“Mexico is Not a White Man’s Country”–Jack Johnson, Mexico, and Race

 

By Mark Naison  (July 13, 2015)

One of my favorite new historical monographs, Theresa Runstedtler’s book about Jack Johnson “Rebel Sojourner: Boxing in the Shadow of the Global Color Line” contains a memorable passage regarding differences in the way that the US and Mexico lived race in the early 20th Century. Continue reading ““Mexico is Not a White Man’s Country”–Jack Johnson, Mexico, and Race”

The ‘Swedish Model’ is Not Helpful to Sex Workers

 

By Phoenix Calida  (July 10, 2015)

People really claim to be pro sex workers and still support the Swedish model.

Pretty sure there’s a special level of hell for ya’ll. Continue reading “The ‘Swedish Model’ is Not Helpful to Sex Workers”

If You Didn’t Have S*it to Say (This Weekend in Chicago)

 

By Phoenix Calida  (July 8, 2015)

If you didn’t have shit to say when they turned housing projects into high rises and created turf wars; Continue reading “If You Didn’t Have S*it to Say (This Weekend in Chicago)”

We Can and Must Do Better: A Personal Reflection on Wealth Inequality

 

By Mark Naison   (July 6, 2015)

The greatest sustained period of economic growth in the US took place between 1941 and 1970 when tax rates on the wealthy were much higher than they are now, when business regulation, especially of the financial sector, was much more rigorous, and when trade unions were much stronger. There are options within the US constitutional framework that could be invoked that will produce far better results that the current social contract, which has concentrated wealth at the top to a greater degree than at any time since the 19th century. Continue reading “We Can and Must Do Better: A Personal Reflection on Wealth Inequality”

Should Corvallis Rename Avery Park?

 

Making #blacklivesmatter in Oregon

By Joseph Orosco   (July 3, 2015)

 

(Update 2018:  Since this post was first published there have been many developments in regard to Joseph Avery’s namesake in Corvallis.  In 2016, a process started at Oregon State to investigate the historical legacy of several buildings on campus, including Avery Lodge, to determine whether the figures honored with a building name engaged in actions or thoughts that are at odds with values of Oregon State’s educational mission.  I was asked to be the co-chair of this process.  Historians were commissioned to do new research to inform OSU President Ray and the Board of Trustees.  And over the course of an academic year, community conversations and forums were held to discuss and assess the reports.  You can read about the process here.  The ultimate decision in regard to Avery Lodge was that OSU President Ray decided to rename the building.

The historical report about Joseph Avery can be found here.  Based on this most recent investigation, I would moderate what I wrote three years ago.  It’s unclear whether Avery help white supremacist views–the evidence is not conclusive.  His membership in white supremacist organizations remains speculative.  However, what does seems clear is that Avery appeared to have some kind of controlling interest in a newspaper that condoned white supremacist views and he was willing to disseminate these views for private political or economic gain–at a moment in which Oregon was enveloped in heated debates about whether to enter the Union as a pro- or anti- slavery state.  It was on that basis that OSU President Ray decided that Joseph Avery was not someone that the university should honor with a public monument.)

 

Since the horrid massacre in Charleston, a seismic shift has occurred across the country in regard to the nation’s white supremacist history. Continue reading “Should Corvallis Rename Avery Park?”

Is Obama a “Transformational” President?

 

By Chris Lowe  (June 29,2015)

This piece is dead wrong. Barack Obama is comparable to Grover Cleveland. We live in a time of narrow politics, and Obama has not had the juice to broaden them, nor the inclination.  Continue reading “Is Obama a “Transformational” President?”

Progress Worth Celebrating (But It Doesn’t End Here)

By Alex S. Morgan  (June 26, 2015)

This is progress worth celebrating. It doesn’t stop here, and there is so much left to do, especially for LGBT folks who have been multiply marginalized: sex workers, immigrants, folks with complex health needs, the incarcerated, and queer and trans people of color, but celebrating these milestone victories gives us the momentum to keep going. Continue reading “Progress Worth Celebrating (But It Doesn’t End Here)”

Interview: John Lindsay-Poland

John Lindsay-Poland has been active in movements for Latin American human rights and solidarity and demilitarization of US policy. He currently coordinates the Wage Peace program in San Francisco of the American Friends Service Committee, an organization founded in 1917 that promotes peace and non-violence. He resides in Oakland, California. Continue reading “Interview: John Lindsay-Poland”

Against the Tools of Murder

 

By Chris Lowe

My circle of Facebook connection has been circulating information about efforts to reduce transportation related deaths particularly car-on-bike and car-on-pedestrian deaths to zero. Why is a similar aim to reduce murder to zero ridiculous? To change the culture to reduce the idea that interpersonal violence can solve problems and is a legitimate way to do so?  Continue reading “Against the Tools of Murder”

Violent Rhetoric Can Lead to Hate

By Javier Cervantes

I went to bed Wednesday night saddened and in disgust. Yet another act of cowardly malice reared its ugly head again; this time the victims were members of the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina where Dylann Roof confessed to the brutal murder of nine church-goers . Continue reading “Violent Rhetoric Can Lead to Hate”

“The Future of Our Society is at Stake”: Responding to Racist Terrorism in South Carolina

Several Anarres Project writers respond to the brutal shooting in Charleston, South Carolina and what it means in the context of US history and politics at this very moment. Continue reading ““The Future of Our Society is at Stake”: Responding to Racist Terrorism in South Carolina”