■ A special appearance by friends and comrades Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers in Santa Fe - the precious town known to some Cypriots as "Kyrenia of the high-altitude desert".
■ "“Whatever the so-called ’60s was, it was mainly a prelude to what we need to do today”, said Ayers."
Students of revolutionary Socialist history often see the 1905
revolution in Russia as a launching pad (a dress-rehearsal) of the 1917
revolution in Russia which gave birth to the Soviet Union. Could it be
that the revolutionary period exemplified by 1968 can act as a prelude
to another and more SUCCESSFUL global revolution? Can this happen even
though two whole generations have already passed, and we're in the
process of losing many of the people who were the bearers of the Light,
Love and Consciousness from that time?
Is it possible that the Socialist revolution possesses qualities that
are transcendental (like a number?), going beyond the boundaries of the
particular experiences of individual persons or specific populations,
embodying a transpersonal reality capable of actualizing a "small 'c'
communist" society all over the globe in the same sense that we witness
the materialization of Archetypes? In that sense, it would be reasonable
to assume that the next global prairie-fire can be self-igniting,
without the necessity of being mediated by people who have lived through
1968. Or, to say it differently, it might be possible that those would
who bring that spark over across time from 1968 to the present, might
be able to re-ignite the prairie through a discarnate process, through
an incorporeal abstraction acting on and through objective reality.
Could it be that the contradictions discovered within capitalism and
global Imperialism by marxian science keep generating the Consciousness
necessary for humanity to overcome them and replace them with the
socialist ~ communist ~ anarchist ~ feminist ~ green ~ autonomist
society we yearn for?
What about the social and political conditions? Is it possible to
envision a global collective coordinating body that will harmonize and
coordinate the Movement? Are modern populations emotionally and
politically capable of overcoming the individualism and narcissism
enforced on us by the commodity shopping culture and the Spectacle; by
narrow perceptions of collective struggle confined by the mental borders
of the nation-state; and move forward to removing the obstacles to
unity found among the communities and populations of the present? Of the
future?
Where is the radical culture that can bind us together? Where is the
organizational structure ("One Ring to free them all: One Ring to find
them, One Ring to bring them all, and in the Light to bind them")? Where
are the radical Jedi, radical Bene Gesserit, the witches and guerillas,
the musicians and healthcare workers, the geeks and "fairy weirdos" who
will serve as the cadre of a future revolutionary party that can emerge
as a Conscious force on the stage of history to embody the Last
International?
Is it viable to work in that direction? Is it premature? Are there
radicals consciously and knowingly engaged in building that network?
Does it already exist, hiding in plain view and gently guiding us in the
direction of planet-wide Liberation?
Petros Evdokas, petros@cyprus-org.net
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Radical activists to discuss next steps of resistance
By Megan Bennett / Journal North Reporter
Friday, September 22nd, 2017 at 12:02am
https://www.abqjournal.com/1067393/radical-activists-to-discuss-next-steps-of-resistance-ex-former-weather-underground-members-to-join-sfais-equal-justice-residents-on-panel.html
SANTA FE, N.M. — Two members of the Weather Underground, the 1960s-70s
radical activist group most famously known for protesting the Vietnam
War and black oppression through bombings of government buildings, will
speak at the Santa Fe Art Institute Sunday about current-day issues and
creative solutions for fighting back.
Though they are most famous for their activism in their teens and
twenties, husband and wife Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers, both now in
their seventies and living in Chicago, say they are not stuck in the
past. The two are still activists in what Dohrn called “perilous times”
with the election of Donald Trump.
“We’re not looking wistfully at a ship that already left the shore,”
said Ayers. “We’re very much living toward the future. Whatever the
so-called ’60s was, it was mainly a prelude to what we need to do
today.” He said what he and his wife were fighting for then, like
stopping the “underlying causes of war” and white supremacy, still need
resolution today.
Both Dohrn and Ayers began their activism in college protesting
against U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War and for the Civil Rights
Movement, a period during which Ayers said he participated in sit-ins
and was arrested at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
They later helped organize the Weather Underground – sometimes
labeled, then and now, as a terrorist group – that detonated small bombs
at places like the U.S. Capitol and the Pentagon to protest war and
other social issues. Three members of the Weather Underground died in
1970 at a New York townhouse while creating an explosive.
Ayers and Dohrn, who was once on the FBI’s Most Wanted List, were on
the run for several years until 1980 when they turned themselves in. By
then, most of the charges against them had been dropped. Dohrn served
less than a year of jail time for refusing to testify in a case, then
went on to a career as a legal advocate and in teaching law. Ayers
became an education professor in Chicago – whether he had any
significant associations with Barack Obama there became an issue in
presidential politics.
“My whole life I’ve been told that won’t work, that’s extreme or
that’s crazy,” said Ayers about criticism of radical activism throughout
the years. But he said activists can’t rely on what polls or powerful
figures are saying about a movement and, sometimes, unpopular or new
ideas are necessary.
Now, they’re retired college professors who keep up with movements
like Black Lives Matter, as well as activism on climate change, women’s
rights, protection of undocumented immigrants and other issues.
The two will participate in an “inter-generational” panel with
several SFAI Equal Justice Residents, a group of local and national
artists invited to work on political or social movement-related art
pieces, to discuss alternatives to addressing today’s political climate.
The couple will offer a discussion of their lives, during which
people can ask questions. They’ll be available afterward to sign copies
of their books if audience members bring them. Dohrn said the couple
welcomes all opinions and perspectives in the discussion, including
those who disagree with their past tactics.
While there is no “road map” for activism, Dohrn says everyone has
something they should be doing right now in response to today’s
political situation. She hopes the conversation with artists will evoke
some innovative ways of resistance.
“We need to talk to each other, we need to think deeply about other
domains, other than just talking in which we can impact, inspire, ignite
and imagine a different world,” said Dohrn.
If you go
WHAT: “SFAI Presents the Weather Underground: A Night of Radical Imagination” panel discussion, Q&A and book-signing.
WHERE: James A. Little Theater, New Mexico School for the Deaf, 1060 Cerrillos Rd.
WHEN: Sunday, 6-8 p.m.
TICKETS: Free, but comes with the option to include a $10 or $25
donation to help fund the Equal Justice residency. Go to sfai.org for
tickets.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Originally published here:
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