From the Writings of Raya Dunayevskaya: The vanguard role of Black masses in American freedom movements

March 18, 2023

For the 60th anniversary of the groundbreaking “American Civilization on Trial: Black Masses as Vanguard,” we present a section from the introduction to the pamphlet’s first edition–at the very time when right-wing forces are trying to prevent the teaching and discussion of the true history of the U.S. and especially the freedom movements that run through that history.

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Inauguration of neo-fascism faces widespread revolt

January 23, 2017

The lightning move by Republicans in Congress to prepare to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or Obamacare—before Donald Trump even took office, with only the vaguest idea of what is to replace it, and with full knowledge that a large majority of Americans oppose the repeal of its most important provisions—gave a sign of how far the new single-party government intends to roll the clock back, with dizzying speed.

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Readers’ Views, March-April 2013, Part 1

April 25, 2013

AMERICAN CIVILIZATION REMAINS ON TRIAL

American Civilization on Trial (ACOT) is not “Black history.” Rather, Blacks play such an enormous role in the U.S. that their history that is in ACOT is a history of America.

Octogenarian
Midwest

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The movie Django Unchained could have been an ad for the NRA’s position on the current [=>]

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Lincoln and ‘The Abolitionists’

March 23, 2013

The 150th anniversary of the Civil War, and of the Emancipation Proclamation in particular, has a lot of people talking about that history and race relations today. Steven Spielberg’s movie Lincoln is less the cause than the effect of this surge in popular interest. Lincoln is very moving and beautifully made, with excellent acting and shrewd writing.

Tony Kushner’s screenplay [=>]

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The Black dimension and Women’s Liberation as revolutionary reason

March 18, 2013

From the Writings of Raya Dunayevskaya:

Editor’s note: For Women’s History Month, we present excerpts from “An Overview by Way of Introduction; the Black Dimension,” Chapter 6 of the book Rosa Luxemburg, Women’s Liberation, and Marx’s Philosophy of Revolution. The chapter serves as an introduction and overview for the book’s Part Two, “The Women’s Liberation Movement as Revolutionary [=>]

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March-April 2013 issue of News & Letters is available on the web

March 16, 2013

The March-April 2013 issue of News & Letters is available on the web.

News & Letters, Vol. 58, No. 2
March – April 2013

Lead

From India to Egypt to U.S., women fighting for freedom

Two recent events have shown the deep and seemingly intractable worldwide oppression of women and, at the same time, revealed women’s militancy and determination to [=>]

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American Civilization on Trial: Black masses as vanguard and the dialectic of history

February 4, 2013

From the Writings of Raya Dunayevskaya: 150 years after the Emancipation Proclamation

Editor’s note: This year marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of the Marxist-Humanist classic American Civilization on Trial,originally with the overline “100 Years after the Emancipation Proclamation,” whose 150th anniversary was January 1, 2013. The original subtitle, “The Negro as Touchstone of History,” was [=>]

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January-February 2013 issue of News & Letters is now online

February 2, 2013

Lead
Uprisings in Egypt and Syria confront counter-revolution

Slightly over two years since the beginning of Egypt’s revolution, those heady days can seem distant. The current government of Mohamed Morsi was able to push through a reactionary Constitution. It includes anti-working class Articles allowing for child labor and forced labor, in certain circumstances; limits the right to [=>]

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Women as thinkers and revolutionaries

March 18, 2012

Editor’s Note: For International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, we print below brief excerpts from Raya Dunayevskaya’s 1975-76 lectures on “Women as Thinkers and as Revolutionaries,” which were also excerpted in Women’s Liberation and the Dialectics of Revolution: Reaching for the Future.

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I. Mass Creativity and the Black Dimension

What today we call Women’s [=>]

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