35: Sumaya A. on the fight for socialism; Thanksgiving thoughts

November 26, 2018

We’re taking a partial break this week for the holiday, but that doesn’t mean we’re leaving you hanging. Sumaya A., who joined us in episode 8 to discuss anti-imperialism and Palestine, gave a brilliant speech at the closing plenary of last week’s Marxism conference in New York City. So we’re sharing it with you to help recharge your batteries over the holiday weekend.

And for our opener, Eric joined Jen and Danny to talk about the swirl of personal and political questions that Thanksgiving poses for radicals. We discuss the ugly history behind the holiday’s myth, what we think about Black Friday, and our approaches to the inevitable political arguments around the Thanksgiving dinner table.

Link for the New York City Marxism conference (http://bit.ly/NYCmarxism)

Links about our opener on Thanksgiving:

“Why the movement shouldn’t #OccupyXmas,” Eric’s argument against ultra-left, anti-consumerist politics in the midst of the Occupy movement (http://bit.ly/XmasOccupy).

Socialist Worker articles on the real history of Thanksgiving by Caroline Gonzales and Brian Ward (http://bit.ly/RealTnksgvg) and Paul D’Amato (http://bit.ly/DamatoTksgvg).

Check out The Red Nation, a revolutionary Native organization based in New Mexico (http://bit.ly/TheRedNation).

Music for this episode:

The Boy & Sister Alma, “Lizard Eyes” (Dead Sea Captains Remix)
Gil Scott-Heron, “Home is Where the Hatred Is”
Vince Guaraldi Trio, “Thanksgiving Theme”
Mos Def, “New World Water”
Seal, “A Change is Gonna Come”