Cuba’s victories are piling up. There were many people who were full of praise for the victory of the U.S. baseball team in Miami, without expecting that this “defeat” for the Cuban team, and I am putting it in quotation marks on purpose, was the best thing that could happen for everyone in the face of public opinion and the international panorama.

What happened at the Miami ballpark is unprecedented; it is no longer talk of hatred, but of anger, as Pascual Serrano recently described at the Patria Colloquium held in Havana, the feeling emanating from all those who hate and suffer from the progress and advances of the Cuban people.

These are people who are not only against the government of the largest of the Antilles, but against their own people. What generates within a human being such affection as to insult and attack his own people? What moves them? Comparisons are odious, but it is enough to compare how the athletes of the Cuban team were received there, and how these people are received when they come to the island, or how representatives of U.S. governments have been received when they have come. Respect versus insolence.

It is not them, and this is not a justification. It is the machinery that pulls the strings behind it. Cuba has been at war for more than six decades, and this arms conglomerate keeps changing its shape, but its mission is always the same: to sink it. They did not succeed at the Bay of Pigs, they did not succeed when the socialist camp fell, and they are not succeeding now with the information and psychological warfare. This battle that is taking place now is taking place in the minds of men and women who are vulnerable to all kinds of information that reaches them by any means. It is no longer possible to distinguish what is true and what is not. And the enemies of frankness know it well. And they know that, in these times, is where they have to sink their teeth. This fight is the greatest challenge facing the defenders of the Cuban Revolution, the defenders of Fidel and those who hope for a better world.

We are confident that it is possible to fight against the predominance of capitalist values and hegemony, which have the upper hand in the Western world, and which little by little, through the Internet and cultural aspects, are trying to infiltrate Cuba. Manipulation is powerful, but it is not all-powerful. People have intuition. The good ones exist. And even if many are fooled, they cannot fool them all. Those who live in Miami, or in Spain, or in any other capitalist country, may have a distorted image of the Revolution, because of how they have been told, how they have been poisoned, how they have increased their discontent and hatred to transform it into anger. But that, consciously done, does not have to be forever.

The Dantesque episode in Miami was not decisive, but I have no doubt that it influenced the Cuban people to close the line at the time of the united vote in the elections of March 26. It served for this people, dignified and fighting, to see what is outside and the poison that is injected from the empire. Every time there are elections in Cuba, the enemies launch campaigns to turn them into a referendum against the revolution. Historically, this has been done on radio and television. As it could not be less, now also virtually through digital media and social networks.

But always, and forgive the expression, “it always backfires”. Because in this land, they are educated, and they are not so easily fooled. It is not easy to wash your conscience that they make you quickly do in any other country. The cultural war is hard, very hard, but here there is dignity, here there are values and there is confidence in the sovereignty that passes irremediably through socialism. In order to be eternally free and emancipated.

But that freedom has not been and is not given as a gift, it is forged and conquered every day. In fact, yesterday, April 4, was a historic date in this Homeland. On April 4, 1962, a congress of the Association of Young Rebels was held, which changed its name and began to be called as we know it today: Union of Young Communists. That same day, Fidel gave the closing speech and as always he emphasized the youth, because they are and will always be the relay of any process of continuity:

“The revolution that we are making is not the revolution that we want; the Revolution that we want is the Revolution that you are going to make”. And that is why, as Fidel continued, “Our society will be a society without exploiters or exploited, without privileged or discriminated”.

Before April 4, 1962, Cuban youth had already been protagonists in decisive moments in the country’s history, such as the Literacy Campaign and the Battle of Playa Girón.

What would this and other revolutions be without the role of the youth and their responsibility? Fidel always appealed to a responsible youth. A few days ago I myself was able to share with young and not so young Cubans, but all united in the end:

The image of how much Cuba works must be shown to the whole world. How much this socialist system leaves its skin on the basis of the principles and ideas of its heroes. As did Mella in the student struggles, Fidel in the Moncada, and so many more who gave their lives in this land, today free of any chain they want to impose on it, but with an imperial punishment, which it bears for having this freedom. Free or martyrs, the heroes would say.

The struggle, in this multipolar war, lies in the growth of Cuba, in the image of Cuba, not only in the media, not only fighting the matrixes of opinion against the defamers and enemies. But also in the daily work done with conscience and responsibility so that this revolutionary country advances. It is not only built from discourse but also from action.

And that is an indestructible mixture; that is the lethal mixture that as it takes steps and steps, this island, with the passing of the years, will rise in the ocean as an increasingly iron and indomitable bastion.

Source: Cuba en Resumen via Resumen Latinoamericano English

Chicago, IL – On Tuesday, April 4, Brandon Johnson won 51.4% of vote in the Chicago mayoral runoff election. Johnson’s victory is also a victory for working and oppressed people, as demonstrated by the range of organizations and individuals who celebrated with Johnson and his family at the Marriott Marquis on election night.

Frank Chapman, executive director of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, said, “I’ve been living for this moment since the Great Harold Washington in 1986, yet we didn’t wait on history; we, the oppressed and the working class, made history.”

Several hours before polls closed, Adeline Bracey with Action Now, who canvassed for Brandon throughout the campaign and has been organizing for 11 years, said, “My family is from a rural town in Mississippi where they threw a smoke bomb in a church to stop Black people from voting. Having lived through that, not just reading about it, it’s crucial that I be a part of this movement here on this date.” Bracey was referring to the anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968.

In his victory speech, Johnson also pointed to the historical significance of his mayoral election and the movement that made it happen. “It was right here in Chicago that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. organized for justice, dreaming that one day the civil rights movement and the labor movement would come together. Well Dr. King, the civil rights movement and the labor movement have finally collided and will make your dreams come true!” Johnson declared.

Stacy Davis Gates, president of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), of which Johnson is a member, introduced Johnson by explaining the unity and consistency of the movement that elected him: “It is the people who brought today’s victory to reality.” Davis Gates said before she explained how Brandon Johnson worked with former CTU President Karen Lewis to hold the city accountable for closing 50 schools in 2013.

The 1000-strong crowd at the victory party included other leaders and members of CTU. The leadership and rank and file of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 73 and Healthcare Illinois and Indiana (HCII), Unite Here, and many other unions were also present. Community organizations represented included United Working Families (UWF), the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR), Southside Organized for Unity and Liberation (SOUL), Good Kids Mad City, Indivisible Chicago, and many others. United with the progressive unions around Johnson’s campaign, these community organizations formed one of the most diverse coalitions the city has seen in decades.

This victory over Paul Vallas and his supporters in corporations and the pro-police lobby is the second time this year that the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) has been beaten in the electoral arena by progressive movements. The first was on February 28, when pro-accountability candidates were elected to a majority of seats in 14 of the city’s 22 Police District Councils.

Brandon Johnson has pledged throughout his campaign to support these district councilors in their efforts to hold the police accountable. The newly-elected district councilors, and some who ran but didn’t win, supported Johnson because of his promises to invest in the people. In contrast, Vallas stood for policies that would further enrich the capitalists who donated to his campaign and allowed it to outspend the Johnson campaign two to one.

“The people won Chicago,” said 3rd Police District councilor and organizer Anthony D Bryant, who attended the Brandon Johnson victory party along with several other newly elected district councilors.

April 4 also saw victories for other progressive electoral candidates. With Lamont Robinson in the 4th Ward, Desmon Yancy in the 5th, William Hall in the 6th, Ronnie Mosley in the 21st, Angela Clay in the 46th, and Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth in the 48th, the runoff election saw a majority of progressive candidates win their races.

The newly elected progressive alderpersons will join incumbents such as Carlos Ramírez Rosa, Rossana Rodríguez, and Jeanette Taylor in City Hall, giving Brandon Johnson’s administration a potentially more favorable city council than the one Harold Washington had.

While recognizing the historical impact of the election, Brandon Johnson and his supporters resolved to continue fighting for the various movements of working and oppressed people.

“With all of you, we’ve accomplished so much, but in the years to come we have a lot of work to do,” Johnson said. “We have a multicultural, multigenerational movement that has captured the imagination not just of the city of Chicago but the entire world.” He continued. “Let’s take this bold progressive movement across the United States of America!”

After the celebration, Frank Chapman summed up how the movement would carry the momentum from this victory to others in the movements for working and oppressed people.

“It’s like they used to say in Mozambique, ‘Aluta continua,’” Chapman said. “The struggle continues.”

Source: FightBack! News

The popular outrage and response from the Resistance factions to the Israeli assaults on worshippers at Al-Aqsa Mosque have again been distorted by Western media, in an attempt to try and pin the blame on the response. The framing of what occurred at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound is vital, as this is how the Zionist entity and its Western backers seek to begin their pro-“Israel” narrative.

Before we get into what happened in Al-Aqsa Mosque, perhaps the best way to approach this for a Western audience is to imagine the scenario as follows: A militarized force stormed the Vatican, during Easter, with the aim of purging Christian worshippers so that radicals from another faith background could storm the site under the protection of armed police forces. The militarized force broke through the doors of one of the churches, where some younger Christians had gathered fireworks to attempt to keep the militarized force out. The armed men then entered the church, fired gas and stun grenades, and caused a small fire to break out before beating Christian worshippers who were already on the ground and helpless. This militarized force beat women, guards at the Vatican, and even elderly men, then proceeded to return to the Vatican later to assault Christian worshippers during prayer.

The situation above would not take a genius in the West to figure out who was in the wrong. It would also be ridiculous to suggest that some young Christians who used fireworks to keep their attackers out were the real instigators, and the situation would never be presented as a “clash”. Yet, when it comes to the Western media’s coverage of anything involving “Israel”, somehow, all professionalism, journalistic integrity, and consideration for the facts simply go out of the window. In Ramadan of 2021, in the lead-up to the Israeli war of May, the Western media distorted the facts then too.

In fact, it would be fair to say that if such an assault on worshippers at a Holy Site was to take place during a religious holiday, there would not be any issues for Western media to at least use accurate language to frame the event.

Al-Aqsa Mosque is in the heart of every Muslim and all Palestinians, and it has become a symbol of Arab and Islamic civilization, not to mention it being the third Holiest site in Islam. This is the location where Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) ascended to the heavens, to where the first Muslims directed their prayer. When the site is attacked by a regime, which, under international law, maintains an illegal occupation over the eastern part of Al-Quds, where the site is located, it provokes some of the most intense emotional reactions possible.

Legally, the Zionist entity has no right to any of the occupied eastern part of Al-Quds, which they “annexed,” a decision that was rejected by the international community. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan also holds custodianship over the Holy sites in the Old City of occupied Al-Quds, which gives it the right to maintain the security situation within Al-Aqsa compound itself. The status quo at the site is that there are special tourist hours, where anyone can enter the compound, but the site is for Muslim worship alone, so all talk from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about his intention to maintain the status quo are sheer lies. The aim of the Israeli regime is to allow for special hours where extremist Israeli settlers will be escorted inside the compound and are given the ability to freely worship and perform provocative acts whilst this occurs… this is a change to the status quo.

The act of extremist religious settlers praying inside Al-Aqsa compound is used as a sticking point in Zionist propaganda, which they use as a pretext to argue that since the site is also Holy in Judaism, they should be able to pray there. The reality is something very different however, this is not about a prayer; it is about asserting Israeli sovereignty over the area, and for the “Temple Mount” movement that finances the settler incursion movement, they openly seek to build what they call the “Third Temple,” meaning that they want to destroy Al-Aqsa and build a synagogue on top of it. There is a split in the Jewish religious traditions on the issue of whether a Jew should even enter the site, which many Jewish religious authorities rule as forbidden. It is believed by many Jews that the remains of what they believe to have been a synagogue at the site only remain at the “Western Wall” area. This site was once of insignificance except for a small number of Jews who would pray there on religious holidays. In the 1920s, the Zionist movement began focusing its efforts on seizing this area, which caused a number of revolts from the Palestinians, culminating in the largest in 1929, sparked by fears that the Zionist movement would go further and was threatening to lay claim to Al-Aqsa.

Today the issue is clear, this extremist group of settler organizations, which receive funding from registered charitable organizations in the West, most prominently in the United States, seek the destruction of Al-Aqsa Mosque compound as their ultimate goal. On top of this, the Zionist entity continues to assault, kill, arrest, and harass worshippers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Just a week ago, a man from Al-Naqab was shot dead near one of the gates to the compound. Inside “Israel’s” current coalition, holding ministerial positions, are West Bank settlers like Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, who have openly participated in storming Al-Aqsa with the settler groups. So these extremists are not fringe, they are in the mainstream.

When the initial response to these assaults on worshippers, which resulted in around 400 injured or arrested, or both, the Western media went on to report on the issue of rocket fire from Gaza as a “border exchange.” This is also a key sticking point in Zionist propaganda, which frames exchanges of fire between the resistance in Gaza and “Israel” as occurring across a “border” when no such border exists. Along with “Tel Aviv” never having officially declared its borders, Gaza is an occupied territory, it is not a state. There are separation fences and walls built by the Zionist regime to divide the two pieces of land from each other. Therefore, there is nothing that can be legally claimed as a border. This language is used, despite “Israel” not officially declaring this as a border, because it gives them the excuse to pretend that they have the legal right to defend an internationally recognized boundary. Western media, by using this term, are actively playing into Israeli propaganda.

The starting point, when looking at the current escalation over the assault on worshippers at Al-Aqsa Mosque, has to be rooted in an understanding of how serious such an attack is. When the West protects “Israel’s” so-called “right to defend itself” but then condemns the people of the region for reacting to an Islamaphobic attack on a Holy site during Ramadan, which is supposed to be under the custodianship of an Arab nation, there is a double-standard at play. The Palestinian people have a right to defend themselves, they have a right to defend their national sanctities, and the Muslim and Arab World has the right to protect its Holy sites.

Source: Al Mayadeen

New York City: Protest the attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosque! Free Palestine!
Saturday, April 8 – 1:00 p.m.
Times Square, 43rd St. & Broadway, Manhattan

Take on Times Square to show the world that Palestine is not alone!
Called by American Muslims for Palestine

More than a thousand trans youth, family members, and allies joined the Queer and Trans Youth Autonomy March in Washington, D.C., on March 31, Trans Day of Visibility. The march was called by Queer Youth Assemble, which presented a list of demands supported by many organizations.

The D.C. action was one of dozens held in cities across the U.S. to rebuke and resist hundreds of bills targeting trans youth in nearly every state and the growing campaign of anti-trans hate and violence promoted by media from Fox News to the New York Times. 

The multinational crowd gathered outside busy Union Station, then marched to the Capitol, where a rally was held in Grant Park. The protest drew people not only from the capital and surrounding states but from as far as California, Florida, Massachusetts, and New York.

Official Washington’s sheltered, well-manicured streets rang with chants of “Protect trans youth” and “No justice, no peace!” A colorful banner from Women in Struggle – Mujeres en Lucha declared: “Trans people won’t be erased. Bigots say get back, we say fight back!”

Protesters were outraged by the far-right Republican campaign to outlaw gender-affirming health care, prevent students from playing sports or using school restrooms, and ban trans people from public life – measures that will increase suicide and transphobic violence.

Several speakers also called out Democrats for claiming to support trans rights but doing nothing to stop the growing onslaught that has already robbed youth in at least 14 states of gender-affirming care and imposed many other Draconian laws aimed at causing harm to the entire trans community.

“These last few months have been hard for all of us. One side likes to act like we are not real, just products of a social trend, not every bit as real, as valuable, as deserving of freedom as everyone else,” said Samira Burnside, a trans youth activist. “Some even suggest that we be eradicated, shunned, pushed into a quiet corner, and silenced. 

“Look at SB 264 in Florida, where I’m from, which would take us from our parents and make those who give us the care we need felons. They cloak their disdain for us in phrases like ‘save the children’ and moral grandstanding. But they truly only seek to save their positions of power.

“And the other side? Democrats say things like ‘pass the Equality Act immediately,’ but don’t put their words into action when they have the power to do so. They say, ‘I support my trans family,’ yet sit idly by while we are legislatively attacked,” Burnside said.

Struggle-La Lucha spoke with trans activist Melinda Butterfield of Women in Struggle – Mujeres en Lucha, who was distributing leaflets and talking to people in the crowd about her group’s proposal for a National March to Protect Trans Youth to be held in Florida in Autumn 2023.

“It was heartening to see so many parents and families supporting their trans kids,” Butterfield said. “The media and politicians try to make it seem like parents are only interested in protecting their ‘right’ to treat their children like property, to be whipped into line with conservative expectations. But today there are many, many families that accept their trans and queer children and are determined to do everything they can to help them lead happy, healthy lives.”

Butterfield said that a Black trans woman who came all the way from Missouri, another state where trans rights are under fierce attack, made a big impression. “She said she’s been waiting for a national protest and was determined to be here no matter what. It’s not an exaggeration to say that she and pretty much everyone I spoke to – young and old, queer and allies, union organizers – were excited at the prospect of a national march for trans youth in Florida. 

“People are eager for bold action. There is a huge vacuum that will be filled with the same old lesser-evil voting politics that led to the end of Roe v. Wade unless independent forces take action soon. But if we do act boldly, I think we will be surprised by the response.”

For more information, visit WomenInStruggle.org.

March 31 – Members of the Harriet Tubman Center for Social Justice and the Socialist Unity Party joined activities on March 31 in Los Angeles demanding an end to the genocidal attacks against the trans community.

Stating “we want more than visibility,” Tsukuru Fors of Trans Radical Action Network (TRAN) initiated the Trans Day of Vengeance demonstration in Washington on the weekend of Trans Day of Visibility. That call inspired local Trans Day of Vengeance rallies in other cities.

Los Angeles was no exception. Hundreds of people gathered on the corners of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue, a very busy shopping and traffic intersection – and shut it down.

The Los Angeles action was organized by @queerxact. Their announcement for the event said: “@queerxact has put together a safe and intentional protest to celebrate Transgender Day of Visibility and to remind the world that we do not accept the way the now-47 states proposing unconstitutional legislation are attempting to silence the transgender community. See you in the streets.”

The lively demonstration, with signs of different colors, shapes and sizes, expressed determination to not live in fear, and demanded an end to bigotry, transphobia and homophobia, and the cessation and reversal of anti-trans legislation.

As the crowd swelled at Hollywood and Highland, protesters marched into the intersection, allowing only ambulances and city buses through. Surprisingly, the police – feeling the intensity and determination of the protesters – decided to not interfere with this unpermitted demonstration.

After about a half hour blocking traffic, the procession remained in the streets and marched east towards downtown Los Angeles, where a die-in was staged at the Hollywood Police Department.

Afterward, one of the organizers said on TikTok: There was “no cop interference or injuries. We put on a completely peaceful protest where we shut down Hollywood with our signs. … Republicans were spreading false information that we were calling for violence. But we weren’t – we were calling for vengeance, and we got it.”

A protest in solidarity with Peru’s Indigenous and poor peoples and against the military and police massacres was held across from the United Nations headquarters in New York City on March 31. Since Peru’s elected President, Pedro Castillo, was overthrown and jailed on Dec. 7, 2022, hundreds of Peruvians have been beaten and killed for protesting the coup.

The poor and Indigenous peoples of Peru elected Castillo. However, the U.S. embassy and U.S. mining companies wanted Castillo overthrown.

Vice President Dina Boluarte has become the front person for the military and police killings. Most people slain have been killed in the countryside where Indigenous people live.

Protesters carried signs with pictures of those murdered. Many are young people. Talks were given in both Spanish and English.

Among the speakers in solidarity with the people of Peru was Lucy Pagoada-Quesada, a New York City schoolteacher who’s the coordinator of D19/Partido Libre de Honduras. 

The action was called by Solidaridad Latino Americana; Peruanos en el Extranjero, No al golpe; and Socialist Revolution.

Stop the killings!

Housing rights groups and left-wing parties in Portugal have been calling on the government to institute rent caps and fund social housing. They have also opposed the housing program introduced by the government

On April 1, major rallies were staged across Portugal demanding policies to tackle the housing crisis. Rallies were held in the cities of Lisbon, Porto, Viseu, Aveiro, Coimbra, and Braga under the banner of the coalition “Home to Live In.” Activists from various groups including Habita, Stop Evictions, the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP), and Left Bloc (BE) participated in the actions.

Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa launched #MaisHabitação (More Housing) on March 31, a program to promote affordable rents, strengthen confidence in the rental market, and utilize already existing units for housing purposes. Yet, housing rights activists denounced the program as a Trojan Horse that will use the public budget to subsidize speculative incomes. Activists have demanded a ceiling on rents and property prices, more funds for social housing, increased wages and an end to evictions.

The Stop Evictions collective has said that over 20,000 people have taken part in mobilizations across the country, involving the participation of around 100 organizations. They also denounced police intimidation against demonstrators in Lisbon.

Cities across Portugal are facing an acute housing crisis marked by soaring rents and property prices, even as hundreds of thousands of houses remain unoccupied. According to the registry of the Portuguese National Institute of Statistics, there are around 723,215 empty houses in the country. Earlier in February this year, the Portuguese government unveiled its plan, which includes suspending new licenses for Airbnbs in the country and ending golden visas for international home buyers. Leftist parties and housing rights groups have criticized the government for remaining silent on demands such as instituting a rent cap, expropriating unoccupied houses, taxing and controlling rent sharks and speculation in real estate, and increasing investments in social housing.

On April 1, while addressing the housing mobilization in Lisbon, Catarina Martins from BE said that “The government tried to empty the demonstration with the More Housing package, but the people realized that this package is insufficient. We don’t want more tax breaks, we want to get rid of the existing ones, we want prices regulated, and people to have a salary to pay rent on. People don’t have to have aid to pay rent, because when the aid ends, people can’t afford their house.”

“There must be ceilings on rents, it is necessary that houses that are empty are available to people and above all it is necessary that houses have prices that people can afford. Considering the price of housing in Portugal as one of the biggest problems in the country” and that Lisbon “is one of the most expensive cities in the world taking into account wages,” she added.

On Saturday, Paulo Raimundo from the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) stated that “the housing problem is a central problem and the measures that the government has advanced have no implications in the lives of people”

These days, the Portuguese working class has been also organizing protests titled Vida Justa (Fair Life) to demand an increase in wages and pensions as well as better job security.

Source: Peoples Dispatch

“China gives strong signals that it can be a great power without being an imperialist power,” said the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, this Monday. The comments were made in the context of the new multipolar geopolitical reality in which the People’s Republic of China has emerged as a great power.

“Relations between Greater China and the Homeland of Bolívar have reached their highest level of mutual trust, collaboration, and work, and our relations are at the highest level, at the best level, that relations between Venezuela and China have ever been,” President Maduro said.

The head of state said that both nations have shared visions regarding the construction of a new humanity. That goal must be built, the president said, with relations of respect, cooperation, and solidarity.

Regarding U.S. provocations centered around the Chinese province of Taiwan, the Venezuelan president questioned the aggression of the West towards China: “Venezuela has been on the front line of the battle for truth, denouncing all the provocations against China and supporting the People’s Republic of China and its desire for peace and the peaceful exercise of sovereignty.”

Honors to the Chinese ambassador, Li Baorong

These words were issued by President Maduro during a farewell ceremony for the ambassador from the People’s Republic of China to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Li Baorong.

“Five years after the beginning of his service as ambassador of the People’s Republic of China, in Venezuela—mission accomplished,” Maduro said. “China and Venezuela will continue their path of redemption, development, and common destiny.”

Despite imperialist aggression, the Chinese ambassador was able to witness how the Venezuelan people faced difficult situations. “Still, we have emerged victorious,” President Maduro said.

The Venezuelan president took the opportunity to extend his congratulations to his counterpart, Xi Jinping, for his recent re-election.

Finally, President Maduro pointed out that, in the face of imperial hegemony, civilizational changes are being generated with the emergence of a great military, political, and economic power that promotes the concept of a new humanity under the slogan of a “community of common destiny for mankind.”

(RedRadioVE) by Yucsealis Rincon, with Orinoco Tribune content

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

March 31 — On International Transgender Day of Visibility, hundreds of students at New Orleans’ Benjamin Franklin High School walked out of class. Benjamin Franklin students did the same last year in March as the fascist attack on trans people escalated. 

Now the attacks have reached a fevered pitch nationally, with Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, an oil-and-gas-investment millionaire, leading the charge in this state. Landry is running for governor, using a playbook similar to that of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

The students rallied outside of class. NOLA.com reported some of their powerful statements:

“‘People who will never ever understand how it feels to live my life are attempting to control it in ways that will leave not only me, but many other transgender people devastated, depressed or even at risk of physical harm,’ said Vincent Jarand, a 16-year-old trans student. ‘This is the beginnings of a genocide.’

“Jackie Kimbrough, a Black trans 17-year-old, wiped away tears talking about the impact the bills could have on LGBTQ youth in the state. ‘I’m 17 years old, and I’m fighting for my life,’ Kimbrough said.”

These students are serious leaders inspiring the broader progressive movement. Starting at 5:30 p.m., they led a 500-person-strong march from Washington Square Park, through the French Quarter, to Jackson Square. This square itself has been a site of intense struggle, as Take ‘Em Down NOLA has fought to have the name changed from that of the genocidal U.S. President Andrew Jackson.

Marchers took over the streets and then the amphitheater across from Jackson Square, shouting militant chants like, “If they don’t see us, if they don’t hear us, you’d best believe they’re going to fear us!” High school students and others gave speeches.

The students were joined by groups including Real Name Campaign NOLA, Freedom Road Socialist Organization – New Orleans, ACLU of Louisiana, college branches of Students for a Democratic Society, and others. This was an example of working class and oppressed people from multiple generations working together to take a stand against the far right’s assaults.