Florida

The New College Gambit

December 9, 2024 Kathryn Joyce, In These Times. Educate! Florida, Free Speech, Higher Education, Right wing politics

Ever since Jan. 6, 2023, when DeSantis appointed a series of right-wing activists to New College’s board of trustees with the mission to transform Florida’s weirdest, queerest public college into a “Hillsdale of the South” — emulating the Michigan Christian school known for its conservative “classical education” and hard-right politics—it was clear the takeover was meant to be a model. Nearly two years later — after interviews with current and former New College students, faculty and staff, extensive research of news and academic reports, firsthand reporting and numerous documents shared with In These Times—there’s no simple answer as to whether they’ve succeeded.

NAARPR Southern Region Organizing Conference Day One

December 8, 2024 Kristen Bonner, Fight Back! News. Organize! Anti-Racism, Florida, National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR), Police, Political repression

Jacksonville, FL – On Friday evening, December 6, the air was electric as the inaugural Southern Regional Organizing Conference (SROC) of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR) kicked off with a rally outside Café Resistance. Over 200 attendees gathered to connect, reflect and prepare for the intensive days ahead. Florida State Representative Angie Nixon welcomed attendees to the venue, which serves as a hub for activists and community-building in Jacksonville. In light of the recent Trump victory, Nixon remarked that it is up to us to, “keep up the fight. We gotta get back to the basics: Grassroots organizing.”

University Of South Florida Workers Lose Union And Rights

November 18, 2024 Simon Rowe, Fight Back! News. Educate! Anti-Labor, Florida, Higher Education, Tampa, Unions, University Workers, Worker Rights and Jobs

Tampa, Florida – On October 2, 355 University of South Florida (USF) employees discovered they would no longer be working for the state of Florida. Instead, beginning on December 1, custodial, groundskeeping and maintenance workers have a choice to work for a private dining and facilities contractor, Compass Group, or else find another job. In 2023, Senate Bill 256 passed in the state of Florida. SB 256 is among the most anti-union labor laws in the country and effectively decertifies any unionized bargaining unit in the public sector that does not meet a bar of at least 60% dues-paying membership.

Uhuru 3 File For Judgment Of Acquittal In Free Speech Case

October 30, 2024 Fight Back! News. Resist! Black Liberation, Florida, Free Speech, Political repression, Russia, Tampa, Uhuru 3, Uhuru Solidarity Movement, Victory

On Thursday, October 10, Attorney Leonard Goodman filed a post-trial motion on behalf of the Uhuru 3 – Omali Yeshitela, Penny Hess and Jesse Nevel – asking Judge William Jung for a “judgment of acquittal on the conspiracy charge” or a new trial on that charge. In September’s contradictory verdict, the Uhuru 3 were found not guilty of acting as unregistered agents of the Russian government but were unjustly convicted of “conspiracy” to act as unregistered agents of the Russian government. Omali Yeshitela, Penny Hess and Jesse Nevel declared victory in defeating the government’s claim that their lifelong advocacy for Black reparations, justice and peace was conducted under the direction and control of a foreign government.

Why All Hurricanes Should Be Named ‘Jim’

October 20, 2024 Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright, Black Agenda Report. Educate! Appalachia, Class Struggle, climate crisis, Environmental Justice, Environmental racism, Extreme weather, Florida, Georgia, Hurricane Helene, Hurricane Milton, Systemic Racism

The devastation effectuated by Hurricane Helene represents yet another elucidation of a quintessential climate crisis that is right here and right now. It demonstrates that climate change is not a conclusion that awaits us, but a set of present day precarities taking and altering lives right now. According to initial assessments, Helene could cost U.S. taxpayers upwards of $175 billion , and of course, there is no way to quantify the estimated 230 lives that were taken, thus far, with the death toll expected to rise. Meanwhile, Hurricane Milton, which made landfall in Florida as a Category 3 storm, continued this season of carnage and calamity with a death toll of approximately 20 people and an estimated $50 billion in damages.

Hurricane Season Rips Into US War-Spending

October 10, 2024 Elizabeth Vos, Consortium News. Educate! climate crisis, Florida, Hurricanes, Israel, Natural Disasters, Palestine, Russia, Ukraine, US Aid To Israel, US Imperialism, Wars and Militarism

Over a week since Hurricane Helene caused widespread devastation in multiple southeastern states of the U.S., Jean Taylor-Todd, a resident of rural Newland, North Carolina, in Avery County, says her town is still waiting for government help. “Our county was hit hard by this storm,” she told Consortium News this week via email. “Roads crumbled, bridges collapsed, road shoulders washed, businesses flooded, trees fell across roads, on power lines, and on buildings and in yards… Not far from me, houses flooded off their foundations and washed multiple outbuildings away. I know of four deaths of people not far from me and of two horses swept away that drowned. Some folks were heavily flooded inside their homes, and at this writing on October 7, are still without power… Some of the flooding… created sinkholes in which traveling cars were swallowed, but occupants [were] saved. I witnessed two cars submerged in sinkholes just minutes from my house.”

The Future Is Named Helene

October 7, 2024 Andrew Nikiforuk, The Tyee. Educate! climate crisis, Environment, Florida, Hurricane Helene, North Carolina

The messages of Hurricane Helene lie inscribed in the muddy debris of Asheville, North Carolina, and other wrecked towns of Appalachia. Helene, powered by warming waters in the Gulf of Mexico, dumped 700 millimetres of rain in several states over three days. The surreal deluge drenched the ground and then it swelled creeks. The creeks supercharged rivers, and these muddy waters tore like a torrent through the hills, breaking all previous records of mayhem.

Mutual Aid Groups Mobilize In Wake Of Hurricane Helene

October 4, 2024 It's Going Down, Grassroots Economic Organizing. Organize! climate crisis, disaster relief, Florida, Food Not Bombs, Hurricane Helene, Kentucky, Mutual Aid, Natural Disasters, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia

A Category 4 storm, Hurricane Helene, one of the largest storms to hit the Gulf Coast in a century, collided into the Big Bend area of Northern Florida on Thursday, before moving into neighboring states of Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, and the Carolinas. According to media reports, upwards of 60 people have already been confirmed dead, although the death toll is expected to rise as many municipalities have yet to release official numbers as cell phone service and internet remains down and millions are currently without power. Extreme flooding has been reported in Atlanta, GA and Asheville, NC, as whole communities are left stranded and lacking proper shelter and access to clean drinking water.

NAARPR Southern Regional Organizing Conference 2024 Call To Action

October 4, 2024 Fight Back! News. Organize! Florida, Indigenous Rights, National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR), Police, Political repression, Repression

This December 6th-8th, the National Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression (NAARPR) is convening our inaugural Southern Regional Organizing Conference in Jacksonville, Florida. This conference will bring together progressive forces in the South fighting for Black liberation, Indigenous rights and land sovereignty. We are fighting back against police crimes and political repression to free all those unjustly incarcerated as well as defending all progressive movements fighting for a just society. NAARPR, which arose out of the movement to Free Angela Davis, was refounded in 2019 with well over two dozen branches and affiliate organizations nationwide.

Nearly 50,000 US Dockworkers Strike And Flex Collective Power

October 2, 2024 People's Dispatch. Resist! Boston, Dockworkers, Florida, Houston, International Longshoremen's Association’s (ILA), Maersk, Massachusetts, Miami, New York (NY), Strikes, Texas, Worker Rights and Jobs

At midnight on October 1, nearly 50,000 dockworkers across the US’s East Coast walked off the job, shutting down ports across the coastline across cities including Boston, New York, Miami, and Houston. This is the International Longshoremen’s Association’s (ILA) first strike since 1977. ILA dockworkers are a lynchpin of the US economy. Ports affected by the strike include the Port of New York and New Jersey, the nation’s third largest port in terms of the volume of cargo. “When my men hit the streets from Maine to Texas, every single port will lockdown,” said ILA President Harold Daggett. “Everything in the United States comes on a ship.”

Uhuru 3 Found Not Guilty Of Being Russian Agents

September 12, 2024 Hands Off Uhuru, Popular Resistance. Educate! Florida, Free Speech, Legal System, Uhuru 3

On the morning of September 12th, the jury returned a verdict in the free speech trial of the century, where Chairman Omali Yeshitela, Penny Hess and Jesse Nevel faced bogus charges of working as Russian agents. The 12 person jury concluded a not guilty verdict on count number two, “failure to register as a foreign agent,” in other words, working as agents of Russia. This was the big charge that carried an up to ten year prison sentence. The jury contained no black jurors, but to their credit, they saw clearly that African people have agency and sovereignty over their actions.

Uhuru 3 Trial: FBI Lead Investigator Exposed, Both Sides Close

September 11, 2024 Hands Off Uhuru! Hands Off Africa!. Resist! FBI, Florida, Free Speech, Legal System, Uhuru 3

On Monday, September 9, 2024, the free speech trial of Chairman Omali Yeshitela, Penny Hess and Jesse Nevel began its second week. Proceedings were delayed because two jurors had not arrived. One of the missing jurors arrived late and then at 9:45am, Judge William Jung declared that he would give the other absent juror 30 more minutes and then would remove her from the jury. Attorney Mutaqee Akbar raised the fact that the missing juror was the only African on the jury. He asked the judge to replace her with the sole African juror in the pool of alternates who have been seated in the jury box throughout the trial. The judge refused and seated a white juror. The 12-person jury now has no African members.

Update On The Uhuru 3 Free Speech Trial Of The Century

September 8, 2024 Hands Off Uhuru, Popular Resistance. Resist! FBI, Florida, Free Speech, Legal System, Uhuru 3

Tampa, FL—The first week of the free speech trial of Chairman Omali Yeshitela, Penny Hess and Jesse Nevel left observers shaking their heads and asking how the government has dedicated 30 FBI agents over the course of 3 years, conducted military raids on peaceful U.S. residents, offered a $10 million reward for information and still has no case. With only one witness left, the prosecution has failed to present any actual knowledge or evidence of the government’s baseless charges that the Uhuru 3 are “secret pawns in a Russian government conspiracy to sow political discord and interfere in elections”.

Uhuru 3 Free Speech Trial Begins; Jury Selection, Opening Arguments

September 4, 2024 Hands Off Uhuru, Popular Resistance. Educate! Florida, Free Speech, Legal System, Uhuru 3

Day one of the free speech “trial of the century” began with a press conference across the street from the Federal Courthouse in Tampa. Free speech defenders and social justice activists from across the U.S. expressed their support for the Uhuru 3—Chairman Omali Yeshitela, Penny Hess and Jesse Nevel, falsely accused of being secret pawns in a Russian government conspiracy to “sow discord” and “interfere in elections.” The press conference was hosted by Mwezi Odom, Chair of the Hands Off Uhuru! Campaign. She declared that the government’s false accusation that the Uhuru 3’s call for reparations, a petition against the U.S. charging genocide against Black people and the group’s opposition to U.S. wars were carried out under the control of the Russian government to be a “racist denial of Black people’s agency. We can think for ourselves and define our own agenda!”

Pensacola CWA Workers Stand Strong Against AT&T

September 1, 2024 Fight Back! News. Resist! AT&T, Florida, Strikes, Unions, Worker Rights

Pensacola, FL – On a humid August morning, the sound of car horns fills the air up and down Davis Highway, each honk a note of solidarity for more than 25 members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 3109. These workers, standing firm outside the AT&T worksite, are part of the largest strike currently unfolding in the United States, a powerful labor struggle involving over 17,000 CWA members across nine southeastern states. Their picket line is just one of four in the far-west of Florida’s panhandle. The strike was called as a direct response to AT&T's bad faith tactics during contract negotiations, which began in late June.

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