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Featured Column

Is COVID over when thousands still die?

March 21, 2023
Efforts to declare an end to the COVID pandemic are part of a drive to return to a pretended normal, to keep anything fundamental from...
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Editorial

Editorial: Earthquake deaths are not a natural disaster

March 17, 2023
Twin earthquakes on Feb. 6 decimated a vast area of Turkey and Syria. They produced a catastrophe with human tragedies over hundreds of square miles....
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Page 1
Propping up fascists
To avoid Russia’s outright defeat in its brutal war against Ukrainians, the alliance of nations–Russia, Iran, and China, now with North Korea–that for 12 years has united to suppress the Syrian Revolution for freedom and dignity seems to be firming up again.

Page 2
Review: ‘Policing the Womb: Invisible Women’
Adele reviews “Policing the Womb: Invisible Women and the Criminalization of Motherhood,” by Michele Goodwin, Goodwin describes the increasing wave of legislation regulating pregnancy and criminalizing miscarriages, stillbirths and supposed “endangerment” of the fetus.
Women Worldwide: March-April 2023
The U.S. Youth Risk Behavior Survey of 17,000 high school students revealed “America’s teen girls are engulfed in a growing wave of sadness, violence, and trauma”; women and girls in Iran are revolting against the regime by uncovering their hair and throwing out hijab; and the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team and the Canadian Women’s National Soccer Team turned their match into a labor solidarity action.
Electra in Mexico strikes back
Like Electra, the character from the Greek tragedy, my mother, the first born and only daughter of my grandmother and grandfather, struck back. She acquired legal custody of my grandmother to protect her from my so-called “uncles,” who have patronized my mother until this point. Now they are “dazed and confused.”

Page 3
Teachers Union on ballot in mayoral race
The race for mayor of Chicago is now between Brandon Johnson, a teacher endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), and Paul Vallas, a former boss of the Chicago Public Schools who trashes the CTU at every opportunity. The runoff election on April 4 will be in part a referendum on rank-and-file unionism.
Voices from the Inside Out: Prisoners against slavery and for compassion
Two prisoners speak for themselves, one on the lack of respect for Black lives on the streets and in prison; the other on how prisoners at Georgia’s Forest Hays Jr. State Prison are deprived of justice.

Page 6
Readers’ Views: March-April 2023, Part One
Readers’ Views on: This Society’s Ingrained Violence; After the Murder of Tyre Nichols; Women and Girls Face Oppression; Church Sexism and Hypocrisy; Fundamentalism vs. Women; Call to Action; Censorship Here and Now; Brexit Catastrophe; China’s Workers and U.S.; Iran Revolt Continues; Azadkar, In Memoriam

Page 7
Readers’ Views: March-April 2023, Part Two
Readers’ Views on: Ukrainian Self-Determination and the Idea of Freedom; N&L for the Study Group; Sharing the Paper; Climate Movements vs. Summits; Unsanitary Prison Conditions; Prison Exploitation; Voices from behind Bars

Page 8
Resistance in Burma
A Burmese woman activist speaks about the war against civilians by the Tatmadaw and the need for solidarity.
Stop tax handouts to Detroit developers
On Feb. 14, 2023, a small but vigorous demonstration in front of Cass Technical High School called by the Detroit People’s Platform protested tax increment financing (TIF) for downtown development projects, which flourish while tax-funded public libraries and schools struggle to make ends meet.
Handicap This!: March-April 2023
People with disabilities protest UK anti-protest law; Senegal woman with disabilities works to ensure access for disabled children; Saskatchewan people with disabilities demand better access and benefits.
LAPD training death
Comrade Easley reports that an LAPD cop was murdered by fellow officers after submitting reports from a woman who claimed four officers raped her.

Page 9
Boycott ‘Rage Against the War Machine’
News and Letters Committees is one of many signatories to this statement. More such events are sure to be held, and it is vital to be aware of their reactionary “red-brown” nature.
Prisoners need their mail
States are replacing personal mail with digital scans or copies, violating rights and undermining rehabilitation.

Page 11
Youth in Action: March-April 2023
Students from 47 schools in Iowa walk out of class on March 1 to protest “Don’t Say Gay” bills; state legislatures are rolling back child labor laws; Scottish youth protest cuts to a youth assistance and engagement program.
Queer Notes: March-April 2023
A Lesbian mother in Mexico was reunited with her young children thanks to Lesbian Mothers in Mexico and All Out; about 50 high school students of the Wyoming Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) met with state legislators on the GSA’s biannual Civics Day; and in Tunisia, NGOs circulated a petition demanding freedom for a Trans woman and Trans man sentenced to prison for suspicion of taking part in an LGBTQ+ event.

Page 12
World in View: El Salvador youth gulag
With the world’s highest incarceration rate, El Salvador is rounding up young men by the thousands and throwing them into its gigantic new prison with shocking inhumanity.
World in View: ‘We are all Africans!’ vs. Tunisia state racism
Tunisia’s President Saied demonized Black immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa as the latest move in his authoritarian takeover.
World in View: ‘Peace’ rallies spurn Ukrainian freedom
While tens of thousands across the globe marked the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with support rallies for Ukraine’s fight for self-determination, there were a few disturbing “anti-war” rallies bringing together far-right with Left groups calling for an end to supplying arms to Ukraine.