The Modern School Movement: Anarchism and Education in the United States


Paul Avrich - 1980
    Between 1910 and 1960 anarchists across the United States established more than 20 schools wherein children studied in an atmosphere of freedom and self-reliance. The Modern Schools stood in sharp contrast to the formality and discipline of the traditional classroom and sought to abolish all forms of authority. Their object was to create not only a new type of school, but also a new society based on the voluntary cooperation of free individuals. Among the participants were Emma Goldman, Margaret Sanger, Alexander Berkman and Man Ray.

Barack Obama's Rules for Revolution: The Alinsky Model


David Horowitz - 2009
    The guru of Sixties radicals, Alinsky urged his followers to be flexible and opportunistic and say anything to get power, which they can then use to radically change existing social and economic institutions. In this insightful new booklet, Horowitz discusses Alinsky’s work in the 60s—and his advice to radicals to seize any weapon to advance their cause. This became the philosophy of Alinskyite organizations such as ACORN and influenced the future President who came up through the Chicago network created by Alinsky’s network. After analyzing Saul Alinsky’s work and pointing out that the godfather of “social organizing” created “ not salvation but chaos,” Horowitz then he asks the crucial question: “And presidential disciples of Alinsky, what will they create?”

Solidarity Divided: The Crisis in Organized Labor and a New Path toward Social Justice


Bill Fletcher Jr. - 2008
    trade union movement finds itself today on a global battlefield filled with landmines and littered with the bodies of various social movements and struggles. Candid, incisive, and accessible, "Solidarity Divided "is a critical examination of labor's current crisis and a plan for a bold new way forward into the twenty-first century. Bill Fletcher and Fernando Gapasin, two longtime union insiders whose experiences as activists of color grant them a unique vantage on the problems now facing U.S. labor, offer a remarkable mix of vivid history and probing analysis. They chart changes in U.S. manufacturing, examine the onslaught of globalization, consider the influence of the environment on labor, and provide the first broad analysis of the fallout from the 2000 and 2004 elections on the U.S. labor movement. Ultimately calling for a wide-ranging reexamination of the ideological and structural underpinnings of today's labor movement, this is essential reading for understanding how the battle for social justice can be fought and won.

Failing Up: A Professor's Odyssey of Flunking, Determination, and Hope


Barbara Hong - 2018
    She attended school against her parents' wishes. Despite her intellectual curiosity, she consistently failed her subjects because she couldn't keep up with the fast-paced, competitive, shame-inducing educational style.Flunking her 10th-grade finals just about extinguished her academic hopes. But one act of kindness radically changed her trajectory when an inspired acquaintance convinced her to redo the grade. Her new teacher--who was passionate and caring--taught students instead of subjects. A friend from her church gave her the finest tutoring, much-needed friendship, and even an example of a loving home and family.After completing 10th grade with top marks, she spent her remaining school years working tirelessly, eventually earning the Best All-Round Student award. Her passion for learning expanded into a passion for teaching; she pursued post-secondary degrees in America and began an influential career as a professor of education and international education consultant.Hong's eloquent present-tense narration animates scenes of family strife and academic struggle and evokes an astounding range of emotions--commiseration, frustration, and eventually elation. Something is always developing, whether it's the narrator herself or the plot.Though the memoir charts the author's intellectual growth, it also considers complex family relationships, poverty, Southeast Asian culture and education, disability, and determination. Hong demonstrates, through her own experiences, the pleasures and rewards of scholarship and effective teaching, and her account underscores how ordinary people can have life-changing effects on others.DescriptionWhen people first meet Barbara Hong, they often conclude that her life must have always been enriched. They assume she had loving, successful parents and all the support she needed to reach her goals. Nothing could be further from the truth.Hong's path to an Ivy League university and beyond started in a filthy tenement in Singapore where she lived with an abusive father and an illiterate mother. Even as a child of six, she worked in her sweatshop home to help with extra money, which her father often wasted on alcohol. As she endured his drinking and abuse, she feared that the pain she internalized could shatter her.But instead of falling apart, Hong managed to escape her misery, thanks to a teacher who believed in her. Once she knew she wasn't the brainless "cabbage head" her mother called her, she began excelling as a student, eventually finding the courage to leave her home and discover her true calling as a knowledge seeker, educator, and advocate.Hong's inspirational journey from a sweatshop home upbringing to influential professor movingly illustrates the true strength of the human spirit and the power of teachers.Failing UP was recognized as one of only 2% of books reviewed to earn a Kirkus STAR--the most prestigious designation in the book industry in awarding books of exceptional merit. To Read the Kirkus Review, visit: https: //www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/ba...

Hanging by the Thread


Donald B. Anderson - 2010
    They have infiltrated every facet of the federal government. They are powerful. They have extraordinary access to public funds and government technologies. The Constitution stands in their way. They have sought to destroy economic freedom, amass power to the federal government, and create mass dependency. They call themselves The Thread. And now, they are poised to rise to power. But, on the eve of their burst into power, a copy of their plan falls into the hands of a young man in the Utah State Capitol building. And now, the race is on. Time is short and a small group must struggle to preserve their lives, their nation, and freedom itself.

Cracking the Code: How to Win Hearts, Change Minds, and Restore America's Original Vision


Thom Hartmann - 2007
    How did this happen? According to Air America radio host Thom Hartmann, the apologists of the Right have become masters of the subtle and largely subconscious aspects of political communication. It's not an escalation in Iraq, it's a surge; it's not the inheritance tax, it's the death tax; it's not drilling for oil, it's exploring for energy. Conservatives didn't intuit the path to persuasive messaging; they learned these techniques. There is no reason why progressives can't learn them too. In Cracking the Code, Hartmann shows you how. Drawing on his background as a psychotherapist and advertising executive as well as a national radio host, he breaks down the structure for effective communication, sharing exercises and examples for practical application.

Inside Story: Politics, Intrigue and Treachery from Thatcher to Brexit


Philip Webster - 2016
    He has been at the centre of all the big stories of the past four decades – the fall of Labour in 1979, the rise and fall of Margaret Thatcher, the emergence and fall of John Major, the rise and fall of Tony Blair and his wars with Gordon Brown, the aftermath of 9/11, the war in Iraq, the fall of Brown, the rise and rise of David Cameron, and the shock election of Jeremy Corbyn.Beautifully illustrated with Peter Brookes’ cartoons, Webster offers fresh insight into the great stories of his time. He gives a frank and revelatory insider’s account of great political events since Michael Heseltine brandished the Mace, the night the Callaghan government fell, the day Sir Geoffrey Howe brought down Margaret Thatcher, the day Tony Blair said farewell, the night MPs voted for war in Iraq; and every Budget and autumn statement for 40 years.With the wit and geniality that has made him so many friends in politics, he reveals how stories came into his hands and how political journalism influences events as they unfolded. He has witnessed what he terms a golden age of political journalism and this book offers an intimate account of his trade. The essential handbook for anyone interested by the craft of journalism, ‘Inside Story’ reviews three decades of lead stories and the many politicians, great and small, that he has encountered.

The Sympathy Wave


P.R. Ganapathy - 2013
    Rohit is not just his party’s next Prime Ministerial candidate, but also a reluctant heir to his family’s political legacy. Soon after, the wreckage of the plane is discovered scattered over the Rajasthan desert, sending the media as well the nation’s public into a tizzy. As Rohit’s sister sweeps the general elections, riding a massive wave of public sympathy, some uncomfortable questions remain. Who is behind this audacious plan? What could be the reason behind this high-profile assassination? The proverbial finger seems to point at India’s geopolitical enemy, Pakistan, but not everyone is convinced. Anwar Islam reunites with his mentor Colonel Vijay Gupta, and his friend Vishal Karandikar to find the missing pieces of this puzzle. As the trio explores the dark alleys hidden behind the façade of India’s seat of power, unbelievable conspiracies come to light. A gripping thriller, The Sympathy Wave takes it reader into the heart of political India to uncover a nest of intrigues.

The Good Friday Agreement


Siobhan Fenton - 2018
    The botched parliament at Stormont lumbers from crisis to crisis and has scarcely passed any laws. At the time of writing, Sinn Féin and the DUP are refusing to share power and Northern Ireland is facing being run directly from London.This remarkable book examines power-sharing and the peace process in Northern Ireland on the twentieth anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement and asks what it has achieved beyond an end to violence. She concludes that, although it brought an end to violent blood shed on Northern Ireland's streets, it also failed to create healthy and functional politics.The Good Friday Agreement served an important purpose in 1998, but has since been out-paced by local and global politics. It is no longer fit to facilitate the peaceful politics it made possible, as the current collapse of power-sharing sadly shows.

Panic


David Marr - 2011
    A sudden uncontrollable fear or anxiety, often causing wildly unthinking behaviour.Australians see themselves as a relaxed and tolerant bunch. But scratch the surface and you’ll uncover an extraordinary level of fear.Cronulla. Henson. Hanson. Wik. Haneef. The boats. …Panic shows all of David Marr’s characteristic insight, quick wit and brilliant prose as he cuts through the froth and fury that have kept Australia simmering over the last fifteen years.“Turning fear into panic is a great political art: knowing how to stack the bonfire, where to find the kindling, when to slosh on a bucket of kero to set the whole thing off with a satisfying roar … These are dispatches from the republic of panic, stories of fear and fear-mongering under three prime ministers. Some chart panic on the rise and others pick through the wreckage left behind, but all grew out of my wish to honour the victims of these ugly episodes: the people damaged and a damaged country.” —David MarrDavid Marr is the multi-award-winning author of Patrick White: A Life and The High Price of Heaven, and co-author with Marian Wilkinson of Dark Victory. He has written for the Sydney Morning Herald, the Age and the Monthly, been editor of the National Times, a reporter for Four Corners and presenter of ABC TV’s Media Watch. In 2010 he wrote the Quarterly Essay Power Trip: The Political Journey of Kevin Rudd.

Screwed!: How Foreign Countries Are Ripping America Off and Plundering Our Economy-and How Our Leaders Help Them Do It


Dick Morris - 2012
    The co-authors of nine explosive New York Times bestsellers—including Revolt!, Catastrophe, Fleeced, Outrage, and 2010: Take Back America—Morris and McGann now expose a massive global scandal that affects the lives and livelihood of every American: the undeniable truth that foreign countries are ripping America off and plundering our economy. With the unemployment rate soaring and the economic picture growing bleaker by the hour, Screwed! is a necessary wake-up call for every concerned citizen, from middle class workers and Tea Party conservatives to labor leaders and environmentalists who oppose globalism and its negative economic and environmental repercussions.

Schools Cannot Do It Alone


Jamie Vollmer - 2010
    His encounters with blueberries, bell curves, and smelly eighth graders lead him to two critical discoveries. First, we have a systems problem, not a people problem. We must change the system to get the graduates we need. Second, we cannot touch the system without touching the culture of the surrounding town; everything that goes on inside a school is tied to local attitudes, values, traditions, and beliefs. Drawing on his work in hundreds of districts, Jamie offers teachers, administrators, board members, and their allies a practical program to secure the understanding, trust, permission, and support they need to change the system and increase student succes

The End of Policing


Alex S. Vitale - 2017
    Among activists, journalists and politicians, the conversation about how to respond and improve policing has focused on accountability, diversity, training, and community relations. Unfortunately, these reforms will not produce results, either alone or in combination. The core of the problem must be addressed: the nature of modern policing itself.This book attempts to spark public discussion by revealing the tainted origins of modern policing as a tool of social control. It shows how the expansion of police authority is inconsistent with community empowerment, social justice—even public safety. Drawing on groundbreaking research from across the world, and covering virtually every area in the increasingly broad range of police work, Alex Vitale demonstrates how law enforcement has come to exacerbate the very problems it is supposed to solve.In contrast, there are places where the robust implementation of policing alternatives—such as legalization, restorative justice, and harm reduction—has led to a decrease in crime, spending, and injustice. The best solution to bad policing may be an end to policing.

Malcolm X: Speeches at Harvard


Malcolm X - 1991
    These speeches document Malcolm's progression from Black nationalism to internationalism, and are key to both understanding his extraordinary life and illuminating his angry yet uplifting cause.

Worker Cooperatives and Revolution: History and Possibilities in the United States


Chris Wright - 2014
    In the framework of a revised Marxism, this book shows how a more cooperative and democratic economy is already emerging, and how we can build on its successes. Society may be on the cusp of the greatest revolutionary movement in history.