Judith LeBlanc
Judith LeBlanc is a leader of the Communist Party USA and is the national field organizer for Peace Action, the country's largest grassroots peace organization with 100,000 members across the country. She is also formerly the national co-chair of United for Peace and Justice.[1]
LeBlanc joined the Communist Party USA in 1974.
Serves as the United Nations representative for the Indigenous World Association, and is an enrolled member of the Caddo Tribe of Oklahoma. [2]
2 Women United - Deb for Interior
3 GOTNV
4 Town Hall Forum on the Unemployment Crisis
5 Liberation Road forum
6 Henry Reeve Medical Brigades
7 Christine Ahn connection
8 National Leading From the Inside Out Alum
9 Frank LaMere Native American Presidential Forum
9.1 Organizing Upgrade interview
10 Communists and and a socialist
11 CPUSA Organization Commission
12 Communist Party Labor Day call
13 "Changing America"
14 Middle East trips
15 Endorsed Communist Party Call
16 United for Peace and Justice
17 Anne Burlak Timpson Labor Forum
18 "Peace" comrades
19 WIDF affiliated United States "Regional Workshops"
20 Latino Congreso 2007
21 Open Letter to Obama on Iran
22 Committees of Correspondence Conference
23 Australian visit
24 Latinos for Peace
25 Peace Action
26 Building the peace movement
27 "Obama Year One"
28 Disarm Now! conference
29 US Social Forum
30 Solidarity with the Palestinian People/WikiLeaks
31 32nd Annual Conference for Peace
32 Communist Party speaker
33 Communist Party convention
34 Mapping Socialist Strategies
35 Ear to the Ground Project
36 Alliance for a Just Society staff
37 Native Organizers Alliance Advisory Council
38 Standing Rock
38.1 Love, Power, Solidarity and Protection
39 Washington DC action
40 Still standing at Standing Rock
41 Native Nations Rise March and Rally
42 Now What? Defying Trump and the Left's Way Forward
43 Deep Democracy Lab
44 Peoples Summit panel
45 The Left We Want to Build: Breaking Out of the Margins
46 Beyond the Choir Board of Directors
47 Haaland connection
Judith LeBlanc is a member of the Caddo Tribe of Oklahoma. From 2005-2008 she was the National Co-chair of United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) an organization that she helped found. She is nationally recognized as a leader of the US peace and justice movement and has traveled around the world including to Beirut during the 2007 invasion by Israel.
Le Blanc is one of the vice-chairs of the Communist Party USA and chairs it's Peace and Solidarity Commission. She was formerly a reporter for the People's Weekly World, forerunner of the People's World. She has written extensively on her travels to Japan, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon and elsewhere and was an eyewitness reporter on the 9-11 attacks and their aftermath in New York City.[3]
Women United - Deb for Interior
Holly Cook Macarro December 11 2020:
Kerry Washington and Cher Among Those Urging Joe Biden to Nominate Rep. Deb Haaland as Interior Secretary.
Appreciate the support! #cher #kerrywashington #gloriasteinem #UzoAduba #chelseahandler #sarahsilverman
— with Judith LeBlanc, Jane Fonda, Ai-jen Poo, Gloria Steinem.
GOTNV
Diana Parton Smith November 10 2020 ·
Native Organizers Alliance was named by Van Jones on CNN as a major contributing factor to getting the Native Vote to the polls this year. Native Organizers Alliance is lead by a Caddo women Judith LeBlanc.
— with Judith LeBlanc.
Town Hall Forum on the Unemployment Crisis
Town Hall Forum on the Unemployment Crisis on Sunday, August 16, at 8:00 PM Eastern.
The forum will feature conversations with Elise Bryant, President of the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW); Kooper Caraway, President, Sioux City Central Labor Council; Brad Crowder, Austin Unemployed; Bill Fletcher, Executive Editor of globalafricanworker.com and former director of TransAfrica Forum; Joe Henry, President, Iowa League of Latin American Citizens; and Judith LeBlanc, Director, Native Organizers Alliance.[4]
Liberation Road forum
Liberation Road hosted a watch party. July 22 2020·
Happening now: Adam Gold and Rishi Awatramani talk with Morathi Adams, Daroneshia Duncan-Boyd, and Judith LeBlanc to understand how groups are organizing to defeat Trump and Trumpism, end the long history of oppression and racist violence against their communities, and win a new world.
Henry Reeve Medical Brigades
Marguerite Horberg July 10 2020·
Meet a few of the amazing actors, poets and activists expressing solidarity with the Henry Reeve Medical Brigades who have treated Covid patients in more than 30 countries - Concert for Cuba salutes these humanitarian workers and calls for the end of the US blockade of Cuba. 2 nights of music and solidarity streaming live exclusively on HotHouseGlobal at Twitch.tv/hothouseglobal. Register https://www.eventbrite.com/e/concert-for-cuba-tickets-111083545876 — with Councilmember Mike Bonin, Mike Farrell, David Soul, Danny Glover, Felix Gonzales, Ed Asner, Baltazar Castillo, Jesse Jackson, Sr., Judith LeBlanc, Jesus Garcia, Medea Benjamin, Jonathan Jackson, Juan De Marcos Gonzalez, Medea Benjamin, Ronnie Malley, Ronnie Malley, Chelis Lopez and Judith LeBlanc LMT.
Christine Ahn connection
National Leading From the Inside Out Alum
Judith LeBlanc, Director, Native Organizers Alliance was a 2018 Rockwood Leadership Institute National Leading From the Inside Out Alum.[5]
Frank LaMere Native American Presidential Forum
The Praxis Project August 18 ·
We are very excited to be supporting our partners Native Organizers Alliance and Four Directions as they and other incredible groups lead efforts to bring Indian country issues to the forefront through the Frank LaMere Native American Presidential Forum to be held on Monday and Tuesday in Sioux City, Iowa. Our Indigenous communities can swing 77 electoral votes in states where past key elections were won/lost by less than 1000 votes. Great NY Times article here: https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2019/08/17/us/politics/ap-us-election-2020-native-americans.html. #NativeVote2020 — with Cherilyn Yazzie, Shelley Means, Matthew Samp, Wayne Frederick, Jennifer Plummer, Xavier Morales, Cherie Thunder, Jasha Lyons Echo-Hawk of OK House District 35, Michael Hester, Asa Washines, Robert Chanate and Judith LeBlanc in Sioux City, Iowa.
The Frank LaMere Native American Presidential Forum — named for the late Winnebago activist — is hosted by Native American voting rights group Four Directions. Inc. and the Native Organizers Alliance.
A panel of tribal leaders, tribal citizens and Native American youth presented questions to each of the presidential candidates who appeared Monday (Aug. 19) at the two-day forum. A total of 11 candidates are expected to attend the forum at the Orpheum Theater in Sioux City, Iowa, either in person or via video.
OJ Semans, co-executive director of Four Directions, Inc., introduced the forum as "Indian Country 101 for America," which included discussions of issues informed by indigenous spirituality.
Judith LeBlanc, director of the Native Organizers Alliance, referenced the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's action to stop construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota in her opening remarks. That action was sustained by a belief in the sacredness of the land and a spiritual responsibility to protect the water that ran through it.
"We are moving on a continuum from protest to power," LeBlanc said.
"Standing Rock interrupted the narrative, and when we left Standing Rock, we went back to our cities and our reservations to organize."[6]
Organizing Upgrade interview
Judith LeBlanc speaking at the Frank LaMere Native American Presidential Forum
Judith LeBlanc, Director of the Native Organizers Alliance (NOA), recently sat down with Organizing Upgrade's Jacob Swenson-Lengyel to discuss the Native organizing, tribal sovereignty and the recent Frank LaMere Native American Presidential Forum, the first presidential forum convened by Native communities and dedicated to discussing the issues that matter most to them, which Judith and NOA played a key role in organizing.
Jacob: Before we talk about the big presidential forum you just organized in Indian Country, could you give folks at Organizing Upgrade some context about what's been happening in Native nations over the last few years?
Judith: In Indian Country, we are concerned about the future. From an indigenous point of view, we link our ancestors and the past with the future by how we walk in the present, how we organize our power. There is lots of innovation and a struggle for clarity about how we can exercise our collective power to achieve tribal sovereignty and the political power that flows from tribal sovereignty.
For the first time in history, we have two Native women in Congress. It's taken hundreds of years for us to get Indian women elected to Congress; we have never had the kind of role models that other communities of color have had. The two Congresswomen see themselves — and we see them — as representing all of Indian Country. They come from congressional districts in New Mexico and Kansas, but they're our congressional representatives, our voices on Capitol Hill.
Their election is a reflection of a larger development in Indian Country, an interruption of the dominant racist, colonial narrative. A project that I participated in called Reclaiming Native Truth looked at racist stereotypes and popular perceptions of Indian people and the role that we play in society. Well, 39% of people believe we don't even exist, that we're gone, we're part of history.
That's not surprising considering that only a handful of states mandate that public schools teach Native history beyond the 1890s. For example, people learn about Reconstruction and the election of former slaves to govern in a way that's siloed from Western expansion, a period of time when Indian land was being stolen, and Indians were massacred by the U.S. Army.
Standing Rock, the grassroots movement to stop the building of the Dakota Access Pipeline interrupted that narrative. It showed who we are as a people and what we're willing to do to protect Mother Earth. For both grassroots and tribal leaders, new possibilities have opened up for policy shifts and electoral victories at the local and national level.
In Indian Country, we're in a political moment which is ripe for Native grassroots organizing, the best in my lifetime. We are electing our people to office locally and at the federal level. This challenges others to include Indian perspectives in every issue, every movement, and truly consider what it means when we say that all land is stolen in this country. We're finding a tremendous amount of recognition of racist, colonial history. For instance, Columbus Day at the city and even on the state level is being changed to Indigenous People's Day. We also have hundreds of Indians running for local office and getting elected. We are shifting from reliance on protest alone to moving into power, governing beyond our own collectively owned land, and for the common good. Or course, we're always going to need the grassroots to raise their voices, to protest, but we understand that governing for the whole, participating in actually creating policies, is a major step towards achieving tribal sovereignty. Tribal sovereignty will only be realized for all Indian Nations with a broad and deep democratic system.
In the 1970s, when I came of political age, another surge moment within Indian Country erupted under the initiative of the American Indian Movement. The occupation of Wounded Knee, and the building takeover of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, were visible, militant protests organized along side of the other movements. But we, Native and non-Native, weren't as prepared as we are today to take those steps from protest to power.
Since Standing Rock, we've been doing it. Tribal leaders recognized that the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's effort to protect its water supply and sacred sites was an act of sovereignty that should not be denied. We had over 400 tribes come together to support the sovereignty of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. There is a blossoming of tribal community initiatives which are built on traditional Indigenous wisdom and practices, creating emerging power centers to feed the momentum towards addressing the historic impact of systemic racism.
When people talk about protecting water and sacred sites, it's about exercising our inherent, moral and legal rights to be caretakers of Mother Earth. The struggle around the Dakota Access Pipeline and protecting the Missouri River was a struggle to protect the water for 17 million people who live, play, and love along the river's shores. Tribal leaders are becoming even more aware of the critical role that they can and must play, not only for our own tribes, but for the good of humanity as a whole.
Now, many social movements, such as the movement around Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women (MMIW), are picking up steam. Other grassroots social movements for food sovereignty and traditional methods of farming are becoming part of the general conversation about healthy food and a culture of health for all people. In addressing problems in our own community, we see our contribution to the health and wellbeing of other communities and humanity as a whole, just as we did when we were trying to protect the Missouri River.
Jacob: It's really exciting to hear about the movements that are springing up after Standing Rock. Could you tell us about the organizing model you use at Native Organizers Alliance and what differentiates it from other organizing traditions and practices?
Judith: Organizing, in Indian Country, is as old as dirt. In Native communities, tribal cultures, we've been organizing since the beginning of time. That's at the heart of why, despite an ongoing genocidal federal policies, over 500 tribal cultures and nations continue to exist and resist in the U.S.
Native Organizers Alliance is a Native organizing and training network. We support and build the power of grassroots Native community groups and tribal leadership to foster the unique role Indians have in the struggle for democracy, being the only peoples that have collectively owned, self-governed lands.
In Indian Country, we have one of the longest running experiments on democracy and how democracies — the good, the bad, and the ugly — work to meet the needs of the people, even under dire conditions. We are working to strengthen the power of tribal governments and their accountability to the grassroots. We are supporting grassroots community groups, traditional societies and tribal governments to pursue a spiritually directed strategy that strengthens our cultures in the 21st Century.
On a national level, our theory of change is that both short-term and transformational social change rely on our traditional values and spirituality woven into grassroots organizing, traditional leadership, and elected tribal governments. All three have a role to play in Indian Country. They're not the same, but must be walking the same path towards sovereignty. That is a critical facet to traditional practices of building community. Everyone has a role that is needed and part of building community.
It's a very indigenous concept. In the Native American Church (NAC), in my family's tradition, when you go into the tipi for ceremony, you are going in as part of a community. You're seeking guidance from the Creator and the community assembled about what your role can and should be. That is a fundamental building block for organizing a robust ecosystem of movement leaders and organizations working together for transformational social change. We have to recognize that we all have roles to play and overcome the "oppression Olympics" where we try to figure out who has more oppression and therefore should be at the center of any given organizing campaign. Those closest to the problem will always have a critical role in the creating the solution, but we can not make transformational change alone. It takes an interactive ecosystem of relationships. All movements need to break from linear, transactional formulas which limit the awareness of relationality. We are all related.
In Indian Country, we are in a unique position because of our inherent, moral and legal relationship to the federal government based on our treaties. While the majority of Indians live in cities, tribal sovereignty and the fulfillment of treaty rights will have an impact on Indians no matter where they live. Our treaty rights guarantee us healthcare from birth to death, as well as education, housing and caretaking of land. Every movement is grappling with these issues, but we have a special connection as sovereign nations within a nation to the process of achieving those basic human rights for all.
In order for democratic processes to be deeper and more effective in the United States, the government must recognize those treaty rights. And in order for sovereignty to be realized, it requires a deep, authentic democratic system driven by justice. We will never achieve tribal sovereignty unless there is a fight for democracy and a system that recognizes our nation to nation relationship with the federal government. Strategically, Indian Country organizing must be centered on building strong relationships with other social movements. Indian Country must be fully engaged in the struggle to defend democracy, which is under attack in every way.
In North Dakota, we worked in the midterm elections with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribal government and traditional leaders to organize a grassroots response to voter suppression that would effectively strip Indians of their right to vote. It was a real fight and we won. There was 94% voter turnout. We knocked on every door on that reservation. We had a 300% increase in early voting.
The state legislature passed a law to require all voters to have a street address instead of a postal address on an ID in order to vote. North Dakota had one of the best voter laws in the country allowing people to vote with any ID, but the new restriction is not only going to be a barrier for Indians, but for all people who live in rural areas. It affects Native voters on reservations in a disproportionate way, but it will affect democracy as a whole in North Dakota.
Broad popular, public education on tribal sovereignty is needed and should not be left in the hands of the rightwing. Treaties are guaranteed by the Constitution. In fact, the Supreme Court has consistently supported treaty rights as the law of the land including under the current Supreme Court. Two more cases were decided in 2019. So we must make sure people both within and outside of Indian Country understand that tribal sovereignty is a legal and constitutional right, and just as fundamentally that it is a moral obligation.
That is also a basic indigenous organizing principle. Everything is related. All things politically, economically, socially, spiritually in the natural world. That concept of all my relations being in relationship with each other helps you understand spiritually how to walk in the present, how to understand history, how to dream and believe that we can have a better future. That's sense of wholeness and connection to humanity is liberating. And it is so needed at a time of such polarization when people are questioning the very values at the heart of most religions and the very survival of humanity.
At the grassroots level, our strategy aligns with a certain direction of Alinsky-based organizing. But we see shifting power as rooted in the power from within, the power of our values, the power of the ancestral knowledge, the power of traditional practices, the power that we can draw upon to bring our communities together.
We are already seeing emergent power centers develop. Every community has them. In Indian Country we have economic development projects. On Pine Ridge (the poorest county in the United States) an economic development corporation was founded with a spiritual ceremony that gave people the inspiration to do what some thought was impossible: create a community that would develop regenerative economic systems. Now you have workers being trained to build houses, plant crops, develop food sovereignty, and develop community. That's an emergent power center. Now, could it become just another 501(c)(3)? Of course. But at this moment it is an emerging power center because it's changing social and economic relations within the poorest community in the US. You see this in the Bronx, in New Orleans. These are places where people are changing the social and economic relationships on a very micro level. But those emergent power centers are important in developing our understanding of how we're going to shift power. If people see that through their own labor they're able to have regenerative economic and social relationships, this strengthens the hope and conviction that we can challenge the power of the 1% and win.
So that is an indigenous framework for organizing at the grassroots level and our understanding of power. It's unique to the spirituality that is alive and well in our communities.
At the same time, there are over 500 traditions, cultures, origin stories and traditional practices. In every Indian community we have to be mindful of the particular culture and traditions. What works on Pine Ridge Indian reservation is not necessarily going to work on the Navajo reservation. So our trainings and the work that we do with local communities and tribal entities is to listen and learn from them what from their traditional practices will be of use in the 21st century to build the power for transformational change and realize tribal sovereignty.
Jacob: The focus on holism and what you're saying about roles and struggling between the particular and the shared is really valuable. Let's talk about the two day forum that you held with these major presidential contenders. What happened at the forum? How does it fit into the works that's happening in Native communities going into the 2020 election?
Judith: This was the first ever Native presidential candidate forum. Four Directions, our sister organization, did research and found there are seven states where the Indian vote would be decisive in determining the outcome of 77 electoral votes. These 7 states include critical Senate races. From that scientific basis, Native Organizers Alliance and Four Directions began to organize traditionally, to reach out to the community groups that we have relationships within those seven states. We did on the spot political education about the historic gathering and the importance for candidates to hear directly from tribal and grassroots leadership. We also knew it would be an opportunity to share information about the groundbreaking work which weaves traditional approaches with science to address the economic and social problems we face.
Our goal for this first ever Native presidential forum was twofold. The first was to energize the Indian electorate. We reached hundreds of thousands through the live stream of the event and the vast array of media coverage, including both the Indian and mainstream media. The second goal was to educate the presidential candidates about our strategies for overcoming the challenges in Indian Country.
It was powerful. For example, Secretary Julian Castro spent quite a bit of time prior to the forum collecting input from various leaders in Indian Country. He issued a very excellent Indian platform prior to the forum. The week of the forum, Elizabeth Warren did the same. No other candidates have unveiled platforms at this point. The debate that happened during the forum, the back and forth with tribal and community leaders over the course of two days, will influence how whoever gets elected governs. For example, most of the candidates said they would have (or would consider) a cabinet-level representative of Indian Country.
There were over 500 people present at the forum. Native Organizers Alliance bought over 60 leaders from Indian Country to staff the event. It was totally grassroots staffed from the ticket-takers to hosting of the press as well as panel participants who questioned the candidates. Some volunteers were elected public officials from North Dakota, for example, others were elected tribal leaders, others were grassroots and traditional community group leaders.
We had a large youth delegation from Minneapolis and two reservations in South Dakota. Afterwards, Julian Castro met with them. We had student leaders from the Center for Native American Youth who spoke on the panels. Youth leaders and an elder met each candidate backstage and escorted them to the stage. The youth vote is a large part of the electorate and therefore critical in Indian Country. High school students participated as well and see themselves as part of the greatly needed voter education organizing in their communities. In many ways, the audience reflected the diversity of mainstream of Indian Country.
When Senator Elizabeth Warren apologized for her actions in the past, there was a deep understanding and a sympathetic response because we know that when President Trump taunts her with "Pocahontas," he is taunting us. He is feeding, aiding, and abetting racism against Indians and sowing division. When Bernie Sanders spoke about the significance of sovereignty for the dignity of tribal communities, there was a strong reaction. We had one candidate, an independent from the Navajo reservation, who is running. Of course everybody just loved hearing and seeing him speak even though we understand the balance of forces, but he is a voice who is educating our peoples about the importance of voting.
Coming out of this forum, Native Organizers Alliance will work with Four Directions to develop a candidate questionnaire and a grassroots program to outline what we expect from any new administration. We're also turning our attention to working in those seven states where the Native vote will be decisive. Native Organizers Alliance is working with groups in Wisconsin, Arizona, Minnesota, Michigan and Nevada. We'll be doing the kind of voter registration, education and mobilization that ensures that our grassroots groups and tribal entities expand their organized base. The day after the elections, we will be ready with a stronger organized, politically empowered grassroots base.
We're very excited and we are looking forward to working with our non-Native allies in those states. Every movement now must consider how we make voting just one step in building our movements. In order to protect and deepen democracy in the long run, we need strong, vibrant social movements who understand that voting is one of the tools of social change along with protest, advocacy, governing and popular political education. That holistic strategy is needed for us to make transformational change which deals with the systemic nature of the problems that our communities face.
Jacob: It's exciting to hear about the plan to keep doing movement politics work going into 2020. Judith you have so much experience in left organizing and the peace and justice movement. I'm wondering if you could talk broadly about the electoral strategy that you think that left organizers need right now.
Judith: I think that the bottom line for left organizing is not to exceptionalize the electoral arena. We need to utilize basic values-led organizing approaches to strengthen existing and begin new relationships. That is the only path in this contentious and polarizing arena. That takes relationality, an indigenous concept. We are all related. Our ancestors and descendants are all related by what we do in the present. What each community does affects everyone. We must work in a collaborative way with an open heart and open mind — and discernment.
Acting with reciprocity and awareness of others would go a long way in changing the flow of resources to all our communities. It's a well-known fact that those who fund voter engagement in Indian Country and Communities of Color always wait until just before the elections, then throw money at voter turn-out, when the problem is about systems which inherently depress voter turnout. We need to create ecosystems of groups that are working together between elections. That's why our grassroots organizing work needs to be resourced.
We also know that in order for democracy to work, you have to have the right to vote near where you live and not be arbitrarily stricken from the voting rolls without recourse on election day. There is a full-fledged attack on the right to vote not only for Indians, but People of Color, working class people, and rural voters. It's in Georgia, it's in Texas, it's in North Dakota on Indian reservations. It's not just a random episode here or there; it's a system. In order to address that system of voter repression and the restrictions on access, we need funding to build the bridges between the affected groups and our allies, and not simply on election day. We have to create ecosystems that function all year round.
We need narrative change work, too, and that also needs to be funded especially as elections season is underway because that's a part of voter engagement and mobilization. In Indian Country, we need to convey the idea that voting is and should be a tradition. We need resources to train the messengers, the grandmas, the teenagers and the traditional leaders, those we trust in our communities on reservations and in urban communities.
We also need to ensure that people doing this work are paid a living wage. It's a popular catchphrase that "we must bring those who are closest to the problem into organizing the solution." But we must pay them a living wage to do this work.
In North Dakota, we paid over a hundred canvassers $15 an hour and it had a huge impact, enabling people mobilized by their convictions to put food on the table and also support local businesses. People were able to do things for their children that they otherwise would not have been able to do while doing good for their community. There were many people who said: "Since Standing Rock, we've been waiting to do something more for our community." These are people who fought for months to stop that pipeline and they weren't being paid. They were doing it motivated by a sense of responsibility to the natural world.
Elections are a tool to do the same, and every other sector has ways of funding that work. We also need it in Indian Country. One young woman saved enough money in three weeks to buy her first car so that she would have a way everyday to go to classes at the tribal college. We should be funding that kind of voter mobilization alongside spending money on specialists who analyze voting trends. One tactic limps without the other. We need science and people power. In Indian Country, voter engagement work involves mobilizing the people that we live next door to and who we have and will be in relationship with for generations.[7]
Communists and and a socialist
OJ Semans - Four Directions· July 13 2019·
Rosebud Four Directions with my daughter Donna Semans far right, my wife and sole mate Barb Semans next to me and ND Senator Ruth Anna Buffalo to my right, Judith LeBlanc NOA, Libero Della Piana AJS, Monique Daily Kos.
CPUSA Organization Commission
As at March 1994, the following were members of the Organization Commission of the Communist Party USA: Sam Webb, chair; Pat Barile; Judith LeBlanc; Carole Marks; Elena Mora; Esther Moroze; and Joe Sims.[8]
Communist Party Labor Day call
The Communist Party USA paper People's Weekly World issued a statement to mark Labor Day 1995, entitled "We honor the dead and fight like hell for the living."
Of the more than 100 endorsers listed, almost all were identified members of the Communist Party USA.
Judith LeBlanc, was on the list.[9]
"Changing America"
In 1999 Judith LeBlanc was an host of the Communist Party USA cable TV show "Changing America", while Noel Rabinowitz served as cameraman.[10]
Middle East trips
Judith LeBlanc, with Yasser Arafat, 2002
In 2002, Judith LeBlanc traveled twice to the Middle East. Le Blanc traveled on assignment to Israel, the West Bank and Gaza in May to report on the struggle to end the Israeli occupation.
In October 10-12 she attended the Communist Party of Israel's Congress. While there she tracked the "crisis in the region in light of the Bush administration's drive to go to war with Iraq".[11]
Judith Le Blanc, CPUSA vice chair, spoke June 15, 2002 at the public library in Worcester, Mass., on her recent trip to Israel/Palestine. Le Blanc has been touring the country speaking to many grassroots organized events as well as national events like the recent American-Arab Anti-Defamation Committee convention. The Worcester forum was co-sponsored by the CPUSA, Worcester Peace Works and the Worcester Area Rainbow Coalition.[12]
Endorsed Communist Party Call
On March 30 2002 the Communist Party USA paper People's Weekly World called for a national holiday in honor of late Farm Workers Union leader Cesar Chavez. The article was followed by a long list of endorsers including Judith Le Blanc, Almost all endorsers were confirmed members of the Communist Party USA.[13]
United for Peace and Justice
In 2005 Judith LeBlanc, Communist Party USA was on the Steering Committee of United for Peace and Justice[14].
In July 2007 Judith LeBlanc representing Communist Party USA was affiliated to United for Peace and Justice.[15]
As at 2008 and August 4, 2009, Judith LeBlanc was National Organizing Coordinator for United for Peace and Justice[16]
Anne Burlak Timpson Labor Forum
The Anne Burlak Timpson Labor Forum is a creation of the Massachusetts Communist Party USA. It was established in honor of party member Anne Burlak Timpson, who died in 2002.
Founding Committee members were;[17]
Gary Dotterman
Tess Ewing
Sara Sue Koritz
Scott Molloy
Kathleen Banks Nutter
Rev. David Carl Olson
Pat Reeve
Laura Ross
Tillyruth Teixeira
William Timpson
Kathryn Timpson Wright
"Peace" comrades
Judith LeBlanc February 16, 2016 near New York, NY ·
This was the key to success of the Global Day Feb 15, 2003 the World Says No to War action and every anti war demo there after...rubbish picking for cardboard polls for signs. — with Jonathan Matthew Smucker, Leslie Kielson, Beka Economopoulos, Leslie Cagan, Osagyefo Sekou, Leslie Kauffman, Hany Khalil and Diane Greene Lent.
WIDF affiliated United States "Regional Workshops"
Circa 2007 these people were members of the US "Regional Workshop" of the former Soviet front Women's International Democratic Federation;[18]
Women for Racial and Economic Equality, President: Vinie Burrows
Mujeres Radicales, Vinie Burrows, Margo Nikitas, Presidenta – Emily Woo Yamasaki
National Committee of Women for Democratic Iran
Internacional Action Center, Berta Joubert Ceci – Philadelphia
Goldstar Mother, Nydia Velasquez - "Congressista"
Grandmothers Against the War. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick - Presidente
Granny Peace Brigade, Howard Dean - Presidente, Lillian Ruth Rydell, Elaine Johnson
IAC-NWFN, Joan Wile - Fundadora e Diretora
Madre, Susan Abulhwa, Anna Wilson
Radical Women / líder comunitaria Comunidad de Harlem, Nellie Gray Hester
University of California, Digna Sanchez- Membra
WEDO, Kathy Engel Fundadora
Women of Color Resource Center in CA, Betty Maloney - Membra
EEUU, Angela Davis - History of Consciousness Dep Humanities Division
African American Poets, Judith LeBlanc
Granny Peace Brigade, Monica Sofia Somocurcio
Radical Women, Betty Maloney
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom - WILPF, Carol Price
Women's Studies Prgrm, Jenny Heinz
Coalición anti-guerra A.N.S.W.E.R., Gloria La Riva
Women for Racial and Economic Equality, Tresa Martinez
Community activist; active in the struggle for Puerto Rican independence, Wilma Esther Reveron Collazo
Community activist lawyer in El Barrio;; active in immigration issues, Gloria Eneida Quinones - member Women for Racial and Economic Equality
International President of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom , Regina Birchem
LUZ DE LAS NIEVES AYRESS MORENO, Nieves Ayress - nacionalidad chilena
Latino Congreso 2007
Some 2,000 Latino leaders and activists from throughout the United States met in Los Angeles, at the Latino Congreso 2007, Oct. 5-9 to map an action plan and social justice program for the 2008 elections. Their goal was to bring out 10 million Latino voters who can play a decisive role in the presidential and congressional elections.
Helping prepare positions on the Iraq war were Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), who chaired the congressional Out of Iraq Caucus, former California state Sen. Tom Hayden, United for Peace and Justice organizer, and Communist Party USA leader, Judith LeBlanc, and Lydia Lopez of the Communist Party front Latinos for Peace.
"America: not another nickel, not another dime, not another soldier, not this time," Waters declared to a standing ovation. She drew another ovation when she called for African American and Latino unity.
The Congreso unanimously called for complete withdrawal from Iraq starting immediately, no invasion of Iran, and support for Oct. 27 regional demonstrations against the war and Iraq Moratorium activities the third Friday of each month.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Latinos should take a leading role to end the war, as "we are 14 percent of the population with 20 percent of the casualties."
"It is time to bring the troops home," he said.
Villaraigosa also called for a broad coalition to win just immigration reform, saying, "No group can do it alone," and a national campaign to combat poverty.[19]
Open Letter to Obama on Iran
In 2008 Judith LeBlanc of United for Peace & Justice, NY signed an online petition "A Open Letter to Barack Obama on Iran".
Committees of Correspondence Conference
At the 6th National Convention of the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism (CCDS) at San Francisco's Whitcomb Hotel July 23-26 2009 a Symposium roundtable conversation on "Building the Left and the Progressive Majority." featured CCDS leader Mildred Williamson, Judith LeBlanc of the Communist Party USA, Joseph Schwartz of Democratic Socialists of America, Michael Rubin of Solidarity, Jamala Rogers of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and Linda Burnham. The panelists discussed the importance of building the left within the current upsurge, working for left unity in struggle against the right, and the tactical issues that arise in uniting the progressive majority.
LeBlanc was a presenter at the workshop on the peace movement and the economy, Michael Eisenscher and Mort Frank of CCDS in Philadelphia. Eisenscher paid special attention to the need for labor solidarity between U.S. workers and Iraqi trade unions, while LeBlanc emphasized connecting anti-war campaigns with the economic crisis. Mort Frank did an in-depth analysis of the best ways to propose cuts in the defense budget, stressing the most deadly weapons actually being used.[20]
Australian visit
In July 2009 Judith Le Blanc toured Australia as a guest of the Communist Party of Australia and and the Australian Anti-Bases Campaign Coalition to take part in the protests against the Talisman Sabre joint US-Australian military exercises which were taking place at Shoalwater Bay near Rockhampton from July 6-26 . While in Sydney on her way to Rockhampton LeBlanc spoke to Anna Pha of the CPA for The Guardian.[21]
Guardian: Judith, could you please tell us about United for Peace and Justice?
Judith LeBlanc: United for Peace and Justice grew out of the struggle to prevent the war in Iraq and it was the coming together of the traditional peace and disarmament groups nationally and a range of local peace and justice centres and coalitions and new grass roots groups that emerged in this struggle to prevent the war. It began with 300 organisations and has grown to 1,400 member groups.
Now we are in the midst of retooling the peace movement, so to speak, and finding new ways to involve people in ending the war in Afghanistan and to build a bridge to that longer-term movement that is needed to end US militarisation and the militarisation of our domestic budget.
G: What is the attitude to those wars in the US?
JB: I think the peace movement scored an incredible victory with the election of Barack Obama and him keeping his pledge that he would set a deadline, a timetable for US withdrawal from Iraq. Of course the timetable that has been set by the new administration is not all that we would like. But you never win a total victory, you always win part and you continue to struggle.
We feel that in many ways our work to end the war and the occupation in Afghanistan is starting from a sound basis. Majority opinion opposed the [Iraq] war and that was mobilised and galvanised into support for the defeat of McCain.
Now we are trying to take that movement that rose in support of the Obama election and the majority opposition to the war in Iraq into a new national dialogue of the history and the impact of the war and the occupation of Afghanistan…
So now we are operating in a new environment, in a new political space in which perhaps we will have great success in helping people understand that you cannot solve issues around national security with war. That the mere presence of the US military in countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan gives rise to insurgency. So we want to help the American people to begin pressing Congress and the Obama administration to step back and to tell us what is the exit plan…
So, the movement for peace, the social movements in our country, are they ready to fill the political space that the election of Obama has created? Not quite, but I think the peace movement has enough experience in the six years of the struggle to end the Iraq war to know that it is going to take a strong, well organized, vocal peace movement to make the changes that are needed.
G: So far, how do you assess Obama's foreign policy?
JB: I think the Obama administration has made headway changing foreign policy. It has spoken about the differences it wants to make in its relationship to Cuba, in its role in pressing for a just Middle East peace between Palestine and Israel, in its relationship to the Muslim world. But the truth is that in order for those words to become a reality we need a stronger peace movement and we need one that can advocate forcefully and in a meaningful way the direct interconnectedness between peace and justice, between domestic policy and foreign policy.
I think the Obama administration has done a good job in thinking through the fact that the Bush administration fomented a considerable amount of not only anxiety but death, dying and anger by launching what was called the "global war on terror" and they dropped that terminology. Unfortunately they did not end the military practice of waging war in the name of national security in Afghanistan.
Obama's voting record in the Senate was, and he has maintained this position after becoming president, that there is a need to reduce nuclear arms, that there was a need for ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. He is making good on that promise by initiating talks with Russia to cut nuclear armaments. We are hoping, as he said in a speech in Prague recently, that it is not only the moral responsibility of the US to cut nuclear arms but it is a necessity to move towards the abolition of nuclear weapons.
The struggle for nuclear disarmament and the abolition of nuclear weapons is a critical issue for the peace movement to regroup and to retool and for building a mass movement around. We had a very strong and vibrant movement around nuclear disarmament in the '80s.
We hope to take Obama's words [on nuclear disarmament] and build a movement that calls for abolition in our lifetimes. We are busy at work planning with our international partners a year-long national petition drive to call on Obama to abolish nuclear weapons.
We are launching it on the anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and concluding this petition drive at the time of the May 2010 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Conference at the United Nations. We hope to apply such mass pressure on the Obama administration that they will take rapid steps to not only sign the joint agreement with Russia to reduce nuclear warheads but also to end the testing of new nuclear weapons and to begin to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in Congress and take giant steps forward before that 2010 Non-Proliferation Treaty conference.
We are very hopeful that we can build that mass movement because people understand the nature of war in a different way because of Iraq and because of what's going on in Afghanistan. They also know that the Obama administration is not the agent of change but can be the vehicle for change. We think that nuclear weapons is a good starting point.
Latinos for Peace
On October 31 2009, Latinos For Peace issued a statement calling for "no escalation of the war in Afghanistan and for expedited withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and Afghanistan as well as an end to the coup government in Honduras".
More than 100 activists endorsed the call, including Judith LeBlanc, New York.[22]
Peace Action
Judith Le Blanc is the national field organizer for Peace Action, the country's largest grassroots peace organization with 100,000 members across the country.[1]
She coordinates efforts on campaigns to cut military spending, nuclear abolition and to oppose the war in Afghanistan. She works closely with Peace Action's affiliates on grassroots organizing efforts. She helps coordinate the efforts of the New Priorities Network, a national network supporting grassroots organizing to "move the money from wars and weapons to fund human needs." From 2003- 2009, she worked with United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) coordinating national outreach efforts and served two terms as UFPJ National Co Chair.[23]
Building the peace movement
Judith LeBlanc, National Field Organizer of Peace Action and two term National Co-Chair of United for Peace and Justice, spoke at the Tucson, Arizona Salt of the Earth Labor College, February 13, 2010 on "the strategy and need to continue building a strong, active and broad-based peace movement".[24]
"Obama Year One"
Saturday, February 20, 2010 at Roosevelt University, 430 S. Michigan, Room 232, Chicago, a forum was held 'Obama Year One."
In the aftermath of the historic 2008 elections and in the midst of the deepest economic crisis since the Great Depression, activists and progressives from across movements came together to push for a new New Deal. The new political and economic realities created new opportunities to mobilize for progressive changes including ending wars and militarism; promoting workers' rights; reforming healthcare; and developing economic policies that promote jobs and communities instead of corporate profits. There have been both advances and setbacks in these struggles. One year later, it's time to take stock of lessons learned, evaluate strategic goals, and plan for future campaigns. Join leaders of the labor, peace, immigrant rights, healthcare reform, and economic justice movements in assessing the past year and current political conditions to determine ways we can work together towards progressive change.
The panel included:
Elce Redmond ­ South Austin Coalition Community Council and Chicago Jobs with Justice
Amy B. Dean ­ Co-Author of the book A New New Deal: How Regional Activism Will Reshape the American Labor Movement
Tom Balanoff ­ President of the Service Employees International Union Illinois Council
Judith LeBlanc ­ Field Organizer for Peace Action; Former National Co-Chair of United for Peace and Justice
Mel Rothenberg ­ Chicago Political Economy Group; Chicago Jobs with Justice
Dr. Anne Scheetz Physicians for a National Health Program
Cristobal Cavazos ­ Immigrant Solidarity DuPage[25]
Disarm Now! conference
In June 2010, Judith LeBlanc addressed the Disarm Now! Conference, Riverside Church, New York. (Workshops: Beyond the NPT, Nuclear Free Zone in the Middle East) is field organizer for Peace Action, NPT coordinator for PANYS and one of the coordinators for the April 30-May 2 international conference, march and rally in New York City. She was the national co-chair of United for Peace and Justice.[26]
US Social Forum
The US Social Forum, was a gathering of over 15,000 "peace and justice-mongers" in Detroit, June 2010. . The Forum kicked off with a high energy, spirited march into downtown Detroit on Tuesday. Judith LeBlanc and Dave Kunes "had the pleasure of marching with our Peace Action of Michigan homies, and also Will Hopkins from New Hampshire Peace Action".
On Wednesday "we had a terrific mini-organizers meeting", led by Paul Kawika Martin, Jonathan Williams and Judith LeBlanc, with leaders from affiliates and chapters from across the country. That night we hosted a wonderful reception at the Swords into Plowshares gallery and peace center near downtown Detroit. Thanks "to Helen Weber, national Peace Action co-chair and PA MI stalwart, for her work, and also to the other wonderful Michigan volunteers who made the event a success".[27]
Solidarity with the Palestinian People/WikiLeaks
Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour and Judith Le Blanc, Peace Action
On Nov. 29,2010, the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, LeBlanc "had the honor of speaking on behalf of civil society organizations to a special meeting at the United Nations (UN)".[28]
I spoke at the UN the morning after the first WikiLeaks release of US diplomatic cables. One of the more galling bits of WikiLeaks information was the order by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to collect biometrics, frequent flyer numbers, work schedules and other data on high-ranking UN officials.
Judith LeBlanc, was a member of the steering committee of the US Campaign to End the israeli Occupation.
The attempts by the US to sidetrack international law, sideline the UN and block implementation of UN resolutions has a long history especially in regards to the Israel-Palestine conflict.
The UN is the only international institution where countries, big and small, rich or poor, can come to register their concerns and raise their demands for equitable treatment in the world community.
The UN spying was galling, but much of the information in the WikiLeaks, was not surprising or shocking for those who have been following US foreign policy. In fact, it proves that we have been right in our analysis and in organizing for peace and disarmament.
The ongoing debate around WikiLeaks gives organizers, historians and activists, an opportunity to draw bigger picture conclusions. Although, it is very tempting to get caught up in the juicy bits of gossip about world leaders, what they drink, wear or their states of mind.
The WikiLeaks disclosures portray the US Empire in decline, no longer able to launch wars wily nilly or control their allies. The diplomatic cables on discussions with the Yemeni government show that in fact, launching covert military actions and drone attacks on Al Qaeda rather than criminal investigations continues to destabilize the world and increase chance for new wars. The world is in deep crisis, and a US foreign, which relies on espionage, arms sales and bribery is a dead end.
The cables related to the coup in Honduras and Iran, for example, reflect an administration struggling for diplomatic approaches rather than the knee jerk vintage Bush cowboy-istic gun slinging. Do we agree with the outcome of the Obama administration's debates and the approach towards Honduras or Iran, probably not, but gone is the era of nuke first, ask questions later tactics.
Clearly the break in the continuum of US foreign policy that we all hoped for with the election of President Obama is still a work in progress that requires a stronger, more vocal peace movement.
The question is how do we use the WikiLeaks to make our case for an alternative foreign policy. What the world needs is a radically different US foreign policy premised on respect for national sovereignty, international law, and institutions.
The administration needs to work from President Obama's call for the US to behave as" one of many nations" and to end using diplomats for espionage now.
Closing US bases around the world and real steps on nuclear disarmament would go a long way to addressing the very real threat of rightwing fundamentalist terrorism.
If the US fought for the UN Charter mandated diplomatic role of the UN in the Middle East and around the world, real headway could be made on Middle East peace and ending the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Some in Congress are calling for placing WikiLeaks on the list of foreign terrorist organizations. Tom Hayden says, "These revelations do no damage to our national security. Instead, they helpfully add to public and Congressional awareness of improper and arguably illegal behavior undertaken under the cover of secrecy. "
Maybe Bill Quigley, Legal Director at the Center for Constitutional Rights, is right. In an article on Common Dreams he said, " Maybe WikiLeaks has the potential to make transparency and accountability more robust in the US."
More transparency and accountability is exactly what we need to organize a movement that can fight and win an alternative foreign policy. That's what the peace movement must do in the Wikiweeks to come.
32nd Annual Conference for Peace
Prasannan Parthasarathi, Judith LeBlanc, and the Rev. Robert Moore address audience questions during a speakers' panel.
The Coalition for Peace Action 's 32nd Annual Conference for Peace was held on November 13, 2011 at Princeton University. The Conference was entitled "Smart Security: Reducing Military Spending to Fund Urgent Needs at Home." The event featured talks from Dr. Gordon Adams, Jo Comferford, Dr. Prasannan Parthasarathi, Swami Tattvavidananda Saraswait, and Judith LeBlanc of the Communist Party USA, who encouraged the audience to be hopeful about our political progress, and to be involved with the current Occupy movements around the country.[29]
Communist Party speaker
Speak Progress is the speakers bureau of the Communist Party USA. Listed speakers, as of October 2014, included Judith LeBlanc[30]
Judith LeBlanc is the national field director for Peace Action, the nation's largest grassroots peace network, with chapters and affiliates in states across the country. From 2003-2009, she worked with United for Peace & Justice (UFPJ) coordinating national outreach efforts and served two terms as UFPJ National Co Chair.
LeBlanc coordinates efforts on campaigns to cut military spending, nuclear abolition and to oppose the war in Afghanistan. She works closely with Peace Action's affiliates on grassroots organizing efforts and helps coordinate the efforts of the New Priorities Network, a national network supporting grassroots organizing to "move the money from wars and weapons to fund human needs." She is a board member of DRUM, Desis Rising Up and Moving.
Communist Party convention
David Bender convened a session at the Communist Party USA's 2014 conference in Chicago (he is a party member). Also attending were Judith LeBlanc, Albert Bender and Andrea Perkins.[31]
Mapping Socialist Strategies
Mapping Socialist Strategies was convened from August 1-4 in Briarcliff Manor, NY, by the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung—New York Office. It brang together 100 influential progressives and leftists from across the United States, Canada, and Europe for an "un-conference" on socialist strategies.
Attendees included Judith LeBlanc.
Ear to the Ground Project
Ear to the Ground Project;
We would like to express our deep respect and appreciation for everyone who took the time to talk with us, and the organizations that generously hosted us during our travels. Interviews were confidential, but the following people have agreed to have their names listed for this publication:
Most of those listed were connected to Freedom Road Socialist Organization.
Judith LeBlanc was among those on the list. [32]
Alliance for a Just Society staff
Alliance for a Just Society staff, as of February 2016[33]
LeeAnn Hall, Executive Director
Amanda Ballantyne, Main Street Alliance, Director
Harsimran Bagri, Administrative Director
Sam Blair, Director of Strategic Partnerships
Julie Chinitz, Special Projects Director
Bill Daley, Legislative Director
Libero Della Piana, Senior Organizer and Digital Director
Allyson Fredericksen, Policy Analyst
Ben Henry, Senior Policy Associate
Judith LeBlanc, Senior Organizer and National Coordinator, Native Organizers Alliance
Kathy Mulady, Communications Director
Jill Reese, Associate Director
Native Organizers Alliance Advisory Council
Native Organizers Alliance Advisory Council, 2016; [34]
Director - Judith LeBlanc
Bineshi Albert
Louise Benally
Kara Denise Brewer Boyd
Danisha Christian
Kathy Forliti
Petuuche Gilbert
Michaelynn Hawk
Manuel F. Pino
OJ Semans
Marsha Whiting
Judith LeBlanc, extreme left
The Native Organizers Alliance has been supporting tribal leaders as they develop strategies to counter the powerful economic elites behind the Dakota Access Pipeline.
At the center of the Dakota Access pipeline fight are some of the country's most impoverished and most economically powerful people.
One section of the four-state pipeline would run through North Dakota's Standing Rock Sioux reservation, where 41 percent of 8,200 residents live below the poverty level and nearly a quarter are unemployed. Thousands of people have joined the Standing Rock tribe in opposing the pipeline over concerns it will contaminate their water supply and damage sacred sites and cultural artifacts.
On the opposite side is Energy Transfer Partners (ETP), whose CEO, Kelcy Warren, has a net worth of more than $4 billion. While ETP is the majority investor, a number of Wall Street banks have lined up to finance the project.
In an example of the power of people prevailing over the power of money, the Obama administration has ordered ETP to halt construction to allow for further consultation with the Standing Rock Sioux. But the fight is not over. The corporation has vowed to press ahead and President Obama has not yet issued a definitive statement against Dakota Access.
Judith LeBlanc, director of the Native Organizers Alliance, has been working to support native leaders as they develop strategies to continue to challenge these powerful forces. In mid-September she helped lead a four-day training at Standing Rock with tribal officials, native-led non-profits, and local community and political leaders on power mapping, strategic campaign planning, and direct action.
For me, it's a blessing in a moment like today to be the director of a national network of native groups, leaders, and organizers who are supporting grassroots native community organizing, the Native Organizers Alliance. As my Mom always said, "It is not enough to be right." If you believe you are right, then get organized.[35]
Love, Power, Solidarity and Protection
Winnie Wong November 23, 2016;
Love, Power, Solidarity and Protection to brothers and sisters who are at Standing Rock for #PeaceGiving. — with Bill Gallagher, Mary Clinton, Lorenzo Serna, Phil Aroneanu, Tom Hallaran, Brett Banditelli, Gerard Brogan, Nick Katkevich, Alyssa Kang, Rae Breaux, Jodi Archambault-Gillette, Claire Sandberg, Patsy Games, Caleb-Michael Files, Wiyaka Eagleman, Sarah Cecile, Katherine Brezler, Judith LeBlanc, Desiree Kane, Daphne Carr, Lena Tso, Susan Rubin and Moumita Ahmed.
Washington DC action
With Republican Donald Trump headed to the White House, Native women led a huge demonstration in the nation's capital on Tuesday, calling for an end to the Dakota Access Pipeline.
In his first 100 days in office, Trump has vowed to lift "roadblocks" to large infrastructure projects like Dakota Access. He's even invested his own money in the companies that are financing and operating the controversial pipeline.
But Eryn Wise of the International Indigenous Youth Council bore no ill will toward the incoming president despite his negative history in Indian Country. She came to Washington, D.C., with a simple yet strong message.
"I am here to protect his water as well," Wise said outside of the White House, where Trump will be residing come January 2017.
Wise, who is from the Jicarilla Apache Nation and Laguna Pueblo, was joined by three other Native women leaders -- LaDonna Brave Bull Allard (Standing Rock Sioux Tribe), Deborah Parker (Tulalip Tribes) and Judith LeBlanc (Caddo Nation) -- for the #NoDAPL Day of Action.
After staging a sit-in at the headquarters of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, they led the crowd of about 1,000 people down the streets of Washington, even passing by the newly opened Trump Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue NW.
That's where Wise, who has been living at the #NoDAPL encampment since the summer, made good on her promise. She momentarily stopped the march in front of the hotel, which is located on federal property, to offer a prayer.[36]
Still standing at Standing Rock
On January 30, 2017, Senator John Hoeven (R-ND), the new chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, issued a statement declaring that the Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army had directed the Army Corps to proceed with the final easement necessary to complete the proposed route of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). This news comes less than a week after Donald Trump signed a Presidential memorandum reviving the Keystone XL Pipeline, and advancing the Dakota Access oil pipeline.
The public has responded with immediate outrage, as organizers across the country have united in opposition of the continuation of both the Dakota Access Pipeline and Keystone XL. In cities such as Chicago, New York, LA, people gathered in in the streets, while protesters in Washington D.C. amassed in front of the White House just hours after the announcement was made. Many Indigenous leaders and environmental advocates have called for mobilization from across the country.
Judith LeBlanc, a member of the Caddo Tribe and director of the Native Organizers Alliance, spoke with People's World about the ongoing battle. "The fight to stop the pipeline is going to take a struggle that is political, legal and spiritual," she said. LeBlanc has been involved in the maintenance of the Standing Rock settlement, and is currently one of the few Water Protectors remaining in Cannonball, ND. In a statement she released to the public after the enactment of the Presidential memorandum, LeBlanc stated that Trump's actions 'violate the legal and moral sovereign treaty rights of the Lakota, Nakota, Dakota people and an aggressive rebuke of the over 300 tribes who stand with Standing Rock in opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline."
Questions remain for the activists as to what the best course of action might be. Several Water Protectors seek to head back to the Oceti Sakowin Camp site, but the settlement has become increasingly difficult to manage, especially with heavy flooding occurring near the main camp site. Others are determined to make their way to Sacred Stone camp, which is farther away from flooding regions, and still close enough to watch over the pipeline construction. LeBlanc, however, encourages Water Protectors to organize in their home states. "The people around the nation have an opportunity to mobilize in their communities."
In the meantime, the demand for responsible governing and respect for the sovereign legal continues. Water Protectors have geared up for another long hard battle against the "Black Snake" pipelines.[37]
Native Nations Rise March and Rally
March 10, 2017 Tribal leaders, indigenous rights advocates, and members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe held a rally in Washington DC, to oppose the Trump administration's approval of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines and to support Native American tribal land rights. Musical performers included the Akwesasne Mohawk Women Singers, Prolific the Rapper, and Taboo from the Black Eyed Peas.
Speakers were Dave Archambault, Chair Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Gabriel Ayala, Classical Musician, Candi Brings Plenty, Director Equi Institute, Lisa DeVille Activist Mandaree, Maria DeVille, Vice President Modern Day Warriors, Peggy Flanagan, Member White Earth Band of Ojibwe, Tulsi Gabbard U.S. Representative [D] Hawaii, Mayda Garcia Representative, , Society of Native Nations, JoDe Goudy Chair Yakima Nation Tribal Council (Washington), Kim Howe, Activist, Judith LeBlanc, Native Organizers Alliance, Melissa Mark-Viverito Speaker New York, NY City Council, Xiuhtezcatl Martinez Hip Hop Artist and Activist, Alice Brown Otter, Activist, Prolific the Rapper, Fawn R. Sharp, President Quinault Indian Nation, Faith Spotted Eagle, Activist, Wes Studi, Actor and Film Producer, Taboo, Rapper, Ulali, Activist, Eryn Wise, Activist, Eagle Woman, Activist North Dakota, Royal Yellow Hawk Representative Rosebud, South Dakota-Rosebud Sioux Tribal Council.[38]
Now What? Defying Trump and the Left's Way Forward
Now What? Defying Trump and the Left's Way Forward was a phone in webinar organized by Freedom Road Socialist Organization in the wake of the 2016 election.
Now what? We're all asking ourselves that question in the wake of Trump's victory. We've got urgent strategizing and work to do, together. Join Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson of the Movement for Black Lives and Freedom Road, Calvin Cheung-Miaw, Jodeen Olguin-Taylor of Mijente and WFP, Joe Schwartz of the Democratic Socialists of America, and Sendolo Diaminah of Freedom Road for a discussion of what happened, and what we should be doing to build mass defiance. And above all, how do we build the Left in this, which we know is the only solution to the crises we face?
This event will take place Tuesday November 15, 2016 at 9pm Eastern/8pm Central/6pm Pacific.
Those invited, on Facebook included Judith LeBlanc.[39]
Deep Democracy Lab
Movement Strategy Center May 19, 2017;
The beloved community of this week's Deep Democracy lab! #connection #courage #commitment <3 <3 <3 — with Jodeen Olguin-Tayler, Ana Cecilia Perez, Tammy Johnson, Nwamaka Agbo, Alexis Flanagan, Rosie Abriam, Michael Scott Nine, Vanessa Nisperos, Tomas Garduno, Yalini Dream, Gerardo Marin, Calvin Williams, Miya Yoshitani, Judith LeBlanc, Anthony Giancatarino, Taj James, Byron Gudiel, Julie Quiroz, Victoria Benson, Kristen Zimmerman, Beth Glenn, Ariel Jacobson, Rosa Esperanza Gonzalez, Rachel Humphrey, Nanci Lee, Mimi Ho, Supriya Lopez Pillai, Dana Ginn Paredes, Kelly Miller, Marc Mascarenhas-Swan, Helen S. Kim, Jovida Ross, Aparna Shah, Aisha Shillingford, Sarah Quiroga and Jacqui Patterson.
Peoples Summit panel
Judith LeBlanc, Thomas Wayne Walker, Shuron Jones, Joseph Schwartz, Timmy Lu were panelists on a Democratic Socialists of America sponsored panel at The People's Summit 2017 in June in Chicago.
It was entitled "Electoral Politics and transformative Politics:A View from the Left".
The Left We Want to Build: Breaking Out of the Margins
In June 2017, Judith LeBlanc signed the letter The Left We Want to Build: Breaking Out of the Margins.
Beyond the Choir Board of Directors
Beyond the Choir Board of Directors November 2018:[40]
Judith Le Blanc
Rain Phoenix
Haaland connection
Prairie Rose Seminole July 13 2019·
Unexpected blessings in Philadelphia. Attending Netroots Nation 2019 and my nephew, my oldest nephew, Koda Fountain saw that I was in the same town and reached out to me. I hadn't seen Koda in probably close to 25 years! His mom Linda Fountain had brought him closer to us when he was young and they moved away. Most of us kids were still young when they moved, as I'm only 9 years and some months ol... See More — with Crystal Echo Hawk, Libero Della Piana, Judith LeBlanc, Sarah Sunshine, Ruth Anna Buffalo, Koda Fountain and Deb Haaland.
Sarah Sunshine· July 13 2019·
With Jade Begay, Judith LeBlanc, Crystal Echo Hawk and Deb Haaland.
↑ 1.0 1.1 Political Affairs: Peace Movement and the 2008 Elections: Interview with Judith LeBlanc, April 11, 2008 (accessed on Dec. 23, 2010)
↑ People's World: Judith LeBlanc (accessed on Dec. 23, 2010)
↑ Organizing Upgrade Tribal sovereignty and the struggle for democracy in 2020 October 5, 2019
↑ Political Affairs, March 1994
↑ People's Weekly World Sep 2 1995 p 14
↑ PWW October 30, 1999, page 2
↑ Peoples World, World reporter goes back to Israel and Palestine, by: Evelina Alarcon & John Pappademos, October 10 2002
↑ PW Louise Koszalka dies at 100 by: Special to PeoplesWorld.org November 12 2014
↑ People's World: Honor César Chávez, March 29 2002 (accessed on Dec. 23, 2010)
↑ United for Peace and Justice: Steering Committee, elected at the UFPJ National Assembly, Feb. 2005 (accessed on July 9, 2008)
↑ Knology: National Organizations Affiliated With UFPJ as of July 17, 2007 (accessed on Dec. 23, 2010)
↑ United for Peace and Justice: Largest US Peace Coalition Marks Anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Bombings, Aug. 4, 2009 (accessed on Dec. 23, 2010)
↑ BURLAK TIMPSON LABOR FORUM AND RED FLAME AWARD home page, accessed March 8, 2011
↑ Women's International Democratic Federation, regional workshops, USA, accessed Feb. 22, 2011
↑ PW, Latino Congreso sets 2008 agenda, by: Rosalio Muñoz and Joelle Fishman, October 12 2007
↑ Committees of Correspondence: Socialism and the Emerging Progressive Majority Are Key Topics at Symposium and 6th CCDS Convention, Aug. 6, 2009 (accessed on Dec. 23, 2010)
↑ Guardian, Issue # 1418 8 July 2009, The peace movement in the USA
↑ Organizing for America: Latinos For Peace tell Obama to get out of Afghanistan... and I agree! Get out now!, Oct 31, 2009 (accessed on Dec. 23, 2010)
↑ PA Staff Directory: accessed December 5, 2014
↑ People's World: Tucson: Rebuilding the peace movement (accessed on Dec. 23, 2010)
↑ New Ground 128, Jan./Feb. 2008
↑ conference speaker bios (accessed on July 18, 2010)
↑ [http://peaceblog.wordpress.com/2010/06/, Peace Action blog, Peace Action in the House at the US Social Forum in Detroit! June 25, 2010]
↑ Peace Action Blog, A WikiWeek! By Judith Le Blanc, December 5, 2010
↑ http://www.peacecoalition.org/news-and-events/recent-events.html, 32nd Annual Conference for Peace, Coalition for Peace Action website, accessed January 4, 2012]
↑ Speak Progress, Speakers page
↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOLxUA2gYNY&feature=youtu.be&a Youtube, The Future at Stake: The Environment Is Basic Communist Party USA Streamed live on Jun 14, 2014]
↑ Ear to the Ground, About, accessed Nov. 12, 2015
↑ [;http://allianceforajustsociety.org/about/staff/ Alliance for a Just Society staff, accessed Feb,2016]
↑ Inequality Upsetting Billionaires at Standing Rock Posted on September 28, 2016 by Inequality.org Staff
↑ Indianz.com Native women lead massive march to White House to stop Dakota Access Pipeline WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2016
↑ [http://www.peoplesworld.org/article/gop-senator-hoeven-to-u-s-army-corps-proceed-with-dakota-access-pipeline/PW, GOP Senator Hoeven to U.S. Army Corps: "Proceed with Dakota Access pipeline" February 1, 2017 1:02 PM CST BY MICHELLE ZACARIAS]
↑ [https://www.c-span.org/video/?425181-1/members-standing-rock-sioux-tribe-hold-protest-white-house C-Span MARCH 10, 2017 Native Nations Rise March and Rally]
Retrieved from "https://keywiki.org/index.php?title=Judith_LeBlanc&oldid=583268"
Liberation Road
Rockwood Leadership Institute
US Campaign to End the israeli Occupation
Communist Party USA
Speak Progress
Desis Rising Up and Moving
Freedom Road Socialist Organization
Alliance for a Just Society
United Farm Workers
Letter to Obama on Iran
Latino Congreso 2007 participants
Red/Green Axis
Native American activist