(2021-07-16). Texas Dems, AFL-CIO's Trumka link voting and workers' rights. peoplesworld.org 
WASHINGTON—Citing civil rights leaders the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the late Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and a delegation of Texas state Democratic lawmakers—who left Austin for D.C. to halt a draconian Texas GOP voter repression law—inextricably linked voting rights with worker rights. In an outdoor press conference at …
(2021-07-16). Texas Voting Rights Attacks Warrant Congressional Action. aclu.org Earlier this week, Texas Democrats fled the state in a last-ditch effort to prevent the passage of a restrictive new voting law by the Republican-controlled legislature. At the same time, Tomorrow marks the first anniversary of the death of civil rights hero Congressma…
(2021-07-16). Defend the Cuba Revolution and Struggle for More Socialism, Not Less! counterpunch.org Hundreds of thousands of unnecessary deaths, an economic crisis, broken supply chains, killer cops, mass incarceration, government surveillance, nuclear weapons, irrational anti-social mass shootings, normalized racism, homelessness, crumbling schools, depression, fear, suicides, and obscene disparities in incomes and wealth—all the features of a moribund, brutal, anti-human global colonial-capitalist system in the United States—and we are
(2021-07-16). BLM declares solidarity with people of Cuba in attack on 'cruel & inhumane' US embargo. rt.com 
Racial justice group Black Lives Matter has publicly condemned the decades-long US embargo on Cuba as the socialist nation was swept by protests against food and drug shortages. The stance alienated some devotees. | BLM "condemns the US federal government's inhumane treatment of Cubans, and urges it to immediately lift the economic embargo," the organization said in a statement posted to social media on Wednesday, echoing calls from NGOs, the UN, and other countries to end the trade blockade that has kept the country in isolation and poverty for so long. | The group's missive laid 60 years of Cuban sufferin…
(2021-07-16). On The Sentencing And Courage Of Daniel Hale. popularresistance.org My next portrait for the Americans Who Tell the Truth project will be Daniel Hale, the former Air Force analyst and drone whistleblower who released classified documents showing that nearly 90% of the casualties of U.S. drone assassination missions are civilians—children, women, workers, farmers, and other people who show up as shadows on drone pilot computer screens and are subsequently rendered permanent shadows. Hale will be sentenced on July 27 in Alexandria, Virginia for the crime of truth telling. In all likelihood he will receive 10 years in prison—surely sufficient time to reflect on the error…
(2021-07-16). Gaza's Families Suffering Another Summer of Needless Suffering. counterpunch.org My family and I—my wife, our young son, our elders, and the twin baby girls who will be born to us this week—ask the world to hear the conditions of our lives here in Deir el Balah, after 14 years' captivity in the world's largest toxic prison-camp, and since the May waves of Israeli tank
(2021-07-16). Do Black People Have the Right to Bear Arms? aclu.org With 233 mass shootings so far this year, the issue of gun violence in the U.S. is all too familiar. Tragic events like the Pulse nightclub and Parkland shootings go from being media spectacles to quotidian events at an alarming rate in a country that often heralds the Second Amendment above meaningful safety for all its citizens. The vigilantism of widespread gun ownership puts Black Americans in an especially vulnerable position given the brutality and human cost of discriminatory policing. | The gun violence epidemic continues to spark debate about the Second Amendment and who has a right to bear arms. But…
(2021-07-16). The scientists hired by big oil who predicted the climate crisis long ago. nationofchange.org Experts' discoveries lie at the heart of two dozen lawsuits that hope to hold the industry accountable for devastating damage.
(2021-07-16). Midwest Dispatch: As Crime Increases, Biden Pursues the Usual Non-Solutions. progressive.org The President is likely to respond to the national crime uptick with more police, more prisons, and more punishment—but what we really need are more Pell Grants for the incarcerated.
(2021-07-16). Tuesday 7/20: Fighting Racist Voter Suppression Laws Webinar w/ Women's March. indybay.org Online discussion…
(2021-07-16). Prison population surge triggers overcrowding, COVID casualties. news.un.org One in three prisoners around the world is being held without having stood trial or been found guilty by any court, according to a new study published on Friday by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
(2021-07-16). To Abolish Prisons and Militarism, We Need Anti-Imperialist Abolition Feminism. truthout.org 
"In this society, safety and security will not be premised on violence or the threat of violence; it will be based on a collective commitment to guaranteeing the survival and care of all peoples." — Since the turn of the 21st century, the prison- and military-industrial complexes have not only expanded, but they are…
(2021-07-16). Vigilante Groups On The Rise As South Africa Riot Casualties Near 120. southfront.org 
Armed community members and vigilante groups have stepped in to tackle unrest in South Africa. | This has become a sort of necessity due to the fact that security forces are entirely failing in containing the unrest. | Understaffed and heavily reliant on private security companies, the police was rapidly overwhelmed when riots and looting first flared seven days ago in the southeastern province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), sparked by the jailing of graft-accused former president Jacob Zuma. | On July 15th, acting Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni warned against "a situation where members of the public…
(2021-07-15). Defend The Cuba Revolution And Struggle For More Socialism. popularresistance.org Hundreds of thousands of unnecessary deaths, an economic crisis, broken supply chains, killer cops, mass incarceration, government surveillance, nuclear weapons, irrational anti-social mass shootings, normalized racism, homelessness, crumbling schools, depression, fear, suicides, and obscene disparities in incomes and wealth—all the features of a moribund, brutal, anti-human global colonial-capitalist system in the United States—and we are supposed to be defensive about socialism! Give me a break. | Yet, the propagandists of death never sleep. Even as their system is being exposed as the generator of…
(2021-07-15). Environmental Racism And Detroit. popularresistance.org Oftentimes, racism and environmentalism are thought of as separate issues. Since the Black Lives Matter uprising of last summer, however, there has been a growing awareness of the scope of racism and its existence in every facet of society. The legacy of racism, dating back to the enslavement of Black people in this country, is woven into the fabric of American society. It has existed in many forms on structural and personal levels, including racist real estate practices such as redlining and restrictive covenants, as well as discriminatory employment practices. Not to mention how Black folks are criminalized, br…
(2021-07-15). After 64-day hunger strike, Palestinian activist released. workers.org 
Ghandafar Abu Atwan, a 28-year-old Palestinian man, has finally been released after a 64-day hunger strike. He was protesting his arbitrary imprisonment by Israeli occupation forces. Held in an Israeli prison since October 2020, Abu Atwan was placed under "administrative detention," a tactic condemned by international human rights groups by . . . |
(2021-07-15). Imprisoned Palestinian leader Khalida Jarrar writes new letter: Write to Khalida and call for her freedom. samidoun.net 
Khalida Jarrar, the imprisoned Palestinian political leader, feminist and parliamentarian, jailed by the Israeli occupation for her political activity, issued a new letter to her daughter Suha, who died on Sunday, 11 July of a heart attack at the age of 30. Despite worldwide outrage and condemnation and considering that Jarrar has only two months remaining in her sentence imposed by an Israeli military court for her public political work to advance Palestinian rights and liberation, her lawyers' appeals for early release were denied by the Israeli occupation. She was not even allowed a furlough or to see her daug…
(2021-07-14). "Hunt's Forgotten" prisoners launch hunger strike at David Wade Correctional Center. liberationnews.org 
Photo: The first full paragraph of a hand-written letter announcing the hunger strike at David Wade Correctional Center. To show solidarity with the hunger strike, contact the David Wade Correctional Center Warden Jerry Goodwin at (318) 927-0400 and demand their demands be met! On July 14, a collective of more than 20 Elayn Hunt Correctional …
(2021-07-15). Hunger strikers in Pennsylvania solitary win demands. workers.org 
Philadelphia Prisoners in solitary confinement who went on a hunger strike June 23 in the State Correctional Institution at Phoenix — Pennsylvania's largest prison — ended their difficult struggle July 6 with a stunning victory. At SCI Phoenix, July 6. WW PHOTO: Joe Piette According to Levittown Now, more than . . . |
(2021-07-15). Imprisoned Palestinian lawmaker forbidden from attending daughter's funeral by Israel. liberationnews.org 
Khalida Jarrar, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council currently imprisoned in Israel, was cruelly denied a temporary release to attend the funeral of her daughter.
(2021-07-15). Dozens of Palestinian students mass arrested after visiting home demolished by Israel #FreePalestinianStudents. samidoun.net 
On Wednesday, 14 July, 45 Palestinian Bir Zeit University students were subjected to a mass arrest after they went to meet with the family of Palestinian prisoner Montasser Shalabi and express their solidarity following the Israeli occupation military's demolition of the Shalabi home in the village of Turmus'Ayya. As the students left Turmus'Ayya in a chartered bus, undercover occupation forces in two vehicles blocked the bus at the entrance to the town, forcing the students to leave the bus, tying their hands, blindfolding them, making them sit or lay on the ground and then seized them, taking them to the Binyam…
(2021-07-15). Inequity Starts the Day a Child is Born. aclu.org A year after the pandemic and resulting economic crisis shut down much of America, President Biden and Congress took an important step forward by passing the American Rescue Plan. The law rightly prioritizes those hit hardest by the pandemic, such as communities of color and people with low incomes, and begins to address some of the systemic inequities that COVID-19 only exacerbated — inequities that begin from the day a child is born. | The relief package includes a one-year expansion of the Child Tax Credit and an increase from $2,000 to $3,600 per child under six and $3,000 for children aged six to 17…
(2021-07-15). Taliban Vows to Slash Military Ops in Exchange for Prisoner Release, Removal From UN Blacklist. sputniknews.com The Taliban* has been defeating Afghan forces across the country since the American-led forces began to withdraw from the country on 1 May. It now claims to control nearly 85 percent of Afghanistan.
(2021-07-15). I Did Nothing Wrong. I Was Arrested Anyway. aclu.org I never thought I would be a cautionary tale. More than that, I never thought I'd have to explain to my daughters why their daddy got arrested in front of them on our front lawn. How does one explain to two little girls that a This is what happened to me: As I was getting ready to head home from work one day in Januar…
(2021-07-15). Guantánamo Memoir Film Skewers George W. Bush, But Exonerates Barack Obama. truthout.org 
Mohamedou Ould Slahi's Guantánamo memoir, Guantánamo Diary, is a book of remarkable power. Written during his incarceration and heavily redacted in its first editions, Slahi's story speaks with first-hand authority of the horror, degradation and brutality of life inside Guantánamo. It has the gravity of a historically significant document of state torture and the rich, intimate texture of a profoundly personal story. | The same cannot really be said of Kevin MacDonald's film adaptation of it, The…
(2021-07-15). "Perfect Storm" of Pandemic, Poverty & Jailing Ex-President Unleashes Mass Protest in South Africa. democracynow.org 
We go to South Africa, where more than 70 are dead and at least 3,000 people have been arrested since demonstrations erupted after former President Jacob Zuma began his 15-month jail sentence for refusing to testify in a corruption probe. Protesters also expressed frustration with entrenched poverty and inequity as South Africa battles a devastating wave of COVID-19. "This was really a perfect storm that has built up," says Sithembile Mbete, a senior lecturer in political sciences at the University of Pretoria in Johannesburg. "The protests and the unrest has stopped being about former President Zuma and has beco…
(2021-07-15). Reckoning and Reparations in Afghanistan. commondreams.org "We urge HHS and the Army to use their authorities to immediately close the migrant detention center at Fort Bliss and prioritize the use of community-based solutions."
(2021-07-15). US Courts Central Asian Dictators in Pursuit of Post-Afghan War Objectives. commondreams.org "When we say this is a civil rights issue it goes beyond false arrests, it's about who gets to access public spaces in a world of machine-driven segregation."
(2021-07-15). Moral Intelligence or Nuclear War. commondreams.org "When we say this is a civil rights issue it goes beyond false arrests, it's about who gets to access public spaces in a world of machine-driven segregation."
(2021-07-15). Groups Demand Biden Administration End Child Detention at 'Contaminated and Unsafe' Fort Bliss. commondreams.org Any help or aid from the US always comes with conditions and ulterior motives.
(2021-07-15). Right-wing Kroger manager in southwest Ohio bullied employee to suicide for wearing mask during coronavirus pandemic, lawsuit alleges. wsws.org The suit accuses manager Shannon Frazee of a "campaign dedicated to ousting" Evan Seyfried, a dairy manager with nearly 20 years seniority, "proclaiming her intention to make Evan's life a 'living hell.'"
(2021-07-15). ANC government roiled by angry protests as South Africans protest worsening social conditions. wsws.org The protests were initially triggered by last week's jailing of former president Jacob Zuma, ordered by the Constitutional Court for contempt of court for initially defying its order to appear at an inquiry into corruption during his presidency from 2009 to 2018.
(2021-07-15). Over 100 political prisoners freed in Algeria. peoplesdispatch.org Prior to yesterday's mass release, over 300 political prisoners were being detained by the Algerian government for supporting or participating in the anti-government Hirak protests or other opposition groups…
(2021-07-15). 6th Detroit cop sentenced to prison for extortion. nationofchange.org "I fully commend all agencies involved for the hard work and countless hours put forth to bring these corrupt officers to justice."
(2021-07-15). Julian Assange's father and brother travel to Washington to oppose US extradition. thegrayzone.com The Grayzone's Anya Parampil speaks with Julian Assange's brother and father, Gabriel and John Shipton, about their recent tour of the United States. They discuss his experience in prison as well as their reception by the US public. Anya also speaks with Dr. Cornel West about the importance of Assange's case.