Thousands Protest ‘Electoral Coup’ in Haiti; Detroit’s Schools Failing Miserably; The Season of Grassroots Action?

The results of the first round of Haiti’s Oct. 25 national elections, widely viewed as rigged to favor current President Michele Martelly’s candidates, have touched off a series of protests and deadly clashes between rival groups. Kim Ives, a co-founder and editor of the international weekly newspaper Haïti Liberté, reports.

Under state-imposed management, Detroit’s public schools are performing dismally, with 96 percent of eight-graders found not proficient in math and 93 percent not proficient in reading. Elena Herrada, a “member-in-exile” of the Detroit School Board and an activist with Detroiters Resisting Emergency Management, discusses the grassroots uphill battle for quality education for the city’s mostly poor children.

Two days after fast-food workers staged demonstrations across the nation calling a $15-an-hour minimum wage and union rights, students are taking to the streets today with a Million Student March demanding relief from student-loan debt, tuition-free colleges and a minimum wage for campus workers. Is this the season of grassroots political action?