Bill Fletcher, Jr.

As April 4th approaches I cannot but think of the work and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King. On April 4th this year there will be the standard remembrances of Dr. King on the 43rd anniversary of his assassination. There will also be demonstrations taking place across the country initiated by labor unions and their…

I have to admit it, and I do so publicly, that I was wrong. I did not believe that the USA and their European allies were going to attack Libya. Please do not misunderstand me: I was clear that the USA and its European allies were quite capable of carrying out the attack and I…

New York Congressman Peter King’s hearings regarding so-called Islamic radicalism in the USA have raised some interesting questions, once again, about how one defines “terrorism.” It was as recently as 2009 that a Department of Homeland Security report came out specifically addressing the rise of domestic, homegrown, right-wing terrorism in the USA. The Republican Party…

When I moved to DC from Boston I went to open a checking account at a local bank. I brought a cashier’s check from my bank in Boston to deposit. I naturally assumed that with a cashier’s check that I could immediately access my funds. The customer service person disabused me of that. She informed…

So, let’s be clear: it’s not about the budget. As the facts have emerged in the 2011 Wisconsin crisis with Governor Scott Walker’s move against public service unions, it is not about Wisconsin lacking funds. There is no credible way that Walker and his clique can argue that eliminating a worker’s right to collective bargaining…

The Arab democratic revolt has highlighted a potential reshaping of Pan-Arabism for the 21st century, and it is exciting to observe. In the period from Abdul Gamal Nasser’s coup against the then King of Egypt in 1952 through the mid-1970s, there was a sense of Pan-Arabism that shook North Africa and the Middle East. This…

The breathtaking Arab democratic revolt has been moving at such a pace that it is difficult to stop at any one juncture and analyze what is unfolding. At the same time, simply broadcasting the facts is not enough since, among other things, the facts never speak for themselves: people speak and, indeed, the facts can…