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La crisis capitalista se está extendiendo 12

Workers and oppressed peoples of the world unite! workers.org


May 27, 2010 Vol. 52, No. 20 50¢

Police terror kills


7-year-old girl
Jobs gone, Detroiters face growing repression
By Abayomi Azikiwe
Editor, Pan-African News Wire
Mertilla Jones was taken into police
custody for several hours after the raid
Repression escalates in city
There is a growing pattern in Detroit Capitalist catastrophe
Detroit
At 12:35 a.m. on May 16, more than 20
and then released without being charged.
Corporate-owned media reported that she
of brutality and repression carried out by
law-enforcement and other state agencies. in Gulf 2
was being held because the grandmother In response to the killing of Aiyana
Detroit police officers staged a raid at a
had purportedly reached for the officer’s Jones, the Detroit Coalition Against Po-
two-family dwelling on the east side where
they said a warrant was to be served for a
gun, prompting the shooting. Jones de-
nies these allegations.
lice Brutality dedicated its entire radio
program on May 16 to exposing the in-
Defeat Arizona Racism!
suspect in a recent murder case. The po-
“I never did anything, they are lying. cident. “Fighting for Justice” airs every actions hit anti-immigrant law 4
lice threw a flash bomb through the front
They killed my grandbaby,” Jones said. Sunday morning at 10 a.m. on AM station
window of the frame house. It caused a
“I laid down and put the blanket over Ai- 1310 WDTW. The DCAPB organized a
fire in the bed where 7-year-old Aiyana
Stanley Jones was sleeping alongside her
yana and the window exploded.” press conference and candlelight vigil for FrEE MuMiA
grandmother, Mertilla Jones.
Then the cops kicked in the door of the
The raid was filmed by the “The First
48” television show for an episode air-
later that day outside the Jones’ home.
The week prior to the Jones’ killing, & thE MovE 9 5
ing at a later date. In light of the killing five Detroit police officers were shot, one
downstairs flat. A few seconds later Aiya-
Strike at u
of Aiyana, the videotape could prove to fatally, inside a vacant home on the east
na Jones was shot by a police officer in the
be quite revealing in reconstructing the side. A 25-year-old African-American
neck and head. Her grandmother Mertilla
Jones told Workers World she “saw the
light go out in her eyes.” Young Aiyana
events of the early morning police action. Continued on page 6
of Puerto rico 9

was dead.
The next few hours were harrowing for
the families living in the home. Charles
Jones, Aiyana’s father, said there was no
warning and that the incendiary device
thrown into the home was the first sign of
a police presence.
Jones said later that sections of the
couch where Mertilla and Aiyana Jones
were sleeping were “cut up and taken to
the police station as evidence.” For more
than three hours the police ransacked the
house and held several of its residents in
detention outside the home.
Charles Jones said that he was held face
down for hours by the police. Aiyana’s
aunt, Lakrystal Sanders, recalled how she
was kept outside in the cold with no shoes
for two hours by the police. “Why didn’t
the police come when it was daylight, why
did they come at night?” she asked.
Sanders also noted that “there was an
unmarked vehicle parked in front of the
house” for hours the day before the actual
raid. She stated the police told her they
were looking for her fiancé as a suspect in
the killing of a 17-year-old.
“They never knocked and I was coming
to open the door when I heard an explo-
sion and the police kicked in the door,”
Sanders said.

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PROFIT SYSTEM FAILS From Greece to California 3 WHO ARE THE RED-SHIRTS? Struggle in Thailand turns critical 9
Page_2_ may_27,_2010_ workers.org

Lesson #1 of BP oil spill WORKERS WORLD

this week ...


Capitalism can’t protect  In the U.S.

the environment Detroit police terror kills 7-year-old girl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1


Capitalism can’t protect environment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Capitalist crisis drags down more workers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
By Gene Clancy capital, then organize and distribute production. Arizona outlaws Ethnic Studies programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
For these services the capitalists are supposed to de-
‘Don’t play ball with Arizona’. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
As millions of gallons of crude oil continue to spew serve the profits generated in production. This is the
into the Gulf of Mexico, the owner of the collapsed oil rig mainspring for the entire system. Supposedly, consum- Georgia student fights deportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
that caused the disaster is trying desperately to elude re- ers make choices and vote with their dollars: no dollars, 25th anniversary of MOVE bombing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
sponsibility for what has already cost the lives of 11 work- no votes. Campaign to free Mumia won’t stop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
ers and threatens to become the worst oil catastrophe in According to these high priests of capitalism, anything
Carolina groups call for jobs program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
U.S. history. worthwhile must have a market price. Everything outside
In addition to the growing oil slick on the surface, sci- their system is essentially useless, since no profit can be Miss. catfish workers may strike. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
entists are finding enormous oil plumes in the deep wa- made from it. Grass, trees, wildlife, the oceans, moun- Students walk out to save schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
ters of the Gulf of Mexico, including one as large as 10 tains, soil, even air and water are a distraction at best, a Student protest met with police brutality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
miles long, 3 miles wide and 300 feet high in spots. This hindrance at worst — unless someone can find a way to
Mistrial declared in Whitby case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
discovery is fresh evidence that the leak from the bro- profit from them.
ken undersea well could be substantially worse than esti- But they go even further: To a capitalist, the vast mass- Jamie Scott faces health crisis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
mates given by the government and BP, formerly British es of people, the workers and oppressed, are a commod- It was a lockout, not a furlough . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Petroleum. ity to be exploited, just like the oil buried deep beneath Lena Horne, an appreciation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
“There’s a shocking amount of oil in the deep water, the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
relative to what you see in the surface water,” said Saman- Anything that goes wrong in this system, according to  Around the world
tha Joye, a researcher at the University of Georgia who is these economists, is the result of an “externality,” some-
Repression arouses solidarity for UPR student strikers . . . . . . . 9
involved in one of the first scientific missions to gather thing outside the markets. Floods, earthquakes, hurri-
details about what is happening in the gulf. The plumes canes, volcanic eruptions are all “externalities.” But so, Thai army threatens bloodbath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
are depleting the oxygen dissolved in the Gulf, worrying too, is the destruction from wars, industrial pollution, Imperialism still trying to dominate African peoples. . . . . . . .11
scientists, who fear that the oxygen level could eventually even economic depressions.
fall so low as to kill off much of the nearby sea life. The capitalist system and those who operate it pretend  Editorials
Scientists studying video images of the gushing oil to be hermetically sealed against not only the rest of the
well have tentatively calculated a flow rate of 25,000 to natural world, but from their own mistakes. The capitalist No good war . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
80,000 barrels of oil a day. But the government, working system exists to enable the ruling classes to make money.
 Noticias En Español
from satellite images of the ocean surface, has calculated If it does not make money for them, or if the masses of
a flow rate of only 5,000 barrels a day. people rebel, or if the planet itself becomes inhabitable, La crisis capitalista se está extendiendo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
When asked about this discrepancy, BP officials replied the fault lies not with the system but with “externalities.”
that no one could accurately estimate oil flows from a vid- Since World War II, some capitalist economists, pres-
eo. However, BP has resisted entreaties from scientists sured by environmental and social justice movements,
that they be allowed to use sophisticated instruments at have tried to inject ideas of social responsibility into
the ocean floor that would give a far more accurate pic- capitalism. According to Karl William Kapp, a German-
ture of how much oil is really gushing from the well. American economist, capitalists should break out of their
Workers World
“The answer is no to that,” BP spokesperson Tom self-serving isolation and take on responsibility for the
55 West 17 Street
Mueller said on May 15. “We’re not going to take any ex- social costs of their activities, especially when it comes to
New York, N.Y. 10011
tra efforts now to calculate flow there at this point. It’s environmental degradation.
Phone: (212) 627-2994
not relevant to the response effort, and it might even de- According to Kapp’s model, corporations should “give
Fax: (212) 675-7869
tract from the response effort.” (!) back” and be “good citizens.” They should be required to
E-mail: ww@workers.org
Calling knowledge of the oil flow “not relevant” is only pay the true costs of their enterprises, including the pre-
Web: www.workers.org
the latest in a series of measures taken by the oil giant to vention and cleanup of environmental and social disas-
Vol. 52, No. 20 • May 27, 2010
escape responsibility. Last week BP asked the courts to ters that they cause.
Closing date: May 18, 2010
limit its liability for the deaths of the 11 oil workers, and Many modern corporations, including BP, have given
many more who were injured, to $27 million. BP rang up lip service to this idea. Despite an atrocious safety and Editor: Deirdre Griswold
$6 billion in profit in just the first three months of 2010 environmental record, BP boasted about how “green” it Technical Editor: Lal Roohk
-- almost 223 times what it wants to pay out in damages. was. Behind the slick ads, however, lay a grim truth. Mar- Managing Editors: John Catalinotto, LeiLani Dowell,
A BP executive repeatedly told a congressional hearing kets don’t just run on greed; they also operate on fear. Leslie Feinberg, Kris Hamel, Monica Moorehead,
that BP would “pay all legitimate claims.” However, when Gary Wilson
pressed to define what “legitimate” meant, he replied: “uh A life-and-death struggle
West Coast Editor: John Parker
… substantiated … I can’t really define the term.” BP is the world’s largest oil company. Despite its for-
Contributing Editors: Abayomi Azikiwe,
At the same hearing, CEOs from the three companies mer name, more than 50 percent of its stock is owned
Greg Butterfield, Jaimeson Champion, G. Dunkel,
most directly involved in the disaster — BP, TransOce- by U.S. banks. If one looks at the creditors who hold its
Fred Goldstein, Teresa Gutierrez, Larry Hales,
anic Leasing and Halliburton — tried desperately to shift debt and finance its operations, U.S. institutions have an
David Hoskins, Berta Joubert-Ceci, Cheryl LaBash,
the blame to each other. even bigger role. BP, as it exists today, is the product of
Milt Neidenberg, Bryan G. Pfeifer, Betsey Piette,
a merger between the British Petroleum Company and
Capitalism contradicts science Minnie Bruce Pratt, Gloria Rubac
AMOCO, the old Standard Oil of Indiana and part of the
Technical Staff: Sue Davis, Shelley Ettinger,
Behind the evasive maneuvers of BP and all big busi- Rockefeller oil empire. It also includes the old Atlantic
Bob McCubbin, Maggie Vascassenno
ness lurk huge flaws in the capitalist system itself. Estab- Richfield (ARCO).
lishment economists like to sing the praises of capital- BP did not get where it is by being “socially respon- Mundo Obrero: Carl Glenn, Teresa Gutierrez,
ist markets, how they allegedly provide consumers with sible.” When it was the Anglo-Iranian Oil Co. during Berta Joubert-Ceci, Donna Lazarus, Michael Martínez,
their needs and wants efficiently based on supply and the 1950s, it and the CIA helped foment the coup that Carlos Vargas
demand. According to this model, businesses risk their Continued on page 10 Supporter Program: Sue Davis, coordinator
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workers.org_ may 27, 2010 Page 3

Banker austerity plans forced on Spain and Portugal

Capitalist crisis drags down more workers


By Fred Goldstein kets will contract. But Europe is the big- When the government guarantees and in short order because it grew economical-
gest export market for U.S. goods. If U.S. protects the interest paid to the banks and ly by rebuilding Europe and parts of Asia,
The big picture is that the global profit exports shrink, unemployment will rise the profits paid to the Pentagon/military- which had been destroyed in the war. Out
system of capitalism is in a crisis that is even further in the U.S. along with rising industrial complex, all of which comes of the ashes of war it emerged as the world’s
enveloping more and more workers on unemployment in Europe. from the wealth created by the work- most powerful imperialist country and ex-
all continents. The fate of workers every- This thread connecting the fate of the ers, it is the rich that are getting an “en- tended its exploitation to every corner of
where is deeply interconnected. workers could easily be followed to China, titlement.” They have done nothing for it, the globe. And it stimulated its economic
The crisis of the euro and the $1 trillion Latin America and the entire globe. have contributed nothing to society. The growth by constant militarization during
bailout of Greece, Portugal and Spain are bankers’ only claim to the funds is that the Cold War against the Soviet Union,
a prelude to major attack on the workers Budget crisis from Greece to California they are the owners of money. China and the socialist camp, as well as two
of southern Europe. This attack, if suc- The current capitalist crisis is taking The workers, on the other hand, have long wars against the Democratic People’s
cessful, will not only hurt the workers the form in Europe of a budgetary crisis. A the righteous claim that it is all their mon- Republic of Korea and Vietnam.
of Europe but will deepen the crisis for similar crisis is advancing steadily in the ey, all the collective creation of their labor. It went through a period of half a centu-
workers in the U.S. as well. U.S., but it has not grabbed headlines yet. Payments to bankers amount to a transfer ry of economic expansion on a vast scale,
This calls for class solidarity between For example, the bankers and bondhold- of wealth upwards. So the struggle over the bringing in wealth looted from the peoples
European and U.S. workers to fight off ers are also doing to California what they budget is a political struggle to determine of the world as well as amassing vast prof-
this coming attack. It also speaks to fol- are doing to Greece. how much of the budget will be spent on its from exploiting the workers at home.
lowing the example of the Greek work- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of Cali- social wages and how much will go to para- This economic expansion is how U.S.
ers, who have already carried out militant fornia has acted the role of Greek Prime sitic financiers in the form of profit. and world capitalism overcame vast defi-
general strikes against draconian auster- Minister George Papandreou. His re- Every budget cut in social services is, in cits. Massive surplus value was created in
ity measures. cently unveiled $83.4 billion plan would effect, a cut in social wages. the process of production and in the pro-
Another general strike set for May 20 freeze funding for local schools, further So the capitalists, on top of cutting cess of plundering the underdeveloped
intends to shut down all public services cut state workers’ pay and take away 60 wages and benefits on the job for those post-colonial world.
and disrupt public transport. Schools percent of state money for local mental who are still working during this econom- Since the present crisis began, the
will close, state hospitals will function health programs. ic crisis, are cutting wages further in the capitalist state has put $10.5 trillion into
on emergency staff and all ferries will re- Schwarzenegger would eliminate Cal- form of budget cuts. holding up the system. Europe has now
main tied up at port. Journalists will also Works, the state’s main welfare program. That is what the Greek workers are followed suit with a $1 trillion bailout. In
walk off the job, pulling news broadcasts This would affect 1.3 million people, of fighting against. That is what teachers in the recent period Japan has committed to
off the air. But air traffic controllers are whom 1 million are children. The pro- California fought against when they went pump $20 billion a day into the economy.
not expected to join the strike, leaving the gram, which requires recipients to even- on strike. There will be further bailouts and stimu-
country’s airports open. tually have jobs, provides families an That is what the heroic students of Cal- lus packages to come.
Two major demonstrations are planned average of $500 a month. Ending those ifornia did when they sat in and demon- The deficits incurred by the U.S. capi-
in Athens against the austerity measures. payments would save the state $1.6 bil- strated against the cuts in public funds for talist government during and after World
The crisis was set off by the prospect lion, the administration said. It would the state university. That is what 19,000 War II were incurred in the process of
that the Greek government would not also make California the only state not to high school students did recently in New creating a whole new era of expansion
be able to pay bondholders $11 billion offer a welfare-to-work program for low- Jersey when they walked out around the for capitalism, which had come out of the
(8.5 billion euros) due on May 19. A de- income families with children. state protesting school budget cuts. That Great Depression through war.
fault to the bondholders might have set Families would also lose state-sub- is what the students at the University of The present deficits being amassed by
off a string of defaults similar to that of sidized day care under the governor’s Puerto Rico are doing in fighting cut- the governments of the capitalist world,
Lehman Bros. in the U.S., threatening the proposal. About 142,000 low-income backs there. however, are not capable of generating an
financial system and the economy. children would be affected. Local school They all were and are defending the expansion. They are desperate measures to
The big bankers of Europe and the funding would be frozen and one-third of class interests of the workers and the op- stave off a great contraction — a collapse.
U.S., as well as the International Mone- the budget for in-home health care would pressed in the long run. The bosses are trying to get the work-
tary Fund, feared an economic meltdown be eliminated, among other vital services. ers to pay for these attempts to save the
in Europe that would spread to the U.S. On a federal level, President Barack Workers shouldn’t pay for capitalist deficits system. Meanwhile, they cannot stop
They united to demand that the Greek Obama has appointed a special budget The capitalist pundits all claim that growing mass unemployment, poverty,
government attack the Greek workers as commission to come up with findings and they have to cut the budget to reduce defi- cutbacks and the grinding down of the
the price for a big bailout loan. recommendations by the end of the year cits because the deficits will interfere with workers. Here in the U.S. that means es-
to cut Social Security, Medicare and other an economic recovery. They refuse to ac- pecially Black, Latino/a, Asian, Native
Bankers extort Greek workers social services in order to keep secure the knowledge that they have it backwards. and immigrant workers.
To gain loans from other European interest payments to big banks due on The deficits are not the problem, but a So the workers, instead of helping the
countries and the IMF, the Greek govern- government loans and to make sure there symptom of the deeper problem of capi- bosses save their system by paying for
ment “embraced budget austerity. Aver- is plenty of money for Pentagon wars. talism. The fact is that capitalism can their deficits, should turn the tables and
age pension benefits will be cut 11 per- The capitalist media and the economic no longer grow in a significant way that push the payment of any deficits back
cent; wages for government workers will talking heads never stop promoting the would put tens and hundreds of millions where they belong — on the shoulders of
be cut 14 percent; the basic rate for the line that workers in Europe are living high of workers worldwide back to work. the rich, who have been living on the pub-
value-added tax will rise from 21 percent on the hog and that workers in the U.S. A capitalist economy must expand; lic dole for generations.
to 23 percent. These measures will plunge should stop thinking about social services otherwise it goes into crisis. And capital- Instead of saving the rotten system
Greece into a deep recession. In 2009, as an “entitlement.” ist expansion is the only way for work- that got us into this crisis, the best course
unemployment was about 9 percent; That’s not the Marxist view. From the ers to get jobs under this system. But the would be to get rid of the capitalist prof-
some economists expect it to peak near 19 point of view of the working class, the fed- system is approaching a dead end. The it system altogether. It is time for the
percent.” (Washington Post, May 10) eral, state and city budgets show clearly future of capitalism is slow growth and wealth created by the workers to be so-
The Portuguese and the Spanish gov- that the only ones living high on the hog stagnation at best, with full-scale collapse cially owned and used by all of society, in
ernments were also talked to by the Euro- and getting “entitlements” are the bank- on the agenda. a planned way, and not for profit.
pean powers and by U.S. officials, includ- ers, the military-industrial complex and It is worth recalling that after World The writer is author of the book “Low-
ing Vice President Joe Biden and Treasury all the corporate interests that feed at the War II the government in the U.S. had a Wage Capitalism,” a Marxist analysis of
Secretary Timothy Geithner. They got the trough of the public treasury. huge deficit. It is usually calculated to have globalization and its effects on the U.S.
message and have introduced similar aus- risen to 120 percent of the gross domestic working class. He has also written nu-
terity attacks on the workers. Treasury belongs to the workers product. That is the highest in history and merous articles and spoken on the pres-
Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Ro- Money in the government treasury far higher as a percentage than it is now. ent economic crisis. For more informa-
dríguez Zapatero will try to shrink expen- comes from taxes. Those taxes come from But U.S. capitalism overcame the deficit tion visit www.lowwagecapitalism.com.
ditures by another $18.3 billion and will either the workers or the corporations.
cut 1.5 percentage points off the deficit The money that comes directly from the
this year and next by immediately cutting workers consists of deductions from their Low Wage Capitalism
public servants’ salaries by 5 percent and wages. The taxes that come from business
freezing salaries next year. Portuguese are a deduction from profits. But the prof- What the new globalized high-tech
Prime Minister José Sócrates imposed its come from workers, who created the imperialism means for the class struggle
wealth in the first place. in the U.S.
a “crisis tax,” most of which will fall on
workers through sales taxes and income Every dollar or euro or yen that goes Fred Goldstein’s book provides an easy-
tax increases. out of the public treasury goes in one of to-read analysis of the roots of the current
global economic crisis, its implications for
The austerity measures that the bank- two directions. One direction is social workers and oppressed peoples, and the
ers of the U.S. and Europe want to impose wages, that is, using the worker-created strategy needed for future struggle.
on the workers of Greece, Portugal and wealth for social services or infrastructure Paperback,_336_pages._includes_graphs,_charts,_
Spain, as well as Ireland — which has al- that society needs. The other direction is bibliography,_endnotes_and_index.
ready been subjected to bankers’ austerity to the bankers and bosses and the mili-
demands — will deepen the crisis of un- tary, police and other repressive forces of Available at www.Leftbooks.com
employment in Europe. European mar- the state used against the workers.
Page_4_ may_27,_2010_ workers.org

resistance is strong as

Arizona outlaws Ethnic Studies programs


By Paul teitelbaum dent at the University of Arizona. She students and alumni, we realize we have for “talks” regarding ethnic studies. The
tucson told this writer about her experience in been deprived, and that sterile and one- notorious Horne has been waging a battle
the ethnic studies programs and how dimensional history does not serve stu- against these programs for many years.
On May 11, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer they benefit oppressed youth: “In Latino dents or highlight the contributions of (See Workers World, July 10, 2008.)
signed into law House Bill 2281, which Literature class, for example, I was in- various cultures.” On that day 700 chanting students
eliminates ethnic studies programs from troduced to writers like Sherman Alexie, She added, “We are not anti-govern- confronted Horne when he arrived at
the state’s K-12 schools. This came just Sandra Cisneros, Luis Urrea and many ment or anti-white but rather [we are] the TUSD building. They formed a hu-
three weeks after she signed the repug- more, whose narratives touch upon the anti-ignorance and anti-xenophobia. … man chain around the building and de-
nant anti-immigrant Senate Bill 1070. bicultural identities that are neglected in We are resilient and will continue to fight nied him entrance. TUSD canceled the
The HB 2281 bill, which was pushed mainstream books and classes. The read- and make our mark through various av- meeting and Horne retreated to the State
through the state legislature by the same ings and assignments are thought pro- enues, whether these may be artistic, po- Building in downtown Tucson.
racist forces that pushed SB 1070, not only voking and become a breath of fresh air. litical or disobedient. We know that the Protesters, including ethnic studies
eliminates the Tucson Unified School Dis- “Without these classes, a first look into greatest threat to justice is to threaten instructors, then followed Horne down-
trict’s popular Mexican American Studies diversity,” Rascon continued, “when does education.” town and entered the State Building after
and Raza Studies programs but also slan- one become inquisitive about other cul- him. Horne refused to speak with them.
ders TUSD’s programs with outright lies. tures? If all you have been exposed to is Students fight back When the building closed at 5 p.m., the
It states that the ethnic studies programs Eurocentric history, when does one be- The latest attack against Arizona’s students and instructors refused to leave.
teach students to “resent or hate other come inquisitive about the contributions Latino/a community was immediately A confrontation with the state police en-
races” and that they “promote the over- other cultures have made to this country?” met with outrage. Word quickly spread sued, with the police arresting 15 protest-
throw of the United States government.” Rascon concluded that students will over the social media networks Twitter ers, including two instructors.
Mixelle Rascon is a graduate of Tucson organize against these attacks. She and Facebook that State Superintendent Students continued their militant
High School’s Ethnic Studies program vowed that they will “take to the streets of Education Tom Horne was planning stance against the rightwing attack on
and a current Raza Studies/Pre-Law stu- and fight xenophobic policies because as to visit TUSD headquarters on May 12 May 14, when they once again gathered
in front of the TUSD building to dem-

‘Don’t play ball with Arizona’


onstrate. They burned copies of SB 1070
and HB 2281 and called for the repeal of
these racist laws. They called for more
protests and organizing against them.
Dozens of opponents of Arizona’s apart-
In fact, as of this writing, on May 17,
heid law criminalizing immigrants gathered
students are gathering at Arizona Sen.
in front of Turner Field in Atlanta on May 15
John McCain’s office to protest his anti-
to hold a “Don’t Play Ball with the State of
immigrant actions. McCain has called for
Hate” pep rally, complete with a band, cheer-
dispatching 3,000 National Guard troops
leaders, street theater, large banners and
to the Arizona-Mexico border, citing “se-
signs. A central demand of the protest is to
curity concerns.”
remove the 2011 All-Star baseball game from
The struggle continues. A national
Phoenix. Organizations involved in creating
march against SB 1070 has been called
the loud and colorful demonstration includ-
for May 29 in Phoenix. It is expected that
ed the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human
this march will be large and attract many
Rights, the International Action Center, the
groups and individuals who are outraged
Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, the U.S.
by the racist offensive unleashed in Ari-
Human Rights Network and other student
zona. On May 30, there will be a one-day
and community groups. Across the country,
strategy meeting in Tucson to build a
the Arizona Diamondback games have been
united fightback movement to take this
a venue for expressions of outrage over the
struggle forward. For information on that
passage of SB 1070, which legalizes racial
meeting, email Tucson@workers.org or
profiling and subjects communities of color
— Dianne Mathiowetz _Photo:_SoFiA_liPko call 520-762-6629.
to police harassment.

Georgia student fights deportation


By Dianne Mathiowetz police about her place of residence.
Atlanta According to Colotl’s lawyer, the expla-
nation is simple and one the sheriff’s office
On March 29, Jessica Colotl was a should have been able to figure out. The
high-achieving senior majoring in politi- Duluth, Ga., address on her car registration
cal science and French at Kennesaw State and insurance cards was used on the traf-
University and looking forward to gradu- fic ticket, but when asked by the ICE agents
ating in a few months. Her life abruptly for her address, she gave them her current
changed when a campus cop pulled her residence in Norcross, Ga. Nevertheless,
over for “impeding the flow of traffic” as Sheriff Warren made a great show of issu-
she was entering a university parking lot. ing a “fugitive” hunt for the young woman,
Colotl, who was brought to this country proclaiming his duty to uphold the law.
by her parents when she was 11 years old, An examination of Cobb County arrest
cannot secure a driver’s license in Georgia records shows that the vast majority of
because she has no papers. The Kennesaw the thousands arrested and turned over to
campus is in Cobb County, one of the first ICE for deportation were stopped for mi-
local jurisdictions in the U.S. to enter into nor traffic violations, just like Colotl.
an agreement with Section 287(g) of Im- Although the stated intent of 287(g)
migration and Customs Enforcement law, was to deport those involved in serious
which grants counties the authority to en- crimes like murder and rape, immigration
force the federal law. rights activists charge local police with ra-
Sorority sisters of Jessica Colotl join May Day march in atlanta. _Photo:_AtlANtA_iAC
cial profiling and ethnic cleansing and de-
Colotl was arrested for driving without
a license, taken to the Cobb County jail Organizations like the Georgia Latino Alli- news that ICE had granted Colotl a one- mand the Obama administration end the
and then turned over to ICE agents, who ance for Human Rights and the American year deferment of her deportation in or- program altogether.
transferred her to the Etowah Detention Civil Liberties Union offered help. Even the der to complete her education. Accompanied by her lawyers, Colotl
Center in Gadsden, Ala. president of KSU, Dan Papp, sent a letter in Stung by this reversal, right-wing poli- turned herself in on May 14, was released
Hours from her family and friends, the support of Colotl returning to her studies. ticians and anti-immigrant groups be- on a $2,500 bond and held a nationally
young woman, like thousands of other de- Still, on April 30, an immigration judge gan to clamor for the removal of all un- covered news conference that afternoon.
tainees, was thrust into a frightening and ordered her to be deported. documented students from public higher Responding to the barrage of questions
uncertain situation, with deportation to On May 1 thousands of people rallying education in Georgia. Cobb Sheriff Neil from reporters, she repeated her “hope
Mexico the likely outcome. at the Georgia State Capitol demanded Warren, a staunch proponent of 287(g), that something positive comes out of this,
However, Colotl’s sorority sisters, her release. Her story was featured in escalated the rhetoric by issuing a war- because we really need reform for this
through Facebook and other networks, newspapers and on television. rant on May 12 on a felony charge, alleg- messed-up system.” For more information
began spreading the word about her case. On May 5 her supporters celebrated the ing she had made a false statement to the on Jessica Colotl’s case, call 770-457-5232.
workers.org_ may 27, 2010 Page 5

on 25th anniversary of MovE bombing

‘No justice – no peace’


By Betsey Piette and Audrey hoak family member who had been killed. One MOVE
Philadelphia read, “My sister Delisha was murdered by children
cops on May 13, 1985.” demand
justice in
When a supposed attempt to set off a Ramona Africa, the sole adult survi-
police killing
car bomb in New York City fizzled in early vor of the 1985 fire, addressed the media of their
May, with no one injured, a massive gov- on their obligation to tell the truth. Af- relatives.
ernment investigation was launched to rica stated she is filing the criminal com-
WW_Photo:__
bring the alleged “terrorists” to justice. plaints not to seek justice - she isn’t that JoE_PiEttE
Yet 25 years ago, when the authorities naïve — but rather to continue to expose
dropped a bomb on the roof of the MOVE the system. our home and dropped a satchel contain- with the attack.
house in West Philadelphia, causing a fire Following the press conference ev- ing C4, a powerful military explosive that Africa told Gonzalez that firefighters
that killed 11 men, women and children eryone participated in a Honk against no municipal police department has. They stood there and allowed the fire to burn.
and destroyed 61 homes, this act of terror Police Terror outside City Hall and later had to get it from the federal government.” Fire Commissioner William Richmond
against an African-American community marched to the African-American Muse- Then-Mayor W. Wilson Goode claimed “tried to explain away their actions by
resulted only in a government cover-up. um for an evening screening of two films he had not been informed about police saying he wasn’t going to have his fire-
Not one of the city, state or federal gov- on MOVE. Speakers at the indoor event plans to drop the bomb. However, Goode fighters in danger or come under fire from
ernment officials responsible was ever included Fred Hampton Jr. and journal- had picked Leo A. Brooks, a retired Army MOVE,” Africa said. But earlier, when
brought to justice. ist Linn Washington. general, to supervise the efforts to force there was no fire, “they had four deluge
The MOVE Commission, which in- In an interview with Juan Gonzalez MOVE members from their Osage Av- hoses, each of which pumped out 10,000
vestigated the events of May 13, 1985, of Democracy Now! on May 13, Ramona enue row house. pounds of water pressure … aimed at our
described the actions of government offi- Africa explained why MOVE believes that Africa related what it was like to be in home for hours in the morning of May 13.
cials, including Philadelphia’s mayor and the system intended to kill its members the house following the bombing. “We Why wasn’t it a danger then?”
police and fire commissioners, as “reck- and exterminate the organization. heard the loud explosion. The house kind The MOVE Commission in a report is-
less,” “ill-conceived” and “unconscio- “I want people to understand that of shook … not long after that it got very, sued in 1986 concluded that police gunfire
nable.” A powerful, military-style bomb bombing did not happen because of some very hot in the house, and the smoke was stopped adults and children from escap-
containing C4 was dropped from a police complaints from neighbors,” Africa told getting thicker … we could hear the trees ing. They cited statements from Ramona
helicopter on the row house on Osage Democracy Now!. “This government had outside of our house crackling and realized and Birdie Africa as well as police and
Avenue where MOVE members lived. Of- never cared about Black folks complaining that our home was on fire. We immediately firefighters who said they heard automat-
ficials allowed the resulting fire to burn about their neighbors … . They bombed us tried to get our children, our animals and ic or semiautomatic gunfire that evening.
down an entire city block and then had because of our unrelenting fight for our ourselves out of that blazing inferno. Investigations at the scene after the fire
police shoot at MOVE members, includ- family members, known as the MOVE 9, “The adults were hollering out that found no evidence that MOVE had those
ing children, who were attempting to flee who have been in prison unjustly going on we’re coming out, we’re bringing the chil- types of weapons. However, two months
the fire. Yet not one of these officials has 32 years now as a result of the August 8, dren out,” Africa reported. “And we know after the MOVE Commission issued its
ever faced criminal charges. 1978, police attack on MOVE.” that the police heard us. But the very in- findings, a state grand jury reached the
On May 12, a day before the 25th an- Africa described how, in 1985, the stant we were visible to them … they im- opposite conclusion and no charges were
niversary of this blatant act of murder MOVE house was first deluged by fire hos- mediately opened fire. We were met with ever filed against the police.
by government officials, members of the es and then “tons of tear gas, and then be- a barrage of police gunfire … and it forced The MOVE organization and their sup-
MOVE organization filed a civil lawsuit ing shot at … the police admit to shooting us back into that blazing inferno.” porters continue to fight the unjust in-
against those in charge and responsible over 10,000 rounds of bullets at us in the Ramona Africa escaped the fire with carceration of the MOVE 9, one of whom
for the 11 murders. The court filing was first 90 minutes. … It was quiet for a little major burns by crawling out a basement died in prison. It’s an uphill battle.
followed by a press conference at the bit and then, without any warning at all, window with a 13-year-old boy, Birdie Africa told the gathering at the African-
Friends Center. two members of the Philadelphia Police Africa. She went on to serve a seven-year American Museum, “There is no justice in
Eight MOVE children stood at the front Department’s bomb squad got in a Penn- prison term on riot charges — the only the legal system. Not just for MOVE, but
of the room, each holding a sign naming a sylvania State Police helicopter, flew over person to face any jail time in connection for anybody.”

Despite racist encounters


Campaign to free Mumia won’t stop
By Dolores Cox highway to check the brakes. He then de- question. She stated that she went in- conduct a civil rights investigation for the
termined it wasn’t safe to continue the side, asked where the restroom was, they case of Mumia Abu-Jamal.”
The recently passed racist, anti-immi- trip. He requested another bus from the pointed to it, and she was allowed to use Below Holder’s photo was a statement
grant SB 1070 Arizona state law is the company. it without incident. Both toilets were fully to the law school graduates addressing
message supported by descendants of The coalition was detained for nearly functioning. the issue of wrongful convictions and vio-
European immigrants who initially stole three hours, during which time some folks Remembering the mission they were lations of constitutional rights in the U.S.
the lands they now occupy, while slaugh- disembarked and walked around outside on, which was to get to D.C., along with legal system, followed by information re-
tering millions of the original Indigenous seeking vending machines and restrooms. the presence of the patrol car, no chal- garding the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal.
inhabitants. At the same time, the state of One Black passenger returned from the lenge to the obviously racist denial of the At the bottom of the card are the words,
Virginia honored the pro-slavery Confed- weigh station to the bus and commented use of the restrooms seemed wise. White “Join Us in This Fight for Justice!”
eracy with fond memories of yesteryear that the staff inside had attitudes sound- supremacy again reared its ugly head. The importance of continuing the
and the “good ole days.” ing like the southern “rednecks” he en- Back to the past and present. struggle to save Mumia Abu-Jamal’s life
All of this harkens back from the fright- countered growing up in the South. A few and eventually win his freedom cannot be
ening past to the present so-called “post- others shared their familiarity with his Pressure on Holder continues overemphasized. He has been and contin-
racial” U.S. Whether it is Virginia or Ari- experiences. Later a staff person walked No trip to Washington, D.C., was nec- ues to be an extraordinary fighter for free-
zona, racist reminders are to be found from the building to the bus and was essary on May 14. This time, Eric Hold- dom and justice — a voice of the voiceless.
everywhere, including in the once pro- overheard telling the bus driver — in his er came to New York City to deliver the We are all Mumia!
Confederate state of Maryland, as mem- strong southern drawl — that the passen- keynote address to the 2010 Law School Join the weekly call-in campaign: (202)
bers of the Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coali- gers could no longer use the bathrooms, graduates of Columbia University. The 353-1555 to the U.S. Justice Department
tion (NYC) were reminded of on their trip as they had “clogged both the women’s Coalition to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal and every Thursday, demanding a federal civil
to Washington, D.C., on April 26. and men’s toilets.” other supporters were there hours be- rights investigation. And organize, orga-
The coalition organized a delegation to The bus driver then announced that the forehand with banners, signs and leaflets. nize, organize! Free Mumia and all politi-
go from the press conference, march and facilities were “off limits” to everyone. A They also distributed close to 1,500 palm cal prisoners!
rally to the U.S. Department of Justice to state patrol car shortly appeared, parked cards to everyone in the vicinity of the The writer was a passenger on the bus.
demand that U.S. Attorney General Eric in front of the weigh station building and university, including the graduates, their
Holder begin a federal civil rights inves- remained there until the replacement bus guests and university staff. One palm card
tigation into the racist violations of Mu- came and finally departed. It should be was delivered to Holder’s secret service Mumia
mia’s legal and human rights. Also the noted that most of the passengers were agent, asking that he give the palm card
abu-Jamal’s
book,
delegation was to deliver an additional African Americans. to the attorney general.
20,000 letters and postcards in support Before the replacement bus arrived, The palm cards were in color with Mu- ‘JAILHOUSE
of the investigation, plus call for a meet- one of the white coalition members, who mia’s photo on one side and the words LAWYERS:
ing with the Civil Rights Division. had been asleep during the announce- “Civil Rights Investigation NOW!,” the Prisoners defending
On the way to D.C. the coalition experi- ment, left the bus and entered the weigh coalition website and phone number. The prisoners v. the U.S.A.’
enced the misfortune of their bus break- station building. When she returned to other side of the card had a copy of the
is available at
ing down. The driver pulled into a truck the bus and was asked if they had given authorized photo of Eric Holder and the
weigh station parking lot on a Maryland her a hard time, she was surprised at the words, “Attorney General Eric Holder: Leftbooks.com
Page_6_ may_27,_2010_ workers.org

Carolina groups call for jobs program

The Raleigh/Wake County People’s Assembly were present. The Raleigh People’s Assembly will Raleigh City Workers Union-UE 150, the Bail Out
organized a rally on May 8 in front of a Raleigh City propose a resolution demanding that the city of the People Movement, NAACP North Carolina Pres-
Council meeting to demand that the city advocate Raleigh endorse and advocate for a publicly funded ident Rev. William Barber and the state’s AFL-CIO,
for a federally funded public jobs program. More jobs program and for federal money to facilitate along with many other organizations and hundreds
than 30 people, including youth and students of public-sector job creation in the city. Supporters of of individuals.
color from Raleigh and other community leaders, this resolution include Black Workers for Justice, — report and photo by vidya Sankar

Detroiters face growing repression, police killings


Continued from page 1 the station’s website a few days later. cratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm. Granholm of unloading merchandise from a truck.
had appointed Bobb to gut Detroit’s pub- On May 15, a group of inter-faith reli-
suspect was wounded at the scene and Other crises face Detroiters lic schools. gious leaders announced they were send-
taken into custody. Detroit’s state-appointed emergency The political significance of this epi- ing a letter to President Barack Obama
Ron Scott, spokesperson for DCAPB financial manager Robert Bobb has not sode in the struggle over the future of demanding he direct Attorney General
and co-host of “Fighting for Justice,” told resolved the budget deficit of the public public education in Detroit is that both Eric Holder to address the concerns of the
the media after these shootings that the school system. Since Bobb’s appointment the Democratic and Republican parties Muslim community and others regarding
incident was a reflection of the increasing in 2009, the Detroit public school system held identical positions, siding with state the imam’s unprovoked killing and the
tension between the Detroit police and has sunk another $100 million into debt. and private interests over the right of the subsequent prosecution of a number of
people in the city. Police Chief Warren A court challenge on behalf of the elected people in a majority African-American his family members and followers.
Evans, in response to a question during school board, parents, teachers and com- city to run their school system. On May 17 Holder spoke at Wayne
a press conference on the shooting of the munity organizations won a preliminary Private groups such as the Skillman State University Law School. Members of
officers, said Scott’s remarks were “insen- injunction in Wayne County Circuit Court Foundation are playing significant roles the DCAPB and the Michigan Emergency
sitive and ignorant.” against the closing of 45 schools in the dis- in drafting and promoting corporate-ori- Committee Against War and Injustice
There was a flood of attacks from the trict. It also halted numerous policies pro- ented plans to remold and liquidate pub- held a demonstration there demanding
police against Scott and the DCAPB in the posed by Bobb that would further privatize lic education in favor of charter schools an end to police terror against the people
corporate-owned media. Scott contends the system and weaken local control. for profit. of Detroit.
that his words were taken out of context But this injunction was overturned by In another issue related to law enforce- The protest drew attention to the kill-
and refused to issue the apology demand- the Michigan Court of Appeals. It ruled ment, the U.S. Justice Department has ing of Aiyana Jones and also raised other
ed by law enforcement and the media. within several hours after the hear- not responded to demands by the Mus- issues concerning the lack of implemen-
On a local Fox 2 news program called ing that the Detroit Board of Education lim community and its supporters for an tation of two federal consent decrees re-
“Let It Rip,” Scott debated the police chief did not show that any irreparable harm investigation into the assassination of garding use of lethal force and detention
and three other media and legal pundits would be done if Bobb implemented the Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah, who was facilities within the Detroit Police Depart-
for the network. The program was widely plans for school closings and downsizing. shot 20 times by FBI agents on Oct. 28. ment. Detroit cops have been under a fed-
viewed and the station was inundated The appeal to overturn the injunction was Abdullah and several followers and family erally appointed monitor for nearly seven
with calls asking for the segment to be re- litigated by Republican Attorney General members had been lured to a warehouse years, after a three-year investigation by
aired. The program was put up in full on Mike Cox, who argued on behalf of Demo- in neighboring Dearborn under the guise the U.S. Justice Department. However,
police brutality and misconduct continue.
Faced with atrocious company demands Plans are underway to do further out-
reach in the community where Aiyana

Miss. catfish workers may strike


Jones was killed. Brenda Cowans, who
lives in the neighborhood where the po-
lice raid took place, attended the demon-
By Sean Schafron — among other things. United Food and on the contract in the third week of May, stration outside the WSU Law School and
Commercial Workers Local 1529 has been union representative Leon Sheppard Jr. welcomed interest by MECAWI to work
Roughly 600 employees of Delta Pride in contract negotiations with the compa- spoke with Workers World by phone on with the community to combat police bru-
Catfish, Inc., mostly African-American ny for more than a year. May 17 and confirmed that a contract rati- tality in the area.
women, may go on strike soon. If the con- This isn’t the first time the company fication vote as well as a strike vote would “We must speak out and fight injustice
tract the company has offered — using a has received attention for its highly de- take place on either May 26 or 27 and that because otherwise we will be misused by
notorious union-busting legal firm at the spicable, racist and sexist treatment of there have been no further negotiations. the system,” said Cowans.
negotiating table — is rejected, this would Black women employees in the mostly
be the second strike against Delta Pride poor Delta region. In 1990 a successful
Catfish. The first strike in 1990 is looked three-month strike took place against the
upon as a landmark in labor history. company. The issues then were adverse A Voice from MarxisM, re
Delta Pride Catfish, a Mississippi com- health effects of speed-up, a five-minute Harper’s Ferry 1859 & the Black Free
pany, is paying employees a mere $8 to $9 time limit on lavatory use, low wages and By Osborne P. Anderson, a Black freedom An anthology of writings from
an hour. They haven’t had an increase in 10- to 13-hour workdays. fighter. Prefaces by Mumia Abu-Jamal,
Includes: Racism, National O
four years. The strike was the largest of Black Monica Moorehead and Vince Copeland
on the ‘Unfinished Revolution.’ Black Labor from Chattel Sl
But that’s not the worst of it. workers in Mississippi history and saw
A unique book from the raid on Harper’s Black Youth: Repression & R
The company has offered a contract the civil rights and labor movements join
Ferry by Osborne P. Anderson, the only The Struggle for Socialism
that is atrocious. It would establish a together. Boycotts were called and scabs
Black combatant to survive the raid. Black & Brown Unity: A Pillar
seven-day work week, reduce senior- were brought in. A company official even His account of this turning point in the Saladin_muhammad
ity benefits, eliminate overtime, abolish threatened a striker with a gun. struggle against slavery—an armed attack Alabama’s Black Belt: Legacy
severance pay should the company close, The small gains achieved at the time, by Black and white volunteers on a citadel
triple employee contributions to company such as a 75-cent raise, were enough to Harriet Tubman, Woman War
of the South—refutes those who try to
health insurance over three years, and al- create a lasting tension between Delta minimize the role of African-American Are Conditions Ripe Again To
low the company to outsource jobs and Pride Catfish and its employees. people in fighting for their freedom. Racism and Poverty in the D
double the new hire probationary period Although earlier reports suggested a vote Available at www.Leftbooks.com Haiti Needs Reparations, N
workers.org_ may 27, 2010 Page 7

Students walk out to save schools


By Bill Bateman students had enough time to “wrap their
Providence, r.i. minds around” a subject and really learn.
The superintendent of schools and the
Some 300 students from Hope High mayor want to end all these “extras” —
School here walked out of class on May extra teachers and advisors — as well as
13. They marched first to the Providence the 90-minute classes. They want to close
School Department, where 200 other stu- schools and pack students into larger
dents joined them. Their numbers swelled classes with fewer teachers, less space
to 500 for the final leg of their march to and less resources. This is equivalent to
Providence City Hall, where they took stamping out creativity among working-
control of the building from top to bottom class youth and crushing their hopes and
for half an hour. dreams of progress and equality.
Hope High students are furiously de- The well-educated, confident, empow-
fending the progress made at their school ered inner-city youth of color from Hope
during the past decade. The school had High are rebelling against this plan. They
been so dysfunctional that the State of say they don’t want to be “put back in a
Rhode Island had seized control of it. bag.” The system accidentally “over-ed-
Millions of dollars were pumped into ad- ucated” them and now they “know too
ditional personnel and renovations to the much” — they know that another world is
building itself. possible. They won’t easily be reined in or
Extra teachers and advisors were hired, contained.
WW_Photo:_bill_bAtEmAN
thus lowering class sizes and increas- The S.O.S. Coalition to Save Our Hope High students occupy Providence City Hall.
ing advisory hours for each student. The Schools joined the Hope High marchers
old system of eight 50-minute classes and met some of their leaders, who eager- the head of the march. ucation a right for all. They also are likely
was scrapped and replaced with a four ly took the S.O.S. banner reading “Save These students will be an important to become youth leaders in the growing
90-minute block system in which the our schools! Fund public education!” to part of the fight to make quality public ed- movement for People’s Assemblies.

Student protest met with police brutality


By Caleb t. Maupin chanted, “Save our schools!” and “Money
Cleveland for schools, not the banks!” One student
held up a sign reading “Youth need jobs,
While leafleting outside Cleveland’s not jails!” when asked by reporters why he
Collinwood High School in support of was there.
police brutality survivor Rebecca Whitby, Some news media red-baited FIST
some activists met 16-year-old student members instead of focusing on the police
Seth Bartlekamp. He announced a stu- attack. Martha Grevatt, an autoworker
dent walkout on May 13 to oppose the and organizer for the Cleveland chapter of
impending closing of 16 city schools and the Bail Out the People Movement, criti-
layoffs of 800 teachers and other school cized the media for red-baiting the orga-
employees across the city’s school district. nizers, who had come to the defense of the
With the goal of organizing an action students being assaulted.
intended to build solidarity among stu- Speaking to the media, Bartlekamp
dents, teachers and other school work- thanked FIST for its support of the stu-
ers, Bartlekamp contacted the Cleveland dent-initiated walkout. Other community
Teachers Union and community organi- members thanked FIST as well.
zations about supporting the walkout. Cleveland FIST member Maupin said
Despite threats Bartlekamp says were FiSt_vidEo:_CAlEb_mAuPiN
that, “I came here to stand against an in-
made against him and other students by Still from video shows Cleveland police arresting Deasia and Destiny Bronaugh. justice and it’s shameful that the media
school authorities if they carried out the are attacking me for my political beliefs.”
walkout, he sent out a Facebook message Inside the school, the hallways filled ma attack. Another officer threatened to That evening, attorneys for the Ameri-
announcing the action. Many students with hundreds of students who wanted to use a Taser against her. can Civil Liberties Union and local civil
signed on in support and pledged to walk join the walkout. Students reported that She called out, “We were protesting at rights attorney James Hardiman obtained
out on May 13, to call for a stop to the in order to prevent them from leaving, the our school and they’re trying to arrest us!” the release of the Bronaugh sisters, after a
school cutbacks, layoffs and closings. doors were chained shut by school secu- As protesters called for the police to lengthy meeting with the Cleveland Police
On the morning of the walkout, this rity guards. let the women go, even the vice principal Department’s internal affairs section. The
writer and Adam Gluntz, organizers Outside the school, the vice principal agreed and called out to the police. women are being charged with assault on
for Fight Imperialism, Stand Together walked down the steps to speak with those A police officer threatened to arrest those a police officer, aggravated disorderly con-
(FIST), which also works with Bail Out who had walked out and told them he had who were videotaping the attack and told duct, truancy and resisting arrest.
the People Movement, greeted students called the police. When the police arrived, them that protests were “unacceptable.” Support is growing for those arrested.
who had walked out of school and joined they grabbed the shirts of protesting stu- Maupin, who had videotaped the police A Collinwood Defense Committee is being
with them. dents and handcuffed them. assault, and other FIST members posted organized on behalf of all 12 of the stu-
All the students who participated in the Students say that police officers, mov- the video on YouTube and informed area dents who joined in the walkout and have
walkout, except Bartlekamp, are African ing to arrest sisters DeAsia and Destiny media about it. Organizers were inter- been suspended for five days. Also, local
American, as is the majority population at Bronaugh, slammed them against a police viewed on radio station WTAM and asked and national worker-activists, including
Collinwood High School and throughout car and then onto the ground. They say listeners to call the police station to de- educators, have signed a call for trade
the Cleveland school district. They were that a police sergeant thrust his knee into mand the women’s release. unionists to support the students.
concerned about the impact of the school Destiny Bruno’s neck and smashed her Inside the high school, Bartlekamp re- Organizers request calls to the Fifth
cutbacks on the quality of education in face into the pavement while she moaned ports he and another student were brutally District police station at 216-623-5618
their school and their community. in pain and said she was having an asth- interrogated by the police without a parent and 216-623-6500 to demand all charges
or guardian present or even being notified. against the students be dropped and to
Bartlekamp says he was threatened with protest the police attack against them.
eparations institutionalization if he did not answer They also ask that calls be made to the
edom struggle their questions and that his mother was Cleveland Board of Education at 216-574-
Workers World newspaper. Edited by Monica Moorehead. threatened with arrest if the protests con- 8000 and Collinwood High School at 216-
tinued and if she defended her son. 451-8782 to demand that the suspensions
Oppression & Self-Determination larry_holmes_
Outrage spread throughout the city be rescinded and that Seth Bartlekamp
lavery to Wage Slavery Sam_marcy
as the video of the racist assault became not be expelled.
Resistance leilani_dowell public. About 40 students and other ac- The Bail Out the People Movement has
Is Key monica_moorehead tivists defiantly marched to the police sta- posted an online petition supporting the
CovEr_illuStrAtioN_:_SAhu_bArroN

r of Struggle for Human Rights & Global Justice! tion, chanting all the way. Many told of students. It asserts that the “Brutal attack
police abuses which occur regularly out- was a deliberate attempt to intimidate
y of Slavery, Sharecropping and Segregation Consuela_lee_ side the school and nearby. students and crush the potential to build
rrior mumia_Abu-Jamal An after-school protest against the labor-student-community solidarity and
Today? 40th Anniversary of the 1965 Watts Rebellion John_Parker brutal arrests was called for the next day, is a racist attack on Cleveland’s African-
Delta larry_hales when more than 200 students joined American community.” Sign on at www.
Not Sanctions Pat_Chin Available at www.Leftbooks.com the protest as school ended. They loudly bailoutpeople.org.
Page_8_ may_27,_2010_ workers.org

A temporary reprieve

Mistrial declared in Whitby case


By Sharon Danann incredibly important. When you plead teenaged women outside Collinwood they could claim that Whitby has schizo-
Cleveland guilty, you lose your constitutional rights, High School. The students were partici- phrenia.
such as the right to redress and the right pating in a protest against teacher and Such a diagnosis would bolster the of-
Rebecca Whitby and her family are to cross-examine the police officers who staff layoffs and school closings. They are ficers’ assertion to hospital staff in April
celebrating a temporary reprieve. Judge brought the charges.” being represented by an attorney from the 2009 that her injuries were self-inflicted,
Stuart Friedman declared a mistrial on “I think the judge did not want to have American Civil Liberties Union and have rather than due to their use of excessive
May 14 before the jury had even been se- to choose between the police allegations nationwide and international support. force. It might also provide cover for the
lected. The charges, including resisting and us with all the evidence we have,” stat- Whitby’s father viewed the videotape and administration of the powerful psycho-
arrest and obstruction, that Whitby and ed Timothy Walker, Whitby’s father. “It says he recognized some of the same po- tropic drug Geodon to Whitby at the hos-
her mother are facing arose from the bru- would be ugly. He washed his hands of it.” lice as being there during the beating of pital against her will, without diagnosis or
tal beating of Whitby by police in the fam- Widespread community support and his daughter. prescription, apparently to keep her from
ily’s home in April 2009 and her mother’s the presence of television cameras in the Although more than a year has passed telling her story.
attempts to protect her daughter from re- courtroom may have been other motiva- and family members say that investiga- The prosecution will have to reconcile
peated punches in the face. tions for declaring the mistrial. Marches tors at both the CPD and FBI informally their schizophrenia theory with the fact
Although they face felony charges with had been held repeatedly, along with told them that the cops who beat Rebecca that Whitby, now 24 years old, graduated
possible sentences totaling 50 years in rallies at the 5th District police station, Whitby committed wrongs, no reports in 2004 from high school with honors in
prison, Whitby and her mother — also Cleveland City Hall and the co-called have been produced. chemistry and, the month following her
named Rebecca Whitby — courageously Justice Center where the trial was about The family believes that the pros- beating, took college-level exams and
refused all plea deals offered to them, to begin. The streets echoed with cries of ecution is currently attempting to tie the passed them.
including misdemeanors and probation- “Charge the cops!” and honks of support night when Whitby was beaten to an ac- “To accuse Black women of mental ill-
only. The felony charges were concocted from passing motorists. cident four years earlier in which she fell ness is a common tactic. They are weaving
after the family filed a report with the Po- There may be a connection between from a second-story window. In trying to this tapestry,” says Patterson. “We have to
lice Department’s Office of Professional several of the prosecution witnesses — make the fall look like a suicide attempt, find the one thread to pull it apart.”
Standards and the Civil Rights Division of police officers who were on or near the

it was a lockout,
the FBI. family’s porch during the April 2009
Marva Patterson, Whitby’s aunt, ex- night of horror — and officers who were
plained: “Refusing to plea bargain is videotaped this May 13 roughing up two

After 16 years in prison


not a furlough
Jamie Scott faces Special to Workers World
New York
Street did. We do our job. You do yours.”
Paterson and the media in New York

health crisis
that represent big business made a big
New York Gov. David Paterson decid- point of insisting that the unions “share
ed at the end of April to force the state’s the sacrifices and reduce the deficit before
unionized workers to give up raises and the state runs out of money.” The New
other contract improvements by slapping York Times (May 15) is still insisting a
By Kathy Durkin them with a one-day furlough. Since the furlough is necessary, as well as pay lags
budget was overdue and New York is fac- and pension cuts.
Jim Crow injustice has ing a $9.2 billion deficit, he pushed the The unions feel that a contract must
not ended in the state of furlough through the state Legislature on bind both sides. They were shocked that
Mississippi, certainly not May 10 by threatening to shut down the their supposed allies in the state Legis-
for Gladys and Jamie Scott. state government if it didn’t pass his bill. lature, to whom they had given millions
The sisters have been un- The four unions representing the of dollars in donations and boots-on-the-
justly incarcerated in a 100,000 state workers to be furloughed ground aid in the elections, had deserted
Mississippi prison for 16 went to federal court in Albany two days them and gone over to the other side in
years for a crime they did later and got a temporary restraining or- the “class struggle” — as one top leader
not commit. der (TRO) blocking the furlough. There put it.
Jamie Scott, above;
The travesty of justice Gladys Scott, left. will be more hearings on the issue on Ken Brynien, head of the Public Em-
began in 1993 when they May 26. ployees Federation, said he wanted the
were both arrested in Scott County for gressed to such a degree that she must be This call for a furlough was really a Legislature to know that the furloughs
allegedly participating in a robbery that hospitalized. They assert that she faces lockout, an employer’s attempt to get the are illegal “and even though some of them
netted $11. The following year, each was a death sentence if she does not imme- workers to accept what the employer dic- believe that they can’t change this tempo-
convicted and sentenced to two life-terms diately receive the medical care that she tates. The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts rary appropriations bill, that you have to
in prison. This was despite the fact that needs, and that the care being provided lockouts into the same category as strikes, vote it up or down. If they think it’s clearly
neither of them had a prior record of ar- by the Mississippi Department of Correc- which are forbidden to public employees illegal, they do have an absolute right to
rests nor was there any physical evidence tions and Wexford Health Sources, Inc., is in New York state under the Taylor Law. vote it down and send it back.”
implicating them. wholly inadequate and substandard. When the furlough passed on May 10, Even if the governor gets everything
In spite of this, a court of appeals re- They ask that public pressure be put the four unions involved held a demon- from the unions that he and Wall Street
fused to overturn their convictions. Fur- on the following officials to demand that stration of around 5,000 people at the want — which would amount to $250 mil-
ther, the U.S. Supreme Court denied Jamie Scott be hospitalized immediately, state Capitol. They brought the inflat- lion — that still wouldn’t solve the state’s
their appeals. until she is free of infections, and to en- able rat that unions use to protest at a budget crisis. The state is going to have to
The case of the Scott Sisters demon- sure that her health problems are dealt scab work site. The four unions are the increase its revenue.
strates that pervasive and systemic racism with fully: Attorney General Eric Holder, Civil Service Employees Association; the The main target for revenue enhance-
not only exists in the Mississippi criminal Dr. Gloria Perry, Christopher Epps, com- Public Employees Federation; the United ments in New York should be Wall Street.
justice system but extends all the way up missioner of the Mississippi Department University Professions, which represents Just rebating 80 percent of the stock
to the highest court in this country. of Corrections and Mississippi Gov. Haley workers at the State University of New transfer tax would bring in $3.2 billion,
It also shows how nearly impossible Barbour. See freethescottsisters.blogspot. York; and the Professional Staff Congress, according to a union-sponsored report.
it is for many poor people, especially com for telephone, fax and email contact which represents staff and faculty at the Adding an additional tax bracket for in-
people of color, to get any semblance of information. senior colleges of the City University of comes over $1 million would bring in $1
justice or fair treatment in the courts and At this time, legal assistance is also New York. billion. These are just the two largest en-
prisons. This also extends to the lack of needed so that the Scott Sisters’ appeals The CSEA and PEF also held dem- hancements.
decent medical care for those who are in- can be reviewed and further avenues can onstrations in the following New York More than 20 states, according to
carcerated. be found for pursuing relief and exonera- state cities: Buffalo; Elmira; Hornell; Newsday of April 30, have responded to
Jamie Scott has life-threatening kid- tion. Letters should be sent to the Ameri- Rochester; Syracuse; Binghamton; Utica; the financial collapse by reducing their
ney disease. She is being denied regular can Bar Association asking for their as- Poughkeepsie; the boroughs of the Bronx, state budgets. California, Oregon and
medications and dialysis and the type of sistance in providing pro bono attorneys. Brooklyn and Manhattan in New York Hawaii in particular have succeeded in
diet required for her condition. In addi- Email addresses and a sample letter are City; Hauppauge; and Watertown. CUNY imposing furloughs. While the TRO has
tion to this, she has developed a systemic available online at the above-cited website. Contingents United held one in front of postponed the struggle in New York, the
infection. Although she was very recently A national campaign is growing to de- Manhattan’s John Jay College. Earlier the crisis is still sharp. No matter how thor-
rushed by ambulance to a hospital after mand justice for the Scott Sisters. It is PSC had held a demonstration at Pater- oughly and publicly the Democrats in the
fainting, she was returned back to prison, essential that all across the country, pro- son’s Manhattan office. state Legislature have betrayed the inter-
to a cell riddled with insects and mold. gressive organizations and individuals in- Courtney Brunelle, a political coordi- ests of working people, some labor lead-
Her family and other supporters say crease the pressure on public officials to nator for CSEA, told the demonstration in ers are still tied to their coattails.
that Scott’s health problems have pro- demand their freedom. Buffalo, “We didn’t create this mess. Wall The writer is a state worker.
workers.org_ may 27, 2010 Page 9

PuErto riCo.

Repression arouses solidarity for student strikers


By Berta Joubert-Ceci No students had ever crossed the no” (Struggle yes, surrender nev-
picket lines. Management apparently er) and “Obreros y estudiantes,
The student strike and sit-in at the Uni- hoped the “silent majority” of students unidos y adelante” (Workers and
versity of Puerto Rico, almost four weeks who had only passively supported the students united and forward).
old as of May 18, has become the main strike would reject a strike vote. HEEND, the union that rep-
political and class struggle issue on the But on May 13, students over- resents the non-teaching work-
island since UPR management stepped whelmingly voted to continue the ers of the UPR, initiated a work
up its repressive tactics. Several unions strike. The following day, manage- stoppage May 17, effectively clos-
have called for a 24-hour work stoppage ment ordered police, cadets and riot ing down the Medical Sciences
on May 18. Many unions and other orga- squads to crush the students’ deter- Campus and the Central Admin-
nizations are joining the call. mined resistance. The board and a istration offices. HEEND’s march
From the beginning, unions — like the former FBI director in Puerto Rico, stopped traffic at one of the major
university professors’ union, APPU — Police Superintendent José Figueroa avenues during the morning rush
plus social and political organizations and Sancha, ordered these forces to cor- hour. They said the stoppage will
the community in general, who regard the don off the campus. continue until the administration
UPR as a national heritage, have backed They allowed no one to enter, not meets with the students.
the student strike. Now, poets, singers even parents and sympathizers bring- The MSC had been the only one
and artists have joined the call. ing food, water, medicine and other of the 11 UPR campuses remain-
Parents have been the students’ most necessities to the students inside the ing open. Students there held
fervent supporters, going to campus now campus in a tent city. Police beat and a 24-hour solidarity strike last
that the UPR Board of Trustees has or- drove away with a student’s father week. Though they support the
WW_Photo:_JohN_CAtAliNotto
dered aggressive police tactics. They come who was bringing food to his son. New york protest in support of Puerto Rican students. strike’s goals, students at MSC are
showing affection and support, risking ar- UPR students were protesting the responsible for keeping the Medi-
rest, defying police who rough them up university’s draconian cuts and new poli- tions are keeping a 24-hour presence cal Center open — it’s the largest public
and throwing food over the police lines cies that would lead to the privatization of in front of several gates of the campus. medical institution for the poor — and de-
to their children. On videos one can see the main public university on the island. UTIER, the militant union of electrical cided not to join an indefinite strike.
the parents saying how proud they are of They want the repeal of C98, a ruling workers, set up a tent in front of one of From abroad, renowned Uruguayan
their children’s action. eliminating tuition exemptions for honor the main gates and is coordinating food writer Eduardo Galeano sent a solidar-
A week earlier it seemed as if a tentative students, athletes and others, which hurts and supplies donations. ity message to the students and a letter to
agreement was in place. On May 8, the stu- Puerto Rico’s poorest people. They de- Spanish poet and singer Joaquín Sabi- Puerto Rican Gov. Luis Fortuño. Puerto
dent negotiating committee from the Río manded transparency regarding UPR’s na made the student strike the focal point Ricans from all over the world can send
Piedras campus had met with Board Presi- fiscal operations and that the board sus- of his May 15 concert. Several Puerto Ri- messages to a Facebook page students
dent Ygri Rivera to discuss several key pend a summer-course tuition hike. can artists invited to the stage by Sabina opened. Messages and websites from
points. Before the ink dried, however, the On April 19, the student negotiating joined with the legendary Silverio Pérez, Cuba and other Latin American countries
UPR administration, quoting their own committee sent UPR President José de la who invited all artists to show up the fol- have been circulating over the Internet.
interpretation of a vaguely written agree- Torre a letter with a detailed list of pro- lowing morning in front of the UPR to defy The Boston School Bus Drivers Union
ment, turned around and broke off talks. posals that could avert fiscal crisis. After the cops by bringing food to the students. faxed a letter to Fortuño condemning the
Students had been about to call a general a 48-hour stoppage failed to bring the ad- That day famous Puerto Rican artists, repression and asking that the students’
student body meeting to ratify the accord. ministration to negotiate, students began student athletes, unions and other politi- demands be heard.
According to their own interpretation the strike on April 23. cal organizations and the general popula-
of the agreement, the board made almost tion all participated in a very lively picket Political issues behind the strike
no substantive changes to their original Police aggression boomerangs line with slogans and songs shouted to the The financial and economic crisis that
proposal, which had been rejected by the Since the increase of repression start- rhythm of congas, amplified by gigantic erupted in the U.S. unleashed a tsunami
students, leading to the strike. ing May 14, many unions and organiza- speakers. They shouted “Lucha sí, entrega Continued on page 11

As thai army threatens bloodbath


Workers, farmers risk lives in political battle
By John Catalinotto barricades of burning tires in the capital percent of its reconnaissance and bomb- and hold elections — which they expect to
and on some of the roads throughout the ing raids against North Vietnam from its win — the regime is giving them no such
May 18 — The rural and urban poor country. seven Thai bases and used the country as choice at this time. It refuses to guarantee
of Thailand have entered the political Bangkok, the Thai capital, is home to 15 a rest and recreation area for its troops. their safety or impunity from prosecution.
arena in unprecedented numbers. Even million of the 67 million Thais. It is where The Pentagon maintains close ties with This may make a bloody confrontation in-
a threatened bloodbath by the military- the political fate of the country is usually the Thai military, which has more than 1 evitable.
backed regime may not be able to reverse determined. The red-shirts are also very million conscript troops. If the troops are ordered to slaugh-
the impact of this awakening. Whatever strong in the rural Northeast of Thailand, The leader of the opposition party, the ter the people, and the people refuse to
the immediate outcome of the confronta- however, and even if defeated in the capi- United Front for Democracy Against Dic- retreat, this creates a testing point for
tion of urban and rural poor with the Thai tal could continue an uprising from there. tatorship or UDD, is former Primer Min- military discipline. The class and family
military in Bangkok, this struggle will Not only the government party but also ister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted interests of the soldiers and lower officers
change the political climate and weaken the leading opposition politicians have by a coup in 2006. Thaksin is himself an place them closer to the red-shirts than to
U.S. imperialism’s role in Thailand. kept Thailand a loyal cog in the world im- enormously wealthy telecommunications the elitist regime.
Thousands of poor rural and urban perialist system. As in any mass action, entrepreneur. He has a reputation as a According to a May 17 Reuters report,
Thais, called the red-shirts because they political leadership in the current stand- populist, however, as his government “Large numbers of soldiers of lower ranks
wear red T-shirts, have been occupying off remains extremely important. Never- provided nearly free health care and other and some senior officers who have been
posh areas of the capital since March, de- theless, the opposition has opened a mass benefits to the very poor and won record sidelined after Thaksin was toppled sym-
manding that the current government re- struggle both in Bangkok and in the rural voting support in 2005. pathized with the protesters, while the
sign and there be new elections. After one provinces that may escape these bounds. military’s top brass are at the other end of
sharp clash in April, in which the military Regime threatens firepower the political spectrum, allied with royal-
killed about 20 protesters, a stalemate be- Background of Thailand Current Prime Minister Abhisit Vejja- ists and business elites.” While the Brit-
tween the military-backed regime and the In the 19th century the British and French jiva represents the traditional Thai elite. ish and U.S. media always speak in the
mass-backed opposition lasted until mid- imperialists took over most of South and He is in power through a coup and relies name of democracy, the article reflects
May. Southeast Asia, dividing it up into their col- on the military to keep him there. Com- the real concerns of the imperialists as it
There was evidence that individual onies. Thailand, however, which was called menting on Thai television on May 15, warns: “If the army fails to quell the un-
soldiers in the conscript army as well as Siam until 1939, remained a nominally in- Abhisit said, “We cannot retreat now.” It rest, other fissures in Thai society could
some officers were reluctant to be used to dependent monarchy and buffer between was a threat to use the military’s full force flare into the open, pushing the crisis
repress a popular uprising. French Indochina and British-controlled against the civilian demonstrators. dangerously close to a long-discussed
Starting on May 13, troops opened Burma and India. Following World War On May 13, a Thai army sniper shot and much-feared tipping point toward a
fire on the demonstrators. Over the next II, U.S. imperialism replaced its European Major Gen. Khattya Sawasdipol in the mass underclass uprising.”
four days they killed another 37 people as colonialist counterparts as the big outside head, a half hour into an interview with On the other hand, the Thai regime
they sniped at protest leaders and media power in the region. New York Times reporter Stephen Fuller, and the top generals know that if the
reporters, along with rank-and-file pro- The Pentagon was unable to stop the whose head was also grazed by the shot. government cracks down to try to quell
testers. The troops have overwhelming people of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia Gen. Khattya was the highest officer to the protest, it may unleash a protracted
firepower. Demonstrators have been cou- from winning independence, but it held have joined the opposition. struggle that involves the mass of urban
rageously fighting back, using hand-made onto its military bases in Thailand. During While the leadership of the UDD has and rural poor of Thailand in determin-
explosives and firebombs and setting up the war against Vietnam, the U.S. flew 80 offered to compromise to end the standoff ing their own destiny.
Page_10_ may_27,_2010_ workers.org

WORKERS WORLD

editorial An appreciation
No good war Lena Horne
civil rights pioneer on &
W
ith 30 million under- and iban,” thus leading to a pro-imperialist
unemployed, cops shooting
Black children in Detroit,
settlement and eventual withdrawal of
U.S.-NATO troops. off the screen
Arizona persecuting immigrants, all The highly publicized invasion of
states and cities cutting education, pen- Marja province followed. A public rela-
sions and health care, and an oil slick tions “success,” it was a military nothing
By Monica Moorehead
destroying one of the most beautiful and a political disaster.
Just days before the great
and fecund bodies of water on earth, it’s An even bigger offensive is now
Lena Horne passed away on
understandable if people lose track of promised for Kandahar, another public
May 9 at the age of 92, I was
U.S. imperialism’s foreign adventures. relations “turning point” for the war.
watching one of my all-time fa-
But it’s necessary to constantly bring Responding to the U.S.-NATO of-
vorite movie musicals, “Stormy
the struggle against war and occupation fensive, Afghan resistance fighters
Weather.” The groundbreaking
back to the front burners. struck two sensitive spots: the capital,
1943 movie featured an incred-
With the Pentagon still occupying Kabul, and the U.S. Air Field at Bagram,
ibly talented all-Black cast that
Iraq and Afghanistan, still threaten- infamous as a torture place for prison-
included Horne, then a 26-year- Top, Horne singing “Stormy Weather,” her signature song
ing Iran and the Democratic People’s ers of the Pentagon war machine. Five
old singer, and the legendary in 1943 movie, and at 1963 March on Washington.
Republic of Korea — and still probing U.S. troops and a Canadian colonel died
tap dancer Bill “Bojangles” Rob-
every other part of the world — there is in the Kabul explosion, along with many
inson. Also in the cast were Cab Calloway sions. These organizations and others were
always the possibility that ugly impe- others, and at least five U.S. troops
and his orchestra, the Nicholas Brothers dubbed “Communist fronts” by the House
rialist war will replace the economic or were wounded in a firefight at the well-
and the Katherine Dunham dance troupe. Un-American Activities Committee during
domestic political headlines. This week guarded base. The deaths brought U.S.
Notwithstanding the degrading, stereo- the anti-Communist witch-hunt era.
in mid-May, the almost nine-year-old troops killed in Afghanistan to 1,000,
typical characters that African-American Horne was “blacklisted,” like countless
occupation of Afghanistan is back in the half of them in the last two years of the
actors, male and female, were forced to play other entertainers, and labeled as a Com-
front pages. nine-year occupation.
in this movie and countless others put out munist sympathizer by the McCarthyites.
Last December, the Obama admin- The message for everyone is that the
by Hollywood, especially during the 1930s For seven years, she was unable to find
istration escalated the U.S. military U.S.-NATO war and occupation have
and 1940s, Horne consistently refused to work in the movies or on television. In-
presence in that Central Asian country, aroused a resistance movement based in
be straightjacketed in such roles. stead, she sang in nightclubs and concert
sending 30,000 more official troops and a large sector of the Afghan masses and
In fact, due to her extraordinary talent, halls. She also made records and albums.
an unknown number of mercenaries. It that this resistance is not only justified,
stunning good looks, perseverance and Horne took numerous individual stanc-
even dragged some of Washington’s re- it can inflict casualties on the occupa-
defiance, Horne became the first Black es against racist discrimination. During a
luctant NATO allies into the war, along tion troops.
actor to be signed to a long-term contract USO show in 1945 at an Army base at Fort
with some now rightist-ruled Eastern The message to the U.S. progressive
by a major Hollywood studio: seven years Reilly, Kan., she refused to sing before a
European states. and anti-war movement is that ending
with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. During the segregated audience when African-Ameri-
The administration said a strong the Afghan war better stay on our front
mid-1940s, she became the highest-paid can GIs were forced to sit behind German
show of NATO force and military suc- burners even as we intervene in and
Black performer in the U.S. prisoners of war.
cess would split the Afghan resistance, develop the struggle for jobs and against
Before she made history, Horne started Lena Horne performed in some of the
which it always refers to as “the Tal- racism at home.
her show business career as a singer at the most prestigious concert halls around the
Cotton Club in Harlem at the age of 16. world. Her fame, however, did not prevent
The club’s white management practiced a her from being confronted with racism

BP oil spill & capitalism racist policy of hiring Black female danc- in the U.S., whether in the North or the
ers — mainly light-skinned — to perform South. When she overheard a white man
in scanty clothing for whites-only custom- call her a racist epithet in a Los Angeles
Continued from page 2 ers. At the club, Horne sang with the great nightclub, she injured him by throwing an
centrated in few hands … . The result
jazz pianist and composer Duke Elling- ashtray, a table lamp and drinking glasses
replaced a progressive government in of these developments is an oligarchy
ton and his orchestra. She then made her at him. Many Black people applauded her
Iran with the shah. BP’s long list of envi- of private capital, the enormous power
Broadway debut in 1934. response.
ronmental and industrial accidents, for of which cannot be effectively checked
Before her breakthrough major role in When Black performers, including
which it received only token fines, belies even by a democratically organized po-
“Stormy Weather,” Horne could get only Horne, faced racism from white neigh-
the company’s rhetoric about social re- litical society … . The consequence is that
nonspeaking, singing roles in musicals. bors in Hollywood, “’Felix Young, a white
sponsibility. the representatives of the people do not
She was viewed by Vogue Magazine as man, signed for the house as if he was go-
Although the Barack Obama admin- in fact sufficiently protect the interests
“Hollywood’s first black beauty, sex sym- ing to rent it,’ Ms. Horne said. ‘When the
istration and many in the U.S. Con- of the underprivileged sections of the
bol, singing star.” neighbors found out, Humphrey Bogart,
gress have delivered scathing criticisms population.” (“Why Socialism,” Monthly
In her 1965 autobiography “Lena,” she who lived right across the street from me,
of BP and demanded that it pay for the Review, 1949)
remarked on how Hollywood treated her: raised hell with them for passing around a
cleanup, it is doubtful that, absent a de- What is needed is an end to the capi-
“They didn’t make me into a maid, but petition to get rid of me.’ Bogart, she said,
termined struggle from below, there will talist system and its replacement with a
they didn’t make me into anything else ei- ‘sent word over to the house that if any-
be much accountability. Already, the new system, socialism, that is based on
ther. I became a butterfly pinned to a col- body bothered me, please let him know.’”
government has announced that deep- peoples’ needs instead of profits. Social-
umn singing away in Movieland. (New York Times, May 9)
sea drilling will continue in the Gulf. ism cannot guarantee that there will
“I was unique in that I was a kind of In 1963, Lena Horne participated in the
As usual, society at large — the working never be natural disasters, or even hu-
black that white people could accept. I was historic March on Washington for civil
class — will end up paying the costs. man-made ones. But socialist planning,
their daydream. I had the worst kind of rights led by Dr. Martin Luther King. She
In 1949, an eminent scientist, Albert which takes responsibility for the entire
acceptance because it was never for how also sang at many civil rights rallies, in-
Einstein, noted the contradictions be- society, represents the only hope for hu-
great I was or what I contributed. It was cluding one held in the aftermath of the
tween nature and society on the one manity to solve the enormous social and
because of the way I looked.” (Los Angeles 1965 Selma to Montgomery march.
hand and big business on the other: environmental problems the world faces
Times, May 10) Lena Horne was admired around the
“Private capital tends to become con- today.
A monumental travesty that Hollywood world, not only for her talent but for her
committed was when, in 1950, MGM did integrity and her anti-racist activism. In

hAiti: not even offer Horne the role of Julie, a 1964, Cuban filmmaker Santiago Álva-
“mulatto” character, in the movie musical rez cut a five-minute political film called
A Slave revolution “Show Boat.” The role went to white actor “Now,” a powerful montage of Civil
Ava Gardner, who used brownish make- Rights-era photos and news clips set to the
200 Years after 1804 up. In an earlier anthology film, “As the moving voice of Horne. (blackleftunity.
Look for the release of a second edition Clouds Roll By,” Horne had been allowed webs.com/westandwithcuba.htm)
that includes aristide’s kidnapping by to perform a song as Julie. At the age of 80, Horne reflected, “My
the U.S. and the 2010 earthquake. Surviving McCarthyism; identity is very clear to me now. I am a
First published in 2004 as a joint project of the standing up for civil rights black woman. I’m free. I no longer have
International Action Center and the Haiti Sup- In the early 1940s, Horne became good to be a ‘credit.’ I don’t have to be a sym-
port Network. This is not a traditional history friends with actor-singer and political ac- bol to anybody; I don’t have to be a first to
book or textbook, but a people’s history. In the tivist Paul Robeson and with Black leftist anybody. I don’t have to be an imitation
preface the editors state: “This book is going to historian W.E.B. Du Bois. As a result of of a white woman that Hollywood sort of
combat 200 years of racist indoctrination and her friendship with them, along with other hoped I’d become. I’m me, and I’m like
propaganda about the Haitian Revolution. It is progressives such as Gene Kelly, Horne be- nobody else.” (New York Times, May 9)
essential to challenge these stereotypes in order came involved in progressive organizations From now on, whenever I see “Stormy
to build true, informed solidarity with Haiti.” Cur- like the Council for African Affairs and the Weather,” I will continue to feel a greater
rently out of print, “Haiti: A Slave Revolution” can Hollywood Independent Citizens’ Com- appreciation for it thanks to the one and
Will be available at Leftbooks.org
mittee of the Arts, Sciences and Profes- only Lena Horne.
and bookstores around the country be read online at www.iacenter.org/haiti.
workers.org_ may 27, 2010 Page 11

47 years after liberation


imperialism, in decline,
still trying to dominate African peoples
By Abayomi Azikiwe actual contraction in GDP, increased fiscal production and the unequal distribution growth and development.
Editor, Pan-African News Wire pressures, increased pressure on currency of power and resources require the total In his book issued at the founding OAU
reserves, rising levels of protection, rising mobilization of the masses to demand that summit in May 1963, Nkrumah wrote,
The Organization of African Unity was current account deficits, declining credit the rich pay for the crisis that they created. “The fall in world prices of raw materials
formed on May 25, 1963, in Addis Ababa. and other financial flows as well as declin- We have seen demands raised in Greece since the end of the Second World War has
Thus this May 25 is the 47th anniversary ing asset quality. (The Global Financial and the escalation of industrial actions in deprived the less developed countries of
of Africa Liberation Day, since the OAU’s Crisis and the Caribbean: Impact and Re- South Africa that echo the same theme: the staggering sum of 574 billion [pound
founding took place in the framework of sponse, CDB Response, March 19, 2009) that the decline in the standard of living sterling], an amount greater than all the
the overall struggle for national indepen- In the United States, the African-Amer- of working people and the oppressed is so-called aid which these countries have
dence on the continent and in the Caribbe- ican people have suffered to the greatest the direct result of the failed policies of received from the advanced nations.” (Nk-
an, as well as the African-American free- degree from the capitalist economic crisis the capitalist class worldwide. rumah, “Africa Must Unite,” p. 109, 1963)
dom movement inside the United States. with the highest level of unemployment, Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Nkrumah continued by pointing out
In 2010 there are 53 member states on loss of homes, health care and pension the Republic of Ghana, and leading theo- that “This in itself represents a denial of
the African continent which reconsolidat- benefits, in addition to attacks on public retician and tactician of the African Revo- tremendous capital for much-wanted de-
ed in 2002 as the African Union. In the education and municipal services. It is lution, stated at the founding of the OAU velopment that would not have happened
Caribbean there are more than 12 inde- important to also note that African Ameri- in 1963 that the root of the problem of un- had we newly emergent states been united
pendent states in CARICOM, a regional cans have a disproportionately high rate derdevelopment lies with the Western im- and strong enough to make our bargain-
organization, in addition to revolutionary of incarceration and victimization by law perialist states. Nkrumah recognized that ing on the international commodity mar-
Cuba, which played a decisive role in the enforcement. Africa and the world had to move toward kets effective.”
total liberation of southern Africa dur- Although politicians in the leading socialism in order to ensure real economic Next: Challenges to imperialism.

.
ing the 1970s and 1980s. In the United capitalist states and other apologists for
States, since 1963, the African-American capitalism have repeated that the world
people have won through mass struggle recession is over and a recovery is un- PuErto riCo
the passage of several civil rights and vot- derway, unemployment and home losses
ing rights laws that led to the election of
thousands of political officials.
Nonetheless, world imperialism, led
remain high in all the affected countries.
The European Union and the Interna-
tional Monetary Fund in May announced
Repression arouses solidarity
for student strikers
by the U.S. ruling class, still seeks to a trillion-euro bailout of the currency sys-
dominate the domestic affairs and foreign tem, which was threatened by Greece’s in-
policy of African nations and the lives of ability to repay sovereign debt. In Greece,
peoples of African descent throughout the millions of workers have taken to the Continued from page 9
world. With the deepening of the global streets to oppose the austerity measures on Puerto Rico, reaffirming the old adage:
economic crisis that began in the U.S. being imposed by the state. “When the USA has a cold, Puerto Rico
during 2007, the African people are facing This same bailout of the banks and cor- gets pneumonia.” As Puerto Rico’s econ-
monumental challenges in their historical porations has continued in the U.S. since omy is tightly tied to that of the U.S., the
efforts to reverse the impact of slavery, co- 2008, when the capitalist state at the colony has no independent recourse.
lonialism and neo-colonialism. behest of the financial institutions pro- There is a financial crisis for the island
A 2009 report by the organization of vided $10 trillion in direct giveaways and and a political crisis for the current admin-
African Finance Ministers and Central injections of liquidity to stave off a total istration. On May 14, the Labor Depart-
Bank Governors that was established to collapse. At present the public education ment reported that Puerto Rico’s official
monitor the crisis said that, “Although system, K-12 as well as colleges and uni- unemployment in April was 16.9 percent.
most African countries are not on track to versities, has imposed huge layoffs, ser- This follows massive layoffs, including
meet Millennium Development Goals (to vice cuts and school closings. Fortuño’s layoff of more than 30,000 pub-
lessen poverty), Africa had made steady Secretary of Education Arne Duncan lic workers. Last Oct. 15, unions protested
progress over the last decade, building the of the Obama administration recently an- the layoff announcement with a national
foundations for higher growth and pov- nounced that K-12 institutions across the stoppage.
erty reduction. This more optimistic pic- U.S. need hundreds of billions of dollars Gov. Fortuño, of the pro-statehood
ture is now being undermined by factors in order to avoid the layoffs of another New Progressive Party — with a strong
outside its control.” (African Perspectives 300,000 teachers and other educational affiliation to the Republican Party in the
and Recommendations to the G20, March workers. At the same time, bankers and U.S. — has imposed Law No. 7, suppos-
21, 2009) other corporate interests are allowed to edly to solve the serious fiscal crisis. This
This analysis of the way the continent bankrupt cities through demanding cut- law calls for new taxes and, in the end,
WW_Photo:_JohN_CAtAliNotto

backs and high debt service payments to Workers World Party participated in NyC
has been affected by the world capitalist massive layoffs. Later he also imposed
shore up a failing system. picket supporting Puerto Rico student strike.
crisis continues by saying, “While the ini- the law of Private-Public Alliances, which
tial effects of the financial crisis were slow This crisis is further impounded by effectively gives control of Puerto Rico’s part of the class struggle in Puerto Rico
to materialize in Africa, the impact is now the huge Pentagon budget of the United main resources to private businesses in a during a crucial and historic time in the
becoming clear. It is sweeping away firms, States, which outstrips all other states massive privatization offensive, damaging island, when the government loyally fol-
mines, jobs, revenues, and livelihoods; it is throughout the world combined. The U.S. workers’ interests. lows Wall Street’s dictates.
in short a full-blown development crisis.” so-called “war on terrorism” has been No public institution has been left un- Karlo García, coordinator of the Río
In the executive summary of this re- an unmitigated disaster for not only the touched. Fortuño’s attention is focused Piedras Chapter of the Pro-Independence
port it goes as far as stating, “For the first peoples of Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, most on those institutions that have stood University Federation (FUPI), echoed
time in a decade there will be zero growth Colombia, Yemen, etc., but is resulting in up to past administrations and represent these sentiments. García spoke to WW on
per capita. This note provides evidence of a precipitous decline in the social wages of independent, nationalist views. Exam- May 17 from the encampment at UPR Río
the effects, and suggests action needed. working people and the oppressed. ples include the College of Lawyers, the Piedras while cleaning and straighten-
For Africa no less than elsewhere time Puerto Rican Institute of Culture and the
Unity of purpose and action needed ing up the grounds. Proudly he described
is of essence; decisive remedial action is UPR. These three have historically been the daily tasks that the students carry out
needed now.” With the worsening crisis in world capi- outspoken centers against repression and while occupying the campus, keeping it
In the West Indies, the Caribbean De- talism, the only real path available to the colonialism. free of garbage and in complete order be-
velopment Bank issued a report on the working and oppressed peoples through- Well-known Puerto Rican attorney Sal- cause “this is our university and we want
“Global Financial Crisis,” which identified out the world, including Africa, the Carib- vador Tío told Workers World that the re- to keep it clean.
key areas where the impact has been felt in bean and the U.S., is the development of a actionary wealthy class of Puerto Rico sees “We are struggling so that public edu-
this region. The report points to the decline broad-based movement to fight the prob- the UPR as a breeding ground for “com- cation is not sold out. This struggle has
in gross domestic product growth rates, an lem at its source. The phenomena of over- munists and troublemakers,” a “place of transcended to a political level; this is an
subversion,” and that their vicious attack issue of class. A sector of the bourgeoisie
intended to privatize the university arises with their neoliberal project want to sell
SubscribetoWorkersWorld from this. Many Puerto Ricans say that the university, but the working class re-
Eight weeks trial $4 One year $25 the government aims to sell as many UPR jects that because it understands that the
WW_Photo:_moNiCA_moorEhEAd

units as possible to Fortuño’s pal José UPR is the heritage of the working class
Name_ _______________________________________
Mendez, the wealthy owner of the private in Puerto Rico and will not tolerate its ca-
Phone_ __________Email_ ________________________ Ana G. Méndez Education System. pricious selling to a few.”
Address_______________________________________ Norberto Cintrón Fiallo, president of Under these conditions, the struggle of
City/State/Zip__ ________________________________ the Caribbean and Latin-American Coor- the UPR students on all 11 campuses is
Workers World Newspaper 212.627.2994 dinating Committee, a socialist and labor spreading like wildfire.
55 W. 17th St. #5C, NY, NY 10011 workers.org leader, told WW that the UPR strike is Email: bjceci@workers.org
Mndo obrero ¡Proletarios y oprimidos de todos los países, uníos!

rescate europeo confirma que


la crisis capitalista se está extendiendo
Los/as trabajadores/as deben unirse para
luchar contra los ataques de los banqueros
Por Fred Goldstein financieros del mundo capitalista ya no situación de deuda insostenible, los ban- sistema está siempre al borde del colapso,
prestarán dinero a estos gobiernos o van queros quieren que los gobiernos de Gre- como muestra la reciente crisis en Europa.
El mensaje más importante que la clase a cobrar tasas de interés tan altas que los cia, Portugal y España recorten aún más
trabajadora debería recibir del reciente gobiernos no pueden pedir prestado. a la clase obrera como precio del rescate. Desenmascarando la “recuperación
rescate europeo y de los altibajos de los Pero los gobiernos tienen que pedir Mientras que los bancos en Europa y de empleos”
mercados de valores, es que el capitalismo prestado para poder pagar las deudas en en EEUU siguen cosechando cientos de El gobierno y los medios de comuni-
está fracasando como un sistema económi- que han incurrido por préstamos anteri- miles de millones en ganancias, el des- cación corporativos en Estados Unidos
co y ahora es el momento para que la clase ores. Así que quedan atrapados en una empleo en Grecia está oficialmente alre- estaban glorificando las grandes cifras del
trabajadora emprenda una lucha. trampa deudora que podría llevar a la dedor del 10 por ciento. Igual en Portugal “crecimiento de empleos” cuando surgió
Los gobiernos capitalistas europeos y el morosidad de sus préstamos. Por eso, lo y alrededor del 20 por ciento en España. la crisis europea. Esa dosis de realidad
Fondo Monetario Internacional han teni- que está ocurriendo en Europa es en re- Esta es la cifra oficial de desempleo, lo provocó la sobriedad a todos los que esta-
do que comprometerse a poner hasta 980 alidad un rescate de los bancos. que significa que, como en EEUU, la cifra ban intoxicados con la “recuperación” del
miles de millones de dólares para man- está muy por debajo del desempleo real. sistema.
tener a los gobiernos de Grecia, Portugal Apuestas altas para Wall St. y Washington Esta es una crisis para la clase obrera y los Habían brindado por la supuesta cre-
y España financieramente a flote. Los te- Wall Street y Washington también patronos quieren empeorarla. ación de 290.000 empleos estadoun-
mores de un inminente incumplimiento tienen un gran interés en este asunto. Eso es lo que está impulsando la he- idenses en el mes de abril. Una evalu-
de la deuda por el gobierno de Grecia y La administración ejerció una enorme roica y pertinaz resistencia de la clase tra- ación más seria de estas cifras trae poco
las amenazas de futuros incumplimientos presión para reunir el rescate de billones bajadora griega que ha salido a las calles consuelo a los/as trabajadores/as. De los
por Portugal y España, provocaron una (millones de millones en USA) de dólares. para detener los ataques a sus pensiones, 290.000 empleos, 62.000 eran empleos a
reunión de emergencia de los Ministros El presidente Barack Obama estuvo en a su fecha de jubilación, a sus salarios y a corto plazo para el trabajo del censo po-
de Finanzas europeos y una fuerte inter- el teléfono con la primera ministra ale- su nivel de vida. blacional. Según el gobierno, 150.000 tra-
vención de Washington. mana Angela Merkel, presionándola para De hecho, el plan de rescate griego esta- bajadores/as nuevos/as entran a la fuerza
Dieciséis países utilizan el euro, que que renunciara a su oposición del res- ba destinado a detener el contagio de una laboral cada mes. Así que de los 290.000
está controlado por el Banco Central cate. La capital alemana tiene que ser un quiebra financiera y una crisis económi- empleos nuevos creados, solo quedarían
Europeo como una moneda común. Ese prestamista importante bajo el plan. ca. Pero también tenía por objetivo evitar 80.000 para los/as desempleados/as.
banco convino en hacer o garantizar 575 Obama también estuvo en contacto el contagio de la lucha de clases, lo que Éste no pone ni una mella en el número
miles de millones de dólares en présta- telefónico con el presidente francés, Nico- fácilmente podría crecer entre las clases de trabajadores/as que están desemplea-
mos. La Unión Europea en su totalidad, lás Sarkozy. El vicepresidente Joseph obreras militantes del sur de Europa. dos/as, subempleados/as o que se han
compuesta de 27 naciones, prometió 80 Biden se reunió con el Primer Ministro La clase trabajadora griega luchó con- desanimados por no encontrar empleo y
miles de millones de dólares adicionales, español José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. tra la ocupación nazi y la contrarrevolu- se han salido de la fuerza laboral. Esta ci-
y el FMI acordó poner otros 325 miles de El secretario del Tesoro, Timothy Geith- ción respaldada por Bretaña después de fra, llamada desempleo total o U6 por el
millones. Esto supuestamente cubrirá los ner, presionó a los ministros de finanzas, la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Cuando las Buró de Estadística Laboral, está en 30
déficits públicos de esos tres países de mientras que la Reserva Federal se com- colonias africanas y asiáticas de Portugal millones. De hecho, la tasa ordinaria de
Europa del sur y otra deuda en peligro del prometió a suplir dólares a varios bancos estaban luchando y ganando su libertad, desempleo subió del 9,7 por ciento a un
gobierno durante los próximos tres años. centrales europeos en un intercambio de la clase obrera de Portugal estaba metida 9,9 por ciento el mes pasado, y aún más
monedas para que pudieran hacer los pa- en un levantamiento revolucionario que importante, la cifra de desempleo total
El rescate del gobierno es rescate bancario gos en dólares, si fuera necesario. llegó al borde de una revolución proletar- subió del 16,9 por ciento al 17,1 por ciento.
El objetivo real es para asegurarse que La urgencia de la intervención de ia en 1974. Los/as trabajadores/as en Es- Puede que haya una recuperación en
estos gobiernos puedan pagar sus deudas Washington se presentó por el hecho de paña lucharon contra el régimen fascista las ganancias y negocios capitalistas, pero
a los bancos. Así que el rescate del gobi- que bancos de EEUU tienen $3,6 billones de Franco y llevaron a cabo una heroica no está resultando en emplear de nuevo
erno es también rescate de los bancos, expuestos en los bancos europeos, incluy- resistencia clandestina durante décadas. a los/as millones de trabajadores/as que
encaminado a impedir un colapso finan- endo $1 billón en Francia y Alemania y Estos tres países constituyen las partes perdieron sus puestos. Además, la posi-
ciero global del tipo que casi tuvo lugar $200 miles de millones en España, según más pobres, más clasistas, y más militan- bilidad de una recuperación masiva de la
cuando Lehman Brothers fracasó en los el Bank for International Settlements. tes de Europa. Una lucha en el sur po- producción capitalista y de los empleos se
Estados Unidos en septiembre de 2008. Una cadena de incumplimientos de pago dría fácilmente extenderse hacia el norte, ha eliminado de la agenda histórica.
Bancos y aseguradoras europeas poseen originados por el incumplimiento de Gre- donde los/as trabajadores/as han estado En su lugar, el sistema va tambaleán-
193 miles de millones de dólares en deuda cia y de otros gobiernos pondría en peligro bajo constante presión de las clases gober- dose de crisis en crisis. La única salida
del gobierno griego. Pero también tienen los bancos de EEUU y podrían ocasionar nantes de Alemania, Francia y Bretaña. para los/as trabajadores/as es seguir el
240 miles de millones de dólares en deuda una nueva crisis financiera en Wall Street. camino de la clase trabajadora griega y
del gobierno de Portugal y 832 miles de Además, un colapso económico en Eu- El capitalismo depende del estado no permitir que los patronos y los bancos
millones de España. Grandes bancos eu- ropa podría golpear a las corporaciones para mantenerse vivo pongan sus crisis en nuestras espaldas.
ropeos también tienen inversiones que estadounidenses que exportan a esos Lo que muestra esta reciente crisis es Los/as trabajadores/as deben rehu-
están en peligro en bancos griegos. países. Más de una cuarta parte de las ga- la total dependencia de la clase capitalista sar ser esclavizados/as por el “mercado
Gran parte de esta deuda fue incur- nancias de las 500 principales empresas en Europa, Estados Unidos y Japón, en el de empleos” capitalista donde cada día
rida durante los períodos de expansión del índice Standard & Poor’s provienen estado como soporte fundamental para tienen que vender su mano de obra a al-
económica. Aunque la crisis económica de las exportaciones — muchos de ellas mantener al sistema. Los estados capital- gún patrón o sino enfrentar el rechazo y
capitalista ha reducido la base fiscal de a Europa. Así que la presión para este istas tienen que acuñar dinero para pre- el desempleo. El empleo debe ser un dere-
los gobiernos, los bancos todavía quieren rescate por parte de la administración star a los bancos y a gobiernos debilitados cho, un derecho político. Si los capitalis-
su libra de carne, aunque venga de los re- Obama no era para salvar a Europa, sino solo para impedir temporalmente las crisis tas no pueden dar empleos a los/as traba-
cortes en los servicios, los salarios de los/ para salvar a Wall Street y a los grandes catastróficas que traen devastación a los/ jadores/as, el gobierno debe garantizar un
as trabajadores/as públicos, las pensio- industrialistas de los EEUU. as trabajadores/as y los/as oprimidos/as. empleo o un ingreso a cada persona que
nes y los beneficios. El sur de Europa está Al final de esta cadena financiera es- Pero acudir a la máquina impresora lo necesite, un empleo con dignidad y un
experimentando crisis presupuestarias y tán los/as trabajadores/as. Los bancos no crea ningún valor. Solo los/as traba- sueldo suficiente para vivir.
recortes similares a aquellas que tienen han estado sangrando a los gobiernos de jadores/as crean valor. La Unión Euro- Si el capitalismo no lo puede hacer, en-
lugar en California, Michigan, Rhode Is- la Europa meridional. Esto significa el pea, el Banco Central Europeo, el Sistema tonces ya es hora de derrocar el sistema.
land, Illinois y muchos otros estados en sangrado de los/as trabajadores/as que de Reserva Federal Estadounidense y el Goldstein es escritor del libro “Low
los Estados Unidos. crean la riqueza y el valor que va al tesoro Ministerio de Hacienda pueden imprimir Wage Capitalism”, un análisis marx-
Las agencias crediticias han bajado la de los gobiernos y termina siendo pagado dinero para prestarle a los bancos y res- ista de la globalización y sus efectos en
categoría de los bonos del gobierno griego en intereses. Los gobiernos capitalistas catarlos solamente por un tiempo. Pero la la clase trabajadora estadounidense.
a calidad de “bonos basura”, y la clasifi- son conductos para la transferencia de sobreproducción capitalista, el lento cre- También ha escrito varios artículos y ha
cación del crédito de Portugal y España riquezas de los/as trabajadores/as hacia cimiento y la estancación económica están dado charlas sobre la crisis económica
está cayendo. Eso significa que los ban- los banqueros. estrangulando el sistema y creando un de- actual. Para más información, vea www.
queros y otros tiburones de préstamos Ahora que los gobiernos están en una sempleo masivo a largo plazo. Además, el lowwagecapitalism.com

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