321 pages

English

Découvre YouScribe en t'inscrivant gratuitement

Je m'inscris

Towards Collective Liberation , livre ebook

PM Press - Chris Crass

Découvre YouScribe en t'inscrivant gratuitement

Je m'inscris

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

321 pages

English

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

A propos
Informations
Extrait

Description

Towards Collective Liberation is for activists engaging with dynamic questions of how to create and support effective movements for visionary systemic change, namely those who wish to ensure that all movements are both feminist and anti-racist in nature. Drawing on two decades of personal activist experience and case studies of anti-racist social justice organisations, Crass insightfully explores ways of transforming divisions of race, class and gender into catalysts for powerful vision, strategy and movement building in the world today.

Informations

Publié par	PM Press
Date de parution	08 avril 2013
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781604868494
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	8 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0300€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Praise forTowards Collective Liberation

“InTowards Collective Liberation,Cris Crass as sared wit us a valuable collection of tougtful, onest, and umble reﬂections on wat it means to build te world tat we are waiting for. Cris acieves te diﬃcult task of practice driven-teory— encouraging and allowing all of us to be present in our work, to lead wit our earts, and to embody te cange tat we seek. It is troug tese critical and sometimes painfully onest reﬂections tat we as organizers, activists, and social cange makers are given te courage to do te same.” —Alicia Garza, People Organized to Win Employment Rigts (POWER)

“For tose of us committed to tinking across, toug, and between organizing and teory,Towards Collective Liberationpromises to map novel itineraries for an anti-racist project tat demands tat te teoretical be known troug transformative organizing.” —Andrej Grubačić, anarcist organizer and autor ofDon’t Mourn, Balkanize! Essays After YugoslaviaandWobblies and Zapatistas: Conversations on Anarcism, Marxism, and Radical History

“As a young Aﬀrilacian woman engaged in te struggle, it is refresing to ear anal-ysis tat is contemporary from anoter young person wo is connecting te dots between practice and teory in te struggle to smas wite supremacy, patriarcy, and capitalism. InTowards Collective Liberation, Cris’s openness in talking about is own process and experiences is timely as we try to build movements tat don’t reproduce te systems tat we’re trying to overcome. I look forward to saring it wit my comrades in struggle.” —As-Lee Henderson, organizer wit United Campus Workers and for-mer steering committee member of Appalacia Rising

“Wit compelling onesty Cris Crass sares is journey toward understanding is own privilege in order to become a more eﬀective ally in struggles for justice.Towards Collective Liberationprovides inspiration and practical guidance for working across diﬀerences of race, class, sexuality, and gender. It is a tougtful and engaging and-book for our times.” —Barbara Smit, autor ofhe Trut hat Never Hurts: Writings on Race, Gender, and Freedom, founding member of te Combaee River Collective, and editor ofHome Girls: A Black Feminist Antology

“Cris Crass oﬀers a precious gift tat new generations of young activists especial-ly are starving for: a vision and strategy for social cange rooted in love and soul. Unitarian Universalist yout movements in particular ave found solace and ope in Crass’s words and leadersip. And for all tose struggling wit cultures of critique and competition woven troug our movements, tis book provides a ealing ap-proac to te pursuit of collective liberation. As a long-time organizer, Crass as learned to prioritize is own spirituality, and link it wit is work against systemic

injustice. he result: a compelling resource blending personal testimony, lessons from a diversity of organizations, and istorical insigts to ground and sustain our eﬀorts.” —Betty Jeanne Rueters-Ward, adjunct faculty, Starr King Scool for te Ministry and former national yout organizer, Unitarian Universalist Association

“his antology of essays is of vital interest to tose of us interested in bridging long-standing race, class, gender, and generational divides to build more eﬀective social justice movements for te twenty-ﬁrst century. In clear and compelling prose, social-ist-anarcist Cris Crass oﬀers a multilayered critique of te oppressive ierarcies of capitalism and te nation-state. Bringing bot practical and teoretical insigts from is own and oters’ experiences of te past two decades of tireless progressive movement building, Crass is at is best wen e discusses is work as a wite man to understand and uproot intertwining systems of racism and sexism. Powerfully atten-tive to te lessons of U.S. istory from its margins, Cris Crass is part of a small but signiﬁcant tradition of wite radicals wo ave joined wit people of color to sake te foundations of wite supremacy—ranging from Jon Brown to Anne Braden to Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz. In te odyssey described in tese essays, e as become a major voice in te rise of new currents of wite anti-racism in te twenty-ﬁrst century.” —Caterine Fosl, autor ofSubversive Souterner: Anne Braden and te Struggle for Racial Justicein te Cold War Soutand director of te Anne Braden Institute for Social Justice Researc

“A deeply important, engaged, and learned defense of anarcism, class politics, and anti-racism. Grounded in study, organizing, and struggle, Towards Collective Liberation is a signiﬁcant contribution to te recent istory of te U.S. left.” —David Roediger, autor ofhe Wages of Witeness andhe Production of Diﬀerence(wit Elizabet Esc)

“Cris Crass oﬀers penetrating analysis and a keen understanding of te political and cultural dynamics saping te United States. He is one of te new generation of anti-oppression/collective liberation advocates and organizers. Wat I like about is writings is tey oﬀer more tan just is opinions, but a framework tat is te result of bot reﬂection upon inequities and is experiences putting is analysis into practice. We can all learn from reading tis.” —Rev. David Billings, he People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond and United Metodist Curc Elder

“Cris Crass’s writings are compost on te seeds of a better world struggling to grow, blossom and bear fruit. hey are also gasoline on te ﬂames of a crumbling, ugly, racist empire. He takes on te ard obstacles to movement and alliance building and—agree or not—puses us all to take responsibility and be part of te solution.

His book provides new tools—and sarpens a few old ones—tat everyone wo wants to make a better world and community needs in teir toolbox.” —David Solnit, editor ofGlobalize Liberationand co-autor ofArmy of None: Strategies to Counter Military Recruiting, End War and Build a Better World(wit Aimee Allison)

“In is writing and organizing, Cris Crass as been at te forefront of building te grassroots, multiracial, feminist movements for justice we need.Towards Collective Liberationtakes on questions of leadersip, building democratic organizations, and movement strategy on a very personal level tat invites us all to experiment and practice te way we live our values wile struggling for systemic cange. Cris Crass is writer/activist wo keeps is eye on te prize: to work for collective liberation, remembering tat mine is interdependent wit yours. To tat end, te book draws crucial lessons from applying women of color feminism to anti-racist organizing in wite communities, and feminist work wit men—lessons tat need to be studied and applied widely.” —Elizabet ‘Betita’ Martinez, founder of te Institute for Multiracial Justice and autor ofDe Colores Means All of Us: Latina Views for a Multi-Colored Century

“In is activism and writings, Cris Crass as been able to articulate and practice a transformative model for social cange. Guided by a vision of collective libera-tion tat centers te experience and leadersip of women of color, Cris as done groundbreaking work to realize te revolutionary potential of grassroots multiracial alliances. His essays and interviews over te past two decades provide tremendously valuable and concrete lessons for all tose deepening social, political, economic, and spiritual cange.” —Harsa Walia, co-founder of No One Is Illegal and Radical Desis, and autor ofUndoing Border Imperialism

“InTowards Collective LiberationCris Crass makes a subtle, but very important contribution to te movement for social justice tat is critical for unity building in te ‘Occupy’ era. InTowards Collective Liberation, Cris sares is insigt as a stra-tegic bridge over te past twenty years between Anarcists, Marxists, Revolutionary Nationalists, and radical Feminist and Queer organizers and organic intellectuals. I ﬁrmly believe tese insigts will elp tose currently seeking to bridge ideological di-vides on te Left to build more insigtful, transformative, and powerful social move-ments. Many of te teoretical and practical insigts I ave gained from working wit Cris over te past ten years are on full display in tis work. Insigts tat ave elped me gain a deeper understanding of anarcism and radical queer teory tat I ave elped me struggle wit my own limitations, biases and sortcomings.Towards Collective Liberationis a must-read.” —Kali Akuno, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement

“In over two decades of organizing, Cris Crass as ignited countless young people to engage in long-term feminist and racial justice organizing. From developing political education models grounded in people of color led organizing, to a political practice of mentorsip and leadersip development, is writing and activism provide a vision for tose of us wit various forms of privilege to bring our full selves to movement work wit accountability, passion, and love. His visionary analysis and years of organizing, as well as interviews wit some of te most ground-breaking anti-racist organizers of our generation are distilled into tis book, wic will no doubt equip anyone wo reads it wit new inspiration, istorical lessons, and practical organizing tools.” —Lea Jo Carnine, Arizona Hummingbird Collective and Communities United for Racial Justice

“his book was not written by an armcair activist. It came togeter on te bus on te way to a direct action, in a meeting room dialoguing wit community organizers, and at te kitcen table wile watcing a friend’s kid so se could attend a meeting. From te trences of te social movement, Cris Crass oﬀers insigts tat callenge and support us as we reac towards te goal of collective liberation. He brings is own experience as a wite anti-racist activist to bear, inspiring oters to join im in tinking critically about race, class, and gender so we can build a stronger and more successful movement.” —Maria Poblet, Causa Justa/Just Cause

“If you are a young activist, or if you ave been organizing for social justice for de-cades,Towards Collective Liberationis a must-read. As a wite, anti-racist organizer, Cris as worked for years building genuine and powerful solidarity and action be-tween wite and communities of color on critical social justice struggles of our day— from immigrant rigts, to racial justice, to ending U.S. wars and occupations. As an organizer in Sout Asian, Muslim, and communities of color in a post 9/11 world, were wars abroad and at ome are linked more tan ever, I see tis book as critical analytical grounding for U.S. activists to make anoter world possible and anoter U.S. necessary.” —Monami Maulik, founder and executive director of DRUM (Desis Rising Up & Moving) and contributor to Howard’s Zinn’sVoices of a People’s History

“Cris Crass is a creative and dedicated organizer, and is writing comes out of tat day-to-day, soulder-to-soulder work. I ave seen te impact of is touc troug te Anne Braden Program at Catalyst Project in a generation of tougtful, account-able young wite activists doing racial justice work from coast to coast. hougt-provoking and stimulating. Helpful and practical. New and seasoned activists sould pick up tis book.” —Pam McMicael, Higlander Researc and Education Center

“Longtime social justice organizer, Cris Crass, provides onest and insigtful per-sonal and political analysis weaving a deep understanding of wite supremacy, cap-italism, and patriarcy into everyting e writes. Accessible, inspiring and useful writing from te frontlines of struggle.” —Paul Kivel, educator, activist, and autor ofUprooting RacismandYou Call his a Democracy?

“Cris Crass brings tat all too rare combo of ﬁnely oned strategic tinking, activist praxis, unﬂincing moral principle, and generous eart—qualities tat sow up on every page. his is te world I want to build. As a queer (wite) Jewis feminist, I’m trilled to ave im as an ally.” —Penny Rosenwasser, founding board member, Jewis Voice for Peace, autor ofVoices from a ‘Promised Land’: Palestinian & Israeli Peace Activists Speak heir HeartsandVisionary Voices, Women on Power: Conversations wit Samans, Activists, Teacers, Artists and Healers

“Cris Crass is an important resource to movements for social justice. By educating, callenging, and training wite activists and organizers to develop teir own practices wit an eye on collective liberation for all of us, e elps us build te movements we need. His work and example provide clear models for ow tis may be done.” —Racel Herzing, Critical Resistance

“Cris Crass’s politics and praxis transverse te boundaries of anti-racist organizing, anti-capitalism, gender struggles, and international solidarity. As wit is organizing and, now, is writing, Cris as an incredible ability to ground tings in istorical context and make even te most complex ideas understandable and applicable. It’s no wonder tat te best wite allies in te movement are ‘graduates’ of te Catalyst Project.” —Rami Elamine,Left Turn

“Towards Collective Liberationis an important contribution to te istory of social movements. It a powerful, beautifully written account of twenty years of political organizing in te anarcist movement, by a young man wose entire life as been dedicated to te struggle for social justice. he book is a careful analysis of te ori-gins, strategies and debates witin movements like Food Not Bombs, te Rural Organizing Project, te Catalyst Project, sowing tat ‘anarcist organizing’ is not an oxymoron. Most impressive is Crass’s commitment to confront te sexism and racism witin te movement and willingness to scrutinize is own life in tis perspective. For anyone interested in learning about te soil from wic te Global Justice and Occupy Movements ave sprouted from, tis is an essential read.” —Silvia Federici, autor ofCaliban and te Witc: Women, he Body, and Primitive Accumulation

“Part political biograpy, part political istory and tougtful analysis, tis book is on-time in its laying out of personally tested strategies for eliminating racism, sexism, and capitalism. he juxtaposition of feminist, anarcist, and anti-racist tinking is a great jolt to te weary practices of progressive non-proﬁts tat skim te surface of cange.” —Suzanne Parr, autor ofIn te Time of te Rigt: Politics for LiberationandHomopobia: A Weapon of Sexism

“Cris Crass goes into te grassroots to produce a political vision tat will catalyze political cange. Drawing from te istory of te anarcist tradition, Crass oﬀers lessons and inspiration for a revitalized fully uman left, alert to te distinctions be-tween people and te social ierarcies tat smoter te full liberation of our uman-ity unmarked. hese are words from te eart, overﬂowing onto te streets.” —Vijay Prasad, autor ofhe Darker Nations: A People’s History of te hird WorldandKarma of Brown Folks

“In a world screaming for solidarity across all cultures, Cris Crass oﬀers actionable insigt for tose seeking accountable participation in building a better tomorrow. Crass’s insigts reveal a personal, transformational journey in te context of moving toward tat tomorrow. His writing is frank, callenging and autentic. A must-read, in particular, for dominant culture activists seeking to live a justice-seeking life in ac-countable relationsip wit istorically marginalized communities.” —Reverend Wendy von Zirpolo, founding member and past president of Unitarian Universalist Allies for Racial Equity, and cair of te Unitarian Universalist Journey Toward Woleness Transformation Committee

“Grace Lee Boggs once told me tat one’s political orientation is often determined by te milieu in wic one comes of age. For Cris Crass and oters of our generation, it was our generation’s refusal to accept te end of istory, tat capitalism was te only way. But, along te way, oter structures of domination pervaded our spaces, deﬁned by race, class, gender identity, and sexuality. Many of us tried to reconcile wit tis contradiction, but none as successfully as Cris. His tougtful essays in tis collec-tion wrestle wit tis and many oter questions, a testament to te example Cris as set for te generation of committed wite organizers tat followed.” —Yvonne Yen Liu, Colorlines.com

TOWARDS COLLECTIVE LIBERATION Anti-Racist Organizing, Feminist Praxis, and Movement Building Strategy

CHRIS CRASS

Towards Collective Liberation: Anti-Racist Organizing, Feminist Praxis, and Movement Building Strategy © Cris Crass his edition © PM Press  All rigts reserved. No part of tis book may be transmitted by any means witout permission in writing from te publiser.

ISBN: ---- Library of Congress Control Number: 2012913638

Cover by Jon Yates Layout by Jonatan Rowland

         

PM Press PO Box  Oakland, CA  www.pmpress.org

Printed on recycled paper by te Employee Owners of homson-Sore in Dexter, Micigan. www.tomsonsore.com

CONTENTS

Section I

Section II

Acknowledgments

Foreword Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

From Collective Refusal to Collective Liberation: An Introduction Chris Dixon

Towards Collective Liberation: What I Believe