Joe Iosbaker

Joe Iosbaker

Joe Iosbaker was in 1998, Freedom Road Socialist Organization Labor Commission Chair.

Joe Iosbaker is employed as an Office Support Specialist at the University of Illinois at Chicago Office of the College of Medicine since May 1990 and is a Trustee of the Illinois State University Retirement System.

In 2009 Joe Iosbaker was 50 years-old, married to Stephanie Weiner and has two children. He lives in Chicago. He attended the University of Iowa from 1977 to 1979. Joe Iosbaker grew up on a farm in Iowa..

Since 1999, Joe Iosbaker has been a leader of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization/FightBack! split from the original Freedom Road Socialist Organization/Organizacion Socialista del Camino para la Libertad.

Radicalization

Joe Iosbaker, a leader of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, stated, “When I started college in the fall of 1977, I travelled to protests at Kent State to stop the administration there from building a gym on the site where the National Guard killed four students and wounded nine. Alan Canfora was the survivor of the massacre that kept the struggle going for justice for the victims at Kent and at Jackson State from May of 1970.”

Iosbaker continued, “At those protests, I was tear gassed repeatedly, beaten, and run over by state police on horses. I was radicalized, I also met Alan Canfora and became his friend. We were roommates when we travelled to China the next summer to learn about socialism.”

Philippines connection

Joe Iosbaker March 20 2020 ·

After my trip to the Philippines in 2016, I feel every attack by the US/Duterte regime on the revolutionary movement. The Communist Party members there are our comrades. As the freedom fighter in Mozambique, Samora Machel put it, we are fighting the same enemy on different terrain. Mabuhay, Julius Giron!

Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) condemns the brutal government murder of the prominent Filipino communist Julius Giron, his wife Lourdes Tan Torres and their aide. We extend our condolences to his family, friends and our comrades of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

FRSO Sparked the 2020 Riots

FRSO Admits to Organizing 2020 Riots

Jess Sundin and Steff Yorek of Freedom Road Socialist Organization were featured in a clip bragging about the organizing that took place in the wake of the death of George Floyd:

Transcript:

Narrator: Minneapolis Communists from Freedom Road Socialist Organization claim credit for sparking recent riots that spread to more than 40 States. Freedom Road supports the Communist Party of China and the Communist Mass murderers Mao and Stalin.

Steff Yorek:"This is Steff Yorek, I'm the political Secretary of Freedom Road Socialist Organization. Mao and Stalin were both Marxist-Leninists, uh that is how also how I identify as Marxist-Leninist as well.

Narrator: "On the day President Trump was inaugurated, Steff Yorek vowed to make this country ungovernable. Steff Yorek is married to fellow activist Jess Sundin.

Jess Sundin: Myself, I am a revolutionary, I have been a communist for uh more than 20 years.

Narrator: Jess Sundin leads a militant anti-police group called Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar. According to Chicago Freedom Road leaders Frank Chapman and Joe Iosbaker, Jess Sundin's Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar was the movement that launched the nationwide rebellion.

Jess Sundin: Hi folks, this is Jess from Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar. The first two weeks after George Floyd was killed saw an intense high level of organizing all day and all night, every day. During the day we would have marches and rallies and at night the um focus was often at the third precinct which is the police station where George Floyd's killers were working out of. Um, I can't tell you the uh Joy it brought all of us to see the third precinct um destroyed. There were marches, like I said there were rallies, um and lots of the buildings were destroyed, some by fire, um uh, you know, some by brute force, sometimes it was golf club, sometimes it was baseball bats and a lot of folks wanted to get out to other sites around the cities where there is you know really pitched battles happening, um and we support all of that and I want to be absolutely clear as an organizer, those night demonstrations, the emptying of the police department, the emptying of the ma...of Target and other major stores is absolutely tied to, connected to, and part of the movement."

Narrator: Within hours of Minneapolis outbreaks, Freedom Road Socialist Organization supporters staged often violent protests in Chicago, Milwaukee, New York, Dallas, Houston, Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa, Salt Lake City, and Los Angeles. Allied pro-China Communists spread protest to many other cities Across the nation. When will the Communist Party of China's American supporters be brought to Justice?

Called out by Philippines authorities

CPAC

Frank Chapman November 28, 2019 ·

From left to right starting with the front row Kobi Guillory, Frank Chapman, Regina Russell, Joe Iosbaker, Dagmar Schalliol, Crista Noel, Jazmine SalasShasta Jones, Gabriel Montero, Brian Ragsdale, Elizabeth Grace Patino, Jazzmine Easterling, Sara Wild, Alex....

Bebster TanNovember 25, 2019 ·

With Mick Kelly, Tomas de Bourgha, Chrisley Carpio, Adrian Bonifacio, Rhonda Ramiro, Joe Iosbaker, Monique NB, Terry Valen, Frank Chapman, Cody Urban, Caiti Le Ward, Donna Denina and Mai Ya.

Rasmea Odeh connection

Joe Iosbaker and Rasmea Odeh.

Minnesota SDS

Members of the Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Minnesota Public group in 2017 included Joe Iosbaker.

New Wave Party

In the spring of 1979, concerned students at the University of Iowa believed they were poised to help initiate a fresh movement of political activism on campus. Capturing this idea by calling themselves the New Wave Party, these students organized a progressive party within the university student government and entered the election campaign for seats in the Student Senate the following year. Since 1980, when they won 8 of the 21 seats, they enlarged their support base and solidified an aggressive platform built around their support of a wide range of social causes. Key New Wave Party activists included Joe Iosbaker, Stephanie Weiner and Linda Yanney.

New Wave leaders in 1982 were Joe Iosbaker, Burl Henry, Lynne Adrian, Tess Catalino and Bruce Hagemann.

Revolutionary Student Brigade

In 1980 Joe Iosbaker was a member of the Revolutionary Student Brigade. He had joined in 1977.

'70s Anti-Apartheid network

Joe Iosbaker December 5, 2013 ·

This plaque is among my most treasured possessions. Remember Nelson Mandela! Continue the struggle against apartheid in Israel! Victory to the liberation struggles of oppressed nations!

— with Dennis O'Neil, Lester Dragstedt, Lynne Adrian, Tracy Van Quaethem, Carol DeProsse, Richard Berg, Jim Potter, John A. Smith, Daniel Hughes, Mike Ascroft, Bob Hearst, Andrew Harvey, Josef Ignatious Fortier, Amy Kratz, Bob Cotter, Craig Perrin, Mike Price, Michael Turnure, Patrick Kearns, Kris Penniston, Stephanie Weiner, Judith Mentzer, Chris Iosbaker, Joe Burns, Bridgette Sheridan, Prexy Nesbitt, Tomas de Bourgha, Kit Bonson, Brenda Barton, Anne Evens, Juliet Holt Klinger, Michael Harvey, Saed Abu-Hijleh, Chip Young, John Stonebarger, Robin Potter, Barbara Ransby, Keith L. Perry, Mick Kelly, Tom Wilson, Beau Barry, Amy Smith, Lj Yanney, Richard Saks, Bruce Nestor, Hermalee Webb and Bethany McIvor.

China delegation

Joe Iosbaker June 8 2019·

A photo from the delegation I was on with the Revolutionary Workers Headquarters in China in 1978.

In the summer of 1978, I was the youngest member of a delegation sent by the Revolutionary Workers Headquarters to China. Arranged by Leibel Bergman, the purpose of the delegation was to reestablish our relationship with the Communist Party of China which had been severed when Bob Avakian denounced China as revisionist after the death of Mao, the overthrow of the Gang of Four, and the rehabilitation of Deng Xiaoping.

This photo was taken outside the building in Shanghai where the CPC was founded in 1921.

Alan Canfora, Leslie Jerry Carr, Sarah Martin and Cliff Kornfeld.

Of course, Alan Canfora, Prof. Jerry Carr and Jane Ransom, but I first met Richie Chevat and Cliff Kornfeld at Kent in September or October 1977. Gina Harman was also part of the leadership of the delegation.

Stacy Drootin was also part of the trip.

Maja Stoll was on separate delegation which intersected with the Revolutionary Workers Headquarters delegation.

Founding conference PSN

Progressive Student Network founding conference attendees - Kent State, 1980, included - Joe Iosbaker Revolutionary Student Brigade, New Wave Party, Iranian People's Support Committee, Black Hills Alliance, Iowa City, Iowa.

PSN

In 1988, Joe Iosbaker was a member of Progressive Student Network.

Joe Iosbaker, Bob Cotter, Stephanie Weiner were circa 1988 students at University of Chicago Illinois Circle Campus and members of the Progressive Student Network.

Kent State conference

For left-leaning students here, preserving what they call "the spirit of Kent and Jackson State" has become a central part of a campaign to revitalize the student movement. They organized a conference May 1990 where veterans of the 1960s left urged the 1990s left to carry on its mission.

"Don't make the mistake of not daring to change the world you inherit," Bernardine Dohrn, a former leader of the radical Weather Underground, told a cheering, whistling crowd gathered at a university gymnasium. Dohrn, along with virtually every other speaker at the conference, also underlined the most powerful legacy of Vietnam to the political left: the notion that the United States seeks, in Dohrn's words, "world domination."

The surest applause line at the conference was to condemn U.S. military intervention, whether in El Salvador, Panama, the Philippines or Cambodia.

"Today's student activism is not about nostalgia," said Joe Iosbaker, a founder of the Progressive Student Network, which now has chapters on about 50 campuses. "Most of these people haven't read books about the '60s, and most of them don't like Neil Young."

Tom Albanese, a Kent State PSN leader, believes there are limits to the lessons the Vietnam era has to offer his generation. Today's leftist organizers must recruit on the basis of a broad range of issues -- opposition to U.S. policy in Central America, support for blacks in South Africa, choice on abortion, the environment.

Gulf War event

In 1991 a Freedom Road Socialist Organization/Forward Motion Forum was held in Chicago. Speakers were Bernardine Dohrn, former Nat. officer Students for a Democratic Society, Abdul Alkalimat, convenor Malcolm X conference, Camille Odeh from the Arab Community Center, Joe Iosbaker from Freedom Road Socialist Organization. Stephanie Weiner of Freedom Road Socialist Organization moderated.

Committees of Correspondence Connection

In 1994 Joe Iosbaker, of Freedom Road Socialist Organization was listed on a "Membership, Subscription and Mailing List" for the Chicago Committees of Correspondence, an offshoot of the Communist Party USA.

Forward Motion

Joe Iosbaker, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Chicago Staley Workers Committee, contributed an article "War zone fighters" to Freedom Road Socialist Organization's Forward Motion, Spring 1996 issue.

Chicago New Party

In 1998 Chicago New Party leaders Frankie Torres, Deborah McCoy, Jose Kader, Bob Palmer, Rafael Rodriguez, Joe Iosbaker, Stephanie Weiner, Yakira Nunez, Vinnie Izurieta, Sergio Vargas, Peter Shearn, Pryianka Basu, Dave Rolston, and Mary Robles supported Willie Delgado in the 35th Ward a New Party member running for State Representative, in his defeat of Elba Rodriguez by a slim 241 vote margin.

The margin of victory was 20 votes per precinct in the New Party's turf.

Joe Iosbaker was Precinct Captain in the 13th Ward. He had been working election day at this same precinct for progressive candidates for about a decade -- since Harold Washington won re-election in 1987.

The International Communist Seminar

The The International Communist Seminar is an annual conference held in Brussels on May 2-4. Iosbaker delivered a speech entitled ""Report on Labor movement"" at the 1998 conference. You can read his speech here.

Coalition to March on the RNC

In 2008 people around the country are making plans to travel to Saint Paul, Minnesota on Labor Day to march on the Republican National Convention. In Chicago, buses have been reserved and tickets are going on sale, reports Joe Iosbaker, a local anti-war activist who is helping to coordinate for the local Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War. “The chartered buses will leave Chicago at 3:00 a.m. on Sept. 1. We have to leave at that hour to be at the rally in Saint Paul at 11:00 a.m.”

For different groups in the coalition in Chicago, there will be varying plans in Saint Paul. For example, Teamsters Local 743 has a bus that will return the same day, while others will stay for more days of protests.

"Support Bill Ayers"

In October 2008, several thousand college professors, students and academic staff signed a statement Support Bill Ayers in solidarity with former Weather Underground Organization terrorist Bill Ayers.

In the run up to the U.S. presidential elections, Ayers had come under considerable media scrutiny, sparked by his relationship to presidential candidate Barack Obama.

We write to support our colleague Professor William Ayers, Distinguished Professor of Education and Senior University Scholar at the University of Illinois at Chicago, who is currently under determined and sustained political attack...

We, the undersigned, stand on the side of education as an enterprise devoted to human inquiry, enlightenment, and liberation. We oppose the demonization of Professor William Ayers.

Joe Iosbaker of the University of Illinois – Chicago signed the statement.

Political activity

Joe Iosbaker has served as Precinct Captain for former State Senator Miguel del Valle. Mr. Iosbaker was a member of the Social Justice Committee of Inter American Magnet School, and volunteer for the Inter American Magnet School Noche Cultural.

He is chief steward and a member of the executive board of Local 73 SEIU.

Labor for Palestine

On December 14, 2009 Labor for Palestine released an "Open Letter from U.S. Trade Unionists to AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka: Boycott Apartheid Israel".

Signers of the letter included Joe Iosbaker, member of the Executive Board of SEIU, Local 73.

September 24, 2010 FBI Raids

On September 24 the F.B.I. raided the homes of twelve leftist activists across the U.S.A. looking for links to foreign terrorist organizations. Iosbaker was one of those whose home was raided and who is being investigated by the FBI.

Committee to Stop FBI Repression delegation to Congress

In mid November 2010, a delegation from the Committee to Stop FBI Repression ( returned home from several days of bringing the "issue of the FBI raids and grand jury subpoenas of people doing international solidarity work and anti-war organizing to the U.S. Capitol". Three supporters of the Marxist-Leninist Freedom Road Socialist Organization/FightBack!, Deb Konechne of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, Anh Pham, who is facing a reactivation of her subpoena and Joe Iosbaker, whose home was raided, spent two days meeting with U.S. Representatives on the issue. The delegation asked each Congressperson to sponsor a “Dear Colleague” letter condemning the raids and grand jury subpoenas. In the two days, the delegation met with either the Congressional Representative’s staff or the Representative themselves fro[[m the following 16 offices: Tammy Baldwin (WI), John Conyers (MI), Danny Davis (IL), Keith Ellison (MN), Raul Grijalva (AZ), Luis Gutierrez (IL), Mike Honda (CA), Jesse Jackson, Jr. (IL), Dennis Kucinich (OH), Barbara Lee (CA), Jim McDermott (WA), Jim McGovern (MA), Bobby Rush (IL), Linda Sanchez (CA), Jan Schakowsky (IL), Maxine Waters (CA). The "meetings were positive, with all the offices expressing genuine concern about the situation. In some cases, because of the outpouring of calls from around the country, the U.S. Representatives were aware that the delegation was in Washington D.C. and the offices made time on their schedules to meet with the delegation. This reinforces the continuing importance of the solidarity work taking place around the country."

Rep. Conyers (MI), chair of the Judiciary Committee, directed the Counsel of the Judiciary Committee to meet with the delegation. Also, Rep. Ellison (MN) and his Congressional staff met directly with the delegation for a significant amount of time. rep. Ellison sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, expressing concern over the situation and is continuing to work on options to support his constituents affected. The delegation also received face-to-face meetings with Rep Gutierrez and Rep Davis from Chicago. Rep. Grijalva’s (AZ) office set up a meeting between the delegation and the Executive Director of the Congressional Progressive Caucus in the Congress of which rep. Grijalva is the chair. In addition, the office of Jan Schakowsky (IL) and Maxine Waters (CA) gave the delegation significant time and attention.

“It was clear that progressive Representatives of the Congress are very concerned about the FBI investigation. Overall, they were very thankful for our visit and for the information and analysis given to them The level of awareness about the raids and grand jury was varied, from little to full awareness, but the delegation certainly changed that. After the two days, our presence and purpose definitely created a stir in the halls of Congress. “The fact that we were able to interact with 16 legislative aides or Congress people themselves, during an extremely busy time of restructuring leadership in the Congress, exemplifies the attention this matter is receiving”, stated Joe Iosbaker.

People's World 23rd Annual Banquet memorial

More than 100 labor, community, religious, environmental and equal rights activists celebrated the People's World 23rd Annual Banquet in Chicago, Dec. 5 2010.

Despite the frigid temperatures outside supporters turned up the heat for justice inside as they wined and dined at the Lee Wing Wah restaurant in Chinatown honoring this year's theme, "Let's put people back to work: Rebuild America."

Special greetings were delivered by Joe Iosbaker, one of 17 peace and justice activists whose homes were raided by the FBI in search of evidence of "material support for terrorism," and were subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury. Iosbaker announced the U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald issued three new subpoenas on Dec. 5.

Iosbaker said freedom of speech and association were at stake in this fight. He expressed his admiration for communists, socialists and labor and peace activists who had fought the McCarthy witch hunts.

Against NATO Summit

According to an April 2012 press release from Lauren Love, Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, and Eric Ruder, Coalition Against NATO/G8, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and other community and labor leaders will gather on Thursday, April 19, at 11:15 am on the 2nd floor of City Hall to announce their plans to march in opposition to NATO. The march will take place on Sunday, May 20, which is the first day of the NATO summit, and is being organized by the Coalition Against NATO/G8 War and Poverty Agenda (CANG8).

Rev. Jackson will also announce his plans to speak at CANG8’s People’s Summit at Occupy Chicago’s headquarters on May 12–13, the weekend before the NATO summit.

Standing with Rev. Jackson to announce their support for the march and People’s Summit will be Occupy Chicago; the Chicago Teachers Union; the National Nurses United; and members of the Service Employees International Union.

“Our world has become jilted by war and weapons,” said Rev. Jackson. “There is simply too much violence, too much concentrated wealth and too much poverty. I hope on May 20 there will be a large demonstration with global participation. It’s time we go in a different direction. I am urging us to shift our priorities. This demonstration is designed to appeal to the leaders of the world to choose to depend less on military intervention and more on negotiations to try to heal these societies ravished by poverty and internal strife.”

CANG8 organizers are pleased to be joined in their efforts by many other community and labor leaders in addition to Rev. Jackson. “ “This march will take place at a crucial moment in NATO’s war on Afghanistan as a majority of Americans have now turned against further U.S. involvement there,” said Joe Iosbaker, a CANG8 organizer.

“Occupy Chicago is proud to support the May 20 march being organized by the Coalition Against NATO/G8,” said Rachael Perrotta, a member of Occupy Chicago’s press team.

Many nurses from the Chicago area and beyond have been active in the Occupy movement and in challenging budgets that prioritize war spending over public health. “As an ER nurse, I see the suffering of the 99 percent firsthand,” said Dennis Kosuth, a registered nurse at Stroger Cook County Hospital. “The global 1 percent and the G8 are calling for austerity cuts to vital social services while draining trillions of our tax dollars into the NATO war machine. Our tax dollars should be going into our public schools, healthcare services, libraries, public transportation—back to the people of Main Street. Registered Nurses of the National Nurses United will be marching alongside CANG8 this May to protest NATO and to call for a Robin Hood Tax on the G8 global 1 percent.”

Christine Boardman is the president of Service Employees International Union Local 73, which represents 25,000 public employees in Illinois and Indiana, and she is urging union members and working people to attend the protest in large numbers. “G8 policies have supported so-called ‘free trade agreements,’ which have caused the loss of millions of jobs,” said Boardman. “Instead of funding for war and supporting ‘free trade’ for corporations, which means ‘slave trade’ for workers, it must become our national priority to keep good jobs here and to fund services for our communities.”

Other noted speakers at the May 20 march and the People’s Summit include Malalai Joya, former Afghan member of Parliament and internationally renowned opponent of NATO’s occupation of Afghanistan; Reiner Braun, International Coordinating Committee of the European No to NATO network; Kathy Kelly, Voices for Creative Nonviolence; Malik Mujahid, Muslim Peace Coalition; Medea Benjamin, Code Pink; and Col. Ann Wright (ret.), antiwar activist.

In addition to specifying Jesse Jackson, , speakers will now include, along with those announced earlier: Leah Bolger, head of Veterans for Peace, who was recently tried for “disrupting” the so-called SuperCommittee in Congress; Carlos Montes, who was targeted by an FBI raid in Los Angeles; Kari Fulton, of the Environmental Justice movement; and Larry Holmes, of International Action Center.

People’s Agenda march

August 27, 2012, well over 1,000 people rallied and marched in the streets of Tampa to demand good jobs, affordable education, healthcare, equality, and peace. Although the Republicans cancelled the first day of their convention due to Hurricane Isaac, organizers with the Coalition to March on the RNC went through with their promise to march on the first day of the convention to show their opposition to the agenda of the 1% and their support for a People’s Agenda.

Notable speakers included Carlos Montes, a leading immigrants’ rights leader; Joe Iosbaker; a spokesperson for the anti-war movement; Skye Schmelzer, representative of the National Students for a Democratic Society; Medea Benjamin, a co-founder of Code Pink and major peace activist; Ciara Taylor, a representative of Dream Defenders and a Black community organizer; Nelini Stamp, one of the original organizers of Occupy Wall Street; and Oscar Otzoy, a Florida farm worker organizer with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. Organizations present included Students for a Democratic Society, Veterans for Peace, Southern California Immigrant Coalition, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, five Florida Occupy chapters, six Fight Back Florida chapters, Dream Defenders, United National Anti-war Coalition, Committee to Stop FBI Repression, International Action Center, Code Pink, four Florida AFL-CIO labor councils, and Region 3 of AFSCME Council 79.

Organizer Fern Figueroa stated: “Today we took a stand with more than 1,000 people against the Republicans and their agenda of hatred, poverty, and war. Today we stand up for all the good things people need and strike a blow against those who deprive us that.”

Jared Hamil, Corey Uhl were also organizers.

PressTV

Syrian elections

New York, – Anti-war activists joined Syrian ambassador to the United Nations, Dr. Bashar Jaafari, for a press conference at the U.N. on June 18, at 11:00 a.m. Paul Larudee, Joe Iosbaker, Judy Bello, Scott Williams and Jane Stillwater were observers of the presidential elections in Syria on June 3. They joined official governmental delegations from 11 countries, including Venezuela, Bolivia, Iran and Brazil.

The Americans were in four different Syrian cities, but their experiences were largely the same. They witnessed an outpouring of sentiment by 11 million Syrians for an end to the foreign-backed invasion of their land, and national unity to reconstruct a society that is secular and prosperous. They expressed this mainly by a vote for President Bashar al Assad, who has led the country in defeating the extremist, Al Qaeda-linked armies.

The observers are united in returning home to work against the American government’s intervention in Syria, without which this war would have been over long ago.

The following is a statement by Joe Iosbaker at the press conference:

My name is Joe Iosbaker. I’m an activist with the Anti-War Committee-Chicago, and also I’m part of the leadership of the United National Antiwar Coalition.

The Syrian people are an inspiration. They have withstood a terrible war, brought to their country by my government and its allies.

I observed the elections in Homs, where the death toll has been in the thousands, and one week after our visit, a car bomb targeting civilians was exploded by foreign-backed right-wing rebels.

I spoke with a medical student who wants to be an ophthalmologist like her president, Bashar al Assad. She and her young friends were confident that the Syrian people would go forward and rebuild their country.

The U.S. government denounced the election before it was held, and the governments that are behind the war in Syria closed the Syrian embassies in their countries so Syrians abroad could not participate. The Western media was shocked by the hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees in Beirut, Lebanon who lined up for three days to vote at the embassy there. These things showed me what these elections represent: a defeat for the U.S., NATO, the Zionists and the Gulf States, and a victory for the Syrians.

Right of Peoples to Self-Determination and Building a Multipolar World

US delegates Bill Dores, Margaret Kimberley, Joe Lombardo, Joe Iosbaker

December 2014 - "As US/NATO aggression towards Russia increases", five leaders from the United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC) attended an antiwar conference in Moscow, Right of Peoples to Self-Determination and Building a Multipolar World. We were invited by the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia. The five UNAC members who attended the conference were Margaret Kimberley of Black Agenda Report and the UNAC Administrative Committee; Joe Iosbaker of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, the Rasmea Odeh defense campaign and the UNAC Administrative Committee; Bill Dores of the International Action Center: women's rights activist, Mo Hannah; and UNAC Co-Coordinator, Joe Lombardo.

On December 16, the delegation of U.S. anti-war activists met with the Embassy of the State of Palestine Ambassador to the Russian Federation, Dr. Faed Mustafa. Ambassador Mustafa agreed to the meeting after a request was made by the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia, the hosts of the international conference of anti-war forces.

The delegation that met with the ambassador included Joe Lombardo, co-chair of the United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC), Bill Dores of the International Action Center and UNAC and Mo Hannah, also a member of UNAC and Joe Iosbaker.

Lenin's Tomb, 2014

Second Moscow conference

Tom Michalak went to Moscow, February 2015, as part of a small delegation of peace activists from the United States. Our goal was to demonstrate that among working people of all countries, cooperation is possible and in our best interests. The other delegates were Oscar Hernandez Santoyo of Milwaukee, an immigrant rights activist with “Youth Empowered in the Struggle” and Joe Iosbaker, of the Rasmea Defense Committee and the Committee to Stop FBI Repression.

The host during our stay in Moscow was Alexander Ionov, president of the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia. This is not a homogenous organization representing one ideological current. Some of its members subscribe to Korean socialism and some are “Putinists,” that is, champions of the Russian president, among other tendencies. The underlying current among the membership is staunch opposition to Western imperialism and the belief that all nations have the right to self-determination.

On the wall in the group’s office are framed photographs of Hafez and Bashar Al-Assad of Syria, Kim Il Sung of socialist Korea, Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, Fidel Castro and Che Guevara of Cuba, Moammar Gadhafi of Libya and Omar Torrijos of Panama — all political leaders that U.S. imperialism has demonized.

The Anti-Globalization Movement held weekly demonstrations in solidarity with the Cuban 5 political prisoners as well as a demonstration in solidarity with the “Black Lives Matter” movement outside the U.S. Embassy.

The trip was paid for by the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia.

UNAC leadership

The names and organizations of the people on the United National Antiwar Coalition administrative committee are below:

• Marilyn Levin - Co-coordinator New England United
• Joe Lombardo - Co-coordinator Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace
• Chris Gauvreau - Connecticut United for Peace
• Sara Flounders - International Action Center, Workers World Party
• Joe Iosbaker- Committee to Stop FBI Repression, Freedom Road Socialist Organization/FightBack!
• Margaret Kimberley - Black Agenda Report
• Judy Bello - Fellowship of Reconciliation, Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars
• Bernadette Ellorin - BAYAN, USA, Workers World Party affiliate
• Representative Muslim Peace Coalition, USA
• Abayomi Azikiwe- Pan African News Wire, Michigan Emergency Committee Against War and Injustice, Workers World Party
• Jeff Mackler San Francisco UNA

Anti-Trump protests

I was an advisor to the student protest organizers for the action against Trump. Here's my brief account of their excellent work in this historic action.

Anti-Trump meeting, Chicago

Joe Iosbaker, Jesus Rodriguez-Espinoza, 2013

On Nov. 15, 2016, over 300 people gathered for a mass meeting organized by the ANSWER Coalition in Chicago. The meeting was organized to help spark a mass movement to defend immigrants, Muslims, people of color, LGBTQ people, women and all those under attack by the impending Trump administration.

A major focus of the meeting was building the next major anti-Trump march on Nov. 19 in Chicago. We will be meeting at Federal Plaza at 12 noon and marching to Trump Tower. Join the protest on facebook, invite your friends and share.

The meeting was chaired by ANSWER organizers Stefanie Fisher and Laika Kollontai. In her opening statement, Fisher reminded the crowd that we can not and should not look to the Democratic Party to protect us from Trump. “A Trump administration means we need to fight and the Democrats don’t fight for us,” she said. Laika, who is also a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, said that our strategy moving forward must be to defend the most vulnerable and oppressed communities, such as Black Trans women.

Syed Ali Hasan, from People United Against Oppression, described the wave of fear which has swept through the Muslim community in the wake of the election but also reminded the crowd that for Muslims the election was a choice between Trump’s racist attacks and Clinton’s policy of domestic surveillance and infiltration of the Muslim community. “This system has failed us,” he said.

A group of Morton College students also spoke about how their lives have been effected by the election. Kassandra Suarez was moved to tears: “This is my first time in a space like this, to be supported as a Latina, as a woman … there are no words to say thank you.”

Chanel Jeffries, an ANSWER volunteer, spoke about growing up as a Queer Black woman in the South.

Yiran Zhang, a graduate student from Loyola University, again urged the crowd to organize and to defend the most oppressed communities who are under the greatest threat from the reactionary wave.

Mary Dean from Centro Autonomo, the community center which hosted the mass meeting, spoke about her own experiences traveling to countries devastated by American imperialism. “I have been to Honduras and Guatemala and Afghanistan. I have seen first hand the result of US foreign policy,” she said.

Pat Hunt of CODEPink told the crowd that she was thrilled to see so many young people coming together to join the movement against Trump.

John Beacham, the coordinator of ANSWER Chicago and organizer of the November 9 anti-Trump protest, stated that while Trump and Clinton both serve the interests of the ruling class, the election of a man so manifestly bigoted and semi-fascistic as Trump is an opportunity for those willing to fight for a better society. “Movements start when the powers that be go too far,” he said. Facing a crowd of hundreds of people of all races, sexualities, and genders he said, “This is the future. People coming together to fight back.”

Other speakers at the meeting included Gregory Lucero and, Joe Iosbaker from the Freedom Road Socialist Organization/FightBack! and Jesus Rodriguez-Espinoza from the Venezuelan Consulate.

Comrades on a bus

Joe Iosbaker January 12 2019·

With Jackson Potter, Matt Ginsberg-Jaeckle, Sussan Navabi and Ryan Patrick Donnelly.