City Lights Open Media
Скачать книги из серии City Lights Open MediaDispatches from the Race War
*This is Tim Wise’s first book in years , and he will promote it in every way possible. When he’s not out giving book talks, Tim invests extensively in keeping in touch with his hundreds of thousands of followers via Twitter, Facebook and Medium.com. Tim's audience is excited for a book! *Tim Wise's dedicated Twitter following is up to 127.6K followers and he is active on a daily basis. *Race continues to be a defining flashpoint in America. Tim is a much respected anti-racist advocate, who speaks about racial conflict by seeking to dismantle white supremacy, white denial, and white privilege from the inside out. This book encapsulates his thinking, views, and vision through concise, easy to understand essays. *Tim Wise is a regular commentator on MSNBC programs hosted by Rachel Maddow, Chris Hayes, Joy Reid, Lawrence O'Donnell, Chris Matthews and on CNN programs hosted by Don Lemon and Chris Cuomo. *Tim was recently interviewed on Chelsea Handler's NETFLIX documentary, «Hello Privilege. It's Me, Chelsea.»
Build Bridges, Not Walls
The US border is going to continue to be a high profile national issue no matter who wins the White House in 2020. Todd Miller, an award-winning border journalist with twenty years experience, enters the debate with the most humanist and controversial solution: abolish borders . Directly inspired by the accessible pamphlet-size concept of We Should All Be Feminists , this new book presents Miller’s essential views through personal first-hand anecdotes, experience, and personal reflections on how our collective security and humanity will be strengthened by a world without borders. Given the escalating humanitarian crisis surrounding the militarization of US immigration and border policy, Miller offers direct resistance to U.S. racism, intolerance, and militarism, and calls for solidarity with the countless individuals and families driven here by poverty, climate change, and violence, all three of which have frequently been caused or worsened by U.S. foreign policies, trade practices, and interventions. Build Bridges Not Walls calls on readers to imagine and build a different kind of world, one in which security and sustainability are achieved through cooperation, not competition; kindness, not cruelty, and solidarity, not surveillance. In the author’s words, “ Build Bridges, Not Walls is a pithy guide to imagining a world without borders, through an entertaining memoir that includes twenty years of border reporting. It is essential reading for the Trump era in which many people crave practical alternatives to walls, prison camps, and families torn apart.” Todd Miiller has become, from his first publication with City Lights in 2014 through his last book in 2019 from Verso, THE voice on immigration issues as it relates to the border, his work in Storming the Wall from 2017 was an extremely prescient argument connecting border militarization and climate change. It was the winner of the 2018 Izzy Award for Excellence in Independent Journalism. Todd's writing has appeared in the New York Times, The Nation, San Francisco Chronicle, Yes! Magazine, TomDispatch, In These Times, Texas Observer, Al Jazeera, Tucson Weekly, NACLA, and Jacobin. Todd's many years doing this work traveling around the country, and his authority on the subject, has earned him a good following social media and contacts around the country at universities and bookstores.
ReTargeting Iran
A timely primer on the conflict between the United States and Iran by scholars of Middle Eastern politics who advocate diplomacy and de-escalation. The United States and Iran seem to be permanently locked in a dangerous cycle of brinkmanship and violence. Both countries have staged cyber attacks and recently shot down one another’s aircrafts. Why do both countries seem intent on escalation? Why did the U.S. abandon the nuclear deal (which, according to the UN, was working)? Where can Washington and Tehran find common ground? To address these questions and the political and historical forces at play, David Barsamian presents the perspectives of Iran scholars Ervand Abrahamian, Noam Chomsky, Nader Hashemi, Azadeh Moaveni, and Trita Parsi. A follow-up to the previously published Targeting Iran , this timely book continues to affirm the goodwill between Iranian and American people, even as their respective governments clash on the international stage. Praise for ReTargeting Iran: "In a Q&A format about the continued demonization of Iran by the U.S., [David] Barsamian gets at the key to the deterioration of the relationship between the two nations. … [T]he discussion is astute and relevant."— Kirkus Reviews "A necessary and timely education on one of the most politically fraught and historically significant relationships of our time. I devoured these smart, insightful interviews with five important Iran scholars, about the struggle between two countries that have both been our home."— Dina Nayeri , author of The Ungrateful Refugee: What Immigrants Never Tell You "This little book contains more wisdom about Iran than exists in the White House, Congress, the State Department, and the Pentagon combined. Anyone who wants to understand the world's most misunderstood country will find no better source."— Stephen Kinzer , Author of All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror "Many journalists and academics have written books about Iran. But ReTargeting Ira n fills an important gap, a book sharply critical of U.S. policy and the Iranian government. David Barsamian provides timely interviews with major analysts that sets the record straight. It's a highly accessible read and a great introduction to the U.S.-Iran conflict."— Reese Erlich , author of The Iran Agenda Today: The Real Story Inside Iran and What's Wrong with U.S. Policy. " ReTargeting Iran is a facts-only objective account of where America has gone wrong, stupidly wrong—yet again—in its foreign policy, dominated by a mythical belief that Iran has an active nuclear weapons program. All one needs to know about the threat is this: as of mid-2020, the United States had no less than thirty-five military bases, manned by 65,000 soldiers, ready go to war in the nations immediately surrounding our feared adversary."— Seymour M. Hersh , author of Reporter: A Memoir
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself
A masterpiece of African American literature, Frederick Douglass's Narrative is the powerful story of an enslaved youth coming into social and moral consciousness by disobeying his white slavemasters and secretly teaching himself to read. Achieving literacy emboldens Douglass to resist, escape and ultimately achieve his freedom. After escaping slavery, Douglass became a leader in the anti-slavery and women's rights movements, a bestselling author and U.S. diplomat. In this new critical edition, legendary activist and feminist scholar Angela Davis sheds new light on the legacy of Frederick Douglass. In two philosophical lectures originally delivered at UCLA in autumn 1969, Davis focuses on Douglass's intellectual and spiritual awakening, and the importance of self-knowledge in achieving freedom from all forms of oppression. With detailed attention to Douglass's text, she interrogates the legacy of slavery and shares timeless lessons about oppression, resistance and freedom. And in an extended introductory essay written for this edition, Davis comments on previous editions of the Narrative and re-examines Douglass through a contemporary feminist perspective. An important new edition of an American classic. "Angela Y. Davis presents a long overdue examination of Douglass' work not just from the perspective of a woman but one of the most provocative and profound minds of the last half century. It is my sincere hope that this City Lights edition of The Narrative will inspire researchers and individuals to take a closer look at the tremendous degree of influence Anna Murray Douglass had in the life and the career of her husband and my great-great-great grandfather."—Kenneth B. Morris, Jr., Great-great-great grandson of Frederick Douglass and Great-great grandson of Booker T. Washington "Davis' arguments for justice are formidable . . . The power of her historical insights and the sweetness of her dream cannot be denied."— New York Times Book Review "Long before 'race/gender' became the obligatory injunction it is now, Angela Davis was developing an analytical framework that brought all of these factors into play. For readers who only see Angela Davis as a public icon . . . meet the real Angela Davis: perhaps the leading public intellectual of our era."—Robin D. G. Kelley author of Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original "One of America's last truly fearless public intellectuals." — Cynthia McKinney, Former U.S. Democratic Congresswoman "Angela Davis's revolutionary spirit is still strong. Still with us, thank goodness!"— Virginian-Pilot "There was a time in America when to call a person an 'abolitionist' was the ultimate epithet. It evoked scorn in the North and outrage in the South. Yet they were the harbingers of things to come. They were on the right side of history. Prof. Angela Y. Davis stands in that proud, radical tradition."—Mumia Abu-Jamal, author of Jailhouse Lawyers: Prisoners Defending Prisoners v. the U.S.A. "Behold the heart and mind of Angela Davis, open, relentless, and on time!"—June Jordan "The enormous revolution in Black consciousness which has occurred in your generation, my dear sister, means the beginning or the end of America. Some of us, white and Black, know how great a price has already been paid to bring into existence a new consciousness, a new people in an unprecedented nation. If we know, and do nothing, we are worse than the murderers hired in our name. If we know, then we must fight for your life as though it were our own—which it is—and render impassable with our bodies the corridor to the gas chamber. For, if they take you in the morning, they will be coming for us that night."—James Baldwin
A Short History of Presidential Election Crises
What if, on account of the Coronavirus, we attempt to hold the 2020 presidential election entirely on-line or through the mail, and it turns into a logistical nightmare? What if hackers succeed in changing votes from one candidate to another, calling into question the accuracy of the electoral count? And, what happens if our current president doesn't accept election day results if he's not declared the winner? In 2000, we learned that an exceptionally close presidential election can produce chaos, because we have no reliable Constitutional mechanism for resolving disputes. Since 2016, we have learned that foreign countries—and perhaps other malevolent actors—have been covertly attacking U.S. election systems. In the age of hacking, our elections are more vulnerable than ever, and yet we have failed to adequately prepare for all possible scenarios. It is time for us to think about how we can prevent and/or deal with disaster before it strikes. In A Short History , Constitutional scholar Alan Hirsch addresses these issues with urgency and precision. He presents a concise history of presidential elections that resulted in crises and advocates clear, common-sense solutions, including abolishing the Electoral College and the creation of a permanent, non-partisan Presidential Election Review Board to prevent or remedy future crises. "The noted law historian, author of Impeaching the President, examines the handful of seriously problematic presidential elections in American history and what the Constitution elucidates about the process of undoing such an event—namely, nothing. . . . A highly relevant study featuring much food for thought and prospects for change." — Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review "Democracy is broken, but as Alan Hirsch explains, it really doesn’t have to be. This is the real story of how our voting system became so vulnerable to attacks from within and without, told with precision, verve, and even hope. This is the way out."— Douglas Rushkoff, author of Team Human “Hirsch does a very good job of offering historical context to illuminate the present—and the terrifying future. His imaginative proposals are probably too sensible to be implemented in an age of parochial partisanship.”— David Shipler, former reporter for the New York Times and Pulitzer Prize winner "This is a must-read for anyone who cares about safeguarding presidential elections ―which should be everyone. The time to read this book and pay attention is now." —Evan Caminker, Professor and former Dean, University of Michigan Law School
No Fascist USA!
– The racist violence on display in Charlottesville struck an alarming wake-up call about the rise of white supremacy, anti-Semitism, and pro-fascism have during the Trump presidency. As these flash points continue to occur and tip into the news cycle, Jamey Tracy and Hilary Moore will be able to address them from the standpoint of the history of radical groups’ efforts to confront similar outbreaks when white supremacists felt they had a friend in the White House. – Will be of great interest to those who support the Black Lives Matter movement. – No Fascist USA! will tap similar markets as those drawn to books like Tyranny in general, and Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook in particular. – This book is written primarily for people whose awareness of anti-racism and anti-fascism began in response to the more recent rise of the alt-right, and is an opportunity to explore ideas, strategies, and politics of anti-fascism by rewinding the conversation to the Reagan Years–where the contemporary alt-right has its roots. – The book's latter chapters focus on lessons for today's activists. – This book shows how the debates around how to best confront the extreme right have deep roots in the last century. In a sense it is a prequel to the stories we listen to today about today’s organized racists and their opponents. – Will include interviews with surviving members of the John Brown Anti-Klan Committee, a few former members wil endorse this book. – Will include facsimiles and images of DIY-era posters and pamphlets used during the movement.
The Black History of the White House
The Black History of the White House presents the untold history, racial politics, and shifting significance of the White House as experienced by African Americans, from the generations of enslaved people who helped to build it or were forced to work there to its first black First Family, the Obamas. Clarence Lusane juxtaposes significant events in White House history with the ongoing struggle for democratic, civil, and human rights by black Americans and demonstrates that only during crises have presidents used their authority to advance racial justice. He describes how in 1901 the building was officially named the “White House” amidst a furious backlash against President Roosevelt for inviting Booker T. Washington to dinner, and how that same year that saw the consolidation of white power with the departure of the last black Congressmember elected after the Civil War. Lusane explores how, from its construction in 1792 to its becoming the home of the first black president, the White House has been a prism through which to view the progress and struggles of black Americans seeking full citizenship and justice. “Clarence Lusane is one of America’s most thoughtful and critical thinkers on issues of race, class and power.”—Manning Marable "Barack Obama may be the first black president in the White House, but he's far from the first black person to work in it. In this fascinating history of all the enslaved people, workers and entertainers who spent time in the president's official residence over the years, Clarence Lusane restores the White House to its true colors."—Barbara Ehrenreich "Reading The Black History of the White House shows us how much we DON'T know about our history, politics, and culture. In a very accessible and polished style, Clarence Lusane takes us inside the key national events of the American past and present. He reveals new dimensions of the black presence in the US from revolutionary days to the Obama campaign. Yes, 'black hands built the White House'—enslaved black hands—but they also built this country's economy, political system, and culture, in ways Lusane shows us in great detail. A particularly important feature of this book its personal storytelling: we see black political history through the experiences and insights of little-known participants in great American events. The detailed lives of Washington's slaves seeking freedom, or the complexities of Duke Ellington's relationships with the Truman and Eisenhower White House, show us American racism, and also black America's fierce hunger for freedom, in brand new and very exciting ways. This book would be a great addition to many courses in history, sociology, or ethnic studies courses. Highly recommended!"—Howard Winant "The White House was built with slave labor and at least six US presidents owned slaves during their time in office. With these facts, Clarence Lusane, a political science professor at American University, opens The Black History of the White House(City Lights), a fascinating story of race relations that plays out both on the domestic front and the international stage. As Lusane writes, 'The Lincoln White House resolved the issue of slavery, but not that of racism.' Along with the political calculations surrounding who gets invited to the White House are matters of musical tastes and opinionated first ladies, ingredients that make for good storytelling."—Boston Globe Dr. Clarence Lusane has published in The Washington Post, The Miami Herald, The Baltimore Sun, Oakland Tribune, Black Scholar, and Race and Class. He often appears on PBS, BET, C-SPAN, and other national media.
The Meaning of Freedom
Want to Better Understand Socialism? New York Magazine recommends The Meaning of Freedom What is the meaning of freedom? Angela Y. Davis' life and work have been dedicated to examining this fundamental question and to ending all forms of oppression that deny people their political, cultural, and sexual freedom. In this collection of twelve searing, previously unpublished speeches, Davis confronts the interconnected issues of power, race, gender, class, incarceration, conservatism, and the ongoing need for social change in the United States. With her characteristic brilliance, historical insight, and penetrating analysis, Davis addresses examples of institutional injustice and explores the radical notion of freedom as a collective striving for real democracy – not something granted or guaranteed through laws, proclamations, or policies, but something that grows from a participatory social process that demands new ways of thinking and being. «The speeches gathered together here are timely and timeless,» writes Robin D.G. Kelley in the foreword, «they embody Angela Davis' uniquely radical vision of the society we need to build, and the path to get there.» The Meaning of Freedom articulates a bold vision of the society we need to build and the path to get there. This is her only book of speeches. "Davis' arguments for justice are formidable. . . . The power of her historical insights and the sweetness of her dream cannot be denied."—The New York Times "One of America's last truly fearless public intellectuals." —Cynthia McKinney, former US Congresswoman "Angela Davis deserves credit, not just for the dignity and courage with which she has lived her life, but also for raising important critiques of a for-profit penitentiary system decades before those arguments gained purchase in the mainstream." —Thomas Chatterton Williams, SFGate "Angela Davis's revolutionary spirit is still strong. Still with us, thank goodness!"—Virginian-Pilot "Long before 'race/gender' became the obligatory injunction it is now, Angela Davis was developing an analytical framework that brought all of these factors into play. For readers who only see Angela Davis as a public icon . . . meet the real Angela Davis: perhaps the leading public intellectual of our era." —Robin D. G. Kelley author of Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original "There was a time in America when to call a person an 'abolitionist' was the ultimate epithet. It evoked scorn in the North and outrage in the South. Yet they were the harbingers of things to come. They were on the right side of history. Prof. Angela Y. Davis stands in that proud, radical tradition." —Mumia Abu-Jamal, author of Jailhouse Lawyers: Prisoners Defending Prisoners v. the U.S.A. "Behold the heart and mind of Angela Davis, open, relentless, and on time!" —June Jordan
Death Blossoms
– In Dec 2018, Judge Leon Tucker of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas threw out the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s repeated denials of Mumia’s appeals—five appeals over 27 years. Mumia will now be able to argue his innocence, expose the tainted evidence and chronic police and judicial misconduct which, according to Amnesty International, denied Mumia the fair and impartial trial guaranteed to all citizens, despite their race or political orientation. News of Tucker’s decision was reported in A-list papers & media, including NPR, the New York Times, and Washington Post . Democracy Now ! did a feature segment with Johanna Fernandez (editor, Writing on the Wall: Selected Writings of Mumia Abu-Jamal ). Mumia clearly makes national news. – If an appeal by the Philadelphia PA is not filed within 30 days of Judge Tucker’s ruling, Mumia’s appeal will begin and the path to freedom opens. This process will involve lots of hearings, strong allegations of police misconduct and institutional racism, and can be expected to both populate the news cycle and seriously energize and mobilize national and international response from citizen action groups, social justice movements, and public intellectuals, artists, and academics. – In a surreal turn of events, the very day after Tucker announced his decision, six previously unacknowledged (in judicial databases) boxes of files labeled Mumia were “discovered” in an abandoned furniture closet at the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office on 3 South Penn Square. The contents of the boxes have yet to be disclosed.... – Death Blossoms , Mumia’s out of print 2nd book, was written by hand during a window of time in Spring 1996 when Mumia was on Death Row and living under a death warrant, something not known or pointed out in the original edition. Mumia will write about this in his new introduction. The book will also feature an updated foreword by Cornel West. – In a recent email to us Mumia wrote, “There is still, at this late date, a shortage of prison literature, fewer still of Death Row. What of being on Phase II, when the writer literally has a finite date to die? I know of no parallel. [Imagine that] you have less than 3 months until you die at the hands of the State. What does such a man think about? What are his dreams? His hopes? Death Blossoms gives us a rare taste of that surreal reality.” – Finally, we are considering including as an appendix Amnesty International’s 38-page report documenting the racism and official misconduct on display in Mumia’s trial. We feel this may add value to the book and increase its direct relevance to any and all appeal proceedings. Movement supporters and advocates will be motivated for as many people as possible to read the report, this increasing sales potential. Link to the report: www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr51/001/2000/en/ Mumia, in many ways, continues to be a moral, intellectual, and political mentor of the Black Lives Matter movement and the movement’s involvement in spreading awareness of the book will elevate its profile, relevance, and success. We'll try to book remote events with Mumia over the phone (which has happened before) and events with Johanna Fernandez, who was the editor for a previous book by Mumia we published, Writing on the Wall , and is a key figure in the ongoing movement for his freedom. These events are attended by people who support Mumia publicly and have been rallying for his freedom for years.
Violence
There are a number of anthologies on violence, but none exist as presented in this conversational interview format, which provides a meaningful and sophisticated introduction into the most cutting-edge thinking on the problem of violence in the contemporary world. The market for this book includes readers of the New York Times , as half of these conversations were first published in their online philosophy column «The Stone.» The other half come from the Los Angeles Review of Books . The issue of violence cuts across many disciplines of study and inquiry, and this book connects them through the eclectic range of thinkers, filmmakers, artists, and theorists with whom Evans and Lennard speak. Brad Evans has gained more public recognition in the U.S. given his editorial work on the New York Times's «The Stone.» Natasha Lennard's work is well-known as she regularly contributes to Esquire , The Intercept , The Nation , and the New York Times .