Activists take on the death penalty
CHICAGO – Almost three years ago, Gov. George Ryan (R), under tremendous pressure from activists, citizens and 13 exonerated death row inmates, enacted a moratorium on all death sentences in the state and formed a commission to study the system.
Communists unite for Mideast peace
In a statement initiated by the Tudeh Party of Iran, 34 communist and workers parties around the world, including the Communist Party USA, joined together to demand “an end to all provocations and policies and actions threatening to bring about a military conflict in the Middle East,” and calling on all governments “to abide by the UN resolutions and strictly respect the terms of the UN Charter.”
Todays reality in Palestine
Editor’s note: War Times Editor Bob Wing is making a first visit to occupied Palestine with Barbara Lubin of the Middle East Children’s Alliance. The following is excerpted from his eyewitness report of Oct. 5. For the full report go to www.war-times.org WEST BANK, Palestine – Today is one of those precious few days that in Palestine are called “very quiet.” That means that, as of noon today, “only” two Palestinian teenagers were killed, one in Gaza and the other in Jenin camp.
People say: Jobs at home! No war on Iraq!
As George W. Bush delivered a saber-rattling speech to a handpicked Republican audience in Cincinnati, Oct. 7, 4,000 protesters outside chanted, “Peace in the Middle East … Don’t attack the people of Iraq.”
Bush rewards bosses, invokes Taft-Hartley
LOS ANGELES – The labor movement reacted with outrage to George W. Bush’s decision to invoke the unionbusting Taft-Hartley Act to end an employer lockout of the West Coast International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU). It was the first use of the law against the union since Richard Nixon invoked it in 1971 to interrupt a strike.
Labor speaks out against Iraq war
NEW YORK – Unions and their members are speaking out against war with Iraq while taking steps to form stronger ties with the peace movement. Michael Letwin, president of the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys, United Auto Workers Local 2325, told the World strongly worded resolutions denouncing the war are being adopted in union halls across the country.
Sid Taylor: Life with a purpose
Sid Taylor’s confidence in the working class was contagious. His warmth and enthusiasm, big smile and strong handshake let workers know immediately he was on their side. He would say, “If times are hard and you’re not sure what to do, visit a worker.”
Communism in Washington State: a new web resource
The Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies at the University of Washington has launched a new web-based resource: “Communism in Washington State – History and Memory Project.”
The rise and fall of Jim Crow
“Wheel about, turn about Do jis so An’ ebery time I wheel about I jump Jim Crow!” This little ditty was expropriated from a Black performer in the South by Daddy Rice, a white entertainer, in 1828. Performing in blackface and dressed in tattered clothes, Rice took this version of black man imitating the hifalutin ways of white folks, put it in his minstrel act, and made a fortune.
Community rallies to support Baraka
NEWARK – Community leaders, artists and activists are rallying to block efforts to remove renowned poet, playwright and activist Amiri Baraka as New Jersey’s poet laureate. Gov. James McGreevey, after recently appointing him to the post, called for his resignation after an outcry over his poem “Somebody Blew Up America.”
