Tracy Molm

Tracy Molm

Tracy Molm is a 29-year-old socialist activist based in Minnesota.

Minnesota Abortion Action Coalition

According to Siobhan Moore – Chants of “When abortion rights are under attack, what do we do? Stand up fight back!” could be heard up and down Chicago Avenue and 41st Streets in South Minneapolis on Thursday, August 18, 2022 as 40 protesters gathered outside the Tandem Family Resource Center - one of Minnesota’s now-infamous “crisis pregnancy centers” - for a rally for women’s and reproductive rights. The action was organized by the newly formed Minnesota Abortion Action Coalition (MNAAC) to demand an end to state funding for Tandem and other “crisis pregnancy centers” like it.

Speaking for the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Coalition, Montana Hirsch made clear that the struggle for immigrant rights and access to abortion are inseparable, also pointing out that “Crisis pregnancy centers like Tandem that exist in close proximity to a largely Spanish-speaking immigrant community are intentionally deceptive, not only to English speakers but even more so to those who are not native English speakers.”

David Gilbert-Pederson, speaking for MN Workers United, outlined the evident connection between the working-class struggle and the fight for women’s and reproductive rights, explaining that abortion bans are only bans for working and oppressed people, while the wealthy carry on with business as usual.

Olivia Crull of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization echoed that sentiment, explaining, “The only reason why we have these rights is because they were fought for and won through struggle in the streets” and outlined the need for a united struggle: “We need a united fight- we need a fight that includes women, that includes trans folks, that includes non-binary folks because we need to recognize that our struggles come from the same source.”

Other speakers included Sarah Olson of Women Against Military Madness, Gillian Rath from Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Minnesota, Jaelynne Palmer of the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar, and Tracy Molm of the Climate Justice Committee. Speakers urged people to call in to the governor’s office to demand an end to state funding for these centers and funding for actual abortion clinics and health care. Flyers with call-in details were handed out.

FRSO Presents International Women's Day

Event by Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Freedom Road Socialist Organization - Tampa and 3 others

Saturday, March 6, 2021 at 6 PM EST – 8 PM EST

Join us for our International Women's Day event! We'll be hearing from different forces from around the country about how to organize for socialism to deal blows against patriarchy and gender oppression! Speakers:

• Syd Loving, Coordinator for the Dallas Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression
• Tracy Molm, FRSO
• Cherrene Horazuk, labor leader
• Marisol Marquez, Chicana activist and FRSO member
• Elizabeth Kramer, Labor Organizer

Comparing candidates

According Wyatt Miller October 24, 2020 on October 20 2020 , the Minnesota Anti-War Committee (AWC) held an online discussion on the foreign policies of President Donald Trump and his rival in the upcoming election, former Vice President Joe Biden. Members of the longstanding Twin Cities-based street protest group compared the platforms and records of each candidate from an anti-war perspective.

Overall, the group condemned U.S. interventions abroad under Trump’s leadership, and affirmed the need for change. But panelists agreed that the anti-war movement would need to push back against a Biden administration for similar reasons.

“Trump has done a lot of posturing as anti-war, and sadly some people have fallen for it in a big way,” explained Drake Myers. “Most Americans oppose war, so the snake oil salesman says he's anti-war and people want to believe it. Other times, when he wants to appeal to his base, he plays up xenophobia and supports torture.”

Myers continued, “The Biden campaign is putting out ads where he’s saying that he'll support the troops, and how more national security officials and generals support him than Trump. These are not good endorsements. These are a signal of Biden cozying up to the exact wrong people there in Washington.”

Panelists agreed that none of their remarks should be considered endorsements for a particular candidate. Topics ranged from Venezuela to Palestine to Trump’s new Cold War with China.

“Biden believes we should be supporting the Venezuelan people while continuing the sanctions - something that makes zero sense,” Tracy Molm explained. “The sanctions are what are causing hardship in Venezuela.”

Molm was part of a delegation to Venezuela in 2019 where she witnessed the failed April 30 coup led by U.S.-supported political operative Juan Guaido. Despite Biden’s stance, she said, “Biden has some better positions domestically and I think it would create a better atmosphere for us to be able to continue to fight for Venezuela. But we must continue to stand up, no matter who’s in charge.”

Meredith Aby-Keirstead saw grounds for hope in the growing criticisms of U.S. aid to Israel in political discourse. “We need to be ready to continue our protests in the streets for a free Palestine regardless of who is elected in November. The Anti-War Committee is ready to do so and we hope you are too,” she said.

Autumn Lake highlighted Trump’s vilification of China, which continued the Obama-Biden administration’s Pivot to Asia military buildup in the region.

“The Trump administration’s framing of the COVID-19 crisis as the fault of China has directly caused the recent rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans,” Lake said. “With this in mind, it becomes clear that the Trump administration doesn’t have human rights in mind when it escalates conflict with China.”

South High student Zach Moore spoke for the newly formed Climate Justice Committee (CJC). Moore connected impending climate disaster with the U.S. military’s greenhouse gas emissions and record of environmental destruction. “Biden wants to speak of a U.S.-led effort against climate change when he won’t even discuss the military’s leading effort in causing climate change,” he said.

“In the end we know that yes, we must defeat Trump. But we cannot give into illusions about who Biden is or what he will do,” Moore continued. “We cannot just demand small action decades in the future. We must demand climate justice now!”

Both the Anti-War Committee and the Climate Justice Committee plan to join a large demonstration set to take place on November 4, the day after the election. That event is part of a nationwide call by the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression for protests to enact a people’s mandate for change in policing, the pandemic response, and the economic system.

Fight Back! supporter

Fight Back! / ¡Lucha y Resiste! is a Facebook group for readers and supporters of Fight Back! / ¡Lucha y Resiste! the newspaper of Freedom Road Socialist Organization/FightBack!

As of July 5 2020 members included Tracy Molm.

Delegation to Venezuela

The Freedom Road Socialist Organization/FightBack! is sending a delegation to Venezuela for May Day, and the delegates need your help to get there.

Four labor and anti-war activists will participate in the FRSO delegation to do eyewitness reporting for Fight Back! News. Sean Orr, Tracy Molm, Tom Burke and Mark Burton will write articles, conduct interviews and produce videos. They need your support and donations to make this a success.

We are asking all comrades and allies who support the Bolivarian Revolution and believe in international solidarity to help us cover our travel costs. Donate what you can, and share far and wide. Solidarity!

Meeting with communists

On their first day in Venezuela, April 28, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization/FightBack! delegation held a two-hour meeting with members of Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV) Central Committee and leaders of the Communist Youth of Venezuela.

The FRSO delegation is headed by Organizational Secretary Tom Burke.

The groups shared their views on the revolutionary struggle in both of their countries, and the importance of international solidarity.

Pedro Eusse, a PCV Politburo member and trade union leader, said "If there is anything positive about the U.S. aggression we face today, it is that there has been an explosion of solidarity from the United States and around the world."

Both groups agreed to move towards a closer working relationship in the future.

The Freedom Road Socialist Organization/FightBack! delegation in Venezuela met the Minister of Communes Blanca Eckhout, after her triumphant speech about building 2.6 million new homes. Eckhout quoted Hugo Chavez, saying, "Our new society cannot be capitalist because capitalism is designed to destroy our homeland, our society and our people."

The FRSO delegation also met with communists, progressive political figures and members of Venezuela’s government.

Public Facebook group

Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Minnesota Public group 2017.

Admins and Moderators

• Tracy Molm Works at Turbo Tim's Anything Automotive
• Anna Egelhoff University of Minnesota
• Kelly O'Brien GED Program Manager at Summit Academy OIC
• Christopher Getowicz University of Illinois Chicago

Palestine Interview

Fight Back!January 1, 2005: You traveled to Palestine with a delegation of other people from the U.S. Why did you go?

Tracy Molm: I had the opportunity to hear a lot of firsthand accounts from visiting Palestinians who are fighting to free their country. The resistance of the Palestinian people to the apartheid policies of Israel is incredibly moving and I wanted to see the struggle for myself. So I decided to join the delegation of Internationals for Justice in Palestine, which was hosted by Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees and a student group at Birzeit University. We traveled to Jenin, Nabulus, Tulkarem, Ramallah, Haifa and a number of other towns and villages.

Fight Back!: ‘Suicide bombing’ or martyrdom operations have caused a lot of controversy in the West. What was the attitude of Palestinian people towards this?

Tracy Molm: Palestinians always refer to this type of action as martyrdom bombings, which is very telling for how it is viewed by the people. Because of the checkpoints and the wall, one of the few militant methods that continues to show results is martyrdom bombings.

In general, anyone who resists the occupation, especially militantly, is viewed as someone who is truly free by the Palestinian people.

Fight Back!: The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) is one of the most important organizations fighting to free Palestine. What kind of presence did you see from the PFLP?

Tracy Molm: The PFLP is a very dynamic group, and unlike any other group they have invested much of their work into the building of Palestinian civil society, so they work very hard to help Palestinians get educated and to develop social programs that will continue to develop the society. Thus I think their strength cannot just be measured in numbers but also must look at their integral role in Palestinian society and I think that is very strong right now.

I also was able to see that they had a marked presence at all of the hunger strike tents, with many of their members being imprisoned and much support for them as an important part of the Palestinian struggle. This presence could especially be seen at the three demonstrations that I was a part of. One was a memorial for the late PFLP leader Abu Ali Mustafa. Although the demonstration was a remembrance of that great leader’s assassination three years ago, the march included many people from many groups who were part of the hunger strike.

Fight Back!: Did people in Palestine talk about U.S. aid to Israel?

Tracy Molm: Oh yes, we were lucky to meet with refugees from the largest refugee camp in the West Bank - Balata. When asked what they would want us to bring home and tell people in the U.S. they told us overwhelmingly that they want us to work to end the foreign aid coming from the United States. Refugees are the people who have seen the effects of our aid, in the forced removal of Palestinians from villages and the continued violence and oppression that they face daily. And other Palestinians we met with also told us how we need to act against U.S. military aid that allows the occupation of Palestine to continue.

Teamster sisters

Dave Schneider March 8, 2017.

Shout out to my Teamster sisters out there on this International Women's Day. #IWD #unionPOWER — with Charman Morgan-Davis, Tracy Molm, Joan-Elaine Miller, Alexus Dickerson and Margie Tillman.

MIRAC off to Cleveland and the RNC to Dump Trump

Bruce Nestor · July 17, 2016 ·

MIRAC off to Cleveland and the RNC to Dump Trump — with Adriana Cerrillo, Austin Jensen, Rosemary Williams, Rick Jacobs, Sarah Martin, Tracy Molm, Sara Beth Anderson, Maggie Kilgo, Maze De Raccoon, Florencio Campos, Matt Boyntron and Sophia Emily.

FRSO

In 2008 Kati Ketz, Tracy Molm and Kosta Harlan were members of the Student Commission of Freedom Road Socialist Organization/FightBack!.

Molm has written for the FRSO's newspaper, FightBack!

FRSO Freedom School

25 student and anti-war activists from Milwaukee, Madison, Chicago and Minneapolis attended the Freedom School, a one-day study hosted by the Freedom Road Socialist Organization/FightBack!.

The study was broken up into four sessions: U.S. Imperialism and Our Movement Against War and Occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan; Immigrant Rights and the Struggle for Chicano Liberation; Theory and Practice: the Mass Line; and The Need for Revolution: Why You Should Join the FRSO.

Tracy Molm, an organizer with University of Minnesota Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), said the study was good at deepening an analysis on imperialism.

"The study stressed that imperialism is not a foreign policy, but rather a period that exists when advanced capitalist economies driven by monopolies divide up the entire world in seeking more profit. We talked about how we’re working to replace imperialism with a system that fosters peace and justice,” she commented.

The study on immigrant rights and Chicano liberation was co-chaired by student organizer Chance Zombor. Zombor presented FRSO’s views on the immigrant rights movement, and noted “The study was particularly helpful to the student organizers of Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán and Students for a Democratic Society who have been organizing against Arizona’s SB1070 and wanted greater understanding of how the fight for immigrant rights is part of the revolutionary struggle to liberate the Chicano nation from imperialism.”

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. Molm was one of those whose home was raided and who is being investigated by the FBI.

FBI raids

The material that the FBI copied and returned comes from the homes of Twin Cities activists Jess Sundin, Steff Yorek, Mick Kelly, Meredith Aby, Anh Pham and Tracy Molm and the office of the Anti-War Committee. All of them are among the 23 anti-war and international solidarity activists summoned to appear in front of a Chicago grand jury headed by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, investigating ‘material support for terrorism.’

Grand Jury

A showdown is in the making between the government and three Twin Cities anti-war activists targeted by the FBI. Tracy Molm, Anh Pham and Sarah Martin have received word from the U.S. Attorney’s Office that that they will be called to appear in front of a Chicago Grand Jury.

The three were among those targeted when the FBI raided their homes on Sept. 24 and handed out subpoenas to 14 activists in Illinois, Minnesota and Michigan to testify before a federal grand jury. All of them submitted legal documents invoking their Fifth Amendment rights and did not appear before the Grand Jury. Now, Molm, Pham and Martin are being told that they will nevertheless have to appear in front of the Grand Jury.

International Women's Day

Minneapolis, MN, Waite House, March 8, 2011, the 10th anniversary of International Women's Day, sponsored by Freedom Road Socialist Organization/FightBack!.

The speakers were: Jess Sundin a leader of the Anti-War Committee and Freedom Road Socialist Organization/FightBack!. She is one of the anti-war and international solidarity activists targeted by the FBI and grand jury. Sarah Jane Olson Former political prisoner from involvement with revolutionary movement in the 1970s. Long-time Twin Cities resident and anti-apartheid activist Tracy Molm an organizer with Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Minnesota, she is one of the activists targeted by the FBI and grand jury. Luce Guillen Givins of the RNC 8, unjustly charged with felonies for protests at the Republican National Convention, 2008.

WAMM

In 2011, Sarah Martin, was co-chair of Women Against Military Madness. Tracy Molm and Anh Pham have worked with WAMM in the Iraq Peace Action Coalition and other coalitions to organize non-violent anti-war educational events and protests, including at the Republican National Convention, speaking out against the atrocities of war and injustice.

"Minneapolis: Celebrate May Day - International Workers Day 2015"

Sunday 26 April 2015, "Minneapolis: Celebrate May Day - International Workers Day 2015" organized by Freedom Road Socialist Organization/FightBack!. Location TBA.

Those indicating attendance on Wherevent included Katherine Elizabeth, Jessica Schwartz, Steph Ross Taylor, Christina Field, Doug Jadzia Sembla, Mary Padilla Cristobal Aldana, Alisha Olson, Kim DeFranco, Jess Sundin, Cassandra Hendricks, Cherrene Horazuk, Julia Russ, Zandra Dee , Loretta VanPelt, Tracy Molm, Hannan Ayoub, Khin Oo, Tracey Plk, Kim Smith, Hoda Isak, Alexandra Vagac, Laura Hoffman, Meredith Aby-Keirstead, Jessie Gavilanes, Amy Selvius, Penelope Mace, Beatriz Hernandez, Marisol Marquez, Laye Kwamina-Barry, Cory Eggert, Lion Ras, Kuntal Chatterjee, Andy Carhart, Sean Orr, Rahul Choudhury Boro, Andrew McNally, Cleveland Savage, Jesus Estrada-Perez, Julio Alberto Martinez, Fern Figueroa, Ryan A. Smith, Joshua Cromarty, Brad Sigal, Tim Nolan, Edward Hahn, Cody Gilbert, Timmy McDonough, Mick Kelly, Jigme Ugen, Manuel Berduc.

FightBack! news supporter, 2016

Trump’s "Muslim ban" protest

Minneapolis, MN - On June 26 2018, over 600 protesters rallied at the U.S. Federal Courthouse in Minneapolis and then marched through downtown to protest the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to uphold President Trump’s Muslim ban. The rally was organized by the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the MN Anti-War Committee (AWC) as an emergency response to the Court’s 5-4 decision in Trump v. Hawaii.

Since being elected, President Trump has tried to implement his Muslim ban three times. Each time, thousands of Minnesotans have taken to the streets and to the airport to call Trump out on his attempt to put anti-Muslim bigotry into law.

Jaylani Hussein, executive director of CAIR - Minnesota, started off the protest. “I am here today on land stolen from Native Americans. I am standing here today with still the fear, the anger, all the emotions that we have felt this week - in North Minneapolis with Thurman Blevins loss. I am here today with the same horrific feeling that we saw on the border of this nation when children were removed from their parents and put into child prisons. I am here today in solidarity with all of the struggles and know that many of us are reminded of this every single day. So, what I want to tell you today is they have come for the Muslims but they are coming for everybody. The Supreme Court today was wrong, and we have to say that!”

Speaker Tracy Molm, a member of the Anti-War Committee, explained the connection between Trump’s immigration policy and his foreign policy, “It is immoral for the Court to not see this ban for what it is – justification for a racist federal policy that attacks people from countries that the U.S. is bombing or threatening to bomb. We need to demand not only an end to the Muslim ban but to demand an end to U.S. drone strikes and special forces operations in Somalia, to an end to intervention in Syria, to war threats on North Korea and Iran and to threats to topple the government of Venezuela. Trump’s racist Muslim ban is directly related to his policy of expanding U.S. warfare and threats in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Latin America.”

Mohamud Mohamed, an organizer with the Young Muslims Collective, gave an impassioned speech: “If legality is a measure for morality for you then you’re doing it wrong. If every time we tell you that these things are eating at the heart of our community and are tearing us apart and you say ‘Well the state legislature passed it...I don’t know what to say’ or ‘your state rep or the mayor said it was ok’ or ‘Andrew Luger said it was moral’ ...legality can never be a measure of what is moral because we have seen what that does to our country. We’ve seen policies that have pursued that we have known for a fact are unethical and fly in the face of what it means to be human. And the only thing evil needs is the silence of good people.”

Other speakers at the rally included U.S. Representative Keith Ellison; the civil rights director from CAIR Amir Malik; Gordon Nakagawa from the Twin Cities Japanese American Citizens League; State Representative Ilhan Omar; Samantha Sanchez from the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee; Rachel English from Jewish Community Action; Sarah Brenes from Advocates from Human Rights, and Leilah Issa from the Palestinian Youth Movement.

John Keller, executive director at the Immigrant Law Center, said, “Just Sunday, President Trump explained his preference that anyone arriving on the southern border should be deprived of access to a court and deprived access to due process. These are elements of a similar policy that represents intolerance and I believe it represents a clear and present threat to our democracy.”

SDS

According to Kati Ketz March 1, 2010 Students across the country are mobilizing for a nationwide protest against tuition and fee hikes and in support of staff and faculty facing pay cuts and layoffs. Tens of thousands of students and workers across California participated in demonstrations and building takeovers in November. They were protesting the University of California Regents proposal to increase already skyrocketing tuitions. These protests are inspiring students across the country to take action to demand that universities chop from the top and stop balancing their budgets on the backs of students and workers.

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is organizing a speakout to demand a tuition freeze and demanding the chancellor and high-level administrators take at least a 5% pay cut. Jacob Flom from SDS at the UWM says, “SDS helped put together a strong coalition of 20 organizations, including faculty and graduate student unions, to demand more accountability and to stop cuts that affect students and staff. We have been talking to students and getting petitions signed, talking to classes and professors, doing banner drops and blanketing the campus in fliers.”

Tracy Molm from University of Minnesota SDS said, “SDS is organizing students to participate in what is going to be a large rally and march for education rights. We are demanding smaller class sizes and no tuition hikes, as well as no forced furlough days for both staff and faculty. The students on campus are energized and ready to fight back against the cuts.”

At the University of North Carolina-Asheville, SDSers are trying to raise awareness about education rights struggles throughout the country, both past and present. Rachel McLarty of UNCA SDS says, “We’re showing the movie Walkout [a movie about the 1968 East Los Angeles high school walkouts] during the week of March 4. We are also bringing UCLA [University of California-Los Angeles] SDS activist Charla Schlueter to campus later in March to speak about the current situation in California, including the March 4 protests. We are trying to raise awareness around education rights on campus and are standing in solidarity with students across the country fighting back.”

SDS UM Twin Cities

In 2008 Tracy Molm, Kyle Johnson, were contacts for University of Minnesota-Twin Cities SDS.

References

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