Oakland’s Police Department has been a poster child for abusive and violent law enforcement. But award-winning journalist Darwin BondGraham argues that the OPD is exceptional only because of the scrutiny it’s received. He discusses the department’s history from the Red Scare of the 1920s to the Black Panthers in the 1960s to Occupy Oakland in … Continued
Many have concluded that the climate emergency will only be addressed by mass collective action. But given the small size of the U.S. left, who would populate such a movement? Scholar and participant-activist Kai Bosworth draws lessons from the struggles against the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines in the Upper Midwest, which brought … Continued
It took more than three generations of struggle to win the vote for half the population of the United States. The fight for women’s suffrage rose out of the battle for slavery’s abolition and later foundered in the backlash against Reconstruction, gaining new life with the social upheavals of the early 20th century. Historian Ellen … Continued
The complicity of white workers in maintaining the capitalist status quo has been much argued on the U.S. left. One of the key combatants and contributors to the debate was the influential radical thinker Noel Ignatiev, who died in 2019. Economist Geert Dhondt reflects on the key ideas of Ignatiev on race and the notion … Continued
The history of slavery in the United States casts a pall over our present. Berkeley-based documentary filmmaker Frances Causey illustrates how and why that is in a compelling and personal work, that traces four centuries of racial oppression in the United States.
At a time when media ownership was held in a few hands, rightwing press barons combined celebrity coverage with xenophobic and nationalist politics, lauding authoritarian leaders and playing down the threat of fascism. In the lead up to World War Two, the likes of William Randolph Hearst and Robert McCormack in the U.S., and Lords … Continued
Today we present the documentary film, Requiem for the American Dream. In Requiem for the American Dream Noam Chomsky, widely recognized as the most influential intellectual alive, makes plain the principles perpetuating the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a select few.
We present the documentary film, Healing From Hate: Battle for the Soul of a Nation. Parents need to know that Healing from Hate: Battle for the Soul of a Nation is a documentary about the rise of the alt-right movement and Life After Hate, a group that tries to help members of White supremacy groups exit … Continued
We present Keith Boykin discussing The Politics of A Darkening America. After the events that took place over the course of 2020, America remains more divided than ever. When faced with a global health crisis and widespread cries for racial justice, leadership crumbled and the Republican Party suffered defeat in the 2020 election. According to Keith Boykin, Republican … Continued
In this presentation, anti-racist educator Tim Wise examines how overt racism has increasingly penetrated American political discourse and has contributed to terrorist violence, most recently in Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Charlottesville, El Paso and Charleston. Having begun his career in the campaigns to defeat Neo-Nazi David Duke in his runs for political office, Wise has been a witness to a 30-year process of … Continued
