David here with some of my favorite selections from our Literature of Resistance Book Club. In that club we focus on writers and thinkers who have fought against the oppression of marginalized people across the globe, and while I don’t usually agree with everything they write, the perspective I gain from reading these works has helped me understand the state of the world that we live in and the problems that we face as a society. Come to the club and let us know what you think!
“Anarchism and the Black Revolution” by Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin
A lot of people are having a hard time figuring out what to do about the socio-political mess we’ve gotten ourselves into, myself included.
When the box we know doesn’t include the answers that we’re looking for, we need to look outside of the box, and that’s exactly what this book does. Ervin uses his experiences working with and learning from many different people and organizations to build an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of our various political structures, coming to the conclusion that none of the established options can fix the problems they’ve created.
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He’s equally critical of capitalism and state socialism/communism, preferring the small-scale organization and personal responsibility of libertarian socialism because of the emphasis it puts on community relationships and its flexibility. He doesn’t shy away from discussing the problems in the anarchist movement, particularly its deeply embedded racism, but he’s hopeful that a new approach can help alleviate those issues.
The idea of true democracy (one person, one vote) seems impossible given the circumstances and the longstanding propaganda campaigns of both the left and right against anarchism, but this book presents it in a way that made me hopeful about the potential of a political system for the first time in a very long time. If you’re looking for a way to make change, this is a good place to start.
“Women, Race, and Class” by Angela Davis
It is not an easy task to write about the convoluted history of social movements in our country in a way that won’t put the reader to sleep, but Davis has it down to a science. Her ability to break down complex situations in a few easily digestible pages is remarkable, and her status as one of the foremost social critics in the world is easy to understand after reading her work.
The interplay of gender, economics, and race has been monumental in shaping modern history, and this book gives much needed context on the intimately connected issues in the fights for women’s rights, African American and Black rights, and workers’ rights. In a world that is slowly but surely realizing the importance of intersectional analysis, this book stands as an aspirational model and makes it obvious that none of these issues can be addressed effectively on their own.
The plight of disenfranchised people is a universal issue, and only by making connections between the various movements will we be able to see the whole picture clearly. This is required reading for anyone who wants a better understanding of how all the pieces of the social puzzle fit together and continuously impact and influence each other.
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