“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
His friends and comrades – the downtrodden and those who fought for the oppressed – called him Fidel; his enemies and foes – the one per-centers, Cuban plantation owners and their lackeys – called him Castro. He was a giant of a revolutionary who upset the apple cart. He defied the world’s biggest bully – U.S. Imperialism – for 56 years. You knew that he had won a symbolic victory when The New York Times, the leading propaganda organ for the U.S. ruling class had to devote two-thirds of the front page and six inside pages to highlighting his life and its impact.Fidel influenced several generations of revolutionaries throughout the world with his steadfastness and clarity of vision. On New Years Day 1960 Fidel came from nowhere when his rag tag rebel army (Los Barbudos) overthrew the brutal dictator Fulgencio Batista, a puppet of the U.S. and business partner of the Mafia. I remember becoming aware of him in about 1961 when I heard the lyrics to the song that was a hit on Spanish-speaking radio: Los Barbudos
The University of the Poor emerged from the collective experience of a broad network of organizations and efforts. It comes from our reflection on many past successes and failures in developing cadre committed to the unity and leadership of the poor. Our lineage includes work with homeless unions, welfare rights organizations, trade unions and various other grassroots and poor people’s organizations.This work has shown us the need to understand and respond to changes in the political and economic landscape, develop leaders with clarity and vision, as well as the commitment to unite the poor and dispossessed who have been historically divided to our detriment.We have observed that without deeper education, people who are organized only on the basis of narrowly understood and short-term interests tend to leave the movement instead of becoming committed leaders. They leave once their immediate needs are met, or once they face failure in a campaign, or backlash, or other kinds of defeat. We’ve also seen that for every person you can help find housing, ten more become homeless. An approach that says you can solve homelessness, environmental injustice, racial oppression, war, or any other struggle one person or policy change at a time is not sustainable.
Del Documento Conceptual de la Universidad de los PobresLa misión de la Universidad de los Pobres es identificar y desarrollar, de forma sistémica, líderes entregados a la unidad de los pobres y desposeídos tras líneas de color y otras líneas de división para construir un movimiento poderoso y con base amplia para acabar con la pobreza. Nuestros oponentes tienen gabinetes estratégicos, centros de entrenamiento, revistas, universidades, y fundaciones para entender este momento en la historia, desarrollar su ideología, avanzar las organizaciones políticas de sus clases, y reproducir sus líderes intelectuales. Nosotros necesitamos estas clases de organizaciones también. Para poder pelear la batalla ideológica y política necesaria para acabar con la pobreza con éxito, necesitamos desarrollar la unidad de los pobres y los desposeídos, tanto en pensamiento, como en acción.
