McKesson Parachutes into Baltimore Democratic Mayoral Primary DeRay McKesson, the Twitter communicator who heads Campaign Zero, is a “ridiculous” candidate for mayor of Baltimore, said Jill Carter, the most radical member of the Maryland state legislature. “He hasn’t been part of any movement or struggle here, or any social circles other than, possibly, social media.” McKesson, a Teach for America alumnus and staunch advocate of charter schools, “may also cause a greater wedge in the justice movement” in Baltimore, said Carter, who notes that corporate media have given the McKesson campaign more play than the rest of the crowded field of candidates.
Movement Must Fulfill Its Obligations to Political Prisoners People’s lawyer and former political prisoner Lynne Stewart and Ralph Poynter, the veteran human rights activist and educator, said the current movement must reaffirm its support for political prisoners and prisoners of war. “Let us not divert our energies into the courts, because if we do that, we lose the streets, and the streets is where it’s got to happen,” said Stewart, who spent 28 months in federal prison for the crime of zealously defending her client. Her husband Poynter said lawyers must defend “those brothers and sisters who defied the government in the same way that the government defied their rights – by using force.”
McKinney: “Selective Outrage” Over Flint The Democratic Party is displaying “selective outrage” in its attempts to gain political points from the poisoning of Flint, Michigan’s water system, said Dr. Cynthia McKinney, the former six term congresswoman from Georgia and Green Party presidential candidate. “Where has the Congressional Black Caucus been on Detroit, where you’ve got all that water, but they were turning people’s water off?” she said. McKinney noted that the Black Caucus has failed to support Rev. Edward Pinkney, the Benton Harbor, Michigan, community activist who is imprisoned on political charges for opposing corporate domination of his majority Black town.
Good Riddance “Sweet Mickey” The Haitian people are glad at the exit of Michel “Sweet Mickey” Martelly, the U.S.-backed president chosen five years ago in a blatantly rigged election, whose term of office ran out last Sunday, said Jerome Franz, a Haitian community activist living in Miami. Public outrage over voting fraud forced the cancellation of run-off presidential elections and the appointment of a transitional government. Were it not for massive voter suppression, former president Jean Bertrand-Aristide’s party, Fanmi Lavalas, “would sweep every single post,” said Franz, because “Lavalas is the party of the popular movement.” Martelly’s party’s strength flows from the huge sums of money put at its disposal by the U.S. and other foreigners.
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The enemies of humanity are revealing themselves. It is up to the movement to rise to the occasion and deepen the analysis of the forces at play.
The West is continuing to push through the occupation of Haiti, otherwise known as the Multinational Security Support Mission, using the Presidential Transitional Council as cover.
An open letter from government attorneys questions the legal cover for arms transfers to Israel.
Reports of the downsizing of Pentagon troops in Chad comes as the United States continues to delay departure from Niger.
One cannot begin to understand the story of Southern resistance without recognizing the role of communism in the struggle.
