The new September-October 2013 issue of News & Letters is online.
News & Letters, Vol. 58, No. 5
Lead
Racism and the fight against it take center stage in the U.S.
Nationwide protests erupted immediately after the outrageous July 13 acquittal of George Zimmerman for murdering 17-year-old African-American high school student Trayvon Martin last year. Within three days, thousands of protesters came out in dozens of cities, and a new group called the Dream Defenders began a 31-day occupation of Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s office.
From the Writings of Raya Dunayevskaya
Detroit 1967: ‘Law and order’ from the barrel of a gun
“Abolish the slums!” was so clearly and loudly the demand of the Negro Revolt in every single part of the country–North, South, East, West–that even President Johnson couldn’t pretend not to have heard it. In words, the President even claimed that that was part of his “war on poverty.” Hadn’t he asked for rat control, and hadn’t Congress denied him even that piddling sum? … As Commander-in-Chief he need not plead. He orders, and his orders were clear and unequivocal: 1) Shoot first…
Editorial
Egypt at deadly crossroads
The horrific events taking place in Egypt today show the dead end of all alternatives to revolution. The military, led by Deputy Prime Minister General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, has been all too happy to retake power and impose capitalist “stability” once again.
World in View
Syria regime’s genocidal gas attacks
Did humanity shudder? At 3 AM on Aug. 21, the genocidal regime of Bashar al-Assad attacked the Damascus suburbs with deadly chemical weapons. Over 1,300 people, mainly women and children, died.
News & Letters banned in Pelican Bay
On July 8, 2013, another hunger strike was launched here inside the security housing unit (SHU) in an ongoing effort to try to bring an end to the injustice of long-term SHU confinement. On July 12 I was prevented from receiving the July-August issue of N&L because page 9 had an article on the Pelican Bay hunger strike.
Prison hunger strikers demand: Stop torture and violence!
Families stand up for prisoners’ rights
Essay
New biographies reflect Karl Marx’s todayness
We can learn a lot from the way Karl Marx is presented in contemporary biographies, even if the particular writer has his/her own ax to grind. This is certainly the case with the two recent widely reviewed works, Love and Capital: Karl and Jenny Marx and the Birth of a Revolution, by Mary Gabriel; and Karl Marx: A Nineteenth Century Life, by Jonathan Sperber.
Workshop Talks
Suicide as revolt
Workers at the vast Foxconn manufacturing complex in China now struggle against daily torture that is not only physical but mental. It is a new form of the banality of evil that combines Dickensian work conditions, crowded dormitories and a vast bureaucratic maze designed to make young individuals feel totally lost and alone when thrust into it by circumstances not of their own making.
Lac Mégantic: capitalism’s train wreck
On July 6, around 1:15 AM, an unattended 74-car freight train filled with crude oil derailed and exploded in the center of the town of Lac Mégantic, Québec. This catastrophe was avoidable with even the slightest attention to safety, and is a result of cutting corners to save money, and the lack of anyone in charge taking responsibility for any aspect of the negligence, including those in the government.
MORE ARTICLES …
p. 2:
“Woman as Reason: Fascisms test women”
“The Child Catchers”
“Women World Wide”
“Rise Up Texas”
p. 3:
“BART workers face union-busters”
“NYC fast food strikes”
“Chile re-inters miners”
“Walmart workers rally”
“Goodwill sweatshops”
“A view after Marikana”
p. 4:
“Detroit defends homes”
p. 5:
“Recreating Detroit”
p. 6-7:
“Readers’ Views”
p. 8:
“No new LA jails!”
p. 9:
“We Are Bradley Manning”
“Word Up re-opens”
“Queer Notes”
p. 10:
“Handicap This!”
“‘This is Canada'”
“Down with ALEC!”
p. 11:
“Outrage at Trayvon Martin injustice: Roundup from four cities.”
p. 12, World in View:
“Ugandans sue anti-Gay bigot over human rights”
“Latin America in view”