Feb. 10, 2007

In February we celebrate African American History Month. That history has given us some of humanity’s greatest freedom fighters, All of these women and men shared a common characteristic: They drew their strength from the masses, understanding the power of our multiracial working class and its allies to make history in the face of reaction’s stubborn resistance.

Support Agustin Aguayo
Free Leonard Peltier
Don’t let Lieberman give Bush a pass on Katrina
Bill Clinton was no angel...
.…But Bush is worse

Affirmative action is one of the best ways to address past and current discrimination based on race and gender. The Nov. 7 vote for Michigan ballot Proposal 2, which eliminates local and state government affirmative action programs, is a big setback for all concerned about civil rights and democracy.

The proposed $500 million in cuts will severely affect every county service and devastate the county’s public health care system.

Much has written about the New South and expanded opportunity for Blacks and others in the old bastion of Confederate pride, but human rights and civil rights leaders in the region point to racial injustice, voter disenfranchisement, workplace violence, violations of women’s rights and other issues as proof that the New South still has its old problems.

“Pan’s Labyrinth” is a Spanish movie with subtitles. Its creator uses magic realism to tell two simultaneous stories. In one of them, a lost and frightened little girl is confronted with the horrors of Spanish fascism. In the other, she is an adventurous waif tested by supernatural beings and forces.

BERLIN — When I returned from nearly 43 years of McCarthy-induced exile in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), one of my first visits was to my old haunts at the Museum of Modern Art. While there, I urged them to plan a retrospective of some of the great films, almost unknown in the U.S., produced by the DEFA studios of the GDR.

I’ve just returned, all energized I might add, from an incredible event sponsored by the Sonja Stone Center for Black Culture and History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The event was called “Radicals in Black & Brown: Palante, People’s Power and Common Cause in the Black Panthers and the Young Lords Organization.”

Advocates for ending the ban on travel to Cuba are upbeat this year about action in Congress.