Direct Action: Protest and the Reinvention of American Radicalism
Portside
It's an old idea, but the people who will make it happen are young - and tired of the unequal world they've inherited. I will come of age in the era of Trump. It's a bleak generational landmark, but ideological capitulation and despair are not the answer. In the 1930s and 1940s, many of the most dedicated antifascists were communists. The antidote to radical exploitation and exclusion is radical egalitarianism and inclusion.
Reader Comments: Standing Rock - Tremendous Victory to Start Trump Presidency; Trump Changed Everything; What Next for the Left; Remembering Fidel Castro and his Impact Worldwide and in the U.S.; Jobs, Shorter Work Week; Chelsea Manning; Tondalo Hall imprisonment; We Need Each Other - Why People Should Support Portside;
Announcements: UMASS Labor Scholarships; Make $15 Real Under Trump; New York March for Immigrants
What happened Nov. 8th, and why? Here two socialist organizations present their analysis of both why, and what next. Statements from the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism (CCDS) and Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). -- The fight against the far right assault must be fashioned around specific programs and demands that unite the broadest sectors of the working class, regardless of political stance.
It could be the biggest mobilization yet in response to a presidential inauguration. March organizers hope that the work of the march will reach far beyond January 21. The work of this march is not only to stand together in sisterhood and solidarity for the protection of our rights, our safety, our families and our environment - but it is also to build relationships and mend the divides between our communities.
With the far right now soon to command government, ongoing movements are also growing to challenge corporate domination, white supremacy, environmental degradation, union busting and organize workers in low-paid industries. Written before the November election, Sarah Jaffe's book chronicles these and other struggles, letting the activists--many new to politics-speak, and suggesting the fight for social and economic justice is ongoing, no matter which party reigns.
Trump's campaign has already been building a wall-not between the United States and Mexico but between American communities. His wall is with myths about white people under siege from black and brown "others"-immigrants stealing jobs, Black Lives Matter activists threatening "law and order," or Muslim Americans undermining shared values. We have the capacity to tear down walls so that people can unite and build an economy and political system that works for all of us.
Indigenous leaders are calling on us to take to the streets and disrupt "business-as-usual" one week after the election to demand that President Obama's Army Corps of Engineers and the incoming administration stop the Dakota Access Pipeline -- and all those after it. As of now, there are 102 events planned (see map). It's time for the Administration to take immediate action to stop this pipeline.
Congressional sit-in over continued failure of Congress to tighten firearm laws. The historic sit-in in the House is impressive, but the two proposals they are demanding a vote on are very problematic. The Congressional sit-in protesters should be congratulated for standing up for their principles. And they should be pressured to make sure their plans to act on those principles don't undermine other principles of civil rights and equality.
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