African-Americans have historically played a trailblazing role in the quest for justice, equality, and freedom in the United States and internationally. Let’s examine the roots of Black History Month and our struggle today.

People of color account for 43% of total executions since 1976 and 55% of those currently awaiting execution. The vast majority of those executed were poor. About 90% could not afford a lawyer when they went to trial. They had to rely upon a court-appointed lawyer. This clearly shows the role class and racial oppression play in capitalist America.

After the historic Georgia state prisoners’ strike last December, the prisoners of the GDCP in Jackson are facing daily brutality from the prison authority and the guards.

“The roots of economic injustice are in the system rather than in men or faulty operations.” -Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Within Georgia lies the largest prison industry in America, known as the “Georgia Correctional Industries” (GCI). Inmates throughout the state of Georgia work 10- to 12-hour shifts, all for free! We make everything ranging from office desks to boots to Snickers candies and prescription glasses plus road signs - county, state and federal - and countless other products.

Right-wing extremist Anders Behring Brevik’s massacre of young people at the camping island of Utøya, outside Norway’s capital, Oslo, shocked and horrified people everywhere. Today, shock and grief dominates Norway. Many questions remain unanswered. What is behind right-wing terrorism? How should the workers’ movement and socialists respond?

Book Review Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention By Manning Marable May 19 marked the 86th birthday of Malcolm X; it has been 46 years since his public assassination. In the hearts and minds of workers particularly black workers, the poor, and youth across the world, Malcolm X remains an icon of revolutionary spirit and commitment to justice, freedom, and liberty for the most oppressed people in the world. Malcolm exposed the racism, white supremacy, and its tragic effects on people of African descent throughout the United States and Diaspora.

Rising poverty caused by global competition between corporations forces thousands of people to flee their homelands and immigrate to the U.S. every year. These people leave their loved ones behind, as well as their culture and language, to be able to feed their families.

In growing signs of an economic slowdown, only 54,000 jobs were added in May, down from a revised figure of 232,000 in April. Thousands of jobs were lost in local government, manufacturing and retail, with many experts nervous about a possible double dip in the economy. The famous quote by capitalist economists, “A rising tide lifts all boats,” has been Obama’s response to demands for targeted federal programs to address high unemployment in the black community. This false policy has left youth and people of color drowning in debt, low wages and joblessness without a boat.

American Indian activist Leonard Peltier is a political prisoner of the United States. In 1977 he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences for his alleged involvement in a shootout that resulted in the death of two FBI officers as well as a member of the American Indian Movement (AIM). The evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that Peltier is innocent and was targeted for prosecution by the FBI and law enforcement due to his involvement in AIM and his unrelenting commitment to the defense of Native Nations and the environment. In 2003 the tenth circuit court found that, "Much of the government's behavior at the Pine Ridge Reservation and in its prosecution of Mr. Peltier is to be condemned. The government withheld evidence. It intimidated witnesses. These facts are not disputed." Nonetheless, Peltier remains behind bars. Join us in Tacoma on May 21st to show solidarity and demand Leonard Peltier be released from prison now!

On May first, Socialist Alternative handed out thousands of statements in English and Spanish while selling hundreds of copies of Justice newspaper. See some of the reports below.

Los trabajadores están bajo ataque. Se están quitando los derechos de negociación del convenio de los sindicatos a partida que se están aterrorizando a los inmigrantes con las redadas y deportaciones. Los políticos de ambos partidos están recortando los presupuestos mientras que hacen la guerra y dan limosnas a los grandes bancos y multimillonarios corporativos que ayudaron a crear esta crisis económica en primer lugar.

“I’m one of your middle class Americans. And quite frankly, I’m exhausted. Exhausted of defending you, defending your administration, defending the mantle of change that I voted for and deeply disappointed with where we are right now…” --Velma Hart, a supporter of President Obama speaking at a Washington DC town hall meeting, September 20, 2010

On August 28, the right-wing populist Tea Party Movement, an assortment of conservative organizations, and Fox News commentator Glenn Beck will descend on Washington, D.C. for the so-called “Restoring the Honor” rally. For the black freedom movement, August 28 marks the 47th anniversary of the great March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and Dr. King’s oratorical benchmark “I Have a Dream” speech. The selection of this day by the Tea Party Movement and Glenn Beck is blatantly intended to tarnish the memory of that historic day when the Civil Rights Movement marched to demand that President Kennedy and Congress end Jim Crow in the South and extend full citizenship rights to African-Americans.

According to President Obama, America has come “90 percent of the way” towards ending racism. This statement, however, is violently contradicted by the brutal police killing of Oscar Grant, a young black man, by a police officer in Oakland, CA on New Years Day. The case provoked angry demonstrations in Oakland after the police officer was recently found guilty of involuntary manslaughter—by a jury without a single black member. This drives another nail in the coffin of the idea about the “end of racism” that Obama holds so dear.