Leon Trotsky was second only to Vladimir Lenin in leading the 1917 Russian Revolution. As elected chair of the St. Petersburg Soviet (workers council), he organized the uprising that put the working class in power. He formed and led the Red Army to victory in the Civil War in which 16 capitalist armies intervened. This… Read more »
history
Norma Abdulah, 1921–2015
A passionate fighter for race, gender and economic equality, Norma Abdulah was born in Harlem to a Trinidadian family. Her education about racism in the U.S. started early when her father, a professional in his homeland, was told not to apply for “white men’s jobs.” But no matter how tight the budget, Norma was always… Read more »
500 years of police brutality
Police stand guard against Occupy Wall Street and union protesters on May Day 2012. Five hundred years before Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Tamir Rice were murdered by police, white men in the colonies were hired to catch runaway slaves. They were the first police force in what became the United States. Native Americans had… Read more »
Freedom Socialist opinion — Manhattan Project still taking lives
I was stunned to learn that President Obama signed a measure in December to establish national parks at three government sites that constituted the infamous Manhattan Project. These are Hanford in Washington state, Los Alamos in New Mexico, and Oak Ridge in Tennessee. The Hanford park will include B Reactor, the world’s first large-scale nuclear… Read more »
Eleven(!) foreign powers bombing Syria: why, and who’s who
Syria bombarded as imperialist powers attack to halt revolutionary change in the Mideast.
Karl Marx on the struggle for a shorter workday
The 8-hour day didn’t just happen.
The racist past and present of right-to-work leglislation
Slavery and Jim Crow paved the way for the misnamed, anti-union legislation.
Time to take action: Sisters, let’s emulate Dora Montefiore!
As a socialist feminist, I often think about what this means. There is much in my everyday experience that points out the need to change the position of women in our capitalist society. There’s everything to get pissed off about: the job, the bills, the husband or ex, the kids’ school, not being listened to…. Read more »
Pramoedya Ananta Toer — novelist and revolutionary
It was during the ’80s that I first came across legendary Indonesia writer and activist, Pramoedya Ananta Toer. The Suharto regime ruled Indonesia with a seemingly iron fist and the author’s books — which have been translated into dozens of languages — were banned in his home country. I vividly recollect reading Child of All… Read more »
Permanent Revolution for the 21st Century
Murry Weiss’ pamphlet, titled Women’s emancipation and the future of the Fourth International, is a collection of three short essays written between 1978 and 1982. It also includes an obituary that introduces the reader to Weiss who is described as “a quintessential revolutionary.” Of what interest are the seemingly dated essays to students of the… Read more »
