RevolutionZ

Episode 289 of RevolutionZ is the sixth episode in the Oral History of the Next American Revolution Sequence. In it Barbara Bethune, Emiliano Feynman, Bill Hampton, Cynthia Parks, Harriet Lennon, and Anton Rocker discuss the initial emergence and pursuit of various strands of RPS activism including health, transport, housing, rights to the city, minimum wage, and workplace focuses. In each realm participants discuss the oppressions addressed but more so the strategies and the emotional problems encountered and steps taken to keep moving forward. 

As you can probably tell from the unexpected length -- it took me by surprise too --- this episode covers a lot more ground, as well bicycle campaigns to shorter work week and friction and play along the way. The interviewees put their experiences into words. Miguel Guevara elicits their words with his questions. Finally, I convey those words and also question or expand on them a bit as your host for this trip. If you find the time, drop me a line to let me know your reactions, or better yet, you might visit ZNetwork.org where you can read the text and also partake of discussions in the ZNet Discord system. 

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Episode 288 of RevolutionZ is the Fifth in our Next American Revolution Sequence that presents an Oral History of, well, a future revolution as recounted by its participants. Another long episode, it focuses on building RPS chapters and the personal, interpersonal, and programmatic issues that arose after the convention. The discussion emphasizes the importance of avoiding insularity by continually reaching out and  describes strategic efforts made to include influential campus figures able to broaden outreach as Bill Hampton, Cynthia Parks, and Andre Goldman discuss immediately post convention vision, structure, and program, and particularly how they went about creating local chapters. 

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Episode 287 of RevolutionZ is the fourth presenting An Oral History of the Next American Revolution. How did informed hope plus strategic activism merge into a new organization, Revolutionary Participatory Society, and inform its first convention? 

Here is what an AI spit out as its proposed summary of this episode: "Join us on this compelling episode of Revolution Z, where we dissect the elements necessary for sustainable activism through the lenses of pivotal characters like Andre Goldman, Bill Hampton, Senator Malcolm King, and Cynthia Parks. By reflecting on the fleeting revolutionary fervor of Paris 1968 and comparing it to the modern efforts for a Revolutionary Participatory Society (RPS), we uncover how informed hope can propel revolutionary progress. Through historical context and personal stories, we explore how these elements are interwoven with fostering enduring social movements.

Hear Bill Hampton recount an unforgettable encounter at a sanctuary for immigrants in San Antonio, Texas, which forever altered his path towards radical activism. What does it take to stand in solidarity in the face of brutality? As Bill shares his experience of linking arms with a congregation against violent police attempts to deport immigrant families, we delve into the deeper implications of compassion and unity in activism. We also spotlight the strategic importance of welcoming marginalized communities into public spaces and reallocating resources from militarization to social welfare, underscoring the power of grassroots organizing and mutual aid.

Lastly, embrace the transformative journeys of activists like Cynthia and Miguel, who reveal the psychological and internal barriers that often hinder social change. Through candid dialogues and reflections, we explore the resilience required to overcome personal doubts and fears of failure. From the first RPS convention to the creation of multi-issue organizations, this episode captures the essence of building collective resistance and solidarity. Tune in to discover how profound societal transformation begins with a unified vision and the courage to confront both external and inner adversities." 

The AI is actually an in-built part of the platform I use to post and distribute RevolutionZ episodes. When I upload a file, like the one for this episode, the AI whirrs a bit and then proposes five possible titles, a description such as this one, a transcript, and I think some other stuff too. Others celebrate this kind of instant "assistance." It makes me a bit ill. So I think soon I will do another episode about AI, to add to those I did some time back, but still think relevant. At any rate, I hope you will give this episode and this whole NAR sequence a chance. It is pure vision and strategy, albeit I hope at least somewhat engagingly and emotively "packaged," and as such, I would think, indeed I would hope, it would warrant critique or support, extension or correction, whichever suits you, but not nothing.  I even tried a bit of clickbait in the title, not untrue, and not, say: "Blood flowed, Tears Spilt, Baggage Jettisoned, Next American Revolution Taxis for Take-Off. " but nonetheless a bit more punchy than usual.

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Ep 286 of RevolutionZ has Evan Henshaw Plath, also known as Rabble, a visionary technologist with personal roots in developing Indymedia and even Twitter. He replays the history, logic, and implications of social media from its root democratic and participatory  intentions to its corporatization and erosion of privacy and meaningful engagement. Plath takes us, as I suspect few if any others could, from the shift from social media's early, open protocols to the centralized corporations like Twitter and Facebook that came to dominate. He then explains his ongoing quest to reclaim the decentralized spirit of the web including working on modern advancements like Nostr, and his current adaptation called Nos.social. Reflecting on historical movements like Indymedia and Occupy Wall Street, Plath emphasizes the need for autonomous spaces that support radical change and envisages the potential of independent, decentralized, privacy-focused platforms. He also discusses possible  sustainable funding of these independent platforms, underscoring a needed shift from owners and consumers to co-creators and the vital role of community collaboration. RevolutionZ listeners will likely know the depth of my antipathy for social media as usually encountered. So I hope you will listen and wind up feeling as I do, that  Plath's new project, Nos.social, is  well worth our attention and support.

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Episode 285 of RevolutionZ, the third in the Next American Revolution sequence, has future revolutionaries Senator Malcolm King and Andre Goldman discuss with Miguel Guevara their experience of their world's 2016 electoral campaign and followup. They address Sanders' incredible impact, Clinton's and the Democrat's machinations, the moral, personal, and practical dilemmas of strategic voting, the multifaceted appeal and impact of Trump, the complexities of third-party politics, and more. They reveal some of the precursor thoughts that helped lead to the emergence, growth, and success of Revolutionary Participatory Society or RPS. RevolutionZ host, Michael Albert, channels the interviews by Guevara for your listening and also interjects, as well, some comments, criticisms, and clarifications along the way.

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Episode 284 of RevolutionZ  presents chapter two (of fourteen) of An Oral History of the Next American Revolution. It relates personal precursors of revolutionary participatory society through the life experiences of  interviewees Alexandra Voline, Andre Goldman, and Senator Malcolm King who  discuss with their interviewer,  Miguel Guevara, all from their own world their personal trajectories into activism including the first major march, the early gun and militarism boycotts, overcoming early resistance and doubt,  achieving early momentum, and much much more on the road to forming and working toward Revolutionary Participatory Society in the U.S. And yes, that is a whole lot which is why this episode is by far the longest so far at four minutes under two hours.  (See the long list of topics below -- to get them, I skimmed the earlier article on ZNet, excerpt two of the serialization and grabbed here and there. It could have gone on and on...lives are big things and so is revolution....)

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Episode 283 of RevolutionZ, An Oral History of A Next American Revolution is the first episode of what hopes to be a Sequence of 14 episodes based on excerpts from a book in progress in which Miguel Guevara interviews 18 revolutionaries from a future parallel earth that is shifted 28 years forward from our own earth. The text excerpts will be published earlier in each week that each audio episode appears. The audio RevolutionZ episodes include the text material plus spontaneous reactions to it including questions, criticisms, elaborations, and clarifications that I deliver on my first hearing the material. This week has a foreword to the book by your RevolutionZ host, an introduction by Miguel Guevara the book's co-author, plus the book's first chapter which features a look forward to just after inauguration day 2048, plus many host interjections. What is the point of such a strange and risky project? To provide for discussion, evaluation, and refinement a realistic account of a possible next American Revolution's aims, methods, and lessons as discerned by a set of its very prominent and effective participants. 

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In Episode 282 of RevolutionZ, Alex Han,  of In These Times, addresses the current  surge, aims, and prospects of both labor and student activism and their possible intersection, as well as media responses and prospects. We discuss union bargaining strategies including and going beyond contract issues, campus organization and tactics, and urge the need to break down barriers between independent media outlets to forge a more strategically unified left media ecosystem. 

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Episode 281 of RevolutionZ has Avi Chomsky as guest to discuss current  campus  and community activism, colonialism, nation states, immigration, borders,  lessons from Central America and the Global South, and the role of students, labor, and religious organizations in sustaining resistance. We consider the logical and emotional innards of dissent, where strategic pursuit of immediate relief intersects with a longer term quest for societal transformation.

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Ep 280 of RevolutionZ has as guest William Lawrence, cofounder of the Sunrise Movement, housing organizer, DSA member, and much mor, to discuss  the inner workings and ideological conflicts within the Democratic Socialists of America. Should DSA work within the Democratic Party to expand progressive representation, or should it cut ties completely and forge a new path without electoral emphasis? What existing structural features exacerbate factionalism? What new features might prevent ideological conflict from overshadowing  policy discourse, or vice vers?. Reform or revolution--or both? Biden or Never Biden--or both? 

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