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The Elect Shun Mourning & Celebrate
The man in the cardboard box wakes up in America on the morning after the election after a night of clattering in the fuzz of high frequency bands the static on the screen attracts the dust of Emperors and Czars and postmen. He tastes the residue on his tongue babies cry, the smoke of the […]
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A New World of Work
Cornell Global Labor Institute Honors Oscar Olivera On October 5, 2006, the Cornell Global Labor Institute held a reception to celebrate its second anniversary. The guest of honor was Oscar Olivera, the Executive Secretary of the Federation of Factory Workers from Cochabamba , Bolivia. The Federation was key in the formation of the Coordinator […]
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A Marxist Poet: The Legacy of Gillo Pontecorvo
Pauline Kael, the American film critic, once said that Gillo Pontecorvo was the most dangerous kind of Marxist: a Marxist poet. When the Italian film director died last week at the age of 86, he had not made a full-length feature in over twenty-five years. Yet the potency of Pontecorvo’s firebrand poetry can still be […]
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Muhammad
Oiseau terrorisé par l’enfer tombant du ciel, Muhammad se niche dans l’étreinte de son père : Protège-moi De l’envol, père, mon aile est encore Petite pour le vent . . . et la lumière est noire Muhammad Voudrait rentrer à la maison, Sans vélo . . . ou chemise neuve. Il voudrait retrouver le banc […]
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Sophie Maslow and Woody Guthrie
“Sophie’s body looked so healthy and so active it looked like it would do almost anything she told it to do. All she had to do was notify it.” — Woody Guthrie My mother, Marjorie Mazia, and Sophie Maslow were both dancers with the Martha Graham Dance Company in the 1930s – 50s. It […]
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In One Sigh
In one sigh, Death in a third world, A hand lies withered and curled, Peals of death rain down on a child, Artists of life are ruined and defiled, My ovaries sag with hate, I am death to procreate, In one sigh. Ros Csikc-Cyr is an activist. Her poetry offers a perspective on issues […]
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Put Down the Government Rag: (tune borrowed from Allen Ginsberg)
All candidates look the same that is part of their game and what they do to you will always be the same CHORUS: Don’t vote, don’t vote, don’t vote. . . it’s a capitalist hoax. . . Businessmen in suits white shirts and boring ties even the women look like one of the guys The […]
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Hairdresser at the Rehab
On a broken woman’s scalp a froth of white gloves the fingers scrubbing pillow-matted hair combed, parted, cut, frosted tissue-wrapped ends rolled gently pink and blue. Surrounded by potions clear, cream rinses and highlighters, protein replenishers, a bouquet of silver scissor wands a judge whose voice can’t shape her name sits rapt anticipating, a waitress […]
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Three Arab Painters in New York
The emergence of Arab art in New York City has surprised many. Most importantly, the Made in Palestine exhibit, which opened at the Bridge Gallery in March of 2006, drew large crowds. The battle of bringing the show to New York, however, was no surprise. Fearing a strong backlash from the pro-Israel community, galleries and […]
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Eulogy for Stew Albert
MAY 6, 2006, New York City Stew Albert Photo by Robert Altman © 2006 Stew Albert was our troubadour, poet, writer, our cherished moral center. On May Day 1971, in Washington DC during the May Day antiwar demonstrations that brought hundreds of thousands of activists to shut down the city, Stew Albert and Judy Gumbo […]
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Edges of Pain [Oevers van pijn]
Ik wilde je stem horen wanneer je citaten voorleest uit een pas geboren verhaal Ik wilde in je ogen kijken wanneer ze glanzen van verlangen voor het donker Ik wilde je wakker houden met je sterren plukken uit een dicht bewolkte hemel Ik wilde met je wandellen langs een vroege ochtend dronken van samen zijn […]
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Escape
Troosteloosheid van het bestaan tussen slaap en wakker zijn Reflectie in reflectie biochemie van errectie Twee bij een: afmeting van een bed Twee bij een: afmeting van een cel Nacht in je armen, muur om me heen Opgaande gebaren, kou in m’n been Ingang voor Exit op rij voor Escape Verneuke leegtes gezweet op een […]
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The Cry of the People: The Commune in Image [Le cri du peuple: la commune en image]
Jacques Tardi, à qui l’on doit notamment l’extraordinaire La guerre des tranchées, s’est lancé en 2001 dans l’adaptation en bande dessinée du roman libertaire de Jean Vautrin sur la Commune de Paris, Le cri du peuple*. Le projet devait tenir en trois tomes, mais Tardi a finalement décidé de consacrer à l’insoutenable répression des Versaillais […]
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San Romero of America, Our Shepherd and Martyr [San Romero de América, Pastor y Mártir Nuestro]
El ángel del Señor anunció en la víspera. . . El corazón de El Salvador marcaba 24 de marzo y de agonía. Tú ofrecías el Pan, el Cuerpo Vivo — el triturado cuerpo de tu Pueblo; Su derramada Sangre victoriosa — ¡la sangre campesina de tu Pueblo en masacre que ha de teñir en vinos […]
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Cyril Ferez: “The Man Who Sat Down” [Cyril Ferez: “L’homme assis”]
C’est ainsi que cela se passe Tu marches et tu décides de t’arrêter La foule est dense et indomptée Tu es en queue de manifestation Ton walkman sur les oreilles pour ne plus entendre Les mugissements des animaux sauvages Casqués, masqués, harnachés Matant et piégeant les graines de rébellion Tu t’assieds La fatigue t’assaille Trop […]
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for HUGH THOMPSON Jr.
[Hugh Thompson Jr., who died on January 6, 2006, was a former Army helicopter pilot, who, on March 16, 1968, with door-gunner Lawrence Colburn and crew chief Glenn Andreotta came upon U.S. ground troops killing Viet Namese civilians in and around the village of My Lai. They landed their helicopter in the line of fire […]
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Cuba and Venezuela: A Bolivarian Partnership
José Martí and Simón Bolívar, two of Latin America’s most respected independence fighters, recognized nearly a century ago that their homelands would never be free of imperial domination, until Latin America came together in solidarity as a united force. Martí and Bolívar’s insights remain relevant in the age of neo-liberal globalization. The colonizers of […]
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Baghdad/Albany
The TV glows green like the obsolete computer in the attic blurred shapes that could be buildings or simply the geometry of electrons bright circles of lens flare as accents an abstract electronic image they say is Baghdad. I don’t know Baghdad, don’t know where the missiles are falling I don’t know which buildings are […]
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Hymn for a Brave New World
When the polar bears are drowning and the salmon cross the street And late summer’s on the non-existent breeze; When the yellow clouds are frowning and the snow is always sleet And there’s only five of what were Seven Seas; When it’s ninety in December at the Arctic Circle’s edge And the birds are […]
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Sleepless Night
They thought I was asleep That night they took my brother away No dream I could keep With tears flooding my face He said I could be redeemed Showed me how change takes place Gave me a reason to believe That love forgives mistakes And they thought I was asleep When they took him away […]