by Joanne Coutts

Where are we at? On this third Thursday in November let us take a moment to remember that we are on stolen land.

This place that we now call Detroit has many names. By the Wendat it is known as Karontaen (coast of the straits), Iroquoian speakers refer to it as Teuchsa Grondie (place of many beavers) and in Algonquin it has two names, Yondotega (the great village) and Waawiyatanong (the crooked way).

The idea that Detroit must be defined by fixed borders is a colonial concept. …

by Ken Jackson

This article is one-half of a two-part series on the American education system.

Almost every citizen of the United States remembers, as a child, putting their right hand over their heart, and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in front of a flag, led by someone who had braved the twists and terms of a capitalist system to become a teacher.

This teacher, for some, was a willing participant in our indoctrination. We were taught to be obedient, pay attention in class, do our work and accept whatever information the teacher provided us as fact. …

by S. Chris Dellas

The day after the 2020 election I woke to our power being off. The alarm clock did not ring but night lights had clicked off loudly. It had been a very windy night on the east side of Detroit. There were several large branches scattered around the yard as I went downstairs to see if the landlord’s power was also off. The most common response when power goes out is to look around the neighborhood for any lights on at all. This had happened before but this time felt different. …

by Ken Jackson

by Jane Slaughter

The American Postal Workers Union is planning a national Day of Action Tuesday, November 17. Because of covid, Detroit’s action will be mostly virtual. Call your senators at 833–924–0085 to tell them to vote for $25 billion for the Postal Service and to reverse the service cuts. Watch Detroit DSA’s Facebook page for more information. The union’s message is: POSTAL WORKERS SAVED DEMOCRACY: NOW IT’S TIME TO DEFEND THE POSTAL SERVICE. VOTE $25 BILLION NOW!

The story of mail ballots in the 2020 election is the story of a union postal workforce dedicated to making sure that every vote got delivered — and willing to go to extraordinary lengths to make that happen. …

by Hank Kennedy

On Sunday November 8, members of Teamsters for a Democratic Union attended our 45th annual national convention. This year’s convention was a little different, given the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of being held in Chicago over the course of three days, the convention was held on Zoom over a few hours. In the lead up to the convention Zoom workshops addressed crucial issues for Teamsters such as the threat to wages on working conditions posed by Amazon and how to win the UPS contract we all deserve.

Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) is a grassroots, rank-and-file organization dedicated to democratizing and strengthening the Teamsters union. TDU was founded in 1975 as “Teamsters for a Decent Contract” which was for democracy, better contracts, and against corruption. Since then it has played a vital role in educating members, fighting the influence of organized crime and winning the right for Teamsters to elect our top officers. …

by Joanne Coutts

We’ve been freed. We’ve survived Foe5’s twitter feed. We’ve got another white, male, septuagenarian president. Awesome! Wow! Do we have a clue what happens now?

Between now and January 20 we will, undoubtedly, see a plethora of mainstream media headlines touting a return to “normal.” As Nakia Wallace from Detroit Will Breathe reminded us, at the Count Every Vote rally on November 4, “For many of us where we were was not as miserable as where we are now. But for many of us it was torture.”

“Normal” was police killing unarmed black men, children in cages, raids on undocumented communities, inequitable access to healthcare, food, water and education, and enormous pay gaps between capitalists and workers, the list goes on…. …

by Ken Jackson