A Saturday Bookshelf Event: A People’s Guide to Greater Boston reveals the region’s richness and vibrancy in ways that are neglected by traditional area guidebooks and obscured by many tourist destinations. Affirming the hopes, interests, and struggles of individuals and groups on the receiving end of unjust forms of power, the book showcases the ground-level…
Author: organizer
Adjunct Lit & Life: Christine Smallwood & Maggie Doherty, June 17, 2021
Join Shelter & Solidarity for a discussion with special guests, novelist Christine Smallwood (author of The Life of The Mind) and scholar Maggie Doherty (author of The Equivalents and the recent Nation article on “Adjunct Hell”) as we explore the relationship between art, experience and activism in a contemporary higher education system increasingly characterized by…
Invisible No Longer: Confronting Anti-Asian Racism and Building Community Resistance, May 20, 2021
Reports of anti-Asian racism throughout the U.S. have surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, but have not been the subject of sustained public attention until recent months. The deadly March 16th Atlanta spa shootings, along with a spike in lethal attacks against persons of Asian descent, have brought increased visibility to a form of racism that…
A Conversation with Marge Piercy on Art & Politics, May 13, 2021
Join Shelter & Solidarity and independent socialist magazine Monthly Review for a live conversation with path-breaking radical thinker, activist, and best-selling, world-famous author Marge Piercy. For the past fifty years, few creative writers have been in deeper dialogue with the movement for emancipatory revolution than poet and novelist Marge Piercy. Author of over 20 books…
A Conversation with Ranabir Samaddar on “Karl Marx and the Postcolonial Age,” May 8, 2021
Paula Rauhala and Kira Moodliar join in conversation with Ranabir Samaddar to explore Ranabir’s new book, “Karl Marx and the Postcolonial Age.” From Palgrave MacMillian: This book seeks to explicitly engage Marxist and post-colonial theory to place Marxism in the context of the post-colonial age. Those who study Marx, particularly in the West, often lack…
The Post Capitalism Conference: Building the Solidarity Economy, April 20, 2021
Join David Cobb and Nicola Walters to preview “The Post Capitalism Conference: Building the Solidarity Economy” (part of EarthDayMayDay.org) at Humboldt State University – but open to anyone with online. The conference kicks off on Earth Day, Thursday, April 22, 2021, and includes movement luminaries like Wende Marshall, Richard Wolf, Kali Akuno, Melodie Meyer, Emily Kawano,…
Art & the Struggle for Social Change, April 15, 2021
Live performances and discussions with socially engaged artists from across the country, including radical poets Matt Sedillo and Raymond ‘Nat’ Turner, Philadelphia-based musician Melanie Hsu, progressive folk singer-songwriter David Rovics, and somatic artist Marina Lopez. Co-hosted with Tim Sheard (of Hard Ball Press) and Linda Liu, this show will provide a chance to engage both…
David Roediger on the Sinking “Middle Class,” April 3, 2021
Join Co-hosts Rachel Patten and Bobbi-lee Smart in a conversation with David Roediger, Saturday, April 3rd at 12 PM EDT, about his new book, The Sinking Middle Class. Joe Biden’s current emphasis on the “American middle class” is typical of centrist Democrat strategy. It is used as a cudgel to defend the party against more…
Black Revolutionary Thought for Our Times? March 25, 2021
Throughout modern history, struggles against Black oppression have generated some of our most powerful and persuasive radical voices, often resonating across lines of race and nation. How do black revolutionary thinkers of the past–from black Marxists like Richard Wright to Black Panther participants like Fred Hampton and Assata Shakur–to contemporary voices like Mumia Abu Jamal,…
The 1990s-2020s: The Millennial Turns and this Decisive Decade, March 11, 2021
The 2020s may prove to be “The Decisive Decade.” But what are the origins of the movements of these times? And what difference do those histories make today? We often are called to look back to the 1960s for lessons. But what of the 1990s and the movements at the turn of the millennium? Join Bill…
Progressive Media in an Age of Covid & Capitalist Crisis, February 25, 2021
In an era of growing corporate control over “the news” (from TV to social media platforms), the role played by independent, alternative, and left media is more precious than ever. Yet the corporate-dominated media landscape, compounded by the Covid19 crisis, creates new barriers and challenges for left and independent media alike. How are independent and…
Stepping Up for Texas! – S&S Special Show, February 24, 2021
The freeze set in, and the lights went out! And Texans found that free-market fundamentalists can’t keep you warm and definitely won’t keep the water running. Also, climate change does not care about ideology! It might be too early to talk about the numbers, the suffering, and the resistance, but neighbors are helping neighbors. Even…
Socialist Hopes Versus American Realities? January 28, 2021
In the yawning gap between the crises of economy, environment, and survival on the one hand, and ruling class responses, on the other hand, is there space for socialist solutions and the movements that can deliver them? If so, how will it be filled? We answer these questions with a thoughtful and diverse group of…
Chris Hedges at the Community Church of Boston – On the Culture of Despair, December 20, 2020
Shelter & Solidarity’s host, Joe Ramsey hosted Chris Hedges at an event organized by the Community Church of Boston Correction: Dean Stevens is the Community Church of Boston’s Administrator & Musical Director. Contrary to the opening credits, he is not the Congregational Director. This was an editing error on our part. During Chris Hedges’s talk…
Art & Resistance, December 3, 2020
Featuring performances and conversations with revolutionary artists:Demetrius Noble, Eartha Watts Hicks, Rafael Medina, Raymond Nat Turner, Linda Liu, Ricardo Levins Morales, Tracy Garrison, Tim Sheard, & Dean Stevens
Populism! Peril or Promise in US Politics, November 19, 2020
On November 19th we will take a deep dive into the history, myths, practices, and legacies of popular politics and “small-d” democracy in the United States with scholar and public historian Michael Lansing.The populist tradition is a significant, controversial, and often misunderstood strain of U.S. history. Lansing’s book, Insurgent Democracy: The Nonpartisan League in North…
What Just Happened?! Election Day & Next Steps for the Left, November 5, 2020
On Thursday, November 5, 2020, DSA-affiliated David Duhalde, The Nation’s Liza Featherstone, the Green Party’s Jill Stein, and sociologist Ben Manski engaged in a lively conversation about the US elections – together with host Joe Ramsey.
Trump’s Walls Must Fall – Greg Grandin and Avi Chomsky, October 15, 2020
We take a deep dive with 2020 Pulitzer Prize-winner Greg Grandin, author of The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America (among many other books). We will also be joined by scholar and activist Aviva Chomsky, (author of Undocumented and “They Take Our Jobs!” and 20…
Mass Murder and the Making of Our Times, October 1, 2020
October 1 marks the fifty-fifth anniversary of the beginning of one of the worst episodes of mass murder in the twentieth century: the massacre of hundreds of thousands of Indonesians in 1965-1966. Organized and directed by Indonesia’s military, the killings targeted people associated with the country’s communist party, the world’s largest outside of China and…
Weaponizing Antisemitism Allegations, September 24, 2020
Amid a resurgence of xenophobic nationalism, Islamophobia, Antisemitism, and racism more generally, how do we refute charges of Antisemitism that are broadly leveled against advocates for Black liberation, immigrant justice and national self-determination for the Palestinian people? To help us navigate these questions, Lara Kiswani from Beit Iksa and Aqir, Palestine, and Executive Director of…
Many Movements, Many Steps Forward, September 4, 2020
Co-sponsored Event: Perspectives from Turtle Island/Abya Yala in a Global Context Conversations with and between Kali Akuno, Jeff Corntassel, Silvia Federici, and Xochitl Leyva Solano Moderated by Matt Meyer and Magdalene Moonsamy A Movements of Movements Conversation The conversations across movements that the book series The Movements of Movements promoted, were resumed as a “Movements…
Know Your Enemy: Grasping the Nature of the Right-Wing Threat, September 3, 2020
Recent years have seen a resurgence of right-wing nationalism and authoritarian political movements, from Trump in the US to Bolsanaro in Brazil and to Modi in India. How are we best to grasp the nature of these contemporary political trends? Are Trump and the movement to support him usefully understood as a form of neo-fascism?…
Sustaining Ourselves & Each Other Through Crisis Times with Victor Narro & Michal Osterweil, August 27, 2020
Feeling stressed? Seeking strategies for keeping healthy and connected during this period of protracted pandemic, economic crisis, and physical isolation? Join us for our third Shelter & Solidarity social hour – a community discussion about how we can best sustain ourselves, each other, our organizations and movements during these pandemic times. We’ll be led into…
John Lawrence on Organizing the Democratic Capacity for Transformative Change, August 20, 2020
Building on a recent paper by John W. Lawrence, “Organizing the Democratic Capacity for Transformative Change: The 2020 Election and Beyond” published in Socialism and Democracy, this conversation discusses and debates the organizational and political requirements for the left to grow and become an organized voice and transformative force based in the working class. Speaker…
Contingent Times: Adjuncts Organize, August 15, 2020
Buried in student loan debt, often suffering with no health insurance, no job security, no retirement, no office space, multiple passwords, invisibility, low wages and a myriad of other injustices; adjuncts have had enough to deal with. But now, things have reached a tipping point for contingent faculty as a result of the pandemic and…
Back to School Blues? The Fight for a Just & Safe School Year, August 13, 2020
As we roll into late August, the start of the school year is upon us. What will this Fall look like for students, for teachers and staff, for parents and our communities? What threats to safety, to the quality and equity of education, and to working conditions are people facing? And how are they responding…
75 Years After Hiroshima with Avi Chomsky, Marie Cruz Soto, Joseph Gerson & Gar Alperovitz, August 6, 2020
Avi Chomsky, Marie Cruz Soto, Joseph Gerson & Gar Alperovitz consider the legacy of the Hiroshima, its roots in Empire and colonial rivalries. They also examine resistance to empire from Vieques to Okinawa and across diasporas and homelands.
Beyond Trump’s Walls with Greg Grandin & Avi Chomsky, [postponed, tbd]
Join us on Thursday, August 6th from 7-8:30pm EST for a deep dive with 2020 Pulitzer Prize-winner Greg Grandin, author of *THE END OF THE MYTH: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America* (among other books). We will also be joined by scholar and activist Aviva Chomsky, (author of *Undocumented*…
Elections, Democracy, & the Left with Victor Wallis & Medea Benjamin, July 30, 2020
Join us Thursday, July 30, at 7pm EST for a deep dive with Victor Wallis (author of Democracy Denied, and Red-Green Revolution) about how the Left can and should relate to elections and to threats to democracy in the United States. Victor will be joined in conversation by nationally renowned organizers Medea Benjamin (Code Pink)….
Imagining Apocalypse Now with Mark Soderstrom & Gerry Canavan, July 23, 2020
As the Covid-19 pandemic rages on, this episode explores the significance of apocalyptic and dystopian narratives for our current crisis-laden moment. While typically associated with large-scale death and destruction, the word ‘apocalypse’ also means a revelation or uncovering of what was hidden in plain sight. Joined by noted science and speculative fiction and film scholars…
What Is the Nature, and Meaning, of Our Political Moment? July 24, 2020
A Movements of Movements Conversation (Co-sponsored by Shelter & Solidarity) Continuing the conversations begun in “The Movements of Movements” series (PM Press), this event brings together several original contributors to the series together with Rose Brewer (People’s Strike) and Johanna Fernandez (activist and author). Jai Sen and Gina Vargas facilitated the conversation. Suren Moodliar (encuentro5)…
In a Time of Pandemics, What Are We Watching? And Why? July 16, 2020
S&S’s second social hour explores what we are watching and/or reading these days and attempts to tease out the ‘whys.’ Other than the persistently grim march of the news, what kinds of media and narratives have we been drawn to lately? Whether it’s escapist fantasies or pandemic-themed movies, are we looking for solace, distraction, frisson,…
What Must Fall, What Must Be Built – Demita Frazier, Ross Caputi, & Suren Moodliar, July 9, 2020
Join Demita Frazier, Ross Caputi, and Suren Moodliar in a conversation with Shelter & Solidarity: A Deep Dive with Artists and Activists host Joe Ramsey about monuments and public art in a moment of rebellion. After the event, the video will be posted here.
Police, Race, Labor & the Left with Cedric Johnson and Clare Hammonds, July 2, 2020
Nationally renowned scholar Cedric Johnson (author of the forthcoming book on Race, Policing and Anti-Capitalist Politics) joins us for a deep dive discussion into what comes next following the recent uprisings against police violence, and the broader state of Left politics in the US. We will also be joined by labor scholar and activist Clare…
The Anti-Racist University? Race, Class & Contingency in Higher Education, June 25, 2020
Join our discussion of the contradictions of anti-racist work in the University, with a particular focus on race, class, and contingency. The panel will address the place institutions of higher education occupy in our racialized class society, assess the official “anti-racist” strategies universities promote, and highlight the anti-racist work of on- and off-campus activism within…
Love and Struggle Know No Bars: Prisoners and Families Speak Out, June 18, 2020
Join us for Shelter and Solidarity #11 as we co-host a discussion about resisting the system of mass incarceration with members of the New York-based frontline organization Its Up to Us to End Mass Incarceration. We will be joined by IUTU organizer Michael Nugent as well as Tydina Brown and Nicole James, family members of…
Poets of the Rebellion, June 11, 2020
Join us for performances from Lorraine Currelley, Bronx Beat Poet Laureate & Activist, as well as Raymond Nat Turner, members of the Harlem Poets Guild, and North Carolina-based poet-critic-activist Demetrius Noble. w/ co-hosts Joe Ramsey and Tim Sheard.
Threats to Democracy with August Nimtz and Bill Fletcher, June 4, 2020
As the frontline communities and others of good conscience grieve and revolt, the US’s democratic trappings yield to its iron fist core. What are must be done to re-energize the long revolution against slavery and capitalism and for democracy and freedom? Long-time radical intellectual and pan-Africanist, Bill Fletcher and the Marxist activist-scholar August Nimtz join…
Contingent Faculty Struggles, May 28, 2020
COVID-19 has exposed the brittle core of higher education today: super-exploited academic workers going by dozens of titles–temporary, part-timer, adjunct, visiting, precarious, etc.–all meaning “contingent” i.e. workers who provide most of the teaching but who receive few benefits and next to no job security. It has also raised sharply the question of the university’s relationship…
Public Institutions Under Attack: Threats to the Common Good, May 21, 2020
A conversation about the government and corporate class campaigns to use the COVID moment to privatize or destroy our most critical public services: The US Postal Service, public K-12, and higher education, public hospitals, the Veterans Affairs health services, and more. We are joined by postal worker organizer, Charles Zlatkin, New York Labor Communications Council,…
What Are We Reading? What Are We Learning? May 14, 2020
S&S’s first social hour! Framing questions: What book has most resonated with you during this unprecedented time, and why? Share with others what you are enjoying and what you are taking away from the text. Reading and sharing what’s valuable on the page can help us cope with–and deepen our grasp of– the challenges we…
Immigrant Struggles for Justice During the COVID-19 Crisis, May 7, 2020
In our fifth episode of Shelter & Solidarity, we are scholar-activists Aviva Chomsky (author of Undocumented, ‘They Take Our Jobs!’ and Twenty Other Myths about Immigration), Joseph Nevins and Mizue Aizeki (co-authors of the book, Dying to Live: A Story of U.S. Immigration in an Age of Global Apartheid), as well as veteran organizerAlma De…
The Battle for the Future of Higher Education; Organizing for May Day, April 30, 2020
Shelter & Solidarity show 4, a two-part episode, addresses higher education and also the organizing for May Day in a time of global pandemic and economic depression. In the first part, Joe Ramsey interviews Anna Kornbluh, Ben Manski, Barbara Madeloni, and Chris Newfield. Together they address the paradoxes of increased militancy and reduced organizational capacity….