Skip to main content

What Comes After the Sanders Campaign? - Three Views

Mark Solomon; Joseph M. Schwartz; David L. Wilson Portside
Bernie Sanders delegates and their allies are fighting for a Democratic Party platform that will be able to inspire voters to defeat Donald Trump, and to lay a basis for the political revolution in the years ahead. Here three long-time progressive and socialist activists address the question of what comes next. How do we build and shape a post-election multi-racial politics. Read what Mark Solomon, Joseph Schwartz and David Wilson have to say.

My Role With the Democratic Platform Drafting Committee

James Zogby Common Dreams
By silencing the Arab-American community and marginalizing us because we might dare to advocate for Palestinians, there is the damage that this hysteria does to our national discourse. At issue, it appears, is not what we are saying, but that we are the ones saying it. We are accused of “singling Israel out”, while in reality it is our critics who are singling out this issue as the only one we cannot discuss.

What We Talk About When We Talk About Socialism

Geoffrey Jacques People's World
Gaining social control over the economic life of society - achieving socialism, in a word - requires not only that we know that the democratic republic is the staging ground for such change. It also requires that we recognize that the evidence of the future we want is visible and "invading" our present, to borrow a term from C. L. R. James, in forms that exist in the current conditions of our social life.

Despite Election Setback, Podemos Forges Depth and Staying Power

Simone Pieranni il manifesto
After a disappointing result for Unidos Podemos, which campaigned ferociously, the party has showed it will not be going away. In spite of the election results, the Spanish public is alert and focused. People do not attend rallies to meet friends or be entertained. Everyone is paying attention.

Socrates of Amazonia

Robert Minto Open Letters Monthly
The "great majority of people deemed philosophers in history," writes Justin E. H. Smith in this new book, "have not had PhDs, have not belonged to a professional philosophical organization, and have not carried out their careers in ‘departments.’” Smith teases out the significance of that observation, as he seeks to help us rethink what philosophy is and what it means to "philosophize." Robert Minto assesses Smith's effort.

Mamie Till and Tarsha Jackson: ‘Mothers at the Gate’

Ebony Slaughter-Johnson Equal Voice
Decades later, the extreme, extrajudicial brutality Emmett Till encountered is almost inconceivable. Nevertheless, violence against African-American bodies still takes place today, sustained by a criminal justice system that provides everything but justice. And mothers like Mamie Till are still at the forefront of the fight for justice for their children and all children.

Former Chilean Military Official Found Liable for Killing of Victor Jara

Richard Luscomb The Guardian
“It’s a step on the path towards justice for our clients and for Victor but also for the many other families who lost someone at Chile Stadium so many years ago,” she said after the verdict. “We presented evidence that started to shed light on what happened there, and we hope that process will continue in Chile and we hope that the United States will extradite Mr Barrientos to face justice in the country where he committed these crimes.”

The Clinton Campaign Is Obstructing Change to the Democratic Platform

Bill McKibben Politico
The Clinton campaign was ready to acknowledge serious problems: We need fair trade policy, inequality is a horrible problem, and unchecked climate change will wreck the planet. But when it came to specific policy changes, they often balked. Amendments against the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement and backing Medicare for all failed, with all the Clinton delegates voting against.