— Karl Marx. Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844
(via fuldagap)
Tribute to Salvador Allende and victims of the 1973 Chilean coup d’état in Santiago.
Today in history: June 16, 1976 - The Soweto Uprising in South Africa.
The anti-apartheid uprising was led by high school students in Soweto and then spread around the country. More than 10,000 students protested in response to the introduction of Afrikaans as the language of instruction in local schools. They were met by heavily armed police who fired teargas and live ammunition on the students, killing hundreds. This resulted in a widespread revolt that turned into an uprising against the government that continued until the following year. Images of the police firing on students led to international revulsion against apartheid in South Africa. June 16 is now commemorated as Youth Day in South Africa, in remembrance of the events of 1976.
Via Freedom Road Socialist Organization (Fight Back!)
You strangle us [for decades] and then you criticise us for the way we breathe.– Fidel Castro
Cubans came to our region as doctors, teachers, soldiers, agricultural experts, but never as colonisers. They have shared the same trenches with us in the struggle against colonialism, underdevelopment and apartheid. Hundreds of Cubans have given their lives, literally, in a struggle that was, first and foremost, not theirs but ours. As Southern Africans we salute them.
We vow never to forget this unparalleled example of selfless internationalism. We wish also to record our indebtedness to Cuban hospitality. In particular, tens of thousands of young South Africans have been trained and some are still training, in Cuban schools and universities. Today, in many different fields – in the health sector, in government and in the army – there are many young professionals, contributing to the development of our country, who owe their skills to the generous training provided to them by Cuba. Many people, many countries, including many powerful countries, have called upon us to condemn the suppression of “human rights” in Cuba. We have reminded them they have a short memory. For when we battled against apartheid, against racial oppression, the same countries were supporting the apartheid regime …
They supported the apartheid regime. And we fought successfully against that regime with the support of Cuba… They now want to be our only friends and dare to ask us to renounce those people who made our victory possible. That is the greatest contempt for the morality and the principles which are the basis of our relations, not only with the various population groups in this country, but with the entire world.” — Nelson Mandela
Lenin: Thinker, Fighter by Vince Copeland
View or download in PDF format
This pamphlet summarizes Lenin’s contributions to the 1917 Russian Revolution and shows their relevance to today’s struggles against capitalism and imperialism. Some of the points covered are:
- How Lenin continued and developed Marx’s ideas.
- How Lenin built, strengthened, and prepared the Bolshevik Party to seize state power.
- The traits that enabled Lenin to be a steadfast revolutionary fighter and leader: What is a ‘professional revolutionary’?
- Lenin’s defense of the right of oppressed nations to self-determination.
- Lenin’s polemic for materialism vs. mysticism.
- Lenin’s unique and courageous position in the socialist movement on World War I.
“The Rank and File Strategy: Building A Socialist Movement in the U.S.” is a Working Paper published by the socialist organization Solidarity. Its author, Kim Moody, is a staff writer for Labor Notes and also the author of two books, An Injury to All and Workers in a Lean World, published by Verso.
Solidarity is an organization of activists committed to the struggle for democratic workers’ power, in order to replace capitalism with a new society without exploitation or oppression, and to the liberation of all oppressed peoples through their own freedom struggles. Our members participate in rank and file movements in a number of unions and in anti-racist, feminist, environmental and other social justice movements.
Working Papers of Solidarity are intended as contributions to discussions of important strategic questions. While their basic thrust reflects the politics and orientation of Solidarity, the details of analysis, historical interpretation and formulations represent the views of the author.
