Black August is a month to commemorate and tell the history of those African men and women brutalized, locked up, and killed by the U.S. criminal justice system. Those courageous freedom fighters sacrificed their livelihood in the ongoing struggle for liberation and a better life for all humanity.

Black August is the month we recall the great loss exacted upon our Black revolutionary movement with the assassination of George Jackson and his younger brother, Jonathan Jackson.

George Jackson was 28 years old when he was murdered at San Quentin State Prison on Aug. 21, 1971. His writings from prison shed light on the harsh realities of prison life, systemic racism, and the struggles faced by incarcerated individuals. On the day of his memorial service in 1971 at St. Augustine’s church in West Oakland, there were 200 Black Panthers in full uniform while 8,000 people listened outside, perched on rooftops, hanging from telephone poles, and filling the streets. As George Jackson’s body was brought out, the people raised their fists in the air and chanted, “Long Live George Jackson.”

Black August is commemorated in cities nationally and around the world. In San Diego, we highlighted historical markers of Black resistance in August past and present. We emphasized that historic acts of struggle, resistance, and courage occur every month of the year, every day of the week, every hour of every day by workers and oppressed people all over the world; our Resistance is essential.

Kevin ‘Rashid’ Johnson

Artist and co-founder of the New African Black Panther Party, Kevin “Rashid” Johnson, convicted in 1990 of murder at 18 years old, has maintained his innocence throughout his 34 years in prison. Politicized in prison, Johnson is an accomplished political theoretician, organizer, and artist whose art honors Black freedom fighters and political prisoners.

Johnson was born in Richmond, Virginia, 35 miles from the English colony of Jamestown, Virginia, where the first dark-skinned African enslaved captives were chained. Stolen captives of a vicious race war against Black life by the merchant princes of Europe were unloaded in August 1619.

Johnson’s drawing entitled “Philly’s 7th Ward” is a thought-provoking tribute honoring ancestors George and Jonathan Jackson, Fred Hampton, Huey Newton, Harriet Tubman, Safiya Bukhari, Russell Maroon Shoats, Dr. Mutulu Shakur, Major Tillery (who remains in prison ‘41 years’), the Haitian Revolution, and the MOVE 9.

The MOVE 9

Aug. 8, 1978, after a 15-month armed police standoff with the Philadelphia-based naturalist “MOVE” organization, the police raided MOVE, killing one of their own in police crossfire, nine men and women were charged with murder, and sentenced to 30 to 100 years in prison. Two MOVE 9 members died in prison — Merle Africa and Phil Africa — seven were released. Of the seven released, two have since joined the ancestors, and four are continuing the fight for justice and freedom for all prisoners.

Michael Africa, Jr. — son of Mike Africa, Sr. and Debbie Simms Africa, two of the MOVE 9 political prisoners — was born in a prison cell in 1978, raised within the MOVE organization family, and began working to free his parents at 13 years old. With the help of the teachings of John Africa — love, courage, and determination — he successfully got his parents released, as well as all the remaining MOVE 9 political prisoners, after 27-plus years of struggle. Mike Africa tells his powerful, captivating story in his book “On A Move: A Native Son’s Battle for Justice,” released Aug. 6, 2024.

In San Diego, Black August Political Education (PE) events were held by the Association of Raza Educators (ARE), the San Diego Black Panther Party, and the San Diego Coalition to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal. Each event emphasized the meaning of Black August highlighting historical markers of Black Resistance beginning with the assassination of George Jackson and his teenage brother Jonathan Jackson.

Hands off Uhuru!

During the Black Panther Party panel discussion, Matsemela Odom, president of InPDUM, gave an update on the case of the Uhuru 3 and the African People’s Socialist Party (APSP). The Uhuru 3 — APSP Chairman Omali Yeshitela, Penny Hess, and Jesse Nevel — face up to 15 years in prison for exercising their First Amendment right to freedom of speech. The Uhuru 3 case has global support and has sparked an emerging global anti-colonial free speech movement.

“The U.S. government has put us in the position of having to fight for free speech that they claim is the cornerstone of U.S. democracy,” said Chairman Yeshitela.

The Uhuru 3 are encouraging people to show up on Aug. 31 and participate in the “Not One Step Backwards March” in St. Petersburg, Florida. The trial begins Sept. 3 in Tampa. It is important for people to show up for this historic trial.

There are many more historical markers of resistance in August, many of which are listed in Mumia Abu-Jamal’s commentary “Black August 2003.”

Honorable Marcus Garvey, born Aug. 17, 1887, the founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), inspired millions of Africans around the world with his ideas of Pan-Africanism.

Long Distance Revolutionary Mumia Abu-Jamal’s death warrant was signed twice by Pennsylvania Governor Thomas Ridge: Aug. 17, 1995, the birthday of the Honorable Marcus Garvey (Aug. 17, 1887), and  Dec. 2, 1999, the day abolitionist John Brown was executed (Dec. 2, 1859). On both occasions, protests were held around the world. The death sentences were dropped in December 2011. After 30 years on death row, Mumia’s sentence was commuted to life in prison with no possibility of parole.

Black August is a time to strengthen our commitment to end mass incarceration, free all political prisoners, and end death by incarceration.

The words of Ho Chi Minh

Recall the words of Ho Chi Minh, the revolutionary president of Vietnam:

“People who come out of prison can build up the country. Misfortune is the test of people’s fidelity. Those who protest at injustice are people of true merit. When the prison doors are opened the real dragons will fly out.”

The San Diego Coalition to Free Mumia and “Do For Self” will host the final Black August event in San Diego at the Malcolm X Library on Saturday, Aug. 24. We will screen the film Black August and have an open discussion about the film. All three events were free and open to the public.

Long Live the spirit of George Jackson.

Free Mumia, Leonard Peltier, and all political prisoners! Shut down the Prison-Industrial Complex, and abolish the death penalty and death by incarceration!

Hands off Uhuru, hands off Palestine, Hands off Haiti.

Jaylen Brown has a lot going for him. As of recently, he’s an NBA champion and an NBA Finals Most Valuable Player. He’s a multi-time NBA all-star and a former McDonald’s All-American. What Jalen Brown is not is an Olympian. 

On July 10, USA Basketball announced that Derrick White, not Jaylen Brown, would replace Kawhi Leonard on the U.S. men’s basketball team for the just completed Paris Olympics. Derrick White and Jaylen Brown are teammates on the Boston Celtics, which recently broke a 16-year championship drought. 

The decision to choose Derrick White over Jaylen Brown struck many as odd due to Brown’s performance in the 2024 NBA finals, a performance that led to Brown being named both Eastern Conference Finals MVP and NBA Finals MVP. Brown averaged 20.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 5.0 assists in the NBA finals. Additionally, Brown’s defense was crucial in shutting down Dallas’ offensive stars, Luca Doncic and Kyrie Irving. 

And it’s not like Brown’s statistics were unimpressive during the regular season. In the 23-24 campaign, Brown averaged 23 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 3.6 assists for the Celtics. There is no doubt that Brown, at only 27 years old, is one of the NBA’s brightest stars. Yet, not bright enough of a star for USA basketball to name Brown an Olympic team member. 

Now, Derrick White is a terrific NBA player. Nothing written in the coming paragraphs is meant to criticize him or any of the players. There are simply questions that must be asked about Team USA’s snub of Brown. 

So, why wasn’t Brown selected to play for Team USA’s Olympic basketball team? Is Brown not good enough? Is he not a team player? Is there some other extenuating circumstance? 

Depends on who’s asked

As with many questions, the answer to these questions depends on who is asked. That is no different here. 

Let’s start with the man himself, Jaylen Brown. In response to Team USA’s announcement, Brown took to social media with tweets hinting at Nike’s involvement in keeping him off the squad. Brown has been critical of Nike for its connections to overseas sweatshops and its decision to drop Brown’s former teammate, Kyrie Irving, from its brand. 

Brown has also criticized Nike for the culture of sexism and bullying that led to several multi-million dollar lawsuits against Nike. For all of these reasons, Brown has consistently refused to sign an endorsement deal with Nike, even though Brown has only worn Nike sneakers for several years. When a reporter later asked Brown if he believed Nike had kept him off Team USA, he said he did. So, there is Jaylen Brown’s answer, and there are many reasons to believe it. But before getting deeper into that, let’s see how other individuals answered these questions. 

When members of the news media asked Grant Hill, USA Basketball’s Operating Manager, about the decision to leave Brown off the roster, Hill asserted the decision was purely a basketball one. Hill even went as far as to imply that Brown’s accusations against Nike were “conspiracy theories.”

Several prominent sports media talking heads joined the fray as well. Skip Bayless asserted that Team USA’s snub of Brown was because Jayson Tatum, Brown’s Celtics’ teammate, is on the Olympic roster, and Tatum does not like Brown. Stephen A. Smith went a step further. Smith asserted that NBA players, in general, dislike Brown because of his Muslim faith, his left-wing politics, and his outspoken union activism. 

It is interesting that the media narrative and the comments from Grant Hill kept the blame for Brown’s snub focused on the players, whether it be because Brown’s fellow players disliked him or because Brown’s radical politics made it impossible for him to be liked. The sports establishment would seemingly want us to believe that this was all a matter of interpersonal preference between the players. 

A voice for workers’ rights

The media’s attempt to depict Brown as self-destructive or interpersonally disagreeable is an intentional mischaracterization. For the past 5 years, Brown has served as a vice president of the NBA Player’s Association, the NBA’s labor union. He was elected to that position by his fellow players because of his commitment to workers’ rights and anti-racism. 

The fact is, Team USA’s decision to keep Brown from the roster has nothing to do with his talent or his interpersonal sportsmanship. The snub was born of politics. Team USA and Nike did not want to risk giving Brown access to the microphone and global audience that comes with the Olympics. With access to that stage, Brown could have seized the moment to spread a message of anti-racism and labor solidarity. That could not be allowed. 

Nike, USA Basketball, Grant Hill, and the sports media can hide behind any narrative they wish. The facts speak for themselves. 

Solidarity with Jalen Brown! Solidarity with Angel Reese! Black Lives Matter!

Caracas, August 22, 2024 (venezuelanalysis.com) – The Venezuelan Supreme Court (TSJ) has concluded its review of the July 28 presidential elections in the Caribbean country.

On Thursday, Venezuela’s maximum judicial authority ratified President Nicolás Maduro’s victory to secure a third term that will run from January 10, 2025, to January 10, 2031.

In a press conference with state officials, diplomatic representatives and reporters, TSJ President Caryslia Rodríguez began by reaffirming the court’s jurisdiction and recalling recent electoral processes in Brazil, Mexico and the United States that were ultimately settled by judicial rulings. The magistrate then proceeded to read the verdict.

“We certify in an unobjectionable way that the examined electoral evidence confirms the results proclaimed by the National Electoral Council (CNE) which saw Nicolás Maduro reelected as president,” she said.

The CNE declared Maduro the winner with 52 percent of the vote, compared to 43 percent for US-backed opposition candidate Edmundo González.

Rodríguez stated that a team of national and international experts had conducted a review “with the highest technical standards” of the voting records submitted by electoral parties and candidates and found them to “fully coincide” with data from the CNE’s tallying centers.

The TSJ president, who also heads the body’s electoral branch, additionally stressed that the CNE should publish the “definitive results” in the National Gazette before an August 28 deadline. Venezuela’s electoral authority has not published detailed results broken down by voting center, with officials denouncing massive cyberattacks against state infrastructure.

On July 31, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro requested that the CNE’s electoral branch intervene following fraud claims and violent unrest in the days after the vote.

Rodríguez declared that the CNE submitted electoral evidence as required, as did most political parties and candidates that took part in the July 28 contest. Two of the former presidential hopefuls, Enrique Márquez and Antonio Ecarri, did not deliver voting tallies. Both went on to introduce appeals before the TSJ, with Márquez calling for the TSJ president to recuse herself over alleged political biases and Ecarri requesting that the court’s constitutional branch clarify the respective responsibilities of the electoral branch and the CNE.

In delivering the final ruling, which is not appealable, Rodríguez recalled that hardline candidate González was in contempt of court for not appearing as summoned and not consigning the requested evidence. She urged Attorney General Tarek William Saab to launch investigations for crimes including usurpation of functions, document forgery and digital infractions.

Thursday’s verdict was welcomed by government officials, with Foreign Minister Yván Gil saying that the ruling “turns the page” on the elections and that the country is “at peace.” For his part, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino praised Venezuela’s institutions for “fulfilling their role.”

On Wednesday, González and far-right political leader María Corina Machado issued a joint statement arguing that the Supreme Court holds no competency to validate electoral results and demanding that the CNE comply with their claims that González was the victor by a landslide. His campaign team set up a website showing purported voting tallies, though the authenticity of the uploaded documents has been called into question.

Machado and González went on to vow that the latter will take office as president next January.

The hardline US-backed opposition has reiteratedly refused to recognize electoral defeats over the past two decades, often spurring violent street protests in response. In recent weeks, US officials have voiced support for González’s claim and emphasized the need for a “transition” in the Latin American country.

On Thursday, US Senators including Rick Scott (R-FL) and Jim Risch (R-ID) announced the so-called VALOR Act to “promote democracy” in Venezuela. The legislation includes an emphasis on economic sanctions against the Caribbean nation.

The Maduro government has repeatedly rejected foreign meddling and attacks on Venezuelan sovereignty. It has denounced a US-led coup attempt following the latest election. Caracas suspended diplomatic relations with Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru and the Dominican Republic earlier this month, accusing the respective governments of being “subordinated to Washington” and interfering in internal Venezuelan affairs.

The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry has likewise rejected a UN expert panel report on the July 28 vote due to “perverse political intentions” and for breaking the terms agreed to with the CNE. The four-person UN team claimed the lack of detailed results generated a “negative impact on confidence in the outcome” and also pointed to the suspension of post-electoral audits.

Caracas had previously taken aim at “blatant lies” by the Carter Center’s observation mission.

In contrast, a series of other international accompaniment teams endorsed the Venezuelan electoral process. A delegation from the US’ National Lawyers Guild (NLG) issued a statement affirming that its members “witnessed no instances of fraud or serious irregularities and found overall voter satisfaction with the electoral process.”

Source

Abuja, Nigeria, Aug. 14 — The Society for International Relations Awareness (SIRA) Conference on Aug. 12-13 in Abuja, Nigeria, served as a powerful testament of solidarity and commitment for peoples fighting for self-determination. The theme was “The Forgotten Peoples: International Conference to Decolonize the World.”

Today’s most dangerous period of the push towards World War III by Western imperialism – led by U.S. imperialism, which also leads NATO – can only succeed with the participation and obedience of the former colonized and neocolonized governments and peoples.

However, this conference makes it clear that the anti-imperialist organizations, activists, and youth in the colonized orbit will more likely become the gravediggers of the imperialists.

Owei Lakemfa, the current president of SIRA with a long history of struggle in leading and writing about labor unions and human rights, gave a welcome to the conference: “We feel the United Nations has not been fast enough, even though they promised to decolonize countries since 1960. So, we decided to bring the people of the colonies as well as the people of the colonial masters together to agree on a possible time frame, or framework, or action plan. …

“With about 61 non-self-governing territories in the world and about 17-18 by the UN, we want to see how many of them can be decolonized within the next 4 to 6 years.”

Occupation of Western Sahara

Western imperialism has and continues to encourage division among the colonized and neocolonized nations. The Spanish-enabled, long-standing occupation of Western Sahara by Morocco is one of those contradictions of the colonized becoming colonizers. Morocco was also a victim of French and British colonialism.

Lakemfa explained that the issue has deep roots, dating back to Spain’s controversial decision to hand over Western Sahara to Morocco and Mauritania during decolonization.

“While Mauritania eventually withdrew, Morocco maintained its grip on the territory, leaving the Sahrawi people scattered across occupied lands and refugee camps in Algeria.”

The keynote address was presented by Western Sahara Ambassador Oubi Bachir, representative of the POLISARIO Liberation Movement to the UN and Geneva: 

“I would assume that you all know that Western Sahara is known to be the last colony in Africa,” said Bachir, “because it is still listed within the UN list of countries to be decolonized,” but Morocco’s “Plan A was to militarily occupy the territory by exterminating the people.”

By 1991, however, Bachir states that the Sahara’s military resistance forced Morocco to appear to accept the UN plan that was calling for a referendum for self-determination. But Morocco reverted to military attacks against Western Sahara. Bachir pointed out that the responsibility of the European Union, the U.S., and the African Union is to assist in the self-determination of Western Sahara. “The people of Western Sahara are the ones and only ones entitled to determine the final fate of the territory of the Western Sahara,” said Bachir.

Solidarity with Cuba

The Ambassador of the Republic of Cuba, Miriam Morales Palmero, was well received. She spoke about solidarity with Nigeria and their common interests in ending the U.S. blockade of Cuba as well as the U.S. classification of Cuba as a State Sponsor of Terrorism. Palmero received a chant of solidarity from participants in the conference and recognition of Fidel Castro’s birth on Aug. 13, the day she spoke.

The previous day, opening remarks were made by the chairperson of the conference – Professor Ibrahim Gambari – former UNICEF President, ex-Nigeria Foreign Affairs Minister, and past Chair of the UN Special Committee Against Apartheid and Envoy on Cyprus, Zimbabwe, and Myanmar: “As long as many people remain not free under colonialism, none of us can consider ourselves free,” said Gambari.

“The freedom of all oppressed people, colonized people is paramount; without it, international peace and security are truly endangered,” he continued.

“United resolutions are plenty in terms of supporting the end of colonialism, but they don’t self-implement; therefore, we really have to organize to make sure those territories under colonial rule or not self-governing must be independent as soon as possible.”

Jihad Abdul Mumit, former political prisoner and member of the Jericho Movement, USA, echoed this sentiment in his statement to the conference: “The point and opportunity here is to continue to build better and stronger networks to educate, uplift, and represent the people. It is our duty to develop a plan. It is our duty to fight against genocide, colonialism, and all forms of oppression. It is our duty to respect each other. It is our duty to struggle to win.”

Maggie Vascassenno, co-coordinator of Women in Struggle/Mujeres en Lucha, USA, referenced the Nigerian struggles today: “Women In Struggle is inspired by and in solidarity with the young people and workers here in Abuja and cities throughout Nigeria who are fighting against soaring inflation, hunger and poverty. We demand an end to the brutal repression which includes not only the deaths of those fighting against capitalist price gouging but also the mass jailings in Nigeria. We embrace the demands of the mass movement #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria.”

End colonization of Puerto Rico

The struggle to end the colonization of Puerto Rico within the U.S. was a major focus of this conference. Edwin Cortes, a former Puerto Rican political prisoner who spent 14 years in prison and who also spoke on behalf of former political prisoner Oscar Lopez Rivera, expressed how it created a desire for struggle. “Since the 1970s, we have been and continue to be moved by many liberation struggles, including in Algeria, Angola, Mozambique, South Africa, Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, as well as the Tupamaros in Uruguay, the FMLN in El Salvador, July 26 Movement in Cuba, Nicolas Maduro and United Socialist Party of Venezuela, Palestine, among others. …

“Oscar Lopez Rivera was born in Puerto Rico and, as part of a colonial economic forced migration, moved to the United States in the 1950s. He was conscripted into the U.S. armed forces and sent to Vietnam, where his eyes were opened to the anti-colonial struggle of the Vietnamese people. Oscar returned to the streets of Chicago with an anti-colonial vision to uplift the lives of our people struggling in the community and for the development of new campaigns for Puerto Rico’s self-determination and independence.”

This writer, a member of the Socialist Unity Party, spoke on the denial of self-determination taken from the Global South by the World Bank and IMF, which is dominated by the U.S. Their role in denying infrastructure only brings poverty and inflation — fueled by the U.S. wars, proxy wars and military terrorism in Africa.

Kandis A. N. Sebro, Alba Movements Continental Assembly of the Caribbean People: also spoke about the underdevelopment of infrastructure exposed in 1968: “As the Guyanese intellectual Walter Rodney highlighted, colonialist expansion was done with a view to exploit our resources, and the Caribbean was therefore structurally organized to foster the development of industrial countries predominantly in Europe — or the mainland.”

In addition, Sebro explained: “Social domination also included the renunciation of self in various ways such as through language and culture. This phenomenon is addressed by Frantz Fanon in his book, ‘Black Skin, White Mask’ where Caribbean people are constantly taught that elements of their culture are primitive and worthless.”

The violence of the Western imperialist countries is today very visible with technology and the unprecedented killing of children and Palestinians in Gaza by Israel’s most heinous and monstrous genocide — armed and funded by the U.S. And the genocide against African peoples, on the continent, and in the diaspora, continues to increase it’s violence.

Kazi Toure, former political prisoner and member of the National Jericho Movement, USA, was a witness to the state executions against the Black liberation movement: “When a child goes to school, he or she must place their hand over their heart, turn to the flag, and pledge allegiance to the flag of the U.S. – the same happens at every major sports event. …

“I stopped pledging when I was 13. Medgar Evers was murdered when I was 14. Brother Malcolm was assassinated when I was 15. The Black Panther Party was born when I was 16 and Martin Luther King was murdered when I was 18. … The counterintelligence program of the FBI, known as Cointelpro, infiltrated and destroyed every Black, Brown, and Indigenous organization that worked to better their communities and nations. Twenty-eight young people in the Black Panther Party were murdered by 1974, to the party’s demise.”

Berta Joubert-Ceci, a member of the Women’s International Democratic Federation and a regular contributor to Struggle-La Lucha, gave a very informative presentation at the conference that highlighted the economic violence against Puerto Rico:

“In 2015, the Krueger Report, an IMF neoliberal prescription, was published: ‘Puerto Rico a way forward.’ The 30-page report provides a detailed study of the economy of the colony and its practices … some of the measures of this five-year plan are:

• Elimination of the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, which it says is too high
• Reduction of the number of teachers and consolidation (closing) of schools; reduction of funding to the University of Puerto Rico, etc.

“It also includes privatization of public agencies such as the PUR Electric Power Authority, and other government agencies that are efficiently generating income as the State Insurance Fund. These facts point to the urgency of decolonization now.”

Estelí Capote, General Coordinator, Instituto Puertorriqueño de Relaciones Internacionales, talked about how organizations working through the UN committees could also push Puerto Rico’s independence and self-determination.

“For example, during the early 2000s, Puerto Rico had a big struggle in taking out the U.S. military from Vieques that was bombarding heavily the island resulting in contamination, displacement of population, the sickness of the population, death of personnel … this is the type of issue that the 4th Commission can work on. It is important for Puerto Rico to have a presence in this 4th Commission specially through our sister country of Cuba … with all the economic blockage and political restriction imposed by the U.S., they have continued to be very strict in their determination to fulfill the Jose Marti and Fidel Castro commitment to foster Puerto Rican independence.”

Owei Lakemfa and Estelí Capote – the key organizers – brought together an extremely successful conference that ended with the direction of work and the recognition of a significant and inspiring date of birth. Said Capote: “This is the first of a series of consecutive, consistent events to be celebrated until the objective of this body is obtained. The participants recognized today, Aug. 13, Fidel Castro’s birthday, the vital and inspirational energy of the great revolutionary of the world, sustaining and providing guidance in the process of debating and agreeing collectively on the objectives and goals of this conference.”

On June 28, the unelected U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson case that the U.S. Constitution does not protect people against cruel and unusual punishment for sleeping outside even if they have nowhere else to go. The six justices who voted to criminalize the homeless have a combined net worth of $54 million. 

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democratic Party darling and rising star in U.S. politics, quickly followed up with an executive order instructing all state agencies in California to clear encampments of houseless people.  While municipalities don’t need to comply, Newsom has threatened to redirect state funds away from those who don’t. 

Mayor Bass of Los Angeles and other cities are refusing to comply. Bass campaigned on solving Los Angeles’s major homeless crisis and launched a campaign called “Inside Safe,” including a municipal state of emergency. In April she called on businesses to contribute to a new fund called LA4LA. The Bass administration claims it has made progress which may be statistically true, but the streets of Los Angeles are still checkered with small and large tent cities that are periodically pushed out and then reemerge weeks later. 

One year ago the mayor and the city council approved a 12% raise for the Los Angeles Police Department, infamous for its racism and brutality, without having to beg for funds, but there are still not enough shelter beds. Adding more shelter beds is the bare minimum that should be done to get people housed. What is really needed are homes and jobs or income for all. 

California leads in homelessness

According to a U.S. Senate fact sheet on homelessness, about 28%, or 181,399 of the 653,100 homeless in the U.S. are in California. Even worse, California leads the U.S. in the percentage of homeless that are unsheltered at 68% of its homeless population, or 123,423 people.

The rise and fall of the number of homeless people can be roughly correlated to the boom and bust cycles of capitalism. That was certainly the case after the Great Depression of 1929 when the number of homeless people rose to more than 2 million. Nationally there are 653,100 people homeless currently, and about 40% live unsheltered. Black, Indigenous, Brown, and other people of color are overrepresented in the homeless population, as are survivors of domestic violence, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and people with disabilities, per the Southern Poverty Law Center. 

This current wave of homelessness can be traced back to the 1970s when the U.S. economy began to shift toward a high-tech, service economy, and the corporate ruling class, and all three branches of the capitalist government, began a decades-long assault on workers’ living standards. 

Over five decades, millions of jobs have disappeared. During the same period, the housing market, controlled mainly by individual landlords, became a source of super profits for huge investment groups. This has driven gentrification all across the country and caused rent prices to spike. Even mobile home parks, a last resort for impoverished workers, are being purchased by giant hedge funds who raise rents and use them as a cash cow. 

After driving people into homelessness, capitalist politicians punish the victims. A report issued by the National Homeless Law Center states: “From vagrancy laws and the workhouses of pre-industrial England to legal segregation, sundown towns, and anti-Okie laws in the U.S., ordinances regulating the use of public space have long been used to exclude marginalized persons based on race, national origin, or economic class.” 

Racist, classist anti-homeless laws

The report indicated that from 2006 to 2019, it tracked anti-homeless laws in 187 cities and found that citywide bans on camping have increased by 92%, on sitting or lying down by 78%, on loitering by 103%, on panhandling by 103%, and on living in vehicles by 213%. Meanwhile, a 1300% growth in homeless encampments has been reported in all 50 states.

The Grant’s Pass decision now greenlights cities, counties, and states across the U.S. to apply racist and classist laws without legal repercussions. According to the unelected multi-millionaire Supreme Court justices, the U.S. Constitution doesn’t protect homeless people from discriminatory repression. In other words, someone going camping doesn’t get arrested as long as they can show they have a home. But, a homeless person can be arrested for life-sustaining activity, like lying down or sleeping anywhere. 

Many housing advocates say that although the number of homeless people today is smaller than that of the Great Depression era, the situation is worse. There is some validity to that notion because unions and the working class generally have not yet moved from a defensive mode brought on by 50 years of corporate repression. However, the powerful movement in the 1930s was also a response to poverty and oppression, and it grew and led to a great deal of militant union and community activism. 

The people’s movement became so strong that it forced the new administration of Franklin Roosevelt to institute major changes in how the capitalist government functioned.  Programs like Social Security and unemployment insurance began to provide some relief to millions of unemployed and aged workers. The administration also scrambled to find ways to provide jobs, income, and affordable housing. 

Most relevant to the issue of homeless people being criminalized today is the history of tremendous movement of “Unemployed Council” members who physically resisted evictions being carried out by moving people’s furniture back inside their homes as sheriffs moved it out. They also became experts at reconnecting electric or gas lines – “meter jumps.” These peoples’ actions occurred in many cities and towns across the country and were written about in Ralph Ellison’s famous novel, “The Invisible Man.”

The Unemployed Council movement was organized and led by the Communist Party and drew the participation of workers and activists everywhere. A modern-day movement to provide people with housing and stop evictions can happen. With the growing class awareness that has emerged during the U.S. funding of genocide against the Palestinian people, now is the perfect time for a militant, revolutionary movement that leads to an end to imperialist war and genocide while ensuring housing, medical care, and education for all. Capitalism belongs in the dustbin of history. It is on its way.

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Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—Caracas and several cities in Venezuela witnessed a new round of demonstrations supporting the Bolivarian Revolution as well as a few small far-right demonstrations called by those who got defeated in the presidential elections held on July 28 but claim victory nonetheless. The low turnout in the opposition demonstrations contrast sharply with their claim of having received 7.3 million of votes in the presidential elections.

The “massive” march promised by the far right for this Saturday, August 17, was a clear failure. The call for protests was unable to attract large crowds in Caracas and other cities as planned, despite the calls of María Corina Machado and an army of influencers and paid journalists on social media platforms asking Venezuelans to join the marches.

Images and videos from the various rallies called by the Venezuelan far-right across the country showed very low attendance. The streets where the opposition demonstration took place in Caracas reflected the overall failure of the far-right leaders María Corina Machado and Edmundo González, who relied on digital platforms to massively promote their call. In fact, Venezuelan far-right rallies were better attended in Miami, Madrid and other foreign cities than in Venezuela.

Since last week, María Corina Machado has been calling on social media for the “great international day of protests.” The call, spread massively by mainstream media around the world along with social media influencers, and the failure of the opposition protests in Venezuela reflect the disconnect between the Venezuelan far-right narrative spread outside Venezuela and the reality in the streets of the country.

This is not the first time that a far-right opposition call for protests after the presidential elections has ended up with a low turnout. On August 3, a similar attempt saw a slightly better turnout but was overall labeled as a failure by the opposition as well as by Chavismo.

Violent opposition riots during July 29-30 claimed 25 lives and left nearly 200 injured, most of them passersby or law enforcement agents. This violence has been proved to be linked to Venezuelan criminal gangs like Tren del Llano and Tren de Aragua that publicly expressed their support for Machado and the Venezuelan far-right.

Amid reports from Venezuelan intelligence agencies about a new far-right attempt to generate violence on Saturday, Caracas was wrapped up in heavy security, with two armored vehicles and 40 motorcycle-mounted troops controlling access to the low-income Petare neighborhood, several kilometers away from the opposition’s gathering point, as well in other location where violence occurred after the election day.

“They are trying to scare us, to divide us, to paralyze us, to demoralize us, but they cannot do that because they are absolutely entrenched in their lies and violence,” wrote Machado on social media minutes before arriving at the demonstration in Caracas. According to some analysts, she made this post upon realizing the lack of popular support reflected in the streets of Caracas.

On social media platforms, a fake news campaign has been launched to create the impression that there is instability in Venezuela while in reality the only days when there was violence were the two days following the presidential election. This fake news campaign is trying to present a false narrative about heavy police repression and persecution of political dissent, but the measures adopted by law enforcement during the days following the elections were directed against those criminal gangs that spread violence and those on social media who publicly incited violence and hatred or called for the assassination of Chavista leaders and grassroots activists.

President Maduro, addressing a massive Chavista demonstration in defense of peace, stated that the Miami-based “influencers” who called on fascists to take to the streets had been defeated. “The fascist right has failed,” he said. “They believed that with the influencers from Miami they were going to mobilize the people, but they failed!”

President Maduro also congratulated the Venezuelan people who took to the streets on Saturday to march in defense of peace in 100 cities across Venezuela, adding that when the Chavista people take to the streets, peace is guaranteed. “We won again because peace triumphed, they could not defeat us and will never be able to do so,” he stressed.

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Statement from Maggie Vascassenno of Women in Struggle-Mujeres en Lucha presented to the International Conference for the Eradication of Colonialism, which was held in Abuja, Nigeria, from August 12-13, 2024.

Women in Struggle-Mujeres en Lucha is an anti-imperialist organization of women and oppressed genders based in the U.S. and affiliated with the Women’s International Democratic Federation (FDIM/WIDF). We salute and congratulate the organizers, SIRA – Society for International Relations Awareness, for the “Eradication of Colonialism” conference and express our full solidarity to all organizations and forces fighting to end colonialism and neocolonialism.

Women In Struggle is inspired by and in solidarity with the young people and workers here in Abuja and cities throughout Nigeria who are fighting against soaring inflation, hunger, and poverty. We demand an end to the brutal repression, which includes not only the deaths of those fighting against capitalist price gouging but also the mass jailings in Nigeria. We embrace the demands of the mass movement #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria.

The courageous spirit of the youth in Nigeria today is rooted in the historic militancy of African peoples against colonialism and oppression. For generations, Africans have been in solidarity with Palestine. South Africa has waged one of the most important battles against the genocide and war crimes of Israel in Gaza by leading the international struggle in the U.N. against the Israeli genocide. A genocide bought and paid for by U.S. imperialism. For more than 75 years, the Palestinian people have resisted the colonial efforts of the Zionist entity. 

The heroic Palestinian resistance and the international solidarity movement, of mainly students and youth, numbering in the millions on every continent, north to south and east to west, has shown, no matter the depths of depravity of the Israeli Occupation Forces, especially against women, children, and prisoners, the Palestinian people will win. From the river to the sea. 

Women In Struggle demands U.S. AFRICOM out of Africa now! We stand with our African comrades who have resisted colonialism for hundreds of years – from Southern Africa to Congo and Egypt and from Kenya to the Western Sahara & Guinea Bissau. And we extend our solidarity to President Nicholas Maduro and the Venezuelan people. The U.S. is employing all of its arsenal of deceit and deception to undermine Venezuela’s sovereignty, including its ongoing use of sanctions and attempted coups. We demand U.S. hands off of Venezuela.

As a women’s organization fighting in the United States, the belly of the beast, our main role is to bring down U.S. imperialism – in the interests of workers and the poor worldwide – particularly women, children, and oppressed genders who suffer doubly from capitalist and imperialist oppression. 

Down with U.S. imperialism!  End colonialism, neocolonialism, and occupation!

Miserable is a society that imposes repudiatory practices of inquisition and falsehood. Miserable are those who deny Cuba the joy of its nine Olympic medals, the same number won by Denmark, a country without a U.S. blockade and without the press and the media reproaching its performance in Paris.

The publicity strategy to turn every success of Cuba into a failure has an interesting peculiarity: it operates by continuous streaks, by brief and intense periods in which a thematic axis is installed. From the alleged arrival in Caracas of 32 flights from Havana to intervene in the Venezuelan elections, the non-existent Chinese military bases in Cuban territory, the presence of Russian submarines with nuclear weapons in Havana Bay that did not actually take place, the alleged failure of Cuba in the Paris Olympics, everything is aimed at producing an “agenda”.

The vertigo with which the publicity events follow one after the other suggests that none of them reaches a minimum of power in public opinion: their objective is not essentially to modify opinions, but the installation of a parallel reality, the agitation of prejudices, the persistence of hatred as an excluding source of legitimacy of a government that leads the country in its worst economic crisis while under permanent siege.

The last cry of this fashion, however, seems to be crossing a barrier and beginning the transition to a new period, flatly denying reality, ignoring the evidence of facts that have been corroborated by millions of spectators attending the Olympic Games. Cuba was not only the Latin American country with the highest number of medals won, surpassed only by Brazil, but also the Cuban athlete who for the first time in history won five consecutive medals at the Olympics in the same sport, Mijaín López.

Neither Bolt nor Phelps nor Lewis nor other sport legends achieved what Mijaín did. He made his debut in Athens 2004 and from Beijing 2008 to Paris 2024 he took the gold medals in Greco-Roman wrestling, a discipline that was practiced in the classical world before the birth of Jesus Christ and in which since the establishment of the Olympic Games no other gladiator held the scepter for so many years. Until Mijaín appeared, a compendium of culture and the comings and goings of national history: black with a Russian name, known throughout Cuba as the Giant of Herradura, because he is 1.93 meters tall, weighs 130 kilograms and was born in a small town of that name with barely 10,000 inhabitants, which did not exist on the map until American settlers discovered its fertile lands and settled there at the beginning of the 20th century.

His family descends from Africans who worked all their lives for the rich whites of that area until they became literate with the 1959 revolution and, thanks to it and to the plans to extend sports to every town in the country, while his father, Bartolo, tilled the land, Mijaín and his two brothers won medals in national and international boxing and Greco-Roman wrestling championships.

And this Cuban athlete was selected to represent the athletes of the Americas at the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris.

But with this attitude of contempt for others, of cult of violence that takes pleasure in the suffering of others, not a few media and agencies, in addition to the pack of cyberspace, have denied the medal to Mijaín and the other Cuban Olympic athletes. With indignation we read everywhere the “expected failure”, “worst Olympics for Cuba”, “decline”, “sports crisis”, “shipwreck” and other nonsense, and as a footnote, insignificant, the results that most of the nations of this planet would have liked to have.

The French philosopher and urbanist Paulo Virilio anticipated in the book Cibermundo, la política de lo peor ( 1997), a long interview with his compatriot Philippe Petit, that “the day will come when virtual reality will defeat the real world…. One’s own body will cease to exist in favor of the spectral body, and one’s own world in favor of a virtual world”. For saying these things, which are our daily bread, Virilio was accused 30 years ago of being an apocalyptic.

Rosa Miriam Elizalde is a Cuban journalist who served as the Vice-President of the Union of Cuban Journalists  (UPEC).  She holds a PhD in Communication Sciences and is the author of several books. Rosa is a founder of Cubadebate and its Editor-in-Chief until January 2017. Currently she is a columnist for La Jornada, Mexico.

Source: La Jornada translation Resumen Latinoamericano – English