Obama says, “We have one president at a time…

“… now watch this drive.”

The image after the jump is dedicated to the President-elect who spent today playing golf in Hawaii, unbothered that all out war is declared on Gaza:

A World to Win…? (OR, “Timely thoughts on untimely factionalism”)

The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win.
- slogan of the proletariat in the class struggle for revolution

The knives are so sharp because the stakes are so low.
- slogan of the professoriat in the classroom struggle for tenure track.

For the past few weeks, those in SDS with a taste for cheap entertainment and/or masochism have had the pleasure (schadenfreude perhaps?) to watch what is probably the First Full-Fledged Faction Fight (FFFFF) emerge out of the organization. To get the Hegemonikhanate up to speed, here’s the necessary background: SDS had its annual National Convention. As mentioned earlier, we seem to have figured out how to put the sprawl of the organization under a single roof.

Well, not so fast.

SDS after Maryland: We must decide and do it well

EDNOTE: The following are general impressions of the SDS National Convention. It is from my own perspective as a member of SDS. It’s also by no means complete, as supporting documents like the minutes and notes from various meetings. Those should be available sometime shortly.

The 2008 National Convention of Students for a Democratic Society in College Park, MD is only just beginning to get out of my bloodstream. There’s an excitement around SDS’s members, clearly evident from all the Facebook status updates, where it feels that we’ve managed to really pull it off — we’ve managed to take this assortment of chapters, regions, working groups and caucuses and integrate them together into a real national student organization.

APOC aren’t Maoists (and baby, I’m not an anarchist)

Today, Anarchist People of Color site Illvox.org recently came out with a snarky post, “Yes, APOC is Maoist“. It is, I believe, a response to some chatter that’s been going around the web, especially since one of their sympathizers criticized Kevin Tucker and the primitivist end of the anarchist scene for the willful use of “noble savage” stereotypes to pimp their zines.

I took part in some of that discussion (at MediaDissent.com) and was reminded of a lot of why I eventually ended up no longer being an anarchist. Namely, the inability of a lot of folks in the anarchist scene to engage in exchanges of criticism in a constructive way has been stifling. Part of which is a part of the whole paradox of “anti-authoritarian” politics, but I digress.

In riposte to APOC’s reply to the simultaneous red-baiting/race-baiting coming from Infoshop and elsewhere, I would like to say the following in brief:

Meta Monday: Hegemonik now at 30+ posts (Open Thread)

Hegemonik is now 30 something posts old. 30!

As the author of the project, I’m looking forward to trying to step up the level of readership in the blog. I’ve been experimenting with different forms of blogging, trying to encourage comments and broaden topic areas, all to encourage the interaction between this and the various pathways in the multiverse.

In the near future, I think I’m going to invest in some of WordPress’s upgrades. As a former Blogspot user, I’m kind of ticked at the inability to edit CSS right out of the box. Also, a bit peeved at WordPress messing around with code embedding. Sure it makes WordPress.com less susceptible to fly-by-night sploggers, but it just messes with my ability to tinker around with the innards of my blog.

I’m wondering whether it might be worth it to get arrange hosting and getting a domain name. Any thoughts out there?

Also: The RSS aggegation project is still on. Right now, I’ve got three SDS bloggers who’ve opted in. If you’re an SDS blogger, let me know if you’re interested in the project!

Border walls for the many; red carpet treatment for the pretty

Because everybody knows that New York needs more pretty vacant people (and their pimps) coming over the border.

Heaven forbid that we think of stopping ICE raids on the poor:

Congressman Wants To Make It Easier For Models To Get Visas
June 12, 2008

Calling for fairer visa laws, one crusading New York politician has taken the immigration debate straight to the catwalk.

Congressman Anthony Weiner is reportedly pushing legislation to make it easier for foreign fashion models to come to the United States for work.

Weiner says models are lumped into a category that forces them to compete with computer experts and doctors for highly-specialized visas.

The rumored mayoral candidate says a change in the immigration law will make it easier for designers and photographers to do their shoots in the city. Weiner’s proposal would allow models to apply for the same visas that entertainers and athletes get.

From the palace to the dustbin of history

King Gyanendra learned the hard way . . .

that the people, and the people alone, are the motive force in the making of world history.

Savor this moment. It will surely be difficult from here on out.

What about the Maobadi?: the activist media flat footed on events in South Asia

The following is an essay contributed by the author of Good Morning, Revolution. It properly asks why, with Nepal going off like a firecracker, the events there have essentially been virtually ignored by self-professed revolutionaries in the U.S.

I tend to sit at my computer, googling for the news and updates about what is happening in Nepal over the current political struggle between Maoists, their growing coalition, and the other parliamentary parties who are set to try to win as much as possible if not sabotage the process of creating a coalition government under the leadership of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), a Party who won a great plurality of the historical elections, which surprised the international community. It has been over ten years of People’s War, which saw around 10,000 people lose their lives, over two years of political struggle since which saw the fascist feudal King Gyanendra fall from power and beginning of desolution of the Monarchy. There is a real struggle for the path and future of over 25 million people in Nepal, and yet my Google news search results only get the international news from the Hindi Times or Kantipur Online. Unbelievable.

How is it we in this country here nothing of what is happening? How is it there is almost an unspoken silence of the struggles of South Asia? Of course there is a failure here of the media to report, no questioning, we hear nothing of the truth in the struggles of the people in Latin America, in Palestine, etc. We know this as just the Chomksyian unspoken rule of the media, it is general knowledge. This is not what makes me flinch, its the fact that the Left is unquestionably silent on it. We still get more reports on Chiapas (a struggle, that for all honesty, has stagnated and is losing its base.), on Tibet and all its Oriental mystique attached, and even on the need to defend China (Party for Socialism and Liberation is promoting a book on the need to defend tarnished “socialism” in China.). There are a few notable exceptions like Revolution in South Asia blog and Learn from Nepal project.

The Question of Building a New Type of State

Illustrating Mike Ely’s point regarding the Maobadi as having “discarded rigid thinking, but not their radicalism” here is an essay by the chief theoretician of the Maobadi, Baburam Bhattarai.

In the U.S. (and West) much has been said regarding the Maoists’ line on the question of the state; much of it is absent any actual reference to what the Maoists have actually stated as their line on such questions. There’s a temptation to dig out that old “No investigation, no right to speak,” line. But let us not quibble. For those anarchists who have chosen to nitpick from the sideline, here is Baburam Bhattarai’s “The Question of Building a New Type of State”; a brief but thorough summation of the Maobadi’s views on the state, taking both the long and short views of the history of revolution throughout the world as well as the particular situation of Nepal.

This essay originally appeared in The Worker no. 9 published in Feb. 2004. It was formatted and reposted on the Revolution in South Asia blog, by n3wday

The Question of Building a New Type of State

by Baburam Bhattarai

“The basic question of every revolution is that of state power. Unless this question is understood there can be no intelligent participation in the revolution, not to speak of guidance of the revolution.”

- V.I. Lenin, (1917b: 34)

The question of state power has now become the central question for the New Democratic revolution in Nepal, which is marching forward to capturing central state power after building revolutionary base areas and local power in the vast rural areas. The question has assumed significance and may be discussed primarily from two angles. Firstly, in the universal context; and secondly, in the concrete national context. Firstly in the universal or general sense, the proletarian (i.e. New Democratic or Socialist) state power is of a ‘new type’ as compared to all the state powers of minority exploiter classes in history. Further-more, after the downfall of all People’s Democratic or Socialist state powers including those in Russia, China and others in the past, the proletarian state powers arising in a new setting in the 21st century have to be of a further newer type. Secondly, in the concrete semi-feudal and semi-colonial national context of Nepal, where even the old bourgeois revolution and state has not been accomplished, the prospective proletarian state would naturally be, and have to be, of a ‘new’ type. Hence, we would first make a general review of the historical experiences on the question of state and strive to analyse the fundamental characteristics of a new type of state.

Deposed king to leave the palace

As I write, dawn is bringing another new milestone for Nepal. The deposed king Gyanendra will vacate his palace in the capital in Kathmandu within roughly 12 hours, to accept an indefinite confinement to a palace retreat elsewhere.

The removal of a god-king from the palace should be greeted by most of the Left as a time for celebration. Another one gone, another one bites the dust. Of course, it will infuriate the Hindu extremists (who have already left small improvised explosives at various pro-Republic events). It will perhaps infuriate that crew of piss-pants liberals who always find it in their hearts to support god-king losers. But that does not matter. What matters is that the tyrant king and his dynasty have been made commners, and will be subject to the law — he is the law no more.

In delayed celebration of the founding of the Nepalese Republic, and of the successful expulsion of the monarchy, I am preparing some posts for distribution throughout the day — various materials from the Nepalese Maoists who led the prosecution of war against the crown forces, as well as from supporters elsewhere.

MTA carbon trading: what say you?

Hey readers, here’s a question fer ya:

For those who don’t know, Second Avenue Sagas is one of the go-to blogs on issues of mass transit in NYC (and elsewhere). Today they report that the MTA is ready to go ahead with carbon trading.

I’m woefully out of the loop on environmental issues, but as far as I can tell, the underlying principle of carbon trading is to allow “green” companies to capitalize off their green-ness. That is:

Just move on up!: Some ideas ahead of an SDS People of Color Caucus

For members of Students for a Democratic Society, this is that strange time of year when classes are finished but we start to hit the books with some renewed fervor. Yep, we’re in the lead-up to the National Convention once again! This go around with the SDS National Convention, there’s been some back and forth on caucuses and how they will work, attempting to sum up some lessons learned on what to do and what not to do.

With that in the back of my mind, I felt like writing at length about my experience with the SDS People of Color Caucus, from the period of SDS’s founding National Convention to the current day.

Gyanendra is (formally) finished

United We Blog reports that the formalities are through: Gyanendra is a king no more. By a vote of 560 to 4, the CA stripped Gyanendra of royal title and privilege. And there shall be no more kings of Nepal; the same vote established Nepal as a federal republic.

Say goodbye, Gyanendra

The Western media reports that tyrant/god-King Gyanendra of Nepal will be sacked and the feudal institution of the divine monarchy shall be abolished, effective May 28, 2008.

All I’ve got to say is good riddance to both Gyanendra and the royal line in Nepal – the fewer people running around claiming divine right to rule by bloodline the better.

Police brutality on live television

[UPDATE: YouTube took down the video from WTXF. Please use link below. Thanks to Freddy for alerting me to YouTube's spinelessness.]
What is most disturbing about the above? this footage?

• That such beatings happen and are casually excused as “the cops were on edge?”
• That such events as the Sean Bell verdict have made it clear that “the cops were on edge”
  is viewed as a justification for not just assault but outright murder?
• That such events are broadcast live as a form of perverse entertainment?

I am unsure.

[My thanks to Faye Bibeau at groundswell for calling attention to this. Groundswell has been added to the links section]

Waking up to a ghost

Looking at VillageVoice.com this morning, I stumbled upon this and felt an old hurt come back.

NYPD Inaction Over a Missing Black Woman Found Dead Sparks a Historic Racial-Bias Lawsuit

“My daughter is dead. I know she endured physical torture,” says Carmichael. “But the police—the police put us through mental torture. Dealing with the police was more of a nightmare than finding Romona’s body.” By then, she says, she had resigned herself to the fact that Romona was dead. But the police? “They were just nasty,” she says.

Romona Moore. It’s a name that you’ve probably never heard, or only heard in passing. Speaking for myself, I’m not sure whether I so much recognize the name so much from the memory as from a learned anger.

White supremacy treehouse: who’s in and who’s out?

Demonstrations this past May Day had thinner crowds than in years past. Not surprising: the immigrant-worker upsurge was largely instigated by the actions of the enemies of immigration, or at least moreso than the “benevolence” of so-called friends of immigrants who would bring back second class bracero-labor

Recent unnoticed news proves instructive on how the mainstream immigration debate carries several white supremacist assumptions. Moreover, it demonstrates the role of white privilege in maintaining white supremacy, as a corrosive force that rusts the bonds of solidarity across lines of race and nationality.

First (clear) thoughts on the verdict

 

It’s almost two days since the words “Not guilty on all counts,” came ringing in my ears. It’s taken that long for me to be able to allow my anger and sadness to recede and stop messing with my brain — for me to even think a sentence that does not begin with the word “Pigs . . .”

The night before the Bell trial, I set my alarm to the “radio” setting. I listened, every 22 minutes getting the same story until the anticipated and dreaded 9am hour, when coverage went live as the judge was set to give his ruling (the Bell trial went straight to the bench, rather than a jury). I wanted to hear it, when it happened, to give myself the maximum amount of time to be ready for the day.

Is “Anti-Oppression” enough?

This is a comradely criticism/critique of the current theory and practice of Students for a Democratic Society. It’s assembled from notes and recollections of various conversations. By no means is it meant to tear down anyone’s work in SDS. I understand this is controversial, but I hope that as a comradely critique this leads to a deepening of both theory and practice in SDS.

Anti-oppression. It’s this buzzword I’ve only recently encountered due to heavy involvement with SDS. I have to say, I have an almost constitutional dislike for the modern-Leftist fixation with “anti” formulations (anti-[fill in the blank]ism”), perhaps due to an early love of Elements of Style, but also because I find that it reflects the modern ideology of neverending resistance struggle without revolution — for a sharp discussion of that, here’s Zizek.

Anti-oppression, as it’s been put before SDS at least, is a catch-all term for the praxis built around political/popular education against forms of systemic oppression — white supremacy, patriarchy, heterosexism, and capitalism — for the sake of having the male, pale, and stale Left confront these things as they show themselves in both society and in the movement (as a reflection of society, however distorted). It gets translated into organizations usually running down a laundry list of oppressions they oppose, and the stances they take up in opposition (i.e., “anti-capitalist, anti-racist, anti-patriarchy, anti-heterosexist” etc.)

Of verdicts and resistance . . .

If we must die, let it not be like hogs
Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,
While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,
Making their mock at our accursed lot.
If we must die, O let us nobly die,
So that our precious blood may not be shed
In vain; then even the monsters we defy
Shall be constrained to honor us though dead!
O kinsmen we must meet the common foe!
Though far outnumbered let us show us brave,
And for their thousand blows deal one deathblow!
What though before us lies the open grave?
Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack,
Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!

- Claude McKay, 1919

NYC ready for protests

By TOM HAYS – 21 hours ago

NEW YORK (AP) — When police killed an unarmed African immigrant in a hail of 41 bullets in 1999, outrage filled up the streets of New York.

About 1,200 people were arrested, including elected officials and celebrities, during a month of daily protests. Thousands more marched after four white officers were acquitted in Amadou Diallo’s death.

Nine years later, three officers will learn their fate Friday in a case over another heavy police barrage — 50 shots aimed at an unarmed black man outside a nightclub on the morning of his wedding. The city is bracing for more protests if the officers are acquitted. [. . .]

Why “white supremacy?” Why not just “racism?”

Something’s been on my mind of late. Namely, with Left terminology and trying to break it down for folks, there’s an inevitable friction: why do we have to know all these terms? Aren’t the things that “normal people” say just . . . . ok? Are we just engaging in some jibber-jabber, as Mr. T would put it, where we speak this private language of oppressions and exploitations and alienations and so on and so forth?

I’ve been thinking this through, because I’ve gone through quite a few strange encounters between people of color caucuses and confused whitefolk. The most recent being at a convention of the Northeastern SDS chapters in Boston, which at some point just became a strange exchange of jargon which wasn’t at all collective, which had a certain ring of rote memorization of formula.

(Im)print the legend

The following is a response to a manuscript of an article I helped edit, entitled “Giving Form to a Stampede: The First Two Years of the New SDS,” which is to be published in the May issue of Upping the Anti. The authors are Brian Kelly and Joshua Kahn Russell.

The article is notable in dispelling myths of how the new Students for a Democratic Society formed. Chiefly, there are two myths: first, that a few dedicated dudes (and they were all, supposedly, dudes — sorry Ms. Rapchik!) got together and made Students for a Democratic Society. The other myth is that the new SDS just materialized out of thin air, a la Pentecost, and we all started speaking in tongues to the four corners of the United States.

Trust me, the article’s great — a much needed and a timely look back on some three years of struggle. I would like to use the occasion of the article, however, to speak of the mythology of the old SDS and how it has been used and misused.

Ransom Stoddard: You’re not going to use the story, Mr. Scott?
Maxwell Scott: No, sir. This is the west, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.

- an exchange from The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

The above quote is often used as a commentary on how Hollywood inevitably distorts the truth for the sake of entertainment (and more butts in theaters, more DVD’s in your Netflix queue, etc.) The point being that in even in the face of hard facts, we hold on to prized legends, handed down from generation to generation.

As long as I have been involved in projects of the Left, I have had to deal with the fact is “print the legend” is standard operating procedure in most parts, and that the legend becomes reality. In a broad sense, we see this in society (the myth of soldiers being spat on by rabid hippies being an evergreen one).

Beyond people in general, however, there’s a subset of people who “print the legend” (and believe it): that is the Left. We believe ourselves better than the average bear when it comes to our history, but when it comes to the history of the original SDS (and the New Left) very often we see a certain tendency to unconsciously mistake ideological mythology for history within SDS.