Poetry Corner: Let America be America again by Langston Hughes
Let America be American again by Langston Hughes, 1936
YCL USA on George Floyd protests
Maicol Lynch of the YCL USA Organising Committee talks to Johnnie Hunter about the protests in the United States surrounding the murder of George Floyd for ChallengeTV.
USA shamed by police violence amid George Floyd protests
In Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington DC, New York and other US cities, protesters have been attacked by police forces amid demonstrations over the murder of George Floyd. Protests over the murder of the African-American man, George Floyd, continued in at least 30 cities in the United States on Saturday, with Minneapolis as the epicentre, where […]
Black man, George Floyd, murdered by US police in Minneapolis
Late Monday on night (25 May 2020) footage emerged from Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, showing the murder of George Floyd, an unarmed 46 yr old black year but US police.
The footage shows Floyd handcuffed and pinned to the ground with one police officer’s knee pressing against his neck, while Floyd protested that he could not breathe. This went on for five minutes, all on camera, until Floyd eventually passed out. He died in hospital a short while later.
3 weeks on: US silence following terrorist attack on Cuban Embassy
Cuba’s Foreign Ministry was yesterday (21 May 2020) demanding answers from the United States three weeks after the island’s embassy in Washington was the target of a terrorist attack on 30 April 2020.
The Cuban Embassy in Washington, only a few blocks from the White House, was attacked by Alexander Alazo Baró with an AK-47. 32 rounds were fired at the building, with a clear intention to kill diplomatic staff – although thankfully no one was killed in the attack.
China pledges COVID-19 vaccine will be “global public good”
Speaking at the 73rd World Health Assembly (WHA) yesterday (18 May 2020) via video link, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that any vaccine to COVID-19 developed by China would be made available as a “global public good”.
Why Latin America’s oldest insurgent communist army is growing
Embedded researcher Oliver Dodd who lived among the armed guerrilla forces of the ELN (Ejército de Liberación Nacional – National Liberation Army) of Colombia, explains their origins, theory and practice.
When founded in 1964, the ELN was, strategically and tactically speaking, inspired by the Cuban Revolution, which proved that a determined and well-organised political-military movement, could bring a solidly US-backed dictatorship to its knees.
Poetry Corner: VE Day 75 – Will V-Day Be Me-Day Too?
As part of the celebrations around the 75th Anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, Challenge’s Poetry Corner will be featuring a selection of poems from across the world, inspired by the war and its events.
Here we feature Will V-Day Be Me-Day Too? written by Langston Hughes. The poem is written from the perspective of a black US serviceman. It is a profound comment on the profound and structural racism on which the USA is and was based and the sad fact that black servicemen were abroad fighting to defeat the same racist and oppressive ideologies they were forced to endure at home.
Venezuela thwarts ‘Bay of Pigs’ style incursion
As the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, began to rise in the early hours of Sunday (3 May 2020) a group of terrorist mercenaries, believed to have come from neighbouring Colombia, attempted to carry out an invasion by sea, in the town of Macuto, about 21 miles North of the capital city.
The Venezuelan government reported that the objective of this incursion was to commit terrorist acts in the country as well as also promoting violence across the South American nation.
