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A Subversive Bull: Robert Lawson and The Story of Ferdinand

Philip Kennedy Illustration Chronicles
Published by Viking Press in 1936, the release of Ferdinand came during the era of the Great Depression. That year also saw the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. In light of these events, Ferdinand started to take on a much greater significance. Ferdinand, the bull presented a Spanish character who stood out from society and refused to fight. Those who supported the violent uprising that was led by Francisco Franco viewed it as pacifist propaganda and they banned its publication.

What is Happening in Catalonia and Spain

Vicente Navarro Social Europe
Two visions of Spain have always existed. One sees Spain as a uni-national state, centered in the capital of the Spanish Kingdom, Madrid. This vision denies the existence of other nations in Spain. It is the vision of the Bourbon Monarchic State, including the armed forces and the Catholic Church; it is the conservative version of Spain. Another vision of Spain, however, is plurinational, recognizing other nations in Spain, including Catalonia, the Basque Country, and Galicia.

Tidbits - November 3, 2016 - Reader Comments: How American Politics Has Changed; Labor and Standing Rock; Remembering Tom Hayden; The Cubs; Syria; Resources; Announcements; and more...

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Reader Comments: How American Politics Has Changed - Rigging the Election and Defeating Trumpism; Labor and Standing Rock - #NoDAPL; Vietnam Remembers Tom Hayden; Cubs Tribute; Push Obama to Pardon Oscar L¢pez Rivera; Resources: Gender pay gap calculator; How do we move people?; Children's books with social justice themes; African American Pamphlets and Magazines archive; Announcements: New York, Seattle, Washington, DC, Chicago; and more....

books

Left of the Left: My Memories of Sam Dolgoff

Peter Cole Portside
This memoir by physics and geology professor Anatole Dolgoff of his father, IWW activist Sam Dolgoff (1902-1990), beautifully captures the aura of the anarchist and related movements in the United States in the latter half of the 20th century, says reviewer Peter Cole.

books

Lost Illusions:The Americans Who Fought in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939

Caleb Crain The New Yorker
Based on personal stories of Abraham Lincoln Battalion survivors, Hochschild writes of their courage in an unequal contest where the Fascists had the unstinting support of German and Italian governments while the Democracies embargoed all arms to the Spanish government, an alliance of centrist and leftist parties-this while the Soviets worked to tamp down popular land and factory seizures for fear of inciting those capitalist Democracies to outrightly side with the Right

John McCain: Salute to a Communist

John McCain New York Times
“For Whom the Bell Tolls” was my favorite novel, and its hero, Robert Jordan, my literary idol. Like him, Delmer Berg fought in Spain, for love.

poetry

Guernica, revisited

Richard Vargas Guernica, revisited (Winston-Salem, NC: Press 53, 2014).
April 26 is the 78th anniversary of the bombing of the Basque town, Guernica, by German and Italian air forces during the Spanish Civil War. It was this atrocity against innocent civilians that prompted Pablo Picasso to create his most famous painting. As New Mexico poet Richard Vargas writes, however, worldwide public outrage has not stopped the strategy of indiscriminate bombing of civilian populations.

Tidbits - September 25, 2014 - Lots of 'em

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Reader Comments - People's Climate March, Greening of the Labor Movement, What Next; ISIS, Syria, Iraq, Muslim Fundamentalism; Ongoing War in Middle East; Elizabeth Warren and Israel; Theodore Roosevelt; Emmett Till, Michael Brown - Ongoing Struggle for Racial Justice; Guns and the Southern Freedom Struggle; Texas School Text Books; Military Weaponry in Schools - WTF?; Socialism, Worker Cooperatives; Today in History; Abraham Lincoln Brigade celebrations
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