Fighting back in 2020: Pandemic, uprising, economic crash, and the fall of Trump

At the end of every year, we highlight the high points of struggle from that year as reported in Fight Back! News. In 2020 there was a tidal wave of struggle, and Fight Back! News has been on the front lines with on-the-spot reporting and timely analysis.

From the Trump administration’s disastrous handling of the pandemic and the economic crash it triggered, to the huge uprising sparked by the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis that spread around the country, to the struggle to defeat Trump in the November election and then prevent him from stealing the election, 2020 was quite a year for the people’s movements.

With so much going on, it can be easy to forget some of the things our movements have accomplished. That makes it all the more important to look back and review the lessons from this year’s resistance so we can move forward stronger.

Since there were so many Fight Back! articles covering important struggles this year, there’s no way we can include everything that was important. So we’ll do the best we can by highlighting some of the most important articles from each month of 2020.

There were many excellent Fight Back! articles that aren’t listed here — you can see them all at the archive, and you can also see the 2017, 2018 and 2019 retrospectives.

First, we’d like to recognize the people that Fight Back! wrote about who passed away in 2020 and say in their honor: ¡presente!

• Feeder driver William Young of Teamsters Local 710 passes from coronavirus
• FRSO condemns the murder of Communist Party of the Philippines leader Julius Giron
• Minneapolis vigil honors Carlos Ernesto Escobar-Mejia, first person to die of COVID-19 in ICE detention
• On the passing of Michael Lucas, immigrant organizer and friend of Soviet people
• Tribute to the outstanding communist Ka Fidel V. Agcaoili
• Philippines: On the murder of NDFP consultants Eugenia Magpantay and Agaton Topacio
• FRSO Portland denounces extrajudicial police killing of Michael Reinoehl
• Maradona, worldwide soccer icon and outspoken anti-imperialist, dies at age 60
• Alan Canfora presente!

Here are some exclusive interviews that Fight Back! published in 2020

• Interview with Nicaraguan Sandinista youth leader Rosalía Bohórquez
• Afro-Venezuelan socialist youth leader’s message to the people of the U.S.
• National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression relaunch a success: Interview with Frank Chapman
• Interview with Italian communists on COVID-19 impact and the working class
• Interview with Tom Burke of FRSO on Trump’s war moves against Venezuela
• Interview with Charlotte Kates on COVID-19 threat in Israeli jails, fight to free Palestinian political prisoners
• Interview with Andy Brooks of New Communist Party of Britain on the COVID-19 pandemic
• Interview with Masao Suzuki: On the growing economic crisis, unemployment and Marxist political economy
• Interview with Frank Chapman: Leader of National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression talks about mobilizing against police crimes
• Interview with Frank Chapman: One year after refounding the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression

And here are some of the deeper historical and theoretical articles published in Fight Back! this year:

• Learning from Harry Haywood in the fight for Black freedom and socialism
• Minneapolis: ‘Disband, defund,’ or community control, of the police
• Resist U.S. government repression, build a revolutionary movement
• May 1970: Two weeks when an anti-war uprising changed history
• Commentary: Australian bush fires are a product of capitalism
• Report from China: COVID-19 a tale of two systems
• Eyewitness China: How socialism is defeating COVID-19
• The COVID-19 pandemic and the African American Nation
• Reading Dickens during the pandemic
• Engels at 200: He transformed dreams of better world into a science for liberation
• Book Review: Lenin’s What is to be Done?
• 150 years after the birth of V.I. Lenin: Long Live Leninism!
• How the USSR made the World War II victory over German fascism a reality
• 103 years since October Revolution
• 45th anniversary of Vietnam’s victory over U.S. imperialism
• Carnage and important historical lessons abound in book ‘The Jakarta Method’
• The time is now to join a revolutionary organization: Join Freedom Road Socialist Organization

And now let’s look at the top 10 articles from each month. Usually we wouldn’t highlight this many articles. But in a year with such a high tide of struggle, there is a lot to look back on and learn from.

January

• Milwaukee meets Trump with huge protest
• Juan Guaidó, the political joke of Venezuela
• Stand with the people of Iran and Iraq against the U.S. wars of aggression!
• Families and activists blast St. Paul Police Department’s “Decade of Disgrace”
• Jacksonville demands community control of the police, justice for Kwame
• Opening plenary kicks off World Anti-Imperialist Congress
• Venezuelans celebrate one year of resistance to U.S. coup attempt
• Coalition to March on DNC threatens lawsuit as Milwaukee government denies democratic rights
• USPCN Rejects “Deal of the Century”
• East LA demands: “No war against Iran”

February

• Tallahassee residents demand removal of killer cop Police Chief Lawrence Revell
• Milwaukee area law enforcement kill two people in one week
• Sanders wins the most votes in Iowa Caucus
• Minneapolis: Hundreds attend Black History month events featuring Frank Chapman
• New York MTA wages war on the poor and working class
• Free Gerald Reed Now!
• San Jose Day of Remembrance marks 40th anniversary with large turnout
• Minnesota progressives say ‘Don’t vote for Amy Klobuchar’
• “We want to show the DNC that the people have the power,” says Milwaukee coalition
• Milwaukee Public Museum workers confront the board of directors

March

• A progressive agenda for COVID-19 pandemic preparedness
• Klobuchar rally canceled, rally to free Myon Burrell takes center stage
• COVID-19 cases top 100,000 worldwide as Trump continues to reject science, downplay problem
• FRSO labor delegation joins Venezuelan march defending the Bolivarian government
• Commentary: Phony Civilian Oversight bill defeated in Chicago
• Lights out as capitalist economies grind towards halt
• Minnesota: Hennepin County workers fight back in times of crisis
• Car protest at Gov. Walz’s mansion demands immediate release of immigrants in Minnesota jails
• The U.S. should be working with China to end the Pandemic, Not provoking a new cold war
• Minnesota: Nurses at M Health hospitals vote “No confidence” on COVID-19 response

April

• Confronting Amazon: Why Teamsters need to organize Amazon
• Family and community speak out against Tallahassee police killing of Mychael Johnson
• Chicago: Over 200 cars join protest demanding mass release from jails, detention centers
• Freedom Road Socialist Organization condemns attacks on Asian Americans
• Tampa UPS Teamsters win demands for gloves, hand sanitizer and masks
• NYC death rates from COVID-19 reveal class division and national oppression
• Racism and COVID-19 in Tallahassee
• Right-wing protest echoes Trump demand to restart economy, endangering workers’ lives
• Largest economic decline since the Great Depression
• Bad news for Teamsters, UPS begins drone deliveries

May

• Boyle Heights celebrates May Day for the 6th consecutive year
• Postal workers and the fight to save USPS
• National Alliance Statement on the Lynching of Ahmaud Arbery
• Wisconsin: COVID – 19 outbreaks at Brown County meat packing plants show hypocrisy of “essential worker” designation
• Wisconsin FRSO condemns state Supreme Court ruling that ends ‘safer-at-home’
• Boisterous Nakba Day car rally rolls through Minneapolis suburb
• Boyle Heights demands firing of LAPD’s Frank Hernandez and justice for Richard Castillo
• Minnesota union nurses hold huge socially-distanced picket and march for safety
• Over 20,000 march demanding justice for George Floyd
• Justice for George Floyd! Indict and convict the killer cops! Community control of the police now!

June

• 100,000-plus join protests called by National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression
• Jax Fraternal Order of Police president threatens local teacher
• Armed Chicanos in Texas lead Black Lives Matter protest
• Rebellion wins demand: All four Minneapolis police charged in murder of George Floyd
• Native Americans pull down Christopher Columbus statue at Minnesota Capitol
• Stock market tanks as reality sinks in
• Thousands march and caravan for community control of Chicago police
• Protest demanding end to police crimes meets Trump visit in Green Bay, WI
• Coloradans demand justice for Elijah McClain
• Palestinians will resist annexation and occupation and fight for national liberation

July

• Black, trans, working-class legacy of Pride at Tallahassee’s BLM Stonewall March and Rally
• Roll 4 Justice – Protest on wheels demands justice for all on July 4 in Minneapolis
• Chicago protest against Duterte’s terror law
• Grand Rapids demands ‘Justice for Vanessa Guillen!’
• Michigan workers rally and march for unemployment extensions
• Black lives matter victories at University of Texas-Arlington
• Teamsters across the country petition for O’Brien-Zuckerman
• Hundreds take to the streets in Salt Lake demanding community control of police
• Federal officers seen dragging protesters into unmarked vans in Portland
• Stand with the resistance in Portland!

August

• Rebellion reignites in Chicago
• Meatpackers fired for asking for COVID precautions, organize a picket to fight back
• Families hold vigil for Jesse Romero and Omar Gonzalez, victims of LAPD’s Eden Medina
• Movement for community control of the police wins big in Jacksonville primary elections
• Hundreds march on the DNC in Milwaukee, ‘We can’t breathe!’
• Uprising underway in Kenosha, WI after the police shooting of Jacob Blake
• Blue lives supporter Kyle Rittenhouse shoots three in Kenosha, killing two
• The battle for the United States Postal Service
• Protesters clash with police in downtown Minneapolis, mayor summons National Guard
• NBA’s Bucks and MLB’s Brewers strike games to demand justice for Jacob Blake

September

• Thousands in East LA protest for 50th Chicano Moratorium anniversary | In photos | Video
• SDS chapters from across the Midwest meet in Kenosha to protest Trump, police brutality
• Trump must be defeated
• Protesters reject police repression against the Tally14—hours later, police strike again
• TCC4J statement on court hearing for George Floyd’s murderers
• New Orleans trans community celebrates name change, housing victories, keeps up fight
• The West Coast is burning, and capitalism is to blame
• UIC: Largest strike since start of the economic crisis
• Tallahassee rallies for community control of the police – CPAC now!
• Thousands march for Breonna Taylor in NYC

October

• Communist and Workers Party’s declaration for the repatriation and freedom of Simón Trinidad
• Community control of police takes the stage during Trump-Biden presidential debate
• Technical workers strike at two Twin Cities hospitals
• Wisconsin: Mass arrests, tear gas, National Guard used against protesters
• Students and youth webinar launching campaign for police accountability
• Tampa activists rally against anti-protest bill
• Poughkeepsie march against violence facing Black women and Black trans women
• Commentary on Bolivia: How a coup failed
• East LA rally against police killings calls to oust LA DA Jackie Lacey, Trump on Nov. 3
• Large caravan through Miami demands end to Cuba blockade

November

• Don’t let Trump steal the election! Take to the streets to demand a people’s agenda!
• Green Bay, WI: Vigil and caravan for Donna Christensen and missing, murdered indigenous women
• Minnesota: 646 arrested at ‘Don’t Let Trump Steal the Election’ march
• Pro-cop DA Jackie Lacey defeated, millions vote in Los Angeles
• Gipp family holds angelversary for Ryan Gipp at Standing Rock Reservation
• FRSO joins Anti-imperialist Working Class World Summit
• 5 years after police murder of Jamar Clack, justice demanded in North Minneapolis
• Tallahassee students rally against political repression, demand Community Police Accountability Council
• Jacksonville protests FL governor’s anti-protester bill, demands justice for victims of police crimes
• The defeat of Trump and the road ahead

December

• Native Lives Matter holds candlelight vigil on National Day of Mourning
• One year later: Demand justice for Frank Ordonez, Teamster killed by police
• Job growth grinds to a halt as Trump plans holiday parties
• Big win for Venezuela’s PSUV, assurance for President Maduro
• AZ educators organize sickout amid highest rate of COVID-19
• Jacksonville rallies for justice for Devon Gregory and community control of the police
• Major victory in MN: ‘Myon is free!’
• Green Bay, WI: Body cams for cops now required, struggle for justice for Jonathon Tubby continues
• People of Milwaukee defeat the COPS grant
• National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression demands release of Filipino trade unionists