History isn’t a comfort blanket. It’s a human-made map, imperfect, incomplete, sometimes misleading. The terrain changes, but the questions the Lucas workers asked, and the General Strike raised aren’t historical curiosities. They’re questions now.
From the 1926 General Strike to Zohran Mamdani on May Day in New York: Why workers keep turning to history.
From France, Iran, Ireland, UK and Venezuela
The deaths of Tony Benn and Bob Crow in the same week have led many to ask what's left of the left. Plenty, actually – and in any case, it's not about individuals, it's about collective action.
Reader Comments - Tony Benn; Labor organizing; BDS and American Jews; Seniors; Mayor de Blasio; Education - Charters, Testing, Children's Literature, Adjuncts; Real Irish American history; Keystone XL; Neil deGrasse Tyson on Cosmos;
Announcements: GLobal Protests Against Racism and Fascism - this Saturday; Cecily McMillan Trial Update; New books/resources - New Labor in New York; Living Wage Calculator; Getting Back to Full Employment; Truth About Three Mile Island
Benn stood by his principles, even when they were damaging to his career and his party’s electoral ambitions. “Charming, persuasive and sometimes deeply frustrating,” is how former British Home Secretary David Blunkett described him to The Independent newspaper. “[But] what you would learn from Tony Benn was to think for yourself.”
Ending Poverty vs. Paul Ryan's Budget; Military Spending; Immigrant Workers; CIA Detentions, Guantanamo and now Spying on Congress; Beyond Capitalism; GM Recall; Tony Benn; Social Media and Drones...
Tony Benn served in the House of Commons and in Labor cabinets, but he was perhaps most influential after he resigned from Parliament. He wrote and campaigned in favor of genuine democracy tirelessly, and on other issues including against the invasion of Iraq.
Tony Benn, a leading figure of the Labour Party for two generations, gives an impassioned 10 minute history lesson. An obituary for Benn, who died on Mar 14, is here.
Spread the word