We started the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) with a small handful of members, determined to build a multi-national, multi-generational and large-scale socialist party in a country that seemed to have mostly rejected socialism. The task seemed daunting. We...
Walter Rodney: A people’s professor
Introduction In a recent book on the ongoing relevance of Walter Rodney’s work, Karim F. Hirji notes that, “as with scores of progressive intellectuals and activists of the past, the prevailing ideology functions to relegate Rodney into the deepest, almost...
Study, fast, train, fight: The roots of Black August
Editor's note: This article was initially published on Liberation School in 2019. In August 1619, enslaved Africans touched foot in the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States for the first time. The centuries since have seen the...
Studying society for the working class: Marx’s first preface to “Capital”
Introduction In the preface to the first edition of volume one of Capital, dated July 25, 1867, Marx introduces the book’s “ultimate aim": “to lay bare the economic law of motion of modern society” [1]. Looking back 155 years later, it’s clear the book not only...
The U.S. state and the U.S. revolution
It is no exaggeration to say that the principal disputes between activists, organizations and political trends in U.S. social movements have hinged on different understandings of, and attitudes toward, the state. What distinguishes a revolutionary communist...
The root causes of the attacks on reproductive rights: A Marxist analysis
Editor's introduction: Women’s History Month is a time to recommit ourselves to the unfinished struggle for women’s liberation, and this year it is even more crucial than ever. The conservative leaning Supreme Court is considering gutting or even overturning Roe v....
Assata Shakur: The making of a revolutionary woman
In commemorating Black August, we commemorate the struggle of those who have fought before us and faced violent repercussions from the state. We uplift the revolutionary history of the Black working class and its fundamental position in forging and leading the...
Walter Rodney’s revolutionary praxis: An interview with Devyn Springer
The following interview, facilitated by Derek Ford, took place via e-mail during June and July in preparation for Black August, when progressive organizers and activists deepen our study of and commitment to the Black struggle in the U.S. and the anti-colonial and...