|
Supplement
No. 22June 20, 2020
Photo Review
Militant Opposition to State-Organized
Racist Attacks Continues
United
States
Juneteenth march in Seattle, Washington.
In the U.S., the ongoing protests reveal the
people's profound concern about their living
conditions, and lack of security and control over
their lives. A large majority of people do not
think the government response to the coronavirus
pandemic has been what is needed and are greatly
concerned that their rights to health care,
housing, education and a livelihood are going to
come under even greater attack. Many face
evictions as moratoriums are lifted in the name of
re-opening the economy; at least 30 million remain
unemployed and likely will not have jobs to return
to; many cannot afford health care and have no or
insufficient insurance. Given the refusal of the
federal government (Trump and Congress) to
implement the needed national standards for
personal protective equipment (PPE) and other
needed measures to contain COVID-19 and protect
the population, many more are looking into
alternatives and themselves joining in the various
actions taking place. This direction has been
further strengthened by the resistance movement,
with many voicing the need to re-imagine
education, health care and what constitutes safety
and security, including defunding and dismantling
police forces.
As well, within the ranks of the ruling circles
themselves the conflicts are intensifying as
differences become more public and directly
involve authority over the use of the police and
military, while the Constitution no longer stands
as an authority for resolving conflicts. The
executive, military, various policing agencies,
federal, state and local authorities all contend
and conflict with each other on COVID-19 and now
on the use of police violence. Conflicting
authorities, who are clashing with the conditions,
are further revealing for all to see that those in
power are unfit to govern and an alternative
decided by and for the people is needed. The
people are already acting to empower themselves in
various ways, with youth persisting in their
demands for change and nurses, bus drivers,
national guardsmen and others speaking out in
their own name, taking their stands and giving
expression to this direction.
The ruling circles are already striving to
restrict discussion and impose their vantage point
of perpetuating the status quo, while "reforming"
some aspect of policing and elections. There is an
effort to divert and divide the movement, with
Congress and many at the state level, such as New
York Governor Cuomo, presenting themselves as
"reformers," proposing and passing legislation
that in no way addresses the key issue of who
decides, who has political power. While particular
laws will have to be examined, a main feature of
all of them is continued reliance on the existing
state that is responsible for the violence and
disempowerment of the people in the first place. A
current bill before Congress, for example, has as
its main feature turning to the federal government
and Department of Justice to deal with police
violence, a measure to further bring the state and
local policing forces under federal control while
trying to present the federal government as "more
just."
In addition, given it is an election year, a
major effort has begun to convince people to line
up against Trump and in support of Democrats,
especially "progressive" Democrats. This includes
a major emphasis on "saving our democracy,"
focused on the ability to vote using mail-in
ballots and the like and diverting from the
current consciousness in the movement that
elections are not solutions and this is not our
democracy. When the Minnesota Common Council and
others are forced to say police departments cannot
be reformed, it is an indication of this
consciousness that reform and electing people to
carry out reform is not a solution. Similarly, as
Congress prepares to again raise the Pentagon
budget, the consciousness of the relation between
opposing violence and impunity at home and
standing with the peoples abroad -- for rights and
for a global COVID-19 response -- has grown. This
too brings to the fore advancing the work for an
anti-war government and people's democracy, based
on the independent politics of the working class
and everyone acquiring an outlook which favours
their interests and speaking in their own name.
Minneapolis, Minnesota
 
Memorial at the site of police killing of George
Floyd.
 
Youth-led Twin cities Awake the Suburbs protest,
June 17, 2020.
Washington, DC
Defund the Police protest outside Washington, DC
city hall budget discussions, June 13, 2020.
Black Lives Matter actions took place as part of
Pride celebrations, June 13, 2020.
Boston, Massachusetts
Providence, Rhode Island
Windsor, New Jersey
New York City
Long Island, New York
 
Oswego, New York
Montgomery, Pensylvania
Flint, Michigan
Chicago, Illinois
Indianapolis, Indiana
Clemson, South Carolina
Manchester, Georgia
Winter Park, Florida
Cynthiana, Kentucky
Montgomery, Alabama
Baton Rouge, Indiana
Austin, Texas
Pheonix, Arizona
Marina, California
 
Palmdale, California
 
Protest June 13, 2020, after the death by
hanging of Robert Fuller in Palmdale which was
originally ruled a suicide, but is now being
investigated.
San Jose, California
Los Angeles, California
 
 
Pride celebrations in Los Angeles, June 14, 2020.
San Francisco, California
California nurses stand with Black Lives Matter,
June 15, 2020.
Portland, Oregon
Seattle, Washington
Renton, Washington
Kona, Hawaii
Juneteenth
Celebrations June 19
Washington, DC
Portland, Maine
Boston, Massachusets
Hartford, Connecticut
New York City
 
Minneapolis, Minnesota
 
Cincinnati, Ohio
Lafayette, Mississippi
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Los Angeles, California
Oakland, California
Las Vegas, Nevada
 
Seattle, Washington
Canada
St. John's NL
 
Windsor, NS
Fredericton, New Brunswick
Toronto, ON
Brampton, ON
Georgetown, ON
Hamilton, ON
 
Regina, Saskatchewan
Stettler, Alberta
Kootenay, BC
Vancouver, BC
Around the World
Colombia
 
Dublin, Ireland
Cork, Ireland
Birmingham, England
Canterbury, England
Aberdeen, Scotland
Turku, Finland
 
Lucerne, Switzerland
Berne, Switzerland
 
Berlin, Germany
Paris, France
Milan, Italy
 
Athens, Greece
Cyprus
 
Prague, Czechoslovakia
 
Bucharest, Rumania
(To access articles
individually click on the black headline.)
PDF
PREVIOUS ISSUES
| HOME
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
|
