Category: Black Struggle

Celebrating 100 Years since Birth of Malcolm X

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Today, May 19, is the centenary of the birth of African American leader Malcolm X. To celebrate his life and legacy, we publish below excerpts from one of his most famous speeches, “The Ballot or the Bullet.” Malcolm X emerged as the outstanding leader of the popular struggle for Black liberation in the United States. The post-World War II rise of that struggle was one of the most important political developments in the last half of the 20th century. (The other such development, advancing revolutionary prospects for the exploited and oppressed, was the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959).

Majority-Black Town in Ohio Launches Armed Watch after Neo-Nazi, Klan Provocations

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This article reports on efforts by residents of Lincoln Heights, a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio, to defend themselves against provocations by neo-Nazi thugs and Ku Klux Klansmen by organizing counter-mobilizations and an armed watch. Nearly 83% of the town’s approximately 3,000 residents are African American. Lincoln Heights was the first self-governing Black community to be founded north of the Mason-Dixon line, which divided the Union from the Confederate South during the U.S. civil war.

My Experience with Memphis Police: Justice for Tyre Nichols!

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This is a story by James Mac Warren. “I would like to share a personal encounter with the Memphis police department that had a profound impact on what I would set out to accomplish in my young life. I’ve never told this story publicly. I think my reason was to avoid giving the impression that I committed my life to fight to change the world because I was brutalized by the police. 

My case against the Memphis police department is more than fifty years old, unlike most cases coming to light today. Brother Tyre Nichols’s horrific murder has opened up a can of worms the MPD is working frantically to shut down.”

U.S. and African American History Are Inseparable

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On February 1, the first day of Black History Month, the College Board unveiled its curriculum for a new Advanced Placement (AP) class in African American studies. The course generated controversy prior to its release. Conservative politicians and pundits attacked its content based on a preliminary draft of the curriculum leaked last August to conservative publications, including the Florida Standard and National Review. The attacks on the course aimed to limit how the history of Black people in the United States can be taught and discussed. Subsequently, the College Board made substantial changes to the course prior to its final release. In response to the changes many academics, as well as liberal groups, journalists, and others then accused the board of succumbing to right-wing pressure. Last year, World-Outlook published a three-part series titled, “Critical Race Theory — What Are the Issues?” These articles go to the heart of the debate now under way on how to teach U.S. history. For these reasons we are providing here the links to these articles as a contribution to the current debate.

Twin Cities Students Walk Out, March for Justice for Amir Locke

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MINNEAPOLIS, February 15, 2022—Thousands of middle school and high school students have walked out of their classes in the Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, over the last week. The students have given press conferences, staged marches, and joined other protesters demanding justice for Amir Locke. The 22-year-old Black man was killed by Minneapolis police earlier this month, when cops burst into an apartment just before 7 a.m. to serve a “no-knock” warrant. Locke, who was asleep at the time of the raid, was not listed in the warrant and had a gun with him for which he had a permit.

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Critical Race Theory – What Are the Issues? (III)

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This is the third and final part of a three-part series on what are the issues in a public debate in the United States on critical race theory (CRT). The first part explained how the right-wing campaign against CRT is aimed at preventing the teaching of essential facts of US history. The second article outlined why distortions of history by liberal academics, journalists, or others weaken the effort to place facts and evidence at the center of the study of history as well as the fight against racism. This article takes up other notions that present similar obstacles to such an effective fight, including arguments that “embracing white guilt” or “renouncing white privilege” are necessary to combat racism.

Critical Race Theory – What Are the Issues? (II)

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This is the second part of a three-part series on the issues in a public debate in the United States on critical race theory (CRT). The first part focused on the right-wing crusade against CRT aimed at preventing the teaching of essential facts of U.S. history. The second part explains how refuting this right-wing campaign has been weakened by false arguments promoted by a variety of liberals. These academics, journalists, or others make assertions that do not meet the test of evidence. Some go further to offer interpretations of history that do not stand up to careful examination. Other stalwart opponents of racism do not share these views. These arguments include erroneous claims or exaggerations of facts regarding the character of the American Revolution of 1776, and the reasons for the war for independence against the British monarchy, put forward by the New York Times 1619 Project.

Critical Race Theory – What Are the Issues? (I)

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Over the past year a sharp debate has broken out over how to teach U.S. history. At its center are virulent attacks on critical race theory (CRT). Critical race theory, which the New York Times describes as “a graduate-level academic framework that encompasses decades of scholarship,” is primarily a course of study at the university level. Its originators are not demanding it replace the curriculum in elementary schools or high schools. Nor is it the only approach on the subject at the graduate level. These facts do not matter to those who attack it. This first part of a three-part series explains how the right-wing “Stop CRT” campaign is aimed at preventing the teaching of essential facts of U.S. history; particularly those related to chattel slavery, the U.S. Civil War, Radical Reconstruction, Jim Crow segregation, the civil rights movement, and the institutionalized racism prevalent in the U.S. to this day.

Verdict in Daunte Wright Killing: A Rare Glimpse of Justice

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On December 23, a jury in Minneapolis convicted Kimberly Potter, the cop who killed Daunte Wright last spring, on first- and second-degree manslaughter. Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence and other opponents of cop brutality in Minnesota welcomed the verdict—a still too rare glimpse of justice. We join Wright’s family and supporters in celebrating the verdict that delivered some accountability. As Katie Bryant, Daunte’s mother, told supporters outside the courtroom, cops are now more likely to think twice before pulling their gun instead of their taser. “And we made this happen, you made this happen, Daunte Wright made this happen.”

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Arbery Murder Verdict: A Measure of Justice

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On November 24, a jury in Brunswick Georgia rendered a degree of justice in the brutal murder of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man. The three defendants, Gregory McMichael, 65; his son Travis McMichael, 35; and their neighbor William Bryan, 52 were found guilty of murder and other charges. All now face the prospect of life in prison. Future vigilantes may think twice before attempting such a lynching again. The outcome of this case is one more step forward in the long battle for genuine equality for African Americans and for the extension of democratic rights to all.

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Rittenhouse Verdict: A Travesty of Justice

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The November 19, 2021, acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse by a Wisconsin jury on all charges, including first-degree reckless and intentional homicide, is a travesty of justice. It sends a message to other rightists that vigilantism is acceptable so long as it is clothed in claims of “self-defense.” It echoes the verdict in the 2012 trial of George Zimmerman who was exonerated for his murder of Trayvon Martin that same year.

‘Say Their Names!’

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WASHINGTON, D.C., September 2, 2021—More than 500 relatives of victims slain by the police across the United States, and their supporters, participated in a powerful testimonial rally here on August 28. They demanded that authorities “prosecute police who brutalize and/or kill” and “reopen and re-investigate all cases that allege police violence,” as a press release for the action stated. Members of families impacted by cop violence called for an end to what many described as the “ongoing scourge” of police brutality. The most compelling deterrent to such violence is to prosecute the cops responsible and put them behind bars, they emphasized.

August 28 Washington DC Action: Impacted Families of Police Brutality – Photo Gallery

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WASHINGTON, DC, August 28, 2021—Below is an initial gallery of photos from the magnificent rally and march to the Justice Department today. More than 500 members of families who have lost loved ones to cop violence, arriving from 44 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, took part in the rally at the Washington Monument and subsequent march to the Department of Justice to demand: Reopen All the Cases, where justice has been denied! Prosecute and Jail the Killer Cops!

Summer of Soul: ‘A Rose that Flowered Through Cement’

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NEW YORK, August 3, 2021—Crafting it from footage of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, Summer of Soul director Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson unearthed a treasure that captures a pivotal moment in U.S. culture and politics. This invaluable film archive had not seen the light of day until now. The movie includes performances, interviews with artists and attendees, as well as historical footage of events from that time period.

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Thoughts on the Emancipation Proclamation (II)

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This is part 2 of an article by Marxist scholar George Novack, written in 1963 as the civil rights movement was dismantling the Jim Crow system of segregation through the sustained mass action of Black working people and their allies. Almost 60 years later it remains relevant to today’s ongoing battles against racism as well as to understanding the vital history of the African American nationality and its indomitable battle for freedom and equality.

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Thoughts on the Emancipation Proclamation (I)

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This is part 1 of an article by Marxist scholar George Novack written in 1963 as the civil rights movement was dismantling the Jim Crow system of segregation through the sustained mass action of Black working people and their allies. Almost 60 years later it remains relevant to today’s ongoing battles against racism as well as to understanding the vital history of the African American nationality and its indomitable battle for freedom and equality.

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Two Lessons of Radical Reconstruction (II)

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This is the second part of an essay Marxist scholar George Novack wrote in 1950. The post-Civil War period known as “Radical Reconstruction” is among the most important in U.S. history. It receives far too little attention in the country’s educational system. Its promise of genuine democracy was enormous. The “struggle to determine whether the southern revolution would be consummated according to the needs of the masses or be manipulated and restrained by the big bourgeoisie, came to the fore during this period,” wrote Novack.

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Two Lessons of Radical Reconstruction (I)

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This is the first part of an essay Marxist scholar George Novack wrote in 1950. World-Outlook is publishing it to celebrate Juneteenth (short for June 19th), an annual holiday marking the end of slavery at the conclusion of the Civil War. On June 17, 2021, more than a century and a half since African Americans began celebrating Juneteenth, the U.S. government declared it a federal holiday.

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The U.S. Civil War: Its Place in History (III)

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This is part 3 of an essay Marxist scholar George Novack wrote in 1961, in the thick of the mass struggle to end Jim Crow segregation in the United States. World-Outlook is publishing it to mark the 160th anniversary of the start of the U.S. Civil War, and in celebration of Juneteenth (short for June 19th), an annual holiday commemorating the end of slavery at the conclusion of the Civil War.

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The U.S. Civil War: Its Place in History (II)

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This is part 2 of an essay Marxist scholar George Novack wrote in 1961, in the thick of the mass struggle to end Jim Crow segregation in the United States. World-Outlook is publishing it to mark the 160th anniversary of the start of the U.S. Civil War, and in celebration of Juneteenth (short for June 19th), an annual holiday commemorating the end of slavery at the conclusion of the Civil War.

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The U.S. Civil War: Its Place in History (I)

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This is part 1 of an essay Marxist scholar George Novack wrote in 1961, in the thick of the mass struggle to end Jim Crow segregation in the United States. World-Outlook is publishing it to mark the 160th anniversary of the start of the U.S. Civil War, and in celebration of Juneteenth (short for June 19th), an annual holiday commemorating the end of slavery at the conclusion of the Civil War.

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May 25 Actions: Justice 4 All! Prosecute the Police! Reopen All Past Cases of Cop Brutality!

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The trial of the police murder that shook the world was barely days old before the police killed another unarmed civilian just miles away from where George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police. While the verdict was being announced another civilian, 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant was killed in Columbus, OH. 13-year-old Adam Toledo of Chicago was killed while his hands were up, Andre Brown, Jr was killed by North Carolina police, and video has just emerged showing the brutal and fatal arrest of Ronald Greene in Louisiana. Every day across the United States, unabated, another civilian is killed by police.
Hundreds of impacted families are joining together to say enough! They are demanding that the police that have killed their loved ones be put in jail. They are demanding that all past cases of police brutality be reopened.

Derek Chauvin Verdict: One Down, Thousands to Go

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May 25, 2021—On the one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s brutal death at the hands of Minneapolis police, all opponents of cop violence and racism can rejoice in seeing Floyd’s executioner locked-up behind bars. We can celebrate the prospect of a long sentence awaiting former police officer Derek Chauvin. His conviction by a Minneapolis jury on April 20 was a victory for the mass movement against police brutality and racism that Floyd’s homicide sparked across the United States and around the world.

Stand Together Against Police Violence! March on Washington, Aug. 28

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This is the text of the call for a national march and rally in Washington, D.C. The action will take place on Sat., Aug. 28, 2021, from 11am to 7pm in the U.S. capital. Its demands include reopening all cases of police misconduct where justice has been denied and prosecution and jailing of guilty cops. Mass Action Against Police Brutality and other organizations issued the call, which has been endorsed as of May 2 by 245 members of families that have lost loved ones to police violence across the United States.

‘Justice for All Stolen Lives!’

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April 30, 2021—This is a partial but representative round-up of protests against police brutality and racism that took place in a number of U.S. cities on April 24. They were initiated by Mass Action Against Police Brutality in Boston and others and were largely led by members of families that have lost loved ones to police violence. Demands included prosecuting and jailing the guilty cops and re-opening all cases of police misconduct where justice has been denied. Similar actions will occur on May 25, the one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis police.

As George Floyd’s Killer Is Found Guilty of Murder, Protests Spread; New Actions Called for April 24

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April 20, 2021, 5pm EST—A Minneapolis jury just found former police officer Derek Chauvin guilty on all charges—second degree murder, third-degree murder, and manslaughter—in the brutal killing of George Floyd. Chauvin could face up to 40 years in prison.
Now, we need justice for ALL the families who have lost loved ones to police violence.

Families Victimized by Police Violence Unite, Call for Higher Charges for Daunte Wright’s Killer

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This article was first published on April 17, 2021, by the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder (MSR), the oldest Black-owned newspaper in the state of Minnesota. It is re-published here by permission.
Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old African-American man and father of a 2-year-old toddler, Daunte Jr., was shot and killed by police officer Kim Potter during an April 11 routine traffic stop in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, about 10 miles north of Minneapolis.

Protests Call for Conviction in George Floyd Case, Highlight Local Fights Against Cop Brutality; New Actions Called for April, May

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Mar. 23, 2021— Protests took place across the United States, leading up to the March 8 opening of the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, accused of killing George Floyd. Demonstrators demanded Chauvin’s conviction and used the attention focused on that case to highlight the many other ongoing fights against police brutality and racism across the country.

Washington State Families Speak Out Against Police Brutality, Demand ‘Justice for All!’

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On March 4, 2021, a live Facebook video event turned a spotlight on the stories and demands of families who have lost loved ones to police violence in Washington State. A total of 23 people speaking on behalf of 17 families shared the heart-wrenching truth about the ongoing plague of police murders with few if any criminal consequences. That video has been shared 175 times on Facebook. World-Outlook.com hopes to continue that process.

Prosecute and Jail Killer Cops! A Tale of Mis-leadership: Why ‘Black Lives Matter: Cincinnati’ Changed Its Name

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CINCINNATI, OHIO, Jan. 24, 2021—The political stance and demands put forward by the Black Lives Matter (BLM) national organization, following the Jan. 6, 2021, rightist assault on the U.S. Capitol, highlight why dozens of women and men in Cincinnati, Ohio, changed our organization’s name from Black Lives Matter: Cincinnati to Mass Action for Black Liberation in 2018.

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