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Mae Jackson is a New York City based writer, poet, dreamer and doer whose record of activism on behalf of her people stretches back to SNCC. A founder of Art Without Walls, an art program for the children of imprisoned women, she is well acquainted with the difference between surface change, and fundamental, revolutionary change.
Here are a few minutes of her address to the crowd at May 31, 2009 event memorializing the early 20th century Harlem activist Hubert Harrison, in which she lays out a clear understanding of whose lips move when our First Black President speaks. Referring to some of Barack Obama's widely acclaimed orations at the Democratic convention, atop Lincoln's tomb, and other places, she tells us
ā..those wonderful speeches made by the young man from Chicago were actually crafted, that's written, by three young white men 25, 26 and 31 years old. We got the unfortunate opportunity once again to see the world through their eyes. Obama was the spokesperson. Same as when you buy a painting, that doesn't make you the painter...ā
She explains how the establishment turned took the politics out of activism, neutralizing and de-politicizing young political activists by turning them into ācommunity organizers."
The lies that are told about Haiti are so deeply ingrained that people who should know better believe that the next occupation will cure all of that country's ills. In fact, Haiti's problems are theā¦
Joe Biden had a moment of truth when he promised the oligarchs that nothing would fundamentally change if he became president. He kept his promise, and so will all those who come after him unlessā¦
The Black Alliance for Peace released a statement in solidarity with the people of Gaza and all Palestinians under occupation in the racist, apartheid settler state of Israel.
The current political turbulence in Franceās former colonies in Africa can perhaps be understood as the continuation of an unfinished project of decolonization.
No one better exemplifies the Democratic Partyās overarching identity politics than California Governor Gavin Newsom.
