(2019-03-05). Tea workers demand hike in minimum wages in India. peoplesdispatch.org Hundreds of tea workers, hailing from the state of Assam, gathered in the national capital of India on March 4, to protest the discrimination that workers suffer at the hands of the owners on a daily basis. The protesters demanded implementation of minimum wages and entitlement to legal framework to change the working conditions. | Under the banners of Chaaybagan Sangram Samity and Chah Mukti Sangram Samiti, the tea workers, associated with the Darjeeling Hills Terai Dooars, insisted that the dwellers reopen the closed tea garden and pay the dues. While calling for an end to discrimination, in terms of contractua…
(2019-03-05). Miss Trans Chile Accuses Network of Discrimination. telesurenglish.net Sunday's new season of Masterchef Chile featured their Miss World winner, Antonia Figueroa, and Miss Trans Chile Fernanda Munoz. However, while network executives highlighted Figueroa's accolades, they – according to Munoz, neglected her achievements, while she questioned if Canal 13 want to promote transgender people on their network. | RELATED: | UK Swimming Legend: Transgender Athletes 'Should Not Compete' | According to ElDesconcierto, Munoz felt censored and therefore couldn…
(2019-03-05). UN: Women Losing Colombian Congressional Seats, Representation. telesurenglish.net United Nations Women in Colombia has come out with a report showing that women decreasingly have a seat at the table in Congress. | RELATED: | Another Colombian Social Leader Dead, Trade Union Mourns | "The right of women to participate politically should not be limited to voting (…) It also involves the right to participate, to be elected … free of discrimination and violence in all spaces where public affairs are deliberated and decided," reads a part of the report. | The Colomb…
(2019-03-05). "Political racism is why West has not given a chance to Venezuelan process" peoplesdispatch.org Venezuelan ambassador to Ecuador, Carol Delgado Arria, talked to Peoples Dispatch about how political racism has affected the treatment of Venezuela and Bolivarian leaders such as Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro.
(2019-03-05). Abolish the Prison System. counterpunch.org America is the authoritarian carceral state par excellence, ignominious the world over for the zeal with which she imprisons her citizens, for the absurdity of her criminal charges and sentences, for the stark racial disparities that characterize her cynical applications of "justice." It is ironic that the United States should bear the honorific title "land of the free" More
(2019-03-05). Abolish the Prison System. zcomm.org America is a place where one's life can be utterly ruined, cast into the black hole of arrests, prisons, and parole, for the most trifling offences, particularly if one happens to have the wrong color skin…
(2019-03-05). Santa Cruz, CA: Keepin' It Real? "Big Joe" Netro and Steve Schlicht Partner Up for Hate. indybay.org In Santa Cruz, the latest hate blog masquerading as a public safety blog is "Santa Cruz, CA: Keepin' It Real". Published on Facebook and Twitter, the blog has gradually been gaining followers since its founding in 2017 by an individual writing anonymously under the pen name "Big Joe 77". Big Joe 77's real name is Joe Netro, and he's a self-described "cop" retired from working 26 years as a correctional officer at Soledad state prison. The blog features reposted crime reports local to the Santa Cruz area, as well as regular "court watch" features in which Netro publishes information gathered from criminal court re…
(2019-03-05). How award-winning Palestinian poet found her 'magic pen' in an Israeli jail. greenleft.org.au 
Four months after her release from an Israeli prison, Palestinian poet and photographer Dareen Tatour received the Oxfam Novib PEN Award for Freedom of Expression in The Hague in January. Oxfam Novib, the Dutch affiliate of the international charity Oxfam, said it awarded Tatour the prize to highlight "the growing repr…
(2019-03-05). Bernie Sanders adapts to racial politics at Chicago campaign rally. wsws.org Sanders' speech in Chicago used his experiences in the civil rights movement of the 1960s, while a student at the University of Chicago, to make an appeal to identity politics.
(2019-03-05). The political lessons of the March 3 Free Assange rally. wsws.org The demonstration in Sydney won broad support on the basis of mobilising the working class to defend democratic rights and class war prisoners such as Julian Assange.
(2019-03-04). Student Surveillance Versus Gun Control: The School Safety Discussion We Aren't Having. aclu.org Identifying the best way to combat school shootings cannot occur unless Congress repeals amendments blocking gun research and data collation. | On April 20, 1999, two male students walked into Columbine High School and started shooting. By the time it was over, 15 students were dead and 24 more had been injured. America had changed forever. But in some ways, it hasn't changed at all. | Nineteen years later, 17 students were murdered on Valentine's Day at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. That event marked the 2…
(2019-03-04). The Prisoner Says 'No' to Big Brother. consortiumnews.com The refusal by Australia's foreign ministry to honor the UN's declaration that Julian Assange is the victim of "arbitrary detention" is a shameful breach of the letter and spirit of international law, says John Pilger. By John Pilger in Sydney,… Read more →
(2019-03-04). Report: Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou Sues Canadian Government. telesurenglish.net Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Chinese technology company Huawei, is suing the Canadian government, its border agency and the national police force over her high-profile detention. Meng claims they detained, searched and interrogated her before telling her she was under arrest. | RELATED: | Canada Moves Forward With Huawei Exec Extradition Case | Meng's lawyers said Sunday they had filed a notice of civil claim in the supreme court in British Columbia. | Meng, the daugh…
(2019-03-04). Robert Fisk Exposes Israel's Hidden Role in the Brewing India-Pakistan Conflict. mintpressnews.com 
Israel's export of Zionist nationalism and neocolonialism — and the accompanying oppression that in practice actually helps to create many of the very terrorist groups they fight against — is just as dangerous as its export of arms.
(2019-03-04). The Prisoner Says No to Big Brother. counterpunch.org 
Whenever I visit Julian Assange, we meet in a room he knows too well. There is a bare table and pictures of Ecuador on the walls. There is a bookcase where the books never change. The curtains are always drawn and there is no natural light. The air is still and fetid. This is Room 101. Before I enter Room 101, I must surrender my passport and phone. My pockets and possessions are examined. The food I bring is inspected. More
(2019-03-04). John Pilger: From Room 101 the Prisoner Says No to Big Brother. mintpressnews.com 
Whenever I visit Julian Assange, we meet in a room he knows too well. There is a bare table and pictures of Ecuador on the walls. There is a bookcase where the books never change. The curtains are always drawn and there is no natural light. The air is still and fetid. | This is Room 101. | Before I enter Room 101, I must surrender my passport and phone. My pockets and possessions are examined. The food I bring is inspected. | The man who guards Room 101 sits in what looks like an old-fashioned telephone box. He watches a screen, watching Julian. There are others unseen, agents of the state, watching and listen…
(2019-03-04). Wrap-up of the 27th annual Pan African Film Festival. peoplesworld.org 
LOS ANGELES—As blackface, KKK and noose racist imagery and scandals involving Jussie Smollett, R. Kelly, etc., threatened to overshadow the yearly Black History Month celebrations, the L.A.-based Pan African Film and Arts Festival (PAFF) continued to emit a dazzling light of brilliant positivity and hope. Billing itself as America's biggest Black-themed film fest, from Feb. …
(2019-03-04). Anti-Racist Strategy for a World in Crisis. counterpunch.org In his book Capitalism and Slavery, Trinidadian historian Dr. Eric Williams writes that "Slavery was not born of racism: rather, racism was the consequence of slavery." Williams, like many others, argues that racism was created by the powerful to justify subjugation that was already in progress. In other words, the desire to exploit came first, More
(2019-03-04). Egypt's Award Winning Photojournalist Released After 5 Years. telesurenglish.net Egyptian authorities released a photojournalist Monday who was imprisoned in 2013 for covering a protest that ended with security forces killing hundreds of protesters. | RELATED: | Uproar in Egypt After Arrest of Protestor at Tahrir Square | Mahmoud Abu Zeid, also known as Shawkan, after being released, posted a picture on Twitter with the hashtag "hello…
(2019-03-04). Lula Immediately Sent Back to Prison After Grandson's Funeral. telesurenglish.net The former Brazilian President and one of the most revered left leaders in Latin America, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was returned to prison nine hours after he was allowed to attend his grandson's funeral. | RELATED: | UN Human Rights Council To Probe Lula's Case in March | He was at the crematorium for 2 hours before being taken away by the military police for his…
(2019-03-04). President Trump's "Emergency" naacp.org On February 26, 2019, the U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of H. J. Res 46, a resolution to reject and nullify President Donald Trump's declaration of an emergency so he could shift as much as $6.7 billion of previously appropriated monies away from their intended recipients and used instead to build a wall …
(2019-03-04). What is the NAACP ETF? naacp.org In our own evolution of working to advance economic opportunity for all, the NAACP recently partnered with Impact Shares, Inc. in the launch of the NAACP Minority Empowerment Exchange Traded Fund (ETF)—a new tool that scores and ranks companies on the S&P 500 based on their commitment to diversity and inclusiveness. The ETF was created using NAACP's …
(2019-03-04). Undocumented Activists Snuck Into Immigration Jail to Fight Deportations. truthout.org An immigrant rights activist has been detained in Florida just weeks after he appeared in an acclaimed film at the Sundance Film Festival about activists infiltrating and exposing for-profit immigrant detention jails. Claudio Rojas was apprehended on Wednesday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after an annual check-in and is now being held at Krome Detention Center, where he faces immediate deportation. His lawyer says his arrest is linked to the film featuring his activism. It's called The Infiltrators. The gripping hybrid documentary/dramatic feature was a smash success at Sundance and will play at the…
(2019-03-04). How a Small Team of Journalists Overcame Facebook Censorship. theantimedia.com 
(MPN) — Facebook seemed to have outdone itself again in its ongoing suppression of independent media when, earlier this month in coordination with CNN, it banned four pages belonging to a company that was not even accused of breaking any of the platform's rules. The genesis of In The Now's ban is striking as it has never …
(2019-03-03). MEDIA ADVISORY: NAACP Announces Regional Training in South Carolina. naacp.org Training to be Association's First National Event in South Carolina in two decades BALTIMORE (March 3, 2019)—The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the nation's foremost civil rights organization will host a press conference on Tuesday, March 5, to announce the Civil Rights Advocacy Training Institute (CRATI), to be held in …
(2019-03-03). It's Still Open: Will the Guantánamo Bay Prison Become a 2020 Issue? theintercept.com The reporter Carol Rosenberg has been covering Guantánamo Bay since before it became a "war on terror" prison camp — and she's still at it.
(2019-03-02). Congressional, civil rights leaders gather at Civil Rights Memorial to honor movement's martyrs. splcenter.org U.S. Rep. John Lewis led a gathering of congressional and civil rights leaders in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama, today, honoring those who lost their lives in the struggle for civil rights.
(2019-03-02). WaPo issues correction to Covington kids story — 6 weeks & 1 lawsuit later. rt.com 
The Washington Post has corrected its erroneous coverage of the confrontation between the boys from Covington Catholic and the activist Nathan Phillips at the Lincoln Memorial, two months after publishing the misleading story.
(2019-03-02). 'He took a punch for all of us': Trump invites Berkeley attack victim on stage as suspect arrested. rt.com 
President Donald Trump shared the stage with a conservative activist assaulted on the Berkeley University campus, hours after police found and arrested the attacker. Trump urged the victim to punish his attacker with lawsuits. |
(2019-03-02). Black woman sentenced to 15 years in brick beating of elderly Mexican man. rt.com 
A young black California woman charged with attempted murder over the brutal beating of a 91-year-old Mexican man with a brick has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to a lesser charge.
(2019-03-01). The Dakota Access Pipeline Company Is Abusing the Judicial System to Silence Dissent. aclu.org A federal court threw out a baseless lawsuit against Greenpeace and other pipeline opponents and the company promptly refiled the case in state court. | In a win for free speech, a federal court in North Dakota recently dismissed a baseless $900 million lawsuit brought by the Dakota Access Pipeline company against Greenpeace and a number of individual protesters. The company should have learned its lesson. Instead, it refiled the case in state court. | These meritless cases…
(2019-03-01). Activist Faces Prison for Climbing Statue of Liberty & Southwest Key HQ to Protest Family Separation. democracynow.org 
Last week, immigrant activist Patricia Okoumou climbed the Southwest Key building in Austin, Texas, to protest the company jailing immigrant children. Now a judge in New York will decide whether to revoke her bail from her first arrest, when she climbed the Statue of Liberty on July 4 to protest President Trump's "zero tolerance" policy. Okoumou was with the group Rise and Resist on July 4 last year as they dropped a banner from the statute that read "ABOLISH ICE." She broke away from the group and climbed all the way to Lady Liberty's left foot, where she continued to protest and refused to leave until she was a…
(2019-03-01). UNF SDS wins campaign demands. fightbacknews.org Jacksonville, FL – On February 19 the University of North Florida Students for a Democratic Society (UNF SDS) held a rally speaking out against Trump's Declaration of a National Emergency to fund his racist, xenophobic border wall. About 30 students attended despite the chilly rain. Several speakers addressed the protesters about the importance of organizing on campus and opposing Trump's backwards policies. | After the speeches, students from UNF SDS marched across campus to the university president's office and occupied it until the administration met with SDS to discuss the students' demands. SDS dem…
(2019-03-01). Headlines for March 1, 2019. democracynow.org U.N. Human Rights Panel: Israel May Have Committed War Crimes in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to Be Indicted on Corruption Charges, NYT: Trump Intervened to Give Security Clearance to Jared Kushner, In Peace Talks with Taliban, U.S. Floats Afghanistan Troop Withdrawal, Somalia: At Least 15 Dead in Twin Suicide Bombings, North Korea Disputes Trump's Account of Why Kim-Trump Summit Failed, Immigrant Groups Cite "Alarming Increase" in Babies Jailed by ICE, House Approves Bill to Extend Gun Purchase Waiting Period, Lawmakers Seek Interview of Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg, Virginia's First Lady A…
(2019-02-28). In an Era of Religious Refusals, the Do No Harm Act Is an Essential Safeguard. aclu.org The bill would restore the original intent of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act by making clear that it cannot be used to discriminate. | Earlier this year, the Trump administration granted a request from the state of South Carolina for an exception to a federal rule barring discrimination in federally funded child welfare programs. With its action, the administration allowed government-contracted and taxpayer-funded child welfare agencies in South Carolina to turn away would-b…
(2019-02-28). A Connecticut Bill Would Help Ensure That Re-Entry Doesn't Last a Lifetime for the Formerly Incarcerated. aclu.org Connecticut could be the first to make the formerly incarcerated a protected class under the state's antidiscrimination law. | This year, I moved from one city in Connecticut to a new one. On top of the usual stress of trying to find an affordable, comfortable place to live, I was burdened with extra anxiety. | Despite my success in the 12 years since being released from prison, I dreaded explaining my criminal record again. Weeks into my search, I revealed that part of my past to a potential landlord. When I did, that home's door was closed to me. | My experience is not unique. | Ninety-five percent of the milli…
(2019-02-28). A Criminal in the Oval Office? Michael Cohen Accuses Trump of Lying, Racism & Illegal Activity. democracynow.org 
In an explosive 5-hour hearing on Capitol Hill Wednesday, President Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen accused his old boss of committing multiple criminal acts before and during his presidency. Cohen provided evidence that Trump had violated campaign finance laws by paying hush money to women, accused the Trump Foundation of committing fraud by using the tax-exempt organization for personal purposes, and said Trump lied when he said he couldn't release his tax returns because they were being audited. He also claimed that Trump had advance knowledge that WikiLeaks was preparing to publish a trove of e…
(2019-02-28). Salt Lake City says no to the 'National Emergency' to build wall. fightbacknews.org Salt Lake City, UT – 40 community members gathered on a cold Saturday afternoon, February 23, to protest Trump's declaration of a national emergency on the U.S.-Mexico border. People came out to denounce what is understood as a racist and anti-immigrant 'emergency' and border wall. They also came because of the anti-immigrant attacks that continue to happen in Salt Lake City. Police brutalize Black and brown people, family members continue to be deported and anti-immigrant white supremacist groups have started organizing on college campuses in the city. | Ella Mendoza, with the Nopalera Artist Collective, said t…
(2019-02-28). Mexico: AMLO's government expands controversial preventive detention laws. greenleft.org.au 
Mexico's new left-wing government has tripled the list of crimes that carry automatic pre-trial detention, in what President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) says is a crackdown on corruption. Human rights groups, however, have warned the move may end up funnelling more innocent people into Mexico's already strained penal system. | On February 19, the Chamber of Deputies, approved an expansion of the constitution's controversial Article 19, which allows for the automatic "preventive detention" of individuals accused of crimes such as homicide, human trafficking, rape and any violent offence committed with a fir…
(2019-02-28). Italy: Government institutionalises hatred and racism. greenleft.org.au 
It has now become clearer than ever: the Italian government coalition operates at the behest of Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister, Matteo Salvini and his party's racist and reactionary policies. | Since the Five Star Movement (M5S) and Salvini's far-right League (formerly the Northern League) formed a coalition government League's support has soared. In less than a year since the March 2018 general elections, their support has grown from 17 percent to 33 percent, according to the latest polls. | In the same period, support for the M5S decreased from 32 percent to 22 percent. | These figures show League'
(2019-02-28). Canadian Company Profits from Apartheid Israeli Railway. therealnews.com 
Jonathan Kuttab discusses the lawsuit against the Canadian company Bombardier, which is building an illegal railway through occupied and confiscated Palestinian land in the West Bank, violating international law…
(2019-02-28). Can Sanders Win Black and Trump Voters? therealnews.com 
Our panel discusses how Sanders must walk a fine line between appealing to white Trump voters and dealing with systemic racism and reparations — with Jacqueline Luqman, Eugene Puryear, Norman Solomon, hosted by Paul Jay…
(2019-02-28). Grand Rapids Police caught lying. fightbacknews.org Grand Rapids, MI — The Grand Rapids Police Department was caught lying and covering up for Captain Curt VanderKooi this week. VanderKooi racially profiled an ex-Marine and contacted ICE to detain him in November 2018. The recent Grand Rapids police investigation claims VanderKooi contacted ICE out of concern for possible 'terrorism.' | However, Michigan ACLU lawyers and immigrant rights activists are pointing out that this is a blatant lie. The FBI is the agency that VanderKooi would contact, not Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Captain VanderKooi works with both and knows the difference. | The outrageo…
(2019-02-27). It's Time to Make Sure Our Kids Are No Longer Bound, Shackled, or Locked Away When They're at School. aclu.org Congress is finally holding a hearing on the use of restraints and seclusion in our schools. | In 1998, teachers in West Virginia strapped a 4-year-old autistic girl with cerebral palsy to a wooden chair. Why? She was being "uncooperative" because she needed to use the bathroom. The girl suffered bruises and was later diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. | In 2003, school officials in Michigan held a 15-year-old autistic boy in a face-down restraint for an hour after he had a seizure and lost control of his extremities. He died without receiving medical attention. | These are just two of many barbaric s…
(2019-02-27). North Carolinians Voted to End Cooperation With Trump's Deportation Force. ICE Retaliated. aclu.org The federal agency stepped up raids after sheriffs stopped notifying it about the immigration status of people arrested. | President Trump's Department of Homeland Security frequently claims to be motivated by a dedication to law and order, but its immigration enforcement tactics are often directly contrary to local communities' legal and electoral choices. | Recent raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in North Carolina were a failed attempt to achieve by force what was soundly rejected at the ballot box last November: Trump's anti-immigrant agenda. ICE targeted places and people based on democ…
(2019-02-27). Trump Threatens Havana With a New Embargo. consortiumnews.com Opening the litigation floodgates would harm U.S. companies and punish the Cuban people even more, writes Marjorie Cohn. By Marjorie Cohn Truthout The Trump administration is threatening to unleash a flood of lawsuits involving Cuba, which no U.S. president has ever… Read more →
(2019-02-27). dream hampton on Making "Surviving R. Kelly" & the Grassroots Activists That Helped Bring Him Down. democracynow.org 
R. Kelly was released from jail in Chicago on Monday, three days after he was arrested and charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault. The charges involve four women and girls, three of whom were under the age of 17 at the time of the alleged crimes. A judge set bail at a million dollars and forced the singer to surrender his passport. Almost immediately after he posted bond and pleaded not guilty on Monday, Kelly was spotted at a McDonald's in downtown Chicago—a spot his accusers say he used to frequent to prey on young girls. Kelly has been accused of abuse, predatory behavior and pedoph…
(2019-02-27). Lula: Brazil 'Cannot Submit to US Imperialism' in Venezuela. venezuelanalysis.com In a letter penned from prison, former president Lula Da Silva says that the U.S. and Brazil shouldn't intervene in Venezuela. He also criticized the U.S. blockade as a 'dirty trick'.
(2019-02-27). Frank Chapman speaks in Minneapolis about Black liberation and socialism. fightbacknews.org Minneapolis, MN – On February 20, Freedom Road Socialist Organization hosted Black liberation leader Frank Chapman. Over 50 people attended the event. | In a program entitled "The Radical History of the Black Freedom Movement," the talk began with an explanation of how capitalism was "consciously dependent," as Chapman put it, on slavery. However, Chapman insisted that an honest portrayal of Black history could not focus only upon enslavement and oppression. | "The first thing we got right was the day we started to fight," Chapman exclaimed. He furthered the point by explaining: "If you talk about slavery, you ha…
(2019-02-27). NAACP President's Response to Michael Cohen's Testimony Before the House Oversight Committee. naacp.org BALTIMORE — NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson issued the following statement regarding Michael Cohen's testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform: "When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time. Donald Trump has been showing us his true colors for decades. Trump's presidency and entire career has …