Talking Union - Pete Seeger

League of Revolutionary Black Workers online

Material on the League of Revolutionary Black Workers at the Marxist Internet Archive - well worth checking out.

International Socialism 141 now out

I don't know - you wait for what seems like ages over Christmas with only the crumbs of the New Statesman, the New Left Review and Private Eye for sustenance, and then three fine volumes of socialist writing come along together.  Not only does the new issue of Socialist Worker appear, with timely analysis of the Tories' racist scapegoating of migrants from Eastern Europe, the Mark Duggan murder by the Met police and John Newsinger writing on the First World War (a fine response to the current ahistorical propaganda of Michael Gove and the pathetically weak response from Labour's Tristram Hunt, who not only declared the Left 'supported' the war - er, Keir Hardie? the SLP? - but also that Kaiser Wilhelm II was a fascist (!)). The new Socialist Review is also now out as is the new volume of International Socialism, which among other delights including pieces on the left after Grangemouth, transgender oppression and resistance, the late Marxist historian Raymond Challinor also has a timely piece on the internet, social media and the workplace which is sure to stir up debate.  While I am here, on the subject of remembering the First World War, the London Socialist Historians Group has organised an important conference on the matter on Saturday 25 January - for details see here.

Leon Kuhn - revolutionary socialist cartoonist

Today is the day of Leon Kuhn's funeral - and while I was not able to be there there is a wonderful obituary of this fine political cartoonist in this week's Socialist Worker, giving a good sense of his all too short life and tremendous work.  Many of his campaigning posters, such as the famous one of (the now financially as well as intellectually and morally bankrupt) British Nazi Party fuhrer Nick Griffin became classics, and by way of paying tribute to his memory and pointing people towards the fight to kick the British Nazis out of the European parliament this May I will republish his portrayal of Griffin below on Histomat.  RIP Leon.

 

Justice for Mark Duggan

Shaun Hall Mark's brother said, "We came for justice today but we did not get justice. We are leaving with injustice. "We have got nothing to hide, we have done nothing wrong. We will still fight for justice." Carole Duggan, Mark's aunt said, "The majority of the people in this country know that Mark was executed. "We are going to fight until we have no breath left in our body for Mark and his children." She promised not to give up, shouting, "No justice, no peace."
 The response from the family of Mark Duggan of shock and fury to the decision of an inquest jury into his killing by police on Wednesday, which concluded that Mark Duggan was "lawfully killed" by police in August 2011.
Twitter: @justice4mark on Twitter Facebook: bit.ly/justice4mark Email: justiceformarkduggan@gmail.com