MLK: “There’s something wrong with capitalism”

by REV. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

People’s World | January 18, 2019

Racist violence and economic injustice were among the problems Dr. Martin Luther King laid at capitalism’s doorstep. Here, King looks at a glass door of his rented beach cottage in St. Augustine, Fla. that was shot into by someone unknown on June 5, 1964. | Jim Kerlin / AP

Throughout his life, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke often and with vision about the nature of capitalism and the kind of changes needed to replace it. The following quotes reflect some of King’s key thoughts on the subject. The power of his words speaks as much to the present day as they did to the turbulent times he witnessed.

“I imagine you already know that I am much more socialistic in my economic theory than capitalistic… [Capitalism] started out with a noble and high motive… but like most human systems it fell victim to the very thing it was revolting against. So today, capitalism has out-lived its usefulness.” – Letter to Coretta Scott, July 18, 1952.

Murder of indigenous people sparks first-ever march on Washington

by Mark Gruenberg

People’s World | January 18, 2019

Rose Downwind (center) taken from her Facebook page before she was murdered in 2015.

WASHINGTON—For more than two years, Darla Banks has been silent. On Jan. 17, she spoke for the first time – understandably halting to compose herself – about her daughter’s murder.

Hers is an all-too-common tale among Native Americans and indigenous people worldwide, and it helped lead to the first-ever march planned for Washington, on Jan. 18, by indigenous people who have been arriving here from as near as New York and as far as Australia.

L.A. teachers strike: Wearing red for ed on rainy Day One

by Eric A. Gordon

People’s World | January 15, 2019

LOS ANGELES—At Hamilton High School in West Los Angeles, United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) chapter chair Frank Burton had his team prepared for heavy rain: As his fellow teachers arrived for the 7 a.m. picket line and approached the tent supplied with coffee and refreshments, Frank unfolded yet another plastic poncho and slipped it over a new arrival’s head. By his count, every single one of “Hammie’s” 140 teachers, plus others represented by the union, such as the librarian and counselors, turned out to be counted on Day One.

Britain is in ‘deep political crisis,’ communists warns

Morning Star | January 17, 2019

Rightwing Leave and liberal Remainers protest outside the Houses of Parliament last night

COMMUNISTS have warned Britain is in the grip of a “deep political crisis” as they demand an early general election and departure from the European Union on March 29.

Speaking to the Communist Party’s political committee last night, general secretary Robert Griffiths argued that “the root of the crisis” is the vote for Brexit by a working-class majority in June 2016 while “powerful sections of the ruling capitalist class want continued alignment with the pro-big business rules of the EU single market and customs union.”

Trade unionists celebrate Eleanor Marx’s 164th birthday

by Marcus Barnett

Morning Star | January 17, 2019

YOUNG trade unionists and Labour members celebrated Eleanor Marx’s 164^th birthday in London last night.

Eleanor, the youngest daughter of Karl Marx, was one of the founding organisers of the National Union of General Workers, which merged into the general union GMB.

Palestinian revolutionary Leila Khaled writes in support of Kurdish hunger striker Leyla Guven

by Gulistan Elidemir

Morning Star | January 16, 2019

Palestinian revolutionary Leila Khaled Photo: Sebastian Baryli/Creative Commons

PROMINENT Palestinian revolutionary Leila Khaled has sent a letter to jailed Kurdish MP Leyla Guven in support of her hunger strike, which entered its 70th day today.

Ms Khaled, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, highlights Ms Guven’s courage and determination, affirming: “The harder the hunger strike, the more honourable the struggle.”

Life After War: How Young People in Uganda Are Coping

by Teddy Atim

The Wire | January 19, 2019

People gather to watch a film in Lira district, north of Uganda’s capital Kampala. Credit: Reuters

For over two decades between 1986 and 2006, northern Uganda experienced a prolonged conflict pitting government forces against the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels. The conflict, the longest of Uganda’s post independence struggles, was rooted in the colonial legacy of divide-and-rule. This was often along ethnic and regional lines.

Electoral rolls in Cuba: Transparent and accurate

by Nuria Barbosa León

Granma | January 17, 2019

Photo: Martirena

The transparency and accuracy of Cuba’s electoral registry – with its public, permanent, ex officio nature – guaranteed by the state and verified by the population, constitutes a strength of the Revolution, especially important to the referendum on constitutional reform set for February 24. This was confirmed for Granma International by Colonel Mario Méndez Mayedo, head the Identification, Immigration, and Foreign Nationals Directorate, who reported that, beginning January 16, voter rolls will be displayed in visible locations close to polling stations.

Venezuela: What’s Been Learned Won’t Be Easily Forgotten: A Conversation with Antonio Gonzalez Plessmann

by Cira Pascual Marquina

Venezuelanalysis.com | January 17, 2019

Antonio Gonzalez Plessmann, intellectual and human rights activist. (Venezuelanalysis)

Antonio Gonzalez Plessmann, who holds degrees from Venezuelan and Ecuadorian universities, has been a human rights activist and militant leftist since the 1980s. A former vice-rector of the National Experimental Security University, he took part in the process of police reform initiated in 2006. Today Gonzalez Plessmann is part of the SurGentes collective and is working with the Pueblo a Pueblo project in Caracas’ San Agustin barrio. In this interview, he presents important insights into the revolutionary potential that Chavismo unleashed during the course of the Bolivarian Process. It’s a potential that, he thinks, could be set rolling again.

Venezuela Welcomes 2,500 Cuban Doctors Leaving Brazil

teleSUR | January 13, 2019

Over 2,000 Cuban doctors are setting up practice in Venezuela after being kicked out of Brazil by President Jair Bolsonaro, Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro said this weekend.

Two-thousand-five-hundred cardiologists, anesthesiologists, and general doctors arrived in the South American country Friday to bulk up the medical staff at the Barrio Adentro Mission, a social initiative founded by ex-president Hugo Chavez to provide free, public medical care.

In November, thousands of doctors were forced to leave the Mais Medicos (More Doctors) cooperation program in Brazil after far-right president Bolsonaro criticized the program, saying it was torture for Cuban mothers who were “not allowed” to go with their children and questioning diplomatic ties with the island.