. The BTW held its first convention in Alexandria, La. At the conference they adopted their constitution that extended membership to all races and sexes.

The creation of the BTW immediately drew the attention of the capitalist owners of the Southern Lumber Operators Association. They vowed to kill the BTW in its infancy. In 1911, the SLOA shut down 11 mills in De Ridder, LA. Members of the BTW were blacklisted. In order to work again, they would have to sign an anti-union card. Most workers refused and the BTW became stronger.

In 1912, the BTW held its second annual convention in Alexandria, LA. “Big Bill” Haywood of the International Workers of the World (IWW) was the main speaker. Haywood noticed that the black and white workers were meeting separately in accord with Jim Crow law. He called for breaking the segregation law and having one joint meeting. It was here that the BTW voted to affiliate with the IWW.

The SLOA criticized the BTW as an anarchistic, race-mixing organization in an attempt to weaken support among white workers. After affiliation with the IWW, the BTW presented the lumber operators with a list of demands concerning higher wages and improved safety that led to more lockouts and the importation of scab labor. The SLOA brought armed guard along with the local sheri s to protect the scabs. This set the stage for the Grabow uprising.

On July 7, 1912 A.L. Emerson led a group of strikers toward the King-Ryder Mill. Upon hearing about an assassination attempt on H.G. Creel, a socialist organizer, they changed course toward the Galloway Mill in Grabow , LA. On arriving, Emerson began to speak to the strikers when shots were red from the company office. This sparked a gun fight between the company gunmen and the armed union members. It was reported that 4 workers were killed and 37 others wounded as a result of the battle.

Following the incident, 49 union men and their officers were arrested and faced charges of rioting. After a vigorous campaign to declare their innocence, all 49, including Emerson, were acquitted. This victory was the high point in the history of the BTW. However, the trial depleted their finances and drained their membership.

The BTW was a step forward for the working class struggle against the capitalist class. It was a fundamental challenge to the rule of capital as it championed working class unity, racial and sexual equality in a time when racism and sexism were widely accepted by the US working class.