Macron subscribes to Le Pen
The government is under pressure. It fears an extension of the fights against its attacks, after the strikes in railways, Paris public transports, hospitals and elsewhere, not to mention the still active Yellow Jackets. So it finds scapegoats and uses the old distraction recipe: anti-immigrant talk. Macron insults the working class by pretending to believe […]
The U.S. Border Crisis: A Crisis of the Capitalist System
The capitalist system has created an international crisis of displaced people due to a convergence of factors.
A Society Based On Violence!
We are right to question the violence of our society, where mass shooting and brutality have become accepted as normal. The system of capitalism values human life and the planet only as resources to be exploited and profited from, creating wealth only for those in positions of power. Their entire system is organized violence against […]
An Injury To One Is An Injury To All!
Many immigrants are nervous about immigration policies under the Trump administration. Trump has proposed cutting off funding to sanctuary cities, building a wall the length of the border, stepping up immigration raids, and banning immigrants from six countries. The fear of Trump’s policies is justified but it is important to remember that undocumented immigrants are […]
Robin Kelley: Revisiting Black Marxism in the Wake of Black Lives Matter
Revolutionary University October 2016 Robin D. G. Kelley, is Distinguished Professor of History and Black Studies & Gary B. Nash Endowed Chair in U.S. History at UCLA, and current Chair of the Department of African American Studies and a prolific author and editor My talk reflects on the life and work of Cedric J. Robinson, […]
Racism – A Cancer of This Society
We live in a society based on divisions. The main division, which is hardly ever discussed, is the division between those who control the wealth and productive forces of society, and those who do the work. Those in control of the economy determine what to produce, who will produce it and who it is produced […]
The Origins of the Police
For most of human history, daily issues of society were settled by people themselves, in their communities. There weren’t always police on every street corner with the power to stop, search, and harass people in the name of the law. Police forces were introduced by governments controlled by the wealthy, not to protect people but […]
A Nation of Mass Incarceration
The US has the largest prison population in the world. With five percent of the world’s population, it has 25 percent of the world’s prisoners, half a million more than China, which has five times the population. There are about 2.3 million prisoners in the US and about seven million either locked up or on […]
Racism – A Cancer of This Society
We live in a society based on divisions. The main division, which is hardly ever discussed, is the division between those who control the wealth and productive forces of society, and those who do the work. Those in control of the economy determine what to produce, who will produce it and who it is produced […]
The Police: To Serve and Protect…Their System!
The militaristic response by the police to the rebellion in Ferguson showed the country and the world something all too familiar to poor and working class people – that the police are heavily armed and ready to use brutal force to put people down. The police are often represented as the good guys who only […]
Ferguson, Missouri – The War at Home
On August 9, Michael Brown, an 18-year-old unarmed black man, was murdered in cold blood by a cop. The reason? He was walking in the street and questioned the cop’s order to get out of the street. This outrageous act attracted the attention of people across the U.S. and around the world, but not because […]
Ferguson – People Are Right To Resist!
On Saturday, August 9, an all-too familiar incident took place in Missouri. Another unarmed young African-American man was murdered in cold blood by a cop. Most of us had never heard of Ferguson but soon it was on the lips of people – both in the U.S. and around the world. An African American man […]
The Origin of the Police
There weren’t always police on every street corner with the power to stop, search, and harass people in the name of the law. For most of human history, daily issues of society were settled by people themselves, in their communities. Police forces were introduced by governments controlled by the wealthy, not to protect people but […]
The Rich Get Richer – The Poor Get Prison
The worst criminals in our society are the super rich. Bankers and CEOs cause horrible pain and suffering to millions of people around the world, but they are rarely punished for their crimes against humanity. Poor and working people, however, are incarcerated at ever increasing numbers, even though the crimes they commit usually stem from […]
Film Review: Fruitvale Station
The film Fruitvale Station, written and directed by 26 year-old, Oakland resident, Ryan Coogler, tells the story of the murder of Oscar Grant. In 85 minutes we are taken through a depiction of the last 24 hours of Oscar Grant’s life. We get to know him, get to see him as the 22 year old […]
The Negro Leagues: The Untold Story of Baseball
Everyone has heard of Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Roy Campanella. But how many people have heard of Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige, Cool Papa Bell or Mule Suttles? For half of baseball’s history in the U.S., black people were excluded from the major leagues. The Negro Leagues were formed with teams of skilled […]
The Civil Rights Movement: a Legacy of Struggle and Courage
One of the most profound struggles in the history of the U.S. was the struggle of the black population during the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s. This explosive revolt totally shook every corner of American society. It had an enormous international impact, inspiring struggles across the globe. But most of all, the […]
Black History Month: The Struggle Hasn’t Ended
February is Black History Month. This month will be celebrated with the media and politicians selecting famous names to highlight the contributions of black people in history. Usually they choose those who made it into the ranks of the wealthy. But they also pay lip service to some black leaders who spent their lives organizing […]