UNITE AND FIGHT: MARXISM AND ANTI-OPPRESSION
with Ahmed Shawki--author of Black Liberation and Socialism
and editor of the International Socialist Review
Wednesday, Dec. 1st, 7 PM
Hampshire College: Franklin Patterson Hall (FPH) East Lecture Hall
RSVP on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=125439804183233
The election of Barack Obama led some commentators to suggest that the United States had entered a “post-racial society”.
Really??
Arizona’s racist, anti-immigrant S.B. 1070, the NYC mosque controversy and culture of Islamophobia, and a criminal “justice” system that lets racist cops off the hook for murdering an unarmed Black man in Oakland, CA all say something profoundly different. Meanwhile women face an increasing assault on... abortion access, and LGBTQ people remain second-class citizens under the law. This is all amidst an economic crisis that has pushed 1 out of every 7 American workers to take a wage cut and left over 15% of Americans unemployed.
Racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, and all other forms of oppression are products of capitalism--a system based on exploitation of the majority of the world's population.
Marxism seeks not to separate economic exploitation and oppression, but to show how they are connected, and how the solution to one cannot be separated from the solution to the other. Socialists take an unapologetic stance against all forms of oppression, and fight in reform movements to better the lives of all people. Socialists also recognize that we can't win a totally different society--free of oppressive divisions--without fighting in the here in now in solidarity with one another.
An injury to one is an injury to all. Workers are women, men, gay, transgender, straight, Black, white, Latino, immigrants, Arab, Asian, from different nationalities and speak different languages. The fight against racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, etc. is part and parcel with the fight for a different kind of society. Socialism is not just the theory of liberation for the working class. It is a theory for the liberation of all of humanity.
Join the Hampshire International Socialist Organization (ISO) for a talk and discussion on Marxism, anti-oppression, and how we can fight and win full liberation.
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Ahmed Shawki is a long-time activist and editor of the International Socialist Review. He is the author of Black Liberation and Socialism and serves on the steering committee for the National Council of Arab-Americans.
For more information, or if your group is interested in co-sponsoring or tabling at the event, e-mail madelineburrows@gmail.com
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CRISIS IN PAKISTAN
Thursday * Dec. 2 * 7pm
UMass Campus Center Room 165
RSVP on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=168876476476873
Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) and the International Socialist Organization (ISO) are hosting a discussion about the recent natural disaster in Pakistan. Come join us for a talk about the global impacts of not only the floods, but also other turmoil that has gripped the nation.
Suggested reading:
From natural disaster to social catastrophe: http://socialistworker.org/2010/08/16/disaster-to-social-catastrophe
Pushed to the brink by disaster and war: http://socialistworker.org/2010/11/09/pakistan-pushed-to-the-brink
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Screening of "Bhopali" by Max Carlson
Friday * December 3 * 7PM
UMass Campus Center Room 917
RSVP on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=104457526293439
Join us for a screening of the documentary 'Bhopali' by Max Carlson to mark the 26th anniversary of the 1984 Union Carbide Gas Disaster in Bhopal, India. We are in solidarity with protests, film screenings, discussions, and candle light vigils around the world demanding justice for the continuing criminal tragedy in Bhopal. The screening will be followed by an open discussion session. Light Indian snacks will be served.
'Bhopali'... focuses on the experience of second generation children affected by the Union Carbide gas disaster of 1984, the worst industrial disaster in history, and subsequent contamination of groundwater by Union Carbide Corporation (an American company now owned by Dow Chemical, the second largest chemical company in the world). It follows several children as they and their families cope with the ongoing medical and social disaster, as well as their memories of that traumatizing night that shocked the world and changed Bhopal forever. However, set against the backdrop of vehement protests for the 25th anniversary of the disaster, these Bhopalis are anything but pitiful victims.
BACKGROUND
The Bhopal gas disaster occurred in 1984 when a factory owned and operate by Union Carbide (UCC) had an explosion due to lack of safety precautions which caused 500,000 people in Bhopal, India to be gassed with the highly toxic chemical methyl isocyanate (MIC). An estimated 8,000- 20,000 people died that night making it the worst industrial disaster in history. Subsequently, UCC, with the complicity and aid of the Indian Government (bribed and pressured, in many respects) undertook a major effort to cover up how the disaster happened and silence the survivors. Despite 100,000 people living with debilitating illnesses from the gas AND the continued issue of groundwater contamination from Union Carbide's dumping of toxic waste, the Bhopali survivors have managed to wage an incredible fight over the last 25 years against the government and the American corporation, with the aim of justice for Bhopalis as well as prevention of industrial disasters/pollution elsewhere in the world.
Co-sponsored by the International Socialist Organization, Association for India's Development, Volunteers in Service of Education in India, and the Muslim Public Affairs Council.
'Bhopali' Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBaiwlOwShU
