Written by la Comisión de Nacionalidades, OSCL / FRSO
Sunday, 04 May 2008
Hoy es el Primero de Mayo. Es el Día Internacional Histórico cuando
las/los trabajadoras/es manifiestan en varias formas su determinación
para resistir y romper el yugo del capitalismo. Este día es recordado y
celebrado con entusiasmo por la gente del mundo en sus millones.
En los EEUU la celebración se ha disminuido hasta las pocas gentes
que todavía recuerdan la historia de este día y porque nos quedamos
comprometidas/os a esta lucha. La situación cambió dramáticamente en el
Primero de Mayo de 2006 con las manifestaciones en muchas ciudades
donde mayoritariamente (pero no exclusivamente) las/los inmigrantes
latinas/os se concentran y lanzaron protestas masivas en contra de la
ola de acciones anti-inmigrante en toda la nación. Mientras que esta
manifestación de unidad representó todas clases sociales de las
comunidades de inmigrantes, en su corazón fue las/los millones de
trabajadoras/es inmigrantes que se han hecho tan esenciales a la
economía hoy día. Estas/os trabajadoras/es llevan consigo una tradición
del Primero de Mayo como un día de protesta y solidaridad.
May 1st is here today. It is the historic International Workers' Day
where workers and oppressed people manifest in various ways their
determination to resist and ultimately break the chains of capital.
This day is remembered and celebrated with fervor by millions of people
throughout the world.
In the US the celebration had dwindled down
to a few people who still remembered where this holiday came from and
why we must persevere; that is, until the great May Day demonstrations
of immigrants all over the country on May Day 2006. This manifestation
in the major cities where mostly (but not exclusively) Latino
immigrants are concentrated unleashed a massive protest against the
wave of racist anti-immigrant activity across the country. While this
manifestation represented all class strata of the immigrant community,
its core was the millions of immigrant workers who have become
essential to the economy today. These workers bring with them a
tradition of making May 1st a day of protest and solidarity.
Impunity is a term that we usually hear in connection with Colombian
paramilitary forces and other right-wing groups in Latin America. They
go unpunished for kidnappings and assassination in the face of clear
and unambiguous evidence against them. The "not guilty" verdict in the
case of the three New York City police officers reconfirms what Black
and Brown communities know all too well--that police can brutalize
people of color without fear of penalty.
What some have described as an unexpectedly quiet and tame response
to the verdict is an indication off the numbness and despair that
oppressed nationalities feel as consistent victims of police repression
and violence. The maniacal 50 shots that killed the unarmed Sean Bell
are a repetition of the 41 shots that ended the life of Amadou Diallo.
We will not be surprised if the rage that we hear from all parts of the
country, but especially in New York, turns into a tempest that
challenges the rulers in serious if only temporary ways. No one can say
how soon it will happen, but the cumulative effects of this racism and
other unpredictable events may well trigger the response that many
expected after the verdict.
The revelations of Rev. Jeremiah Wright's remarks have unleashed a
reactionary backlash that has many (virtually entirely white) people
scornfully denouncing Rev. Wright as a racist, even though he is
African American. This reaction has been used to reframe our
understanding of race and racism in America, essentially
contextualizing race as a question of personal attitudes, or comments
by individuals that reflect negatively on white people.
By this reasoning, the centuries of national oppression against
African Americans and against indigenous people, Mexicans, Puerto
Ricans, Asians and immigrants are dismissed, and we must assume that
everything is equal. In other words (according to this logic),
oppressed people of color who have suffered in a society built on slave
labor, genocide, land expropriation and discrimination can be equally racist. What convenient logic!
Senator Obama was forced to denounce Rev. Wright's remarks and
disassociate himself from Rev. Wright or be denounced as a racist
himself. Ultimately, Obama carefully walked a tightrope, working to
disassociate himself from Rev. Wright's remarks, while tactfully trying
to appease his white critics. For his role, Obama is being hailed by
the white-controlled, mainstream media as having given the most
significant speech on race since Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Some recent controversy in connection with the statement on the US
Presidential elections by Jamala Rogers posted on the FRSO website,
along with a odd exchange that accompanied a piece that I wrote at The Black Commentator
on the now-halted John Edwards campaign, caused me to reflect some more
on the radical Left and elections. Is there a point for the radical
Left to be thinking in terms of participating in elections, be they
national or local? If so, in what capacity?
Contrary to those, such as the Greens, who suggest an immediate
third-party run for national (and local) office, I believe that the
actual conditions plus the nature of the electoral system do not
justify it. To borrow from the remarks offered by long-time writer and
activist Frances Fox Piven at the recent Left Forum in New York City,
there are those who wish to engage in an electoral politics that does
not exist in the USA and wish to avoid the electoral politics that
does.
Central to a radical left practice must be a concrete analysis of
concrete conditions. Among other things this means understanding the
nature of the state in a particular social formation, including how it
operates, its history and the class forces operating within it. The US
state is extremely undemocratic, particularly when it comes to
electoral politics, making it difficult for minor or third parties to
operate and be considered relevant. This reality has often led many
left activists to turn entirely away from electoral politics and focus
on non-electoral social movement activity. While this work may at times
be exemplary, it is often disconnected from the fight for political
power and can
be condemned to the realm of resistance-only activity. This is not a
criticism of the work, but a criticism of the decision to turn away
from electoral politics.
The threat of a US attack on Iran has come to the fore again. The
forced retirement of Admiral Fallon as head of CentCom removes a leader
of the majority in the high command who think that any action to
broaden an already disastrous war is flat-out nuts. And Bush is
sending Cheney, a strong proponent of attacking Iran, to Israel for the
talks between Israel and Hamas.
Israeli Defense Forces have killed over 130 Palestinians, a quarter
of them children in attacks on the desperate, ghettoized people of
Gaza, carried out by US-supplied F-16s, Apache helicopters, and TOW
missiles. Even as this continues, Congress is debating increasing
military aid to Israel to $5.5 billion next year and leaked State
Department documents show the US actively promoted civil war between
the PLO and Hamas. The fruit of all this was evident at the recent Arab
League meeting where countries seen as pro-US were shamed and the
dwindling of US influence in the Middle East was obvious.
Written by Jamala Rogers, National Executive Committee
Monday, 21 January 2008
Every four years the Left finds itself in roughly the same situation. Having paid little sustained attention to building a progressive, mass, relevant electoral initiative,
the Left is confronted with Presidential campaigns that are presented
to it rather than campaigns over which it was instrumental in building.
Facing this challenge, there are generally three options that are
pursued:
Jump, as individuals, into the campaign(s) that seems the least obnoxious among the Democrats.
Build an independent campaign that is largely irrelevant but
often feels good to participate in because it is a venue in which to
vent anger.
Abstain.
Following these campaigns there is also regularly a shaking of the
hands as the Left expresses its frustration with the lack of good,
viable electoral choices. For a brief moment there is the discussion of
building an ongoing electoral presence--and in some quarters, the
suggestion that, irrespective of conditions, now is the time for a
third party--and then presto, most of the Left is back involved in our
normal--non-electoral--political activity.
Thus, we find ourselves in 2008 presented with an all-too-familiar
situation. Leaving aside, for the moment, Congressional and Senatorial
campaigns, the Left has found itself presented with options rather than
having helped to shape any, at least as a Left.
Commentary by the National Executive Committee of FRSO/OSCL
We have now had some days to digest the results of the Venezuelan
election, and our committee would like to offer several thoughts as
part of the larger movement summation of this experience.
Despite the demonizing of President Chávez and his intentions by the
Bush administration, the Venezuelan opposition, and the US corporate
media, it is very noteworthy that upon losing, he offered a principled
concession. Though Bush, et al., had tried to convince the world that
President Chávez was determined to win, legally or illegally, President
Chávez stood by his word. Rumors that he was compelled to do so by his
military have been unsupported by any facts and sound much more like
CIA disinformation campaigns.
For many of us on the Left in the US, if we are to be honest, the
lead-up to this election has been a period of very mixed emotions.
Though not discussed very publicly, among left and progressive circles
in the USA there was a certain uneasiness regarding President Chávez's
attempt to remove presidential term limits. Although there were many
other components to the constitutional proposal (a fact that is
significant when one ponders the calculation of putting all of these
together in one yes/no vote), the matter of term limits was the point
around which there was probably the most attention, if not concern.
Some of the reforms included in order to expand Chávez's socialist
agenda were reducing the workday and workweek, ending the autonomy of
the central bank, and prohibiting large land estates, to name a few.
While most of the Left and progressives vehemently denounced the
hypocrisy of those who would condemn President Chávez yet say nothing
about the British electoral system that lacks any term limits, this was
separate and apart from our deeper feelings about the actual removal of
term limits.
With the publication of Which Way is Left?, the Freedom Road
Socialist Organization takes an important step in advancing a strategy
for a realignment and refoundation of the revolutionary Left. Central
to this notion is the idea that it is not enough to struggle out
differences in order to achieve unity. Unity must come about through an
organized process of principled struggle--otherwise, what results will be chaos.
The unspoken question that in many respects haunts the discussion
revolves around what we, in the radical and socialist Left, should be
attempting to build. FRSO/OSCL calls for a party, yet many of us hear that even using that term unsettles many comrades who nevertheless seek tighter forms of organization.
Stanley Aronowitz offered an important contribution through the publication of his book Left Turn,
which explicitly calls for a party of the radical Left. Aronowitz makes
a strong case for such a party, though he seems to suggest both a party
that can participate in the electoral realm--an unlikely possibility
for an explicitly radical party at this moment in the USA--and a party
that gives radical, socialist leadership to mass struggles. Aronowitz
also offers a timely and devastating critique of post-modernism, a
parasitic tendency within the Left. As such, this is a useful and
generally positive intervention into a growing discussion of, quite
literally, which way is Left.
The following represents some thoughts regarding what it is that we
should be trying to build. In offering this discussion piece, I am not
attempting to preempt any consideration of the strategy of unifying and
reconstructing the radical Left. Rather this is hoped to be received as
part of the discussion that needs to unfold. In the interests of space
and conciseness, it is offered in the form of theses.
Since the beginning of 2007, the period since FRSO/OSCL's most recent
congress, our organization's strategy has been different from any in
the past. In the previous three-year period between FRSO/OSCL
congresses (2003-2006), the US Left faced chaotic and quickly changing
political conditions--the US war on Iraq; the US-backed invasion of
Lebanon by Israel; the devastation and displacement caused by Hurricane
Katrina , with the attendant racism and criminal negligence
of the state; and the extreme immigrant backlash leading to the
mobilization and uprising of immigrants. From these conditions and from
our continued belief in the need for greater organization by the Left,
we believe that if we truly want to build a revolutionary movement in
the United States, the Left cannot continue to function as it has.
To build such a movement, we must develop a real revolutionary
organization--an organized vehicle and plan for moving forward that is
based among all the oppressed. While we continue to engage and organize
among sectors such as workers, oppressed nationalities, youth and
students; in the anti-war movement; in Katrina survivor solidarity; for
immigrant rights; etc., we will do so with an eye towards building
stronger relationships and alliances among the social movements and the
organized Left.
Towards that end, our new strategy document "Which Way Is Left? Theory, Politics, Organization and 21st-Century Socialism"
gives an analysis of the current period and the challenges we face. It
details the lessons learned from previous socialist experiments. And it
argues for the crucial need to build a revolutionary party based on
these lessons that can struggle for a socialism of the 21st century.
That said, we want to talk to you--those engaged in the struggle
against capitalism and imperialism! We want to hear your ideas about
what it is going to take to build a stronger Left, what forms of
organization are needed, and what issues or concerns you may have about
building revolutionary organization.
At the US Social Forum one of the most popular workshops was titled
"Building Revolutionary Strategy and Organization in the 21st Century: A
Multi-Generational Dialogue." This session was hosted by five
organizations:
Freedom Road Socialist Organization/Organización Socialista del Camino para la Libertad
The Second Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina finds the Gulf Coast still
in a devastated state with tens of thousands or Katrina survivors
unable to return to any sense of normalcy. The response to the
horrendous damage done by the winds of Katrina and the subsequent
floods, have been described as a "boil on the body politic" of the US
by some. Others have likened it to an "ethnic cleansing."
Two hundred thousand residents of New Orleans still in exile;
118,000 jobs gone; 1,500 out of 5,100 public housing units occupied;
81,000 households still living in FEMA trailers; 1 out of 7 New Orleans
hospitals operating at pre-storm levels; 200% increase in rents. These
are just some of the grim statistics.
Katrina and its aftermath and the occupation of Iraq are the
defining political moments of the first decade of the 21st century. The
ways in which the Bush Administration has handled both and the people's
response will shape the political and social contours of the world for
decades to come.
Durante el segundo aniversario del Huracán Katrina encontramos la
Costa del Golfo todavía en un estado de destrucción con miles de
Sobrevivientes de Katrina sin la opción de poder volver a un sentido de
normalidad. La respuesta al daño horrible hecho por los vientos e
inundaciones de Katrina ha sido referido como una "peste en el cuerpo
político" de los EUA. Otros lo han comparado a una "limpieza étnica."
Doscientos miles residentes de Nuevo Orleáns siguen viviendo en el
exilio; 118.000 trabajos ya no existen; 1.500 de 5.100 unidades de
vivienda pública están ocupadas; 81.000 familias quedan en trailas de
FEMA (Agencia Federal del Manejo de Emergencias); Solo 1 de cada 7
hospitales en Nuevo Orleáns está operando al mismo que antes de la
tormenta; 200% aumento en el costo de la renta. Estas son solamente
unas pocas de las estadísticas severas.
Katrina y sus consecuencias y la ocupación de Irak son los momentos
políticos definitivos de la primera década del siglo 21. Las maneras en
las cuales la Administración del Presidente Bush ha manejado la
situación y la respuesta pública darán forma a los contornos políticos
y sociales del mundo por décadas en el futuro.
The National Executive Committee of FRSO/OSCL is pleased to announce
that Camino Press has published a new book: The Cost of Privilege:
Taking On the System of White Supremacy and Racism. This book is a
comprehensive account of the key role that white supremacy plays in our
society and of how white privilege functions as the basic building
blocks of that system. The book also looks at the history of how this
system developed, how it is deeply tied into other forms of oppression,
and what we need to do to organize and overturn white supremacy.
The Cost of Privilege is an important contribution to revolutionary
strategy in the United States. Understanding white supremacist national
oppression as a method of social control and domination is fundamental
to understanding the mechanisms that have obstructed virtually every
progressive social movement over the last several hundred years. Racial
oppression is central to the construction of US capitalism.
Since the beginning of 2007, the period since FRSO/OSCL's most recent
congress, our organization's strategy has been different from any in
the past. In the previous three-year period between FRSO/OSCL
congresses (2003-2006), the US Left faced chaotic and quickly changing
political conditions--the US war on Iraq; the US-backed invasion of
Lebanon by Israel; the devastation and displacement caused by 
The Second Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina finds the Gulf Coast still
in a devastated state with tens of thousands or Katrina survivors
unable to return to any sense of normalcy. The response to the
horrendous damage done by the winds of Katrina and the subsequent
floods, have been described as a "boil on the body politic" of the US
by some. Others have likened it to an "ethnic cleansing."
The National Executive Committee of FRSO/OSCL is pleased to announce
that Camino Press has published a new book: The Cost of Privilege:
Taking On the System of White Supremacy and Racism. This book is a
comprehensive account of the key role that white supremacy plays in our
society and of how white privilege functions as the basic building
blocks of that system. The book also looks at the history of how this
system developed, how it is deeply tied into other forms of oppression,
and what we need to do to organize and overturn white supremacy.