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The People's Summit takes place in Chicago from Friday to Sunday, and features progressive luminaries and opportunities to cement a blueprint "for a just world." (Image: The People's Summit)
People's Summit Kicks Off: Moving 'Beyond Resistance' to Forge Just World in Trump Era
'If there was ever a moment to come together, this is it—in Trump times the only defense is a good offense,' says 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben
Jun 09, 2017
Thousands of progressive activists are gathering in Chicago to cultivate strategies and foster intersectionality for moving "beyond resistance" to "a people's movement for a just world."
The three-day People's Summit, headlined by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), kicks off Friday. It aims to bring together those committed to an agenda "that can enhance and expand issue campaigns and hold all elected officials accountable to popular demands for justice, equality, and freedom," the call to the event says.
The Vermont Independent and 2016 presidential contender will give the keynote address Saturday beginning at 7pm CST. A livestream will be available here.
Other speakers include noted filmmaker Josh Fox, Democracy Now! co-host Amy Goodman, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), political commentator Van Jones, Linda Sarsour of the Arab-American Association, Zephry Teachout of Fordham University, and 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben.
"If there was ever a moment to come together, this is it--in Trump times the only defense is a good offense," McKibben said in an earlier statement.
Breakout sessions are set explore key progressive issues, featuring titles such as "Transforming the Democratic Party"; "Organizing for Education Justice"; "Multi-Front Organizing for the Political Revolution"; "Empowering Locals: The Power of Perseverance"; "Runaway Inequality"; and "Time for Single-Payer!"
Supporting organizations include many Sanders backers, such National Nurses United (NNU), Our Revolution, and The People for Bernie.
According to Winnie Wong, a key organizer of the summit and a co-founder of People for Bernie, the gathering is "going to be a turning point for the people who have been really invested in the Bernie revolution," and would offer "political education for organizers ahead of 2018."
Looking at all those participating in the summit, RoseAnn DeMoro, executive director of NNU, said, "What has consistently unified us is a common vision of opposition to policies of austerity and neo-liberalism, and solidarity in supporting each others' work on healthcare, environmental, racial, social, and economic justice, and breaking the corporate grip on our political and economic system."
Saturday's roster also features "The People Speak"--dramatic readings inspired by the late Howard Zinn performed by artists including Aasif Mandvi, Jesse Eisenber, Melissa Leo, and Wallace Shawn.
The gathering at McCormick Place is People's Summit 2.0. Last year's similarly themed event, also in Chicago, featured speakers including author and climate activist Naomi Klein--who's also speaking at this year's event--and Seattle City Council member Kshama Sawant.
Watch the hashtag #PPLSummit on Twitter over the next three days to see events from the People's Summit as it unfolds:
An Unconstitutional Rampage
Trump and Musk are on an unconstitutional rampage, aiming for virtually every corner of the federal government. These two right-wing billionaires are targeting nurses, scientists, teachers, daycare providers, judges, veterans, air traffic controllers, and nuclear safety inspectors. No one is safe. The food stamps program, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are next. It’s an unprecedented disaster and a five-alarm fire, but there will be a reckoning. The people did not vote for this. The American people do not want this dystopian hellscape that hides behind claims of “efficiency.” Still, in reality, it is all a giveaway to corporate interests and the libertarian dreams of far-right oligarchs like Musk. Common Dreams is playing a vital role by reporting day and night on this orgy of corruption and greed, as well as what everyday people can do to organize and fight back. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. |
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350.orgamy goodmanausteritybernie sandersbill mckibbenhoward zinnnaomi kleinnational nurses unitedpeople powerpramila jayapalroseann demorosingle-payertrump resistance
Thousands of progressive activists are gathering in Chicago to cultivate strategies and foster intersectionality for moving "beyond resistance" to "a people's movement for a just world."
The three-day People's Summit, headlined by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), kicks off Friday. It aims to bring together those committed to an agenda "that can enhance and expand issue campaigns and hold all elected officials accountable to popular demands for justice, equality, and freedom," the call to the event says.
The Vermont Independent and 2016 presidential contender will give the keynote address Saturday beginning at 7pm CST. A livestream will be available here.
Other speakers include noted filmmaker Josh Fox, Democracy Now! co-host Amy Goodman, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), political commentator Van Jones, Linda Sarsour of the Arab-American Association, Zephry Teachout of Fordham University, and 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben.
"If there was ever a moment to come together, this is it--in Trump times the only defense is a good offense," McKibben said in an earlier statement.
Breakout sessions are set explore key progressive issues, featuring titles such as "Transforming the Democratic Party"; "Organizing for Education Justice"; "Multi-Front Organizing for the Political Revolution"; "Empowering Locals: The Power of Perseverance"; "Runaway Inequality"; and "Time for Single-Payer!"
Supporting organizations include many Sanders backers, such National Nurses United (NNU), Our Revolution, and The People for Bernie.
According to Winnie Wong, a key organizer of the summit and a co-founder of People for Bernie, the gathering is "going to be a turning point for the people who have been really invested in the Bernie revolution," and would offer "political education for organizers ahead of 2018."
Looking at all those participating in the summit, RoseAnn DeMoro, executive director of NNU, said, "What has consistently unified us is a common vision of opposition to policies of austerity and neo-liberalism, and solidarity in supporting each others' work on healthcare, environmental, racial, social, and economic justice, and breaking the corporate grip on our political and economic system."
Saturday's roster also features "The People Speak"--dramatic readings inspired by the late Howard Zinn performed by artists including Aasif Mandvi, Jesse Eisenber, Melissa Leo, and Wallace Shawn.
The gathering at McCormick Place is People's Summit 2.0. Last year's similarly themed event, also in Chicago, featured speakers including author and climate activist Naomi Klein--who's also speaking at this year's event--and Seattle City Council member Kshama Sawant.
Watch the hashtag #PPLSummit on Twitter over the next three days to see events from the People's Summit as it unfolds:
Thousands of progressive activists are gathering in Chicago to cultivate strategies and foster intersectionality for moving "beyond resistance" to "a people's movement for a just world."
The three-day People's Summit, headlined by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), kicks off Friday. It aims to bring together those committed to an agenda "that can enhance and expand issue campaigns and hold all elected officials accountable to popular demands for justice, equality, and freedom," the call to the event says.
The Vermont Independent and 2016 presidential contender will give the keynote address Saturday beginning at 7pm CST. A livestream will be available here.
Other speakers include noted filmmaker Josh Fox, Democracy Now! co-host Amy Goodman, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), political commentator Van Jones, Linda Sarsour of the Arab-American Association, Zephry Teachout of Fordham University, and 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben.
"If there was ever a moment to come together, this is it--in Trump times the only defense is a good offense," McKibben said in an earlier statement.
Breakout sessions are set explore key progressive issues, featuring titles such as "Transforming the Democratic Party"; "Organizing for Education Justice"; "Multi-Front Organizing for the Political Revolution"; "Empowering Locals: The Power of Perseverance"; "Runaway Inequality"; and "Time for Single-Payer!"
Supporting organizations include many Sanders backers, such National Nurses United (NNU), Our Revolution, and The People for Bernie.
According to Winnie Wong, a key organizer of the summit and a co-founder of People for Bernie, the gathering is "going to be a turning point for the people who have been really invested in the Bernie revolution," and would offer "political education for organizers ahead of 2018."
Looking at all those participating in the summit, RoseAnn DeMoro, executive director of NNU, said, "What has consistently unified us is a common vision of opposition to policies of austerity and neo-liberalism, and solidarity in supporting each others' work on healthcare, environmental, racial, social, and economic justice, and breaking the corporate grip on our political and economic system."
Saturday's roster also features "The People Speak"--dramatic readings inspired by the late Howard Zinn performed by artists including Aasif Mandvi, Jesse Eisenber, Melissa Leo, and Wallace Shawn.
The gathering at McCormick Place is People's Summit 2.0. Last year's similarly themed event, also in Chicago, featured speakers including author and climate activist Naomi Klein--who's also speaking at this year's event--and Seattle City Council member Kshama Sawant.
Watch the hashtag #PPLSummit on Twitter over the next three days to see events from the People's Summit as it unfolds:
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LATEST NEWS
Foreign Aid Cuts by Trump Will Be 'Death Sentence for Millions,' Warns UN
The Trump administration cut $1.3 billion in foreign assistance over the weekend—slashing lifesaving programs that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had previously said would be preserved.
Apr 08, 2025
The World Food Program (WFP) at the United Nations warned Monday that the Trump administration's new cuts to lifesaving U.S. foreign aid programs "could amount to a death sentence for millions of people facing extreme hunger and starvation."
The programs had previously been protected from sweeping cuts made by the President Donald Trump-created Department of Government Efficiency( DOGE), led by tech billionaire Elon Musk, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio granting waivers for the funding after 83% of the US Agency for International Development's provisions had been slashed.
Rubio claimed in March that DOGE's weekslong purge of USAID was "officially ending"—only for the State Department and USAID to spend this past weekend cutting more nutrition, healthcare, education, and financial stability programs in at least 14 countries.
On Monday, it became clear that the administration was not actually finished slashing programs aimed at promoting nutrition, education, and financial stability around the world, after the and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) spent the weekend terminating aid programs, putting vulnerable people in some of the poorest nations on earth at risk of starvation or death.
The grassroots advocacy group Stand Up for Aid told Reuters that a total of $1.3 billion had been cut over the weekend, including $562 million for Afghanistan, $107 million for Yemen, $170 million for Somalia, $237 million for Syria, and $12 million for Gaza.
"Every remaining USAID award for Afghanistan was terminated," one source told Reuters.
The cuts targeted a $24 million grant for Afghanistan and a $17 million grant for Syria that were provided to the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA), a sexual and reproductive health aid agency. Both grants had previously been terminated by DOGE but then reinstated—before the State Department, which took control of all remaining USAID programs last month, decided to again pull back the funding.
The administration is also ending a program that sends Afghan girls overseas to study, which they are prohibited from doing under restrictions imposed by the Taliban government, and terminating $169.8 million for WFP food assistance and malnutrition support for babies and children in Somalia and $111 million in WFP assistance in Syria.
In Yemen, 19 million of the war-torn country's 35 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance. According to a letter from USAID to an aid contractor in Yemen, the decision to end its contract was made by Jeremy Lewin, a DOGE operative now serving as an acting USAID assistant administrator.
"The decision to terminate this individual award is pursuant to a review and determination that the award is inconsistent with the administration's priorities," the letter read, according to Reuters.
Cindy McCain, executive director of the WFP, warned that the new cuts to the agency's emergency operations "will deepen hunger, fuel instability, and make the world far less safe."
U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, noted in a statement that the Trump administration had previously provided to Congress "continued assurances that lifesaving programs would be protected during the Trump administration's 'review' of foreign assistance."
Shaheen said she looked forward to speaking with Rubio about the "devastating consequences" the cuts would have around the world.
She added on social media that women and girls will be "disproportionately" impacted by the State Department's decision to gut foreign assistance.
"It will increase maternal deaths and increase poverty, eliminate support for family planning programs in developing countries, [and] cut off 50 million women from access to contraception," said the senator.
U.S. officials who are involved in humanitarian aid and spoke on condition of anonymity told Reuters that in Afghanistan, the cuts could worsen economic stability and other conditions that have propelled people to join extremist groups like ISIS-K.
In Gaza, where Israel is again blocking humanitarian aid after breaking a brief cease-fire earlier this year, the cuts came days after the WFP warned it was distributing its final food packages to Palestinians.
All of the U.N. agency's bakeries in the besieged enclave are inoperable due to a lack of supplies, and the WFP said last week that it had enough provisions to make hot meals for another two weeks.
While the cease-fire "offered a short respite," said the heads of several U.N. agencies in a joint statement on Monday, "assertions that there is now enough food to feed all Palestinians in Gaza are far from the reality on the ground, and commodities are running extremely low."
'Microsoft Powers This Genocide': Firm Fires Pro-Palestine Disruptors of 50th Anniversary Celebration
"I did not sign up to write code that violates human rights," wrote one protester in an email to Microsoft executives.
Apr 08, 2025
The tech giant Microsoft has fired two software engineers who publicly protested the firm's ties to the Israeli military during an event celebrating the company's 50th anniversary celebration on Friday.
The protests come a few months after the publication of an investigation by The Associated Press which found that Israel's use of Microsoft and OpenAI technology "skyrocketed" following Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which prompted Israel's deadly campaign on the Gaza Strip. Multiple human rights groups have said Israel is guilty of committing genocide or "acts of genocide."
Specifically, the investigation found that artificial intelligence "models from Microsoft and OpenAI had been used as part of an Israeli military program to select bombing targets during the recent wars in Gaza and Lebanon."
According to the AP, on Friday, while Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman was giving a livestreamed talk at Microsoft's campus in Redmond, Washington, a software engineer based in Canada, Ibtihal Aboussad, walked up toward the stage and shouted, "You claim that you care about using AI for good but Microsoft sells AI weapons to the Israeli military."
"Fifty-thousand people have died and Microsoft powers this genocide in our region," Aboussad said.
Suleyman was forced to pause the speech and responded by thanking Aboussad for her protest and saying, "I hear you."
Aboussad said that "all of Microsoft has blood on its hands," as she was being led out of the room. "How dare you celebrate when Microsoft is killing children," Aboussad yelled.
According to CNBC, Aboussad then sent an email to Suleyman and other Microsoft executives, including the company's CEO and president.
"I spoke up today because after learning that my org was powering the genocide of my people in Palestine, I saw no other moral choice," she wrote in her email, according to the outlet. "This is especially true when I've witnessed how Microsoft has tried to quell and suppress any dissent from my coworkers who tried to raise this issue."
"I did not sign up to write code that violates human rights," she also wrote.
According to a document reviewed by CNBC, Aboussad was fired Monday due to "just cause, willful misconduct, disobedience, or willful neglect of duty."
Another protester, Microsoft employee Vaniya Agrawal, interrupted a later session that featured Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and former CEOs Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer. Agrawal made similar statements to Aboussad, including referencing the death toll in Gaza, while being hurried toward the exit.
Both Agrawal and Aboussad are associated with No Azure for Apartheid, a group of Microsoft employees who denounce the firm's Azure contracts and partnerships with the Israeli military and government, according to The Verge. Azure is the company's cloud computing platform that offers AI services.
According to CNBC, Agrawal also sent an email to company executives afterward. "You may have seen me stand up earlier today to call out Satya during his speech at the Microsoft 50th anniversary," Agrawal wrote. "Over the past 1.5 years, I've grown more aware of Microsoft's growing role in the military-industrial complex."
Agrawal wrote that the tech company is "complicit" as a "digital weapons manufacturer that powers surveillance, apartheid, and genocide." She also said that "by working for this company, we are all complicit," according to CNBC.
Agrawal put in notice prior to her protest that April 11 would be her last day with Microsoft, but on Monday she learned that her termination would be effective immediately.
"We provide many avenues for all voices to be heard," Microsoft said in statement Friday, according to the AP. "Importantly, we ask that this be done in a way that does not cause a business disruption. If that happens, we ask participants to relocate. We are committed to ensuring our business practices uphold the highest standards."
Organizers at the BDS National Committee recently told Drop Site that it will make Microsoft a priority target to pressure the company to end its support for Israel's campaign, following reporting about the Israeli military's use of Microsoft's AI and cloud services.
Despite Proven Fraud, Trump to Boost Payments to Privatized Medicare Advantage by $25 Billion
"Privatized Medicare plans are denying patients the care they need, while defrauding the government of billions a year," said one advocacy group. "Donald Trump is giving them even more taxpayer money."
Apr 08, 2025
The federal agency now headed by former television host Mehmet Oz announced Monday that it is substantially boosting payments to privately run Medicare Advantage plans, a boon for an industry notorious for overcharging taxpayers and denying patients necessary care.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said it is jacking up payments to Medicare Advantage (MA) plans by more than 5% for 2026—an increase of over $25 billion. That's more than double the increase proposed by the Biden administration.
Health insurance company stocks jumped in response to the news of the Trump administration's payment hike, with shares of UnitedHealth Group—the largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans—rising more than 6% following the CMS statement.
Oz, whom the Republican-controlled Senate confirmed in a party-line vote last week, previously reported holding tens of millions of dollars worth of stock in companies with interests before CMS, including UnitedHealth.
Social Security Works, a progressive advocacy group that campaigns against Medicare Advantage,
said Monday that "privatized Medicare plans are denying patients the care they need, while defrauding the government of billions a year."
"Trump is giving them even more taxpayer money," the group wrote on social media. "Trump-Musk don't care about 'efficiency.' They care about stealing our money."
"Medicare Advantage is wasteful and inefficient relative to traditional Medicare and everyone knows it."
One industry analyst, Chris Meekins of the financial services firm Raymond James, told Axios that the payment boost for Medicare Advantage "leads one to believe that DOGE"—the Elon Musk-led advisory commission also known as the Department of Government Efficiency—"does not care about MA."
Healthcare writer Natalie Shure
called the payment increase a clear "illustration that this administration's goal is upward wealth distribution and the dismantling of public goods, not 'efficiency.'"
"Medicare Advantage is wasteful and inefficient relative to traditional Medicare," Shure added, "and everyone knows it."
The CMS announcement came weeks after Oz told Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) during his confirmation hearing that he is concerned about and prepared to "go after" Medicare Advantage upcoding, the practice of making patients appear sicker than they actually are to reap larger government payments.
The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that the Trump administration did opt to "stick with a Biden administration policy change that limits certain billing practices that have boosted payments to Medicare Advantage insurers," despite industry objections to the policy.
But Oz's record, including his past support for a proposal dubbed "Medicare Advantage for All," has led watchdog groups to doubt that he intends to aggressively take on large-scale overpayments and fraud in the program. According to one estimate from 2023, Medicare Advantage plans are overcharging U.S. taxpayers by up to $140 billion a year.
Robert Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen, warned after his Senate confirmation that Oz will "seek to further privatize Medicare, increasing the risk that seniors will receive inferior care and further threatening the long-term health of the Medicare program."
"Dr. Oz is joining a team of snake oil salesmen and anti-science flunkies that have already shown disdain for the American people and their health," said Weissman.
In addition to Oz and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees CMS, Trump appointed former Medicare Advantage lobbyist Don Dempsey as associate director for health at the Office of Management and Budget, another signal that the administration intends to be an ally to the MA industry.
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