Latest Statements, News, and Analysis

State of emergency — Profit-thirsty capitalists deepen California drought

California is in the midst of its worst drought in recorded history. Nearly half of the state is classified by the U.S. Drought Monitor as being in “exceptional drought,” the most severe category. All three

Identity politics: dead end for student activism

After being denied the truth about our history in early schooling and fed lies about the causes of racism in the United States, people of color care deeply about learning their history in college. As

Immigrants found buried in mass “graves of shame” in Texas

Seventy miles from the Mexican border in dirt-poor Brooks County, Texas, the human remains of hundreds of asylum seekers, mostly from Central America and Mexico, were uncovered in 2014 in a mass grave. Hundreds more

Voters in Tacoma, Wash., pass $12 minimum wage

15 NOW Tacoma activists stir up support and publicity for a higher minimum wage as the general election nears. Core members included workers who stood to gain a raise if $15 an hour passed. Photo

Business interests foil Worker Bill of Rights

A volunteer for the Worker Bill of Rights campaign distributes flyers calling for desperately needed raises in Spokane. Photo: Courtesy of Sagi Bresgal Spokane, Wash., the second largest city in the state, saw a fight

Black radical leadership in Depression-era Alabama

In the 25th anniversary reissue of his book Hammer and Hoe, Robin D.G. Kelley tells the absorbing story of the courage and perseverance of Black communists working underground in the dangerous Depression-era South. Kelley, an

In defense of rent control

Boston residents protesting housing conditions march along Charles St. in Fields Corner. Photo: Wendy Maeda / Globe staff From San Francisco to cosmopolitan New York City, urban tenants are beleaguered by soaring rents and the

Solidarity grows as Rasmea Odeh awaits appeal result

In October 2015 in Cincinnati, the defense team of Palestinian-American community leader Rasmea Odeh argued her case in the U.S. Court of Appeals. A decision was expected in one to three months. Odeh was convicted

How Wall Street and US colonialism created Puerto Rico’s debt crisis

Thousands of government workers protested proposed cuts to education and freezing of public union wages and hiring in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Sept. 11, 2015. Photo: Alvin Baez / Reuters Most tourists see Puerto

Pope Francis, the Catholic Church, and Argentina’s “Dirty War”

These richly-robed men rule the wealthiest entity on the planet. Photo: Allessandro Bianchi / Reuters Throughout the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, Latin America was a battleground between the haves and the have-nots. On one side

500 years of police brutality

Police stand guard against Occupy Wall Street and union protesters on May Day 2012. Five hundred years before Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Tamir Rice were murdered by police, white men in the colonies were

Costa Rican union leader Orlando Barrantes faces 12-year prison term in political frame-up

Orlando Barrantes. Photo courtesy of Orlando Barrantes Orlando Barrantes has dedicated his life to improving the conditions of poor and working people in Costa Rica. For many years he was the General Secretary of the

Keep pressure up to free Nestora Salgado

As the third year of Nestora Salgado’s unjust imprisonment begins, her supporters continue to organize in Mexico, the USA and internationally for her release. Salgado, a U.S. citizen, was jailed in Mexico in 2013 on

Freedom Socialist Letters to the editor December 2015

TROTSKY Success for revolution So far Trotsky is convincing me all the more of what he kept reiterating in The History of the Russian Revolution and in The Transitional Program. A militant, action-oriented party deeply

Labor Weather Report – December 2015

Ongoing — ATI Lockout still on. In August 2015, Allegheny Technologies Inc. locked out 2,200 United Steelworker members. The company demands steep pay and benefit cuts of its workforce, even as five executives received $19

Farewell to Heidi Durham: Revolutionary feminist and fighter for the oppressed

FSP candidates Heidi Durham and Yolanda Alaniz (at right) made a splash with their 1991 race for Seattle City Council. “A comrade is as precious as a rice seedling” is the title of a poem

Unions must join forces to defeat anti-labor lawsuit before US Supreme Court

Public sector unions face a threat to their existence from a case to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court sometime in early 2016. As the day of decision approaches, union leaders seem to be

US presidential contest reflects the growing polarization of society

Left: Pro-choice demonstrators clearly stating their demands. Steve Rhodes. Right: Tea party rally basics: God, money and guns. Ed Reinke / AP. Who’s on top? On the Democratic Party side, the ultimate insider, Hillary Clinton,