The Colonial Origins of the UChicago Police
Modern policing has its origin in colonial violence. The University of Chicago has long played a part in cultivating, promoting, spreading, and normalizing the tools of such state violence.
History
Settler Colonialism in Chicago: A Living Atlas
The city of Chicago was built upon the settler colonial dispossession of Indigenous peoples and lands. That history of conflict, violence, and struggle continues into the present.
“We will be defined by liberation”
Palestinian writer Yara Hawari speaks with the founders of Hajar Press on unity and fragmentation, joy and pain, and her novella, The Stone House.
“Everything in it is true”
Brekhna Aftab and Farhaana Arefin, founders of Hajar Press, speak with Palestinian writer Yara Hawari on cycles of dispossession, the beauty of oral history, and her novella, The Stone House.
CORE: The Rise and Resolve of CTU’s Fighting Caucus
The Caucus of Rank and File Educators emerged from a bitter battle against big business plans to destroy public education. By transforming the CTU into a fighting union, CORE teachers have led the struggle to create the schools all teachers and students deserve.
Solidarity with Ukraine: An Indigenous View
The story of kokum scarves has long connected Ukrainian refugees and Indigenous peoples of North America. The relationships they represent are an essential kind of solidarity today.
Ending the Curse of Colonialism
A new book by Amitav Ghosh explores the beauty, terror, and agency of non-human entities. Sustaining and rebuilding these relationships will be necessary to resist colonialist omnicide.
We Need Roe and So Much More
With the legality of abortion hanging by a thread, we cannot accept lowered expectations. We need all our rights in every state.
Walking in Mamie Till Mobley’s Footsteps
Dorothy Holmes reflects on how her personal grief compels her to work toward collective justice.
Hillbilly Nationalists & Chicago’s Rainbow Coalition
In 1960s Chicago, organizations of poor white people rejected racism and threw in their lot with the Black Panthers and Young Lords to fight for collective liberation. Their story is rich with lessons for today.
Insurrection & Abolition: Ida B. Wells and the End of the Convict Lease System
Once slavery was abolished, capitalists rebuilt an industrialized South using a new form of racialized slavery: the convict lease system. It would take multi-racial insurrectionary action to ultimately abolish convict leasing.
Myths of White Supremacy and Black Radicalism
From “race reductionism” to “dupes of Moscow.” many myths about Black radicalism and white supremacy still circulate today. In this roundtable, Charisse Burden-Stelly, Robin D. G. Kelley, and Barbara Smith provide an important counter.
Repression and Black Radical History
The socialist movement in this country was at its strongest when it developed deep ties to the movement for Black liberation. In this roundtable, Charisse Burden-Stelly, Robin D.G. Kelley, and Barbara Smith reflect on key moments of this historic connection.
All Good Social Change Comes from Mass Disruption
The New Deal wasn’t won by cozying up to congresspeople, but by workers’ disruptive mass strikes and social mobilizations. We cannot forget that in the Biden era.
Scandals, Tantrums, and Lies
In the two years since Lightfoot was elected, the mayor has deflected responsibility, brutally repressed protests, and delivered working Chicagoans a big bag of nothing. Here’s the timeline of her uninspiring tenure so far.
The Arab Spring and Abolition of the Police
The Arab Spring was an anti-police movement brought to revolutionary levels. Its lessons will be crucial to a renewed abolitionist movement in the United States and around the world.
Uptown’s Hillbilly Santa Claus
A real life St Nick, hounded by the Klan, distributed not just toys but solidarity and antiracist militancy
Black Lives Matter and the Power of History
African Americans have mobilized against the police to defend Black life since the 1960s and before. For this cycle of massive urban rebellion to succeed in changing the racist structures of society, it will require learning from this history and struggles abroad.
The Capitalist State and Socialist Strategy
States are the rules of the game in capitalist society. If we want to build socialism we’re going to have to break the rules.