There’s an apparent paradox in modern life: Society as a whole is getting smarter, yet we aren’t any closer to figuring out how to all get along.
Read the rest of this post on the original site at The lower your social class, the ‘wiser’ you are, suggests new study
WHERE: Burning Books, 420 Connecticut Street, Buffalo
facebook: http://ift.tt/2By0SUi
Can White People Be Organized Against Racism? A Multi-Racial and Multi-Generational Approach: Launch party for David Gilbert’s Looking at the U.S. White Working Class Historically with Naomi Jaffe, co-founder of New York State Prisoner Justice Network and former member of the Weather Underground; Jerome Wright, Upstate Organizer for the Campaign for Alternatives to Solitary Confinement (CAIC) and founder of the MAN (Mentoring and Nurturing) Program; and Katie Schaffer, Statewide Organizer for JustLeadershipUSA and Leadership Team member of Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ)-NYC.
David Gilbert is a white U.S. political prisoner imprisoned since 1981 for his participation with members of the Black Liberation Army in an armed action. From prison, he has written three books and dozens of articles engaging in thoughtful dialogue with today’s young activists on organizing movements of resistance and liberation under changing conditions.
Looking at the U.S. White Working Class Historically continues that dialogue, taking a hard look at white racism and exploring some possibilities for organizing to overturn it. Naomi, Jerome, and Katie will use the book as a stepping-stone to open a conversation from their varied experiences of multiracial and multi-generational organizing for justice.
WHERE: Red Emma’s Bookstore Coffeehouse, 30 W North Ave, Baltimore, Maryland 21201
WHEN: Thursday, January 11, 2018 from 7:30 PM – 9 PM
Join us as we launch the 2018 Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners Calendar! Former political prisoner and Real News Network producer and host Eddie Conway, former ELF political prisoner and Certain Days collective member Daniel McGowan, and Morgan State University professor and journalist Dr. Jared Ball will lead a discussion on political prisoner David Gilbert’s new book, Looking at the US White Working Class Historically, and also discuss the importance of supporting political prisoners, past and present.
When this commentary was broadcast at the beginning of my radio show at noon, Pacific time, December 21, bitcoin was trading at about $15,600. It had a bad Friday, losing almost a quarter of its value, bottoming out at $11,858, before recovering to $14,267 as I’m posting this.
Read the rest of this post on the original site at Bitcoin, a commentary
Beginning in January 2018, people at Greene, Green Haven and Taconic Correctional Facilities will no longer be able to receive packages directly from family members or friends. All packages must be ordered through an approved vendor. In September 2018, this policy will apply to ALL 54 prisons in New York State.
This policy is pro-business and anti-family. It is harmful because:
1) People in prison can no longer receive fresh fruits and vegetables or canned foods.
2) Warm clothing such as hoodies and scarves are prohibited.
3) All books must be newly purchased. No used books allowed.
4) Prices are controlled by the vendor and basic necessities will be more expensive.
5) People on the outside must use a credit card, check or money orders to pay for the approved packages. No cash or food stamps.
6) Those without access to the internet or those who are less technologically savvy face additional obstacles in sending packages.
JOIN OUR POSTCARD CAMPAIGN
Send a postcard NOW to the individuals below to oppose the package policy.
Postcards should be sent to:
Hon. Andrew M. Cuomo
Governor of New York State
NYS State Capitol Building
Albany, NY 12224
Acting Commissioner Anthony Annucci
NYS DOCCS
Building 2, State Campus
Albany, NY 12226
Some sample language you can include on your postcard:
Dear Governor Cuomo,
This holiday season is about giving, not taking away. I object to the new DOCCS package rules.
From,
(Your Name)
(Your relationship to people in prison, if applicable)
Dear Acting Commissioner Annucci,
The new DOCCS package pilot punishes innocent families. Having a loved one in prison is already expensive and difficult—the new rules make it worse. Rescind the package pilot!
From,
(Your Name)
(Your relationship to people in prison, if applicable)
Stay tuned in the coming weeks for more updates from this campaign!
At leftwingbooks.net there is currently a 50%+ sale on almost all Kersplebedeb Publications, until the end of the year! This combines with the free shipping in North America for orders of over $50
You can check it out at http://ift.tt/1urGEpChttp://ift.tt/1urGEpC — please take a moment to let your friends know too!
Getting an apartment is a rite of passage for thousands of Canadians in their late teens and early 20s, but for Esteban Torres, a 21-year-old trans man living in Montreal, signing the lease on his three-room apartment earlier this year was especially sweet.
Read the rest of this post on the original site at The challenges of being trans, male, and homeless in Montreal
La présidente de la Fédération des femmes du Québec (FFQ) n’entend pas reculer devant ses critiques, à la suite d’une chronique dénonçant le fait qu’une personne transgenre dirige le principal organisme représentant les femmes au Québec.
Read the rest of this post on the original site at «Je ne céderai pas à La Meute et à la haine», dit Gabrielle Bouchard, nouvelle présidente de la Fédération des femmes du Québec
A senior member of Andrew Scheer’s leadership team helped create an anti-Islam organization during his campaign to lead the Conservative Party.
Read the rest of this post on the original site at Conservative party leadership advisor helped create anti-Islam organization
La Sûreté du Québec a mis au jour un vaste stratagème frauduleux dans des agences de placement qui exploitaient des immigrants vulnérables, en plus de priver le gouvernement de sommes importantes.
Read the rest of this post on the original site at Immigrants ciblés par une vaste fraude
This book is a reprint of a 1972 study pack by the Communist Working Circle, which contains quotes from Karl Marx and Frederick Engels on the question of the split between workers in the imperialist countries and the colonized nations.
Read the rest of this post on the original site at Book Review: Marx & Engels on Colonies
(français suivra)
Friday December 15th at 6pm
QPIRG Concordia
(Suite 204, 1500 Boulevard de Maisonneuve O, metro Guy Concordia)
This will be a triple launch, of:
* the 2018 Certain Days Freedom for Political Prisoners Calendar
* political prisoner David Gilbert’s recent book Looking at the U.S.
White Working Class Historically
* J. Sakai’s long-awaited The “Dangerous Class” and Revolutionary
Theory: Thoughts on the Making of the Lumpen/Proletariat / Mao Z’s
Revolutionary Laboratory and the Role of the Lumpen Proletariat
There will be brief presentations about the calendar and both books, as
well as about various campaigns against repression and imprisonment in
Montreal and Quebec.
A hot meal will be served and Kersplebedeb books will be on sale at
lower than usual prices.
Please email info@kersplebedeb.com 24 hours in advance if you will
require childcare.
There will be whisper translation from French to English.
QPIRG Concordia is a wheelchair accessible and scent-free space see
http://ift.tt/2oqVlbr for further details
THIS EVENT IS FREE, ALL ARE WELCOME.
*******************************************************************
Vendredi le 15 décembre, 18h00
QPIRG Concordia (Suite 204, 1500 Boulevard de Maisonneuve O, métro Guy
Concordia)
Un lancement de:
* Certain Days Freedom for Political Prisoners Calendar, calendrier pour
la liberté pour les prisonnièrEs politiques
* Looking at the U.S. White Working Class Historically, livre par le
prisonnier politique David Gilbert
* The “Dangerous Class” and Revolutionary Theory: Thoughts on the Making
of the Lumpen/Proletariat / Mao Z’s Revolutionary Laboratory and the
Role of the Lumpen Proletariat, livre par J. Sakai
Il y aura des présentations au sujet du calendrier et les livres, ainsi
que des campagnes contre la répression et la détention à Montréal et au
Québec.
Il y aura un repas chaud et des livres de Kersplebedeb seront en vente à
rabais.
Veuillez envoyer un courriel à info@kersplebedeb.com à 24 heures
d’avance si vous avez besoin de service de garde d’enfants.
Il y aura une traduction chuchotée de l’anglais vers le français.
QPIRG Concordia est accessible aux fauteuils roulants et est une espace
sans parfum; voir http://ift.tt/2BBAA3P
pour plus de détails
CET ÉVÉNEMENT EST GRATUIT, TOUS SONT LES BIENVENU-E-S
—
To unsubscribe: <mailto:prison-mtl-unsubscribe@lists.riseup.net>
List help: <http://ift.tt/2kghLyJ;
Canada Deadline: December 11th
Just a heads up for all of you that care and who are in the united states, there are not too many days left to place your orders with leftwingbooks.net in order for us to be able to mail them off to get to you by December 25th. Any orders places after next Friday, December 8th may not arrive until after the 25th.
If you are in canada, you have a little bit longer, but not much: orders we receive after Monday December 11th cannot be guaranteed to arrive by the 25th.
Of course, if you are up to paying for express post, that will buy you a few more days. But really the safest thing is to order now!
We look forward to hearing from you soon
Austerity Apparatus is an excursion through a variety of concepts surrounding capitalist crisis and class struggle. Written as a series of interconnected meditations on the problematic issues of austerity, it is meant to invoke reflection on the ways in which contemporary capitalism conditions its subjects to accept its limits.
J. Moufawad-Paul lives in Toronto and works as a casualized contract professor in philosophy at York University. JMP blogs regularily at MLM Mayhem and his first book, The Communist Necessity, was published by Kersplebedeb Books in 2014.
Sunday Nov. 26 / dimanche le 26 novembre, de 11h00 à 18h00
Église Saint-Denis, 454 Laurier E. ( accessible entry/ en fauteuil roulant 5050 Berri )
Gratuit – Free
Avec plus de 250 éditeurs à Expozine 2017, c’est l’occasion exceptionnelle de plonger dans l’univers décalé des éditeurs, écrivains et artistes indépendants locaux et internationaux, et de rencontrer en personne le milieu des petits éditeurs montréalais, francophone et anglophone.
With more than 250 participating publishers, Expozine 2017 is an exceptional opportunity to dive into today’s small press and zine scene, local and international, and to meet the creators in person, both English and French.
Pour plus d’informations / for more information : http://ift.tt/2mWuyYj
Groupe FACEBOOK group : http://ift.tt/2eg5TY5
AVIS: il est à noter aux personnes allergiques qu’un chat vit dans cette église et que l’éclairage en est un fluorescent. Alcool interdit. Du café, des breuvages et des collations seront disponibles. Malheureusement, l’espace restreint ne nous permet pas d’offrir un espace de relaxation ni d’espace de lecture. L’espace est accessible aux personnes à mobilité réduite via l’entrée à 5050 Berri et les toilettes sont mixtes et accessibles.
NOTE: Please be aware in case of allergies that there is a cat on the premises. Lighting is fluorescent. Alcohol is not permitted. Coffee, beverages and light snacks will be available. is no reading room/ quiet room available in this venue. The venue is fully accessible (via 5050 Berri) as are the bathrooms, which are gender neutral.
EXPOZINE est un projet d’ARCMTL rendu possible grâce au soutien du Conseil des Arts de Montréal, du Conseil des Arts du Canada et SODEC.
jeudi le 7 décembre de 17h30 à 19h30
à L’Euguélionne, librairie féministe
1426 Beaudry, Montreal, Quebec
facebook: http://ift.tt/2mVjWch
* This event will be in French, with whisper translation into English.
Please scroll down for English information*
On vous invitent au lancement montréalais du calendrier Certain Days Freedom for Political Prisoners 2018: Awakening Resistance
Le calendrier Certain Days est un projet conjoint de financement et d’éducation entre des militant.es de Montréal, Toronto, New York, et les prisonniers politiques David Gilbert, Robert Seth Hayes et Herman Bell, emprisonnés dans l’État de New York.
[english information]
Join us as we launch Certain Days Freedom for Political Prisoners Calendar 2018: Awakening Resistance
The Certain Days Calendar is a joint fundraising and educational project between outside organizers in Montreal, Toronto, and New York, in partnership with three political prisoners being held in maximum-security prisons in New York State: David Gilbert, Robert Seth Hayes and Herman Bell.
Invisible No More is a timely examination of how Black women, Indigenous women, and women of color experience racial profiling, police brutality, and immigration enforcement. Placing stories of individual women—such as Sandra Bland, Rekia Boyd, Dajerria Becton, Monica Jones, and Mya Hall—in the broader context of the twin epidemics of police violence and mass incarceration, it documents the evolution of movements centering women’s experiences of policing and demands a radical rethinking of our visions of safety—and the means we devote to achieving it.
available from leftwingbooks.net
It was shrimping season in Texas, and things were getting ugly. In the late 1970s and early 80s, a group of Vietnamese refugees had fled a humanitarian crisis at home and legally resettled in the Galveston Bay area.
Read the rest of this post on the original site at The war between Vietnamese fishermen and the KKK signaled a new type of white supremacy
The liberal commentariat seems to be completely unable to resist the allure of the far-right. The latest example: an article on Literary Hub that portrays violent neo-fascist gang CasaPound as some sort of edgy poetry club.
Read the rest of this post on the original site at Dead fascist poets society: why CasaPound are no book club
Because of the tremendous support Herman received behind the assault, and because activists in New York recently succeeded in having the worst parole commissions removed from the parole board in NY state, and new parole commissioners appointed in their place, many of us feel this 8th time will be his best chance yet of finally getting out of prison, after four-and-a-half decades. We’re all most certainly going to put forward our very best efforts toward this goal.
A pdf packet is linked to here containing information re: parole-support letters for Herman. The due date for all letters is December 15, 2017. The address of where to send the letters is in the attachment. All of the information contained in the attached documents can also be found on Herman’s website, on the Parole Efforts tab (freehermanbell.org). We are trying to focus on getting letters from “influential” people, on getting letter from people who have met or corresponded with Herman, and having as many letters as possible on professional letterhead. Also, ideally letters would be mailed rather than emailed.
This is an important initiative; Herman has spent most of his life behind bars, a result of the U.S. government’s war against the Black Liberation Movement. It is time we got him out!
Two groups were photographed on U of T campus last night, and Torontoist has identified several participants. Last night, two groups of white supremacists were caught on camera putting up “It’s Okay To Be White” posters up around the University of Toronto campus.
Read the rest of this post on the original site at REVEALED: The white supremacists behind alt-right posters around the city
A quick reminder: in Montreal this Sunday November 12 come out to the mass demonstration against hate and racism, at place emelie gamelin at 2pm (metro berri uqam)
For more information, see http://ift.tt/2zIcXVF or on facebook at http://ift.tt/2ztXN7y
For more information on the struggle against the far right in Quebec, see http://ift.tt/2xgRMcl
The Feminist Twins are proud to present the 4th annual Ottawa Feminist Fair taking place on Sunday November 12th at the Montgomery Legion.
Where: Montgomery Centretown Legion; 330 Kent St., Ottawa, Ontario K2P 2A6
When: 11am-4pm, November 12
facebook: http://ift.tt/2Ar5aMR
This event is a vendor’s craft market, fundraiser, and showcase for several non-profit organizations. It is ALL AGES, pay what you can (no one turned away for lack of funds!), with proceeds going to Voice Found. We are also accepting toiletries donations for STORM which support STW and women at risk. We are also seeking volunteers.
Some things you can expect from our vendors include buttons, pins, patches, jewellery, clothing, bags, books, zines, prints, art, cupcakes, and more! Come support local artists!
Second Aura
Sadie & June
Felix Embroidery
Lucky Little Queer
Prickly Business
Cotton Pony
Kitsch&Curiosities
Ode to August
MyOhMy Jewellery
Chidima Dezigns
Kersplebedeb Publishing and Distribution
Anxiety Slug
Astropuke
Nicole Murphy Photography
Purple Sisters
Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre
Match International Women’s Fund
vendredi 27 octobre, 19 h 30 / Friday October 27, 7:30pm
@ CEDA , 2515 Rue Delisle, Montréal; Métro Lionel-Groulx
facebook: http://ift.tt/2hdYSsf
Contingent Antiraciste ET Antifasciste dans la manif contre l’austerité organisés par la Coalition Main Rouge
Samedi, 28 octobre, 1pm / Saturday Oct. 28, 1pm
PARC VILLERAY (coin Jarry et Christophe-Colomb)
facebook: http://ift.tt/2zGFhaQ
Grande manifestation contre la haine et le racisme / Mass Demonstration Against Hate and Racism
dimanche le 12 november, 14h00 / Sunday, November 12 at 2 PM
Place Émilie-Gamelin
facebook: http://ift.tt/2hcQzgb
web: http://ift.tt/2zIcXVF
Pour de plus amples informations au sujet de la lutte antifasciste à Montréal, visitez http://ift.tt/2xgRMcl
For more information about the antifascist struggle in Montreal, see http://ift.tt/2xgRMcl
L
Gilbert began this project in the early 1980s, while in jail facing charges stemming from his activities in the revolutionary underground. It started as a pamphlet reflecting on writings about race and class by Ted Allen, W.E.B. DuBois, and J. Sakai. In the 1990s, Gilbert added a retrospective essay, reviewing lessons from the 1960s and the New Left he had been active in at the time. Over the years, Looking at the White Working Class Historically (as it was known in previous editions) has been widely circulated across multiple waves and generations of activists. As Gilbert writes in the introduction to this 2017 edition, this text remains the most popular of his writings for younger radicals seeking to build movements against racism.
This new edition contains all the material from previous versions (including an essay by J. Sakai), along with a new introduction, Gilbert’s take on the election of Donald Trump, and an extensive new text surveying changes in the global political order since the 1960s. More than ever, Looking at the U.S. White Working Class Historically explores and illuminates perspectives for radical change and resistance to racism in the United States today.
“This book embodies what I have come to expect from all of David Gilbert’s writings: precision insight tempered with humanity, nuanced historical analysis for the purpose of learning lessons, and an everpresent willingness and even insistence on questioning everything, especially his own work. Gilbert’s honesty in his introduction about what this book lacks strengthens rather than weakens its impact – He does not pretend to have all of the answers, instead insisting the only right answer is a collective one. He invites conversation and critique rather than running from it, highlighted so clearly with a rebuttal by one of the people’s work he delves into. This book, like the politics needed to build a new future, shows struggle as the dynamic living growing creature it is.” —Walidah Imarisha, author of Angels with Dirty Faces: Three Stories of Crime, Prison, and Redemption, and co-editor of Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements
“David Gilbert’s analytical clarity, commitment to universal justice, and unswerving integrity shine through his words.” —Barbara Smith, founding member of the Combahee River Collective, and of Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, author of The Truth That Never Hurts: Writings on Race, Gender and Freedom
“When Malcolm X said John Brown was his standard for white activism, he could have easily meant David Gilbert. He is our generation’s John Brown. His support of Black liberation as a method of freeing the world is to be studied, appreciated, and applied.” —Jared A. Ball, author of I Mix What I Like! A Mixtape Manifesto, and professor of Media and Africana Studies at Morgan State University
“If we want to organize white people against racism and for racial justice, if you want to build up a broad-based majority for economic, racial, and gender justice, if you are enraged at the devastation of structural inequality in our lives and on our planet, then this book is key. Class inequality is organized through white supremacy, and the ruling class strategy of divide and rule of pitting working class and poor white people against communities of color, must be understood. David Gilbert gives us historical analysis to understand this ruling class strategy, and how we can unite white people across class to a collective liberation vision with racial justice at the center.” —Chris Crass, author of Towards the “Other America”: Anti-Racist Resources for White People Taking Action for Black Lives Matter
David Gilbert, a longtime anti-racist and anti-imperialist, first became active in the Civil Rights movement in 1961. In 1965, he started the Vietnam Committee at Columbia University; in 1967 he co-authored the first Students for a Democratic Society pamphlet naming the system “imperialism”; and he was active in the Columbia strike of 1968. He later joined the Weather Underground and spent a total of 10 years underground.
David has been imprisoned in New York State since October 20th, 1981, when a unit of the Black Liberation Army along with allied white revolutionaries tried to get funds for the struggle by robbing a Brinks truck. This tragically resulted in a shoot-out in which a Brinks guard and two police officers were killed. David is serving a sentence of 75 years (minimum) to life under New York State’s “felony murder” law, whereby all participants in a robbery, even if they are unarmed and non-shooters, are equally responsible for all deaths that occur. While in prison, he’s been a pioneer for peer education on AIDS and has continued to write and advocate against oppression. He’s been involved with the annual Certain Days Freedom for Political Prisoners Calendar since 2001 and has written two books from prison that are available from Kersplebedeb: No Surrender and Love and Struggle, as well as the pamphlet Our Commitment is to Our Communities: Mass Incarceration, Political Prisoners and Building a Movement for Community-Based Justice.
You can write to David at:
David Gilbert #83A6158
Wende Correctional Facility,
3040 Wende Road
Alden, New York 14004-1187
Looking at the U.S White Working Class Historically can be ordered from leftwingbooks.net here
As long as there has been fascism, there has been anti-fascism — also known as “antifa.” Born out of resistance to Mussolini and Hitler in Europe during the 1920s and ’30s, the antifa movement has suddenly burst into the headlines amidst opposition to the Trump administration and the alt-right. They could be seen in news reports, often clad all in black with balaclavas covering their faces, fighting police at the presidential inauguration, on California college campuses protesting right-wing speakers, and, most recently, on the streets of Charlottesville, VA, protecting, among others, a group of ministers including Cornel West from neo-Nazi violence. (West would later tell reporters, “The anti-fascists saved our lives.”)
Simply, antifa aims to deny fascists the opportunity to promote their oppressive politics, and to protect tolerant communities from acts of violence promulgated by fascists. Critics say shutting down political adversaries is anti-democratic; antifa adherents argue that the horrors of fascism must never be allowed the slightest chance to triumph again.
In a smart and gripping investigation, historian and former Occupy Wall Street organizer Mark Bray provides a detailed survey of the full history of anti-fascism from its origins to the present day — the first transnational history of postwar anti-fascism in English. Based on interviews with anti-fascists from around the world, Antifa details the tactics of the movement and the philosophy behind it, offering insight into the growing but little-understood resistance fighting back against fascism in all its guises.
Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook is available from leftwingbooks.net
Toronto, Wednesday October 18 at 7pm
Workers’ Action Centre: 720 Spadina, Room 202
facebook: http://ift.tt/2zjOrdb
Ottawa, Thursday October 19 at 7:00 pm (doors open at 6:30)
Room 31, Dalhousie Community Centre
755 Somerset Street West
facebook: http://ift.tt/2zxzepI
Montreal, Friday, October 27 at 7:30pm (doors open at 7)
CEDA, 2515 Rue Delisle, Montréal
Métro Lionel-Groulx
facebook: http://ift.tt/2zidAVr
“Focused and persuasive… Bray’s book is many things: the first English-language transnational history of antifa, a how-to for would-be activists, and a record of advice from anti-Fascist organizers past and present.”—The New Yorker
“Insurgent activist movements need spokesmen, intellectuals and apologists, and for the moment Mark Bray is filling in as all three… The book’s most enlightening contribution is on the history of anti-fascist efforts over the past century, but its most relevant for today is its justification for stifling speech and clobbering white supremacists.”—Carlos Lozada, The Washington Post
“[Bray’s] analysis is methodical, and clearly informed by both his historical training and 15 years of organizing, which included Occupy Wall Street…Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook couldn’t have emerged at a more opportune time. Bray’s arguments are incisive and cohesive, and his consistent refusal to back down from principle makes the book a crucial intervention in our political moment.”—San Francisco Chronicle
“An excellent primer and essential reading.”—Counterpunch
“Mark Bray does a great job detailing the movement’s growth in the U.S. and giving historical context to the antifa’s resurgence. Read the book if you want to learn even more…”—Reveal News
“[An] excellent introduction, which serves as a reasoned and passionate defense…Antifa: The Anti-fascist Handbook serves as an educational tool for those whose inclination is to support antifa because they oppose fascism and white supremacy, but remain on the fence… Bray’s concise and multilayered text is an essential aid in that task.”—Counterpunch
Mark Bray is a historian of human rights, terrorism, and political radicalism in Modern Europe who was one of the organizers of Occupy Wall Street. He is the author of Translating Anarchy: The Anarchism of Occupy Wall Street, and the co-editor of Anarchist Education and the Modern School: A Francisco Ferrer Reader. His work has appeared in Foreign Policy, Critical Quarterly, ROAR Magazine, and numerous edited volumes. He is currently a lecturer at Dartmouth College.
While highlighting the ubiquity of Black resistance, Policing Black Lives traces the still-living legacy of slavery across multiple institutions, shedding light on the state’s role in perpetuating contemporary Black poverty and unemployment, racial profiling, law enforcement violence, incarceration, immigration detention, deportation, exploitative migrant labour practices, disproportionate child removal and low graduation rates.
Emerging from a critical race feminist framework that insists that all Black lives matter, Maynard’s intersectional approach to anti-Black racism addresses the unique and understudied impacts of state violence as it is experienced by Black women, Black people with disabilities, as well as queer, trans, and undocumented Black communities.
A call-to-action, Policing Black Lives urges readers to work toward dismantling structures of racial domination and re-imagining a more just society.
Policing Black Lives is available from leftwingbooks.net
“Robyn Maynard’s meticulously-researched and compelling analysis of state violence challenges prevailing narratives of Canadian multiculturalism and inclusion by examining how structures of racism and ideologies of gender are complexly anchored in global histories of colonization and slavery. This book should be read not only by those who have a specific interest in Canadian histories and social justice movements but by anyone interested in the abolitionist and revolutionary potential of the Black Lives Matters movement more broadly.” — Angela Y. Davis
“A crucial work in chronicling Black experiences in Canada. If you only read one book this year, make it this one. Policing Black Lives is a comprehensive and necessary book for anyone who cares about the past, present and future of Black life in this country. Brilliant work!” — Black Lives Matter Toronto
“In this eye-opening and timely book, Robyn Maynard deftly and conclusively pulls back the veil on anti-Black racism in Canada, exploding the myth of multiculturalism through an emphatically and unapologetically intersectional lens. In compelling and accessible prose, Maynard provides a sweeping overview of Canadian state violence from colonial times to the present, seamlessly articulating the relationship – and distinctions – between settler colonialism and anti-Blackness, and centering Black women, trans and gender nonconforming people within the broader narrative. Through an analysis squarely situated in the global socioeconomic context, Policing Black Lives explores parallels between state violence in Canada and its neighbor to the South, as well as the unique legal, social and historical forces informing criminalization through segregation, surveillance, “stop and frisk”/carding/street checks, the war on drugs, gang policing, the school to prison pipeline, welfare “fraud” and child welfare enforcement, and the conflation of immigration and criminality. The result is both eye-opening and chilling, firmly pointing to shared fronts of struggle across borders. Policing Black Lives is a critical read for all in Canada and the United States who #SayHerName and assert that #BlackLivesMatter, and essential to movements for Black liberation on Turtle Island.” — Andrea J. Ritchie, author Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color
“To understand this moment in Canada when Black communities are asserting that Black Lives really do matter, readers need this book.” — Sylvia D. Hamilton
“Grounded in an impressive and expansive treatment of Black Canadian history, Maynard has written a powerful account of state anti-Black violence in Canada. Empirically rich and theoretically nimble, this work is an outstanding contribution to Black Canadian Studies.”— Barrington Walker, Queen’s University
“Timely, urgent, and cogent…brilliantly elucidates the grotesque anti-Black racist practices coming from the state, and other institutions imbued with power over Black people’s lives.”— Afua Cooper
“Robyn Maynard offers powerful lessons for making anti-blackness in Canada legible to activists, scholars, policy makers, and community members committed to building a future nation—and world—free of racism, heteropatriarchy, xenophobia, and exploitation. “— Erik S. McDuffie, author of Sojourning for Freedom: Black Women, American Communism, and the Making of Black Left Feminism
“Thanks, Robyn Maynard, for opening all of our eyes to a scary history and frightening present for Black Canada.”— Patrisse Cullors-Khan, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter Global Network
By far the most popular way for anarchists to stay organized, the Slingshot 2018 organizers are here, complete with mini-calendar, daybook planner, address book section, international radical contact list, and nifty what happened on this day notes scattered throughout. The artwork, as ever, is wonderful in a chaotic punk rock way.
Now in its 24th year of publication, Slingshot is a 176 page planner/agenda with radical dates for every day of the year, space to write your phone numbers, a contact list of radical groups around the globe, menstrual calendar, info on police repression, extra note pages, plus much more. Slingshot has a tough layflat binding and a laminated cover, and comes in 16 cover colors printed with either black or silver ink (depending on how dark the paper stock is)—you can see most of these on the order pages (below) — if you have a preference indicate it when ordering, we’ll do our best to accommodate.
The Slingshot planner comes in two sizes, pocket size (4.25 inches X 5.5 inches) perfect bound, and a spiral bound larger size.
TO ORDER THE POCKET SIZE FROM LEFTWINGBOOKS.NET CLICK HERE
TO ORDER THE SPIRAL BOUND LARGER SIZE FROM LEFTWINGBOOKS.NET CLICK HERE
Kersplebedeb Leftwingbooks.net is happy to be the official distributor of Slingshot in Canada.
The Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners Calendar is one of the most important and wonderful products that i am lucky enough to be able to distribute — and the 2018 calendar is back from the printers and available now! (you can order from leftwingbooks.net here)The proceeds from Certain Days 2018 will be divided among these groups: Addameer Prisoners Support and Human Rights Association (Palestine), Release Aging People in Prison (RAPP) and other groups in need.
To see thumbnails of the artwork in this year’s calendar, scroll down —
The following is this year’s statement from the CD collective:
This year’s theme has been a bit of a moving target. We wanted to showcase different groups and movements who are Awakening Resistance to the current political climate, the one brought to the fore by Trump’s entry into office, though it clearly goes beyond that one person and has deep roots that precede his election. When we put out our call for submissions in March, many of us were working to understand the changes in tone and substance of the political establishment, and to respond—both personally and as a movement—to the increased blatancy and viciousness of far-right attacks, as well as increased state repression. In the intervening months, much analysis has emerged to explain this political moment, and to help understand the history that brought us here. On both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border, though the context differs, organizations and campaigns have formed to fight back. But much remains to be done.
The contributions we received for the 2018 calendar range from confronting the far-right to building resistance inside prisons. Many highlighted campaigns and projects began well before Trump ran for office, underscoring the fact that this “new” political reality is simply an outgrowth of processes that extend far back in time. In the face of increasingly bold racism and xenophobia, people are stepping up to challenge Islamophobia, anti-immigrant measures, and attacks on reproductive justice. Important dialogues have opened up—or been revitalized—on the role of antisemitism in upholding white supremacy, and on the relationship between the far-right and the mainstream capitalist establishment. We invite you to use this edition of Certain Days as a tool to further these efforts. Discuss these articles with fellow organizers. Use the calendar to fundraise for your project, or as a conversation-starter in your community around these issues. Get in touch with our contributors to continue the conversation.
David Gilbert’s essay below describes the landscape we find ourselves in, and the task ahead. We encourage you to read it as a preface for the rest of the articles.
As we work to build the calendar, Certain Days is also growing our collective. This year, we have added the category of “supporting member,” and welcome several people aboard in that capacity—some of whom have already been helping to make this project possible for many years.
– the Certain Days collective: Sara Falconer, Helen Hudson, Daniel McGowan, Amy Schwartz
– supporting members: Josh Davidson, Aric McBay, Tasha Zamudio
Trump’s election has set off an exciting eruption of protests; at the same time, the challenges we face are daunting. To fully grasp the dangers and opportunities ahead we need to look at the decline of imperialism, which is the context for the rise of this loathsome demagogue. Increased divisions, confusion, and strategy ip- ops within the ruling class are further signs of decline. “Decline” does not mean “collapse,” far from it. The convulsions of world capitalism have been in process for 45 years and still have a ways to go. The predatory beast, now wounded, can lash out in even more vicious ways, but that vehemence stems from its vulnerability.
Imperialism brutally beat back the revolutionary challenges of the 1960s, globally and within the U.S. But the system failed to achieve well-functioning stability. Indeed, since 1971 the economies of the U.S. and other rich nations have been mired in stagnation (chronically slow growth) and have been teetering in and out of crises. The responses typically have entailed even greater concentration of wealth at the top and expanding the balloon of speculative nance—temporary “solutions” that pave the way for more severe problems in the future. We can expect them to race even faster down this dead end road now that Trump’s “populist” billionaires are in the driver’s seat.
In the Global South, international nance imposed a ruthless regime of debt peonage, which they call “structural adjustment programs,” to extract even more wealth from the wretched of the earth—wreaking devastating damage on the peoples and environment there. At the same time, the CIA fostered reactionary sectarian forces to undermine the unity needed for national liberation. A range of military interventions turned whole countries—Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Yemen, Syria, Sudan—into killing fields of chaos and suffering. On top of the disruptions of wars, droughts made terribly worse by global warming threaten the lives of tens of millions of human beings with famine.
At home, imperialism has preferred to rule by keeping the majority loyal, or at least placated, with a rising standard of living. But since 1971, what had been decades of rising wages levelled off and job insecurity got worse. The rulers have deflected (with various ups and downs rhetorically) white working class frustrations toward racially- coded scapegoats: “welfare queens,” “criminals,” immigrants, Muslims. This despicable approach has a strong foundation in a U.S. built on white and male supremacy and on imperial expansion. Repression, both state and extra-legal, is likely to get worse. Our movements need to be prepared—psychologically, with support and legal networks, and by building communities of solidarity across issues and identities.
At the same time, Trump’s more naked exposure of the obscenities of capitalism has created wider interest in anti-racist education, organizing, and mobilizations. The range of people under attack can be a basis for forging unity and promoting an understanding that the problem is the system as a whole.
Imperialism’s great strength from global exploitation is also, potentially, its downfall in that the vast majority of people in the world have a fundamental interest in revolutionary change. For those of us in the Global North, critical tools for hewing a path toward unity entail a sorely needed anti-war movement and an environmental struggle that has a deeply global perspective. Such developments could also provide a basis for showing at least a sector of white workers the potential, the more viable alternative, of developing a cooperative economy that prioritizes equality and environmental recovery, and that learns from, as well as gives back to, the Global South and to people of colour communities within the U.S. and Canada.
We face the fight of our lives, with the very survival of humanity and countless other species at stake. History calls on us not only to be creative and courageous but also to operate fully with love in our hearts.
by Jesus Barraza
by Serena Tang
by Roger Peet
by Sophia Dawson
by EE Vera
by Fernando Marti
by Billie Belo
by Marius Mason
by UB Topia
by Design Action Collective
by Annie Morgan Banks and Mutope Duguma
by Zola
