Skip to main content

We Need “Outside Agitators”

Astra Taylor and Leah Hunt-Hendrix Jacobin
Pro-Palestine student protesters are being smeared as puppets of shadowy “outside agitators.” The presence of community members and experienced activists in the protests is nothing to be ashamed of: we need outside agitators to build a better world.

This Week in People’s History, May 7–13

Portside
Statue, in Hanoi, commemorating the victory at Dien Bien Phu
Colonialism Is Hard to Kill (in 1954), “It Was the Right Thing to Do” (1929), “Join, Or Die” (1754), Apartheid’s End (1994), Class War in the Midwest (1894), Unsafe at Any Speed (1969), “I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night” (1949)

Organizing the South: We Look Back To Move Ahead

Ben Wilkins Convergence
Taken together, the history, economy & ruling ideology of the US South make it difficult to build workers’ power. But armed with the lessons from the CIO’s Operation Dixie, & fueled by the momentum of recent victories, organizers see a way forward.

The Refillery Is Coming for Your Grocery Store Routine

Kate Ray Taste Cooking
At package-free stores you bring your own container, weigh it, and fill it with the amount of rice or walnuts or Peanut M&Ms that you want to take home. In the bigger context of the zero-waste movement, do these refilleries actually mean anything?

Celebrating Links Across Species Amid a Nightmare of War

Rebecca Gordon TomDispatch
Did you know that Gaza — well, Palestine — even has a national bird? The Palestine sunbird is a gorgeous creature, crowned in iridescent green and blue. “This bird is a symbol of freedom and movement, it can fly anywhere."

Sunday Science: How Does Gravity Escape a Black Hole?

Sabine Hossenfelder Sabine Hossenfelder
If nothing gets out of a black hole, how does gravity do it? Something with virtual gravitons? Is this really necessary? It's tricky question, but this is what I can say without resorting to equations.

Banned by Germany

Yanis Varoufakis Project Syndicate
Germany prohibited a Palestinian Congress from taking place, arrested its Jewish supporters, and barred one of its organizers, former Greek finance minister, from entering the country: Powerful evidence Germany's pro-Israel Consensus is breaking down

Left Unions Were Repressed Because They Threatened Capital

Victor G. Devinatz Jacobin
During the 20th century’s two red scares in US and Canada, Wobblies and Communist-aligned unions faced fierce repression from employers and government. They were targeted because they were seen as posing a real threat to the capitalist social order.