I Will Not Crawl: excerpts from Robert F. Williams on Black struggle and armed self-defense in Monroe, NC

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Looks like more and more good stuff are being produced and made available primarily as PDFs for printing - a predictable development, which i think probably makes a lot of sense.

The latest example of this to cross my screen is from the folks from NC Piece Corps, who have put together a collection of writings by Robert F. Williams, one of the most important and controversial leaders of the Black freedom movement in the 50s and 60s.

President of the NAACP in Monroe, North Carolina, Williams led the Black community in preventing Klan attacks and opposing the racism of governmental agencies, becoming an early advocate of armed self-defense, and taking a leading role in organizing a Black Armed Guard in his area. He was falsely accused of kidnapping charges by the FBI and was forced into exile. Williams lived in Cuba and China from 1961-1969. From Cuba he broadcast Radio Free Dixie, which aired the message of Black Liberation to the Southern US. He built strong relationships with world leaders like Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and Mao Tse Tung, and organized international support for the human rights struggles of African-Americans.

Yet his work, words, and profound influence are absent in most historical accounts.

You can download NC Piece Corps'  “I Will Not Crawl: excerpts from Robert F. Williams on Black struggle and armed self-defense in Monroe, NC” right from their website (click on the link). They say that if you’re interested in recieving a physical master for purposes of copying and distribution, to email them at NCpiececorps@gmail.com

(To check out more pamphlets from these folks, also available for free download, check out their site at  http://ncpiececorps.wordpress.com/)

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Upping The Anti #5 Now Available from Kersplebedeb

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Another issue of Canada's best radical journal of theory and action, or should we say activism...

That's two this year, for those keeping track...

here's a look inside:


Editorial

• Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Social Democracy and Anti-Capitalist Renewal in English Canada

Interviews

• The Fight for Feminism (Sunera Thobani)
• The Tradition of Resistance, on Indigenous Anti-Colonialism (Gord Hill)
• From the Perspective of Resistance (Michael Hardt)

Articles

• Into a Black Hole: Tar Sands and Oil Production in Western Canada (Macdonald Stainsby)
• Strength in Numbers? why radical students need a new organizing model (Caelie Frampton)
• The Three Way Fight Debate, on Islam, Fascism and the Left, with Rami El-Amine and Michael Staudenmeier

Roundtable: You Can't Jail the Spirit

• The Movement to Free Political Prisoners (Bryan Doherty and Tom Keefer)
• Interviews with Ashanti Alston, Robert Seth Hayes, Susan Tipograph and Sara Falconer

Book reviews by Chris Harris (of Muhammad Ahmad’s We Will Return in the Whirlwind), Anna Feigenbaum (of Ward Churchill’s Pacifism as Pathology and Peter Gelderloos’ How Nonviolence Protects the State) and Matthew N. Lyons (of April Rosenblum’s The Past Didn’t Go Anywhere)

& don't forget those ever-interesting book reviews and letters to the editor...


You can order copies by emailing me at info@kersplebedeb.com or to order by using paypal just click here:

$15 postage included

To order back issues you can also email me or else visit the Upping the Anti page on the Kersplebedeb website.

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Upping The Anti #4: Yes, It's Already Here!

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Just letting you all know that i have received a box of the fourth issue of the radical journal Upping The Anti, and am now able to send off copies to anyone who would want one. Yes that's right: a new issue already... i guess an annual it's not!

The journal costs $10 plus postage (which is 5$ to the u.s.a., for a total of $15) and as always contains many articles and interviews which will be of interest to radical activists across North America. While i will attempt no review here, and must say that i enjoyed the entire issue, i found the interviews and roundtables in particular stood out as provocative and worth reading/discussing/critiquing. There is a lot more queer content here than in previous issues, a lot more stuff on prisons, and to boot Marina Sitrin's interview with John Holloway was a pleasant surprise - touching on issues that had been brought up in interviews in issue #3, but from a more radical perspective i would say...

In any case, without further ado, here we go:

TABLE OF CONTENTS - UTA NUMBER 4

Introduction
Letters to the Editor
Editorial: Becoming the Enemy They Deserve- Organizational Questions for a New “New Left”

INTERVIEWS:
Robin Isaacs: Living my Life
John Holloway with Marina Sitrin: Against and Beyond the State
Dan Irving: Trans Politics and Anti-Capitalism

ARTICLES
Richard Day: Walking Away from Failure
Carmelle Wolfson & Lesley Wood: Two Dispatches from the World Social Forum
Tom Keefer: Six Nations and the Politics of Solidarity

ROUNDTABLES
Prison Abolition Roundtable with Peter Collins, Emily Aspinwall, Filis Iverson, Sonia Marino, Julia Sudbury, Kim Pate, and Patricia Monture
Vancouver Housing Roundtable with Kat Norris, Jill Chettiar, Anna Hunter, and Cecily Nicholson

BOOK REVIEWS
Erica Meiners on Angela Davis, Julia Sudbury, and Karlene Faith
Kimiko Inouye on bell hooks and Amelia Mesa-Bains "Homegrown: Engaged Cultural Criticism".
Scott Clarke on Sheila Wilmot's "Taking Responsibility Taking Direction: White Anti-Racism in Canada"

Here is what the editors have to say about the journal:

We are happy to offer up a new, fourth, issue of Upping the Anti. Unlike last time, we don’t have to apologize for being behind schedule. What’s more, thanks to increased sales and better distribution, we have been able to print this issue without going any furthur into debt. We’ve also been kept afloat by the generous contributions of our subscribers. At a time when radical media projects are needed more than ever, we are reminded by the demise of excellent publications like Clamor and LiP Magazine how important it is to keep nurturing projects like UTA. Now, more than ever, we need to cultivate those precious spaces where we can come together for argument, debate, and alliance building. We’re happy that you, our readers, have recognized Upping the Anti as one such space. We will do our best to hold up our end of the bargain.

There have been some changes to the editorial crew at UTA. Dave Mitchell has stepped down as reviews editor, but will remain a member of the advisory board. Erin Gray, formerly of the editorial collective, will replace Dave, while her spot on the editorial collective has been taken up by AK Thompson. We would like to welcome the new additions and thank those stepping down from different roles for all of their hard work in getting and keeping UTA off the ground.

As in past issues, UTA 4 begins with a letters section. We are pleased that our readers are engaging with the things we publish and are responding to them in a thoughtful and spirited manner. What struck us most upon reading the letters submitted for this issue was how each one seemed to move beyond polemics and venture into the realm of proposition.

So it seems fitting that our editorial this time around deals with the question of organization. Now, we know that might sound played out. Bolshevik. Menshevik. Mass. Anti-mass. Boredom. Confusion. Regret. But you would never believe how many people have organization on the tip of their tongue these days. In Canada, public intellectuals like Judy Rebick and Sam Gindin (each operating with quite different premises) have added to the buzz. Across the pond, Hilary Wainwright has aligned herself firmly with the new generation of “network” builders. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. In order to make sense of the current resurgence of interest in the organizational question, we’ve tried to sort through some of the history and current manifestations of the debate and to trace out the implications of various positions. And, since we’re precocious, we’ve advanced a few propositions of our own.

Much of the content in this issue addresses the theme of organization in some way. In the first of our interviews, Dale Altrows joins long-time anarchist activist and person living with AIDS Robin Isaacs as he recounts his experiences of coming out and coming to anarchism in Toronto in the 1980s. With a keen memory of his experiences as a participant in radical organizations and tremendous knack for storytelling, Isaacs encourages us both to draw inspiration and learn from the not-so-distant past. In our second interview, Marina Sitrin discusses the question of movements and organization with John Holloway. Encouraging us to consider the possibilities that exist “against and beyond” the state, Holloway traces out some broad dynamics underlying the radical resurgence in Latin America. In the third interview, Gary Kinsman speaks with trans activist and teacher Dan Irving as he explores the intersection between trans issues and class politics. Arguing that trans politics are shaped by class experience (and vice versa), Irving proposes to make both Marxism and aspects of post-structuralist theory relevant in a context where they are often viewed with suspicion.

In our articles section, Richard Day (author of Gramsci is Dead: Anarchist Currents in the Newest Social Movements) continues with the theme of organization by responding to his book’s critics. Addressing AK Thompson’s polemic published in UTA 3, as well as those penned elsewhere by Ian McKay and William Carroll, Day suggests that if our question is ‘what is to be done?’ the answer must not involve a repetition of our worst failures. Following Day’s rejoinder, Carmelle Wolfson and Lesley Wood recount their experiences at the recent World Social Forum in Nairobi, Kenya. Their accounts provide a critical assessment of an event that has come to be seen as one of the most significant international forums for networking and strategizing in the struggle for global justice. Moving from the global to the local, we close the articles section with an essay by Tom Keefer which explores the dynamics of non-native solidarity in the struggle at Six Nations. Arguing that the concept of “taking leadership” with which many non-native activists have approached their solidarity work is inadequate, Keefer proposes a provocative alternative. Drawing upon Black Power, the classic SNCC-era text by Stokely Carmichael and Charles Hamilton, Keefer argues that in order to develop real coalitions with indigenous activists fighting for sovereignty, white activists must organize within their own communities to build a meaningful social base.

Our roundtable section in this issue contains two pieces. In the first, Caitlin Hewitt-White has brought together prominent prison abolition activists Peter Collins, Emily Aspinwall, Filis Iverson, Sonia Marino, Julia Sudbury, Kim Pate, and Patricia Monture to talk about the politics of the prison-industrial complex and the difficulties of working both within and against the system.

In the second roundtable, Vancouver-based activists Kat Norris, Jill Chettiar, Anna Hunter, and Cecily Nicholson explore the problems and promise of housing activism in the Downtown Eastside in a roundtable put together by Krisztina Kun and Nicole Latham. This discussion makes clear how serious the housing situation in Vancouver is becoming and reveals how divisions on the left are hindering our ability to respond as effectively as possible.

As in previous issues, our book reviews section provides activists with an opportunity to respond to debates and discussions happening in other published works. In the first review, Erica Meiners investigates the prison abolition writings of Angela Davis, Julia Sudbury, and Karlene Faith. Next, Kimiko Inouye reads bell hooks’s Homegrown: Engaged Cultural Criticism. Finally, Scott Clarke responds to Sheila Wilmot’s Taking Responsibility, Taking Direction: White Anti-Racism in Canada.

As always, we invite responses from our readers to the content we publish. Argument is our lifeblood and we look forward to hearing from you. The submissions deadline for Upping the Anti 5 is August 1, 2007 and you can email articles and article ideas to uppingtheanti@gmail.com.

After publishing UTA 3 with funds drawn from meagre life savings, we knew we were in deep. Resolving not to go any further into debt, we vowed to make the money to print this issue upfront or to never publish again.

It paid off, so to speak. We sunk our energy into a subscription drive and promotion campaign. And we learned how to stomach working on the “accounts receivable” side of our ledger. We’re not out of the hole yet. But we didn’t sink any new money into this issue. What’s more, we have more subscribers than ever before. A few of these are coveted lifetime subscribers – people who give us $250 and make us promise to keep producing this thing. If you are not already a subscriber, we encourage you to become one. If you are already a subscriber but want to make sure that UTA continues to be a feisty little firebrand well into the future, then please consider taking out a lifetime subscription. You can find out more information by contacting us.

And if you’re one of those people who still owes us money for back issues, we need to talk. Capitalists have got the market cornered on contractual obligations and petty forms of coercion, so we won’t resort to them here. Instead, we would like to encourage both those who owe us money and radicals everywhere to begin taking ourselves as seriously as our opponents sometimes do. After all, we have a world to win…

In solidarity and struggle,
Aidan C., Tom K., Sharmeen K., and AKT.

Toronto, April 17, 2007

If you are in Canada you can order Upping the Anti directly from Autonomy & Solidarity, anybody can order it from Kersplebedeb for $15 US postage included:

Wholesale rates available – please contact info@kersplebedeb.com for details!

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Making Resistance to Antisemitism Part of All of Our Movements: The Past Didn't Go Anywhere

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Another notice i'm passing along. The pamphlet in question, a very accessible look at antisemitism and the radical left, is going to be one of the new titles in the upcoming Kersplebedeb catalog, so if you'd like a hardcopy you can get in touch.

As some of you might know, i think the antisemitism question is of strategic importance for revolutionaries, and is also more complicated than some might think, and also suffers from normally being thought about in the most stupidly simplistic way OR in the most stupidly academic way. While not perfect, Rosenblum's pamphlet does us the service of identifying the issues we will need to grapple with... i'll hopefully be writing a lengthier critique/appraisal of this pamphlet some time over the next few weeks.

But in the meantime... check it out!

THE PAST DIDN'T GO ANYWHERE
Making Resistance to Antisemitism Part of All of Our Movements

A 32-page pamphlet for progressives and radicals, to support our social justice movements in combating anti-Jewish oppression from a perspective of liberation for all people.

Free downloads at www.thepast.info

"In order to build powerful movements we must take on antisemitism as what it is: a divide-and-rule strategy that has served to maintain ruling classes, conceal who actually has power, and confuse us about the real systems of oppression that pit us against one another. ...Rosenblum's pamphlet needs to be studied and the lessons applied."

- Chris Crass, organizer, The Catalyst Project: a center for political education and movement building

*You are invited to use and share this resource: Permission is given to copy freely.*

About the author:

April Rosenblum, 27, was born and raised in activist movements in Philadelphia. She became politicized herself by government attempts in 1995 to execute U.S. political prisoner and Philadelphia journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal. Over time she has also worked on issues including police brutality, political prisoners and prisoners' rights, womens' reproductive freedom, immigrants' rights, poverty, anti-racist education and Palestinian self-determination. She graduated with a B.A. in History from Temple University.

She writes, "My work to create 'The Past' was inspired by noticing how afraid I was to speak up when I noticed instances of anti-Jewish oppression in the movements I called home. I realized that my activist friends were, like me, staying silent not out of antisemitism, but because they needed basic tools to confront it. I hope it will be a resource for Jewish and non-Jewish organizers, activists, and other people passionate about building movements that can win."

She can be reached at reachpast@gmail.com.

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Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners Calendar NOW AVAILABLE!

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Since 2001 political prisoners Herman Bell, David Gilbert and Robert "Seth" Hayes have worked with activists in Montreal (and in 2005 and 2006 New York City) to produce these beautiful calendars. This year there has been a changeover, with a new Montreal collective taking over the outside work. The result has always been a wonderful collection of artwork and political texts addressing some of the most pressing political issues of our day.

This year's calendar is no exception. The theme for 2007, suggested by David, is the broad topic of "immigration" - inspired by the mass demonstrations in May 2006 and embracing many struggles, from Chicano liberation in the southern united states to Indigenous resistance in canada to the targeting of immigrants and refugees for draconian "security" measures.

Contributors to this year's calendar include Janet, Debbie and Janine Africa, Gord Hill, Jeff "Free" Luers, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Alvaro Luna Hernandez, Josh MacPhee, Tom Manning, Hazel Hill, John Bowman, Christy C. Road, Irene Monroe, Mumia Abu-Jamal and many more.

Beyond its own value, the calendar is also a worthwhile fundraising tool - funds raised from this year's sales will go to support the work of the New York State Task Force on Political Prisoners, No One Is Illegal - Kingston and Addameer, a Palestinian Prisoners Support and Human Rights Association.

As always, i am happy to be stocking this calendar and making it available to all of you who want a copy. Stores and activist groups who want to bulk order should also get in touch, as i can offer a wholesale discount.

To order a copy and pay by check or money order, please email me first at info@kersplebedeb.com – or else you can use the shopping cart feature on my site to order.


You can see more about the Calendar, including some scanned in artwork, on my Kersplebedeb site or else on the Certain Days site.

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