The People's Forum: TxDOT to plow through Houston communities
Issue #7: PURP's Black Lives More than Matter march tomorrow, solidarity with antifascists in the Philippines, the eviction moratorium (finally), and individual mutual aid.
Community Updates
The People's Liberation Front is hosting a transformative justice workshop! Join us via Zoom, on Sep. 20, from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. Topics will include pod mapping, accountability, care networks, and everyday practices to prioritize consent. We're using this workshop to dedicate some space to an ongoing conversation about how to embody transformative justice in our own relationships, teams, networks, and families. Register via our Linktree. Flyer is coming soon!
Tomorrow, on Labor Day, the People's United Renaissance Party is concluding a weekend of Black Lives More than Matter demonstrations. TPLF is co-hosting the Menil Park segment of P.U.R.P.'s March to City Hall. Show up with us at 2:00pm!
[Image description: A flyer illustrates the plan for P.U.R.P.'s Labor Day demonstration. Imposed on shades of purple, the text reads, "Join us at one of these four locations as we march in sync to City Hall." Each march will begin in a public place and proceed from there to City Hall, as demonstrated by the flyer's central graphic. Four lavender circles, each bearing the name of one of the rally points, are connected by straight lines to a fifth circle, which represents City Hall. In the bottom right corner of the flyer, a QR code links to detailed visual maps of the routes. To its left is the weekend's slogan: Black Lives More than Matter.]
Tomorrow, September 7, is also Malaya's Global Day of Action Against the Killings of Human Rights Defenders.
[Image description: Poster for Malaya Texas's joint event for the Global Day of Action against the killings of human rights defenders in the Philippines. Sept. 7 along with various time zones listed relative to 8pm CST. Blue background, brown lettering and border with an image of a megaphone. Participating organizations include Stop the Attacks!, Defend Negros, Migrante Canada, and Malaya.]
Join the Malaya Movement on Zoom at 8pm CST to hear from activists in the U.S. and Canada as well as speakers from the Philippines, about the Defend Negros campaign.
We want to clarify that Negros Island is the fourth-largest island in the Philippines. It was given its name by Spanish colonizers, who perceived its aboriginal people to have black skin.
Speakers and performances will highlight the recent assassinations of Zara Alvarez and Ka Randy Echanis, and the persistent pattern and policy of the Duterte regime to vilify, threaten, and attack activist leaders and human rights defenders.
Learn how we can grow and build together to demand justice for these heroes and continue the fight against state fascism! Find out more here.
Get involved with Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Houston!
We have moved our work to an online format to continue our organizing during this pandemic; we are excited to share what we have in store for the semester.
Our officers will keep you updated through Facebook, Twitter, Discord, and even GroupMe. You can apply to join one of our four committees here. Applications are due September 17! Stay tuned for more from SJP this semester! Image description: dk how QR codes work or if they will transfer using screenshots.
Fightback is organizing an online Marxist University this fall!
[Image description: Several hands holding up copies of The Communist Manifesto, Lenin's State and Revolution, and Leon Trotsky's Fascism: What is it and how to fight it. Captions read: Prepare for Revolution. Marxist University. Sign up today!]
In order to fight, we must understand. As Lenin said, “without revolutionary theory there can be no revolutionary movement.” We must study Marxist theory, revolutionary history and apply the lessons to the movements today.
The university will take the form of a series of online events using Zoom throughout September-October. We will have events in English, French and a series of events at times to accommodate people in the west of the country.
We appeal to all revolutionary workers and youth who wish to educate themselves in the ideas of revolutionary Marxism to register and participate in the online Marxist University! Tap in here.
Calling all Spanish-language writers! As we work to improve the quality of The People's Forum, we realize our team is only creating monolingual English content. If you're interested in working with us to make our writing more accessible, email tplfcontact@protonmail.com! We'd love writers to create original work in any language, especially Spanish. We are also looking specifically for a team interested in devoting time to translating content that's originally written in English.
News Around the Nation
The CDC has announced a long-overdue eviction moratorium until the end of the year.
Any renter making less than $90,000 a year and who has made every effort to pay their rent is protected under the new provision. [NPR] This comes after many cities, though notably, not Houston, have made similar moves to protect tenants in the wake of pandemic and economic crisis. Although the move is a victory for the entire working class, it comes with a few caveats. First, tenants, no matter how destitute, will still have to pay rent. All back rent will be due on January 1, 2021, which means we'll likely start the new years with millions forced onto the streets. Hopefully, this decision will show that housing is a human right, now more than ever, and that society can function without landlords leeching every cent out of the working class with the threat of homelessness. This bilingual post by Mutual Aid Houston explains how to apply for protection under the moratorium.
The Texas Workforce Commission is stumbling through a failing infrastructure, and as a result people aren't able to collect their relief checks.
At the start of the pandemic, TWC was looking to replace its decades-old tech (mainframe computers and a robocall system). Now, over 2,600 calls are abandoned every day as people try to make contact or file claims. Since mid-march, the agency has seen more unemployment claims than it usually does in 6 years. Hundreds of thousands of those Texans are still waiting on responses, and further hundreds of thousands have been denied. [Texas Observer]
Houston is on track to see a disastrous construction project to expand I-45.
TxDOT, the Texas Department of Transportation, has been laying the groundwork for the project for almost 20 years, and is gearing up to get started as soon as next year. Commuting to downtown will become easier than ever, while the collateral damage falls on Third Ward, Fifth Ward, Near Northside, and Independence Heights. These Black and brown neighborhoods have already lost land and jobs to freeway expansions. [Houston Chronicle] Public housing developments wil be bulldozed, over a thousand homes will fall prey to imminent domain, and 300 businesses will be displaced. With more concrete and higher traffic come flooding and air quality, particularly for nearby schools. Neighborhoods near the highway already experience higher rates of asthma due to local emissions. Residents in the affected area are disproportionately Black and brown, and those not displaced by the project will be at heightened risk of flooding, chronic respiratory problems, and job loss as businesses are forced to relocate or shut down, jeopardizing 24,000 local jobs. [Houston Chronicle]
Our comrades with Stop TxDOT I-45 took action last week!
A team of activists disruptively protested at the corner of Polk and St. Emanuel, an area to be impacted by the highway expansion. [Houston Chronicle] Check out their tactics as an example of responsible and visually effective protest culture.
[Image description: Demonstrators dressed in all-red take up space at the crosswalk. One in the foreground wears a construction helmet and holds a sign. Three others, in the background, stand at the sidewalk and hold a six-foot-tall banner, in red lettering, which reads "NO I-45." They've put lawn signs along the street to convey their message to drivers. Photo credit: Mark Mulligan, Houston Chronicle staff photographer.]
The Duterte regime continues to suppress our comrades by “red-tagging” them, designating them as communist terrorists
On May 29, 2020, a recently formed government task force of the Philippines called the National Task Force to End Local Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) released red scare propaganda. The Task Force name-dropped the Malaya Movement organization, along with allied organizations Bayan and Migrante, red-tagging them as a “communist front.” The composition of the NTF-ELCAC, formed through Executive Order No. 70 and headed by President Duterte, shows how civilian agencies are being mobilized for counterinsurgency operations. According to the National Security Council of the Philippines, EO70 was created “to synchronize the utilization of the government's instrumentalities of power with the capabilities of private sector stakeholders to finally end the 50-year long deceit, lies and atrocities committed by the communist terrorists against the people.” Unfortunately, this operation does not prevent terrorism. Instead, it justifies the harassment, arrest and assassination of movement leaders, protesters, and journalists who criticize the Duterte regime and the rise of fascism in the Philippines. Malaya has been transparent in their focus of defending and standing for democracy. Support the Philippine Human Rights Act and urge Congress to end US military aid in the Philippines by signing the petition here.
Open Your Purse
Josue Hart, a fellow Texas-based creator, is requesting aid to afford gender-reassignment surgery. You can donate to their gofundme here.
Help get Dany out of ICE detention center. Dany was illegaly picked up by ICE and is now being held in a detention center. Donate here to help him afford bond and ongoing legal proceedings.
Help a comrade afford rent after their disabled partner was wrongfully fired. Help via Cashapp ($thefoolincarnate), Venmo (@Asher-Ren), or on Paypal. A transcribed screenshot of their post is included below, and you can find more info here.
[Tumblr transcript: TLDR: I need $1,200 to pay rent because my disabled partner got wrongly fired I know everyone has fallen on hard times due to covid and I wouldn’t be doing this unless I had no other option but I really need some help right now. I work part time and my partner is normally the breadwinner but he recently got fired due to factors outside his control. We are in the process of consulting the state to try and get his paycheck and prove that him being fired is in violation of the ADA, but my rent and insurance is past due and the legal process will take too long. We will be evicted without even a car to live in (because that part of the legal process works so quickly) before we see the money for the hours he worked. My cash app is $thefoolincarnate any donations are greatly appreciated, thank you all]
Revolutionary Recs
Read Amal Ahmed's article about the struggle against environmentally racist dumping in Marsha Jackson's Dallas neighborhood. Jackson has watched as Blue Star Recycling created a toxic garbage heap known as Shingle Mountain, right nextdoor to her house. [Texas Observer]
In 1997, freedom fighter Assata Shakur was scheduled to interview for a biographical documentary in Cuba when her mother died unexpectedly. She and director Gloria Rolando chose to go forward with the planned interview, which became part of Assata Shakur: Eyes of the Rainbow. In it, Assata Shakur talks about political repression, her mother and maternal heritage, and her experience as a political asylum-seeker in Cuba. The film is available on YouTube and United Black Books, both for free. It's trippy as hell! Hazy and color-saturated B-roll footage is superimposed onto performances by African and Afro-Cuban vocal ensembles and dance troupes.
[Image description: A poster for the film Assata Shakur: Eyes of the Rainbow. Saturated with reds and oranges, the poster features an image of Shakur speaking to someone beyond the edge of the image. In the background is the now-famous photo of a 20-something-year-old Shakur looking warily over her shoulder. The second image is the same one selected for the cover of Shakur's autobiography. Beside the two portraits is a quote from Shakur: "I believe in the fire of love and the sweat of truth."]
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