Fight Back! Radio

Today we are joined by Carlos Montes, an iconic leader of the Chicano National Movement. Carlos was the founder, spokesperson and minister of information for the Brown Berets. He was also a key leader of the 1968 Los Angeles High School walkouts, the Chicano Moratorium against the Viet Nam War, the mega-marches from 2006 and continues today as a leader of Centro Community Service Organization in L...

Chris Townsend, labor movement veteran, joins us today to talk about the legacy of William Z. Foster, and how it relates to today's labor movement. You can buy a copy of "American Trade Unionism: Selected Writing by William Z. Foster" at International Publishers. Read Chris's article "The Biggest Organizing Wave You Never Heard Of" on Marxism-Leninism Today. You can als...

Today on the show, Louise Carhart gives us some insight into the shop floor struggles of legal aid workers. Louise is a chief steward and executive committee member of her union, the United Legal Workers (ULW), and works as a staff attorney for the ULW's farm worker project. Louise describes the unique struggles involved with organizing workers in a more "professional" industry, the...

A fire of resistance has been lit on college campuses across the country. Students everywhere are demonstrating their solidarity with Palestine, and pressuring their schools to disclose and divest from Israel. Today on the show we have Chrisley Carpio, a national leader of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), which is leading the student resistance on many college campuses. We get to hear from...

We are currently in a moment of revolutionary upheaval, and witnessing the mobilization of people across the globe in response to it. These historic moments are what change the course of history, and in his recent speech, David Gilbert Pederson (DGB) describes the critical importance and methods of sustaining this momentum. On today's show, we'll hear DGP's speech, and discuss why and...

Students all over the United States are demonstrating their solidarity with Palestine with massive protests and encampments across university campuses. Audari Tamayo is a member of the UW-Milwaukee chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), and was recently brutalized by police and arrested for being involved with such protests. Today he recounts his arrest, and lays out the demands of th...

Today we are joined by Xavi Velasquez, who is the president of La Frontera Nos Cruzó (The Border Crossed Us), an affiliate of Legalization For All. In our interview, Xavi describes what he and his delegation witnessed at the Texas-Mexico border, including the occupation of public lands and the inhumane treatment of people trying to cross. Legalization For All can be found online on their website....

Those who have been following the labor movement in the US have surely witnessed the bold moves and great victories being made by the rank and file workers of the United Auto Workers union. Much of this was driven by the Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD) caucus, and today on the show we have Scott Houldieson, a member of UAW local 551, and the current chair of UAWD. Scott breaks down the time...

Fight Back! Radio is taking a bit of a turn in today's episode as we step away from covering the activism going on in the streets and talk about the knowledge contained within the sheets, that is, Marxist-Leninist theory. Josh Sykes has put in a lot of work in the streets, but has also written a book: The Revolutionary Science of Marxism-Leninism . In today's episode we discuss what Marxis...

As the struggle for Palestinian Liberation continues, Meredith Aby reminds us that this struggle won't end well for Israel. Meredith is a founding member of the Minneapolis Antiwar Committee, and has dedicated her life to activism, even in the face of oppression by the FBI. In this episode, she breaks down the US involvement of this genocide, the resilience of the Palestinian people, and how t...

In this episode we venture into the world of service industry unionism. Our guide today, Zane Smith, works at Homegrown, a Seattle based sandwich shop. Zane serves as a rank and file union leader, with the support of the UNITE HERE Local 8 union . We discuss their unionization campaign, facing retaliation from the company, their ongoing strike, and how fighting the bosses at Homegrown fits into a...

The Electronic Intifada is one of, if not the best news sources for coverage on Palestine in English. We're honored to have on the senior editor of the publication, Maureen Clare Murphy, to talk about the experience she and her colleagues have had in covering the ongoing struggle in Palestine. If you aren't already, you should be reading The Electronic Intifada. You should also listen to t...

Fight Back! Radio is welcoming back our very first guest we've ever had, Kobi Guillory, to talk about the Coalition to March on the Democratic National Convention. With a US presidential election right around the corner, it is critical for the people to make it clear to the powers that be, including the "progressive" party, that we won't stand for their crimes against humanity, b...

Angel Krempa made labor news headlines after being illegally fired from her job at Starbucks back in 2022. She was targeted by the company for being a union leader under ⁠Starbucks Workers United⁠ , and today on the show she describes what it's like fighting a multi-billion dollar company, the importance of unions, and the power of solidarity. We encourage our listeners to support and stand in...

Fight Back! Radio believes that all fights for liberation stem from the same struggle, and that victory lies in us all fighting together in solidarity. In today's episode, we're talking to Merawi Gerima about connections between the Black Liberation and the Palestinian Liberation struggles. Merawi is a Chicago based activist, a filmmaker, and is the co-chair of the Campaign to Free Incarce...

Jasmine Smith is a Chicago based activist that is fighting tirelessly to bring justice to victims of police torture and the wrongfully convicted. Jasmine is the co-chair of the Campaign to Free Incarcerated Survivors of Torture (CFIST) , and is on the executive board of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR). In today's episode, she breaks down the history of pol...

Tom Burke is the Organizational Secretary of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, a labor leader in his local IATSE union in Grand Rapids, MI, and someone who is well-versed in Venezuela, past, present, and future. Tom sat down with us to share his first-hand knowledge of the country, including the story of Hugo Chávez, to the current leadership of Nicolás Maduro, and the country's pursuit...

We're honored today to get to talk to the National Chair of the US Palestinian Network (USPCN) , Hatem Abudayyah. Hatem gives us a deep dive into the Al-Aqsa Flood, both in a material sense of what is happening in Palestine and across the world, and gives a theoretically breakdown of the ralations between the imperialist powers that Palestine is fighting against for their freedom and liberatio...

Elmer "Ka Bong" Labog is a trade unionist, labor activist, and chairperson of Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), one of the largest trade union federations in the Philippines. Ka Bong joined us to discuss the labor struggles they have been waging in the Philippines, the backlash they've gotten from both domestic and international powers, and the ways they have been fighting back. You can learn...

We're honored to be joined again by the executive director of the ⁠National Alliance Against Racism and Political Repression (NAARPR)⁠ and lifelong activist and revolutionary, Frank Chapman. We talk about what Frank covers in his book, ⁠The Damned Don't Cry⁠ , which covers his inspiring life story, from his young years in St. Louis on the streets, to being imprisoned, to writing and teachi...

We're honored to be joined again by the executive director of the National Alliance Against Racism and Political Repression (NAARPR) and lifelong activist and revolutionary, Frank Chapman. We talk about what Frank covers in his book, The Damned Don't Cry , which covers his inspiring life story, from his young years in St. Louis on the streets, to being imprisoned, to writing and teaching M...

The 2024 Republican National Convention is scheduled to take place in Milwaukee, WI from July 15th-18th, and The People aren't wasting anytime to show GOP just how unwelcome they are in their city. Nearly 400 people marched in the streets of Milwaukee on the evening of August 23 in protest of the first Republican presidential primary debate. Our guest today is Aurelia Ceja, who is the co-chair...

On Tuesday, July 25, the Teamsters reached a tentative agreement for the UPS 2023-2028 contract which covers 340,000 workers across the country. The agreement follows a rank-and-file campaign for a strong contract that resulted in a 97% strike authorization vote in June, and practice pickets all around the country in July in the lead up to a potential national strike on August 1. This episode is a...

From police violence, racist education standards, and out right union busting, Florida is a hot bed of struggle. As a Duval County public school teacher, union building rep, activist in the Jacksonville Community Action Committee (JCAC) , treasurer of the National Alliance Against Racism and Political Repression (NAARPR) , Monique Sampson is fighting on the front lines of these battles. We get to...

The deadline for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and United Parcel Service to agree on a national contract is fast approaching, and the Teamsters are preparing to fight for their demands, even if it means going on one of the largest labor strikes in US history. The Freedom Road Socialist Organization hosted a virtual forum where rank & file UPS workers spoke on their experiences wor...