From NOEBIE.net
On the second episode of the Religion and Socialism Podcast, Reverend Jean Darling interviews Laura Barrett, Executive Director of Interfaith Worker Justice Network.
Thanks to Bob Roman and Tom Broderick of Chicago DSA for recording the interview.
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/religious-socialism-podcast/id1103945328
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/religioussocialism/
Since the election of Donald Trump, bigots in the United States have been emboldened, and racist attacks are on the rise. I’ve been looking for practical steps that we can take to protect our neighbors and friends who may become victims.
This video, produced in the wake of the Brexit vote by the UK Racial Justice Network, is excellent.
I’ll continue to research this subject and share anything of value here in future posts.
If you have resources to share, please comment or shoot me an email.
Like many Americans, I’m still trying to process the news. I won’t try to describe my thoughts or feelings at this point, but I wanted to share some links that have been helpful to me.
Thomas Frank writes for The Guardian: Donald Trump is moving to the White House, and liberals put him there.
From the folks at Jacobin: Politics Is the Solution
From Socialist Worker: How could this monster win?
Be kind to each other today, people.
Here are my last words ahead of the upcoming U.S. Presidential Election. I cannot, in good conscience, celebrate a Clinton victory tomorrow evening. I will, however, certainly celebrate Trump’s defeat, and will dance on his grave if ever given the chance.
For all of my apparent cynicism to people who don’t know me well, I will also celebrate the election of a woman to the Presidency. I was an early supporter of Patricia Schroeder for the Democratic nomination nearly thirty years ago. It’s about freaking time.
I am proud of my vote for Jill Stein of the Green Party again this year. She has held up the vision of a more just, peaceful and sustainable society. This is an alternative that went without mention from either of the major party candidates.
I do not hope for a continuation of the sort of petty partisan conflict that has so characterized this election cycle. But I do hope (and pray) that in the coming months we shall see a heightened state of unrest. I intend to continue to do my best to foment it. It is in struggle that we become conscious. And it is way past time for all of us to wake up.
I’m thankful to Chris Maisano for crafting together this statement on electoral strategy for the American Left, and I’m proud to have added my signature to the statement, along with 74 other DSA comrades.
But if we want to move beyond the cycle of mobilization and retreat that dominates left electoral activity in the US, we have no choice but to build our own political formations, as difficult as that will be. They will have to do what all parties do – run candidates for office, particularly in states and localities where competition between Democrats and Republicans is low. Considering the many institutional barriers to effective independent politics, they will also have to launch fights to change ballot access laws and other measures aimed at maintaining the two-party duopoly.
Read the full statement here: Give The People What They Want: DSA Members on 2016 and Beyond – Democratic Socialists of America
“Since trade ignores national boundaries and the manufacturer insists on having the world as a market, the flag of his nation must follow him, and the doors of the nations which are closed must be battered down. Concessions obtained by financiers must be safeguarded by ministers of state, even if the sovereignty of unwilling nations be outraged in the process. Colonies must be obtained or planted, in order that no useful corner of the world may be overlooked or left unused.”
– President Woodrow Wilson
The Trump campaign is producing an alarming level of fear and anxiety among children of color and inflaming racial and ethnic tensions in the classroom. Many students worry about being deported, according to a report from the Southern Poverty Law Center.
My own daughter has related that some of her classmates are worried about their families being deported.
The Baltimore Police Department has secretly deployed a privately funded surveillance system using planes and powerful cameras that can continuously record 30-square-mile sections of the city at once. ACLU Attorney David Rocah had this to say.
The surveillance program itself is a privacy nightmare come to life and precisely what we have warned against for years. It’s the equivalent of requiring each of us to wear a GPS tracker whenever we leave our homes, something that would never be tolerated in the physical world.
Read More:
Baltimore Police Secretly Running Aerial Mass-Surveillance Eye in the Sky | ACLU BLog
Secret Cameras Record Baltimore’s Every Move From Above | Bloomberg Business Week
Apropos of Labor Day, from Billy Bragg.
There is a voter revolt going on in the same way that there is a revolt against the rigged, corporate capitalist economy and the devastation that that’s bringing to working people, to students, to immigrants, to communities of color, that we’ve reached a breaking point and people are not only ready to listen to alternatives, but are ready to mobilize and to work to create real structural change.
Source: “The Spoiler” Speaks | Jacobin