Northwoods Socialist Collective

More than 300 folks turned out for a 7:30am rally in front of the Duluth E.P.A. building on March 25. The action was held in solidarity with the more than 150 workers who are facing layoff from the threatened closure of the Great Lakes Toxicology & Environmental Division of the EPA. The spirited protest drew from a large swath of concerned citizens and union members from across the region. And it got an enthusiastic response from passing motorists. Thank you to everyone who turned out!

Thank you to everyone who turned out for the National Association of Letter Carriers' rallies to save the USPS on Sunday, March 24! There was rally in Duluth, as well as one in Superior. The Duluth protest was organized by NAlC Branch 114, and the Superior one was organized by NALC Branch 337. Several dozen attended each event. It was a cold and wet day, but that didn't stop this powerful display of working class solidarity! 

On March 8, ICE agents abducted Mahmoud Khalil, an activist in the 2024 Columbia University pro-Palestine campus protests and occupations. Khalil is a legal permanent U.S. resident who holds a green card. Upon his detention, Khalil was transported to the LaSalle Detention Center in Jena, Louisiana without criminal charges. The Trump administration invoked the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, a Cold-War-era law allowing the deportation of those deemed to be threats to national security. The abduction and detention of Khalil is the first of what will be many such efforts on the part of a Trump administration determined to shut down campus protest alongside and in conjunction with the administration’s sweeping assault on academic freedom, protest, and diversity efforts on college campuses across the nation. The attacks on higher education, protest, and defenders of Palestine are part and parcel of the right’s war on working class people and struggle. The Trump administration’s a...

Today is a day in which we celebrate all things Irish. One of those things to keep in mind is the long running, and still unfinished, struggle against British occupation. In 1916 Irish revolutionaries rose up against the British in the Easter Uprising and declared an Irish Republic. For six days they held off the British Army in Dublin, before being overwhelmed. One of the central leaders of the uprising was Irish socialist and labor leader, James Connolly. He had been shot multiple times during the battle, and was dying of blood poisoning when the British strapped him to a chair, and executed him by firing squad. In the aftermath of this uprising, Britain was forced to recognize independence for the southern 26 Irish counties. The northern 6 counties remain under British occupation to this day. Here is an archive of Connolly's writings from the Marxist Internet Archives: https://www.marxists.org/archive/connolly/index.htm

Following a trans solidarity "art-in" action at the Miller Hill Mall, local activists conducted a flash mob at the Duluth Target store on the evening of March 14. The purpose of the flash mob was to call out Target's recent reactionary policies of cuttings its diversity programs, and pulling much of their Pride merchandise. The protest consisted of a vocal and spirited march through the store with signs and flags that had been smuggled in. Among the signs carried were messages like "Trans Lives Matter", "Shame on Target for Cutting D.E.I" and "Trans Rights Are Human Rights!"  A couple of folks were trespassed from the facility by security, but there were no arrests.  The materials that were made at the earlier "art-in" will be used in an upcoming "shit-in" action around bathroom access. More details about that will be posted soon.  You can view a photo album of the flash mob protest on our facebook page . And there is ...

Northern News Now has confirmed that the Douglas County Jail in Superior is currently holding four ICE detainees. They were detained somewhere in this region between Feb. 10th and 12th, and are not the same workers who were detained on Feb. 27 from Lakeside. https://www.northernnewsnow.com/.../ice-detainees-held.../ We don't know any more info than this right now, but we urge folks to contact Douglas County Sheriff Izzard to demand that the County Jail break off its contract with ICE, and to stop collaborating with them. Sheriff Izzard can be reached at contactdcsheriff@ci.superior.wi.us