Sept. 24, 2005

On Sept. 23 thousands of Puerto Ricans went to the town of Lares to commemorate the 137th anniversary of the revolutionary uprising against Spanish colonialism. These protesters also demanded the end of today’s U.S. colonial domination of this Latin American island nation — Puerto Rico.

Extradite Posada Carriles; Like a tree
Fault capitalism; Scary Silence; Reality time?; Chutzpah

Over half of Americans now believe the U.S. war in Iraq is not worth the human and financial cost. Only 36 percent believe that maintaining current troop levels will ensure safety and stability in the country. It’s a turning point moment for U.S. policy and the peace movement. How can the peace movement meet the challenge?

The people of Groton and New London, Conn., breathed a loud collective sigh of relief last week when the Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) voted to remove their naval base from the list of bases to be closed. For months, since the Pentagon’s list was first published, the entire community was on edge.

The large peace demonstrations in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Los Angeles and other cities and towns across our nation this weekend can be milestones in the history of democracy in our nation. They can be events where people’s organizations and activists who represent the country’s majority peace sentiments start moving concertedly to change the direction of our government.

In 1940 playwright and humorist George S. Kaufman, who made his living mocking everyone, wrote a satirical story titled “The Great Caviar Riots” for The Nation magazine. In the story he mocks both the culture of protest and members of the upper classes, who take to the streets to regain their culinary class privileges.

When hip-hop artist Kanye West said, “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people,” he caught the imagination of rebellious artists everywhere. People find it refreshing to hear such a bold, truthful and militant straight-from-the-heart speech in time of profound crisis.

The Congressional Record from April 6-7, 1971, contains testimony taken in Detroit from Vietnam veterans. That testimony is the subject of “Winter Soldier,” a documentary that will get a one-week showing at the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago and in more than 20 theaters across the U.S.

Jonnie Lumpkin Ellis, known by her adopted name of “Pat,” died Aug. 29 in Chicago. Jonnie was one of 10 children. Her parents, Hattie and Elmo Lumpkin, raised their children to reject racism and ideas of “racial inferiority.” That took a lot of courage in the 1920s, since they lived in the orange groves of Orlando, Fla. Jonnie wanted to “change the system” but until she met the Communist Party, she was fighting alone.

Working families in the Gulf region are being hit by a second disaster as the Bush administration uses the current emergency to slash wages and open the door for discriminatory hiring practices across an area already racked by poverty and inequality.