Download .pdf leaflet (Bay Area, California)
Download .pdf leaflet (Baltimore, Maryland)
Download .pdf leaflet (The Triangle, North Carolina)
War Declared on the People of the U.S.
Last week, Trump and his Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, brought the top U.S. military officers from around the world together to listen to their plans for the days ahead. Trump announced a declaration of war, not on his foreign enemies, but on the people of the U.S. Talking about U.S. cities that he has targeted, he said, “…certain U.S. cities could be good training grounds for the U.S. military.”
He continued, saying, “Last month, I signed an executive order to provide training for a quick reaction force that can help quell civil disturbances. This is gonna be a big thing for the people in this room, because it’s the enemy from within and we have to handle it before it gets out of control.”
We can’t wait to see if U.S. military forces will be deployed against our cities and towns. Masked and unidentifiable ICE and Border Patrol agents have already invaded cities and carried out their brutal actions. A recent attack was on an apartment in South Chicago. Heavily armed agents descended to the rooftop from a Blackhawk helicopter while 300 agents poured out of box trucks. They terrorized people, kicking down doors, dragging them from their homes, and arresting 37 people.
ICE is invading courthouses, conducting traffic stops, and snatching people off the streets or from workplaces across the country. People have been detained for days and denied their right to communicate with anyone. Most have been deported without criminal charges or trials. In addition to attacks on those who are identified as immigrants, the rights of women, transgender, and gay people are under assault.
We are all under attack. Essential social services have been cut or are threatened to be eliminated. These include access to medical care (Medicaid), food (SNAP, school lunches, and other programs), housing (HUD), funding for education (school and afterschool programs for children and university programs and research), and many more. If the Federal health agencies don’t recognize a vaccine as being necessary, some private and state insurance will not cover them. And many people, especially children, will suffer.
The programs that remain can barely function due to massive firings and forced resignations (150,000 accepted buyouts last week). This is in addition to the 150,000 federal workers who were already forced out. Many federal unions are no longer recognized. And with the budget shutdown, Trump has promised to fire more workers and eliminate programs.
Education is under attack. Scientific research is being eliminated. People who speak out or teach in their areas of expertise are being silenced. History, especially U.S. history, is being rewritten to please those in power. Slavery is supposed to be viewed as a positive episode. The genocide of Native Americans is being honored. The genocide of the people of Gaza is presented as a path to peace in the region.
A global resistance is building in many parts of the world against the war on Gaza. Dock workers have refused to ship weapons to Israel. A general strike has been called in Italy. Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets demanding an end to the war.
Those in power today in the U.S., both Republicans and Democrats, want us to believe that history is made by Congress or the person in the White House. So, electing the right people is the solution. That’s a denial of reality. The rights being stripped from us now were not given to us. They were won by people just like us.
There is a war being waged against us. And we may experience it in different ways, due to nationality, the color of our skin, our gender, or other qualities. But this war is a class war, waged by those whose wealth comes from the work we do. The more they take, the less we have.
We are often unaware of our possibilities because, as a working class, we have not exercised our collective power for a long time. This is a time to act, and a resistance is growing. We can start now. There are rallies and actions we can participate in, along with our friends, families, and co-workers.
Our future rests in our hands.
The Triangle, North Carolina: Activist UNC Professor Reinstated
On September 29, the University of North Carolina (UNC) suspended outspoken leftwing professor Dwayne Dixon in response to allegations by Fox News that he was an “an advocate for political violence.” During the following days, students, faculty and local community leaders rallied to the popular professor’s defense. On Friday, October 3, UNC announced his reinstatement, finding “no basis to conclude that he poses a threat to University students, staff, and faculty.”
Fox News based its allegation against Dixon for his past association with the organization Redneck Revolt. Now dissolved, Redneck Revolt advocated armed self-defense by communities and movements threatened by right-wing militias.
Dixon’s reinstatement vindicates the outrage on campus, is a setback for the right-wing trustees intent on intimidating the left, and discredits the right-wing media that slandered the professor as a terrorist.
Bay Area, California: No Arms Shipments at Oakland’s Port!
Right here in Oakland, weapons are being sent to Israel to carry out the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. This year alone, at least 280 shipments of military equipment were routed through Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport, often via FedEx.
For people in the Bay Area who support freedom for Palestine, the discovery of these weapons shipments is an abomination. But this is not a time to mourn; it is an opportunity to organize. FedEx employees are not currently unionized. Still, it is always possible for workers to organize and fight back. Workers have a right to know when they are handling dangerous materials in a shipment, and they have a right to abstain from handling them. Community members who do not want Oakland’s port aiding and abetting war crimes have the right to protest. No arms shipments at Oakland’s port!
Baltimore, Maryland: The Government Shutdown: Politicians Continue to Play With Our Lives
On October 1, the federal government shut down. This happened because politicians in Congress could not agree on a budget to fund the government. Now many services are temporarily suspended and 750,000 federal workers will be put on unpaid leave or will work without pay, on top of the thousands who have already been laid off this year. A huge number of these furloughed or fired workers live and work in the Baltimore area.
The Trump administration is now threatening to permanently fire more federal workers and cut more essential services. The Democrats claim they are refusing the budget until healthcare programs are funded. But it seems their only strategy to oppose Trump depends on upending the lives of hundreds of thousands of workers and their families. It’s disgusting to see politicians playing with our lives. For workers to have the lives we deserve, the only people we can rely on is ourselves.
Jersey City, New Jersey: Our Need vs. Their Profit
Over the past 10 years, big developers (like Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner) have turned the area around Journal Square’s PATH station into a forest of gleaming high rises. The area used to have only a handful of elevator buildings, but now has two towers with 60-plus stories and more than a dozen slightly shorter towers either completed or still going up. For a decade the area has been one giant construction zone, inconveniencing tens of thousands daily.
With rents starting at $2,900 for a studio, it’s obvious that these buildings aren’t for us. We need safe, functional and affordable housing. Instead, they build so-called “luxury” and “iconic” housing and rents skyrocket. Billionaire developers like Jared Kushner clearly don’t care about what we need. Their goal is profit, and housing for regular people clearly isn’t part of their plan.
