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Month: October 2025

16 October 1968: Tommie Smith and John Carlos celebrate Olympic victory with a Black Power salute

This week in working class history


15/10/2025

The 1968 Olympics were always going to be political. The US war in Vietnam was intensifying, and the world was still reeling from the aftermath of the student riots and general strike in France—as well as uprisings in Prague. Martin Luther King was assassinated in April, giving new strength to an increasingly militant movement against racism in the US. Then, ten days before the opening ceremony, Mexican security forces massacred hundreds of protesters in Tlatelolco Square.

Before the Olympics, the Olympic Project for Human Rights—a group of Black athletes—called for a boycott unless its four demands were met: remove white supremacist Avery Brundage as head of the International Olympic Committee, hire more Black coaches, expel South Africa and Rhodesia from the Games, and restore Muhammad Ali’s heavyweight boxing title (stripped after he refused to fight in Vietnam).

The boycott didn’t gain much traction, but Black athletes were not going to be silent. On 16 October, the second day of the Games, Tommie Smith won gold in the 200 metres, while John Carlos took bronze. Before stepping onto the winner’s podium, Smith and Carlos each wore one black glove. As the Star-Spangled Banner played, they raised their fists in a Black Power salute. They wore no shoes to symbolise Black poverty, and beads and scarves to protest lynching.

The press was outraged. The Los Angeles Times accused Smith and Carlos of making a “Nazi-like salute.” The Chicago Tribune called it “an act contemptuous of the United States” and “an insult to their countrymen.” Brundage—who had approved the Nazi salute at the 1936 Berlin Olympics—ordered both athletes to be expelled from the Olympic Village. They were ostracised, forced to leave Mexico, and pursued by the FBI.

By taking a stand, Smith and Carlos became heroes to millions of downtrodden Black US-Americans. But racism persists—inside and outside sport. As Carlos later reflected, Black athletes “thought that winning medals would supersede or protect them from racism. But even if you won a medal, it ain’t going to save your momma. It ain’t going to save your sister or children. It might give you 15 minutes of fame, but what about the rest of your life?” Their struggle continues.

News from Berlin and Germany, 15th October 2025

Weekly news round-up from Berlin and Germany


NEWS FROM BERLIN

Police beat Left Party politicians

Two Left Party members of the Bundestag experienced police violence. They were following demonstrations in Berlin as parliamentary observers. On October 7, North Rhine-Westphalian MP Lea Reisner watched a Gaza demonstration near Alexanderplatz. A video that circulated on social media shows Reisner being punched in the face by a police officer, before he disappears into the crowd of his colleagues. On October 12, another confrontation in Wedding broke out between police and Lower Saxony MP Cem Ince. A video footage is also circulating, showing a police officer from behind the politician making several striking movements toward him. Source: taz

“They want to increase their presence on the streets”

Young, militant, and action-oriented—this is how the members of the right-wing extremist Berlin youth group “Deutsche Jugend Voran” (DJV) present themselves on their social media channels. Recently, they have increasingly appeared alongside members of “Die Heimat,” the successor party to the far-right NPD, as Stephan Kuhlmann from Mobile Beratung gegen Rechtsextremismus Berlin (MBR), observed. It is not yet clear though whether the party “Die Heimat” and the DJV will merge. However, according to Kuhlmann, members of “Die Heimat” are pushing for the rapprochement once “they want to become more visible again and increase their presence on the streets.” Source: t-online

NEWS FROM GERMANY

“Germany has let us down”

Six years ago, on October 9, 2019, a right-wing extremist attempted to storm the synagogue in Halle. The attacker failed to get through the entrance door and then shot and killed passer by JanaL. and guest Kevin S. at the nearby “Kiezdöner” restaurant. As he fled, he injured several other people, some seriously. Christina Feist, one of the survivors, complains the German authorities are not taking her and other victims seriously. She speaks of her mental health struggle, and of how complicated it was to have her related costs (partially) reimbursed by the German state. Source: taz

Peine district council decides on mandatorywork for asylum seekers

Asylum seekers in Peine, in the Lower Saxony, will be required to work in future. The district council’s decision is based on a motion by the CDU and FDP parties. According to the HAZ newspaper, the motion was passed by a majority vote. The district administration has criticised the decision once hundreds of the 850 asylum seekers currently in Peine cannot be required to work because they are minors, employed, single parents, pregnant, or enrolled in integration courses. In addition, the administration estimates that the program would cost up to €250,000 per year. The Refugee councils and the Pro Asyl association had previously rejected compulsory work for refugees, too. Source: ndr

Just a suspicion

Seydi and Aysel Özer were murdered in Dietzenbach 25 years ago. Investigators suspected the family, but without any evidence. Also, as Kahraman Özer, son and brother of the victims, remembers, the police “didn’t even search the crime scene properly. Even the weapon was later found by someone else.” The family´s lawyer has recently asked investigators to broadcast the murder case on the television program “Aktenzeichen XY… Ungelöst.” However, the public prosecutor’s office refused, arguing no new investigative leads could be expected. And Özer has been trying to get the victims´ personal belongings back from the police. The family was told that those items could “no longer be traced.” Source: taz

Hamburg wants to lock children away again

Twelve years have passed since Hamburg’s Social Affairs Senator, Detlef Scheele (SPD), announced the construction of a secure home. However, things can get more worrying. On a meadow on Klotzenmoorstieg, the construction of a new home, “Casa Luna”, has begun discreetly. There, children ages nine and up will be housed, even under detention for the initial phase. Critics point out that, despite a need for action must be taken seriously once children are being shuffled between youth welfare services and youth psychiatry, they argue that “Casa Luna” merely creates a “special unit” for the children, removed from their usual environment. Source: taz

Bundeswehr: compulsory service by lottery

The Bundeswehr demands more recruitment. People who previously only had to accept an invitation to medical examination mightbe able to be drafted into service if the military’s personnel growth targets are not met. This will be done by lottery. Matthias Miersch (SPD) asserts that this will only be used “third in line” once it is expected that service has been made attractive enough with pay increases. But ultimately, if that doesn’t produce the desired result, the rest will come into play. Whether that would be compatible with the constitutional principle of equal treatment is not a concern to this government. But there are still courts which can over turn such decisions. Source: nd-aktuell

Germany strips Palestinian of citizenship after he commemorated Hamas

One day after his German passport arrived, ‘Abdallah’ posted a picture of Hamas fighters with the caption ‘heroes of Palestine’. Soon afterwards, he received a letter from Germany’s interior ministry saying his citizenship had been revoked, according to ‘Bild’ newspaper. The country has gone further than most European countries to punish support for Hamas and curb pro-Palestinian support out of what it sees as a historic obligation to Israel and to right the wrongs of its Nazi past. It’s not clear if he will be deported, given that Germany does not recognise Palestine as a state. Source: telegraph

Help Haneen Koraz Empower Voices Through Art

Fundraiser for @animator_haneen’s animation workshops for children and women in Gaza


“The last scene stuck.” On the 7th of October, Saturday, we were all preparing to film the final scene of an animated film dealing with the issues of girls with hearing disabilities during the workshop. Meet Haneen Muhammad Koraz, Trainer and maker of stop motion cartoon films. She has worked in the field of visual arts since 2012 at the Theater Days Foundation. She participated in many local and international festivals and won many artistic awards for producing cartoon films with different topics. She won third place in the Partners Short Film Competition for producing a film for the Gaza Municipality and third place in the One Minute Film Competition with the Sawa Foundation. She participated in the International Animated Cinema Festival, In Kairouan – Tunisia. She recently received the Al-Taawoun Award for Excellence in the Cultural Sector 2022, “One Day We Will Be,” for producing “Studio Without Voices” for making cartoon films. In addition, she received grants for projects and initiatives from institutions inside and outside Palestine that support the idea of ​​making hand-made cartoon films.

From Haneen- I deeply believe that every person has the right to express himself freely, and that art, making and learning cartoon films is one of the means of free expression, audio-visually, for all segments of society. I tried to change the reality, even if just a little, for the children and women in the tents I have conducted workshops specifically for children. Children and women draw, color, discuss, play, learn using the photography program, photograph scenes, write stories that express their suffering and reality, draw cartoon characters, and record their voices on film. They have created many cartoon films. There is a film called “Queens” that talks about the suffering of children in the tent, how they live, and how they overcome the problems of water and fire, bringing firewood and bread, and not playing. The women made a film called “Red Autumn,” which talks about how the women left their homes, belongings, and rooms and migrated to other regions for fear of war, and how they lost their valuables and memories during the period of displacement.

I am Belal Koraz, the brother of Haneen. I currently live in Virginia, USA. I created this fundraiser as a way to try to get help to Haneen so she can continue her work that is so important at a time like this.

To ease the minds of any persons wanting to donate, once we receive the donations, I will wire transfer from my bank directly to my sister in Gaza. Thank you for your support at such a heartbreaking time.

You can donate to the fundraiser for Haneen here. There will be an exhibition including several of Haneen’s works in bUm on Tuesday, 21st October, 2025.

Decentralised, democratic, but disciplined – politics in 3D

As the English Left struggles to reproduce itself, positive regionalism should play a part in what comes next


14/10/2025

Two weeks after the huge far-right mobilisation in London, UKIP leader Nick Tenconi and a ragtag group of about 200 people who like to wear flags, carry crosses, and shout at hotels, hit the streets of Newcastle. Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, aka Tommy Robinson, was a no-show, presumably in court or on a sun lounger in the Med.

Around 3,000 counter-protesters gathered in the city, split between a 400-strong group blocking the far-right on the quayside and the majority rallying at Grey’s Monument.

As I listened to the speeches from community and faith leaders, local politicians and trade unionists, I looked around the sea of placards and flags. The messages of resistance had a distinctly regional flavour –‘Racism? Nah, you’re alreet pet.’ ‘Geordies are black and white. No shouty daft lad from Luton will convince me otherwise.’ ‘Haddaway and shite, fascists.’

One of the speakers was met with a cheer after saying, ‘I’ve never felt safe to proclaim I’m a Mackem in Newcastle city centre until today.’ A historic rivalry dating back to the English Civil War, when Newcastle and Sunderland were on opposing sides, was temporarily set aside and subsumed into a broader regional identity. There were groups from Scotland and Yorkshire all mingling under the numerous Northumbrian flags. Geordies, Mackems and Smoggies (Teessiders) with roots in Mumbai, Dhaka, Guangzhou, Lagos and Ramallah were all gathered in a shared sense of northern civic pride. There were no membership-tests based on skin colour or length of stay. Whether you’d just arrived or had generations of North East heritage, it didn’t matter – if you were here, you were one of us.

This was not just a demonstration against toxic English nationalism; it was a beautiful expression of inclusive regionalism.

The defiant atmosphere reached its peak when a section of the counter-demonstrators rallied outside a hotel housing some recently arrived Geordies from foreign shores. We blocked the far-right from gathering there and eventually sent them back down towards the quayside with their tails between their legs. With police lines drawn, cheeky chants of ‘your English flags are made in China’ rang out across the streets. The mood was jubilant and celebratory; we felt united.

Victory that Saturday afternoon was not always guaranteed, though. A lot had changed since the racist riots and huge counter-demonstrations of summer 2024. Reform had stormed the local elections in the North East, taking control of Durham County Council and making considerable gains in Northumberland. The racists had momentum, emboldened and validated by the Labour Prime Minister’s ‘island of strangers’ speech. Nationally, the rhetoric had ramped up from stopping the boats to mass deportations, with London witnessing the largest far-right rally in history. Just two weeks after that, the good people of the North East stood up and were counted, at a moment that felt significant.

But even as the crowds were dispersing, the recriminations on the Left kicked in. During the build-up, there had been some tension between the various anti-racist groups organising the counter demonstration. On the day, it was clear that some wanted a mass mobilisation to block the far-right at the quayside, while others wanted to keep the rally focused at the Monument. In the end, the crowd split and was spread across two locations. Huge credit to those 400 on the quayside who stood firm, blocking the racists’ route through the city centre. These counter demonstrators were subjected to kettling, with reports of aggressive and violent policing. Ultimately, the result was a victory, but the process was messy and fractious.

Splits on the left are sadly nothing new, with the recent high-profile spats at the top of ‘Your Party’ offering plenty of ammunition to our opponents, whilst draining enthusiasm from our supporters. There is no doubt the process of forming a new socialist party will be messy and fractious; the big question is whether it will ultimately result in victory.

Whilst I don’t want to relitigate the issues surrounding the numerous botched launches of ‘Your Party’, I would say that first impressions count. Those calling the shots have failed to give a positive and reassuring first impression of the project. This doesn’t necessarily mean it will ultimately fail, but it does mean the project will have to work twice as hard to gain the trust of activists and the wider public.

Thankfully, things between Jeremy Corbyn, Zarah Sultana, and their respective teams have de-escalated from threats of legal action. Pursuing that route would have precipitated their mutual destruction in the court of public opinion and strangled the party at birth. Crisis temporarily avoided.

The major challenge will be stewarding the movement into a mass membership party with structures and governance that enable truly democratic decision-making. What emerges must be capable of holding together a broad coalition of ideas and traditions, whilst forging a new form of participatory politics that is not controlled from the centre. It must be decentralised, democratic, but disciplined – politics in 3D, if you will.

When I helped set up Majority in 2024 alongside former North of Tyne Mayor Jamie Driscoll and other highly experienced activists, this is the approach we took. Not aiming to control all activity centrally but to support self-organising groups, people’s assemblies and innovative campaigning. Underpinning this with a code of conduct that mirrors the Nolan principles in public life but can be summed up as ‘play nice and don’t be a dick’. The culture is more important than the rulebook, or to paraphrase T.S. Eliot, we must stop ‘dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good.’

Our aim is to get more good people into progressive politics and rebuild trust in our democracy. Because the challenge for the English Left is not limited to promoting our policies and capabilities, we must also convince the public that democracy is worth saving. If we don’t, we are building our house on sand.

Outside of ‘Your Party’, there have been some interesting developments on the Left of British politics. We have a resurgent Green Party with over 100,000 members, and in Zack Polanski, they have a popular leader who performs well in the media. We also have Andy Burnham, the only English politician with a net positive approval rating, testing the waters for a Labour leadership bid. Interestingly, neither are MPs, but rather regional politicians – one is a London Assembly Member and the other a Metro Mayor.

In the case of Metro Mayors, English devolution has delivered us a new type of elected representative with significant budgets and executive powers, one that is crucially beyond the reach of parliamentary party whips. Existing regional identities can now be expressed in a form of regional politics capable of flexing its muscles and facing down Westminster, as Burnham did during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

Both Polanski and Burnham have made public ownership a key plank of their political pitches, going much further than Labour in this area. This agenda provides us with a chance to innovate – to plan and manage our public services in a 21st-century context.

Imagine if we did take back control of our water, not as a centrally administered 70s-style nationalised industry, but as a regionally managed public resource. Imagine regional water boards with local politicians, trade unionists, billpayer representatives and environmental groups, all working together as public stewards of our most vital resource. Don’t like the way your regional water board is managing things? Organise and vote them out via a democratic process in a local election, via your trade union, billpayers or environmental group. Sure, it won’t be perfect, but it will be a damn sight easier than getting rid of a private CEO.

It’s not quite Lenin’s ‘every cook should learn to govern’, but with more routes to democratic participation at a local and regional level, we could rebuild our collective civic muscles. When participation is built around a strong regional identity, backed by political structures that actually respond, taking back control becomes more than just a slogan. Or as the Geordies might say, ‘late-stage capitalism. Nah, you’re alreet pet.’

Editor’s note: To learn more about Hugo’s work at Majority, visit their website here.

Gen Z 212 and Youth Protests in Morocco

From the Digital Sphere to the Street


Morocco is currently—Autumn 2025—witnessing a broad, youth-led mass protest movement that has brought back to the forefront fundamental questions of social justice, basic rights, the deterioration of public services, and the political legitimacy of the regime. This movement, which took the name “Gen Z 212”—after the country’s international dialing code—did not arise from a vacuum. It is the result of a long accumulation of poverty, marginalization, unemployment, corruption, and the collapse of essential public sectors such as health and education. The spark came from a tragedy at Hassan II Hospital in Agadir, where several women died during childbirth due to lack of care. That incident ignited a social uprising that quickly spread to major cities including Rabat, Casablanca, Fez, Marrakesh, Salé, and Oujda. Yet this movement is more than an eruption of social anger—it represents a new form of political action, one rooted in digital, network-based organization that moves from the virtual sphere into the streets.

What distinguishes this experience is its transcendence of traditional organizational methods, creating a new leftist horizon that merges the social with the technological. Young people relied on platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and Discord as spaces for discussion, planning, and collective decision-making. There was no centralized or hierarchical leadership—rather, flexible horizontal networks united by common goals. This decentralization became a source of strength and protection against repression and infiltration, allowing the movement to reorganize itself even amid arrests, account deletions, and censorship. Every time one account was shut down or an activist was detained, new ones appeared. The digital sphere turned into an open, collective leftist school that produced a new consciousness grounded in people’s daily needs, not in theoretical slogans. This is the practical expression of the concept of the Electronic Left, which views the digital realm as an essential extension of class struggle—where the internet becomes the new factory for producing awareness and resistance.

The demands raised by Gen Z 212—better education and healthcare, fighting corruption, creating dignified jobs, and achieving social justice—embody the living essence of leftist thought rooted in the needs of the working classes. Though not formally ideological, the movement carried a clearly Marxist and practical spirit: starting from concrete reality to transform it step by step in favor of the majority. It revived the dialectical and practical dimension that much of the traditional left had lost when it became trapped in theoretical debates detached from the people’s real suffering.

The state responded with double repression—physical and digital. On the streets, there were arrests, beatings, gunfire, and tear gas; online, there were account suspensions, content removal, and digital surveillance. Yet this repression did not break the movement; it made it more adaptable and aware. Youth activists developed new forms of assembly, used more secure digital tools, and shifted toward local, grassroots organizing with horizontal coordination. Thus emerged a dual consciousness of resistance—on the ground and online—illustrating what the Electronic Left calls the digital class struggle, where modern mechanisms of control collide with popular tools of liberation. The fight for freedom today is inseparable from control over technological means—and from the creation of independent, leftist, digital alternatives outside the grip of capitalist tech corporations and authoritarian states.

Despite its strengths, this new organizational model still faces the challenge of transforming spontaneous energy into a structured, radical emancipatory project. Without a strategic vision, such movements risk fragmentation. Here lies the role of a renewed, digitally grounded and real-world left: to build bridges between online and street struggles, connect immediate demands with a socialist horizon, and develop flexible, democratic, collective forms of organization that unite progressive forces around shared goals. What is happening in Morocco sends a clear message to leftist forces worldwide: the future belongs to the left that can merge technology with class struggle, the street with the network, collective consciousness with practical action.

The Electronic Left does not replace the historical left—it continues and develops it. It calls on parties, unions, and social movements to integrate the digital dimension into their strategies, to overcome bureaucracy and ideological rigidity, and to confront not only traditional capitalism but also digital capitalism, which reproduces class domination through data control, platforms, and algorithmic manipulation. A genuine left resurgence requires a dialectical balance between historical experience and digital innovation, between grassroots organization and technological flexibility, between older generations and the digital youth.

The Gen Z 212 movement shows that a left disconnected from young generations and their tools cannot influence reality. Today, class struggle begins in the neighborhood—and continues in the digital sphere.

Full solidarity with the young women and men and with the working people of Morocco who confront repression and marginalization with courage and consciousness, fighting for dignity, freedom, and genuine social justice—and with all progressive, leftist, unionist, and human rights forces that stand by them, defending the right to organize, to express, and to live in equality and dignity.