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Using Racist Memorabilia to Teach Tolerance on Truthout

"Understanding Jim Crow contains images of racist book covers, cereal and soapboxes, dishes, endless sets of postcards, greeting cards, records, minstrel joke books and sheet music, and other examples of racist memorabilia. However, it is Pilgrim's thoughtful and passionately told story that makes the book more than just another, albeit unique, history of US racism. Essentially, the book is about Pilgrim's dedication to turning garbage collecting into tools for teaching about racism...

The mission and tagline of the Jim Crow Museum is deceptively simple: "Using Objects of Intolerance to Teach Tolerance." Unfortunately, the production of racist caricatures of Black people did not end with the Jim Crow era. "Blatantly racist objects," like shooting targets depicting Trayvon Martin, were sold in the aftermath of his murder in 2012, Pilgrim points out. There is still much work to be done."—Bill Berkowitz, Truthout

Speaking OUT! wins Rainbow award for BEST Bisexual, Transgender & LGBT Debut

Speaking OUT! is also first runner up for the Rainbow award for Best LGBT Book and second runner up for Best LGBT Non Fiction, Poetry, Visual Arts / Photography.

“These are portraits of a revolution. Photographer Rachelle Lee Smith gives lesbian and gay youth an outlet to speak for themselves. Simple, yet powerful photos of queer youth speak reams.”—Advocate

“It's often said that our youth are our future. In the LGBT community, before they become the future we must help them survive today. This book showcases the diversity of creative imagination it takes to get us to tomorrow.”—Mark Segal, award-winning LGBT journalist

Buy Speaking OUT: Queer Youth in Focus

Robb Johnson's A Reasonable History of Impossible Demands— Out Now!

The life and times (so far!) of the UK’s greatest living songwriter are captured in a deluxe box set. 92 songs, on 5 CDs with a 64-page booklet. A career retrospective traversing the acoustic and the electric, the agit-folk and the chanson, the greatest hits and a welter of unreleased material.

“So—yeah, this collection does have quite a lot of politics and protest, lots of songs doing what folk song is supposed to do – provide an alternative ordinary person’s perspective to the dominant culture’s hegemonic discourse, its spin and propagandising on behalf of the interests of the ruling class. But there are also interpersonal songs about relationships, about being a son, being a lover, being a dad (think I may not have had room for the ones about being a Brentford supporter), above all about being a human … what you have here is part journal, part diary, part testament.”
—Robb Johnson

Buy A Reasonable History of Impossible Demands: The Damage to Date 1986-2013

JJ Wilson's Damnificados in the Wall Street Journal

"The unlikely gathering in J.J. Amaworo Wilson's gonzo speculative novel "Damnificados" is of hundreds of mendicant "nonpeople" who have occupied an abandoned skyscraper. The premise comes from the amazing reports out of Caracas, Venezuela, of an unfinished office tower taken over by squatters. But in Mr. Wilson's fantastical version, set in the invented slum of Faveleda, the poor are as diverse and polyglot as the crew of Melville's whaling ship: "A salmagundi of every street dog that ever raised its nose and sniffed the wind: the shoeshine boys, the hookers, the addicted and the lame. They come in rags, burqas, combat pants, in patchwork suits and miniskirts. Stetsons, pork pie hats, bowlers, beanies, turbans, pakols and patkas." —Sam Sacks, Wall Steet Journal

Upcoming Events

Sunday, Jan 10

Easter Rising 2016 Tour - James Connolly Songs of Freedom @ California Tour

Thursday, Jan 21

Diana Block (Clandestine Occupations) with Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz @ Modern Times in San Francisco

Friday, Jan 22

Kim Stanley Robinson & Terry Bisson @ American Bookbinders Museum in San Francisco, CA

Saturday, Jan 23

PM Press @ Humboldt Anarchist Book Fair in Arcata, CA

Tuesday, Jan 26

Marge Piercy (My Life, My Body and The Cost of Lunch, Etc) @ Ann Arbor, MI

Mitchell Abidor (Death to Bourgeois Society) @ The Commons in Brooklyn, NY

Friday, Jan 29

PM Press tour with Godspeed You Black Emperor @ West Coast

Saturday, Jan 30

Mitchell Abidor (Death to Bourgeois Society) @ The Base in Brooklyn, NY

Latest Blog Entries

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Slaves and Workers, Workers and Slaves Noel Ignatiev
How slavery is taught

Great Writers, Great Lives: Those We Lost in 2015 JJ Amaworo Wilson
Six great writer/activists we lost in 2015 ...

Violations of Attorney-Client Privilege: Unconstitutional and Nothing New Kris Hermes
Politically motivated surveillance is a prominent feature of today’s National Security State and is part of a playbook of tactics aggressively used by police against Muslims, dissidents, social change movements, and other targeted groups and...

Many Thousand Gone: New Orleans 10 years on JJ Amaworo Wilson
When the levees broke in New Orleans in 2005, so did the veneer of racial harmony in the United States.

What do you mean by Jewish Noir? Kenneth Wishnia
"A message from the Department of Unexpected Experiences: On every leg of our extensive tour for Jewish Noir outside of the New York area, the first question was invariably some form of, “What do you mean by Jewish noir?”At first,...

France at War II Noel Ignatiev
The fear that is gripping France today stands in ghastly contrast with the positive national mood during the days immediately following the horrific Nov. 13 attacks in Paris.

New Landauer Biography Gabriel Kuhn
Under the title "Die Politik eines ‘Antipolitikers’", the German Edition AV has published the most comprehensive biography of Gustav Landauer to date.

France at "War" Noel Ignatiev
the overall reaction of the French people (and media) was humane and peaceful

MISSOURI AND THE MOVEMENT ON CAMPUSES NATIONWIDE: NOTES ON AN INTRODUCTION TO AN OUTLINE OF A DRAFT OF A STATEMENT Noel Ignatiev
Either the U.S. is a very democratic, even revolutionary, place, where gladiators fire the president of an important ruling-class institution—something which Spartacus failed to accomplish in four years of war—or events at the Universi...

Take the Levites - Please! Kenneth Wishnia
“Take the Levites—please!”--God, Numbers 8:6 (translated by Henny Youngman) To be Jewish is to be constantly reminded of disaster or near disaster. The traditional Jewish calendar is full of events commemorating various a...

As Activists, We Build the World We Want—Which Is Still Very Far Off Vikki Law
On Monday, over 1,700 people tuned into the livestream of Ferguson is the Future, a day-long symposium at Princeton University. Unlike most science fiction/fantasy conferences, this one centered Blackness and social justice.

Police infiltration—a tactic of political repression—is on the rise in the twenty-first century Kris Hermes
Police infiltration of political dissidents—one indicator of society’s failure to adhere to basic democratic principles—is on the rise in the twenty-first century and shows no signs of letting up. Infiltration of political movem...

Welcoming Refugees Peter Marshall
Europe is at present besieged by refugees from countries in the Middle East where their governments and that of the U.S.A have intervened militarily: Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Libya.

Music and Historical Memory Mat Callahan
Music and memory have always been inseparable. After all, Memory is the name of the Goddess who was Mother of the Muses. The Muses, according to the poet Hesiod, "were nine like-minded daughters, whose one thought is singing, and whose...

In my youth Noel Ignatiev
a time-warp

NO to corporatism, NO to austerity: We need a 'People's Pride' Nicola Field
Something important happened at Pride in London this year. Decades of creeping corporate takeover and the yearly spectacle of pump-primed profiteering had all but stifled principled campaigning for LGBT rights.

Rather than look to Tampa, Cleveland should throw away the repressive policing playbook for the RNC in 2016 Kris Hermes
Last week, a Cleveland.com article asked if Tampa's approach to policing the RNC 2012 protests would "provide a blueprint for Cleveland as it prepares to host the next Republican National Convention a year from now?" However, that may b...

Class Struggle Noel Ignatiev
Is teaching in a college political activity?

The Deaths of Sandra Bland & Kindra Chapman Reflect How the Justice System Sees Black Women Vikki Law
Originally published on Bitch Magazine. "The justice system is not something we can view in isolation. It is an extension and reflection of some broader decisions we're making as a society." That was what President Barack Obama said ...

Rachelle Lee Smith speaks OUT on #BigGayAlphabet #BigGayAlphabet
The Big Gay Alphabet is terrific and fun!Each letter brings a unique perspective into the lives of LGBTQ individuals. It is playful, inquisitive, and a great conversation starter.

Race or class? Noel Ignatiev
The triumph of the Civil Rights Movement

The End of Capitalism Noel Ignatiev
A former student sent me a link to an article

DYING TO KNOW: Leary, Ram Dass, and Me Paul Krassner
Dying to Know: Ram Dass & Timothy Leary is a unique documentary that serves as an important slice of countercultural history. Peppered with poignant wit, it inspires boomers and millennials alike. I’ve been truly fortunate to have this...

Taking Down the Flag Doesn't Signal the End of White Supremacy Vikki Law
Posted July 10th on Bitch Magazine:Today, the Confederate flag finally comes down from outside the South Carolina capitol building. Two weeks ago, activist Bree Newsome scaled the flagpole and took it down herself, but now it's coming d...

Gangs of New York Noel Ignatiev
The so-called New York Draft Riot

What the Bible Really Says about Gay Marriage Kenneth Wishnia
OK, people, I was trying to hold off on this, but CBS Radio just broadcast another news report about Congressmen supporting the claim that business owners should be allowed to refuse service to gay customers because of their “religious belie...

How to Kiss Ass for Fun and Profit (mostly just profit) Kenneth Wishnia
First some praise: over the past couple of years, PM Press has published revised and expanded editions of my Edgar Allan Poe Award-nominated series of crime novels featuring Ecuadorian-American investigator, Filomena Buscarsela.

International Monetary Fund, World Bank, European Central Bank Peter Marshall
These financial institutions are entirely undemocratic and wish to create a world of laissez-faire economics and unadulterated capitalism. They are owned by international shareholders and governments.

L is for Leotard! by Jacinta Bunnell #BigGayAlphabet
L is for Leotard! by Jacinta Bunnell

Tell Your Stories of the Big Gay Alphabet #BigGayAlphabet
Craig Wiesner, publisher from Reach and Teach, admits that during the time when they were looking at first drafts of The Big Gay Alphabet Coloring Book, he had some questions about specific words chosen for some of the letters, wondering what...

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