Tag Archives: Activism

“The American Dream and the American Negro” Speech by James Baldwin, 1965

March 5, 2019 7:51 pm /

Submitted by:  Olivera Jokic, Associate Professor, English and Gender Studies, John Jay College of Criminal Justice

Click here to view online: “The American Dream and the American Negro” Speech by James Baldwin, 1965

“It would seem to me the proposition before the House, and I would put it that way, is the American Dream at the expense of the American Negro, or the American Dream *is* at the expense of the American Negro. Is the question hideously loaded, and then one’s response to that question – one’s reaction to that question – has to depend on effect and, in effect, where you find yourself in the world, what your sense of reality is, what your system of reality is. That is, it depends on assumptions which we hold so deeply so as to be scarcely aware of them.”

Speech from YouTube. Use for educational purposes under the Fair Use provision of the Copyright Act.

Posted in: 1950-1969, Part 2: Subjects and Topics in Justice (ALL), US / Tagged: , , , ,

“James Baldwin Debates William F. Buckley”, 1965

March 5, 2019 7:36 pm /

Submitted by:  Olivera Jokic, Associate Professor, English and Gender Studies, John Jay College of Criminal Justice

Click here to view online: “James Baldwin Debates William F. Buckley”, 1965

Historic debate between James Baldwin v. William F. Buckley Jr. at Cambridge University on the question: “Is the American Dream at the expense of the American Negro?”

Accessed via YouTube. Use for educational purposes under the Fair Use provision of the Copyright Act.

 

Posted in: 1950-1969, Part 2: Subjects and Topics in Justice (ALL), US / Tagged: , , ,

The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975, 2011 Documentary Film

March 5, 2019 6:45 pm /

Submitted by:  Olivera Jokic, Associate Professor, English and Gender Studies, John Jay College of Criminal Justice

To view online, click here: The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975, 2011 documentary film

The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 is a 2011 documentary film on YouTube, directed by Göran Olsson, that examines the evolution of the Black Power Movement in American society from 1967 to 1975.

This documentary is available on YouTube. Use for educational purposes under the Fair Use provision of the Copyright Act.

Posted in: 2011 - Present, Part 2: Subjects and Topics in Justice (ALL), US / Tagged: , , ,

“The Communist Manifesto” by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, 1848

March 5, 2019 6:33 pm /

Submitted by:  Olivera Jokic, Associate Professor, English and Gender Studies, John Jay College of Criminal Justice

Click here to read online: “The Communist Manifesto” by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, 1848

The significance of the “Communist Manifesto”, which was first published in February 1848, remains an essential guidebook for any socialist serious about overthrowing capitalism. … Capitalism, they showed, must give way to socialism – the abolition of classes based on property ownership.

This is an open access resource.

Posted in: 1700-1899, Europe, Part 2: Subjects and Topics in Justice (ALL) / Tagged: , , , ,

“Woman Suffrage” by Emma Goldman, 1911

March 4, 2019 7:58 pm /

Submitted by:  Olivera Jokic, Associate Professor, English and Gender Studies, John Jay College of Criminal Justice

Click here to read online: “Woman Suffrage” by Emma Goldman, 1911

Woman’s demand for equal suffrage is based largely on the contention that woman must have the equal right in all affairs of society. No one could, possibly, refute that, if suffrage were a right. Alas, for the ignorance of the human mind, which can see a right in an imposition. Or is it not the most brutal imposition for one set of people to make laws that another set is coerced by force to obey? Yet woman clamors for that “golden opportunity” that has wrought so much misery in the world, and robbed man of his integrity and self-reliance; an imposition which has thoroughly corrupted the people, and made them absolute prey in the hands of unscrupulous politicians.

The poor, stupid, free American citizen! Free to starve, free to tramp the highways of this great country, he enjoys universal suffrage, and, by that right, he has forged chains about his limbs. The reward that he receives is stringent labor laws prohibiting the right of boycott, of picketing, in fact, of everything, except the right to be robbed of the fruits of his labor. Yet all these disastrous results of the twentieth-century fetich have taught woman nothing. But, then, woman will purify politics, we are assured.

This book is no longer copyrighted because of its age (1911). Free to use but give credit.

Posted in: 1900-1949, Part 2: Subjects and Topics in Justice (ALL), US / Tagged: , , , ,

Black Panther Party: “The Ten-Point Program”, 1966

January 28, 2019 6:33 pm /

Submitted by: Jamie Longazel, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, John Jay College of Criminal Justice

“American culture has demonized the Black Panther Party, often labeling them as “too radical.” But others would argue they were targeted precisely because they spoke truth to power and fought hard and effectively for Black folks and the poor. Take a look at their “Ten-Point Program” and judge for yourself. To me, this list represents a powerful vision of what a socially and racially just society can and should look like. And it’s as relevant today as it was in 1966.” (Comment by Longazel, 2019)

Click here to read: Black Panther Party: “The Ten-Point Program”

This program is based on Marxism and is a set of guidelines to the Black Panther Party and states their ideals and ways of operation– a “combination of a Bill of Rights and a Declaration of Independence.”

The document was created in 1966. Each one of the statements were put in place for all of the Black Panther Party members to live by and actively practice every day.

This document is open access posted by https://www.marxists.org/.

Posted in: 1950-1969, Part 2: Subjects and Topics in Justice (ALL), US / Tagged: , , , , ,

Lectures on Liberation by Angela Davis (1969)

January 24, 2019 2:34 pm /

Submitted by: Suzanne Oboler, Professor, Latin American and Latina/o Studies, John Jay College

Click here to read online: Lectures on Liberation by Angela Davis (1969)

In her first lecture in 1969 at UCLA, Professor Davis points out that keeping an oppressed class in ignorance is one of the principal instruments of its oppression.

This is open access from The Internet Archive.

 

Posted in: 1950-1969, Part 2: Subjects and Topics in Justice (ALL), US / Tagged: , , , ,

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “Beyond Vietnam” / 1967 Speech

January 24, 2019 2:30 pm /

Submitted by:  Jamie Longazel, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, John Jay College of Criminal Justice

“Although it’s overshadowed by “I Have a Dream”, this speech, to me, is King’s most important. Particularly because he draws links between the “giant triplets” of racism, materialism, and militarism. I get goosebumps every time I read or listen to him call for a “revolution of values” – “We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society”, he says. “When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets… are incapable of being conquered.” The Poor People’s Campaign that King was leading before he was murdered has been resurrected for today, with a focus on those same triplets as well as ecological devastation and the “distorted moral narrative” that plagues our contemporary discourse.” Comment by Longazel, 2019)

Click here to read online: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “Beyond Vietnam” /1967 Speech

This is an anti-Vietnam War and pro-social justice speech delivered by Martin Luther King. The New York Times editorial suggested that conflating the civil rights movement with the anti-war movement was an oversimplification that did justice to neither. However, many thought that this was his most important speech.

This speech as available on the Internet at https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/ The speech is copyrighted, but may be used for educational purposes under the Fair Use provision of the Copyright Act.

Posted in: 1950-1969, Part 2: Subjects and Topics in Justice (ALL), US / Tagged: , , , ,

Black Reconstruction: An Essay toward a History of the Part which Black Folk Played in the Attempt to Reconstruct Democracy in America, 1860-1880 by W.E. B. DuBois, 1935

January 23, 2019 10:21 pm /

Submitted by:  Jamie Longazel, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, John Jay College

“W.E.B. Du Bois is one of the most underrated American intellectuals and activists. Of all the profound work he left us with, this one stands out as my favorite. Not only is it a key text on Reconstruction – one of the most underrated and underexplored eras in American history – but it also offers deep insights into how racism and capitalism feed off one another. In particular, his ideas about how white workers come to see themselves as “white” (and therefore in opposition to working class people of color) rather than as “working class” (and therefore in solidarity with working class people of color) has been central to shaping my own thinking and writing about contemporary anti-immigrant backlash.” (Comment by Longazel, 2019)

To read online, click here (Be patient…this is 767 pages which takes a few seconds to load): Black Reconstruction: An Essay toward a History of the Part which Black Folk Played in the Attempt to Reconstruct Democracy in America, 1860-1880 by W.E. B. DuBois

Black Reconstruction foregrounds several recurring Du Boisian themes: the role of African American agency in the building of the U.S.A. and the significance of promoting African American equality and freedom in order to achieve the promise of democracy. The book directly challenged dominant views of the time that the Reconstruction era in American history was a disaster for the South and for the country.

This is an open access book accessed via the Internet.

Posted in: 1900-1949, Part 2: Subjects and Topics in Justice (ALL), US / Tagged: , , , , ,

Pedro Pietri. Puerto Rican Obituary. Monthly Review Press, 1969

January 23, 2019 9:48 pm /

Submitted by:  Suzanne Oboler, Professor, Latin American and Latinx Studies at John Jay College of Criminal Justice

Click here to read: Pedro Pietri. Puerto Rican Obituary. Monthly Review Press

“Puerto Rican Obituary” was first read in 1969 at a rally in support of the Young Lords Party, a largely Puerto Rican youth group in New York. The Young Lords were community activists, supporting demands for fair and affordable housing, education, and health care. They also ran free breakfast programs for children. Pietri’s poem documents the lives and unfulfilled dreams of five Puerto Ricans who migrated to the mainland.”

Open Access available on the Internet.

Posted in: 1950-1969, Part 2: Subjects and Topics in Justice (ALL), US / Tagged: , , , ,
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