Driving the strike forwards: bus strike picket line round-up
Lois JC writes: 27,000 bus drivers in London are on a 24 hour strike today over pay differences across 18 companies. Operating under the slogan “One fare for passengers, one rate for drivers!”. The last strike by drivers showed their power when in 2012 they won a bonus for driving during the Olympics, but this time there is a […]
I have been very quiet online since the attack on the Charlie Hebdo offices and here’s why
Sadia Jabeen discusses the experiences of being Muslim in the face of rising Islamophobia following terrorist attacks. It was originally published on Make Tea & Cake, Not War. As events unfolded on Wednesday I felt a real sense of dread. I haven’t felt like this since just over 13 years ago, on September 11th 2001, and […]
Stop the buses to win!
Tomorrow 27,000 bus workers in London will be on strike to try and sort out the mess that is their pay scales. Show your solidarity with the striking workers by visiting one of the picket lines at bus garages around London – find the nearest one to you on this handy google map. rs21 has […]
The bitter fruits of racism and imperialism
We comment on the recent attack on Charlie Hebdo. The attack at the offices of Charlie Hebdo is something no one can justify. But, if we don’t understand the roots of these events, we risk being pulled ever further into a spiral of increasing violence. Let’s not forget, then, that within France, racism against Muslims […]
City Link: UKIP donor Jon Moulton shows his contempt for workers’ rights
City Link boss and UKIP supporter Jon Moulton sacked 2,727 of his workers on Christmas day. Brian Parkin looks at how UKIP wants to attack the rights of working people. This piece was originally published in Northern Star – email rs21leeds@gmail.com for more details. UKIP have risen to prominence on their anti-EU stance through which they have made […]
Review: United We Stand
James B reviews United We Stand, a new play currently touring with Townsend Productions, which tells the story of Des Warren and Ricky Tomlinson, the 1972 construction strike and the Shrewsbury Pickets Casualisation, self-employment and agency work are all features of many people’s working lives today. In the summer of 1972 similar conditions were rife in the […]
Above the law: VIP abuse and the playboy prince
Over the last week allegations of sexual abuse by Prince Andrew have surfaced. Estelle Cooch discusses how, when it comes to VIP abusers, everyone seems to know, but nothing is done. Few could have predicted the whirlwind of abuse allegations that would follow when those against Jimmy Savile started to surface in October 2012. […]
Leelah Alcorn vigil mourns death, vows to fight for change
The death of Leelah Alcorn has led to protests against the oppression of trans people. Neil Rogall reports from a vigil in Trafalgar Square. Up to 200 mainly young people attended a vigil on the afternoon of Saturday 3 January for seventeen-year-old Leelah Alcorn, a young woman from Ohio who died on 28 December after […]
Understanding Podemos: “common sense” policy
In the final part of his analysis of Podemos, Luke Stobart examines the group’s response to Spain’s social crisis. This is the third part of a series exploring the rise of Podemos, originally published on the Australian Left Flank website. The first part looked at how the new organisations drew on the inspiration and power of […]
School staff could lose jobs because of crimes committed by others
Misjudged government attempts to protect children from sexual abuse will have disastrous implications for teachers and other workers, writes Andrew Stone. Imagine a state where it is legal for you to lose your job and career due to a crime committed by someone else. It might be a partner, a relative or a housemate, and you might […]
‘Shoot As Well As Cook’: the Black Panther Party, sexism and the struggle today
We need to remember the contributions of black women to past struggles if we’re to take forward the fight for justice today, writes Shanice McBean.
Video game review: This War of Mine
William Cleary reviews a game depicting war from the point of view of civilians caught in the crossfire. Some parts of this review could be considered spoilers. There are events and periods of time that happen in every playthrough, but since so much is determined by your choices, it is not especially narrative driven. As such none […]
East London bus strike: city-wide strikes to come
Roderick C and James B report from today’s bus strike at Tower Transit in East London. Today’s strike at Tower Transit bus company is a precursor to the likely London-wide action over pay disparities between the 17 separate companies that make up London’s bus service. It highlights the inequality and inefficiency of the service, whereby […]
The roots of American racism 4: state racism and the new black resistance
In the last of four articles, Bill Crane looks at “colourblind” racism and mass incarceration since the Civil Rights movement – and how they have contributed to the police racism and violence that has sparked the current protest movement. So far this series has described how racism has existed as part of the United States from its […]
Germany 1918-23: A forgotten history of revolution
Joe Sabatini reviews a collection of articles about how the German Communist Party organised in the early 1920s – only a few years after revolution had swept through Germany – and translates two of the pieces. Best of KPD: Linke Organisierung Damals Und Heute – in English Left Organisation Then and Now – is a […]
LGBT rights under Protestant siege in South Korea
LGBT activists staged an occupation at Seoul City Hall in early December in defence of anti-discrimination laws – and faced opposition from Evangelical Christians, writes Se-Woong Koo. In one corner of Seoul City Hall, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual (LGBT) rights activists and their supporters stormed the escalator to the mayor’s office, demanding protection from discrimination. […]
The roots of American racism 3: Civil war to civil rights
In the third of four articles, Bill Crane examines the origins of racism in the United States. Here he looks at how the racist segregation of Jim Crow was implemented in the 1890s and then abolished by the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 60s. In the second article in this series on the origins of American racism, we […]
Here to Stay, Here to Fight – Home Office protest for Migrants’ Rights Day
International Migrants’ Day on Thursday 18 December happened only two days after G4S guards were acquitted of the murder of Jimmy Mubenga. Sophie Williams of DocsNotCops reports from a protest outside the Home Office. This year’s Migrants Right’s Day saw scores of demonstrators take to the streets outside the Home Office. Called by NUS International […]
The spectre of social unrest is haunting Putin’s Russia
The Russian economy is in serious trouble. Gabriel Levy analyses the roots of the problem and what this means for ordinary Russians, Ukrainians, and the rest of us. This article was originally posted on the People and Nature blog. On Russia’s “Black Tuesday” this week (16 December), the Central Bank tried to stop the rouble’s […]
The roots of American racism 2: The Civil War and after sees racism undermined, then reimposed
In the second part of a four-part series, Bill Crane examines the origins of racism in the United States. Here he looks at how in the Civil War of the 1860s and the Reconstruction which followed it racism was fundamentally weakened and then restored. In the US, racism operates in a way that is fundamentally […]
“All you people are watching them kill me”
Jimmy Mubenga was killed as he was forcibly deported from the UK in 2010. The guards who were found guilty of unlawful killing at the inquest have now been cleared of manslaughter at the Old Bailey.
The roots of American racism
Why is America so racist? In the first of four articles, American socialist Bill Crane explains how today’s struggles around Ferguson and police racism have their roots in a history of slavery and dispossession. It’s often difficult for me, as an American socialist, to explain many things about my homeland to comrades and friends in […]
On the march against police racism and violence: report from California
Protests against police violence and racism have continued all week in America, with the biggest marches on Saturday. rs21 member Amy Gilligan reports from California. Tens of thousands of people in cities across the US took to the streets on Saturday afternoon as part of continuing protests against police killings and racism. Organisers estimated around 60,000 participated in […]
Jim Murphy’s election: a view from inside the Labour Party
The pro-independence left have written off the Scottish Labour Party, writes Jim Monaghan – but polling figures for left of Labour parties are tiny, and we need unity to fight austerity and war. The election of Jim Murphy as Scottish Labour leader will have a profound effect on Scotland’s current fluid political landscape. From optimistic […]
Jim Murphy’s election: a death sentence for Scottish Labour?
Jim Murphy is the new leader of the Scottish Labour Party. That he was even a candidate for the job, writes Pete Cannell, shows how little the Labour Party understood what was happening in Scotland during the referendum campaign. The final months of the referendum campaign were a festival of democratic participation. The objective was […]
Review: (Still) The Enemy Within
Just out on DVD, (Still) The Enemy Within is an ideal Chirstmas gift, one that offers us a glimpse at the past but also suggests lessons to be learned for the future, says Jonny Jones. (Still) The Enemy Within is available on DVD or as a download from the official website (Still) The Enemy Within […]
Review: Orange is the New Black
With Christmas fast approaching, Shanice McBean looks at the politics behind an obvious stocking filler: Orange is the New Black. Orange is the New Black (OITNB) follows the story of main protagonist Piper Chapman as her past in drug smuggling delivers a 15 month prison sentence onto the doorstep of her seemingly pristine, all American lifestyle. […]
The roots of Israeli apartheid
What does it mean to say that Israel is an apartheid state? Sølvi Goard unpacks a history of vicious segregation and ethnic cleansing
“The United States of America is awesome”
A report on the CIA’s use of torture between 2001 and 2006 was released on December 9, after five years of investigation, $40 million and heavy redactions. Cc. image courtesy of The U.S Army In an act of confession, the government of the United States has released a 500-page report describing torture carried out by the […]
Westfield protest – part of a growing movement
Last night’s protest at London’s Westfield shopping centre was part of a movement against police racism and violence that’s growing internationally, reports Peter Norman. In solidarity with the growing anti-racist movement developing in the USA, a die-in was held for Eric Garner last night in West London, organized by London Black Revs, the NUS […]