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How a Young Communist Won and Lost Power in Postwar Japan

Chris Dite Jacobin
Today marks a decade since the death of Japanese communist Toshiko Karasawa. Her courageous life is a testament to the revolutionary potential of anti-imperialism, but also the difficult choices faced by the Left in US client states.

Rustin the Liberal Biopic Versus Rustin the Labor Activist

DUSTIN GUASTELLA Jacobin
Netflix’s new feel-good Bayard Rustin biopic, Rustin, claims the civil rights hero has been forgotten because of his sexuality. But it was his fiery and provocative class politics that makes him both controversial and prophetic today.

Jews and American Popular Culture Again, Under Stress

Paul Buhle
These days, flourishing popular culture studies unearths more heavily-Jewish subjects long buried away. Along with them, the old divisions of Right and Left within Jewish American life seem to be on display once more.