VIDEO: Panel, “Shut It Down: Black Struggle, Class Struggle”

At the Left Forum this year, Left Voice organized three panels that raised key strategic questions for the left. This is the video of the panel, “Shut it down: Black struggle, class struggle.”

A Year After the Baltimore Uprising

During the last five years, a barrage of police killings and racist hate crimes—many caught on tape—spurred protests that claimed the slogan Black Lives Matter and crescendoed over the course of two years. Until these events broke out, the liberal hegemonic discourse insisted on the idea that we had achieved a post-racial society, especially with Obama's election. Oppressed people and Blacks in particular—with their daily encounters with systemic racism—could not afford the luxury of these illusions.

Police Cracks Down On Protesters: Photo Report

Photos: Martin Noda Thursday May 17 A new demonstration against Hollande’s Labor Reform took place. The Prefecture had banned scores of people (including a journalist) from attending the march. The police, in turn, ruthlessly cracked down protesters. The first step was frisking bags and seizing protection items such as helmets and masks. Even paramedics with […]

The authorities who beat up the youth are contemptible and weak

Here, Left Voice reproduces an appeal by a collective of more than three hundred activists, artists, and academics in France, denouncing police violence and authorities' abuses since the onset of the state of emergency.

Mad at the Government, but Not Progressive–Not Even Close

Since last Saturday, a group of armed white men who call themselves the Citizens for Constitutional Freedom has been occupying buildings in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. Despite their extremist rhetoric, being heavily “armed and ready,” and holding federal territory hostage, officials have handled the conflict with marked, uncharacteristic leniency. These gunmen actually present little threat to the ruling class and the political establishment, and are far from putting forward any “radical solution” to the underlying problems of economic stagnation and miserable conditions.

Milica Ružičić, artist engaged against police violence and with the struggles of the working class

In a general context of rising state repression and bonapartization of political regimes in Europe, we interviewed the Serbian visual artist and anarchist Milica Ružičić. In 2010, she dedicated a serial of paintings to denounce police violence around the world. Currently, she also teaches at the College of Fine and Applied Arts and is a singer in Cruellas, a band based in Belgrade, Serbia.

Left Voice Speaks with BLM-Minneapolis

Miski Noor is one of the founders of the Black Lives Matter-Minneapolis chapter, which has been at the forefront of protests that broke out when city police executed Jamar Clark in mid-November. An African immigrant and long-time Minneapolis resident, Noor speaks with Left Voice about the BLM values and vision for change, her group’s run-ins with police and elected officials, and next steps for the Minneapolis chapter.

We will continue to fight for your King Tamir

Alexis Toliver began organizing as a student at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. She is now co-lead organizer for BLM-Cambridge. Last November, Toliver spent time with Tamir Rice's family as they pushed for a special prosecutor. Here, she writes in memory of Tamir Rice and in response to yesterday's announcement that no charges would be filed against the police who killed Rice.

Left Voice on the Fight Against Police Brutality

This is a collection of articles by Left Voice writers and guest contributors on police brutality, Black Lives Matter, and the U.S. prison system. The fury, and dynamism of this past year's mobilizations have etched the faces and names of Sandra Bland, Freddie Gray, Tamir Rice, Walter Scott, Tyrone West, and many others into our memories. Often seen rallying under the slogan, "Black Lives Matter," this movement shows the initiative and participation of black youth, queer, and trans people, and other communities of color that are subjected to police repression and some of the worst economic conditions. The new organization of black youth in particular and the growing resistance against police brutality raises important questions for the left and revolutionaries.