Concerned Families of Westchester Newsletter
January 2, 2022
Hello All – Certainly it is a relief to say "good-bye" to 2021. But I feel that the year 2022 will severely stress the forces in the USA that are intent on preserving what democracy we now have. We need not rehearse the several major crises that are developing – the pandemic, the climate crisis, the many threats of war – to simply observe that we will have our work cut out for us in the coming year. To those who have been toiling in the vineyards of peace and justice, we say "thank you!" To those who have sympathized with this necessary work, but haven't found the time or "right cause" to join the struggle, we say: We Need You Now!
It has become increasingly common to hear the political crisis in the USA referred to as the coming of "fascism," or "authoritarian neo-liberalism," or something similar, indicating that we are entering new territory. I think we all sense this. No matter how we label the forces of reaction we are facing, I think it is vital to recall that those who fought fascism in the 1930s did so with concepts such as "popular front" and "united front." In Concerned Families of Westchester, we are organizing our work for justice and against war under the rubric of "Demand Democracy!" Many other formulations can also express the determination to unite a broad swathe of the 99 percent in defense of the common good. Right now I think the point is to reach out, connect, and organize.
At the CFOW (Zoom) New Year's party last Friday, I had a chance to express my gratitude towards the dozens of stalwarts past and present who have collaborated over the past 20 years in working for peace and justice. More than a succession of "good deeds," CFOW has provided a home for activists and dissenters. We have lots of room for others who may be looking for such a home. If this is true of you, please join us!
Some reading on "Is it fascism yet?"
America is now in fascism's legal phase
By Jason Stanley, The Guardian [UK] [December 22, 2021]
---- "Let us be reminded that before there is a final solution, there must be a first solution, a second one, even a third. The move toward a final solution is not a jump. It takes one step, then another, then another." So began Toni Morrison's 1995 address to Howard University, entitled Racism and Fascism, which delineated 10 step-by-step procedures to carry a society from first to last. Morrison's interest was not in fascist demagogues or fascist regimes. It was rather in "forces interested in fascist solutions to national problems". The procedures she described were methods to normalize such solutions, to "construct an internal enemy", isolate, demonize and criminalize it and sympathizers to its ideology and their allies, and, using the media, provide the illusion of power and influence to one's supporters. Morrison saw, in the history of US racism, fascist practices – ones that could enable a fascist social and political movement in the United States. [Read More]
(Video) Noam Chomsky on Rising Fascism in U.S., Class Warfare & the Climate Emergency [December 30, 2021]
---- As far as fascism is concerned, there are some analysts, very astute and knowledgeable ones, who say we're actually moving towards actual fascism. My own feeling is, I would prefer to call it a kind of proto-fascism, where many of the symptoms of fascism are quite apparent — resort to violence, the belief that violence is necessary. A large part of the Republican Party, I think maybe 30 or 40%, say that violence may be necessary to save our country from the people who are trying to destroy it, the Democrat villains who are doing all these hideous things that are fed into their ears. And we see it in armed militias. …They were trying to carry out a coup to undermine an elected government — it's called a coup — and came unfortunately close." [See the Program]
CFOW Nuts & Bolts
Please consider getting involved with Concerned Families of Westchester. We meet for a protest/rally each Saturday in Hastings, at 12 noon at the VFW Plaza (Warburton and Spring St.) A "Black Lives Matter/Say Their Names" vigil will be held on Monday from 5:30 to 6:00 pm in Yonkers at the intersection of Warburton Ave. and Odell. (In January, and February, vigils will be held on the first Monday.) If you would like to join one of our Zoom meetings, each Tuesday and Thursday at noon, please send a return email. Our newsletter is archived at https://cfow.blogspot.com/; and news of interest and coming events is posted on our CFOW Facebook page. If you would like to support our work by making a contribution, please send your check to CFOW, PO Box 364, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY 10706. Thanks!
Rewards!
Like so much of this Newsletter, this week's Rewards for stalwart readers are taken from the daily news program Democracy Now!, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary (see below). Among many other good things, Democracy Now! spotlights musician/activists whose art blends with the important causes of the day/history. This week we heard Patti Smith with her song "The People Have the Power"; and Mexican singer Lila Downs performing "Clandestino." Enjoy!
Best wishes,
Frank Brodhead
For CFOW
CFOW Weekly Reader
Yes, There Were 10 Good Things About 2021
By Medea Benjamin, Code Pink [December 29, 2021]
---- This year, 2021, began with a huge sense of relief as Trump left office. We hoped to emerge from the ravages of COVID, pass a hefty Build Back Better (BBB) bill, and make significant cuts to the Pentagon budget. But, alas, we faced a January 6 white nationalist insurrection, two new COVID mutations, a sliced-and-diced BBB bill that didn't pass, and a Pentagon budget that actually INCREASED! It was, indeed, a disastrous year, but we do have some reasons to cheer:
*** 1. The U.S. survived its first major coup plot on January 6 and key right-wing groups are on the wane. With participants in the insurrection being charged and some facing significant jail time, new efforts to mobilize–including September's "Justice for J6" rally–fizzled. As for Trump, let's remember that in early 2021, he was impeached again, he lost his main mouthpiece, Twitter, and his attempt to build a rival social media service seems to have stalled. QAnon is in decline—its major hashtags have evaporated and Twitter shut down some 70,000 Q accounts. We may still see a resurgence (including another Trump attempt to take the White House), but so far the insurrection seems to have peaked and is being rolled back. [And 9 more good things.] [Read More]
(Video) Arundhati Roy on the Media, Vaccine Inequity, Authoritarianism in India & Challenging U.S. Wars
From Democracy Now! [December 29, 2021]
---- We go to New Delhi, India, to speak with acclaimed Indian author and activist Arundhati Roy about the pandemic, U.S. militarism and the state of journalism. Roy first appeared on Democracy Now! after receiving widespread backlash for speaking out against the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. At the time, her emphatic antiwar stance clashed with the rising tides of patriotism and calls for war after 9/11. "Now the same media is saying what we were saying 20 years ago," says Roy. "But the trouble is, it's too late." [See the Program]
2021 Latin America and the Caribbean in Review: The Pink Tide Rises Again
---- US policy towards Latin America and the Caribbean continued in a seamless transition from Trump to Biden, but the terrain over which it operated shifted left. The balance between the US drive to dominate its "backyard" and its counterpart, the Bolivarian cause of regional independence and integration, continued to tip portside in 2021 with major popular electoral victories in Chile, Honduras, and Peru…. Presidential candidate Biden pledged to review Trump's policy of US sanctions against a third of humanity. The presumptive intention of the review was to ameliorate the human suffering caused by these unilateral coercive measures, considered illegal under international law. Following the review, Biden has instead tightened the screws, more effectively weaponizing the COVID crisis. [Read More]
War & Peace
The Iran War That Obama Tried to Avoid Is Now Around the Corner
By Murtaza Hussain, The Intercept [
---- The United States is going to war with Iran. That conclusion seems unavoidable watching President Joe Biden fail to revive the Iran nuclear deal from which the Trump administration unilaterally withdrew in 2018. The Iranian side has demanded the removal of sanctions imposed by former President Donald Trump, as well as a guarantee that a future U.S. administration will not once again abruptly pull out of the nuclear deal, which is known as the JCPOA. While Iran has continued to abide by the minimum terms of the deal in order to preserve the possibility of bringing it back to life, Biden's unwillingness or inability to meet its terms has left observers now warning of a "worst-case" scenario in which Iran proceeds to weaponize its nuclear program and the two countries come to a full-blown armed conflict. It is worth reflecting on how both sides came to this point. [Read More] And another warning: "Two Former CIA Directors Call on Biden to Threaten Iran Militarily" by Jeremy Scahill, The Intercept [
Humanity's Final Arms Race: UN Fails to Agree on 'Killer Robot' Ban
By James Dawes, The Conversation [December 30, 2021]
---- Autonomous weapon systems—commonly known as killer robots—may have killed human beings for the first time ever last year, according to a recent United Nations Security Council report on the Libyan civil war. History could well identify this as the starting point of the next major arms race, one that has the potential to be humanity's final one…. Autonomous weapon systems are robots with lethal weapons that can operate independently, selecting and attacking targets without a human weighing in on those decisions. Militaries around the world are investing heavily in autonomous weapons research and development. The U.S. alone budgeted US$18 billion for autonomous weapons between 2016 and 2020. Meanwhile, human rights and humanitarian organizations are racing to establish regulations and prohibitions on such weapons development. [Read More]
The Climate Crisis
Keep it in the Ground: We can't limit Global Heating to Safe Levels unless We Ban all new Oil and Gas Fields
By David Waltham, [December 25, 2021]
---- As a professor of geophysics, I have spent 36 years training young geologists destined to work in the fossil fuel industry how to look for oil and gas. But now I believe it's time to stop fossil-fuel exploration and halt the development of all new oil and gas fields. We cannot safely set fire to all the fuel we've already found, so why look for more? BP's annual energy review for 2021 estimates that the world has discovered 1.7 trillion barrels of oil, 188 trillion cubic metres of gas and nearly three trillion tonnes of coal that are commercially extractable – but that has not yet been actually extracted. My calculations, based on the typical carbon contents of these fuels and the expected effects of emissions on temperatures, suggest that emissions from using those barrels of oil alone would raise global temperatures by almost 0.6°C. Using the natural gas would add another 0.2°C. And as for the coal, burning it all would raise temperatures by a further 2°C. The conclusion seems clear: if we are serious about limiting global warming (already at 1.1°C above pre-industrial levels) to "well below 2°C" – as specified by the Paris Agreement on climate change – we can only burn a small fraction of our known fossil fuel reserves. [Read More]
Civil Liberties
(Video) Edward Snowden, Glenn Greenwald & Chris Hedges on NSA Leaks, Assange & Protecting a Free Internet
From Democracy Now! [December 24, 2021]
---- NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Glenn Greenwald and Chris Hedges discuss mass surveillance, government secrecy, internet freedom and U.S. attempts to extradite and prosecute WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. They spoke together on a panel moderated by Amy Goodman at the virtual War on Terror Film Festival after a screening of "Citizenfour" — the Oscar-winning documentary about Snowden by Laura Poitras. [See the Program] To see "Citizenfour" go here.
The State of the Union
How Workers Can Win in 2022: They need to create a crisis in order to turn this country around.
By Jane McAlevey, The Nation [December 27, 2021]
---- Biden clearly doesn't have the power to move Congress. Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema aren't going to change their votes because of personal pleas from the president or the leaders of the Progressive Caucus. What their ilk do respond to is when the corporate elites whose bidding they do phone them and tell them to switch their votes because profits are being dented by the chaos of too many workers on strike. National legislation that's good for most Americans passes only when workers create untenable crises that make that legislation seem like a far better option than expensive strikes, pitchforks, or falling bottom lines. … If we are ever going to take our country back from the billionaire class, 2021—a year in which relatively small-scale strikes broke out—will have to foreshadow a 2022 that feels like 1934, when mini general strikes erupted in key labor markets such as San Francisco and Minneapolis. In the 1930s, it took workers standing up to their national unions and their employers by the tens of thousands to create the conditions for the passage of many elements of the New Deal. [Read More] Also of interest: "Who Might Strike in 2022? Hundreds of Big Contracts Will Be Up" by Dan DiMaggio, Labor Notes [December 20, 2021] [Link].
Israel/Palestine
2021 in review: A year of struggle and victories for the Palestinian cause
By
---- 2021 was a watershed year for Palestinians. The struggle for Palestinian freedom and liberation saw unprecedented levels of global solidarity. From Jerusalem, to the West Bank, Gaza, and Palestinian communities inside Israel, Palestinians rose up together in defiance of the Israeli occupation, and demanded a better future. The fight against forcible expulsion of Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan reached the global stage, and more human rights groups joined the calls to end Israeli Apartheid. Despite the strides made towards justice and equality this year, 2021 was not without its challenges for Palestinians. Palestinians entered the second year of the coronavirus pandemic, and like much of the global south, struggled to get their hands on the life saving vaccines being hoarded by the world's richest countries. Palestinians faced violent crackdowns on their protests, not only from the Israeli occupation, but from the very authorities that claim to represent them as a people. Palestinian leaders once again failed to live up to their promises of free elections, and hopes of a new future for Palestinian youth were dashed. Gazans faced the worst Israeli offensive on the territory in years, killing hundreds and wreaking further havoc on an already crumbling infrastructure. From the streets to the digital sphere, Palestinians were suppressed and censored at every turn. And yet still, their voices were heard around the world more than ever before. [Read More]
Our History
Working 33 Years in an Auto Plant
By Wendy Thompson, Solidarity – Against the Current [January 2022]
[FB – As activists in the New Left aged out of student life, many – especially those connected to left-wing groups and parties – went to work in factories, mines, and offices with the intention of being part of, and radicalizing, the labor movement. Honest accounts of this work are rare, and I think this one is useful in understanding why and how people "industrialized," and what it accomplished.]
---- I became a socialist [in France, in 1968] there, so I returned to Los Angeles looking for socialists. I ran into the International Socialists (IS) and immediately joined. Because of my experience in France, I was open to get a job in industry. The IS had a list of target industries: mining, steel, auto, telephone and trucking. … In line with our perspective many IS members moved to Detroit to become autoworkers. My partner and I arrived in May, 1971. Auto comrades were in an auto "fraction" where we would think out campaigns and plan recruitment. ... The auto fraction would meet as a whole and then report to our branch and national organization. We studied UAW history and knew they had traded away fighting for better working conditions in exchange for higher wages and benefits. We felt the UAW had a left-wing tradition from the 1930s to build on despite the destruction created by McCarthyism. We wanted to rebuild the union from the shop floor. Our original idea was to build "struggle groups" that did not interact with the bureaucratic union. These would organize around shop-floor struggles and working conditions. However, we soon dropped that concept for a rank-and-file caucus that used union meetings and structures to put forward our solutions to everyday problems. Our goal was to build a national caucus. [Read More]
