Whenever Haiti is the topic of discussion, one will always think and associate Haiti as being the “poorest country in the Western Hemisphere” and as the country who always seems to be in political turmoil. We are also reminded of the devastating earthquake that rocked Haiti 10 years ago and how the US and France, two of the many countries who are responsible for Haiti’s current state, came to aid Haiti as the “poverty-stricken” and “helpless” sibling that media has portrayed Haiti to be since the 80s. As a child of Haitian immigrants, hearing about Haiti’s troubles has always caused . . .
Revolutionary Nationalism
The Miseducation of the US Left: Bernie Sanders, Social Democracy, and Left Chauvinism
Originally published in Hampton Institute by Joshua Briond I first learned about socialism in 2015. To this day I remember exactly how it happened: I was tweeting about the prospects of the presidential election and a mutual asked me, “have you heard about Bernie Sanders?” At the time, I hadn’t. Shocked when she heard this, she told me that “his principles remind me a lot of yours, I think you’d like him.” Then, another mutual of mine cut in on our conversation and said the exact words: “ew, he’s a socialist.” At the time I didn’t know what the word . . .
Settler-Colonialism, Nationalism, and Patriarchy
Settler-Colonialism and Neo-Colonialism It is impossible to understand capitalism without first understanding settler-colonialism and neo-colonialism – the dominant forms of colonialism still remaining in the world today. The earth’s most dangerous imperialist power – the United States of America – is itself a former British (but also in some regions such as the southwest and southeast, Spanish and French) settler colony turned independent settler state and it’s constellation of junior imperialist allies – which include Azania (South Africa), Canada, Australia, and the illegal state of Israel – are settler-colonies turned settler states as well. Every imperialist and junior imperialist European . . .
African Solidarity with the Cuban Revolution
Fourteen days ago I was in Cuba, one of 160ish people there for the Venceremos Brigade – a solidarity delegation celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The VB was started half a century ago, a first of its kind internationalist mission created by youth living and struggling in the United States who wanted to show their solidarity with the Cuban Revolution. The Brigade has shown up in many sizes and forms over the years but at its core it remains about people to people anti-imperialist solidarity in direct action form. The VB is an act of collective support for Cuba’s . . .
Trinidad and Tobago’s independence and the importance of African centered struggles
So much of who I am is blended into the rich colors of red, Black and white, is moved through a calypso tune and horns, steel drums and chipping on the road, is a reflection of spices and pepper sauce. As the US born daughter of two Trinis, one who loved politics and one who loves bacchanal, my identity has always been twofold, like many Black people who reside within the US. Trinidad and Tobago’s “Together We Aspire, Together We Achieve” motto means “the hope of a people for a better life to be achieved through cooperation and working together . . .
The Legacy of George Jackson
“The ultimate expression of law is not order — it’s prison… The law and everything that interlocks with it was constructed for poor desperate people.” –George Jackson If Vladimir Lenin believed that prisons are universities for revolutionaries then George Jackson is the physical embodiment of that belief. While certainly an oppressive state can breed creativity, literary activism is its own form of resistance. In Jackson’s case, he forged a liberation movement from a space of captivity. Arrested on presumably false charges based on dubious evidence for a $70 robbery at a gas station at age 18, Jackson pled guilty in . . .