The Indivisible Committee: Reflections on “Hands Off!” Chicago

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A week or so ago, a friend and I attended the Indivisible โ€œHands Off!โ€ protest in Chicago. Here is a brief description of what I experienced and some brief takeaways. We got there around noon, but about two hours beforehand, I had seen a crowd of marshals and planners in the square setting up. Even …

Review: Hope Without Hope: Rojava and Revolutionary Commitment

When the Assad regime crumbled, almost overnight, last December, there was an upsurge of shock, elation and disbelief โ€“ in Syria, and across the globe. In the days and weeks that followed, the world watched on as ordinary Syrians, who had borne the brunt of Assad’s pitiless crackdown on pro-democracy protests in 2011-12 (and the …

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City Time: A Discussion with David Campbell and Jarrod Shanahan

David Campbell and Jarrod Shanahanโ€™s new book City Time: On Being Sentenced to Rikers Island (NYU Press, 2025) offers an insightful look into the daily life of one of the most notorious carceral complexes in the US. Their individual experiences of incarceration are turned into a panoramic view of the minutiae that fill the time …

Onward, Christian Soldiers!

๏ปฟA few weeks ago I received two letters in the mail. They were addressed to me by name and sent to my address on Washington Island, WI. One was from former Vice President of the U.S., Mike Pence. The other was from Edwin Meese, former Attorney General in the Ronald Reagan Administration who is now …

Reflections from January 26th in Dallas

This piece is also posted on Haters Cafe. โ€œA bunch of people just felt free for the first time,โ€ was the immediate reaction of a seasoned comrade to a protest on January 26th, 2025. The demonstration was organized by two Latina high school girls to support migrants against the escalating deportations and racist policies coming …

The Lost and Early Writings of James Connolly

Review: Conor McCabe, ed., The Lost and Early Writings of James Connolly: 1889-1898 (Iskra Books, 2024) โ€œThe election of a Socialist to any public body at presentโ€, declared James Connolly in 1894, โ€œis only valuable, in so far as it is the return of a disturber of the political peace.โ€ Born in an Edinburgh slum …

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From the Archives


THIS IS A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT (WITHOUT GUITARS*)

On the Outside Agitators Question Governors, Mayors, Police Chiefs, and many network TV journalists with their security experts are all set on promoting the idea that the uncontainable sectors of the enormous protests that are engulfing America are made up of sinister โ€œoutside agitatorโ€ elements.ย  These breakfast table theories vary from a slightly sophisticated knowledge …

Defining Hard Crackers: From the Editors

1. Modern American society is a ticking time-bomb where an impending social explosion is hinted at by everyday violence of all kindsโ€” the abuse of children; physical and sexual attacks by men against women, against other men and against those who do not conform to conventional images of men and women; the mistreatment of animals; …

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