Hundreds of thousands of immigrant workers in South Africa are under attack by gangs of thugs who are going door to door and dragging people out of their homes. Hundreds have been murdered. They are also being fired from their jobs without their back pay.
Adile Anembezi who is with the Casual Workers Advice Center has been helping to organize defense and support for migrant workers. He spoke with Pacifica’s Steve Zeltzer about what is happening.
You can find out more about this situation at the website of the CWAO.
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July 5, 1934 is known as “Bloody Thursday” for the murder of two strikers, Nicholas Bordoise and Howard Sperry on the San Francisco longshore picket lines and west coast maritime strike. It led to the San Francisco general strike. Marie Shell who is the granddaughter of Harry Bridges commemorated it by singing Woody Guthrie’s Ballad of Harry Bridges during Laborfest. The government tried to deport Bridges four times in order to break the union. She also talks about her life under the witch hunt.
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Next, Pacifica CRD’s Thomas O’Rourke speaks to Turkish leftist Mehmet Bayram, a retired IT professional and contributor to Sendika.org, a Turkish language leftist news site. Part one of this interview aired on our June 15th show and covered some moments in Turkish working class history, the plight of ethnic minorities, Turkish nationalism, and the founding of the 1923 Turkish Republic by General and later President for Life, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. In this segment you’ll hear a discussion of Turkish religious minorities, more on Turkish nationalism, the rise of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, corruption, compradors and gangster capitalism with a Muslim veneer. The full interview of Mehmet Bayram by Pacifica CRD’s Thomas O’Rourke will soon be published on our website.
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We thank all of Pacifica’s sister stations and affiliates who contribute to the production of this show. Today’s program was produced by the Capitalism, Race & Democracy collective, with contributions from Steve Zeltzer, Ann Garrison, Polina Vasiliev, and Thomas O’Rourke.
You can find this and all previous episodes at our website “capitalism race and democracy dot ORG”. Make sure you click the subscribe button. Follow us on X, formerly Twitter, @PacificaCRD.
Thanks for listening.
Music:
The Ballad of Harry Bridges sung by Arlo Guthrie
Ladysmith Black Mambazo – Homeless Live
