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Chicago alderman Rosa, community, activists denounce ICE raids on day laborers

Michelle Zacarias, Earchiel Johnson — Wed, 10 Aug 2016 14:45:00 +0000

CHICAGO -- Activists, community residents and laborers gathered on the corner of Milwaukee and Belmont in the heavily Latinx neighborhood of West Avondale August 9 to denounce the recent increase in ICE raids taking place on the north west side of the city. Government agents had raided a neighborhood location where immigrant workers gather on Friday August 5 at around noon, forcing a group of laborers to to submit to illegal searches and mobile fingerprint scanners.

Aristides Banegas was one of the laborers who came face to face with ICE agents that day. He recalled details of the incident. He said that in the 23 years he's been living in the U.S., the last couple of years have exposed the type of energy and effort being directed at targeting immigrant communities. [Ed. note: Mr. Banegas' remarks are translated from Spanish.] "I came to this country for a better life and for change, and not to be mistreated." He stated that Friday around noon a blue Ford Explorer pulled up to the Shell gas station parking lot where day laborers and other subcontractors normally station themselves to be recruited for jobs. Banegas said several men jumped out of the vehicle and shouted at the laborers not to move. He said one of the men grabbed Banegas by the arm and demanded that he show them his papers. While Banegas was able to provide the agents with his state ID, ICE ended up detaining 3 of his peers. One was later released, but the other two remain in detention as of this writing. (story continues after video)

This form of racial profiling in Latinx and immigrant communities is not only a violation of civil rights, but is an example of the racism that drives this country's immigration policies. For years, anti-immigration legislation, like Arizona's infamous SB 1070 law, has provided 'loopholes' for government agents to ask local police to determine the immigration status of someone arrested or detained when there is "reasonable suspicion." Many have argued that SB1070 and similar laws set a dangerous precedent for racial profiling of brown and black individuals across the nation.

On a local level, immigrants' rights groups such as Organized Communities Against Deportations and Not One More have been outspoken about the the injustices that plague Chicago's communities. In response to the recent raids in Chicago, they have taken several steps to challenge the legality of ICE orders. They have filed an official request and are demanding an investigation to the civil rights violations that are occurring in various immigrant- heavy neighborhoods around the city. The groups also filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request that may also help expose whether local police played any role in providing information to help execute last Friday's raid.

Alderman Carlos Rosa, of the 35th ward, was present at the rally representing the Logan Square neighborhood. He told the People's World that he came out to show his support of undocumented communities and condemned the racial profiling of ICE practices. "Isn't it funny," he said, "that these searches don't occur downtown to men in business suits?" Rosa emphasized the need to pass ordinances that strengthen the city's sanctuary policy. A sanctuary city is one with policies designed to not prosecute people solely for being an undocumented immigrant. Despite Chicago being on the list, it seems that federal agents have found other means of systematically targeting and imprisoning undocumented workers. It is estimated that in the last several years the Obama administration has invested 18 billion dollars on immigration enforcement, an amount that Rosa says could have gone to better use. "[This is money] that could have gone to schools, to healthcare - but instead it went to destroying working families."

While the legal paperwork is being processed to get the detainees released, community members and allies continue to demand transparency and accountability. "We want to send a strong message to ICE- you are not welcome here," said Rosa. "This is a war on working people and we won't stand for it."

Photo: Michelle Zacarias/PW

Video: Earchiel Johnson/PW

Don’t fall for it: Trump’s economic plan a fraud

Teresa Albano — Tue, 09 Aug 2016 15:04:00 +0000

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump tried to change the conversation yesterday away from his campaign's self-inflicted wounds of the last two weeks with a major speech on the economy. After attacking the Khans, Gold Star parents who spoke at the Democratic National Convention, and comparing running a business to the sacrifice military families make when they lose a loved one, Trump continued his habit of boldly telling lies and offering nothing but coded America First rhetoric instead of serious proposals that could make a positive impact on the lives of working people -- of all backgrounds, races and ethnicities. In fact-check after fact-check, experts agreed that Trump plays fast and loose with the truth.

In its fact check story, The Associated Press reported, "Donald Trump changed some of his facts to fit his agenda Monday, pitching shades of truth and misconceptions in what was billed as a major economic policy speech." Whether on Hillary Clinton's record as senator from New York, or President Barack Obama's economic record, or on taxes, trade, regulations, infrastructure, the auto industry and jobs, Trump created his own reality show where he calls the shots and packages himself as some savior of workers.

Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, the nation's largest union federation, unmasked the New York real estate mogul's speech as "deceitful" and "offensive."

Trumka said, "Donald Trump will say he speaks for all Americans, but his all white, all male, Wall Street banker economic team proves his intentions. Trump has chosen to get his real advice from people just like him - people who have made millions off the backs of hardworking families."

After he "has spent his life getting rich by hurting working people. Now he returns to Michigan for an economic speech almost one year to the day after he suggested automakers move production from Michigan to states with lower wages. It's ironic, deceitful, and simply offensive," Trumka said in his Aug. 8 statement.

Trumka was referring to an interview Trump gave to the Detroit News last year, which "notoriously revealed his ideas for assaulting the wages of supposedly overpaid autoworkers by closing and re-locating plants: 'You can go to different parts of the United States and then ultimately you'd do full-circle-you'll come back to Michigan because those guys are going to want their jobs back even if it is less. We can do rotation in the United States-it doesn't have to be in Mexico,'" wrote Tim Libretti in his Feb. 2 story Union workers ... for Trump?.

In his speech yesterday, Trump never mentioned raising the minimum wage or the crucial role of unions and collective bargaining in winning higher wages for America's working people. Instead Trump wrapped Republican establishment economic policies of tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations, as well as deregulation giveaways to auto, Big Oil and Wall Street into his coded-coated divisive brand of populism. Like all good pickpockets, he distracts with fabricated arguments while pinching your wallet.

"Trade has big benefits, and I am in favor of trade. But I want great trade deals for our country that create more jobs and higher wages for American workers. Isolation is not an option, only great and well-crafted trade deals are," he said.

This is the man whose "line of ties is produced in China, and his signature line of menswear is manufactured in Mexico," wrote Libretti, suggesting that Trump be judged by his actions.

"Even as he rails against the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Trump's own behavior undermines U.S. workers by exploiting cheaper labor abroad."

Trump apparently believes that working people cannot spot a con when they see one. On taxes, he figures by inserting the word "workers" or "jobs" that people will be fooled. He promised to repeal the so-called "death tax."

"American workers have paid taxes their whole lives, and they should not be taxed again at death and it's just plain wrong and most people agree with that. We will repeal it," he said.

In reality, the "death tax" is called the "estate tax" because it affects millionaires and billionaires, and in general, workers do not fall into that category of taxpayers.

The New York Times fact check on Trump's speech said, "Only a very few American workers are subject to estate taxes, and those subject to the tax are usually not termed "workers." Under current law, a married couple can shield up to $10.9 million of their estate from any federal taxation."

In an obvious play for working women's attention, Trump also announced a tax deduction for child care costs. The slight of hand here is a tax deduction is not the same as a tax credit and therefore will not be of use for most working families.

"On surface, this sounds like a good idea. Since the cost of daycare can be a huge cost for many families, the plan has the potential to help many Americans. But Trump is proposing a tax deduction, not a tax credit-and that's a problem. A deduction subtracts from a person's taxable income while a credit reduces the amount of taxes a person owes. These tax expenditures, as they are known, are the same as spending but they happen through the tax code. Congress has grown very fond of spending through the tax code; in the last fiscal year, tax expenditures totaled around $1 trillion," writes Politico's Danny Vinik.

Clinton responded to Trump's speech in real time. "His tax plans will give super big tax breaks to large corporations and the really wealthy, just like him and the guys who wrote the speech, right?" she said. "He wants to roll back regulations on Wall Street. He wants to eliminate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which has saved billions of dollars for Americans. He wants to basically just repackage trickle down economics."

Clinton will unveil her own economic program Thursday, also in Detroit, but is expected to emphasize progressive policies based on the Democratic program, including infrastructure investment, debt free college education, $15 an hour minimum wage, union and worker rights and trade deals that create jobs, raise wages and protect the environment.

Photo: Even Trump didn't seem too happy with his speech at the Detroit Economic Club as he left the podium. | Evan Vucci/AP

Unionists, protesters, fact-checkers, economists pan Trump economics address

Mark Gruenberg — Tue, 09 Aug 2016 14:14:00 +0000

DETROIT (PAI) - Unionists outside, protesters inside, fact-checkers at The Wall Street Journal and other media and even some conservative economists all panned Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's major economics address, given August 8 in Detroit.

Trump gave the speech at the Detroit Economic Club, a frequent venue for major political and economic addresses. The conservative business owners in the audience sometimes applauded him, especially when Trump's security guards ejected 17 female protesters from the room.

The women protested Trump's anti-woman stands - and his outsourcing.

"You want to close Michigan plants and outsource our jobs!" one autoworker from Grosse Pointe Woods shouted. As she stood on her chair, she added: "How are we supposed to raise our families without good jobs? Is that what you call 'winning'?" She was then tossed.

Trump's speech itself had few clues about what his policies would be towards workers, other than his promise to renegotiate trade treaties and a flat ban on federal regulations, including pro-worker rules. He also declared "our education reforms will help parents send their kids to a school of their choice," code words for supporting private - not public - schools.

And Trump promised to "immediately cancel all illegal and overreaching executive orders," without specifying which ones. Several Obama administration orders aid workers, notably low-income workers.

"Nothing would make our foreign adversaries happier than for our country to tax and regulate our companies and our jobs out of existence," the business mogul stated - before announcing he would propose cutting the federal corporate tax rate to 15 percent, if elected.

The stated federal corporate tax rate is now 35 percent, but businesses use deductions, exclusions and income-shifting overseas to pay an average of 12.6 percent, Wall Street Journal fact-checkers noted. That's lower than the rate imposed on most individual taxpayers.

Unionists outside the hall-where 1,500 corporate executives and guests paid $45-$55 each to listen to Trump-gave his speech failing grades.

Trump "spent his life getting rich by hurting working people," said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. "Now he returns to Michigan for an economic speech almost one year to the day after he suggested automakers move production from Michigan to states with lower wages. It's ironic, deceitful, and simply offensive.

"Trump will say he speaks for all Americans, but his all-white, all-male, Wall Street banker economic team proves his intentions. Trump has chosen to get his real advice from people just like him - people who have made millions off the backs of hardworking families.

The Auto Workers led on-site protesters outside the hall, and both UAW and the Michigan AFL-CIO lambasted Trump's promises as empty or worse.

"Trump would be an absolute disaster for working people in Michigan," the UAW said. "This is the same guy who said 'our wages are too high.'

"And Trump said he would close 'a couple of plants' and send Michigan auto jobs to other states as a way to cut the wages of Michigan autoworkers. That kind of thinking is downright dangerous, and will kill Michigan jobs."

State Fed President Ron Bieber called Trump's plant-closing schemes and plans to cut workers' wages "just nuts" and "downright dangerous." He added Trump would send the state economy "right down the drain."

"All we heard from Donald Trump today was a lot of hot air," Bieber added. "Trump doesn't give a rip about helping working people in Michigan. If he did, he'd hire Michigan workers to make his clothes, instead of producing his ties in China and his suits in Mexico. The truth is Trump only cares about making more money for himself.

And given Trump's past denunciations of women, Hispanics, Muslims, veterans and others, Bieber called on top Michigan Republican officeholders to withdraw their support from the controversial nominee.

"Michigan can't afford Trump's reckless ideas. That's why I'm calling on Republican leaders like Attorney General Bill Schuette, Lieut. Gov. Brian Calley, Congresswoman Candice Miller, Congressman Tim Walberg, and House Speaker Kevin Cotter to do what's right for Michigan and withdraw their support for Donald Trump," Bieber said.

Cotter and Calley did not attend Trump's speech, though Calley stumped with Trump's running mate in late July. Nor did right wing GOP Gov. Rick Snyder, who announced in June he would not endorse Trump.

Former GOP Michigan Gov. William Milliken, a moderate, is backing Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Former GOP Gov. John Engler, now head of a top D.C.-based business lobby, has been silent so far, but supports "free trade" pacts that Trump denounced.

Photo: Demonstrators protest during Trump's economics address in Detroit. | Paul Sancya/AP

Teachout’s Congressional campaign: “Score one for the political revolution”

Larry Rubin — Mon, 08 Aug 2016 13:45:00 +0000

HUDSON, New York -- If Zephyr Teachout wins the race for New York's 19th Congressional District, she will do more than add a seat to the Democratic column. She will help bring Bernie Sander's political revolution to the House.

Teachout, a Fordham University law professor, has been a leader in the Occupy movement and served as head of Mayday PAC, dedicated to campaign finance reform. She is also the former director of the Sunlight Foundation and the author of the widely-read book, Corruption in America: From Benjamin Franklin's Snuff Box to Citizens United.

She was among the first Congressional candidates to be endorsed by Sanders and won New York District 19's Democratic primary by 71 percent of the vote.

That primary attracted a much higher turnout than did the Republican balloting.

New York's 19th District is largely rural, includes parts of 11 Upstate New York Hudson valley counties and has a long history of swinging back and forth between Democratic and Republican representation. It once elected Franklin Delano Roosevelt to the New York State Senate. Since 2010, the area has been represented by conservative Republican Chris Gibson, who is now retiring.

Teachout faces right winger John Faso for Gibson's vacant seat.

Faso is a lobbyist for many conservative causes. As a member of the New York State legislature, He was the original sponsor of charter school legislation and was a leading figure in the passage of Governor Pataki's proposal to create charter schools in New York State in 1998.

Faso's Republican primary campaign was funded in large part by hedge fund manager Robert Mercer through a super PAC called New York Wins. He won the Republican primary by over two to one.

Faso is now being backed by billionaire hedge fund operators like Paul Singer who are pouring millions into super PACs aimed at helping candidates who support Donald Trump for president.

As quoted in The Nation magazine, Jim Dean, chair of Democracy for America, said "Wall Street is scared to death of being held accountable by Zephyr Teachout in the halls of Congress.

"Few candidates," Dean continued, are better prepared than [she is] to run and win the kind of aggressive, people-powered campaign [that is] needed."

In 2014, Teachout received 34 percent of the vote when she ran against incumbent Andrew Cuomo to become the Democratic Party's nominee for governor.

Her congressional campaign is being supported by small donors, not the super rich.

"Score one for the political revolution," Working Families Party New York State Director Bill Lipton told The Nation.

"Zephyr has been able to build a grassroots movement of activists and small dollar donors looking to take on the political and economic establishment. Voters in the 19th District now have a rare opportunity to elect a representative who will lift up their voices and be a national leader in taking on corruption and corporate influence in our politics. The choice for them in November could not be clearer, and eyes of the entire country will continue to be on this race."

Teachout says, "One of the original sins in modern thinking is the separation of thinking about economics and politics."

She advocates policies that respond "to the interests of the people [rather than] to the interests of individual, monopolistic companies."

She is one of the nation's leading advocates for campaign-finance and ethics reforms, breaking up big banks, net neutrality, and raising the national minimum wage to $15 an hour, which New York State has already done.

In her primary night victory speech, Teachout said "I am running for Congress to break down those doors in Washington, DC; the doors that are keeping the people of America-the real people, the citizens of America-locked out. I've been fighting well-paid lobbyists on behalf of working families my entire life.

"I will fight until we win-for the people of New York's 19^th and for the American people."

Photo: Zephyr Teachout | Mike Groll/AP

Pence heaps praise on ALEC

PAI — Mon, 08 Aug 2016 12:50:00 +0000

INDIANAPOLIS (PAI) - Well, now we know why Mike Pence went home to Indianapolis after last month's GOP convention, and it wasn't just for rallies for Donald Trump's ticket.

Instead, Indiana's governor, who became the business mogul's Republican running mate, addressed - and hailed - the American Legislative Exchange Council, disregarding worker protests out front of the secretive right-wing cabal's meeting in his state's capital city.

"I think everyone should be very weary and very leery, watching carefully to see where ALEC gets its resources and how it connects those resources to legislators," said Teresa Meredith, president of the Indiana State Teachers Association, at the July 27 rally. Meredith led more than 100 teachers in front of the hotel where the corporate-funded front group hosted lobbyists and state lawmakers from around the country, and, later, Pence.

"ALEC has driven the privatization of public education in Indiana," Meredith said. "Our state is a leader in funding private school vouchers and charter schools with taxpayer money to the detriment of the more than 90 percent of Hoosier kids attending public schools."

ALEC is known for its anti-worker, anti-minority "model legislation" which its corporate lobbyists draft and its right-wing politicians enact. If those right wingers, all Republicans, control state and local governments, the ALEC schemes - often adopted word-for-word - become law. ALEC also pushes so-called "voter ID" laws to disenfranchise workers, students, women and minorities who oppose its corporate agenda.

That corporate agenda includes so-called "right-to-work" and "paycheck protection" legislation, bans on project labor agreements, outlawing public worker unions and their contracts, taxpayer-paid vouchers for parents of private school kids - defunding public schools - abolition of teacher tenure and more.

Pence endorsed all of that. He promised the audience Trump would be "empowering states with resources and flexibility," right wing code for cuts in regulations and elimination of programs for low-income and minority people. "You are the model for Washington, D.C., after this election," Pence declared. Trump's running mate also reminded the right wing of the importance of presidential U.S. Supreme Court nominations.

"For the sake of the rule of law, for the sake of the sanctity of life, for the sake of our Second Amendment and all of our God-given liberties, we must assure the next president making appointments to the Supreme Court of the United States of America is President Donald Trump," Pence said, to enthusiastic applause.

The U.S. Constitution's 2^nd Amendment states that "a well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." "Sanctity of life" is the code for anti-abortionists.

ALEC first became notorious for its "concealed carry" gun laws. Florida's ALEC-drafted law let a neighborhood watch "volunteer" shoot and kill unarmed African-American teenager Trayvon Martin. His killing was the first in a long line of shootings that have galvanized national attention - including union attention-on African-Americans' problems with law enforcement, official and unofficial.

Photo: MediaMatters

Trump’s VP pick Mike Pence addresses right-wing lobby ALEC

Mark Gruenberg — Mon, 08 Aug 2016 12:29:00 +0000

INDIANAPOLIS (PAI) - Well, now we know why Mike Pence went home to Indianapolis after last month's GOP convention, and it wasn't just for rallies for Donald Trump's ticket.

Photo: Indianapolis unions protest ALEC meeting. USW Local 1999 Facebook

Voting with their feet: Traffic plummets at Trump casinos and hotels

C.J. Atkins — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 15:02:00 +0000

If Donald Trump's recent slide in the polls isn't yet enough to worry the billionaire real estate mogul, then the latest traffic numbers out of the Trump entertainment properties might just start to hit him where it hurts - in his ego-driven brand. And if the Trump brand is suffering, that means the Trump wallet will eventually feel the effect too.

Since he began his run for the White House last summer, the number of people visiting the array of Trump hotels, casinos, and golf courses has been on a pretty steady decline, according to data released by the location-tracking app Foursquare. Looking at the lodging and entertainment choices made by its more than 50 million users, the company released a report Thursday showing that June 2016 saw a 17 percent drop in market share for Trump properties compared to the same month a year ago. It gets worse when you look at market share in blue states and among women.

While the tech company goes out of its way to say that it makes no political statement with its report, the pattern they highlight is confirmed by other travel-related firms as well. A trend is emerging: people are voting with their feet.

Whether it appears on a ballot or on the front of a building, Trump's name is a turn-off for increasing numbers of Americans.

The numbers

When it comes to gathering foot traffic intelligence in the consumer market, Foursquare has some solid credentials. This is the same company that predicted Apple iPhone 6s sales numbers before the manufacturer itself, knew ahead of time that burrito lovers were not yet over the Chipotle E. coli scare in the spring, and forecast the success of all-day breakfast at McDonald's. If big data on market share is what you're looking for, Foursquare's got it.

So when they say something is afoot at Trump properties, it's probably worth looking at. Their analysis is centered on market share, or the amount of traffic going to Trump's branded locations compared to the amount visiting competing properties in the same area. That means it's a reflection of the choices participating consumers are making, regardless of the macro trends of overall spending in the lodging/entertainment sector.

Trump announced his candidacy for the White House in June of 2015. Before that time, the traffic to his branded properties was relatively steady year-over-year and was even growing a bit. But the usual bump from the summer travel season didn't happen for his destinations last year. And when the presidential primaries really heated up in March 2016, putting Trump on television constantly, losses accelerated again. Another expected vacation season bounce failed to materialize.

Some properties were harder hit than others, with those in blue states suffering the most. New York's Trump SoHo, the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago, and Atlantic City's Trump Taj Mahal all saw absolute traffic declines as high as 24 percent. In blue states overall, July 2016 saw a 20 percent year-over-year market share drop.

Women driving the drop-off

Dig a little deeper into the data and you find a fact which really shouldn't be all that surprising: women are driving the drop-off in market share for Trump properties. At Trump sites in blue states, the share of women visiting last month sunk almost 30 percent. Given that seven in ten American women have an unfavorable opinion of the Republican nominee, it makes perfect sense that they would be leading the way in shifting their dollars away from any business with the Trump name plastered across it.

It's not just Foursquare that is reporting such dismal numbers for Trump properties, though. Another firm, Priceonomics, which owns a hotel-booking search engine, says that in the first quarter of 2016, room reservations at Trump hotels were down by an astonishing 59 percent. This at a time when bookings for hotels overall were up. Trump properties are actually bucking the positive trend for the hotel sector.

Worst hit were the Trump hotels in New York (down 74 percent), Las Vegas (down 71 percent), Chicago (down 31 percent), and Atlantic City (down 17 percent). North of the border, Canadians and foreign tourists also appeared to be snubbing Trump, with his Toronto hotel seeing a 47 percent decline in bookings.

The significance

While we are still three months from Election Day and a lot can happen between now and then, these numbers are still important indicators of emerging cultural and political trends. The way people choose to spend their money on products so explicitly connected to a particular candidate is a peek into how they relate to the political identity associated with him.

There is of course no automatic correlation between the market share of Trump travel destinations and the number of votes he will get in November. But if his name is becoming increasingly toxic in the entertainment market, it's not that big of a stretch to assume his brand might face a similar problem in the electoral market.

News also broke Thursday that the owner of Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, the GOP nominee's billionaire friend Carl Icahn, was closing the casino permanently at the end of summer and eliminating 3,000 jobs with it.

Icahn's managers blamed the striking workers of UNITE-HERE Local 54 for the casino's failure. The numbers discussed above, however, suggest that the real problems go straight to the top - all the way to the name on the sign.

Photo: The outline of the letters that once spelled "Trump Plaza" remain visible on the facade of the shuttered Trump Plaza casino in Atlantic City, NJ; January 14, 2015. | AP

Massachusetts passes most comprehensive state equal pay law

Mark Gruenberg — Thu, 04 Aug 2016 15:44:00 +0000

With bipartisan support, the Massachusetts legislature passed and GOP Gov. Charlie Baker signed the most comprehensive state equal pay for equal work law in the U.S., on August 1.

The state AFL-CIO, the New England Jewish Labor Committee, 9to5 and Jobs With Justice were among the large coalition that pushed the law. It would, for the first time, bar employers from demanding past salary figures from job applicants and screening applicants based on past pay. Both demands and screening hurt female job applicants.

Instead, the employer must present salary figures, which the job-seeker could accept or reject. The new law takes effect at the start of 2018.

That's not all. The new law also "seeks to help eliminate the gender wage gap in Massachusetts by providing a more comprehensive definition of comparable work" than just exactly equal jobs, its sponsoring coalition says.

And it orders firms to let workers "discuss salaries without the threat of retaliation and eliminates the practice of requiring salary history on job applications," said its leading backers, the Equal Pay Coalition and the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women.

Massachusetts becomes the latest state to enact a pay equity law, since the GOP-run U.S. Congress has pigeonholed similar equal pay legislation for at least a decade. A 1962 federal pay equity law has been weakened by court restrictions in the ensuing years.

The median pay for a working woman in Massachusetts is 81 cents for every dollar in median pay for a working man, slightly above the national ratio of 79 cents per dollar. The median is the point where half the workforce is above and half below.

The national ratios for union workers are 92 cents in median pay for every unionized working woman for every dollar for an unionized working man - and each of them earn more than $200 a week more than their non-union colleagues.

The new Massachusetts law defines "comparable work" - the standard for equal pay - "as solely meaning work that is substantially similar in content and requiring substantially similar skill, effort and responsibility and performed under similar working conditions."

It also bans "discrimination on the basis of gender in the payment of wages for comparable work unless the variation is based upon seniority, a bona fide merit system, a bona fide system which measures earnings by quantity or quality of production or sales, geographic location, or education, training, or experience to the extent such factors are reasonably related to the particular job in question and consistent with business necessity."

Employers guilty of breaking the new law will have to fork over unpaid wages, an equal amount in damages and pay the harmed worker's attorney's fees. And "each discriminatory paycheck shall be deemed a violation of the law."

Photo: New England Jewish Labor Committee.

Meeropol brothers launch petition to exonerate their mother, Ethel Rosenberg

Eric A. Gordon — Wed, 03 Aug 2016 13:07:00 +0000

Readers of the People's World and its antecedents may know something about the federal spying case against Julius and Ethel Rosenberg that led to their execution at Sing Sing Prison on June 19, 1953. In the light of newly uncovered evidence, a campaign is now underway to exonerate Ethel. The campaign, directed to Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch and President Barack Obama in their final months of office, was launched recently on the website of the Rosenberg Fund for Children (RFC), an organization founded in 1990 to support the children of present-day activists who have been imprisoned or otherwise separated from their children.

Written by Robert and Michael Meeropol - the Rosenbergs' two sons who were adopted by Anne and Abel Meeropol - the petition outlines the evidence showing that Ethel was not a spy. It claims the government knew that, but manufactured "evidence" against her to use as leverage against Julius. When Ethel and Julius did not cooperate with this plan as expected, the government executed her anyway.

Little of that story will comes as "news" to many of our readers. But the release last summer of David Greenglass' long suppressed grand jury testimony makes the chain of events and false information so clear, that the Meeropol brothers felt their case for exoneration would be compelling.

To date, the petition has generated over 10,000 signatures. The aim is for at least 50,000 and hopefully closer to 100,000 by early December. RFC has launched an outreach campaign to spread the word about the effort to reach that goal.

The full text of the petition follows. To see the references for quotes, please go to the RFC site linked at the end of this article, where you will also be able to sign on to the petition.

Petitioning Attorney General Lynch and President Obama

Exonerate our Mother, Ethel Rosenberg

Created by Robert and Michael Meeropol

Our parents, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, were executed on June 19, 1953, during the anti-communist hysteria of the Cold War Era. They had been convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage, in what was called "the crime of the century." We were 6 and 10 years old when they were killed.

Our mother was not a spy, and her execution was wrongful. Her conviction was based on perjured testimony and prosecutorial and judicial misconduct. The charges against our mother and the threat of the death penalty were meant to intimidate her and our father into cooperating. The U.S. government wanted Julius to falsely confess to passing "the secret of the atomic bomb" to the Soviet Union, and name others involved.

Their trial took place during a time of widespread panic about communism. The sentencing judge went so far as to blame our parents for the Korean War. In denying clemency, President Eisenhower accused them of causing future nuclear wars. These outrageous statements and our parents' execution helped fuel a dangerous climate of fear and intolerance in our country which permitted political opportunists like Senator Joseph McCarthy to poison our society. Today, we face a similar climate of hatred which targets immigrants, Muslims, LGBTQI individuals and others.

A formal acknowledgement of the wrong done to our mother and our family will help prevent similar injustices in the future. A healthy democracy requires that the government acknowledge and correct its transgressions. The government cannot return our mother to her loving family. But it can admit this miscarriage of justice.

Please, join us in calling on Attorney General Lynch and President Obama to formally exonerate Ethel Rosenberg before they leave office. More than 60 years after her unjust conviction and execution, now is the time to clear her good name.

Why Ethel's execution was wrongful

The grand jury testimony of a chief prosecution witness against our parents, our mother's brother, David Greenglass, was made public recently. This material - along with previously released testimony and other records - proves that our mother was prosecuted simply for refusing to turn on our father.

The evidence presented against our mother at her trial consisted of testimony by David, and his wife, Ruth. They stated that Ethel took part in two meetings between the Rosenbergs and Greenglasses in 1945 (including one at which David gave Julius a sketch of a cross-section of the bomb), and that our mother's participation included typing notes. Our mother's conviction hinged on these alleged actions of hers.

The record now refutes these claims. David's grand jury testimony made no mention of Ethel's presence at either meeting, much less her typing. Instead, responding to questions about spying, David told the grand jury: "My sister has never spoken to me about this subject," and, "I never spoke to my sister about this at all."

Despite this testimony, prosecutors developed a plan to use our mother against our father. An assistant attorney general told the F.B.I. that there was "insufficient evidence" to charge Ethel, but that she could be used "as a lever against her husband." Furthermore, a month before the trial, a prosecutor told a congressional committee: "The case is not too strong against Mrs. Rosenberg. But for the purpose of acting as a deterrent, I think it is very important that she be convicted too, and given a stiff sentence."

At our parents' trial, David contradicted his sworn grand jury testimony and suddenly implicated our mother in the alleged spy ring by describing Ethel's presence at the meetings. Decades later, David admitted on national television that this testimony was a lie. Therefore, Ethel's conviction - which hinged on this story - was wrongful.

Based on these revelations, on September 28th, 2015 (what would have been our mother's 100th birthday), 13 members of the New York City Council and the Manhattan Borough President issued proclamations declaring that our mother was wrongfully executed. This was a step towards acknowledging a terrible injustice. Now, it is time for the federal government to do the same.

To read the petition in full, link to documents provided to substantiate the case, and sign it, click here.

Photo: rfc.org

Courts block some voter suppression laws

Larry Rubin — Tue, 02 Aug 2016 16:10:00 +0000

Court rulings in recent weeks have given voters in five states reason to hope they will be allowed to cast their ballots in the upcoming presidential election. Right wing efforts to suppress the voting rights of minority groups have hit roadblocks in North Carolina, Wisconsin, Texas, North Dakota and Kansas.

The fight is far from over, however. The governments of each of the five states have been captured by far right wingers who have now vowed to ask the Supreme Court for emergency action.

Three years ago, the Supreme Court paved the way for the recent deluge of voter suppression laws. It gutted the Voting Rights Act, taking away the power of the federal government to prevent states from passing laws aimed at disenfranchising groups of voters.

Almost immediately, 22 states passed new restrictions on voting rights.

North Carolina

The crudest and most devastating attempt at voter suppression was perpetrated by the legislature and governor of North Carolina.

Literally within hours of the Supreme Court decision, the right wing controlled legislature started crafting the most restrictive anti-voter regulations in the nation.

Among other measures, the state required strict voter ID to cast a ballot, cut early voting by one week, eliminated same-day voter registration and out of precinct voting and eliminated pre-registration for 16- and 17-year-olds.

Thousands of North Carolinians protested, staging weekly mass demonstrations and filing several court suits.

Their concerns proved to be true.

There was widespread voter suppression in North Carolina's presidential primary this past March. In order to vote, people had to be able to wait in line for three or more hours. In a throwback to the "literacy tests" of the Jim Crow era, foreign-born US citizens were asked to spell their names to poll workers. Elderly voters with vivid memories of segregation were turned away from the polls.

Then on July 29, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit handed down a major victory for democratic rights. It ruled that the restrictions passed by the North Carolina General Assembly "targeted African Americans with almost surgical precision" in violation of the Voting Rights Act and the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.

The Court said that just because Republicans were in the majority did not give them the right to stop voters from exercising their rights.

The Court said " ... winning an election does not empower anyone in any party to engage in purposeful racial discrimination."

Wisconsin

The same day a court ruled against voter suppression in North Carolina, a federal judge did the same regarding Wisconsin.

In his decision, U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson struck down as unconstitutional limits on in-person absentee voting, residency requirements and a ban on using expired student identification.

Moreover, Peterson dealt head on with Republicans' phony justification for passing ID requirements that restrict voting rights. Like other right wingers, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, a Tea Party favorite, had said that the restrictive laws were needed to prevent voter fraud.

But Judge Peterson wrote that "The Wisconsin experience demonstrates that a preoccupation with mostly phantom election fraud leads to real incidents of disenfranchisement.

"To put it bluntly," Peterson wrote, "Wisconsin's strict version of voter ID law is a cure worse than the disease."

He implied that if the Supreme Court had not ruled that states could pass voter ID requirements, he would eliminate these restrictions altogether.

However, he did rule that the requirement forcing Wisconsin voters to show either a photo identification or go through a special petition process had unfairly burdened minorities and needed to be reformed or replaced before the November presidential election.

Nevertheless, Peterson left Wisconsin's current voting rules intact for the August 9 primary elections for federal, state and local offices, saying to change them less than two weeks in advance would be disruptive.

Texas

On July 20, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that Texas's voter ID law discriminated against minority voters and must be fixed by the November elections.

It refused to strike down the law completely.

Nine of the 15 Fifth Circuit appellate judges upheld a district court's finding that 600,000 people, lack the specific kind of identification required - a driver's license, military ID, passport or weapons permit, among them - and that it would be difficult for many to secure it.

African American, Hispanic and poor voters were most likely to be affected, the court found.

"It would be untenable to permit a law with a discriminatory effect to remain in operation" for the coming election, wrote U.S. Circuit Judge Catharina Haynes for the majority, made of up five judges nominated by Democratic presidents and four nominated by Republicans.

Those who possess the necessary ID must show it to vote in November, Haynes wrote. But she said the district court judge who first heard the case should fashion a remedy to rectify "the discriminatory effect on those voters who do not have . . . ID or are unable to reasonably obtain such identification."

North Dakota

Yesterday, August 1, a federal judge ruled that North Dakota's strict voter ID law, passed in 2013, is unfair to Native Americans.

The Court blocked the law from being used in the coming election.

U.S. District Judge Daniel L. Hovland, a George W. Bush appointee, said North Dakota for years had provided an alternative to voters unable to get the specific kinds of ID required and that eliminating it has disenfranchised eligible voters.

Before 2013, the state allowed many forms of identification for use at the polls and those without an ID could sign affidavits to their identity. But in 2013 the law was changed to allow only four forms of ID: a North Dakota driver's license; a North Dakota non-driver's ID card; a tribal government-issued ID card; or an alternative form of ID prescribed by the secretary of state.

To make matters worse, a provision added last year prohibited the secretary of state from allowing college IDs or military IDs to be used.

"Although the majority of voters in North Dakota either possess a qualifying voter ID or can easily obtain one, it is clear that a safety net is needed for those voters who simply cannot obtain a qualifying voter ID with reasonable effort," Judge Hovland wrote.

"Voter fraud in North Dakota has been virtually non-existent," he wrote.

Kansas

In mid May, a federal judge ruled that Kansas cannot require voters to prove their citizenship when registering to vote.

U.S. District Judge Julie A. Robinson decided that part of Kansas' voter ID law is in violation of the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, which says states may only require voters provide the "minimum amount of information necessary" to assess whether or not someone is eligible to vote.

Robinson ordered that Kansas re-register about 18,000 voters who registered at a department of motor vehicles office but did not provide the identification required by Kansas law.

"This ruling lifts the barrier that the state illegally imposed on Kansans who were trying to register to vote," said Dale Ho, the director of the Voting Rights Project at the ACLU. "It means thousands of people who could have been sidelined ... will be able to participate [in the November elections]."

Photo: The Moral Monday movement in North Carolina has built up the pressure resulting in the recent sweeping court victory that threw out North Carpolina's restrictive voting laws. | Chuck Burton/AP

In Johnstown, Pa., Democrats make case for “you’re hired” president

Anthony Mangos — Mon, 01 Aug 2016 13:05:00 +0000

JOHNSTOWN, Penn. -- Along the Conemaugh River in this Western Pennsylvania city stands a proud holdout from a once thriving steel industry. Johnstown Wire Technologies, Inc. began operations in 1911 as the Johnstown Wire Mill, built by the Cambria Steel Company. On July 30, over a century later, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her running mate, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, made a visit to this unionized mill.

This proud city was a stop on the initial Clinton/Kaine bus tour following the Democratic National Convention. This tour is a crucial one for the campaign. The rust belt region has been hard hit in recent decades and many folks in these parts feel they have been left behind by the economic recovery.

Descendants of immigrants who arrived in Johnstown in the 19th century from places such as Slovakia, Hungary, Ukraine, and Poland can still watch the local short line, the Conemaugh & Black Lick Railroad, move railcars around the local plant. According to its website, Johnstown Wire Technologies is the largest independent "producer of value added carbon and alloy wire in North America." Those jobs of "adding value" are good-paying unionized work. The neighborhood surrounding this local mill is filled with churches, ethnic clubs, and modest houses, which once sheltered the hard working families who helped put Johnstown on the map. This is a region of dedicated folks who have endured three major floods and crippling economic downturns, but keep moving forward.

Not every story is as positive as Johnstown's wire mill. Throughout Western Pennsylvania are remnants of once bustling factories. With the loss of jobs has come the loss of population, which means less registered voters. Redistricting by political factions unsympathetic to unionized workers has also occurred following population shifts. These realities have transformed once thriving Democratic strongholds into the toss up category.

Clinton and Kaine shared with their plans to create more good paying jobs with the workers inside the plant. As Kaine took the podium, he thanked United Steelworkers International President Leo Gerard for attending the rally. Kaine acknowledged the importance of public investment in infrastructure as a win-win for business and labor. He said, "We'll put workers first, we'll put their wages first, we'll put their families first ... and we need to do something that has a direct tie to Johnstown Wire's business which is invest in infrastructure."

As he introduced Clinton to the crowd, he said, "Johnstown, we've got a 'You're hired' president in Hillary Clinton!"

Clinton praised the local company where business and labor work together. She said, "We are visiting places that prove what Americans can do. We are the most productive, competitive workers in the world."

Clinton praised President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden for their efforts to rescue the American economy following the Great Recession. Clinton forcefully said as the crowd applauded, "...over the opposition of the Republican Party, they saved the American auto industry which is a big customer of this plant."

Infrastructure is an important goal in the campaign platform and Clinton reiterated her plans to invest in bridges and highways. Clinton spoke of her support for a National Infrastructure Bank so investments can be made every year regardless of congressional whims.

Clinton also supports investments in manufacturing, pointing out a large order Johnstown Wire Technologies recently had for Bangladesh. She said she especially wants to create jobs in places that have been left out and left behind.

"Anyone willing to work hard should be able to find a job that pays well enough to support a family," she said.

A big round of applause came as Clinton announced, "We have to be serious in defending American workers. That means we've got to defend the right to organize and bargain collectively which helped to build the American middle class in the first place. That's why I love coming to plants like this that work, business and labor together."

Clinton compared this to her opponent Trump's practice of hiring union busting firms that break up attempts at organizing. She proclaimed her support of worker's unions, saying, "Right-to-Work is wrong for America!"

Clinton and Kaine will spend much time in Pennsylvania and Ohio during this campaign. Many towns in the region have endured difficult transitions in changing times.

Although cities like Johnstown have traditionally supported Democrats in the past, many of these voters' concerns go beyond economic issues. Changing social times have created difficult transitions too with some socially conservative voters, which seems to be a current that the Republican nominee has tapped into.

Clinton concluded, "I know that we've got to fight for every single vote and I'm ready to do that. That's why we're on this bus tour because we want you to know the differences. We want you to understand what we're proposing and why we think it will work."

Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP

Member-supported Workers’ Education Society registers St. Louis voters

Tony Pecinovsky — Mon, 01 Aug 2016 11:18:00 +0000

ST. LOUIS -- African American community leaders Shuron Jones and Akeem Shannon have been knocking on doors day-in and day-out for months now.

Jones is the secretary of the Ward 15 Democrats. Shannon is a member of the Communications Workers' Union of America (CWA) Local 6300.

Both are members of the St. Louis Workers' Education Society (WES) and are currently staffing the WES Votes voter registration campaign.

With the Missouri August primaries right around the corner, WES is feeling optimistic about voter engagement and registration in the region it covers, which includes the communities in Wards 8, 9, 15 and 20.

Building local networks

As a 501(c)3 non-profit, WES cannot endorse candidates, but it can register and educate voters, which lead to the creation of the WES Votes campaign.

"Voter engagement and turnout is abysmally low in St. Louis, especially in working class, African American communities," Jones told the People's World.

"However," she added, "this isn't because people don't care. It's because they feel like no one listens."

"We are trying to challenge the cynicism. We are trying to register, educate and activate, while also building WES' base."

Undoubtedly, the Workers' Education Society wants to see higher turn-out in the up-coming August primary and November general election. But its goals aren't altruistic. WES also wants to build a network of community leaders who are ready to fight for working families in St. Louis, and to hold elected officials accountable.

In the two-short years since its founding and the purchase of its headquarters (at 2929 S. Jefferson Ave.), WES has built a robust and active network of community partners, collaborated with the Painters District Council 58 sponsored an Advanced Skills Workforce Center, grown to a membership of over 600, a monthly sustainer base of nearly 100 and has received on-going generous financial support from a number of unions - including IBEW Local 1439, SMART Local 36, Laborers' Local 110, SEIU Local 1, Painters' District Council 58 and the Operating Engineers' Local 148.

"The Workers' Education Society is unique in the non-profit world," WES secretary-treasurer Don Giljum said. "We are entirely self-sustaining. We receive absolutely no grant or foundation money. We are entirely funded by our members, sustainers, supporters and union allies - people and organizations who see a direct benefit from the work that we do."

A community-labor coalition

Giljum, the former business manager for Operating Engineers' (IUOE) Local 148, is no stranger to labor-community collaboration. He led Local 148 for 27 years, while helping to build a number of grassroots labor-community organizations like Jobs with Justice and the Labor Campaign for Single Payer Health Care.

WES purchased its headquarters from IUOE 148 in September of 2014.

"People want to be a part of what we are doing because we are strategic, and have tactical, long-term plans for activism in our service communities," Niles Zee, a Ward 8 leader, said.

For example, last year WES helped increase voter turnout in Ward 20 by nearly fifty percent (compared to prior off-year ward elections). Cara Spencer, the new Alderwomen, has championed increasing the City minimum wage to $11 per-hour, fighting for workers' rights and reigning-in payday loan companies and their obscene interest rates.

Job training-and political education

"Voter engagement and registration is a central part of our mission," Zee added. "On-going adult worker-education is another part of our mission, which is partly why we've partnered with the Advanced Skills Workforce Center."

Last year the Painters' District Council 58 sponsored Advanced Skills Workforce Center (ASWC) was created. ASWC's goal is to specifically identify women and people of color from low-income communities for pre-apprenticeship training in the painting industry.

"Last year we graduated forty-five African American men out of our training program," Steve Wayland, director of business development for DC 58, said. "Nearly ninety percent of those graduates were placed with union contractors and are now members of the Painters' Union."

The ASWC program has graduated eight participants so-far this year. The summer program started in early July. On Tuesday's and Thursdays, WES facilitates labor history and political education classes with the ASWC participants.

"Part of our curriculum includes connecting union members to elected officials and candidates," Giljum said. "We want ASWC participants to have a direct link to the folks who represent them."

Labor-backed candidate Peter Merideth (80th District) and Bruce Franks (78th District) both addressed ASWC participants this spring as part of the WES Votes campaign.

Merideth, a life-long resident of the Shaw community, former neighborhood association president and lawyer, has been endorsed by the AFL-CIO, as well as the St. Louis Central Labor Council, IBEW 1349, IUOE 148, the Painters' DC 58, Laborers 110 and Firefighters 73, among many others.

"Good paying, union jobs are the backbone of our communities. When unions are strong, our communities thrive," Merideth told the PW. "The Painters' and WES are confronting the challenge of unemployment, especially among African Americans, head-on. Their training program is a model that should be duplicated everywhere."

WES Votes will continue registering voters until the October deadline.

"We hope to dramatically increase voter registration and engagement in our concentration areas as we head into the August primary and November general election."

"To us, voter registration and engagement, political education, and union training classes are all connected," Jones continued. "They are all part of a larger effort to build workers' power here in St. Louis. We are trying to redefine labor-community worker-education for the long-haul."

"This is what non-traditional organizing looks like," Jones concluded, as she headed off to register more voters. "This is what democracy looks like."

Photo: WES organizer Adam Rosen talks with a community member named Val. | Workers Education Society

This week in history: Robert Carter III starts freeing his slaves

Special to PeoplesWorld.org — Mon, 01 Aug 2016 09:35:00 +0000

On August 1, 1791, 225 years ago, Virginia plantation owner Robert Carter III, scion of generations of slaveholders, announced that he would start to gradually manumit his slaves.

Although his great-grandfather had freed slaves in his will, and provided homesteads and livestock for them,manumission became illegal in 1732, the year Carter's father and grandfather died, and did not become legal again until 1783. Born in 1727 or '28, Carter came of legal age in 1749; by then he owned 6500 acres of land and 100 slaves.

Carter travelled to London, studied law at the Inner Temple, and returned to Virginia in 1751 before being admitted to the bar. He took up residence at Nomony Hall, in Williamsburg,and served in the Virginia courts and legislature.

In 1754, he married Frances Ann Tasker, daughter of former Maryland governor Benjamin Tasker.When Carter became a co-administrator of his father-in-law's estate, he delayed scheduling a sale of the slaves of Bel-Air plantation, since that would break up families, although his procrastination led to more than 18 years of litigation with his Tasker in-laws.Carter rarely whipped slaves, or allowed them to be whipped, although he did whip his own children.

Carter sold land and some slaves to pay his debts in 1758, but never purchased slaves (unlike George Washington and other neighbors), and in fact became known for his humane treatment. He had been influenced by the example of Governor Fauquier, who in his will allowed his slaves to choose their masters. His plantations had roughly double the rate of slave population increase as others in the state.

Carter concentrated his efforts on trade, including ironworks, a textile factory and a flour mill, in addition to draining swamps around Nomony and diversifying crops at all his plantations. Although publicly neutral, he honored the continental boycott against England declared in 1774. In 1777 he gave his loyalty to the new Commonwealth of Virginia and began supplying provisions and bayonets to the American cause in the Revolution.

Carter became known for his religious freethinking and support of dissenters even before the Revolution. His spiritual seeking led him to compose his own prayer for God to "have pity upon all Jews, Turks, Infidels & Hereticks," and he traveled to visit Quaker, Methodist, Presbyterian and Baptist preachers. The noted Methodist missionary and anti-slavery activist Francis Asbury also lodged at Nomony Hall. Carter scandalized neighbors by joining Morattico Baptist Church, a mixed congregation of white and black, free and slave, which brought persecution and death threats upon him. Although he believed human slavery immoral, he passed on his convictions to his children with only partial success.

During the 1780s, even the Baptist Church began to segregate its meetings, and Morattico Baptist Church ruled that only free male members could vote. Carter responded by drafting a charter for a splinter congregation, Yeocomico Church, which required egalitarian voting, and signed the charter below the signatures of several slaves. In 1790, Carter wrote British Baptist elder John Rippon, "the toleration of slavery indicates very great depravity of mind."

After manumission became legal again in 1783, Carter began a personal program of gradually freeing the slaves on his many estates. He announced his plan on August 1, 1791, recording a Deed of Gift in Northumberland County on September 5th. Fifteen slaves would be freed each January 1st over a 21-year period. Slave children would be freed at age 18 for females and 21 for males. By February of 1793, he was ahead of his own planned schedule.

Carter designed the gradual program to reduce the opposition of slave-owning white neighbors, but they shunned him. Moreover, rather than relocating freed blacks, he began offering them wages, as well as grants and tenancies, sometimes dispossessing obstreperous white tenants on his land. Perhaps victimized by mob action such as tar-and-feathers, Carter and his daughters fled by ship with Negro George and Negro Betty to Baltimore on May 8th. He never returned.

The meetinghouse used for the Yeocomico Baptist Church burned down six months after Carter left; Carter had saved an unsigned complaint letter that compared the Deed of Gift to fire destroying neighbors' houses.

Living in Baltimore, Carter spent the last decade of his life issuing manumission papers pursuant to his recorded program, writing letters in support of freed slaves whose papers had been stolen, and contemplating religious and political issues. He lent money to Baltimore to build its city hall and donated money to Haitian refugees.

Citizen Robert Carter (as he preferred to be called) died in his sleep on March 10, 1804. His son and executor, George, brought the corpse back to Nomony and buried it in the garden. The same day that George announced his father's death, he bought new slaves for Nomony to replace those his father had freed. Over the son's objection, an 1808 decision from the Virginia Court of Appeals upheld the program of manumission of the slaves illegally held in bondage, and in the end Carter's became the largest release of slaves in North America prior to the Civil War. Within his lifetime he freed 452 slaves, and more following his death.

Adapted from Wikipedia and Chase's Calendar of Events.

Photo: Robert Carter III | Wikimedia (CC)

Rev. William Barber baptizes nation in revolutionary thought at DNC

Chauncey K. Robinson — Fri, 29 Jul 2016 14:44:00 +0000

PHILADELPHIA -- After three days of heavy hitting speakers such as First Lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Mothers of the Movement, and President Barack Obama, the Democratic National Convention (DNC) held here came to a close July 28 with Democratic Nominee Hillary Clinton delivering her acceptance speech. Clinton's highly anticipated and well-received speech would not be the only memorable moment of the night. For several electrifying minutes, the Reverend William Barber transformed the convention arena into a church of revolutionary thought.

The Rev. Barber, chair of the NAACP Political Action Committee, has been making headlines since 2013 when he led a coalition that launched North Carolina's Moral Mondays movement. Moral Mondays is a grassroots organization that uses strategies of civil disobedience and demonstrations to bring attention to voter suppression, social programs cuts, the repeal of North Carolina's anti-death penalty Racial Justice Act, women's reproductive rights restrictions, and other social justice issues across the country. His current project, Repairers of the Breach, aims to frame public policies based on a "progressive agenda rooted in a moral framework to counter the ultra-conservative constructs that try to dominate the public square."

Barber said his travel around the country and working with others on "the revival and calling for a revolution of values," he is concerned by those who "say so much about what God says so little, while saying so little about what God says so much."

Without using the Republican Party's presidential nominee's name, Barber said he was deeply "troubled" by those who cynically use their beliefs "to serve hate, fear, racism and greed."

Instead, the reverend urged a close listening of the Prophet Isaiah, who said what the Lord wants is for the nation "to pay people what they deserve, share your food with the hungry...Do this, and then your nation shall be called a repairer of the breach." (Story continues after video.)

Referencing Dorothy Day and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., he said the problem in America was a problem of the heart. Listing struggles such as: the fight for $15 and a union; combating voter suppression and defending the Voting Rights Act; guaranteeing universal health care; improving public education; defending rights of immigrants, and the LGBT community, fair trade policies, he said these struggles were reviving the "heart of our democracy," and these issues were not a matter of left or right but of right and wrong.

He said, "Our constitution calls us to commit our government to establish justice, to promote the general welfare, to provide for the common defense and to ensure domestic tranquility." He noted that however imperfectly "lived" that "vision" has been, it "ought to be the goal at the heart of our democracy."

"When we love the Jewish child and the Palestinian child, the Muslim and the Christian and the Hindu and the Buddhist and those who have no faith but they love this nation. We are reviving the heart of our democracy," he said to cheers.

Barber said "when we hear the legitimate discontent of Black Lives Matter" and take steps to "renew justice in our criminal justice system" it was a necessary part of "embracing our deepest moral values and reviving the heart of our democracy."

Barber took on violence and militarism as part of the revival of the democratic heart aand values. "When we fight for peace and when we resist the proliferation of military style weapons on our street. And when we stand against the anti-democratic stronghold of the NRA, we are reviving the heart of our democracy," he said.

The self proclaimed "theologically conservative liberal evangelical Biblicist" said to correct the heart problem in America, the people had to be the nation's "moral defibrillator."

"We must shock this nation with the power of love. We must shock this nation with the power of mercy. We must shock this nation and fight for justice for all. We can't give up on the heart of our democracy, not now, not ever," he said.

Recognizing the importance of Hillary Clinton's campaign and voice, Barber said no individual "can do it alone."

"Vote together. Organize together. Fight for the heart of this nation," Barber called out over the cheering crowd, which had rose to its feet, baptized in compassionate revolutionary values to galvanize them to the polls in November and beyond.

Photo: Rev. William Barber speaks during the final day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. | J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Hillary Clinton at DNC: America at a time of reckoning

C.J. Atkins — Fri, 29 Jul 2016 11:24:00 +0000

This article is part of a series on the Democratic National Convention.

PHILADELPHIA - Hillary Rodham Clinton walked onto the stage and into the history books at the Democratic National Convention here Thursday night, becoming the first woman to accept a major party's nomination for President of the United States.

Proclaiming to a 20,000-strong crowd at Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center that "America once again faces a moment of reckoning," Clinton presented a program that contrasted sharply with the fear and division of Donald Trump's Republican campaign. "Powerful forces are threatening to pull us apart," she said, referring to Trump. "Bonds of trust and respect are fraying."

Beating Trump, the former secretary of State said, will require a broad coalition of diverse groups and constituencies. That strategy, with its slogan of "Stronger Together," is a direct challenge to the one-man authoritarianism that was pitched at the RNC in Cleveland last week. Speaking to the nation, Clinton cautioned against Trump's false promises, "Don't believe anyone who says: I alone can fix it."

Her address acknowledged the historical importance of her candidacy to the struggle for equality, highlighted the breadth of the 2016 Democratic platform, and argued for unified action by all the forces for social progress heading into November and beyond.

Milestone for equality

Ninety-six years have passed since the women's suffrage movement won the struggle for the ballot. Now, just before the 19^th Amendment's centenary, a woman stands poised to win the highest office in the land.

From Victoria Woodhull, the first female presidential candidate in 1872, to Geraldine Ferraro, the first female to be nominated for vice president by a major party in 1984, there have been many women leaders and activists who prepared the way for Clinton's ascension to the top of the ticket.

In her speech, Clinton acknowledged the historic nature of her nomination, noting, "We've reached a milestone in our nation's march toward a more perfect union." She said that nominating a woman for president sets an example not just for women and girls, however, but also plays a role in setting expectations for men and boys. They develop appreciation and respect for women generally when more females take on leadership positions.

Stronger together

With a message of economic growth and broadly-shared prosperity, Clinton signaled an intention to build upon the accomplishments of the Obama Administration. Though she did not mention the Fight for $15 campaign by name, Clinton said that the minimum wage should be a living wage. Countering Trump's empty promise of reopening shuttered mines and mills, she also spoke specifically to working class Americans who have not seen the benefits of globalization and free trade trickle down to them.

"An awful lot of people feel there is less and less respect for the work they do. And less respect for them, period," Clinton said. "Democrats," she argued, "are the party of working people." She admitted, however, that the party has not "done a good enough job showing that we get what you're going through, and that we're going to do something about it."

Clinton addressed the need for reforming the role of big money in politics, saying that as president she would act to overturn Citizens United, via constitutional amendment if necessary. She also argued for a rebalancing of power in the economy, declaring, "Wall Street, corporations, and the super rich are going to start paying their fair share of taxes."

The Democratic nominee reached out to the supporters of Senator Bernie Sanders, some of whom have expressed reluctanance about supporting her in the general election. She thanked Sanders for putting "economic and social justice issues front and center, where they belong."

Addressing his delegates in the hall, Clinton said, "Your cause is our cause. Our country needs your ideas, energy, and passion. That's the only way we can turn our progressive platform into real change for America."

Calling for unity around the Democratic platform, widely seen as among the party's most progressive ever, she said, "We wrote it together - now let's go out there and make it happen together."

She also recognized the central issues of the Black Lives Matter movement and pledged to lead the charge on reforming the criminal justice system. She asked Americans to put themselves in the shoes of young black and Latino men and women "who face the effects of systemic racism, and are made to feel like their lives are disposable."

Hitting back against the anti-immigrant and anti-refugee planks of the Trump-GOP program, Clinton said that rather than building a border wall, the task was to instead "build an economy where everyone who wants a good-paying job can get one." She vowed to pursue comprehensive immigration reform and help open pathways to citizenship for undocumented people.

Trump's Islamophobia was roundly rejected in both Clinton's speech and in remarks earlier in the evening by the parents of Captain Humayun Khan, a young Muslim American man killed in the line of duty while serving in the U.S. Army in Iraq in 2004. "We will not ban a religion," Clinton declared.

She also indicted the recklessness and unpredictability which has characterized the Trump campaign as evidence that he could not be trusted with foreign policy issues. "Imagine him in the Oval Office facing a real crisis," she said. "A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons."

And in a forceful rebuke to Trump's accusations that she is trying to "play the woman card" of identity politics in the election, Clinton told the nation, "We're going to help you balance family and work... If fighting for affordable child care and paid family leave is playing the "woman card," then Deal Me In!"

Clinton's solid embrace of her feminist credentials electrified the hall, bringing delegates to their feet. The impact of her speech in the arena was palpable, especially among women. Her nomination represented the achievement of a goal many have waited decades to see.

From the White House to the statehouses

Clinton made the case for the broadest possible coalition to secure a landslide victory against Trump. Securing any of the progressive components in the party platform will require not only keeping the White House out of Trump's hands, but also taking back the Senate, putting a dent in GOP rule in the House, and making gains in legislative and gubernatorial races across the nation.

With direct appeals to workers, women, African-Americans, Latinos, the LGBT community, and people with disabilities, coalition politics saturated Clinton's speech. Disaffected Republicans unwilling to be complicit with Trump's extremist agenda were also welcomed to join with these popular movements on Election Day.

The optimistic vision of the Clinton campaign, along with its multicultural, multiracial makeup presented a forward-looking embrace of the future. In Cleveland, by contrast, Trump was trying to sell a dystopian, pessimistic, and exclusionary outlook meant only to sow fear.

The two roads presented by these campaigns have placed a clear choice before American voters.

Photo: Wordpress

Progressive Dems hold climate panel, address barriers to change

Patrick J. Foote — Thu, 28 Jul 2016 23:42:00 +0000

This article is part of a series on the Democratic National Convention.

PHILADELPHIA - Unofficially, it was the March for a Clean Energy Revolution that kicked off a week of marches coinciding with the Democratic National Convention. Over 10,000 people showed up to march in the streets and demand a renewable energy future.

Given the street heat surrounding the issue, what has prevented us as a society from committing to collective action? The Progressive Democrats of America held a panel about finding the courage to fight Climate Change.

Climate activist Russell Green, a former executive VP of Cheesecake Factory and Margaret Klein-Salamon, an Ivy League-educated former psychologist, facilitated the panel. These two found a way to dramatically reorient their lives, but are under no illusions that the average person can do the same.

"After Pearl Harbor," said Klein-Salamon, "the country unified around the fight because we realized that if we don't win, nothing else matters."

It's true. All hands were on deck after the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor. But that attack took place over hours, not generations. As she then illustrated, human's aren't evolutionarily prepared for generation-long threats.

"We deny, we compartmentalize, we say, 'the climate crisis is happening, but what does that have to do with me,'" she said, "What happens when we take it in and let it change us... I've had a pretty good life, but it wouldn't be good for long if civilization collapses."

Klein-Saloman is the founder of Climate Action and is a believer that gradualism isn't enough.

"Gradualism is hegemonic in climate advocacy. Making sure we can cut emissions without harming business. Well, 50 percent emissions reduction by 2050 won't cut it."

The panel also explored the effect of art on opening people to the world of climate action. Xiuhtezcatl Martinez is a 16-years old "eco rap" artist who says he's been a fighter for the environment since he was six years old.

"To me, it's all about disconnection. Racism is disconnection from each other and the reason we let the world deteriorate is because we've lost our connection to the earth," said Martinez. "It's more than boots on the ground, its more than Bernie or Hillary, but about the world we'll leave the next generation."

Check out the performances by Xiuhtezcatl Martinez's here.

Josh Fox is an environmental filmmaker and the director of Gasland. He held the environmental movement accountable with a reminder of the intersectional realities.

Fox told the room, "The climate movement is too old and too white... I'm not saying we shouldn't work in our communities, but we need to talk about race, about breaking out of our silos because we can't afford to be careful.

"We have to reach out and be uncomfortable."

Fox's main issue is the issue of fracking, a banning of which did not make the final draft of the Democratic Party's platform.

Fox also pushed for practicality rather than idealism going into 2016 election saying, "It's not about Bernie or Hillary, but Bernie and Hillary... the Clinton campaign has to find a way to absorb the Sanders voters."

"We can't walk out," Fox said, "we have to walk in... we have to march in the street and have a thousand people walk out of the convention, then we need to go right back in."

Photo: Climate march in New York City. | John Minchillo/Climate Action Network (CC)

“How can we get 64 million low-wage workers to the polls?”

Tim Wheeler — Thu, 28 Jul 2016 14:36:00 +0000

This article is part of a series on the Democratic National Convention.

PHILADELPHIA - Poverty-income workers and their allies gathered in Philadelphia City Hall, July 27, to strategize on how to mobilize the 64 million workers who earn less than $15 an hour to go to the polls and elect a President, Senate, and House that will act to raise workers' wages next November 8.

Hector Figueroa, president of SEIU Local 32BJ welcomed the crowd, many of them delegates to the Democratic National Convention. "There are 64 million workers in the U.S,. who make less than $15 an hour," Figueroa said. "The typically low-wage service industry is growing rapidly while good-paying manufacturing and white-collar jobs are declining. This massive shift in the economy has given way to a new voting bloc: low-wage worker voters."

This voting bloc, he said, represents nearly one in four Americans "and will play a huge role in the coming election....the reality is that these 64 million workers----forty two percent of the workforce---are largely ignored, not seen as a voting bloc."

(SEIU) Local 32BJ sponsored the panel discussion just days after the union averted a walkout at the Philadelphia airport during the DNC.

Steve Rosenthal, SEIU's interim political director, projected on a screen data defining poverty-wage workers. "We see these workers everywhere in the economy," Rosenthal said. "They are disproportionately women, 55 percent of the total, and African American and Latino."

He cited North Carolina where two million workers toil at below $15 an hour. Yet 1.2 million of them are unregistered to vote. Republican, Mitt Romney won North Carolina in 2012 by only 92,004 votes.

Targeted engagement aimed at registering these low income workers to vote "could yield 105,000 votes," enough to tip the state for the Democrats in November, Rosenthal said. The Republican power structure "does everything they can to put up barriers, to make it tough for us," he said, such as eliminating same-day registration, early voting voter ID laws and other measures that make it easier to vote.

Vigorous grassroots campaigns on a range of issues such as the $15 minimum wage, he said, is key "to turning this situation around," convincing the unregistered that there is a good reason to register and vote, to oust the Republicans and elect candidates committed to raising the minimum wage.

SEIU Local 32BJ staged a sit-in of hundreds of Philadelphia Airport workers at one of the terminals July 14 to press the workers' demand for a $15 minimum wage.

The local had voted overwhelmingly to strike on the eve of the DNC, a stoppage that would have created a nightmare for DNC delegates and guests. A year ago, the workers, some earning just over the Federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, won coverage under Philadelphia's "living wage" law guaranteeing them at least $12 an hour.

Shakira Stewart, a Philadelphia Airport worker who led her 1,000 fellow workers in that struggle was a panelist. She was there with her two young children, Te'ray and Daryl. She explained that opening the eyes of the working poor to the possibility of winning is key to getting them registered to vote, getting them to the polls to vote in November.

"Our voices need to be heard. Last week we called off our strike because American Airlines decided to come to the table. We won a victory. Without the union we are nothing. We have no voice. I was not into politics until this fight. It is important for us to vote for candidates who will support us. The Republicans are not for us."

Shakira Stewart, herself, was the target of retribution for her leadership, her work schedule shifted, forcing her to find a babysitter or lose her job.

Former Philadelphia City Councilman Wilson Goode, author of the Philadelphia Living Wage law, and now a fulltime adviser to the City Council, was present at the news conference. He told the People's World the City Council at one point refused to approve a new multi-billion lease between the airlines and the city until they agreed to a "labor peace" side agreement that compels the airlines to recognize the "Living Wage" law and pay the workers at least $12 an hour.

Asked if the city could expand his living wage law to cover private-sector workers as well, Goode explained, "We are prohibited by state law from enacting a higher minimum wage for all workers. The State Constitution does not allow municipalities to enact high minimum wages."

He added, "The overall goal must be to get a $15 Federal minimum wage. That is part of the Democratic Party's platform. I think the $15 minimum wage is going to be instrumental." The movement for a higher minimum wage and Hillary Clinton herself "will use that plank in the platform to get low wage workers to the polls."

Photo: It started at the Liberty Bell and ended July 19 at the Philadelphia Airport. Low wage workers from all over the city stood side by side with airport workers demanding $15 and a union. SEIU activists are laying plans to mobilize a huge vote among low wage workers. | SEIU 32BJ Facebook page

Correction: In an earlier version of the story, SEIU Local 32BJ President Hector Figueroa's name was incorrect. We regret the error.

“Your voice is your vote”: DNC Black Caucus defends Black Lives Matter, Voting Rights Act

Chauncey K. Robinson — Thu, 28 Jul 2016 10:34:00 +0000

This article is part of a series on the Democratic National Convention.

On the third day of the Democratic National Convention Black delegates from around the country came together to discuss the state of Black America and the need to get out the vote. The caucus met just weeks after shockwaves rippled throughout the country earlier this month as the nation bore witness to the police murders of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, and the sniper shooting that killed five police officers during a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest in Dallas. The major themes of the meeting became clear as Black leaders took to the stage to discuss the Black Lives Matter movement, voter suppression, and what was at stake for people of color in the the impending presidential election.

Speakers for the meeting included: the 82nd Attorney General of the Unites States, and the first African American to serve in the position, Eric Holder; CEO of the DNC Leah D. Daughtry; Mayor of Baltimore Stephanie Rawlings-Blake; DNC Chief of Staff Brandon Davis; and president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Cornell William Brooks. Former Attorney General Holder was also the caucus' honoree for the day.

Leah D. Daughtry came to the stage opening up the meeting with a short prayer and greetings before going into an explanation on the importance of voting in the upcoming election. Daughtry stated that there was a need to make a connection between "change and voting," and that voting "does matter." The CEO of the DNC went on to say that "people in communities who say it [voting] doesn't matter come from a place of privilege." She expounded on her statement by explaining that issues such as healthcare, unemployment, student loans , and affordable housing were all issues that greatly affected communities of color. "We [people of color] can't afford to stay home or sit it out. Your voice is your vote. We've got to keep the White House," Daughtry proclaimed.

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake went on after Daughtry and echoed similar sentiments about the importance of voting. Blake stated that we have to "think about the young people. We do not want a country ruled by fear."

Chief of Staff for the DNC Brandon Davis outlined the goals of the Democratic party for the upcoming general elections. Referencing the Democratic party's platform Davis remarked that it was a "policy agenda that will work for Black people." Yet, David noted that it wasn't just the presidential election the Black community needed to get out the vote for but state and local elections as well. "We can not forget the nine battleground states. We have to win up and down the ticket. We have to expand our voter registration. All of this will matter in the long run. We need to govern for a generation."

Former Attorney General Eric Holder took to the podium expanding further on sentiments he expressed in his Tuesday night speech at the DNC convention proceedings. "The agenda for common sense gun control remains unfinished," Holder stated. "We need reasonable gun control in our nation. This affects our communities. Any candidate not for gun regulation is not a candidate that would get my vote," he went on. Referencing the tragedies at Sandy Hook and the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando Holder said, "95 percent of the population wanted it [gun control]. The Gun Lobby convinced Congress to vote a different way."

Focusing in on voter suppression Holder proclaimed that the "gutting of the Voting Rights Act was one of the worst decisions ever made," and that, "the Voting Rights Act was the gem of the Civil Rights Movement." Holder is referencing the 2012 Supreme Court decision that section 4 of the Voting Rights Act, the part where states having a history of the worst discriminatory practices against voters have to preclear their voting changes with the federal government, as unconstitutional. "Five members of the Supreme Court voted against the Voting Rights Act. This needs to change. Who is put on Supreme Court matters," Holder emphasized. "Can you imagine the guy from The Apprentice picking the next Supreme Court Justice," he said, in reference to Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump's history in reality television.

Holder also pushed for a need to support the Black Lives Matter movement. Comparing the emerging movement against police brutality against people of color to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s, Holder explained, "I know these young people. They are committed, they are determined to be heard. They are in the best traditions of the Civil Rights movement. They are trying to move this country towards a place it ought to be, so you all [should] defend Black Lives Matters. And you all should defend that term because for too long in our history Black lives didn't matter."

NAACP president Cornell Brooks was one of the final speakers. He focused on the fight against voter suppression. Opening his speech Brooks reflected on Eleanor Roosevelt's famous speech at the Democratic Convention of 1940 in which the former First Lady stated, "This is no ordinary time." The NAACP president stated that this sentiment held true for today. "We find ourselves in a peculiar part in time as we are without the full protection of the Voting Rights Act since it was signed 50 years ago. This is not your parents' voter suppression," Brooks explained. "The right to vote is a civic sacrament. If you believe Black Lives Matter then you have to believe the Black vote matters," he concluded.

The caucus meeting was closed out by the commissioner of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, Thomas Hicks, who urged delegates to do two major things going towards the presidential elections, "Check your registration and volunteer to be a poll worker... The best way to influence the election is to be inside of the election."

Photo: Members of the Black Caucus of the DNC including former Attorney General Eric Holder (second from left). | Chauncey K. Robinson/PW

Obama at DNC: Don’t fear the future, shape it together

C.J. Atkins, Chauncey K. Robinson — Thu, 28 Jul 2016 09:31:00 +0000

This article is part of a series on the Democratic National Convention.

PHILADELPHIA - In his final address as president of the United States before a Democratic National Convention, President Obama delivered a forceful message to the American people that the time had come to once again make history. Recalling his own election as the first African-American president nearly eight years ago, he encouraged maximum turnout to beat Donald Trump in November and make history again by putting the first woman into the White House.

Before thousands of delegates chanting "Yes We Can," Obama said that while much progress has been made during his presidency, there was still farther to go and that Hillary Clinton was the candidate to lead the progressive coalition forward.

Reminding listeners of the financial crisis and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that he inherited from George W. Bush, Obama said that while "a lot's happened over the years," he remained optimistic about the future of the country.

Yes we can, not yes he will

Obama spoke directly to disaffected Americans who feel that economic growth has left them behind. He offered a scathing critique of Trump's false promises of authoritarian prosperity.

He acknowledged the "real anxieties" that many have about paying their bills, protecting their children, and taking care of their parents. Acknowledging the concerns of many working class voters, he said, "There are pockets of America that never recovered from factory closures; men who took pride in hard work and providing for their families who now feel forgotten."

To those forgotten people, the President warned that the program of one-man rule offered by Trump and the GOP was a deception. "Does anyone really believe that a guy who's spent his 70 years on this Earth showing no regard for working people is suddenly going to be your champion? Your voice?

"We get frustrated with political gridlock, worry about racial divisions, are shocked by the madness of Orlando and Nice," he said, but the "deeply pessimistic vision" offered last week in Cleveland peddled only fear. Referring to Trump's nomination acceptance speech, Obama said, "There were no serious solutions to pressing problems - just the fanning of resentment, blame, anger, and hate."

The President's speech made clear that the path ahead will only be found through collective action and democratic participation. He exclaimed that no "self-declared savior" promising order has ever brought about progress. Capturing the essence of the contrasting visions of the progressive coalition and that of Trump, Obama declared, "America isn't about Yes He Will; it's about Yes We Can."

He insisted that stopping Trumpism has to go beyond just beating Trump. In a nod to Bernie Sanders' supporters, Obama said it was necessary to elect Democrats up and down the ticket "and then hold them accountable until they get the job done." He went further to add the need to not only vote "for a president, but for mayors and sheriffs and state's attorneys and state legislators," noting "that's where the criminal law is made."

The President was also "feeling the Bern," praising the activists of the Political Revolution as setting the pace for the fight against inequality and the role of big money in politics. He praised their organization and persistence as models for the whole progressive movement.

Keep moving forward

Though Republicans have acted to obstruct his agenda ever since they took control of Congress in the 2010 elections, Obama reminded Democrats in the hall and Americans viewing on television of the many victories achieved since 2008. The president made clear that although Trump may describe an America in ruins, his nightmare vision does not jive with the actual facts.

To note, under the Obama administration, economic disaster was averted after the financial crisis, millions of people gained health insurance with the Affordable Care Act, the war in Iraq was ended, nuclear proliferation in Iran was prevented, the Paris Climate Agreement was hammered out, and a new relationship with Cuba was initiated.

Defending those gains and building upon them requires the broadest possible alliance of Americans from "every party, every background, every faith...black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, young, old, gay, straight, men, women, and folks with disabilities." President Obama's speech calling out the many elements of the coalition presented a sharp contrast to the divisive message of the Trump fear-fest in Cleveland.

This mission of unity even extended a hand, however temporary, to some conservatives, like Michael Bloomberg, who are unwilling to follow Trump down his dark road. In his speech before convention delegates earlier in the evening, Bloomberg described Trump as a "dangerous demagogue" who has to be defeated. The former mayor of New York urged Americans to elect, "a sane, competent person."

It was a continuation of vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine's invitation to Republicans upset that the GOP "has moved too far away from the party of Lincoln."

Carry Hillary like you carried me

Obama closed out his address with an appeal to progressives to unite around the Democratic nominee, Hillary Rodham Clinton. He expressed confidence that as he passes the baton and returns to private life, he was "leaving the Democratic Party in good hands."

Discussing how Clinton has been caricatured on both the right and the left for decades and has made some mistakes, Obama explained that's what happens when you spend "forty years trying to make a difference." His message to delegates was one of principled pragmatism.

Putting more justice in the justice system, fighting climate change, protecting "our kids and our cops" from gun violence - achieving these goals and many more require a landslide victory in November. It was unity and faith in the future that "gave women the courage to reach for the ballot and marchers to cross a bridge in Selma and workers to organize and fight for collective bargaining and better wages," the president explained.

Obama asked Democrats to do for Clinton what they did for him in 2008 and 2012: "Carry her the same way you carried me."

Obama's final call to voters in the hall and across the nation was to "reject cynicism and reject fear." He encouraged them to "summon what is best in us" and elect Hillary Clinton. Thousands cheered during the president's closing lines and moments later he was joined on stage by the nominee herself. The image of two presidents - one current, one future; one an African-American man and the other a white woman - was a powerful symbol of how far the nation has come since both 1865 and 1920.

Photo: President Obama and Hillary Clinton wave to the crowd during the third day of the DNC in Philadelphia. | John Locher/AP

Asian-Americans, Pacific Islanders on the rise at Dem Convention

C.J. Atkins — Wed, 27 Jul 2016 22:18:00 +0000

This article is part of a series on the Democratic National Convention.

PHILADELPHIA - They may not always receive their due in the media or in film and television, but the Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community is a group on the rise in the politics of this country. It is a community of communities, whose members come from a diversity of national and ethnic backgrounds spanning half the globe. But as a whole, what they are looking for in this election is candidates who are serious about creating tangible change.

This demographic is rapidly growing as a proportion of the U.S. population and is an important part of the progressive coalition. At the meeting of the Democratic Party's AAPI Caucus here Wednesday, delegates formulated plans for getting out the vote for November and encouraging a new generation of leaders.

A community oriented toward the future

Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders are the fastest growing group in the United States and make up the largest share of recent immigrants. In many election contests across the nation, they are increasingly in a position to provide the margin of victory.

The last few election cycles have demonstrated they are also a group that is moving solidly into the progressive camp. In 1992, the majority of AAPI voters voted for George H.W. Bush. Twenty years later, in 2012, 73 percent of them went with Obama and the Democrats.

That swing is reflective of the pragmatic progressivism that prevails among all generations of AAPIs, but especially among millennials. Bing Chen, a board member at the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment (CAPE), says it is less about party loyalty, but rather that the community "is looking for specific plans for immigration, for economic growth, and so much more."

Elaborating on this practical orientation, Chen said, "We don't care how much money or pizazz a party or a candidate has, we just want to know what they are going to do on hard issues. We want to know whether they are real changemakers."

Olivia Chow, who previously headed up digital media work at the Center for Community Change, said, "It's not enough to just say Trump is evil and bad." "Democrats," she emphasized, "need to have an uplifting message - something to be for."

To get a sense of just how central AAPI people will be to America's future, John Chiang, the State Treasurer of California, says look to his state. "California today is what the U.S. will look like by 2065," he told caucus-goers. "Our state is already 15-16 percent AAPI," he said, compared to their current 5 percent nationally.

Also showcased at the caucus was a new generation of progressive AAPI leaders who are stepping up in states and cities around the country. Stephanie Murphy, candidate for Congress in Florida's 7^thDistrict, addressed the delegates and emphasized the need for voters to pick capable leaders when they head to the ballot box. "Our future depends on the quality of the people who are at the helm of the state."

Her district is home to the Pulse nightclub, where a mass shooting attack occurred last month. It has been targeted as a "red to blue" district and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has earmarked $3 million for her race. Speaking about Trump's anti-science and anti-immigrant tirades, Murphy, whose family came from Vietnam, said that defending public education is part of why she is seeking office. "Education is the opportunity piece of the American dream story, and it's one of the reasons I'm running."

Democratic platform is for everyone

This year's Democratic platform has been widely hailed as the party's most progressive ever. Karen Narasaki, one of the two AAPIs on the platform committee, said, "It reflects the values and interests of our communities."

In its preamble, the document recognizes an Asian American hero for the first time. Larry Itliong, who helped organize Filipino farmworkers, is hailed alongside Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, as one of the three founders of the United Farm Workers (UFW).

"The platform commits to a $15 minimum wage, keeping Wall Street honest, and family immigration as one component of comprehensive immigration reform," Narasaki said. The fairer tax system it proposes would unlock resources to "train workers, repair our roads and bridges, invest in 21^st century infrastructure, and build a green economy we can be proud of."

Narasaki also praised the platform's "thoughtful approaches to ending mass incarceration and repairing tensions between communities and the police." The voting rights provisions of the document, which commit to providing multilingual voting materials, was highlighted as particularly important. "Bilingual election materials have allowed so many in our community to participate in our democracy," Narasaki said.

Shifting to a comparison with Trump and the GOP, delegates were told there was only one clear choice in the race for president. Trump's harsh anti-refugee stances came in for heavy criticism, as many people in the AAPI community have shared in the refugee experience themselves. Republican plans to dismantle the Affordable Care Act were marked as another reason to stop Trump, as "1 in 6 AAPIs lacked insurance" before it became law. "The GOP wants to tear it apart," she said.

"The Supreme Court is in the balance and the Republicans have gutted the Voting Rights Act. Elections matter, ideas matter," Narasaki declared at the end of her report. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro joined her, saying that, "There is only one candidate in the race who can beat the divisiveness and scapegoating being offered by the other side."

Castro predicted, "In the years to come, we are going to see the first Asian American vice president or president."

Sounding the call to the next generation of AAPI leaders, Evan Low, 33-year-old California State Assembly member for the 28^th District, said, "As a millennial, I encourage anyone who wants to be in public service to keep getting involved. Follow the example of those like Stephanie Murphy and others who have put themselves forward and offered to serve."

AAPIs have come a long way since the racist murder of Vincent Chin in Highland Park, Michigan in 1982, the event which heralded the political awakening of the Asian American community. Today, this is an engaged and assertive group, ready to take the lead in building cooperation and fostering solidarity across communities.

Photo: California State Assembly member Evan Low addresses delegates at the Asian American and Pacific Islander Caucus at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, July 27, 2016. | C.J. Atkins/PW