DAN LA BOTZ is a Brooklyn-based teacher, writer and activist. He is a co-editor of New Politics.
The first Black candidate for president was Clifton DeBerry, the nominee of the Socialist Workers Party in 1964, running against right-wing Republican Barry Goldwater and liberal Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson. Harassed by the FBI, DeBerry would have a tough row to hoe.
Davis’ loyalty to the CP led her in 1980 and 1984 to accept the party’s assignment that she be the running mate of diehard Stalinist party leader Gus Hall.
The most important Black candidate of the radical 1960s and 70s, if we judge by votes and delegates, was Shirley Chisholm.
Adolfo Gilly, one of the great Latin American left intellectuals of his time, has died at the age of 94.
I say he was a French boy, because in official circles in France and in society at large race does not exist and so therefore neither does racism.
Blanco, the Peruvian revolutionary is dead. I met him once back in 1996. It was an experience of magical realism.
West’s candidacy will take place in the left lane of American politics usually occupied by other groups such as the Green Party and the Democratic Socialists of America.
While I admire the political values of these two scholars, I don’t find either of these books satisfying because they like many other authors perpetuate the romantic view of Ricardo Flores Magón.
Ukraine has long been a victim of Russian imperialism, pre-capitalist, capitalist, Soviet, and then state-capitalist.
Years ago, the famous Nicaraguan poet Giaconda Belli wrote,
¿Qué sos, Nicaragua
Para dolerme tanto?
What are you, Nicaragua
To hurt me so?
The lines seem particularly poignant and appropriate now.
The release of the prisoners now makes it possible for President Biden and Blinken to make a deal with Ortega that would improve his situation—removing the sanctions—while increasing U.S. influence in Nicaragua. Ortega accused the opponents he imprisoned of being traitors working for the United States, but it is he who wants a closer relationship with Washington.
Putin could end this war today if he wanted. So could you and your comrades in arms if you refuse to fight or simply begin to go home.
Over 400 years ago, long before Woodrow Wilson or Vladimir Lenin, Bartolomé de Las Casas developed a theory of the right of nations to self-determination that can be applied to many other countries today, including Ukraine.
The United States has long dominated Latin America, but today—in fact for the last twenty years—it is being challenged by China, which has invested billions and established political and some military relationships with many governments in the region.
The New Politics Summer 2023 issue is now in the hands of subscribers, featuring articles on the left in Cuba and Puerto Rico, interviews with Kavita Krishnan and Jesse Hagopian, review essays by Kim Moody and Carl Mirra, and much, much more. Articles will be gradually released on the web.
