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The Constitution and the American Left

Azia Rana Dissent
A culture of reverence for the U.S. Constitution shields the founding document from criticism, despite its many shortcomings. We need an alternative vision that provides meaningful freedom at home and embraces self-determination abroad.

Donald, You’re No Teddy Roosevelt

Mike Konopacki The Cap Times
Since the shooting at Donald Trump's rally in Pennsylvania, pundits have gone from branding it "unprecedented" (which it's not) to comparing it to other incidents of political violence that have plagued our nation.

books

The Illiberalism at America’s Core

Julian E. Zelizer The New Republic
A new history argues that illiberalism is not a backlash but a central feature from the founding to today.

How Alabama Communists Organized in the Jim Crow South

Robin D.G. Kelly, Daniel Denvir Jacobin
In 1930s Alabama, Communist Party members fought brutal repression to organize black and white workers in the Jim Crow South. Their efforts remain a source of inspiration for those fighting racism and exploitation today.

books

How German Atheists Made America Great Again

S. C. Gwynne New York Times
What was the Civil War about? In a word, slavery. The driving force in American politics in the decades after the American Revolution was the rise of an arrogant, ruthless, parasitic oligarchy in the South, built on God-ordained economic inequality.

Do It Yourself, Brother: Cultural Autonomy and the New Thing

Christian Noakes Monthly Review
The story of the struggle to liberate jazz from the exploitative, white-controlled music industry in 1950s, the seminal events of the movement and backlash from white civil society and the legacy of Black cultural autonomy and resistance.

This Week in People’s History, Feb 27-Mar 4

Portside
United Auto Workers sit-down strikers in 1937 A Big Loss for Labor (in 1939), Legal Lynching is Still Lynching (1919), Women Hold Up Half the Sky (1864), Nuclear Test Disaster (1954), Disability Inclusion's Ancient Roots (1829), This is Freedom of the Press? (1919), Science, What Is It Good For?
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