Books for Progressine Readers
True Tales from the Frontier
Puro Border: Dispatches, Snapshots and Graffiti from
La Frontera
Edited by Luis Humberto Crossthwaite, John William Byrd and Bobby Byrd
Cinco Puntos Press 2003
$18.95 (paper)
The border—meaning the border between the U.S. and
Mexico—is where cultures, lives and countries intersect and come crashing
into each other. It is a place of sleaze and exploitation, violence and decadence.
And a place of valiant struggle in the face of some of the worst oppression
and temptation these two cultures have to offer.
Like the border towns themselves, Cinco Puntos Press's new book Puro Border
is a jarring yet almost irresistible collage of elements. The press itself
is located within a stone's throw of the border in El Paso, Texas, across
the border from Ciudad Juarez. The book is a collection of mostly previously-published
articles and literary works by mostly local Mexican and U.S. journalists covering
all facets of border life. There are grim statistics on the economic harshness
and exploitation of the maquiladora industry, paired with reluctant celebrations
of the culture of indulgence—in sex, drugs and experimentation—that
also characterizes the border. There is a whole section on violence against
women in Juarez, mostly focusing on the largely unsolved murders of over 300
women in the past decade. This chapter offers both useful hard facts and provocative
influence on this widely ignored or misrepresented situation.
There are works from well-known writers, including revolutionary vagabond
John Ross and multi-ethnic novelist Leslie Marmon Silko. As the ongoing "war
on terrorism" and an overall anti-immigrant sentiment escalates in the
U.S., the pages of telling statistics and deep cultural-political analysis
offered here are not only intriguing but invaluable.
— Kari Lydersen
Prairie Radical
Prairie Radical: A Journey Through the Sixties.
By Robert Pardun
Shire Press, 2001
$15.00 (paper)
Why do ordinary young people do extraordinary things? Robert
Pardun shares his own upbringing in a mixed neighborhood in Pueblo, Colorado.
His dad, "described himself as a conservative Republican, which meant
to him that he strongly believed in the conservation of the rights given to
the people by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights."
He acted on those beliefs and raised a son who would as well. Pardun's journey
takes him to Texas, where he became involved in Students for a Democratic
Society (SDS) while at the University of Texas, to Chicago, where he was a
national officer of SDS, and finally to Arkansas where he joined a late '60's
back-to-the-land commune. His passion encompassed a range of issues during
pivotal times.
Better than any author I've read, Pardun develops and documents the crackling
interaction between SDS's irrepressible enthusiasm for justice, police and
FBI secret dirty tricks (COINTELPRO), the growing battles over organizational
structure and attempts by other groups to take over SDS. The book includes
many photos of Texas activists at work and reproductions of SDS leaflets and
FBI documents which give added dimension to Pardun's fascinating tale. One
of the best books I've read about white radicals in the 60's. A must-read
for anyone interested in social change.
— Cathy Wilkerson
‘60s Story of Resistance
Bring the War Home
By Barry Willdorf
A Gauche Press;
$14.95 (paper)
Just in time for America’s new war comes a San Francisco
attorney’s exuberant first novel about the nation’s most divisive
and unpopular conflict: the war in Vietnam.
In Bring the War Home!, Barry Willdorf tells the story of newlywed radicals—
Eric and Emma—and their move in 1970 from New York City to Southern
California to organize and defend antiwar Marines at Camp Pendleton in Southern
California.
The Marine Organizing Project included a “number of vets who had been
to Vietnam and whose experiences there had changed their minds about our country
and about what they believe in,” writes Willdorf. “They knew that
by this time there were vast number of troops who didn’t believe in
the mission. GIs so traumatized by the Vietnam experience that they had become
suicidal, homicidal, catatonic, angry and a general drag.”
For Eric and Emma there’s a $5,000 contract, a collective to join—with
most living in a virtual bunker of a house that has been shot up by right
wing vigilantes —commodity food to eat, the chance to start married
life against the constant talk of politics, feminism, and racism along with
the ‘60s triad of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll.
Willdorf captures the enthusiasm and idealism of the era, despite the constancy
of war. More importantly, he tells the near forgotten story of the growing
disillusionment of many soldiers.
“And pretty soon pullin’ the trigger gets a little harder,”
says a Marine who doesn’t want to return to Vietnam. “An’
you know it could be a death sentence, but a part of you feels betrayed and
doesn’t give a shit, ‘cause you’re wondering, maybe a little
bit, maybe that what you done, that what you’re doin’ just ain’t
all that OK, ain’t all that for God and Country like you thought and
just possibly that you might deserve to take a hit.”
At a recent Occidental reading, Willdorf made it clear that the novel mirrors
his own life.
A graduate of Columbia Law School, Willdorf spent those student years as an
organizer for Students for a Democratic Society, SDS. After failing his pre-induction
physical, he decided to defend GI war resisters and victims of racial discrimination.
During that time, the U.S. government described him as “armed and dangerous.”
The self-published novel could have benefited from tighter editing. Still,
Willdorf tells a great story and his dialog rings true.
Bring the War Home! may be the perfect gift for the baby boomer, former war
resister or anyone with an interest in the Vietnam War era.
For more information about Bring the War Home! visit www.agauchepress.com.
— Sara Peyton
The Press Democrat, Petaluma, CA
Don’t Mourn, Organize
Joe Hill: The IWW & the Making of a Revolutionary
Working Class Counterculture
By Franklin Rosemont
Charles H. Kerr Press, 2003
$17.00 (paper)
This could possibly be the most comprehensive book
on revolutionary union leader and singer/songwriter Joe Hill ever published.
At over 600 pages, the tome, put out by the country's oldest labor press,
includes copious explanation, analysis and documentation of Hill's life and
struggles as well as lesser-known aspects of his being and the history and
work of the Wobblies (Industrial Workers of the World, or IWW).
These include explorations of Hill's and the Wobblies' connections to surrealism
and the Beat movement, Wobbly feminism and issues of race within the Wobbly
movement.
The book is richly illustrated with prints by Wobbly artist and Chicagoan
Carlos Cortez, as well as Hill's own artwork and other posters and cartoons
of the time. It is also peppered with quotes and poems from throughout history—from
poet Gregory Corso, musician Charles Mingus, and activist Lucy Parsons, among
others—painting an overall picture of the spirit of celebration and
resistance.
The book details the Utah government's framing of Hill on murder charges and
his subsequent execution, in 1915 at the age of only 38. It describes how
Hill urged his fellow union members against organizing in his defense, both
naively believing that his innocence would set him free and not wanting his
case to detract from larger struggles. A dedicated group of unionists and
leftists did rise to Hill's defense, but were unable to prevent his martyrdom.
The book includes an eerie drawing published in the mainstream media showing
the layout of the prison and plans for Hill's execution, along with Ralph
Chaplin's cartoon showing Utah Gov. Spry and the state supreme court executing
a smiling Hill as a sun with the word "Organization" rises in the
background.
There is also Hill's handwritten, whimsical, and rhyming last will, and a
funeral announcement with the words, "They've filled his warrior heart
with lead; they gloat to see him safely dead; His voice forever hushed and
still—Our singing, fighting, brave Joe Hill."
After his execution, Rosemont notes, the Wobblies took to heart Hill's exhortation
"Don't mourn, organize!" and increased their efforts even more.
This tenacity in the face of tragedy serves as both a comfort and inspiration
for our current times. Likewise, the book paints an inspiring and affectionate
portrait of Hill not only as a fearless, radical, and effective organizer
and bard but as a poet, artist, and more with a sense of humor and compassion
to match.
— Kari Lydersen
Surrealist Subversions: Rants, Writings & Images by the Surrealist Movement in the United States
Edited and Introduced by Ron Sakolsky, Foreword by Franklin Rosemont
Autonomedia 2002
$24.00 (paper)
"Surrealism? In Chicago?" Nelson Algren reportedly
said incredulously to surrealist Franklin Rosemont in 1975. "You're going
to need a lot of luck."
In his essay in the massive 742-page tome Surrealist Subversions, Ron Sakolsky
says that despite Algren's skepticism a healthy surrealist movement had been
blooming in the Midwestern city since the mid-60s.
"The Chicago Surrealist Group had been a defiant presence in the Windy
City for nine years," writes Sakolsky, a pirate radio expert. "And
it has sustained that persona ever since, blowing in and out of the unfolding
cityscape of collective imagination, speaking bluntly in the language of desire,
and unabashedly urging the realization of our dreams."
Surrealist Subversions, recently published on Autonomedia, covers just about
everything under the sun in relation to surrealism in the U.S. There are sections
on the terror and boredom of work; patriarchy and sexual oppression; "exposing
false poets and the miserabilist media"; "the lie of whiteness";
the environment; surrealist women; Black music and art; pop culture; critiquing
the Left; and much more.
The book's publication was spearheaded by Rogers Park (Chicago) residents
Franklin and Penelope Rosemont and includes many Chicago contributors (including
various Heartland regulars) as well as a lengthy section on surrealism in
Chicago. While the Windy City may be a footnote in most international and
academic studies of surrealism, the book shows that the city has in fact been
a vibrant and freewheeling bastion of political surrealist dissent from at
least the 1930s on.
Among the many other Chicago surrealist celebrities chronicled here is Slim
Brundage, king of the soap-box at Bug House Square, IWW (Wobbly) labor organizer
and janitor of the dadaesque College of Complexes.
The book points out the primacy of the Wobblies and famous labor organizers
like Joe Hill in the surrealist movement, as well as the deep involvement
of surrealists in opposing the Vietnam War, around the world and specifically
in Chicago. During the infamous 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago, surrealists
launched the Gallery Bugs Bunny, marked only by a large painting of a carrot-chomping
rabbit, that was "not just an art gallery but a meeting place for local
radicals: surrealists, Black Panthers, Wobblies, Diggers, anarchists, SDSers,
you-name-it."
While the areas that were the Gallery Bugs Bunny and Bughouse Square are now
full of yuppies, manicured grass and decorative wrought-iron fences, the book
maintains that the spirit of Slim Brundage and the rest lives on in Chicago.
The College of Complexes does still exist, as does the journal Race Traitor
and other surrealist and revolutionary anarcho-institutions. Central among
these are the Charles H. Kerr press and the Black Swan surrealism imprint,
small but prolific independent outfits run by the Rosemonts which publish
various works of labor history, surrealism and other forms of resistance.
In his introduction, Rosemont lets fly with a laundry list proving that surrealism
is still alive in Chicago and beyond.
— Kari Lydersen
Moore’s Back
Stupid White Men
By Michael Moore
Regan Books 2003
$24.95 (hardcover)
In a time when it has been labeled “unpatriotic”
to voice dissent against the U.S. Government, you really have to admire the
courage of people like Michael Moore.
The director of Roger & Me is back with a new book: Stupid White Men…and
Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation! (Regan Books). The sharply
critical yet laid-back persona of Moore that we all have come to know and
love shines through in this easy to read and compelling work.
Moore, recently known for his support of the Green Party in the 2000 Presidential
Election and his disapproval of George W. Bush, attacks the current administration
in this book. Leaving no stone unturned, he makes a compelling argument why
Americans (and the rest of the world) should have serious trepidation about
the man with his finger on “The Button.”
Bush isn’t the only target on Moore’s hit list. Throughout the
book, Moore reprimands members of Congress, even past presidents (i.e., Bill
Clinton- a Democrat) for practicing politics in order to yield personal gain
instead of the public good.
It may be easy for many to write off Moore as a pissed-off radical. I would
say he’s more of a pissed-off liberal -- and rightfully so. Even though
the book is hilarious, it is raises some serious questions about the morality
of our government and society. There is nothing radical about trying to get
to the truth. One cannot escape the validity of Moore’s arguments as
he cites from many governmental agencies and public reports. More importantly,
this book is an inspiration to voice one’s opinion (even in these “patriotic”
times). Several times Moore suggests that the reader circulate petitions,
organize protests, and even run for office.
Michael Moore could be the most patriotic man in the country right now. The
success of Stupid White Men should give us hope—hope that others will
ask the same questions that Moore does and demand answers that we all deserve.
— Mike Stephen
Skeleton Carnival
Viva
Posada
Charles H. Kerr Press, 2002
(paper)
The world of Jose Guadalupe Posada is a world of skeletons;
female skeletons grinning garishly below fancy plumed hats; a "dandy"
skeleton dolled up in tail coat and boots; an army of skeletons revolting
against a tassle-shouldered general.
It is a world where death is both ever-present and irrelevant, where mortality
is presented as the great equalizer of the classes, mocking the rich and empowering
the poor.
More specifically these skeletons are calaveras, the traditional Mexican Dia
de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) symbol that Posada popularized through his
work at the turn of the century. Posada is consideredone of the great radical
artists in Mexican history, part of the cultural and political movement that
brought down corrupt president Porfirio Diaz and setthe stage for the Mexican
revolution.
Viva Posada, a just-published book on the independent Rogers Park-based Charles
H. Kerr press, is like the perfect trick-or-treat favor, a slim but image-packed
collection of Posada’s works along with quotes on the artist’s
significance and legacy from various local and national artists and writers
ranging from Frida Kahlo and Octavio Paz to Chicago surrealists Franklin and
Penelope Rosemont. The book is edited and introduced by Carlos Cortez, a local
artist of national fame who continues the tradition of radical art tinged
with humor and human empathy.
"To be a master of death may not seem to be an enviable position,"
write Paul and Beth Garon. "But to see it exercised by Posada is to attach
new meaning to the intransigence of mortality."
— Kari Lydersen
Earth Day and the Progressive Movement
Beyond Earth Day: Fulfilling the Promise
By Senator Gaylord Nelson, with Susan Campbell and Paul
Wozniak
Forward by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
University of Wisconsin Press, 2002
Progressives worry today about how we’ll change the
political discourse. If we’re looking for “how tos” maybe
we should look at a single day in 1970 that changed the way many people think.
That day was Earth Day, April 22. It was a day of in-the-streets activism,
involving 20 million in U.S. schools, college campuses and public events.
If you’re under 45, you probably have no memory of the psychological
impact of that first Earth Day.
Overnight, a new issue—“the environment”—became an
accepted part of political, social and business agendas. Earth Day so worried
President Richard Nixon that he gave in to pressure for environmental action
at the federal level and formed the Environmental Protection Agency.
The story of Earth Day is now told by the founder of Earth Day, Wisconsin
Senator Gaylord Nelson, in a new book, Beyond Earth Day: Fulfilling the Promise
(University of Wisconsin Press, 2002). The story should empower progressives
who may be intimidated by a federal government that refuses to enforce many
environmental laws. Yes, it’s dark now, but many of us recall a United
States where there was no standing in court for environmental issues, much
less a mention in the mainstream news media. There were no environmental laws
or principles to argue about, much less a constituency that wanted to be informed.
Environmentalists should assert their claims with great moral purpose, according
to the book’s foreword by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Environmentalism is
one of the few places where citizens force their way into the power structures
of American democracy, he says, and that’s why environmentalism is so
harshly attacked.
For those feeling uninformed about the basics of environmental issues in the
nation, Beyond Earth Day provides a primer. It’s co-authored by environmental
journalist Susan Campbell and environmental expert Paul Wozniak. For details,
see www.beyondearthday.com.
—H. Joseph Anderson
Pow Wows & Fat Cats
Pow Wows & Fat Cats
By E. Donald Two-Rivers
2003
$12.00 (paper)
E. Donald Two-Rivers promises in the opening poem of his
book, Pow Wows, Fat Cats, and Other Indian Tales, that his storytelling “might
make you squirm.” His accessible style succeeds. He borrows from the
common modern experiences of alienation, seduction, and escape in order to
portray the injustices of contemporary life. In over sixty poems, Two-Rivers
leads readers through episodes of history, both his own personal trials and
those of Native American culture. He pays homage to Native American principles
in the initial poems. His writing shifts as the book progresses—the
tone darkens and the prose contracts. Two-Rivers explores alienation in urban
life—of women, men, people of color, rich, poor, addicted. Capturing
very diverse notions of recovery, the author describes the hope and pain of
seductions and escapes. In the end, Two-Rivers adeptly shows us that history
and recovery are inextricable.
Two-Rivers does not write about what poetry pretends to mean. His voice is
honest and earnest. Poems such as “Kee Way Goon Abeak” and “As
a child” honor Anishinaabe heritage and establish the history robbed
of Native Americans. “The Boxing Lesson” presents a painful coming
of age story and signifies the poet’s transition from childhood to an
alienated adulthood. We learn something about the author in each of his poems,
but he also describes the intimate details of life that represent us all.
As the book enters into the urban environment, Two-Rivers demonstrates how
dreams sold become nightmares. Examples such as “Big Shoulders Sagging,”
“Vulgar Bulletin,” and “Chili Corn” are vivid portraits
of painful economic and social issues. He secures in his prose the fleeting
distinction between hope and escape, characterizing it in stories of sexual
encounters, drug addiction, and visions of America’s caste system. “Road
Crew” and “Wee Jee Waugun” demonstrate how fantasy and nostalgia
respectively reinforce or transform.
Two-Rivers accomplishes his goal, set out in “Old Dog Soldier”
to demonstrate how “manifest destiny haunts our collective minds.”
But he does not abandon his readers there. The book concludes with a series
of poems that recognize the contradictions of recovery. “Special Rights,”
“Warrior’s War,” and “Not on the Guest List”
identify the needs to heal our selves, our histories and our democratic process.
— Laura Herman
Historical Gem
Honeyboy
A Film by Scott Taradash
2003
He may not be a household name, but David “Honeyboy”
Edwards is an American historical icon. In the 2002 documentary Honeyboy,
Chicago filmmaker Scott Taradash illuminates the life of blues guitarist and
songwriter Honeyboy Edwards while simultaneously creating a rich historical
perspective of the Delta blues.
The film began with a scene of “Honeyboy” in his hometown of Shaw,
Mississippi. Scenes of the old South, along with its cotton fields, general
stores and abandoned mills conjure up stories from Honeyboy’s childhood.
As an aged Honeyboy Edwards played on his guitar, he spoke of his early years
working in the cotton fields and hustling to help his family make ends meet.
Edwards comes across as a charming man with an astonishingly vivid memory
of his life. He tells stories of touring through the Jim Crow South as a teenager
alongside blues pioneer Big Joe Williams. Taradash takes us on a tour as Honeyboy
revisits his years in Greenwood, Mississippi and Memphis, Tennessee. Through
this visual journey, we learn about the history and formation of the Delta
blues sound and how Honeyboy carved out a piece of that historical tapestry
by playing with such legends as Robert Johnson and Charley Patton. Blues guitarists
Willie Foster and B.B. King also contribute to the richness of this film and
help to illuminate the contributions and significance of Edwards.
While unable to experience widespread name recognition throughout much of
his early years, Edwards now enjoys legitimate acclaim as an historical treasure
and international success as a touring blues musician. He attributes much
of his current success to his manager Michael Frank of the Earwig Music label.
He was recently honored as a national treasure with the 2002 National Heritage
Award.
In the film, 87-year-old Edwards appears healthy, vibrant and exemplifies
a life lived without regrets.
—Reviewed By Lois Price