“To be radical is to grasp the root of the matter. But, for man, the root is man himself.” —Karl Marx In 2014, I managed a seemingly crazy move, against all odds, and with literally no chance of success: I ran for governor in the most populous, costliest, and economically divided state in the country, California. I decided to do this at a time when every political party and movement in the U.S. was steeped in crisis. When society was rent with irreparable economic and political ruptures, including a massive mortgage and financial calamity that began in 2008. When archaic
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The following is a transcribed conversation between members of the University of the Poor’s History & Political Strategy Team, who facilitate studies on moments of history, in particular Lessons from the Movement to End Slavery and W.E.B. Du Bois’s Black Reconstruction in America. The members of the team present for the conversation were Kevin Kang, CIara Taylor, John Wessel-McCoy, Phil Wider and Willie Baptist. It has been edited for length and clarity. Kevin: The conversation is centered around the theme of political polarization and political independence, and what history, particularly the movement to end slavery and the period of Reconstruction,
In presenting this issue of the University of the Poor Journal, we consider the possibilities and challenges for political independence of the poor and dispossessed in the U.S. In his piece, Dan Jones affirms that the movement for political independence of the poor and dispossessed has “always faced its greatest obstacles in the U.S. South and in particular the Black Belt, the home soil of the ideology of all-white all-class unity…The central battleground for the political independence of our class is in the South today.” Current struggles to organize the poor and dispossessed in the South, such as the fight
I have been blessed these last few months. Blessed to feel inspired, curious, connected, and so grateful for — of all things — a course on the movement to end slavery. Offered by the University of the Poor, two classes of about 20 folks each read articles and book chapters, watched videos and listened to podcasts, then met online for 10 weeks, just an hour & a half a week, to dig into the history. In some ways it was just a survey course on a particular historical time period — roughly 1820–1865 — but our context, our teachers, our texts, our students, our focus, and our ambition made it entirely unique.
The New Poor People’s Campaign, of which Dr. Liz Theoharis and Dr. William Barber are National Co-Chairs, does not just commemorate the 50th anniversary of Dr. King’s Poor People’s Campaign; it is a New Poor People’s Campaign for today. Never has such a Campaign been more needed. And the Co-Chairs are eminently qualified to make this a national and historic movement. The Rev. Dr. Barber, who wrote the Foreword to Theoharis’ book, comes from the North Carolina NAACP where he created a multi-racial, multi-ethnic, multi-everything movement of the poor in their own interest. The Rev. Dr. Theoharis has spent the last two decades of her life organizing among the poor in the United States and worldwide. Together, they have travelled through more than 20 states, organizing among the poor.
En cuanto al tema de la tecnología digital y la automatización, el mundo de los negocios se ha dado cuenta de una inquietud que han planteado los trabajadores organizados en la industria automovilística en Detroit desde los años 70.La tecnología digital y la inteligencia artificial han revolucionado la forma de hacer negocios en todas las grandes industrias. La tecnología ya no solamente reduce la necesidad de trabajo humano en la producción y circulación. En muchos casos, las computadoras y los robots reemplazan a las personas por completo.
On the topic of digital technology and automation, the business world has woken up to concerns that organized auto workers in Detroit have been raising since the 1970s.Digital technology and artificial intelligence have revolutionized the way business is done in every major industry. Technology no longer simply reduces the need for human labor in production and circulation. In many cases, computers and robots replace people altogether.
Alicia: One of the goals of our movement is to develop the leadership of the poor as a social force. What is the significance of the Poor People’s Campaign: a National Call for Moral Revival (PPC) in developing the leadership of the poor as a social force? Emily: There are not many movements or organizations that explicitly name the poor at all, nor are they specific about the need to organize the poor as a social force. So just introducing that framework is an important intervention in the movement landscape. As well, we shift from the common community organizing model of identifying local, winnable issues and instead start with an analysis of multiple systems and work to build a movement with broad goals and a shared analysis. That shared analysis enables the poor to be organized as a social force.
Basado en una presentación de Bruce Edwards“Si conoces al enemigo y te conoces a ti mismo, no tienes porque temer el resultado de centenares de batallas. Si te conoces a ti mismo pero no al enemigo, por cada victoria ganada también vas a sufrir una derrota. Si no conoces al enemigo ni a ti mismo, vas a ceder ante cada batalla.”Sun Tzu, El arte de la guerra
An interview with leaders from Put People First! PAThe following interview was conducted with Put People First! PA’s Nijmie Dzurinko, Phil Wider and Borja Gutiérrez. PPF is a statewide membership organization among poor and working class people in Pennsylvania. It is leading a “health care is a human right” campaign and has been involved in the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. In this interview we discuss PPF’s role in the Poor People’s Campaign and how they are building unity among the working class. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
The University of the Poor seeks to identify and develop leaders of the poor and dispossessed in order to build the unity of that class. By dispossessed, we mean those who do not own private property: factories, plants, stores, banks, farms, etc. All we own is personal property: cars, TVs, furniture, perhaps a house, etc. The poor – if you count everyone at or below twice the “official” poverty line – are about 48 percent (nearly half) of the population of the United States. Four out of five – 80 percent – of the population will experience poverty at some point in their lives. Those are the people we aim to unite.
ESSAYS DOWNLOAD - BY BRUCE EDWARDSThree essays by Bruce Edwards outlining “What are classes?”, “Why Are We Poor?” and “We Are the Poor!”
BOOK DOWNLOAD - IT’S NOT ENOUGH TO BY ANGRY, WILLIE BAPTIST “History has taught…it is not enough for people to be angry—the supreme task is to organize and unite people so that their anger becomes a transforming force.” — Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., February 23, 1968Download this important book by Willie Baptist that explains the need for a movement by and for the poor and dispossessed that can become a new and unsettling force.
