radicalism

Looking for King's Legacy? Try Guaranteed Income Programs

Thanks in part to a push from Johnnie Tillmon of the National Welfare Rights Association, MLK championed abolishing poverty by guaranteeing a basic income. 

Thoroughly Modern Maxie: Robespierre and His Legacy for Democracy Today

by Alyssa Goldstein Sepinwall

"If Robespierre was not by nature a murderous despot, who was he and what does he have to teach us – especially at a time, like that of the French Revolution, when progressives and liberals are divided about how to prioritize the rights of minoritized groups?"

Milbank: January 6 Roots Begin with Gingrich, Not Trump

While relatively little of Newt Gingrich's "Contract With America" became law, the House Speaker who rose to power in 1994 set the tone for the Republican Party's rigid partisanship and demonization of the opposition, a stance that justifies antidemocratic steps to keep power. 

Fanaticism May be Alarming, but It's Not New

by Zachary R. Goldsmith

The term "fanatic" evolved from a value-neutral name for participants in Roman religious cults to describe someone with dangerous and erroneous beliefs in religion and then in modern politics. Philosophers from Kant to Burke show the need to pull back from such absolute judgments of our adversaries. 

Americans Misunderstand the Radical Vision of even the Young MLK

by Victoria W. Wolcott

Long before the escalation of the war in Vietnam, urban unrest and national battles for fair housing that animated King's late work, he expressed a vision of justice that demanded systemic transformation of American society. His wife Coretta was a profound influence. 

Rise And Fall Of A Movement — A Review Of “The Young Lords: A Radical History”

by Leo Valdes

Johanna Fernandez's history of the Puerto Rican activist organization reconstructs the movement's roots and shows that an organization formed in 1969 still offers a useful diagnosis of an "urban crisis" rooted in experiences in housing, schools, hospitals, and jails. 

What are Frantz Fanon's Lessons for Today?

by Pankaj Mishra

Taken at the moment of the Algerian fight for independence and other colonial liberation movements, "The Wretched of the Earth" was first seen as a beacon of liberatory thought. A new edition frames the ambivalences in Fanon's work on freedom.

Before Nikole Hannah-Jones, Howard U. Professor Sterling Brown was a Lightning Rod for Right-Wing Outrage

by Carole Emberton

Sterling Brown also engendered political opposition and debate about what constitutes U.S. history when he tried to center the narrative on the diverse experiences of Black Americans.

Theorizing Politics as Endless Struggle: Bernard Harcourt's "Critique and Praxis"

by Eric Laursen

Bernard Harcourt attempts to rescue critical theory from the grasp of utopians and academics by refocusing on the need to connect critique of society with action to change it, through recognition that there is no end point of politics. 

Remaking Radicalism with Dan Berger and Emily M. Hobson

Historians Dan Berger and Emily Hobson discuss their new primary source anthology on grassroots social movements in the last quarter of the 20th century. 

Revolution is Illegal: Revisiting the Panther 21 at 50

by Orisanmi Burton

"To revisit the history of the BPP is to experience the rhyme of history. Yet, the refrain is not a pleasant one."

The Real Black Panthers

Historian Donna Murch joins NPR's The Throughline to discuss the Black Panther Party's agenda and its targeting by J. Edgar Hoover's FBI. 

Don't Erase Women's Leadership in the Berkeley Free Speech Movement

by Robert Cohen

Historians have yet to fully examine the role of women in leadership and at the grass roots of the Berkeley Free Speech Movement. Even some of the best and most insightful accounts of the FSM treat it as a movement of men and ignore the key roles of Jackie Goldberg, Bettina Aptheker and others. 

Newly Obtained FBI Files Shed New Light on the Murder of Fred Hampton

by Aaron J. Leonard and Conor A. Gallagher

New documents shed further light on the involvement of the FBI in the 1969 assassination of Chicago Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton, who is the subject of the new film "Judas and the Black Messiah." 

The Deep South Has a Rich History of Resistance, as Amazon Is Learning

Columnist Jamelle Bouie draws on the work of historians Michael W. Fitzgerald, Paul Horton, Robin D.G. Kelley, and Robert Widell, Jr. which shows that Alabamians, and Black Alabamians in particular, have organized to fight both racial oppression and labor exploitation.

‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ is the Film to Help Us Understand 2021. Here’s Why

by John Beckman and Theo Zenou

Abbie Hoffman used his conspiracy trial as a guerrila theater stage, the peak of his career as an activist who used absurdity and wit to expose the hypocrisies of American society. 

The Campaign to Free the Wilmington 10 Holds the Key to Successful Activism Today

by Kenneth Janken

A campaign to free 10 racial justice protesters in 1972 worked because it connected the cause to the problems with police, poverty, and racism experienced by a broad cross section of the community, and "recognize[d] racism not as separate from history but as part of historical processes and political economy."

From Red Finn Halls to The Lincoln Brigade: Class Formation on Washington’s “Red Coast”

by Jerry Lembcke

If the current crisis revives interest in class as an analytical concept, a recent book on union organizing on the Washington state coast offers a model for reconstructing the work, community and social life of a community. 

The Retrograde Quest for Symbolic Prophets of Black Liberation

by Adolph Reed, Jr.

The prevailing pattern of invoking activist or intellectual figures from Black history as prophetic exemplars of moral and political authority takes those figures out of their historical contexts and discourages consideration of how racism connects to multiple systems of economic and political power in contemporary crises like COVID-19. 

Law Enforcement’s Double Standards for Black Radical Activists

by Denise Lynn

Those puzzled at the FBI's inability to monitor white supremacist and right-wing extremist groups like those involved in the Capitol rioting should consider how the bureau has historically worked to surveil and harass radical Black organizations like the Sojourners for Truth and Justice.