Bring the Ruckus is a an organization of people who believe revolutionary transformation is necessary to bring about a world in which humans live freely and equally and in harmony with nature. We are dedicated to building a movement that can achieve such a world. The purpose of this organization is not to lead “the masses” but to debate those politics and strategies that best imagine and lead to a free society and then work to enact them in mass-oriented organizations and movements.
If you're going to be at the US Social Forum, Bring the Ruckus will be facilitating 2 sessions and participating in a third. We will also have a table.
Here are the details on our sessions.
The Liberatory Family: Are Women of Color Building the Revolution by Saving Their Families?
Thurs, 6/28. 10:30-12:30. Atlanta Civic Center, Mezzanine Right
Much of the politics of organizing is based on fitting people into an issue rather than developing a politic that describes what is happening to people. A person is a prisoner, queer, worker, etc. so all of politics is framed within this title. This workshop will examine politics from the point of view of the family. Regardless of the issue being worked on, it's most likely the common denominator is family. Specifically, at the heart of organizing is usually women of color working to keep the family together. We call this the struggle for the liberatory family. The session is about exploring a politics that puts this struggle at the center. Through a participatory dialog we will discuss:
- the commonality of liberatory family struggles
- historical connection and break between feminist struggle and struggles against white supremacy
- how do we look to and learn from liberatory family struggles.
Results from this discussion will be combined with three national dialogs on feminism and the liberatory family.
Building Revolutionary Strategy and Organization in the 21st Century: A Multi-Generational Dialogue
Fri, 6/29. 1:00-5:00 pm in the Westin Hotel, Atlanta Ballroom A
This workshop is hosted by five organizations: Bring the Ruckus, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, The Labor Community Strategy Center, League of Revolutionaries for a New America, and Solidarity.
The workshop will explore the issue of building a revolutionary Left in this country capable of defeating capitalism. In addition to representatives from the above organizations, individual members from several different social movement groups have agreed to join us in conversation. The workshop will be interactive and will combine large and small groups. Some of the questions we will address:
* What are some of the key debates facing the US Left today?
* What forms of organization do you believe are needed today?
* What struggles does your organization participate in and why? How does your work reflect your political line?
Revolutionary for the Long Haul
Sat, 6/30. 1:00-3:00. Central Library, 2nd Fl
Does a social movement exist? What would one look like? Where would we move to anyway? Will there be a revolution in our time? How do we prepare for strategic and long-haul radical work? What’s the difference between an intellectual and an academic? Through exercises based in people’s lived experience we will collectively develop answers to these questions.
Building Revolutionary Strategy and Organization...
Hey ya'll, this was a fantastic workshop. I think a lot of really important discussion was had and as such I've been dying to get access to the audio. Are you guys going to post it anytime soon?
While I think we dealt with some really difficult yet key questions like almost everything at the forum I'm left with the question of, ok so now what? How should we continue the discussion and concrete strategizing work? It would be helpful to post the notes from the second secession, because I don't remember any of the more concrete next steps forward; all I seem to recall is a unifying thread of analysis around developing revolutionary organization out of mass movements of oppressed poor and working class people. I hope others took better notes than me...
peter
left turn
nyc
Update on liberatory family workshop
Yesterday, Thursday, we held the liberatory family sessions. A mistake in the program had the session listed twice and we didn't get it cancelled in time. The first session went really well despite logistical setbacks. Finding anything within the Civic Center seems very difficult. Even the information table couldn't tell the difference between the mezzanine and the balcony. The lib fam session was listed in the same place as another session. Fortunately, we were able to work it out.
About 25 people came to the first session, majority women of color. It was a great session that really delved deeply into what our organizing efforts need to do to support the liberatory aspects of family. We didn't get into the realm of political economy, but that's to be expected I guess.
The second session had 9 people and was overwhelmingly white. It also had the most men (4). This session was really low energy and didn't have the spark the first one did. I made a call at one point not to go with small groups and that was a mistake. Folks talk more and energy builds in a small group. The larger group was an energy sucker. I was disappointed personally with the session, but the participants seem to have gotten something out of it. Or maybe they were being polite. :-)
Today we have the Building revolutionary organization panel. We expect it to be well attended. All of us are excited about it.
Dan