The Cuban Missile Crisis at 60: Was JFK Really A Hero?

Posted inForeign Policy, Peoples' History, Uncategorized

60 years ago this month, in October 1962, Americans anxiously heard news for almost two weeks straight about the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba, less than 100 miles away from the U.S. Nuclear War was possible, to some imminent.

In this episode we offer a brief history of the Cuban Missile Crisis and, more importantly, a remembrance and reconsideration of the events of October and JFK actions throughout the crisis.

Listen in: https://bit.ly/3fjZRbi

JFK has been praised for his firm resolve, courage, and strength in handling the crisis but the reality is that he was provocative and almost caused a war against Russia. In this episode we’ll start by giving a background on JFK’s aggression toward Cuba, then we’ll offer a brief narrative of the crisis, and finally we’ll discuss how Kennedy continued his subversion against Castro’s government after the Missile Crisis.

November 19th: Gratitude for Joe Hill

Posted inUncategorized
by Scott Parkin
I’ve been thinking about Joe Hill a lot lately, listening his music, reading a novel about an IWW strike in the early part of the last century and just reflecting on the work that radical labor did 100 years ago.
Today is the 107th anniversary of Joe’s execution by firing squad for a crime he didn’t commit. But really the state killed him because he organized, resisted capitalism and fought fascists.
It’s also the same day that Kyle Rittenhouse has been acquitted of killing two men and wounding a third man at a protest over the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, WI.
I’m outraged and heartbroken by the news of Rittenhouse’s acquittal. But, I’m not surprised and don’t have much expectation from our current system. People who resisted capitalism, police violence and fascism were gunned down by a teenage vigilante and he got away with it.
To me, this moment around Rittenhouse’s acquittal is a moment to fight back and organize. My friend Joshua says that we need to integrate gratitude and connection to historical movements into our organizing work to help sustain us.
In this moment where the far right is on the rise and the capitalist political economy is allowing them to flourish, I feel gratitude to Wobbly organizers like Joe Hill who organized and radicalized labor over 100 years ago and created a cultural identity for the left that persists.
Here’s Joe’s will that he wrote on his last day of life:
“My will is easy to decide,
For there is nothing to divide.
My kin don’t need to fuss and moan —
“Moss does not cling to a rolling stone.”
My body? — Oh! — If I could choose,
I would to ashes it reduce,
And let the merry breezes blow
My dust to where some flowers grow.
Perhaps some fading flower then
Would come to life and bloom again.
This is my last and final will.
Good luck to all of you. [Joe Hill]”

COP26: Why the Climate Movement Needs Even More Direct Action w/ Rising Tide North America

Posted inanti-capitalism, Climate, Direct Action, Uncategorized

In our final interview from COP 26 in Glasgow, Scott welcomes Lisa Winter and (welcomes back) Alex Cohen with Rising Tide North America (@risingtideNA) to Green and Red. The three of them have a lively discussion about direct action and mass disruption to meet the scale and urgency of the climate crisis from COP to frontline battles around the world.

Listen in: https://bit.ly/GlasgowFinGandR

They reflect on mass actions in Seattle in 1999 and Quebec in 2001 in the era of anti-corporate globalization, and more recent mass disruptions and uprisings around Standing Rock, Line 3 and after the police murder of George Floyd.