“The American Blindspot”: Reconstruction According to Eric Foner and W.E.B. Du Bois
By Noel Ignatiev. Introduction: We are republishing Noel Ignatiev’s 1993 essay comparing two different accounts of the Reconstruction era in the U.S. following the Civil War: W.E.B. Du Bois’s Black Reconstruction in America (1935) and Eric Foner’s Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution (1988). Discourse about Reconstruction has taken a renewed significance in the present day, particularly … More
Opposing the Creation of NATO to Wage War with Russia: W.E.B. Du Bois’s 1949 Speech to Congress
In 1949, W.E.B. Du Bois testified before Congress to protest against a bill that would fund the new North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). His speech provides a clear framing of the central issues and contradictions involved in the original formation of NATO and its aims of establishing a grounds in Europe for war against the … More
The Korean War: A United People’s War Against Imperialism
By Do Hyun Byun. Presentation given on March 12, 2022 at Korea, Vietnam, and Afro-America: Our Shared Struggle for Peace & Democracy, organized by VietLaoKhmer and the Bandung Reading Group. James Baldwin writes on history: “For history, as nearly no one seems to know, is not merely something to read. And it does not refer … More
A Call — Commemorating 75 Years of Indian Independence
We are republishing the Call for the Year of the Indian Freedom Struggle in Philadelphia, a year-long celebration of the Indian Freedom Struggle and its deep connections to Black America, organized by members of the Saturday Free School. As part of this effort, the Azadi Reading Collective will meet to read and discuss several important … More
Why Vietnamese Americans Must Abandon the Refugee Identity
By Brandon Do. Presentation given on March 12, 2022 at Korea, Vietnam, and Afro-America: Our Shared Struggle for Peace & Democracy, organized by the VietLaoKhmer and Bandung reading groups. Part I. Why the Refugee Identity? In 1975, the revolutionary forces of Vietnam, with the support of the Vietnamese people and the progressive peoples of the … More
America’s Essence: Winston, King and Our Democratic Struggle for Peace
By Emile Paulmier. Presentation given November 6th, 2021 at the symposium “Strategy for Freedom: The Life and Vision of Henry Winston,” organized by the Saturday Free School The ruling narrative in America today is that the essence of democracy is individual freedom from any social responsibilities. Civil rights means the ability to put one’s own … More
Defending and Building Positive Peace: The Legacy of Romesh Chandra
By Purba Chatterjee. Presentation given November 6th, 2021 at the symposium “Strategy for Freedom: The Life and Vision of Henry Winston,” organized by the Saturday Free School In 1904, W. E. B. Du Bois wrote in his Credo to Darkwater: “I believe in the Prince of Peace. I believe that War is Murder. I believe … More
Henry Winston: His Vision for Freedom and Hope in Our Time
We are republishing the Call of the Saturday Free School’s conference, Strategy for Freedom: The Life and Vision of Henry Winston, hosted at the Church of the Advocate in North Philadelphia on November 5–7, 2021. Event details can be found on the conference website; each day of the conference will be live-streamed on Facebook. Donations can be made on GoFundMe to support … More
Paul Robeson: American Patriot Against American Empire
By Jeremiah Kim. At a time when domestic repression is increasing and threats of war with China are escalating, the American people today need principled examples of how to move forward toward freedom and peace. The great artist and freedom fighter Paul Robeson provides one such example. In stark contrast to the smug anti-Americanism of … More
The Revolutionary Science of W.E.B Du Bois and D. D. Kosambi
By Archishman Raju. In 1949, the Indian scientist D. D. Kosambi visited the United States for a conference on peace, commenting “I saw that American scientists and intellectuals were greatly worried about the question of scientific freedom, meaning thereby freedom for the scientist to do what he liked while being paid by big business, war … More
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Organization for Positive Peace Blog 