Editor’s note: We commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War with excerpts from John Alan on Harriet Tubman from the April 2004 News & Letters.
Since the 1960s there has been a growing interest in Harriet Tubman. Catherine Clinton in Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom (Little, Brown, 2004), lets her reader know immediately that the [=>]
by Htun Lin
Recently, two nurses were killed on the job by patients at state healthcare facilities in California’s Bay Area. Contrary to management’s attitude, these are not isolated incidents. More than 50% of emergency room nurses, for example, experience violence by patients on the job. For many years, like nurses all across the country, the [=>]
On Dec. 9, prisoners throughout Georgia began the largest prisoner strike in U.S. history. They refused to leave their cells for work or other activities, dubbed their strike a “Lockdown for Liberty,” and released a humanist statement of demands. These included: a living wage for work done; educational opportunities; humane health care; an end to [=>]
World in View
by Gerry Emmett
Protests have exploded in Tunisia and Algeria. On Dec. 17, in the city of Sidi Bouzid in central Tunisia, 26-year-old street vendor Mohammad Bouazizi doused himself in gasoline and burned himself to death in a despairing protest at the confiscation of his unlicensed fruit and vegetable cart.
Then on Dec. 22 another [=>]
Editor’s note: S’bu Zikode of Abahlali baseMjondolo of Western Cape spoke recently in Oakland, Cal., on a U.S. tour about this movement within South Africa. Here are excerpts from his talk:
People are born and live in these shantytowns, at least 2.3 million of us. In 2005 Abahlali baseMjondolo, an organization representing 25,000 people, came together [=>]
Essay
by Raha
Recollecting Raya at the end of the Dunayevskaya Centenary is intertwined with the Iranian Revolution at its 1979 high point and as it suffered through three decades of counter-revolution, and now, as it searches for a new beginning.
One year ago, the unprecedented turnout of millions throughout Iran on the 31st anniversary of the 1979 Revolution [=>]
From the Writings of Raya Dunayevskaya
Editor’s note: 2011 marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the U.S. Civil War. The piece excerpted here, originally titled “Marxism and Freedom: From the Industrial Revolution to Automation–An Outline of a Book in Preparation,” shows the profound impact of the war on Marx’s thought. It can be found [=>]
From the Jan.-Feb. 2011 issue of News & Letters:
Editorial:
Back to the nuclear brink
The continuing threat of war on the Korean Peninsula, the nature of debate over the just-ratified New START nuclear arms reduction treaty, and the “wisdom” Homeland Security has shared with us on surviving a nuclear attack, all underscore the urgency of the [=>]
Editorial:
How predictable was the Jan. 8 massacre in Tucson, Arizona? So much so that shooter Jared Loughner’s primary target, Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, had this to say last year: “We’re on Sarah Palin’s target list, but the thing is, that the way she has it depicted has the crosshairs of a gun sight over our [=>]
by Ron Kelch
In one of the biggest demonstrations in Ireland since its revolutionary birth in 1916, 100,000 marched in Dublin on Nov. 27 against the terms of an 85 billion euro loan package put together by the European Union (EU) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The marchers were outraged over the Irish government agreeing [=>]
When Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak unleashed his plainclothes security agents and hired thugs against the freedom fighters in Tahrir Square Feb. 2, it was not only to support his shaken and discredited 30-year regime. He was serving the interests of all rulers, in the Middle East and beyond, that are terrified by the international wave [=>]
Feb. 3, 2011
Support the revolutions of Egypt and Tunisia!
When Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak unleashed his plainclothes security agents and hired thugs against the freedom fighters in Tahrir Square Feb. 2, it was not only to support his shaken and discredited 30-year regime. He was serving the interests of all rulers, in the Middle East and [=>]
The world food crisis, which was hot in 2008 and then subsided temporarily, is getting worse again. It was one of the factors in Tunisia’s revolution, along with recent revolts in Algeria. The piece below, published in the June-July 2008 issue of News & Letters, is still quite germane.
World food crisis stirs revolt
by Franklin Dmitryev
In [=>]
Part of the classic American Civilization on Trial: Black Masses as Vanguard, written by Raya Dunayevskaya, has been posted on the web at the Marxists Internet Archive. The entire book can be obtained from News and Letters Committees.
This was excerpted from Part V, “From Depression Through World War II.”
Source: American Civilization on Trial, Part V “From Depression Through [=>]
by John Alan
Editor’s note: To highlight what is missing from current debates on education reform, we reprint John Alan’s column from the June 1993 N&L.
* * *
This June [1993] the New Jersey Educational Commissioner, Mary Fitzgerald, will take control of the Malcolm X Shabazz High School and the rest of the Newark, N.J., school system. [=>]
The continuing threat of war on the Korean Peninsula underscores the urgency of the Marxist-Humanist perspective that the opposite of war is not peace but revolution. North Korea seized the focus of war, peace and nuclear annihilation on Nov. 23 by raining deadly artillery shells down on South Korean-controlled Yeonpyeong Island. The artillery attack appeared [=>]
by Artemis
Participants at the 25th National Gathering of Women in Paraná, Argentina, denounced physical attacks on feminists by right-wing Catholics who infiltrated their workshops on “Women, Contraception, and Abortion,” resulting in injuries. Feminists shouting “No More!” physically ousted the anti-abortion fanatics. That same night, thousands of women marched, singing chants against the dictatorship of the [=>]
South Africa’s ‘Class Apartheid’
Two decades after Nelson Mandela was freed from prison, South Africa has actually increased the apartheid-era race and class inequality. Neoliberal capitalist economic policies have resulted in massive unemployment and poverty that has been termed “class apartheid.” So extreme is the situation that the unemployment rate for Black youth has reached almost [=>]
Queer Notes
by Elise
Marco Melgoza, seventh-grade student, protested anti-Gay bullies. With his dad Jerry Watson at his side, Melgoza carried the sign “Bullying Is a Weapon” outside his Middle School, Desmond, in Madera, California. He has been called names and been physically attacked. Melgoza joins people from San Francisco, to Utah, to New York City, from [=>]
World in View
European worker revolt
In Europe, capitalism’s deep economic crisis continues to unfold in ways that threaten the social benefits and social safety net that working people have fought for over decades.
First came the rescue of the banks and bankers–paid for through the public treasury. Privatize the profits; socialize the debt! Now all government talk [=>]
Save schools, libraries
Los Angeles–On Oct. 7, over 100 activists from many Leftist groups assembled at the Los Angeles Board of Education Building to protest continuing austerity measures against the working class. Organized by the March 4th Committee to Defend Public Education and Social Services, they demanded reinstatement of all terminated teachers, library workers and other [=>]
Stop education cuts!
On Oct. 7, as part of a National Day of Action for Higher Education, hundreds rallied at University of California, Berkeley, against massive fee hikes, course cutbacks and layoffs. Photo by David M’Oto for News & Letters.
Protesting repression
Los Angeles–On Sept. 28, over 100 activists from diverse organizations met at the downtown Federal Building to protest the FBI’s Sept. 24 raids on selected activists in Chicago and Minneapolis. The FBI handed out subpoenas to appear before a federal grand jury, ransacked homes, and took away boxes of documents, computers and cell phones.
A [=>]
Hero’s welcome for Ahmadinejad
Anyone still holding illusions about Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, as a genuine freedom fighter should have had them shattered by the hero’s welcome his organization offered Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last month. Ahmadinejad is executing revolutionaries and fighters for freedom while attempting to crush any vestiges of democracy in Iran.
In the words [=>]
New on the Marxists Internet Archive: Dunayevskaya’s analysis of McCarthyist lawyer Roy Cohn (who also featured as a character in Tony Kushner’s Angels in America). He might remind you of some of the totalitarian wannabes on today’s political scene.
The Gang Lawyer
Source: Correspondence, Feb. 20, 1954. This piece appeared as Dunayevskaya’s regular unsigned column, “Two Worlds.” It [=>]
Readers’ Views
FBI RAIDS–AN ATTACK ON ALL OF US
On Sept. 24, teams of FBI agents from the “Joint Terrorism Task Force” served search warrants and grand jury subpoenas on anti-war and solidarity activists in Illinois and Minne-sota. This attack on the First Amend-ment rights of peaceful activists must be opposed and we should stand with them [=>]
World in View: The Pope and religious intolerance
Thousands turned out in London to protest the state visit of Pope Benedict in September. Turnout was increased by the disgust so many feel over revelations of child abuse and other scandals that have been covered up by the Catholic Church hierarchy. Many Catholics who oppose Benedict’s views [=>]
Secret UAW-GM deal
Detroit–More than 100 UAW workers from Michigan, Ohio and Indiana picketed the UAW headquarters here Oct. 16 to protest a two-tier wage agreement made secretly by UAW leaders with General Motors (GM). It would permit GM to pay 40% of the workers about $14 an hour, half the regular $28 an hour. Workers [=>]
World in View: Afro-Cubans’ new role
by Gerry Emmett
Last month, the Cuban government announced that it would lay off 500,000 state employees by early next year. This comes as part of a long-term plan to promote private enterprise alongside state-run enterprises in developing an economic model similar in intent to China’s variant of state-capitalism.
President Raúl Castro [=>]
From the Nov.-Dec. 2010 issue of News & Letters:
Mayor Bloomberg’s schools get an F
New York–In June 2009, Mayor Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, together with the president of the Council of School Administrators and United Federation of Teachers President Mike Mulgrew, announced an increase in the four-year high school graduation rate for New York [=>]
From the Nov.-Dec. 2010 issue of News & Letters:
Workshop Talks: Who lost to SEIU?
by Htun Lin
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced the results of the recent union election at Kaiser Permanente in California. The media declared that the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) had won a “decisive victory” to continue to represent some 45,000 [=>]
From the Nov.-Dec. 2010 issue of News & Letters:
World in View: Kashmiri youths ‘go for freedom’
by Gerry Emmett
Something new is happening in Kashmir. In August, thousands of Kashmiris took to the streets shouting “Azadi”–freedom! Previously, Pakistan was behind the unrest in this disputed territory between India and Pakistan, but these demonstrations–continuous for three months–are indigenous, [=>]
From the Nov.-Dec. 2010 issue of News & Letters:
Labor for Oscar Grant
Labor and community support for Oscar Grant; photo for News & Letters by Urszula Wislanka
Oakland, Cal.–On Oct. 23 the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) closed all the ports in the Bay Area, leading labor and community in support of Oscar Grant, shot to [=>]
From the Nov.-Dec. 2010 issue of News & Letters:
South African activists slam Communist Party
Editor’s note: The self-organized communities in the Western Cape shackdwellers’ movement in South Africa have protested lack of services and housing through direct action, to be followed by a march on Parliament. The South African Communist Party (SACP), a part of the [=>]
From the Nov.-Dec. 2010 issue of News & Letters:
Hungary’s red sludge
Red sludge flooded several villages in Hungary on Oct. 4, killing nine people, sending 80-90 to the hospital, destroying animals, houses and cars, and making farmland unusable. It killed all life in the Marcal River, a tributary of the Danube. The sludge, a by-product of [=>]
From the Nov.-Dec. 2010 issue of News & Letters:
Forum: Stop the culture of torture
Chicago–At the end of September the Illinois Coalition Against Torture gave venue to torture victims and their primary lawyer at “Jon Burge GUILTY–beyond the trial.” The event featured Mary L. Johnson, mother of a still-imprisoned torture victim; Flint Taylor, battling lawyer for [=>]
From the Nov.-Dec. 2010 issue of News & Letters:
Sheriff Dart on notice
Chicago–In Illinois, a five-day notice is supposed to be given before you are evicted. (It doesn’t always happen.) On Oct. 14, we gave Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart his own five-day notice demanding a moratorium on all economically based evictions. This is the latest [=>]
From the Nov.-Dec. 2010 issue of News & Letters: Midwest Regional March for Peace and Justice
Midwest against war
Part of the Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign contingent at the Midwest Regional March for Peace and Justice, Oct. 16
Chicago–Over 1,000 people marched in the Midwest Regional March for Peace and Justice on Oct. 16. It was truly regional, [=>]
Solidarity with the people of the Chagos Islands! Read the Declaration of Grande Riviere after LALIT Diego Garcia Conference
The declaration begins this way:
“The Conference on Diego Garcia & Chagos held at Grande Riviere, Port Louis, Mauritius, bringing together 150 participants from 30 October to 2 November 2010, reached consensus that we will keep the following struggles [=>]
From the Nov.-Dec. 2010 issue of News & Letters: “Superheroes in Honeywell lockout” – Metropolis, Ill. at the uranium conversion plant.
Superheroes in Honeywell lockout
Metropolis, Ill.–As you approach the tiny town of Metropolis, as far as 25 miles out you begin to see the lawn signs declaring “Proud Supporter of USW Local 7-669.”
Metropolis is known as [=>]
From the Nov.-Dec. 2010 issue of News & Letters:
California nurses strike for healthcare
California nurses strike for healthcare
Oakland, Cal.–On Oct. 12-14, nurses at Oakland’s Children’s Hospital staged a three-day strike over the proposed takebacks in their healthcare benefits. Practically all the nurses (95%) walked out. Here is what some said:
Martha: I’ve worked at Children’s Hospital, [=>]
From the Nov.-Dec. 2010 issue of News & Letters: Latina women occupying the Whittier School field house speak for themselves
Chicago Latinas demand a library
Editor’s note: Women in the Mexican-American community of Pilsen have been occupying a field house on the grounds of Whittier Elementary School for over a month to keep authorities from demolishing it. Two [=>]
From the Nov.-Dec. 2010 issue of News & Letters:
Chilean miners’ rescue evokes many views
It is Oct. 13 and I am visually and sonically inundated with blow-by-blow descriptions of the Chilean miner rescue operation. TV, radio and newspapers have whipped themselves into a frenzy reporting the rescue of 33 miners from a collapsed mine in Chile. [=>]
From the Nov.-Dec. 2010 issue of News & Letters:
French workers vs. state and union leaders
What follows are excerpts from an in-person report.
Montpellier, France–People ask me what it’s like living in France during these massive one-day strikes and popular mobilizations against the conservative Sarkozy government’s pension “reforms.” These cuts would push the minimum retirement age from [=>]
From the Nov.-Dec. 2010 issue of News & Letters:
by Terry Moon
The latest tragedy in Congo was so horrific that it actually made a few headlines in the U.S. bourgeois press: for three days at the end of July and into August, well over 200 women including over 50 girls, in the village of [=>]
From the Nov.-Dec. 2010 issue of News & Letters:
Essay: Dunayevskaya’s place in the history of the Left
by Kevin Michaels
Raya Dunayevskaya deserves a prominent place in the historical self-understanding of the U.S. Left. She was acknowledged in her lifetime not only as a leader in theory by working-class militants like Charles Denby, author of Indignant Heart: A [=>]
Here’s a link to the editorial from the Nov.-Dec. 2010 issue of News & Letters:
President Obama rolled to victory in 2008 in part from voters disenchanted with permanent war….Yet two years later, Obama is continuing Bush’s foreign wars. In the 2010 elections, it is astounding that wars abroad were not a factor.
End Afghan war!
Here’s a link to the Lead article from the Nov.-Dec. 2010 issue of News & Letters:
It is sadly ironic that at this moment, when the crisis of capitalism has shown itself as both deep and intractable, some of the most reactionary impulses from U.S. history have moved to take center stage. The bankruptcy of bourgeois [=>]
The Nov-Dec 2010 issue of News & Letters is now available online.
http://sr3.supportedns.com/~rayaduna/newsandletters/issues/2010/Nov-Dec/index.asp
Lead: Campaigns intensify counter-revolutionary onslaught
http://sr3.supportedns.com/~rayaduna/newsandletters/issues/2010/Nov-Dec/leadNovDec_10.asp
Editorial: End Afghan war!
http://sr3.supportedns.com/~rayaduna/newsandletters/issues/2010/Nov-Dec/editorialNovDec_10.asp
From the Writings of Raya Dunayevskaya: Dialectics of revolution: American roots and world Humanist concepts, Part II
http://sr3.supportedns.com/~rayaduna/newsandletters/issues/2010/Nov-Dec/ftaNovDec_10.asp
Essay: Dunayevskaya’s place in the history of the Left
<http://sr3.supportedns.com/~rayaduna/newsandletters/issues/2010/Nov-Dec/essayNovDec_10.asp>
Woman as Reason: Congo, capitalism and rape
<http://sr3.supportedns.com/~rayaduna/newsandletters/issues/2010/Nov-Dec/warCongoNovDec_10.asp>
French workers vs. state and union leaders
http://sr3.supportedns.com/~rayaduna/newsandletters/issues/2010/Nov-Dec/FranceNovDec_10.asp
Chilean [=>]
A National Lawyers’ Guild member who subscribes to News & Letters sent this message:
On the morning of Sept. 24, teams of FBI agents from the “Joint Terrorism Task Force” served search warrants and grand jury subpoenas on anti-war and solidarity activists in Illinois and Minnesota. This attack on the First Amendment rights of peaceful activists [=>]
