Author: icsswpadmin

Eye-Witness Report on the Donbas Region and Russia – John Parker – July 3, 2022 10:30 AM Pacific Time

Our speaker, John Parker began his trip to the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine on April 27 as part of a fact-finding mission organized by Struggle-La Lucha newspaper in the U.S. to gather eyewitness observations and testimony of Lugansk residents. He also visited Russia, where he conducted interviews and was present at the May 9 Victory Day parade, commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany and honoring the 27 million Soviet people who died fighting fascism.

John Parker was a candidate for U.S. Senate in the June 7th election. He recently returned from Russia and the Donbas region on a fact-finding mission and to expose U.S.-NATO war aims and alliances in the region. He is the Coordinator of the Harriet Tubman Center for Social Justice and on the Organizing Committee of the Socialist Unity Party.

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More Than a Wall: What is the Reality of the Mexico/U.S. Border? – David Bacon – June 26, 2022 10:30 AM Pacific Time

Often we only see the border from the U.S. side, despite the fact that many more people live in the border region south of the wall than north of it.  Despite the media’s fascination with the wall, people live their lives and organize vibrant social movements that are virtually invisible in the U.S. Yet they have a direct impact. From winter strawberries to flat panel televisions, people north of the border consume what’s produced just a few miles south of it.  This presentation, with photographs, will probe more deeply into the lives of the people of the border itself, rather than simply see it as a wall, or a place people try to cross to enter the United States. It will pay particular attention to the rich history of the social movements in border communities, challenging often oppressive conditions.  The presentation is based on the new book, More Than a Wall / Mas que un muro, a book of photographs and oral histories created during 30 years of covering the people and social movements of the Mexico/U.S. border.  

Speaker: David Bacon,   a photojournalist, author, political activist, and union organizer who has focused on labor issues, particularly those related to immigrant labor. He has written several books and numerous articles on the subject.

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Roe v. Wade – Rosa Astra – Sunday, June 19, 2022 10:30 AM Pacific Time

Roe v. Wade to be abolished?

That’s the intent of the pending Supreme Court decision, a draft copy of which has already been leaked to the media. This will be a human rights disaster for women. On May 11,2022  the U.S. Senate voted down the Women’s Health Protection Act 49 to 51. The WHPA would have made abortion legal, eliminating the role of the Supreme Court on the issue of abortion and nullifying the pending Supreme Court decision,  How do we fight back against this grossly undemocratic decision? We certainly can’t trust the Democratic Party leadership,

Speaker: Rosa Astra, an Oakland-based militant journalist, community organizer, and activist with the ANSWER coalition.

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The Farm Crisis in the United States and India – Bedabrata Pain – Sunday, July 23 2023 – 10:30 AM Pacific Time

The left in India is woefully silent on this movement and has not even summarized the significance of the movement, let alone learn anything from it. The left in US today remains fairly unconcerned about the enduring farm crisis in the country. But should it remain aloof from it?

This talk is to raise questions what we need to do or do differently to seize the initiative in today’s world.

Speaker: Bedabrata Pain

Making the documentary on farm crisis – both in the US and India, as well as being on the ground of the historic Indian farm movement that forced the right-wing strongman prime minister Narendra Modi to retreat for the first time in his political life, cannot but make one wonder about what must be done differently in our political engagement. After summarizing the Indian movement and the American farm experience, the talk will dwell on the lessons of the farm movement in India and market reforms in both countries. And in doing so, it will try to assess the role played by the left.

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NATO’s ‘Useful Idiots’: How the Left’s mislabeling of the Russian military operation in Ukraine aids Western imperialism – Max Parry – Sunday, June 5 2022 – 10:30 AM Pacific Time

Spanning nearly the entirety of the Western left in its inadequate response to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, organizations ranging from the U.S.-based Democratic Socialists of America to the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) have all mistakenly branded the Russian special military operation in Ukraine as an “invasion” and the proxy war between Washington and Moscow as an “inter-imperial” conflict. American journalist and political analyst Max Parry explains how this misinterpretation only serves US-NATO imperialism, even when they claim to denounce the latter.

Max Parry is an independent journalist and geopolitical analyst based in New York City. His writing has appeared widely in alternative media and his latest work on Ukraine is featured in Covert Action Magazine. He also frequently features as a political commentator in Sputnik News and Press TV. Max can be reached at maxrparry at live.com

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