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Against the Current

Published bimonthly since 1986, AGAINST THE CURRENT is a Solidarity-sponsored analytical journal for the broad revolutionary left. The March/April issue features the Educational Crisis in California and the Unfolding Fightback with articles by students and workers in the University of California system. For International Women's Day there are reviews on gender, sexuality and liberation by Catherine Sameh, Chloe Tribich and Kate Flynn. Other articles include Malik Miah on Obama Forgets the Black Community, Michael Steven Smith on Lost Liberties in the Age of Obama and Kim Moody on the Crisis and Potential in Labor's Wars and coverage on Honduras and Gaza.
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International Viewpoint is the monthly English-language magazine of the Fourth International. IV is a window to radical alternatives world-wide, carrying reports, analysis and debates from all corners of the globe. Correspondents in over 50 countries report on popular struggles, and the debates that are shaping the left of tomorrow.

Put a Socialist in the Senate!

Dan La Botz, a 64-year old Cincinnati school teacher, has filed petitions with the Ohio Secretary of State to become the candidate of the Socialist Party for the U.S. Senate. La Botz, who needed 500 signatures to get on the Socialist Party primary ballot, filed petitions with approximately 1,200 signatures on Thursday, Feb. 18. La Botz, a long time labor and social movement activist, is the candidate of the Socialist Party of Ohio which is the state organization of the Socialist Party USA.

Buttons to Build the Movement

Order these eye-catching buttons to spread the demand for social and economic justice. If you don't have paypal, email us!

Reads Bail out People, not Wall Street!. Around the edge, these 2 1/8" buttons read "Free Health Care," "Defend Public Services," "Living Wage Jobs," "Free Higher Education," "Troops Home Now," "Rebuild the Gulf Coast," and "Affordable Housing."

Bright orange 1 1/2" buttons boldly demand: "Bring the Troops Home Now!" Wear one everywhere to start a conversation about why US occupation can never be a force for liberation, and people's needs should come before the massive military budget.

Produced during the massive immigrant rights demonstrations of 2006, these 2 1/8" buttons read, in Spanish and English: ¡exigimos Paz, Legalización, y Trabajos para Todos! we demand Peace, Legalization, and Jobs for All!

Videos from Solidarity's Educational Conference

November 14-15 in New York City, Solidarity held a successful conference featuring engaging talks on a number of topics. Click here to view these videos from "Their Crisis, Our Movements"

- Crisis of Capitalism, Challenge to the Movements (David McNally, New Socialist Group)
- The New Imperialism and The Global Fightback (Vivek Chibber, Christy Thornton, Jonah McCallister-Erickson)
- The State of Resistance in Communities & the Workplace (Normahiram Perez, Steve Downs, Penelope Duggan)
- Race and National Liberation Under Obama (Glen Ford, Lalit Clarkston)

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Solidarity depends on the generous contributions of its friends and allies to continue its work. Please consider giving!

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Fired for Organizing at Work: Some Lessons
by Paul Fudder posted on 03/16/10
Second Annual Convention of Labor Campaign for Single Payer, March 5-7, 2010
by Milton posted on 03/13/10
Trail of Dreams, bound for DC, passes through Georgia
by Tim S posted on 03/12/10
Chicago immigrant youth are Undocumented and Unafraid
by Isaac posted on 03/11/10
Women's Day March in San Antonio Says “Ya Basta” to Abusive Treatment of Workers
by Chris posted on 03/10/10
Tres resolutivos del Congreso Mundial de la IV internacional sobre México
by International Viewpoint posted on 03/9/10
Disability and socialism
by Chloe posted on 03/9/10
Pakistan: Women workers march in Lahore to observe International Women Day
by International Viewpoint posted on 03/8/10
Salt of the Earth, Classic of Feminist Cinema [Full Video]
by Isaac posted on 03/8/10
Solidarity with Haiti!
by International Viewpoint posted on 03/7/10

One Year of Obama and the Democrats’ Debacle

Last fall, in the discussion that produced our analysis of “Obama After 200 Days,” we said it would be premature to speak of a “crisis” for the administration. A year after the euphoric 2009 inauguration, it no longer looks premature. People who looked to Obama and the Democrats for leadership are bitterly disappointed, and a very peculiar brand of rightwing politics has seized the initiative.
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Regroupment & Refoundation of a U.S. Left

As part of the preparation for our 2008 Convention, members of SOLIDARITY have begun a political document describing some perspectives for socialist renewal in the twenty-first century. We welcome responses to this initial draft of the document. Some of the themes here have also been developed in Solidarity's Founding Statement and our 1997 pamphlet, “Socialist Organization Today.”

— Introduction
— Social Movements over the Last Two Decades
— Regroupment, Refounding and the Arc of Resistance
— Refounding a New Left: Next Generations & Their Experiences
— The Tasks and Possibilities of a U.S. Refounded Left
— Refounding the Left: Taking Our Past Into Our Future

New Pamphlet: Hell on Wheels

New from Solidarity! Long time transit worker activist Steve Downs has written a pamphlet charting the twenty year story of New Directions, a rank and file caucus in New York City's transit union that he helped build and develop - including the challenges of keeping the rank and file democracy movement alive after New Directions won control of the local.

Read an interview on Zmag.org
Read a review and order your copy today!

From Abortion Rights to Reproductive Justice

New from Solidarity's Feminist Commission, this leaflet responds to the right wing attack on reproductive freedom and argues that the movement must go beyond "pro-choice" to true reproductive justice. This socialist and anti-racist feminist agenda would take up issues such as access to health and child care, forced sterilization, and the division of "productive" and "reproductive" labor.
Download the pamphlet...

Contemporary Rebel Music

Submitted by BradDuncan on May 12, 2008 - 5:51pm.

OK, comrades, I’ve got some hot new Rebel Music tracks for you. As I stated in the original post, Eire Og are a very popular Rebel band from Glasgow. They have since disbanded (but not decommissioned!) but their rollicking, sing-a-long performance style is still the one today’s bands emulate. They brought Rebel music into the 1990’s, a tumultuous and ultimately profoundly disappointing era for the republican cause. Eire Og kept spirits high as the movement was ‘winding down’.

1. Éire Óg “Loughgall Martyrs”
2. Eire Og “Go On Home British Soldiers”

These groups mainly identify with the Provisional IRA, which is the largest republican military group: the ‘mainstream IRA’ as it was. But there have been other guerrilla groups that have challenged British rule over the last 40 years of conflict. One such group is the explicitly socialist Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) and their political party, the Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP). Ray Collins, a folk and bluesman who grew up in Belfast at the dawn of the recent war, is a long-standing performer whose solidarity is with the IRSP. Here is a great song from Ray praising the INLA for their daring and steadfastness fighting for national liberation and socialism. The next track is by an INLA-affiliated flute and drum group… a paramilitary must!

3. Ray Collins “INLA Freedom Fighters”
4. IRSM Derry Flute Band “Roll of Honor”

Gerry McGregor is a wonderful leftwing singer from Glasgow, Scotland, a town with a real legacy for producing exactly that kind of talent. I may focus on Scotland’s musical left in future installments. For now, here’s Gerry with two great tunes, recorded live in Scotland. The first song is about the death of young IRA volunteer Sean South, killed during the doomed “Border Campaign” of the 1950’s. Next is a song about the only way to get rid of pesky imperialist helicopters… Surface to Air Missiles (SAMs)! Liberate the skies!

5. Gerry McGregor “Sean South”
6. Gerry McGregor “SAM Song”

Again, the Mp3 series is just beginning. Future installments may include looks at Peggy Seeger, Dead Prez, Brazilian funk, and songs of the Cuban Revolution. Stay tuned.