The vote in Puerto Rico and Oscar López Rivera

Suddenly there are headlines and articles talking about yesterday's vote in Puerto Rico for statehood. It s difficult to learn about the vote in the U.S. media before yesterday, and almost impossible to learn about the context in which the vote occurred. Today the typical blurb reads

Puerto Rico voted overwhelmingly in favor of statehood on Sunday in a referendum that begins the steps toward sending representatives to Washington, D.C.

The outstanding fact is that turnout was only about 23-27 percent, and that that light voter turnout produced a 97 percent vote for statehood---not a mandate, and probably a recognition that, statehood or commonwealth, Puerto Rico has been driven to default and the far edges of austerity by U.S. imperialist interests. The legitimate independence movement rightly called for a boycott of the vote, and the low turnout was at least in part a validation of the movement's position.

The annual Puerto Rican Day Parade was also held in New York yesterday. At the center of the parade was recently freed political prisoner Oscar López Rivera. Because of a boycott pushed by right-wingers, Oscar López Rivera was also at the center of a great controversy. Among those on the wrong side of this issue were the food company Goya Foods, New York Police Department Commissioner James O'Neill and salsa musician Willie Colon. Colon should have known better. The march organizers generally held to principles, Oscar López Rivera humbly tried to step aside, and Oscar López Rivera was still honored by so many people who turned out for the parade.

Democracy Now ran a great story on the parade. Their story begins as follows:

Tens of thousands took part in Sunday’s National Puerto Rican Day Parade here in New York. Marchers at the parade included Puerto Rican independence activist Oscar López Rivera, who was imprisoned for about 35 years. This year’s organizers chose to honor López Rivera as the parade’s first "National Freedom Hero." But after a boycott campaign was organized by a right-wing conservative group funded by donors close to both President Trump and to Breitbart News, Oscar López Rivera announced he would march not as an official honoree but as a humble Puerto Rican and a grandfather. Democracy Now!’s Juan González was at the parade on Sunday.

Read the entire story here.

Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez got to the point in a brief exchange in which Gonzalez correctly stated that

Yes, it’s actually probably the poorest showing that the pro-statehood party has had in about 50 years, because so few people voted. You have to understand, in Puerto Rico, it’s normal for 78 to 80 percent of the people to vote in a normal election or plebiscite. You’re talking 23 percent. So the statehood party got a little over 500,000 votes. Back in 2012, during the last plebiscite, statehood got 834,000 votes. So they got 300,000 fewer votes than they did in the 2012 plebiscite. The reality is that with the economic crisis that Puerto Rico is facing right now, the last thing on the minds of the people of Puerto Rico is a vote over statehood that Congress—they know that Congress cannot or will not grant.

Claridad remains the best direct news source from Puerto Rico. They made their case on these issues in an op-ed piece which begins with these words:

Con un apoyo firme al Desfile Puertorriqueño en Nueva York y un llamado a extender su celebración en la Isla izando la bandera de Puerto Rico, el domingo 11 de junio, el Junte Soberanista reiteró su boicot a la celebración del plebiscito de estatus, convocado por el gobierno del Partido Nuevo Progresista (PNP).

En conferencia de prensa el Junte Soberanista denunció la campaña que se ha levantado en contra del desfile por su dedicatoria al ex prisioneros político puertorriqueño, Oscar López Rivera y recalcó el por qué las organizaciones que integran el Junte no participarán del plebiscito a celebrarse el 11 de junio.

La portavoz del Junte en esta ocasión, la periodista Wilda Rodríguez, apuntó que hasta ahora la campaña de miedo del PNP solo ha atraído a los del “corazón del rollo” para que participen en el plebiscito por lo que dicho partido ha traído “por los pelos” la campaña en contra del desfile puertorriqueño para combatir la apatía hacia el plebiscito. Rodríguez llamó la atención a que argumentos de la campaña de miedo del PNP tales como; miedo al comunismo; miedo al apocalipsis económico de Puerto Rico sin Estados Unidos; (apocalipsis que ya llegó con EE UU); y la mentira de que es inminente la anexión son los últimos que le quedan al PNP. Sobre la mentira del PNP de que la anexión es “inminente” acotó que tanto las dos corporaciones que son los dos partidos institucionales en EE UU así como los poderes legislativo, judicial y ejecutivo lo han desmentido, e incluso lo desmienten para zapatearse de su responsabilidad sobre la crisis económica de la colonia.

Rodríguez denunció que la campaña del PNP en contra del desfile es “traída por los pelos porque el desfile ha honrado antes a nacionalistas y presos políticos y nunca, nunca se había desatado un ánimo como este que quede claro que el PNP no tiene los recursos, ni la influencia, ni el poder económico en la metrópolis para esta campaña, que quede claro, que es obvio que esos recursos y campaña vienen del FBI y la ultraderecha norteamericana, de la inteligencia norte americana”.
Read the entire article here.

Granma, published in Cuba, provided context for the vote in an article which begins:

In San Juan, chants of “the debt is illegal” and “colonial dictatorship” fill the morning air, as students from the University of Puerto Rico block a palm-lined avenue.

Across the street, a board of overseers imposed by Washington is meeting with student representatives to hear their demands as they mull ever deeper cuts to pull this “Greece of the Caribbean” out of bankruptcy.

To some, it’s a necessary corrective to get a stumbling Puerto Rico back on its feet.

But to others like Mariana de Alba, a 27-year-old law student at the protest, it all smacks of colonial subjugation.

“What they’ve come to do is to cut back the public budget and the island’s public services to give it to the big bond holders, to pay off a debt that we don’t even know whether it is legitimate,” she says.

The Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico — made up of seven members appointed by the US president and one by the island’s governor — is tasked with getting a handle on the territory’s crushing $74 billion debt.

But in an island proud of a cultural identity expressed in its language, food and music, the board is widely seen as having an intolerable stranglehold on Puerto Rican life.

As in Greece, where the arrival of the European “troika” repulsed much of the population, Puerto Rico had long shrugged off the dangers of unrestrained borrowing — until the crash.

But unlike its Mediterranean counterpart, Puerto Rico is not independent.

Read the entire article here.

The vote is not meaningless, but with Oscar's freedom, a boycott of the plebiscite, a clarification of who is on each side of the struggle, and the on-going crisis in Puerto Rico a new situation exists.

   Photo from Democracy Now!

¡Oscar, bienvenido a casa!

There is a revolution underway in Communist-led Kerala, India. We can learn from it.

The teleSUR media outlet has done another great report on revolutionary struggles with this artcle on the revolutionary movement in Kerala, India. Whether we agree or not with all of the conclusions made in the article, or whether we agree with all of the positions taken by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), is irrelevant. We can recommend that everyone visit the CPI(M) English-language website and study what they're about. Mao said:

Unless you have investigated a problem, you will be deprived of the right to speak on it. Isn't that too harsh? Not in the least. When you have not probed into a problem, into the present facts and its past history, and know nothing of its essentials, whatever you say about it will undoubtedly be nonsense. Talking nonsense solves no problems, as everyone knows, so why is it unjust to deprive you of the right to speak? Quite a few comrades always keep their eyes shut and talk nonsense, and for a Communist that is disgraceful. How can a Communist keep his eyes shut and talk nonsense?

The fact is that this is what a revolution can look like, and the models used and debated in Kerala are at least as relevant to us here as are the European and Latin American models.

The teleSUR article begins with this:  

Communist politicians in Kerala have a long history of creating alternatives that push back against the narrative that capitalism is the only option.

It was a time of “titanic struggle against world fascism,” writes Elamkulam Manakkal Sankaran Namboodiripad 35 years after he overcame the odds to become the governor of one of the first states in the non-communist world to elect a communist government.

Among the palm-lined beaches, backwaters and canals of India's southwestern state of Kerala, there was a fomenting movement against imperialism, capitalism and racist parochialism led by the Communist Party of India.The year was 1957. World War II had ended, India had won independence from British colonial rule and the country had been partitioned to create the state of Pakistan.

With Namboodiripad as its leader, the CPI, in a historic precedent, went on to win the state’s very first election.

But just two years later it would be illegally overthrown by the Indian National Congress, which sought to rollback CPI’s efforts in a vigorous push to the right.

Still, the seeds had been planted. The CPI came to power again six years later in 1965, then again in 1967, 1980, 1987, 1996, 2006 and most recently, 2016.

The communist movement that pioneered radical land and educational reforms in Kerala early on — pushing the state to outrank the rest of the country on a number of fronts — has in the last five decades shown no signs of paling.

Read the entire article here.

Coming soon to a CWA local union near you!

From In These Times magazine:

Union spokeswoman Candice Johnson tells In These Times that the union has seen some progress on contract negotiations since the strike. A tentative agreement covering about 17,000 workers in California and Nevada has been reached and a contact ratification vote is being scheduled. Talks covering a larger group of 21,000 union members in other parts of the country are ongoing, but no settlement appears imminent.

Whatever the results of the stalled contracts, the union wants an end to the outsourcing (although that is not an explicit contract demand this year), Johnson says. Outside observers are predicting a long struggle ahead, with the possibility of further strikes in the future.

"The strike really united the workers (at AT&T),” Johnson said. “We are in the fight.”

We get a bad rap for telling some other oppressed peoples that they will be liberated after a revolution which never really arrives, but Engels said....

We get a bad rap for telling some other oppressed peoples that they will be liberated after a revolution which never really arrives.

I don't think we say that as often as people hear it said, but we're wrong every time we go in that direction.

Our movement should constantly create the experiences of empowerment and collective self-determination, struggle and solidarity, dialectical growth and building multigenerational, multinational, feminist, LGBTQIA+ and working-class leadership. We should be the university of peoples' and workers' democracy.

A "serve the people" approach and a materialist view of history  brought to every problem or contradiction teaches us that people make history, that we live in a world of possibilities, that each step prepares the way for the future, and that there is a logic to our lived experiences.We don't go "zero-to-sixty in five seconds flat," but we're also not stuck in reverse or neutral or moving at a buggy's pace.

Engels is not saying here that gender and sex relations will only be liberated after a revolution. Quite the opposite. He is saying that a revolution liberates peoples, that it is on-going, that unlearning capitalist morality will take generations, that people can create relationships which we cannot imagine today given a new material basis for those relationships and new ethics, that people really are the motive force in making history, and that we can trust ourselves to do this work.

Evo Morales: El actual modelo capitalista es la principal amenaza para la humanidad

From Cubadebate:

El presidente de Bolivia, Evo Morales, llamó esta semana en las Naciones Unidas a construir un modelo alternativo al capitalismo como camino ineludible para garantizar que las futuras generaciones de seres humanos vivan en un planeta habitable.

“Es necesario reconocer, con sinceridad, que el actual modo de producción y consumo propio del capitalismo, que sigue los patrones de lucro, es la principal amenaza para la humanidad, la madre tierra y por ende los océanos”, afirmó al intervenir en la Conferencia de la ONU sobre los Océanos, foro que sesionó esta semana.

En ese sentido, insistió en la importancia de atacar las causas estructurales de los problemas que enfrenta la naturaleza y a establecer un nuevo paradigma de vida.

Morales criticó en su discurso la decisión de Estados Unidos de retirarse del Acuerdo Climático de París, instrumento mundial dirigido a reducir las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero a la atmósfera, en aras de mantener el incremento de las temperaturas por debajo de dos grados centígrados, 1,5 de ser posible, respecto a los niveles preindustriales.

Para el mandatario, el paso dado por el presidente estadounidense, Donald Trump, niega la ciencia, da la espalda al multilateralismo y lastra el compromiso con las futuras generaciones, convirtiéndose en una amenaza para la vida en general.

Asimismo, denunció en la ONU el impacto económico para Bolivia derivado de no contar con una salida soberana al mar, privada por Chile desde 1879, durante la Guerra del Pacífico.

“Imagínense el costo económico para un país de 138 años de injusto enclaustramiento”, señaló en la Asamblea General de la organización, donde denunció las afectaciones que causa en materia de costos comerciales y el obstáculo que representa para el crecimiento del Producto Interno Bruto boliviano.

La estancia del jefe de Estado en las Naciones Unidas incluyó un encuentro con el secretario general António Guterres e intercambios informales de saludos y criterios con delegados de alto nivel de varios continentes.
Diplomacia en aguas fronterizas

Morales presidió el martes una sesión del Consejo de Seguridad, órgano liderado por Bolivia en junio, dedicada a la prevención de conflictos en escenarios de aguas transfronterizas.

En ese foro, el mandatario defendió la diplomacia preventiva y destacó el papel de la ONU y de la cooperación en esas zonas del planeta.

De acuerdo con Morales, la humanidad vive una crisis del agua de dimensiones complejas, con pronósticos que representan un desafío para la paz y la estabilidad globales.

Seremos 10 mil millones de personas para el 2050, y la demanda del preciado líquido se incrementará en un 54 por ciento. Si se mantienen los patrones de consumo, dos tercios de la población mundial vivirán con escasez para 2025, advirtió.

También subrayó que existen a escala mundial 276 cuencas hídricas transfronterizas, 60 de ellas en África, desde 1947 se han reportado 37 conflictos entre Estados relacionados con el agua y la mayoría de los acuíferos están sobreexplotados y son vulnerables a la contaminación, todo lo cual ratifica la importancia del diálogo y de la cooperación.

(Con información de Prensa Latina)

Silvia Federici:"But in order to translate our pains and pleasures into a page or a song or a drawing we must have a sense of power, enough to believe that our words will be heard."

"I am interested in building a society in which creativity is a mass condition and not a gift reserved to the happy few, even if half of them are women. Our story at present is that of thousands of women who are agonizing over the book, the painting or the music they can never finish, or cannot even begin, because they have neither the time nor money. We must also broaden our conception of what it means to be creative. At its best, one of the most creative activities is being involved in a struggle with other people, breaking out of our isolation, seeing our relations with others change, discovering new dimensions in our lives. I will never forget the first time I found myself in a room with 500 other women, on New Year’s Eve 1970, watching a feminist theatre group: it was a leap in consciousness few books had ever produced. In the women’s movement this was a mass experience. Women who had been unable to say a word in public would learn to give speeches, others who were convinced they had no artistic skills would make songs, design banners and posters. It was a powerful collective experience. Overcoming our sense of powerlessness is indispensable for creative work. It is a truism that you cannot produce anything worthwhile unless you speak to what matters in your life. Bertolt Brecht said that what is produced in boredom can only generate boredom and he was right. But in order to translate our pains and pleasures into a page or a song or a drawing we must have a sense of power, enough to believe that our words will be heard."---Silvia Federici, author of Revolution at Point Zero: Housework, Reproduction, and Feminist Struggle.

What can we learn from Corbyn's advance?

Be wary of lazy comparisons between Britain's Labour Party and the U.S. Democrats or between Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders. Let's not put too much hope in Corbyn's advance and over-emphasize its effect on things here in the United States. Let's not confuse a labor party---any kind of labor party---with the Democrats, but let's also not use that as a reason to not encourage the most progressive tendencies among the Democrats. Let's also get past the talk of Trump's pretended populism while we're at it.

What can we learn from Corbyn's advance? Trust the people, trust the young people, trust the working class, take advantage of the contradictions which our opposition creates, force the opposition to ally with unsteady political forces through organizing, it is labor party politics (and not Green or sectarian distractions) which first wins people's attention, and don't ever be afraid to support and defend public services.

Andy Montañez "Quién no se siente Patriota" video por Jose Rivera: the joy of the people and the context for tomorrow's vote

This video from 2015 is circulating again as the vote in Puerto Rico approaches (see the article below from Granma and our article yesterday). The event supported the Claridad newspaper, our primary source for events in Puerto Rico.

From Granma:

 Puerto Rico, a U.S. disaster in the Caribbean

SAN JUAN.— In San Juan, chants of “the debt is illegal” and “colonial dictatorship” fill the morning air, as students from the University of Puerto Rico block a palm-lined avenue.

Across the street, a board of overseers imposed by Washington is meeting with student representatives to hear their demands as they mull ever deeper cuts to pull this “Greece of the Caribbean” out of bankruptcy.

To some, it’s a necessary corrective to get a stumbling Puerto Rico back on its feet.

But to others like Mariana de Alba, a 27-year-old law student at the protest, it all smacks of colonial subjugation.

“What they’ve come to do is to cut back the public budget and the island’s public services to give it to the big bond holders, to pay off a debt that we don’t even know whether it is legitimate,” she says.

The Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico — made up of seven members appointed by the US president and one by the island’s governor — is tasked with getting a handle on the territory’s crushing $74 billion debt.

But in an island proud of a cultural identity expressed in its language, food and music, the board is widely seen as having an intolerable stranglehold on Puerto Rican life.

As in Greece, where the arrival of the European “troika” repulsed much of the population, Puerto Rico had long shrugged off the dangers of unrestrained borrowing — until the crash.

But unlike its Mediterranean counterpart, Puerto Rico is not independent.

A former Spanish colony that became an American territory at the end of the 19th century, the island of 3.5 million has had its own government since 1952 when it became a “free associated state,” or commonwealth, of the United States.

On Sunday June 11, its inhabitants will vote on its relationship with the United States, in a non-binding referendum.

Puerto Rico declared bankruptcy in early May.

The bankruptcy — the largest ever by a local US government — caused barely a ripple in the United States, but in Puerto Rico, it has fueled joblessness and protests.

At the University of Puerto Rico, closed since the end of March by student protests, chairs and desks have been chained to its gated entrance.

“They have to stop making blind cuts,” said Alba.

In the face of this financial morass, the two parties that have alternated in power since the 1950s — Governor Ricardo Rossello’s New Progressive Party and the opposition Popular Democratic Party — are blaming each other for the mess.

But relaunching the island’s economy is likely to be more difficult under US President Donald Trump, who is pushing for deep cuts in food assistance and medical insurance programs for the poor. (Excerpts from AFP)

On Sunday Puerto Ricans will vote to decide whether the commonwealth should become the 51st state of the United States.

On Sunday, June 11, Puerto Ricans will vote to decide whether the commonwealth should become the 51st state of the United States. Puerto Rico has been crippled by a financial crisis caused by U.S. imperialism that has left thousands of Puerto Ricans having to leave the island for the United States. According to The New York Times, the Puerto Rican government has been saddled with $123 billion in debt and pension obligations, leaving the island strapped for cash when it comes to providing even common public services like health care and public schools. The scenario is something like what happened in Greece, but that is not always a good comparison. A good analysis can be found here. Puerto Rico is the first U.S. commonwealth or territory to be forced to default on debt payments, and what is happening there could well happen on the mainland and to other entities.

The following article by Ángel Israel Rivera in Claridad explains some of the nuances of the vote.

Esta vez el gobierno del PNP, dirigido por Ricardo Rosselló ha “botado la bola” en eso de la esperanza con terquedad para realizar –de todas formas–una consulta mal llamada plebiscito que no tiene las más mínimas oportunidades de ser atendida por la metrópoli ni de resolver nada: ni acá ni allá. Tan claro está que los propios líderes del PNP no creen en el éxito de la consulta, que han legislado ya un “método alterno” llamado por ellos “Plan Tennessee” que, al igual que el mal llamado “plebiscito” del 11 de junio, resulta ser un derroche innecesario de dinero público del gobierno de Puerto Rico en medio de la crisis fiscal y algo contrario a la letra y el espíritu de la Ley PROMESA que la administración Rosselló alega “respetar”. El Plan Tennessee fue ideado para territorios ya incorporados por el Congreso como método de presión para acelerar lo inevitable: su admisión ya prevista a la federación como estados federados. Puerto Rico es muy distinto porque se trata de un territorio no incorporado. ¿Y quién va a pagar por el festejo que se van a dar en Washington los supuestos dos senadores y cinco representantes escogidos sólo por el PNP, como en la peor de las dictaduras?

El plebiscito del 11 de junio no sólo es intempestivo debido a la desatención del Secretario de Justicia de Estados Unidos, que a poco más de una semana de la fecha pautada ni ha contestado formalmente la decisión final del Departamento ni tampoco se han materializado los 2.5 millones legislados por el Congreso si las definiciones eran finalmente aprobadas por Justicia Federal, sino que la Administración Rosselló se dispone a llevar a cabo la consulta sólo con dinero de Hacienda, no todo lo cual ha llegado a la CEE, según dijo su presidenta. Hasta los alcaldes del PNP han alegado problemas para conseguir funcionarios de colegio y, además, la fecha coincide con la celebración de la fiesta patria en Nueva York: el Desfile Anual Puertorriqueño. Ello reduce las probabilidades de que personas de la diáspora con residencia en Puerto Rico vengan a votar. Amén de que el gobierno parece no haber hecho análisis alguno sobre cómo afectará la consulta la continuada migración hacia Estados Unidos. Y siempre está la competencia veraniega de las playas y de los viajes fuera del país.

A causa de todo eso junto, NO hay manera de que sea creíble, o probable estadísticamente, una participación electoral ni siquiera cercana al 60%, cuando para las elecciones de 2016, celebradas hace sólo 6 meses, la participación electoral bajó al 44.5% de los electores inscritos. Estamos hablando de una elección general, en la cual suele votar siempre bastante más gente que en los plebiscitos o consultas por referendo. ¿Por cuál prestidigitación podrían Rosselló y los legisladores del PNP haber cambiado tan drásticamente esa tendencia en el electorado? ¿Qué realizaciones milagreras tiene a su haber Ricardo Rosselló para que tal cosa ocurra? Surge entonces la gran duda: ¿Habrá fraude electoral mediante el conteo electrónico?

Todas estas circunstancias tomadas juntas auguran una consulta fracasada tanto en participación electoral como en atención por parte del Congreso. Y lo que es peor, un derroche innecesario de recursos públicos, mientras se cierran escuelas, se recortan millones en el presupuesto del Estado, se le quitan recursos a la Universidad de Puerto Rico, y se deterioran los servicios públicos. Como una especie de “ramo de olivo” de parte de la Administración Rosselló, –que es más una “tapadera incierta” de lo que habrá de ocurrir en la práctica cuando la Junta de Control fiscal entre a controlar el presupuesto–el Gobernador ha anunciado que el nuevo presupuesto garantiza las pensiones a todos los empleados jubilados del gobierno. Ni siquiera se ha aclarado si las pensiones que se mantienen tienen o no el descuento del 10% pedido por la Junta Fiscal. Aparte de que el tal descuento a todos es realmente una INJUSTICIA MAYÚSCULA, ya que no afectará la vida de exjueces y exadministradores del gobierno con pensiones astrónomicas de $5 mil o más al mes, pero sí la de la mayoría de los pensionados del Gobierno cuyas pensiones apenas exceden los $1,000 mensuales y es obviamente donde más se va a sentir ese recorte del 10%.

Read the entire article here.

Repair Fair & Share in Salem on July 15

Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) candidate Rev. Khader El-Yateem is running for City Council in New York City

Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) candidate Rev. Khader El-Yateem is running for City Council in New York from the 43rd Council District made up of Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights and parts of Bensonhurst and Bath Beach in Brooklyn. NYC-DSA Co-Chairwoman Rahel Biru has been quoted as saying, "We will replace the corrupt mainstream ‘progressive’ politicians of this city with those who are actually accountable to the interests of the people. El-Yateem is Trump’s worst nightmare. He supports immigrants, is Arab-American and explicitly refuses to take money from developers.”

El-Yateem is th Palestinian-American pastor of Salam Arabic Lutheran Church in Bay Ridge. He is credited with being the first Palestinian-American to run for public office in New York City. His church has a record of including Greek and Roman Catholics, Presbyterians, Iraqi Chaldeans, Lebanese Maronites, Egyptian Copts and Greek Orthodox from historic Palestine, a difficult institutional balance and one which demonstrates El-Yateem's ability to bring people together.

El-Yateem is one of four Democrats running in a district which was once identified as tough, conservative and racist. This candidacy and movement challenges the Democrats from within, breaks down stereotypes of socialists, gives an added left voice to Palestinian-American politics, challenges New York's machine politics and marks a shift in the communities making up the 43rd Council District. Two of the candidates opposing El-Yateem come from the Italian community which held power in the District for a long time.

An odd day in Oregon politics

This morning, Clackamas County passed an Inclusivity Resolution. This is a great step forward.

The Ethnic Studies in K-12 education bill passed the Oregon House of Representatives today. Another step forward!

Help is still needed on getting the Cover All Kids bills (HB 2726 & SB 558) passed.

The racists continue to push IP 22.This is an attempt to repeal Oregon's 30-year-old inclusivity law (ORS 181A.820), which prohibits the use of state and local resources to enforce federal immigration law. IP 22 is the product of white nationalist and racist thinking. Sign the pledge to oppose IP 22 at http://bit.ly/2rLVYyP.

These same racists showed up at the hearing on HB 3464 today and went off on several rants, giving what were at best novel interpretations of the law. HB 3464 prohibits public bodies from disclosing specified information concerning people unless required by state or federal law. The bill is a logical step in Oregon's inclusivity, sanctuary and immigrant rights efforts.

The racists clearly missed the e-mail on decorum at legislative hearings: being shrill, shouting, exaggerating, going off topic, accusing every legislator of bad faith and criminal behavior, ignoring facts, and open displays of racism won't move many legislators, though Mike Nearman may be the exception to the rule.

The Oregonian broke the story that reactionary Representative Mike Nearman (R-Independence) has on his payroll a person who has been charged with illegally transferring a gun to Matthew Heagy, the convicted felon who was arrested at the March 25 protests at the State Capitol. Police say that Heagy pepper sprayed a state trooper and was found to have a concealed firearm. Angela Roman, Nearman's policy analyst, is facing one year in jail if she is convicted of transferring the gun. Nearman blew off the matter by telling the Oregonian, "That case involves something that happened on her own time so that's between her and law enforcement." The question arises if there isn't more going on: do ranking Republicans use middle people to pass on weapons to criminal fascists and provide other soft support for them?

Hey Kaiser, can you hear us now?!

Scenes from a great rally today for safe staffing at Kaiser Westside Medical Center. Oregon Federation of Nurses & Health Professionals (OFNHP) members are united for quality care for patients. See you on June 21st at KPB! More info: bit.ly/2rDaCtW.

ALERTA: Ejercito guatemalteco desplaza a una comunidad entera, se refugian en Mexico

A friend from Guatemala says about this article: "Forced displacement of indigenous communities like in the 80s... repeats the same story....even when you can live in peace and respect the rights of living in communities without having to go to another country to live And find that place where families can have a decent life. Enough of the abuses of government and the army."

El pasado viernes 2 de junio cerca de 700 personas de la comunidad de San Andrés en Laguna Larga, Municipio de La Libertad en Petén, Guatemala fueron desplazadas de manera forzada de sus tierras tras el anuncio de un desalojo masivo y el desplazamiento de más de 1000 efectivos de la PNC y del ejército de Guatemala. Las personas no tienen otro camino posible que caminar hacia la frontera con México a la altura del Municipio de Candelaria, Campeche a donde llegaron hacia la tarde de ese día a 7 kilómetros del Ejido El Desengaño.

Hasta el momento nos reportan que entre estas 700 personas se encuentran principalmente niños, niñas, mujeres y adultos mayores, quienes se encuentran en una situación de emergencia humanitaria, tras haber recorrido en plena época de lluvias varios kilómetros de selva para llegar al poblado más próximo ubicado ya en lado mexicano. Se reporta una situación de crisis médico-humanitaria, con niños y niñas que presentan enfermedades gastrointestinales y cutáneas, alojados en 35 carpas en mal estado y sin suficientes alimentos y medicinas. A pesar de lo anterior, las autoridades federales presentes impiden a las personas acudir al poblado más próximo bajo amenaza de deportarles. El día de hoy lunes nos reportan de un menor con fractura de brazo que no puede ser atendido por el temor provocado por las mismas autoridades en la zona.

En una primera visita por parte de organizaciones locales al Ejido El Desengaño, a donde se encuentran varadas hasta ahora en la línea fronteriza, representantes de la comunidad desplazada señalan que fueron recibidos por una comitiva del gobierno de México y del Alto Comisionado de Naciones Unidas para los Refugiados, ACNUR, quienes ya sabían que llegarían a ese lugar; sin embargo, agentes del Instituto Nacional de Migración (INM) les han intimidado y amenazado durante este fin de semana que si continúan su camino en México serán detenidos y deportados inmediatamente a Guatemala.

Por su parte, el Comisionado del INM, Ardelio Vargas Fosado, al momento de pedir personalmente la debida atención de la situación, señaló que el gobierno mexicano no comprará problemas de extranjeros, en lo que suponemos una referencia a que la postura del gobierno federal será negar la condición de refugiadas para estas personas. Por lo que como organizaciones de la sociedad civil que acompañamos en esta situación nos preocupa una respuesta igualmente de violación a los derechos humanos para las personas desplazadas, siendo que vienen huyendo para salvar su vida e integridad desde Guatemala, violacion al derecho de asilo y principio de no devolución, compromisos que ambos gobiernos están obligados a cumplir por ser mandatos de Naciones Unidas.

De parte del Gobierno de Guatemala, de acuerdo a un artículo de Prensa Libre, el desalojo se fundamenta en “una orden de desalojo emitida por un juzgado de Petén, (donde) el Consejo Nacional de Áreas Protegidas CONAP argumenta como pretexto la conservación de la biosfera, pero se niega y entorpece cualquier proceso o alternativa que resuelva el reconocimiento de la población que habita dentro de la Laguna Larga, la Sierra Lacandona y la Laguna del Tigre.”

Ante lo anterior, se hace un llamado a la sociedad en general, organizaciones civiles, colectivos y medios de comunicación para que difundan esta situación a efecto de recabar víveres y artículos de primera necesidad que puedan ser trasladados al Albergue La 72 en Tenosique, Tabasco, desde donde serán trasladados al terreno donde se encuentran en campamento las familias desplazadas.

Finalmente, instamos y exigimos a los gobiernos de México y Guatemala, que se reúnen el 5 y 6 de Junio en ciudad Guatemala, que coloquen esta emergencia como punto fundamental de su agenda, y garanticen plenamente los derechos humanos de las población desplazada de sus tierras en Laguna Larga, Peten, Guatemala y refugiada en Campeche, territorio mexicano, cumpliendo con sus obligaciones en materia de asilo, refugio y protección internacional de acuerdo a los tratados y leyes en la materia. Así también respetando los compromisos asumidos ante Naciones Unidas en relación con los Desplazamientos Forzosos, donde claramente se mandata que los desplazamientos no deben generar personas sin hogar o vulnerables a la violación de otros derechos.

Al gobierno de Guatemala, instamos y exigimos que respete y resuelva en base a las diligencias judiciales que se han interpuesto; entable cuanto antes un diálogo abierto y honesto con la población desplazada y sus representantes, que sean respetados sus derechos humanos y se les permita la inmediata recuperación de sus tierras y de su unico patrimonio, la tierra donde cultivan sus alimentos y resuelven sus necesidades básicas, derechos constitucionales que el Estado de Guatemala ha incumplido.

Guatemala-México; 5 de junio de 2,017

Redes y Organizaciones Firmantes:
Mesa de Coordinacion Transfronteriza Migraciones y Genero (Guatemala-México)
Red Nacional de Organismos Civiles de Derechos Humanos
“Todos los Derechos para Todas y Todos”
(conformada por 84 organizaciones en 23 estados de la República mexicana):
Misión internacional de Observación de Derechos Humanos frontera Guatemala – México
Movimiento de Resistencia Civil de Candelaria, Campeche
Equipo Indignación, A.C.
La 72, Hogar Refugio para Personas Migrantes, A.C.
Voces Mesoamericanas, Acción con Pueblos Migrantes, A.C.
Asociacion Coordinadora Comunitaria de Servicios Para la Salud –ACCSS-
Federación de Escuelas Radiofónicas de Guatemala –FGER-
Asociación Pop Noj de Guatemala
Equipo de Estudios Comunitarios y Acción Psicosocial – ECAP
American Friends Service Committee, Oficina Regional para Latinoamérica y El Caribe.

Support the workers at StoryCorps who are trying to win their union election!

You have probably heard StoryCorps' work on the radio. They record, archive and share people’s heartfelt personal stories with the goal of a more connected, just, and compassionate world.

But a week ago, the workers at StoryCorps in New York City filed for a union election to join the Communications Workers of America, and instead of embracing their values and listening to the voices of their workers, management has gone full anti-union. Workers have been forced to attend captive audience meetings and listen to anti-union lectures aimed at preventing them from exercising their right to organize and demand a voice on the job.

SEND A MESSAGE ►

We expect more from a progressive organization with a mission like StoryCorps. Support the working people who are trying to join our union. Email the CEO and founder of StoryCorps and tell them to stop the union busting and allow workers to exercise their right to organize.

StoryCorps workers want a voice on the job and a say in their working conditions. Anti-union captive audience meetings should not be something any worker has to endure to exercise their rights on the job - especially not at an organization that claims to have a work environment "where respect and dignity are paramount."

Please take a stand with working people fighting for a voice on the job. Click here to send a letter.

Thank you,
Dennis Trainor
CWA District 1 Vice President

Tell Senator Rod Monroe how you feel about tenant's rights and evictions on Saturday

From Jobs with Justice:

Senator Rod Monroe is an East Portland Democrat and landlord working hard to maim or kill a pro-tenant bill --HB 2004-- that his constituents desperately need. A critical piece of the bill that *would* have made it legal for cities to implement rent stabilization (i.e. rent control), has already been removed to try to get Monroe's vote. But he still won't vote yes - he is opposed to the only other protection remaining in the bill: and end to no-cause evictions, a tool that landlords use to evade the fair housing act.

Renters need not settle for this. A large mobilization at Monroe's town hall this Saturday will show legislators that their political future depends on ensuring that HB 2004 passes, and that Oregon makes rent control legal by removing that statewide preemption against it.

We need you to tell him in person how you feel about this at his town hall this Saturday.

Sen Monroe Town Hall
Saturday June 10, 2-3:30pm
Centennial High School
3505 SE 182nd Ave.
Gresham, OR 97030

See you Saturday!

Pell Grants, DACA and stopping cuts to education

Labor continues to talk about an American Dream and upward mobility rather than social solidarity and class struggle. There is often a bit of "othering" going on as we mention in passing people from other countries or other states when it comes to social programs and assistance. Still, this short video on Pell Grants helps make people aware of a crisis in education which is real enough for many people. What needs to be added here is an explanation of the DREAM Act and why defending the Act and the DACA program is so important.

The Continuing Relevance of Marx's Capital after 150 Years

Juliet Ucelli's great presentation begins at 16:08. Juliet's presentation is the most thought-provoking and engaging from this Left Forum 2017 panel.

Yesterday's "We Can't Wait" rally at the State Capitol demaned that state lawmakers adequately fund education and social services. No cuts for services to the poor, working-class people and students!

Child welfare is in crisis. We don't have the resources or staff to support the families and children we are working with. It's ti"Cme for Oregon to put kids first: it's time to invest in Oregon." DHS employee Sasha Sergeeva speaking at the "Oregon Can't Wait" rally in Salem yesterday.

Photos from SEIU Local 503 and Sarah Rohrs.

Three progressive women leaders are sentenced to prison in Turkey

A Turkish court in Ankara has sentenced Figen Yuksekdag, the former co-leader of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) to one year and six months in prison for an interview with German media. She has been in detention since November 2016 at a prison just east of Istanbul. She did not attend her trial via teleconference, said Kurdistan24 Ankara bureau.

In a 2015 interview with the German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle, Yuksekdag rejected government's accusations that the HDP was a political front for the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) but stated that the "PKK is a people's liberation movement. At the same time, it is fighting for democracy and equality." The court ruled that those words constituted propaganda for a "terrorist" organization.

Our comrade is already serving a ten month's prison sentence over her conviction in a 2013 terror-related trial. In February, the Turkish Parliament announced that Yuksekdag was stripped off her lawmaker status, a first time in decades that this has happened Turkey. Another court forced her out of the office of HDP leadership, and the party last month elected a new woman co-head, Serpil Kemalbay.

Numerous legal actions are going on against Yuksekdag, as prosecutors are demanding imprisonment of up to 83 years. The Turkish Interior Ministry on Monday announced that two HDP lawmakers, Tugba Hezer and Faysal Sariyildiz, could face a loss of citizenship along with 128 others if they did not come back from abroad in 90 days.

Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) MP for Amed, Nursel Aydoğan, whose parliamentary membership was revoked in early May, has been given a jail sentence of 20 months. She was charged with “spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization” due to her speech at a funeral in the Elbistan district of Maraş for People's Defense Forces (HPG) guerrilla Oruç Ay who lost his life in 2012.

Lawyers will appeal against the sentence following the official announcement of the final judgment.

Aydoğan was jailed as part of the operations against HDP deputies in November 2016 and released on April 21, 2017 with a ban fporbidding her to travel abroad.

The Diyarbakır Chief Prosecutor's Office objected to Aydoğan's release and appealed to the Diyarbakır 5th Heavy Penal Court for an arrest warrant to be issued. After considering the appeal, the court issued the arrest warrant. The HDP MP was later sentenced to 4 years, 8 months and 7 days in prison, and her parliamentary membership was revoked when the final judgment was read out at the plenary on May 9.

The Mersin 2nd Heavy Penal Court had also given  Aydoğan a 10-month prison sentence for allegedly “spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization.”

Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Women's Assembly Spokesperson and MP for Siirt, Besime Konca was jailed on December 13, 2016 and released on May 3, 2017 after a hearing at the Batman 2nd Heavy Penal Court. Following her release, the Batman 3rd Heavy Penal Court issued an arrest warrant for her after approving an appeal against her release. She was then detained and jailed again on May 29, 26 days after her release from prison.

The fifth hearing in the case against Konca, who is accused of “spreading terrorist propaganda” for participation in the funeral in Batman of Cihat Türkan who died in Amed's Sur district, was held at the Batman 2nd Heavy Penal Court. Konca attended the hearing and lawyers from the Amed and Batman Bar Associations were also present. HDP Batman MP Ayşe Acar Başaran and other progressive leaders and activists also monitored the hearing.

The hearing started with the reading of the indictment and went on with the defense lawyers stating that Konca has been imprisoned unlawfully in a politically motivated judgement. Attorney Aslan demanded Konca's release. Attorney Kübra Demir stated that they wanted to withdraw from the case which, she said, has gone into the history of Turkey's lawlessness.

Following the withdrawal of the lawyers from the case upon the court's rejection of their demand for additional time to work on their case, lawyers from the Amed Bar Association applied to the court to get involved but this demand was not accepted. The court handed down a prison sentence of two years and six months for the HDP deputy for allegedly “spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization” and continued of her imprisonment.

On hearing the judgement, Konca said,"First you are asking us to give our point of view, but you totally disregard anything we say. Therefore, one cannot speak of justice. Decisions made in advance are just being read out here. There are unidentified graves in Istanbul, which belong to the executioners of the Ottoman era. You have turned justice into unidentified graves. As elected politicians, we will continue our struggle."

AFSCME Council 75 responds to cost-shifting proposal on PERS

A new PERS Bill has emerged in the legislature. The Oregonian had a recent article about the idea and while the reporting was misleading, it is generally accurate. We have been engaging members in a discussion of this idea to make sure everyone understands what it would mean for their retirement and for PERS system overall.

We knew this idea was coming and while we do not support it, we tried to give input and make it more tolerable. Along with that, we have helped kill numerous bad PERS ideas this legislative session. Here are a few of them:

* 6% Diversion moved entirely out of the IAP
* Cap on final average salary at $100,000
* Increase of retirement age
* Changing the FAS from Best 3 years to last 5 years

Let’s also be clear, having any discussion on PERS reform is impossible without revenue on the table. Oregon has the lowest corporate tax share in the country, only 6% in total, as a percentage of total state revenue. That is down from over 18% thirty years ago. We can no longer cut our way to a solution and the people of Oregon cannot and should not take an increase in their personal income tax. Public sector workers across the state have mounting workload problems, we need to turn that around, revenue from profitable corporations is only long-term feasible solution to this problem.

So, what is the new PERS concept?

The idea is that over the next several years there would be a shift on to employees to cover more of their retirement. That shift will come from a percentage shift from members’ individual accountants that they receive in addition to your pension, called the IAP. In basic terms starting July 2018, 1% of the money going into an employee’s IAP would be redirected and go into a fund that would cover the employer’s PERS rate. Then in the 2019-2020 budget cycle another 1% would be diverted. After that, it would depend how much the rate employers have to pay to cover the cost of PERS. If the rate increases another 2% then that is on the employers. Any increases above that would be split 50/50 with members but never more than a total of 4% out of the IAP and never more than 1% a year. In addition, if the employer rates for the normal cost of PERS drops then members would get money back into their IAP.

Some Issues to note:

It would not take effect immediately and that would allow us to bargain the impacts of the diversion out of the IAP. You could bargain to keep your IAP whole and sacrifice a COLA or not depending on what you decide.

This would be a direct reduction of what employers pay into PERS. So, employers would have 1-2% more money to spend on services. We have to recognize that right now employer have less money because of the high employer rates into PERS and this would relieve some of the at pressure.

The money diverted will go to pay the portion of the employer rate that is attributed to current workers and it will make PERS a more stable system. The money they are taking from you is going to pay your pension when you retire.

This is a cost shift on to members. We will not pretend that this will not cost you money. We only want to make sure you understand why it being discussed.

There is a budget crisis in this state right now, we have to acknowledge that. It is a state and local government problem, and while PERS is not the chief driver, as many in the media would have you believe, it is a significant factor. All public employers have to pay a much larger portion into PERS to keep it stable. It will grow over the next few budget cycles by over a billion dollars for all public employees. Most of this problem is from the over 20 billion debt that is owed to people that have already retired. That money was earned fairly and according to the Oregon Supreme Court those benefits cannot be touched, nor should they for the vast majority of retirees. However, there is still a problem and there are not enough votes in the House and Senate to solve that problem solely with revenue, as has been our desire through ballot initiatives and lobbying.

With session going into its last few weeks we have to make sure this problem is not solved exclusively on the backs of workers. As distasteful as this plan is, it may be the best vehicle to prevent much worse solutions this session and in the future. Make no mistake, we will continue to fight but we also have to be smart and strategic. Our council will be holding a second PERS Teletown Hall on Wednesday, June 21st at 7 P.M. to discuss this and more PERS related news.

YES! on HB 3464! Immigrants are welcome here! Rally tomorrow at the State Capitol at 3:00 PM.

The New York Times ran a surprisingly nuanced article on our left-wing history today

From The New York Times article by Sarah Jaffe:

The (Communist) party inspired loyalty for reasons beyond simply an affinity for Marxist ideas. It was the campaigns Communists ran against police brutality, the practice of lynching and the Jim Crow laws that made their politics relevant to the lives of ordinary people. In the North as well as the South, on soapboxes on the streets of Harlem as well as on plots of sharecropped land in Alabama, Communist organizing addressed the bread-and-butter concerns of black people.

Communists believed that organizing the working class would work only if white workers realized that their liberation, too, was bound up with the fate of black workers. Facing this threat, anti-Communists and segregationists worked hard to sustain the fractures. They blamed Communists for fomenting “race mixing,” evoking sexualized fears that social equality would mean black men having sex with white women — the very fears that put the Scottsboro Boys on trial. In turn, when black people agitated for civil rights, the Bull Connors of the world called such demands Communist-inspired, returning to the same narrative of dangerous outsiders.

uch an argument said, in effect, that black people had to be whipped up by radical foreigners in order to challenge the remnants of slavery in the Jim Crow South, and that without those outsiders, America was, to steal a phrase from the 2016 election, already great. The view also ignores that it was the black members of the Communist Party U.S.A., raised in such circumstances, who made it clear that their struggles for economic independence were bound up with the racist violence they faced from both the police and white supremacist groups.

Those black Communists often had to fight to hold their party accountable to its professed ideals when the party shifted its strategy toward courting white liberals. The debates that resurfaced during the 2016 election cycle, about the primacy of race or class in left-wing organizing, particularly around the primary campaign of Bernie Sanders, echoed these past battles.

In the 1930s, the party taught its members to discuss their problems using the language of exploitation. This language meant that people “understood that racism and what they called male chauvinism wasn’t simply people acting badly or being psychologically controlled or being ignorant,” Professor Kelley said. “It was about the benefits that they derived from exploitative relationships.”

That framework, which has been revisited today in platform documents like “A Vision for Black Lives,” argues that racism, at root, is not about hate between groups, but about the way power is held in society. And class, according to this analysis, is created by relationships of exploitation.

Read the article here.

If you're interested in the Kentucky Workers League, mentioned in the article, go here. If you're in our region and interested in KWL, please contact us.

Three recent videos from the Partido Comunista de México

MARCHA CONTRA EL AUMENTO AL TRANSPORTE

1ro Mayo 2017

CRISIS, VIOLENCIA Y TRUMP

Today's rally in Portland: Where do we go from here?

Four of us from Salem attended the Portland rally against hate today. Other sources are carrying news of what happened there. I want to share a few brief observations.

The rally was important largely because of the numbers involved, and the alt-right forces knew it. They were greatly outnumbered and had good reason to retreat. Despite their violent bluster, their relatively small rally was surrounded on three sides and they left looking pitifully alone and without the violence they were seeking.

The police turned their attention to the adventurist and opportuist Black Bloc or antifa anarchists and, by so doing, they allowed the fascists to get away with some of the same sorts of behaviors and law-breaking which they were attacking Black Bloc for. There are unconfirmed accounts saying that Trump supporters helped police hold and arrest some Black Bloc people.

At almost the last minute a number of organizations supporting the rally against hate withdrew from supporting the action, the action drew criticism from Jesse Jackson, a line emerged that holds that white people protesting against racist violence are actually advertising the alt-right and counterposes protesting to organizing against racism, and pacifists made a strong case for not turning out. Despite this, a couple of thousands of people---or more---turned out, and there was relatively little violence. We have to sift through the objections to the rally carefully: some of these objections have more merit than others, but the pacifist argument for demobilization is the weakest and most disappointing. The pacifists did not object on tactical grounds, but on moral grounds: the violence of the right cannot be countered by strong oppositional tactics because that's dangerous and immoral. One does not have to be a Black Bloc person to disagree with this. In fact, the pacifist position feeds Black Bloc because it does not provide an explicitly political alternative.

Let's not minimize the police violence today, or their excessive arming up. But let's also see that the media helped build an atmosphere in which many people expected heavy confrontations today and either came expecting fights and hoping for the best or stayed away out of fear. We have to confront our fear barriers where we find them, develop internal discipline, model what we learned from the Panthers and the Young Lords and build rally turnout in ways which confront or disregard our fear barriers. We go into the streets because they belong to us.

The crowd had many people in it who had participated in the womens' march, the airport protests and the May Day events. People are gaining needed experience in the streets and their determination needs to be fully validated. This experience also needs to be balanced by organizing in the workplaces and communities. Only four groups were in evidence who seem capable of carrying that out---the Indigenous Resistance people, Portland Democratic Socialists of America, Causa and the Voz Workers Right Center activists. They and the labor groups which were present are best positioned to take leadership in the future, and it seems like a safe bet that we can follow their led and win.

Some of us had the feeling that the political organization which initiated the rally was unprepared to follow through and unfairly burdened people of color organizations and others with having to carry the ball. Whether this is true in its details or not, it was clear that people of color organizations did not do mass turn out for the rally and that most people who attended the action came to yell at the fascists and not listen to speakers. We have to ask ourselves if facing off against fascists over two lanes of street traffic and a line of heavily armed cops for several hours is the best use of time and energy. On one level it looks like we took the fascist bait by engaging in the ways that we did. How do we build on that? We have to think clearly about the spectacle of a largely white crowd yelling at fascists for hours. What would it take to build a real united front with people of color organizations and have mass participation from every group?

These photos were sent to us. I don't know who took them. If they belong to you and you don't want them here, please let us know.

Oscar Lopez Rivera, just freed from prison, makes a humble declaration and sets a revolutionary example which we should all follow.

Some people say that peace is the way, not the goal.

Some people say that peace is the way, not the goal. When I hear that I think of the following:

Rep. Diego Hernandez does the right thing and hits a wall. What's wrong with the Democratic establishment? Join the June 6 rally at the State Capitol!

Yesterday we had some good things to say about Rep. Diego Hernandez and some other politicians. Today The Portland Tribune reports that

An East Portland Democrat who threatened to oppose the state's education budget because it would force cuts at public schools was ousted from his seat on the Ways and Means education subcommittee during a vote on the spending plan.

Rep. Diego Hernandez's no vote would have meant defeat for the $8.2 billion biennial budget for K-12 education. When Hernandez made it clear early Thursday, June 1, that he would vote no on the education budget, other members of the subcommittee summoned Ways and Means Co-Chairwoman Nancy Nathanson to the room.

Nathanson used her authority to replace any House member of a Ways and Means subcommittee and temporarily removed Hernandez from the subcommittee. She then cast a yes vote on the budget, allowing the budget to progress to the full Joint Committee on Ways and Means.

Hernandez's decision was at odds with other Democrats on the subcommittee.

Representative Hernandez is quoted in the article as saying, "We have reached a critical point in this session, and I am sorry but … I cannot vote for a budget that continues to cut our school funding and continues to maintain our mediocrity." He is also is a member of the Reynolds School Board.

Representative Hernandez took a principled position by not walking and by putting out a Facebook post which says

We cannot leave this session without real tax reform to fund our schools!! Many of you have asked how you can support or help, your voices need to be heard! Join the Rally for Revenue!

He also posted

When the business community doesn't want to work with the legislature to reform our corporate tax system, this happens. We need tax reform, the business community should come to the table, instead of trying to kill and stall our proposed corporate activities tax.

You can see from this that Representative Hernandez is principled and not tied to the establishment. You can see that he has his fingers on the pulse at the State Capitol and that the establishment doesn't know what to make of him and the other progressive people of color legislators we mentioned yesterday. He put the blame where it belongs and hasn't let this become a fight between personalities. And this is indeed a peoples' fight.

One union activist summed his views up by saying, "Oregon House Democrats throw Latino rep off of committee, after he stands up for Oregon school kids and teachers. So far this week, OR Dems have shafted renters, school kids, and teachers. Rotten capitalist party."

We say

We need to back Representative Hernandez and we need to be at the state Capitol at noon on June 6. 

A progressive political leader with integrity, based in the Latino community, and standing with the labor movement and the working class in every peoples' struggle. Can you imagine him as Governor?

Some aspects of structural racism in Salem

We often say that racism has a structural aspect to it, and that if you don’t get that racism is part of both the base and superstructure of society then you don’t get racism or you’re not fully prepared to struggle against it. The conversation or movement now taking place among the dominant business interests and city officials in Salem may be a good illustration of what we’re talking about. Salem’s economy is booming, but the economic gains being made are not being shared by everyone.

The following comes from notes I made during a recent presentation by Marin Arreola of Advanced Economic Solutions, Salem mayor Chuck Bennett and others. You get a feel of where Marin Arreola is coming from as you read the following bio piece on a charity website:

Marin Arreola is owner and president of Advanced Economic Solutions Inc., located in Salem, Oregon. The consulting firm focuses on economic, business and workforce development. Marin has designed and implemented business, economic workforce development projects with the Oregon Economic & Community Development, Department, Oregon Department of Community Colleges and Workforce Development Department, Governor’s Office of Business & Equity, Oregon Employment Department, City of Salem…Microsoft, Intel, Wells Fargo, State Farm, SAIF Corporation, US Bank, Hoffman Construction, New York Life, Salem Hospital, etc.

He was a business delegate who met with then Vice President Dick Cheney to provide insight on small business and economic development issues. Marin is passionate about community service and involvement and has served on many boards including, Chemeketa Community College Foundation, Chair of Salem Area Chamber of Commerce Latino Network…

The city’s population is about 70 per cent white, 24 per cent Hispanic, 2.1 per cent Asian, 1.7 per cent African American, .6 per cent Native American and 1.4 per cent Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander. I believe that some groups are undercounted, but let’s accept these numbers as more-or-less real for the sake of discussion. In our schools, the student population is about 50 per cent white, 40 per cent Hispanic, and 5 per cent multiracial, 2 per cent Asian, 2 per cent Pacific Islander, 1 per cent African American, and 1 per cent Native American. About 72 languages are spoken by the students. Almost 82 per cent of Salem’s residents speak English at home; only about 14 per cent of Hispanics here report speaking only Spanish at home. Again, I think that there is some undercounting, but it’s clear that the school system is now “majority minority” and that proficiency in English is advancing.

When we look at household income, we see that Asian households here have an income of $60,956, whites have an income of $46,821, Native Americans have a household income of $40,499, African Americans have a household income of $34,129, and Hispanics have an income of $30,935. This is offset a bit by the average age of the Asian community being 35.3 years and the average age of the white population here being 42 years, but the average age of African Americans in Salem is 44.9 years, the average age of Salem Hispanics is 21.2 years, and the average age of Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders here is 30 years. So some people are going into old age quite poor and some people seem to be working quite hard as young people and not getting very far very fast. Latino participation in the workforce has increased by 269 per cent over the last 10 years, so it’s reasonable to ask where the advancement is and to understand that large numbers of people are moving into the working-class.

Housing statistics illustrate stratification: 76.6 per cent of African Americans here are renters, 66.8 per cent of Hispanics are renters, 45.5 per cent of whites rent, and 39.2 per cent of Asians rent. Eighty-six percent of so-called “mixed race” people here are renters. Whites have a household income well below that of Asians, and higher than that of others, but have high home ownership. Hispanics and African Americans are largely shut out of home ownership. There is a clear disconnect between language skills, age, race and home ownership.

Before anyone focuses on Asian wealth and home ownership here in Salem, taking these out of the context of all that is going on here, we need to say that Asian and Pacific Islander poverty in the U.S. is relatively high, that Salem cannot be an exception to national trends over a long period of time, and that people who want to engage on these issues should start with the ChangeLab website  and this essential radio documentary.

The common story is that Latinos are concentrated in agriculture and that this holds back social advancement. The reality is that almost 28 per cent of Latinos work in the service sector, almost 21 per cent work in construction and natural resources, almost 18 per cent work in production and transport, almost 18 per cent work in sales and in offices, and almost 16 per cent work in management, business services and the arts. There are about 4000 Latino-owned firms in the area employing about 16,000 workers and doing almost $400 million in annual sales. At this point in the social conversation taking place the local businesspeople and city officials stop tracking everyone else because their primary interests are in finding compliant Latino workers and selling to the Latino community.

We read the available statistics as saying that the service sector is a low-wage sector which cannot provide long-term economic security. We also believe that manufacturing will stay flat in our area over the next 10 years and that healthcare will likely advance as a primary source of steady employment. Latinos and African Americans are not advancing through the local healthcare industries or institutions in large numbers. Business ownership does not appear as a way forward for most people if we look at the Hispanic experience: Hispanic-owned businesses may lead the region in income, but this is not translating into high home ownership or a high annual household income.

Local businesses and city officials are more interested in accessing Latino consumers than they are in reaching any other ethnic market, at least to hear them tell it. There are many problems with this. Looking at people as consumers and as compliant workers and exploring ways to tap into small business owner’s savings in order to develop a larger financial planning sector in Salem is exploitative. In practice it may well mean white-owned and Asian-owned businesses entering the Latino community without regard to existing businesses already in place. It could mean gentrification along Portland Road and the Lancaster corridor. With gentrification and city-backed loans to “traded sector” businesses (businesses which create products which are sold elsewhere) will come stress on housing, making home-buying even more difficult.

The Career Technical Education Center on Portland road will get more attention, and less attention will be paid to a school experience which emphasizes critical thinking. All of this divides working-class people and communities of color and leads to tensions---and a white-run, capitalist power structure will benefit. If young people do not have a democratic role in creating their education, and if all they have to look forward to are service sector jobs, then dropping-out can be seen as a rational step.

The footnotes that the city will depend on federal funding for low-income housing assistance and that tax abatements for businesses in enterprise zones are linked to what companies pay in wages are unrealistic guarantees. The Trump administration cannot be depended upon to provide assistance, and wages need to be set and then indexed upwards at $15 an hour. The emphasis on Salem’s downtown as a business center is racist in practice so long as people of color are not welcomed downtown and there is no weekend bus service.

In my neighborhood in northeast Salem there are 9 pot stores within easy walking distance but only one small manufacturing center. The pot industry may create some living-wage jobs and capital, but the long-term direction of the industry will be the same as any other capitalist industry: small producers and businesses forced to yield to monopolization, a rise and then a decrease in the overall rate of profit, and cost-cutting and wage-cutting. The pot industry will likely follow the model used by the liquor industry of selective and racially- or economically-based marketing and special exploitation. We already see lots of pot stores in working-class northeast Salem but none in the affluent neighborhoods of south and west Salem. This is one way in which consumers are being created from oppressed groups and an example of how a community's wealth is being redistributed.

The local businesspeople who want to further exploit the Hispanic population talk a great deal about Salem’s diversity. Racism as it has been constructed is a barrier to profits and has to go. Sometimes the community benefits from this, but more often the community doesn’t benefit because profits are at stake. And when we look to the future we should be aware that the very definition of “whiteness” can change, as it did for the Irish and Italians who were once excluded. Joining the club meant the dissolution of their communities. The contradiction today is that if a community targeted for exploitation is disappeared into whiteness then the profits also disappear.

The white, capitalist power structure is relying in part on groups like the Latino Business Alliance. Those organizations will be caught in a vice if push comes to shove and the community fully mobilizes behind a progress and self-determination political agenda. An insecure middle-class is not a trustworthy social force.

City and business officials are not asking themselves why there are so few Black people in Salem and what can be done to change that. Ditto for other racial and ethnic groups. These officials have no plan for protecting the very vulnerable Latino population and nothing is being said about the current loss of wealth now taking place as deportations happen or are threatened. The statistics show particular problems faced by so-called “mixed race” people here, but they and Black, Native American and Hawaiian and Pacific Islander peoples are being excised from the script. It’s a divide-conquer-profit system from start to finish.

Ballot Signature Canvass Launch For A Fair Work Week In Oregon---This Saturday In Portland

Christine Pellegrino wins in New York and we celebrate in Oregon

Long Island public school teacher Christine Pellegrino has become the first Democratic Party Assemblyperson to defeat a Republican in the history of the 9th Assembly District, a usually conservative-voting district which takes in sections of Long Island's Nassau and Suffolk Counties.

Pellegrino is a Sanders supporter, a teacher, and a newcomer to electoral politics. Her campaign brought together labor and progressive forces and the Working Families Party and forced a reluctant Democratic establishment to support her. It was coalition politics, but in that experience there is something of the united front approach as well which has been discussed a great deal on this blog.

Given Pellegrino's victory and how it was won and the blance of political forces, this election has special national significance. People will look at this from many sides, but right now this looks like a victory for progressive forces and as a playbook for what needs to happen next year and in 2020.

It has to be said that Christine Pellegrino joins a diminishing but loud number of progressive Italian-American politicians at a time when so many Italians have been coopted by the Trump movement and administration. These good-hearted politicians owe much to Fiorello La Guardia, Vito Marcantonio, Pete Cacchione and Frank Barbaro, whether that debt is acknowledged or not. For us here in Oregon, we can point with pride to the progressive Latino/a, Native American and African American representatives Teresa Alonso Leon, Diego Hernandez, Tawna Sanchez and James Manning, Jr. as our best hopes.  

Read more here.

A history lesson in solidarity from 1971 tells us to get busy, organize and fight!

This is a history lesson from 1971 which applies very well in Oregon today. What if the houseless organized, took possession of some real estate, and did so with working-class support? It will be argued that this was 46 years ago, and in Italy. We respond that the people who organized and won did so on the basis of socialist and communist working-class traditions present in Italy and that it's our job today to build and reinforce the similar traditions we have here. Let's get busy!

On this day in 1971, 70 homeless families occupied empty homes in Via Tibaldi, Milan, Italy. Supported by local factory workers, building workers and the unemployed, they resisted two violent police attempts at eviction, before eventually forcing the local government to rehouse them and 140 other families. This is a history of the occupation: https://libcom.org/history/articles/via-tibaldi-occupation.

The banner reads: "The homes are ours. The whole city is ours."