"The Virginia Roots of Today's Radical Right and the Crisis of American Democracy," with Professor Nancy MacLean

Wednesday, December 13th 2017, from 7-9pm at VCU's Cabell Library (901 Park Avenue, Richmond VA), historian and author Nancy MacLean, of Duke University, will give a talk based on her new book, which asserts that the modern far right traces its ideological roots to the capitalist economist James McGill Buchanan. 

Free, open to the public, but you must register. 

To register and for more information, see this link. 

Remembering Gabriel's Rebellion

Wednesday, August 30th 2017, from 8:30-9:30pm, at Richmond's African Burial Ground (Broad and 16th Streets, Richmond VA), the Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project of the Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality are holding a commemoration to mark the 217th anniversary of Gabriel's Rebellion. From the event description:

"This is a reflective event - an opportunity to remember and honor those who fought against slavery and Jim Crow and who still fight against white supremacy, racism, fascism and war. Remember those who have stood for love, justice, equality and a future in which we all can thrive. Remember those who stand and speak, who dance and shout for a future full of love, justice, equality, peace and strength at home and abroad. Remember those who have given their lives’ work or their very lives for these ideals. Remember those who had no idea they'd have to. And let us take inspiration from their example as we rededicate ourselves to those same ideals."

Bring a yellow flower (real, artificial or handmade) to place at the large stones attached to the historic markers on the Burial Ground. Bring red flowers to honor the spirit of resistance.

For more info and to RSVP, see the link.

Doing Political Work: the 3 Things You Need

In the wake of the presidential election, I'm seeing a lot of people at a loss about how to practically do politics. You can protest and petition and appeal to your public representatives alone, but that isn't all you can do. 

Broadly speaking, there are three things you need: 

1. Politics. What is your ideology? How should the world look? What analytical lens do you bring to the table? What are your goals? What are your principals? Solid politics helps you decide what needs to be done and find a path to action. Without a firm grip of this, 

2. Program. Political organizations that want to have a base in their community need to provide something, like a service, for a couple of reasons. It's a way to practice your politics, by making them real in the world. It's a way to gain trust, to prove that you're legitimate and worth joining up with. And it's a way to build your organization; people want to do something when they feel helpless, something that affects the world in a tangible way. 

3. Organization. Who does the work of making all this happen? Who decides what to do, and how? How do people join up? Who's answering the phone, storing the supplies, collecting the dues, staffing the office, arranging the carpool?

So to use a famous example, the Black Panther Party for Self Defense had all three of these things. Their politics were revolutionary socialism, Black liberation, anti-imperialism— this was articulated in the Ten Point Program. They had a bunch of programs guided by those politics, among them the neighborhood patrols to protect from racist police and vigilantes and the breakfast program for schoolkids. And finally, they had an organizational structure— a party with elected officials and regional chapters operating in different cities. 

Working together is crucial. You can get some things done as an independent actor, but barring extraordinary ability or circumstances, you're most likely to be the most effective if you're working in a group of some kind. Having a base is crucial; historically, the most powerful organizations are the ones based out of workplaces or neighborhoods: unions, block associations, religious congregations, tenant's organizations. 

It's hard, but people have done it before. 

Preparing for the Trump Era: an Anarchist Perspective

Next Wednesday, December 14th 2016, from 6-9pm, at 3110 West Leigh Street, Richmond VA, the Antifascists of the Seven Hills (ASH) are hosting contributors to the CrimethInc Ex-Workers Collective, a decentralized anarchist collective active globally since the 1990s, for an evening of presentations and discussion on the 2016 Presidential election. From the event description: 

"How did Trump come to power, and what does that tell us about the era we are entering? What strategies will be effective in countering repressive government policies and the rise of grassroots nationalism? Framing Trump's victory in a global context, the presenters will explore various approaches to self-organization and self-defense, drawing on the principles of mutual aid and direct action."

Dinner will be served to attendees. Street parking only. Donations are requested. 

This looks like a really fabulous opportunity; the best fix for feeling powerless is to figure out how you're going to link up and fight back. 

For more info and to RSVP, see this link. To add this event to your Google calendar, click here. 

Lecture with Dr. Caroline Emmons: "A Tremendous Job To Be Done: African American Women in the Virginia Civil Rights Movement."

Thursday, November 17th 2016, from 4-5pm, at VCU's Student Commons (907 Floyd Avenue, Richmond VA), Dr. Caroline Emmons of Hampton-Sydny College will give a lecture titled "A Tremendous Job To Be Done: African American Women in the Virginia Civil Rights Movement."

Free, open to the public. The venue is wheelchair accessible with accessible bathrooms. For more information, see this link. 

Book talk, "Scalawag: A White Southerner's Journey through Segregation to Human Rights Activism" with Edward Peeples: Book People Richmond

Friday, November 11th 2016, from 5-7pm, at Book People Richmond (536 Granite Avenue, Richmond VA), Edward Peeples, author of the Civil Rights movement memoir "Scalawag: A White Southerner's Journey through Segregation to Human Rights Activism," will speak on his book and sign copies.

"Scalawag" is a personal memoir of a white working-class man joining the struggle for collective liberation, but also presents a political history. A white man born to a single mother in Richmond in 1935, Peeples was raised under Jim Crow and taught the brutal ideology of white supremacy. But by nineteen, he rejected it, and became a "race traitor". He joined the Black freedom struggle, and began a life of political work.

Free, open to the public. For more information and to RSVP, see this link. 

"Money, Cash, VCU: Wealth Hoarding and the Corporate University" with Divest VCU for Climate Justice

This Thursday, October 27th 2016, from 8-9:30pm, in VCU's Founder's Hall (827 West Franklin Street, Richmond VA), Divest VCU for Climate Justice is holding an informative presentation on neoliberalism, the capitalist freedom-means-liberty-to-pursue-profit ideology of modern America, and how it influences universities. DivestVCU will propose means for students to get involved in fighting the deleterious influences of the corporate university.

Free. Though this event is of specific interest to students, it is open to the general public. The venue is accessible from the Shafer Court entrance.

For more information and to RSVP, see this link. 

Black Panther Party for Self Defense 50th Anniversary

Yesterday, October 15th 2016, was the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense. 

Established in Oakland, California by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, the BPP was a Marxist Black liberation organization. They fought against the overt violence of racist cops and the covert brutality of poverty, hunger, and degradation. They established survival programs to do the work the government wouldn’t, worked to oppose American imperialism abroad, published a newspaper, and agitated for their Ten Point Plan which ended “We want land, bread, housing, education, clothing, justice and peace!”

The FBI targeted the Panthers under the COINTELPRO program, subjecting them to surveillance, infiltration, perjury, harassment, smear campaigns, and assassinations. Despite fighting valiantly, the party was dissolved in 1982. 

From left to right: a BPP poster, Bobby Hutton (the first recruit, murdered at 16 by police), Elaine Brown (Party Chair from 1974-1977), Kathleen Cleaver (Party Communications Secretary), Bobby Seale and Huey Newton, and a gathering of the Free Breakfast Program. 

A note to Millennial leftists in America

Political consciousness tends to kind of “skip” generations sometimes, for a variety of reasons. For those of you out there who are young, and just coming into revolutionary/leftist politics, you probably feel like all of the political infrastructure constructed by the partisans and movements that came before you have been broken down or defeated or are otherwise lost to you. 

They aren’t- but they’re being carried on by people who are now in their sixties. Like, I’m twenty-five, and the movement spaces I frequent are dominated by people around my age, and people a generation above my parents’. Gen X just got skipped. 

This is important, because it means that a lot of the organizations you’re looking for, the ones that are run by the older segment of the American left, likely do not have a developed web presence. Often, what they do have is an old listserv or a Yahoo group. This can make them hard to find, but it doesn’t mean they’re not out there anymore, and if you get familiar enough with your area’s political landscape, you will eventually find them.