I went to Arlington National Cemetery last week for research on a novel I’m writing. There are a lot of dead people there, mostly victims of U. S. Imperialism. I suppose excepting WWII where maybe we wore the white hat. I learned the cemetery used to be a plantation owned by the wife of Robert E. Lee. Confiscated during the Civil War. Mid-war, it became a refugee camp for enslaved peoples freed by Sherman and other Union offenses. It became a thriving community of 1500 people. Of course, after Reconstruction, there were relentless efforts to retain the land for white […]
The Color of Law
I just finished Richard Rothstein’s new book, The Color of Law, A Forgotten History of How our Government Segregated America. Please read this important book. Since the rise of Malcolm and the black power movement, I’ve considered the demand for integration as not addressing the real needs of the Black community. But Rothstein makes clear that the end of segregation, in housing in particular, is not about Black and white kumbaya. Rothstein argues that the segregation in housing that persists throughout the North as well as the South was not de facto segregation, enforced by local prejudices of banks and realtors. […]
The Best Defense is a Good Offense
I understand that it’s necessary for progressives to play defense on so many levels right now: defending immigrants, defending black and brown people against the police, defending public education, reproductive choice, environmental regulation, science, Social Security, Obamacare, the people of the Middle East against U. S. aggression. The list goes on. The old adage says the best defense is a good offense. One area where I think we need to go on the offensive is in the battle for the content and structure of the public schools. The curriculum of most elementary schools is stuck in the 19th century factory […]
Don’t mourn. Organize.
Don’t mourn. Organize. The words of Joe Hill, a working-class martyr, executed by firing squad in 1915. Electoral politics are important, but not as important as organizing. Most importantly: at the point of production, meaning in the workplace, schools, or neighborhoods. This concept has been understood by all leftists since Marx himself. At this point, the nature of the organization that you organize people into is not that important. The connections you make with people are what matters. But, damn it people, we need unions. We need community organizing campaigns. Find an issue that touches a nerve and organize people around […]
Hiring Parents as Teaching Assistants
[Data from 2007] Last week, the parents (about 25) in the Parent Café that my organization facilitates at one of the West Oakland (low income, predominantly black) elementary schools initiated a campaign for parents to be hired in the school as teaching assistants. There are several reasons why this is a powerful proposal: By providing employment, this program addresses the primary cause of lower student performance: poverty. The more money your family has the better you will do in school. It will cut child-adult ratio in half, doubling the amount of personal attention the students receive. Children can get the […]
Unity
I feel like too many people on my FB feed just aren’t getting it. Oh, they were all for Bernie when he was winning. But damn, he didn’t win. Really? What Bernie has done, is doing, is building the largest progressive movement in years. He showed us it was possible to get big money out of politics. What? I know on some level it’s unfortunate, but movements need leaders. Lenin. Mao. Castro. Mandela. King. Malcolm X. Huey. Bernie is right up there. Black Lives Matter is the exception that proves the rule, whatever that means, having three leaders, Alicia, Opal, […]
The Civil War continues
Here is the Black History presentation we made to the West Oakland Black and Yemeni parents last week. Someone would read one of the vignettes and then we would do a 3 minute each way dyad, where the parents took turns listening to each other, a good way to deal with material that’s on the heavy side. ONE THIRTEENTH AMMENDMENT (1865) Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. Section 2. Congress shall have power to […]
Black Leadership Matters — Guest blog by Juana Bordas
Black Leadership Matters – Guest blog by Juana Bordas Black History Month is a time to reflect, learn, and celebrate the countless contributions African Americans have made to our country – a time to recommit to the work of Civil Rights and Community Engagement. We must remember that Black History month is necessary because their journeys and contributions were excluded from the “American story”. Respecting and integrating the history of African Americans, however, should be continuous and not limited to one month! One crucial step is incorporating Black Leadership principles into our organizations and society. We begin by acknowledging the last year of […]
The Leap Manifesto
I had the privilege of attending the San Miguel Writer’s Conference in Mexico this week, the final keynote of which was given by Naomi Klein, Canadian author of “This Changes Everything” and “The Shock Doctrine.” She acknowledged that since Trump’s victory, we will need to focus on playing defense for a while, but that we should do so in the context of a powerfully humane vision of the future, exemplified by the Leap Manifesto, reprinted below. Clearly the manifesto was written for Canada, but, with an additional focus on Black and Latino communities, could be adopted for the movement in […]
Visions of the future
Let’s not channel “irrational exuberance” over our victory in the 9th Circuit re the Muslim Ban. Yes, it was beautiful. Yes, it was totally predictable. 45 doesn’t care if the courts approve his plan or not. To 45, it’s all about building the movement. His governing style is to throw shit against the wall and see what sticks. His political style is to keep throwing his carnivorous base chunks of red meat. 45 is a symptom of the imminent collapse of capitalism. The concentration of wealth is systemic, another symptom of the collapse. No society can survive the levels of […]