Newsletter 10.22.19

Hi all,

Hope your fall is going well. Here is this week's newsletter. As always, thanks for the support!

-- Nima, Florence, Adam, and Marco 

-------

What’s at Stake in Chicago Teachers’ Strike: Whether Unions Can Bargain for the Entire Working Class, Rebecca Burns, In These Times (October 14, 2019)

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and media commenters have attacked the Chicago Teachers Union’s demands for more affordable housing. The demand for more affordable housing is a part of a strategy of “bargaining for the common good” where unions push for improvements on a wide array of issues to gain widespread support. This strategy was effective during the 2012 CTU strike and addresses how issues like housing are tied with education. 

On Indigenous People’s Day, Anishinaabeg Leaders March Against Enbridge’s $7.5 Billion Oil Pipeline, Amelia Diehl, In These Times (October 14, 2019)

More than 200 indigenous leaders protested a proposed pipeline In Northern Minnesota on Indigenous People’s Day. Leaders in the Anishinaabeg tribe fear that the pipeline could endanger sensitive ecosystems and an influx of construction workers could threaten indigenous women. 

Colleges Are Spreading Trump’s Disingenuous Notion of ‘Free Speech,’ P.E. Moskowitz, The Nation (October 16, 2019)

A recent arrest of protestors during a UCLA event where Steve Mnuchin spoke showed that colleges such as UCLA are willing to collaborate with police in silencing protests. These universities are applying the right-wing framework of suppressing protests for reasons supposedly about free speech.

Media Alarmed by Imaginary US Pullout From Syria, Gregory Shupak, FAIR (October 18, 2019)

The Trump administration has sent mixed signals about what its exact policy in Syria will be, but the media is unambiguously framing the administration’s policy as "withdrawal". The media is also framing a potential pullout as a victory for official enemies of the US all the while missing the real story which is that Trump's "ending wars" rhetoric is entirely baseless.    

WSJ, NYT Celebrate ‘Shale Revolution’ for Investor Class, Despite Its Leading to Our Doom, Joshua Cho, FAIR (October 16, 2019)

Both the conservative Wall Street Journal and ostensibly liberal New York Times have breathlessly reported on the US’ efforts to become the world’s leading oil producer despite the environmental threats of oil production. Both publications have published several stories focused on the economic opportunities for investors and minimize environmental concerns, if they are addressed at all.  

Imagining a World Without Prisons, Melissa Gira Grant, The New Republic (October 17, 2019)

The New York City Council’s vote to shut down Rikers Island may appear to be a victory for the prison reform movement, but the future of those detained in Rikers has created divisions among the movement. Groups like No New Jails NYC oppose all efforts to create new jails to house the prison population and believe in prison abolitionism while other organizations believe it is enough to simply make more humane prisons.   

What Canada Can Teach Us About Liberals Everywhere, Luke Savage, Current Affairs (October 16, 2019) 

American Democrats can list out a variety of excuses not to pursue more progressive policies: corporate influence, Republican obstruction and the timid American public. However, Canadian Liberals are not burdened by these concerns and the Liberal government has still governed from the center. The centrism of Canadian Liberals lays bare how liberalism can stifle and co-opt social change. 

“It’s Not About 30 Pesos, It’s About 30 Years,” Pablo Abufom, Jacobin (October 21, 2019)

The Chilean people broke out into mass protest last week in opposition to a proposed fare hike. The protests are the culmination of 30 years of post-dictatorship that saw the expansion of the neoliberal projects of the Pinochet regime. The right-wing government’s response has echoes of the repression the Pinochet regime was known for.  

A Federal Death Sentence Ignores The Opposition Of 'The Navajo People Who Value Life', Vaidya Gullapalli, The Appeal (October 18, 2019)

One of the five names given execution dates after Attorney General William Barr ordered a renewal of the federal death penalty is a Navajo man convicted of murder. The execution goes against Navajo opposition to the death penalty, including the wishes of the mother and daughter of the victims. The state has ignored tribal sovereignty to enact its regressive criminal justice policies.   

Atatiana Jefferson's Death Was A Failure Of Policing, Sarah Lustbader, The Appeal (October 18, 2019) 

The unlawful shooting of Atiana Jefferson by a Fort Worth police officer has been passed off as one bad apple forgoing his training at the wrong time. However, the Fort Worth Police Department’s history of excessive force and police shootings reveal that tragedies like the shooting of an unarmed black woman are part of a larger structural failure of policing.