Organize!
Whether we are engaging in acts of resistance or creating new, alternative institutions, we need to create sustainable, democratic organizations that empower their members while also protecting against disruption. This section provides articles about effective organizing, creating democratic decision-making structures, building coalitions with other groups, and more. Visit the Resources Page for tools to assist your organizing efforts.
Seattle Festival Celebrates Palestinian Resilience And Resistance
September 27, 2024
Sammy Baroud, Palestine Chronicle.
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Arts, Culture of Resistance, Israel, Palestine, Palestine Solidarity, Seattle
Various artists, speakers and influencers joined hands in a show of solidarity at a concert attended by thousands in Seattle, USA, on Saturday, to celebrate the resilience and resistance of the Palestinian people.
The Palestine Will Live Forever Festival was headlined by the Grammy-winning Seattle rapper, Macklemore, who performed his newly released song, Hinds Hall 2 – along with Palestinian American singer Anees and 16-year-old Gazan rapper MC Abdul – live for the first time to the roaring crowd.
The event also featured many other pro-Palestine artists such as Jordanian rapper and singer Eddy Mack, and South Seattle-based Moroccan-American rapper Essam, as well as many other talented musicians.
What The US Can Learn From Gambia About Defeating Petty Tyrants
September 27, 2024
Phil Wilmot, Waging Nonviolence.
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Africa, Authoritarian, Gambia, Social Movements
Yahya Jammeh rose to power in Gambia through a coup d’etat in 1994. For 22 years, his rule was characterized by autocracy, politically motivated torture, killings and poor geopolitical relations with neighbors.
In 2016, Jammeh was finally pushed out of power in the country of about three million citizens. His overthrow is largely credited to the people of Gambia, who mobilized against yet another coup attempt by the Jammeh regime. (Defeated at the polls, Jammeh had conceded to victor Adama Barrow, but then reneged on that concession.) Out of this political circus rose a movement using the hashtag #GambiaHasDecided.
The Corporate Campaign To Repeal The New York Stock Transfer Tax Rebate
September 26, 2024
Russell Mokhiber, Corporate Crime Reporter.
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History, New York (NY), Stocks, Taxes, Unions, Wall Street, Worker Rights and Jobs
Ray Rogers is a veteran of corporate campaigns – pressuring corporations to recognize unions and stop blocking progressive legislation. Unions have hired his organization Corporate Campaign in battles against Farah Slacks, J.P. Stevens & Co., Hormel, International Paper, American Airlines, Inc., Campbell Soup Co. and Coca-Cola.
Now Rogers has launched a campaign to repeal the stock transfer tax rebate.
Assemble Lights Up Parliament With ‘Evict The Lords’ Projection
September 25, 2024
Ed Sykes, The Canary.
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Democracy, Light Projection, People's Assemblies, United Kingdom (UK)
On 23 September, the words “EVICT THE LORDS” and “POWER TO A HOUSE OF THE PEOPLE” were projected onto parliament. This rounded off a day in which Assemble, a group with roots in the modern climate movement, highlighted “five urgent political priorities” that people around the country had decided on.
Assemble spokesperson Maddison Wheeldon delivered the statement in front of the Emmeline Pankhurst statue outside parliament, “standing in front of a replica of the throne seen in the House of the Lords — typical of the extreme luxury and aristocratic trappings seen in the chamber”:
On Board The ‘Handala’: A Little Ship To Gaza
September 23, 2024
John Soos, Mondoweiss.
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Freedom Flotilla, Gaza, Israel, Norway, Palestine, Palestine Solidarity
In April of this year, I joined the crew of the Handala for the first leg of her voyage as she set sail from Oslo, Norway. The Handala is an 18-meter former fishing vessel from Norway. It is part of the International Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) that has been sailing ships to challenge Israel’s illegal and inhuman blockade of Gaza with successive voyages since 2010. As Handala began sailing For the Children of Gaza in April 2023, this is the second year of this campaign. The aims of our present voyage were two-fold. The intended final destination was the besieged and occupied Gaza Strip – presently under near-constant bombardment as Israel continues its barbaric, genocidal atrocities against a captive civilian population.
Activists In Philly Have A Novel Approach To Help De-Oppress Society
September 21, 2024
Damon Orion, Counter Punch.
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Oppression, Philadelphia, Police abuse, Systemic Racism
In 2019, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America reported that one in 1,000 Black men in the U.S. are killed by police. Statista states that between 2015 and August 2024, Black U.S. residents were fatally shot by law enforcement officers at a rate of 6.2 per million of the population per year compared to 2.4 white Americans per million per year.
This is an all-too-familiar example of systemic oppression, which the diversity, equity, and inclusion-based software company Develop Diverse defines as “the mistreatment of a social, ethnic, or racial group, perpetuated by governments, schools, health care systems, and other socioeconomic structures.”
Fighting Privatization Is Good For Mental Health
September 19, 2024
Elena Gormley, In These Times.
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Chicago, Health Care, mental health, Privatization
This spring, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson announced a dramatic change in the city’s mental health policy, promising to reopen public clinics shuttered for more than a decade.
Today, my administration is taking extraordinary steps to reverse the course and expand our city’s systems of mental health,” Johnson said May 30, outside the Roseland Mental Health Center. “We are standing here on the Far South Side to make it clear that we are prioritizing those who have been left behind and discarded by previous administrations.”
In addition to Roseland, the city plans to reopen two more public clinics, in the Pilsen and West Garfield Park neighborhoods.
Rail Crew, Environmental Justice Organizations Win Clean Air Rule
September 17, 2024
UE Union.
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Air, Environment, Green Jobs, Railroads, Victory, Worker Rights and Jobs
Rail crew drivers from UE Local 1077 joined environmental justice organizations in persuading the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) board to pass a life-saving regulation for rail yards in the Inland Empire, Los Angeles County, and Orange County. In response to overwhelming public support, including a letter signed by the UE local and its allies, the rule passed unanimously at the board’s meeting in August.
Rule 2306 will limit toxic emissions from the 25 rail yards in operation and any new rail yards built in the region. According to SCAQMD, “The rule is expected to reduce Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) emissions associated with freight rail yards by about 10.5 tons per day between 2027 to 2050.”
Trade Unions Find Their Place In Global Peace Efforts At ManiFiesta 2024
September 14, 2024
Ana Vracar, People's Dispatch.
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European Central Bank, Global South, Manifiesta 2024, Unions, United Auto Workers (UAW), Worker Rights and Jobs
At ManiFiesta 2024, the trade union square was buzzing with activity for two full days. Belgian labor activists preparing for a demonstration on September 16 to protest job cuts at Audi’s Brussels factory shared the space with union members from across Europe—Dutch, Italian, German, and French activists all exchanging struggles and strategies. Under the tents, the General Federation of Belgian Labour (ABVV-FGTB) and the Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (ACV-CSC), alongside the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU), discussed campaigns to defend workers’ rights.
Humanity Must Choose A New Path To Avoid Rapid Ecological Breakdown
September 14, 2024
Greg Harman, Resilience.
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Biodiversity, climate crisis, Ecological breakdown, Indigenous Knowledge
Rapid City, S.D.—Humanity stands at a crossroads and must come together to realize dramatically different and supportive relationships with one another, the Earth, and all life on the planet, if we are to surmount cascading ecological and social crises now underway.
That was the message of Arvol Looking Horse, the spiritual leader of the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota peoples, who welcomed hundreds of attendees to the 12th World Wilderness Congress convening the last week of August in the Black Hills, or Hé Sapa in the Lakota language. Though these gatherings, dedicated to assessing and often resetting global conservation work, date back to the 1970s, this is the first such congress being convened by a tribal authority.
President Maduro Approves Creation Of The First Anti-Fascist International
September 13, 2024
TeleSUR English.
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Anti-fascism, Bolivia, Coups, Honduras, Nicaragua, Nicolas Maduro, US Imperialism, Venezuela
On Wednesday, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro approved the creation of the Antifascist International, a movement aimed at uniting progressive and democratic forces around the world to counter the rise of fascism and the far right globally. He Also Condemned Attempts To Carry Out Coups Against Independent Governments In Bolivia, Honduras, And Nicaragua.
During the closing of the “World Congress Against Fascism, Neo-Fascism, and Similar Expressions,” held in Caracas, he approved the new international body as a measure to confront the violence being generated by the far right in the South American nation.
ManiFiesta 2024 Brings New Energy To Activists And Movements
September 9, 2024
Ana Vračar, People's Dispatch.
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Belgium, Europe, Israel, Manifiesta, Palestine, Palestine Solidarity, Solidarity, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs
Over 15,000 people gathered in Ostend, Belgium, for ManiFiesta 2024, a two-day event of activism and solidarity. Inspired by speeches from global activists and union leaders, attendees left with a renewed drive to pursue mobilizations in different parts of Europe.
Speaking at the central event of ManiFiesta, Raoul Hedebouw, president of the Workers’ Party of Belgium (PTB), set the tone by addressing growing inequalities and attacks on workers’ rights in Belgium, announcing a response from the party. A significant part of the event was also devoted to building solidarity with Palestine, with speakers such as Omar Barghouti, co-founder of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) and climate justice activist Anuna De Wever Van Der Heyden emphasizing the importance of international support for Palestinian liberation.
Why More Doctors Are Joining Unions
September 8, 2024
Lambeth Hochwald, Medscape.
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Doctors, Health Care, Privatization, Social Justice, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs
With huge shifts over the past decade in the way doctors are employed — half of all doctors now work for a health system or large medical group — the idea of unionizing is not only being explored but gaining traction within the profession. In fact, 8% of the physician workforce (or 70,000 physicians) belong to a union, according to statistics gathered in 2022.
Exact numbers are hard to come by, and, interestingly, although the American Medical Association (AMA) " supports the right of physicians to engage in collective bargaining," the organization doesn't track union membership among physicians, according to an AMA spokesperson.
A New Model For Worker-Led Organizing
September 8, 2024
Eric Blanc, New Labor Forum.
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EWOC, Unions, Volunteers, Worker Rights and Jobs
Tens of millions of workers in the United States want a union at their workplace, but do not have one.[1] This unfortunate state of affairs is normally blamed on external obstacles such as our country’s broken labor law regime. But there are also significant internal obstacles within the labor movement that prevent it from scaling up to meet the widespread demand for workplace representation.