“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
“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
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
Tim W. Shenk, for the University of the Poor Journal: In this inaugural issue of the University of the Poor Journal, we’re focusing on the political independence of our class. We know that we can’t just announce that we want to be politically independent of the formations of the ruling class. We have to build that independence, and that comes with developing leaders who can navigate difficult and ever-changing terrain. Charon, you’re a leader in the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. You’re part of the Kairos Center and University of the Poor. These are some significant
Introduction In University of the Poor spaces, we often speak of the political strategy of “uniting the poor and dispossessed as a social force to win over the middle strata to the program of the poor as opposed to a program of the rich.” This political strategy is not a formulation our network has derived out of thin air, but from study of successful revolutionary processes in human history in which masses of people took control of political power to reorganize society and economy to the needs of the many. These experiences inform us that if we are to win,
This political moment is overflowing with stories about the minute-to-minute fights within the two-party system and the changes happening within each party. These battles and ruptures are signs of a time of deeper, society-wide polarization, likely only to intensify. Throughout history, it is exactly contexts like these that have offered real possibility for the poor and dispossessed to build and exert politically independent leadership. But destabilized times are also full of enormous danger and reaction. To move through them effectively, we need to develop a serious assessment of the political dynamics playing out around us, as well as the economic
Electoral politics in the contemporary U.S. context are complicated for revolutionaries. As we are all well aware, because of the way our political system is structured, there are very few mechanisms for new/third parties to gain a widespread foothold. We may be heading into a period in which greater political polarization could cause fractures or shifts in one or both of the two major parties. However, the jumping off point of this piece is an examination of electoralism via the Democratic Party, which is currently ascendant among segments of the so-called “left”. Since people are throwing around a lot of
Organizing to build the unity of the poor and dispossessed should not be understood as just one among many items on the agenda. It has to be the agenda if we are going to give actual effect to our deepest aspirations for society.
This serious and sacred struggle of the poor and dispossessed is a fight for our lives and self-emancipation; for economic, social, and cultural justice for all. The lives of these warriors and leaders teach us that power for the poor, not pity, is the only path to ending poverty. Their lives teach us how we must each commit ourselves to the path of uniting and organizing the poor and dispossessed as a revolutionary social force. This commitment is the first indispensable step in the path to building political power.
During the first year of the pandemic, the number of billionaires across the world grew by nearly a third, to 2,755 people.
How could a few people gain so much wealth in one year while millions are in poverty in this country alone?
