Tyner to speak on fight for equality

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Jarvis Tyner, executive vice chair of the Communist Party USA and a founder of the Black Radical Congress, will keynote the People’s Weekly World 31st Annual African American History Month celebration in Connecticut on Feb. 27.

Around the theme “From Selma to Ohio — Dismantling the roadblocks to equality in 2005,” the event will highlight the 40th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act and project the struggles ahead to defeat the Bush agenda. The event will be held on Sunday, Feb. 27, at 4 p.m. at the New Haven People’s Center, 37 Howe Street.

Tyner comes to New Haven at a time of great fightback in the city and nation for affordable housing, jobs, and health care, to preserve Social Security and end the occupation of Iraq. The local struggle of Winchester workers for job security in their current contract negotiations, as well as the struggle of hospital workers for the right to organize will be reflected.

“We must never forget the days in Selma, Alabama,” the call to the event stated. “We can look back and see all the gains and accomplishments made over the decades. Moving the people’s agenda forward is key to our society. The reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act in 2007 will allow us to educate and mobilize and move more people to equal ground.”

Tyner has a long history in the struggle for civil rights. He has been an active participant in the movement since the early 1960s and has written extensively on the subject of the struggle against racism and its relationship to working-class liberation. His most recent pamphlet, “The Republican Campaign to Suppress The Black Vote — A Racist Conspiracy,” was written during the 2004 presidential election.

More than 250 drawings by children on the theme “Make Your Voice Heard — The World Would be Better If …” will be on exhibit. The kids created their pictures on Martin Luther King’s birthday at the Peabody Museum in New Haven. Poetry, drums, music and a buffet dinner will round out the afternoon.

The suggested donation is $5 or whatever you can afford. Contributions for the 2005 People’s Weekly World fund drive will be accepted. For information call (203) 624-8664.