The IndypendenT #229: nOVeMBeR 2017 • IndypendenT.ORG

ARTS FUndInG FOR The ReST OF US, p4 AMAZOn STALKS The BIG AppLe, p6 FALL MUSIC, p20

ReSISTAnCe & ReSILIenCe In

pUeRTO RICO Hurricane Maria COVeRAGe STARTS On pAGe 10 survivors inside their home. CAROLYN COLE/GETTY IMAGES

WE REMEMBER. MARCH WE RESIST. ACROSS THE SANDY5TH ANNIVERSARY WE RISE. BROOKLYN SATURDAY OCTOBER 28TH 11AM CADMAN PLAZA, BROOKLYN BRIDGE 2 COMMUNITY CALENDAR The IndypendenT

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS: FRI OCT 20 retrospective of Ayón’s work FROM SYRIA Costumes are strongly encour- Ellen Davidson, Anna Gold, 6:30PM • FREE on view at El Museo del Barrio Appearing with journalist and aged. Alina Mogilyanskaya, Ann SCREENING: BLACK PANTHERS: (1230 5th Ave.) until Nov. 5. illustrator Molly Crabapple, DROM Schneider, John Tarleton VANGUARD OF THE REVOLUTION KING JUAN CARLOS I OF SPAIN Wendy Pearlman will discuss 85 Avenue A A fi lm screening and discussion CENTER, AUDITORIUM her new book, which chronicles EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: on the riveting documentary 53 Washington Square South the war in Syria from its origins WED NOV 1 John Tarleton exploring the Black Panther to its present horror through 7:30PM • $30 Party, its signifi cance for black TUE OCT 24 the words of ordinary people. BOOK LAUNCH: MATT TAIBBI ASSOCIATE EDITOR: people and to the broader 7PM–10 PM • FREE BLUESTOCKINGS BOOKSTORE PRESENTS I CAN’T BREATHE: A Peter Rugh American culture and the pain- FORUM: CLIMATE SOLUTIONS 172 Allen St. KILLING ON BAY STREET ful lessons wrought when the TOWN HALL Rolling Stone journalist Matt CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: movement derailed. As part of a week of action SAT OCT 28 Taibbi presents his newest Ellen Davidson, Alina MAYDAY SPACE marking fi ve years since Su- 11AM–2PM • FREE book, an immersive account Mogilyanskaya, Nicholas 176 St. Nicholas Ave., Brooklyn perstorm Sandy, 350Brooklyn MARCH: #SANDY5 of the infamous killing of Eric Powers, Steven Wishnia and the Brooklyn College Urban On the 5th anniversary of Su- Garner on Staten Island by MON OCT 23 Sustainability Program are host perstorm Sandy, New Yorkers New York City police. Tickets ILLUSTRATION DIRECTOR: 7PM–9PM • $5–$10 a climate town hall. The panel will march together to remem- available at eventbrite.com. Frank Reynoso DEBATE: DOES NEW YORK includes Priya Mulgaonkar ber the lives lost, the damage Book included with admission. STATE NEED A CON-CON? from the New York City Envi- incurred and to demand bold ST. JOSEPH’S COLLEGE DESIGN DIRECTOR: Once every 20 years NY voters ronmental Justice Alliance and climate action from elected 245 Clinton Ave.,Brooklyn Mikael Tarkela have the chance to convene Sean Sweeney, Director of the leaders. a state constitutional con- CUNY International Program 1 Cadman Plaza East, Brooklyn SAT NOV 4 DESIGNERS: vention. This Nov. 7 will be for Labor, Climate and Environ- 8PM–11PM • $10 Leia Doran, Anna Gold that chance. But is it a good ment. Register in advance via TUE OCT 31 THRU NOV 5 PARTY: LATIN LEATHER idea? The Indy hosts a debate eventbrite.com. 7:30PM TUE–FRI, 2PM & 7PM DANCE PARTY SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER: featuring Danielle DeMat- BROOKLYN COLLEGE SAT–SUN • $30 Gogo men, raffl e prizes, DJ Elia Gran teo, founder of SheNYCArts, 2900 Bedford Ave. PERFORMANCE: MACBETH Chiki, salsa, merengue, bachata and digital strategist Minista No Name Collective presents a and more. All proceeds go to GENERAL INQUIRIES: THU OCT 26 novel interpretation of William the Hispanic Federation for [email protected] Jazz for the Yes side and Mike Fabricant, 1st Vice President of 6:30PM–8PM • FREE Shakespeare's Macbeth at the Hurricane Maria relief efforts. Professional Staff Congress- DISCUSSION: IMPERIALISM & Brooklyn Navy Yard. Lady Mac- THE EAGLE NYC SUBMISSIONS & NEWS TIPS: CUNY,and Dahlia McManus, LATIN AMERICA: LAND GRAB- beth morphs into her husband 554 W 28th St. [email protected] deputy director of the Working BING OF GARÍFUNA PEOPLES: when she invokes the spirits to Families Party, for the No side. Leaders from the black-indig- "unsex me here." SUN NOV 5 ADVERTISING & PROMOTION: BROOKLYN COMMONS enous Garífuna people speak THE YARD 2PM–5PM • Sliding scale, [email protected] 388 Atlantic Ave. about the threats posed to their 16 Waverly Ave., Brooklyn Navy $6–$15 communities by multinational Yard TALK: KENT STATE: DEATH & VOLUNTEER CONTRIBUTORS: MON OCT 23 corporations and their own DISSENT Sam Alcoff, Linda Martín 6PM–9PM • FREE Honduran government TUE OCT 31 Thomas Grace will discuss Alcoff, Gino Barzizza, Bennett LECTURE: NKNAME: REMEM- CUNY GRADUATE CENTER 8PM–2AM • $10 his book Kent State: Death and Baumer, José Carmona, BERING THE CUBAN PRINT- 365 Fifth Avenue, Romm C198 PARTY: SOVIET 80’S HALLOW- Dissent in the Long Sixties. Grace, Maya Chung, Valerio Ciriaci, MAKER BELKIS AYON EEN PARTY a Kent State alum, explores the Leia Doran, Renée Feltz, A panel conversation on FRI OCT 27 Dance to the tunes of the historical tragedy that occured Bianca Fortis, Lynne Foster, the life and work of the late 7PM–9:30PM • FREE 1980's Soviet Union, espe- when members of the National Priscilla Grim, Lauren Kaori Afro-Cuban artist Belkis Ayón. BOOK LAUNCH: WE CROSSED A cially those produced by the old Guard opened fi re on students Gurley, Amir Khafagy, David This event coincides with a BRIDGE AND IT TREMBLED: VOICES state-run Melodiya records. on May 4, 1970. The battle over Hollenbach, Georgia Kromrei, Gena Hymowech, Dondi J, Colin Kinniburgh, Gary Martin, Erik McGregor, Mike Newton, Donald Paneth, Federico di Pasqua, Dean Patterson, Astha Rajvanshi, Mark Read, Reverend Billy, Jesse Rubin, Steven Sherman Pamela Somers, Gabriella Szpunt, Leanne Tory-Murphy, AdVeRTISe In The Indy Jamara Wakefi eld, Matthew Wasserman, and Amy Wolf. UnIQUe AUdIenCe | AFFORdABLe RATeS | peRSOnAL ATTenTIOn

VOLUNTEER DISTRIBUTORS: Arun Aguiar, Eric Brelsford, November 2017 Chris Brown, Pam Brown, FOR MORe InFORMATIOn, eMAIL [email protected] OR CALL 212-904-1282 Joseph Epstein, Lew Friedman, Mindy Gershon, Tami Gold, Zack Kelaty, Bill Koehnlein, Michael Korn, Jane LaTour, Dave Lippman, The IndypendenT Saul Nieves, and Carol Smith. The IndypendenT 3 OCT/nOV IN THIS ISSUE

the memory and meaning of heart-pounding historical texts SANDRO KOPP/SONY PICTURES CLASSIC shooting continues to this day. and take part in an auction of Hosted by the Marxist Education revolutionary paraphernalia. Project. Play your favorite character NEW PERSPECTIVES THEATRE from Lenin to Rasputin to the COMPANY Romanovs, from Trotsky to 458 W. 37th St. Alexandra Kollantai. Costumes optional. TUE NOV 7 THE BROOKLYN COMMONS 6PM–9PM • FREE 388 Atlantic Ave. CELEBRATION: THE 100TH AN- NIVERSARY OF THE SOCIALIST MON NOV 13 CULTURAL LABOR, p4 REVOLUTION IN RUSSIA 7:30PM –10PM • $10 Artists of color want a chance to Join the Journal of Labor and Soci- READING: A CELEBRATION OF make it here. ety in commemorating this world GWENDOLYN BROOKS altering event. Learn about how A celebration of the late great FRee edUCATIOn? p5 socialism wiped out illiteracy, poet and author, featuring read- A CUNY student cries foul at ended women’s bondage, unem- ings by Elizabeth Alexander, Cuomo’s scholarship plan. ployment and Russia’s participa- Tyehimba Jess, Yusef Komu- tion in war and empire. nyakaa, Quraysh Ali Lansana, AMAZOn, TeCh & dISpLACeMenT, p6 CENTER FOR WORKER EDUCA- Marilyn Nelson, Atsuro Riley, As New Yorkers grapple with

TION, 7TH FL. AUDITORIUM Sapphire, Solmaz Sharif and RUSSIAN SCHOOL/TATE MUSEUM gentrifi cation, what kind of 25 Broadway Patricia Smith. innovation does New York really UNTERBERG POETRY CENTER OF need? THU NOV 9 THE 92ND STREET Y 7PM–9PM • $16 1395 Lexington Ave. nUyORICAnS ReSpOnd, p10 SCREENING: “195 LEWIS” Mainland mutual aid work Enjoy two new releases high- WED NOV 15 for relatives on the island is lighting the experiences of queer 7:30PM–10PM • $20 underway. Here’s how you can and trans people of color. First, CLASS: WITCHCRAFT 101: help out too. catch the short Walk for Me, a PLANT MAGIK contemporary coming-out story; Take part in a hands-on, in-depth dISASTeR CApITALISM, p11 next, an episode of the web exploration of herbs, roots, min- Creditors and Private series “195 Lewis,” a boundary- erals and curios, their attributes, contractors are preparing to prey pushing dramedy that follows uses and interactions. Learn on storm-struck Puerto Rico. a group of women navigating how to access the medicine and black and queer life in Bed-Stuy. magic plants have to offer. Find ReCOVeRy FROM BeLOW, p12 This screening will be followed out what makes certain herbs Puerto Rican activists fought by a Q&A with series-creator “sacred.” austerity, now they’re fi ghting Chanelle Aponte Pearson and CATLAND for survival. cast members. Brooklyn rapper 987 Flushing Ave., Brooklyn Nappy Nina will perform. CALLInG MAMA, p14

BROOKLYN MUSEUM THU NOV 16 FROM BEIRUT TO 195 LEWIS LLC A poem for Puerto Rico. 200 Eastern Pkwy 6PM–8PM • FREE BLEEKER STREET: SHOWCASE: WOMEN PHO- Yasmine Hamdan, shown peACe & COCAIne, p16 SUN NOV 12 TOGRAPHERS OF THE AFRICAN here in Jim Jarmusch’s Only The Trump administration’s 1:30PM–10:30PM • $20 DIASPORA Lovers Left Alive, takes her demands for more coca SCREENING: NYC CANNABIS A celebration of the highly-antic- soulful Arab pop sound to Le eradication have put Colombia’s FILM FESTIVAL ipated inaugural issue of MFON, Poisson Rouge on Nov. 16. fragile peace process in peril. The third annual New York City a bi-annual journal committed Cannabis Film Festival brings to establishing and representing When The RedS RULed, p18 you the best of cannabis cinema. the voices of women photog- JOANNA GET YOUR On the achievements and failures This year’s selections include raphers of African descent. GUN: A Soviet agitprop of the Russian Revolution one nine short and two feature fi lms This issue features 100 women poster circa 1919. Get your hundred years on. from seven countries. photographers from across the Bolshevik on with a Nov. 7 WYTHE HOTEL African diaspora. celebration of the Russian AUTUMn SOUndS, p20 80 Wythe Ave., Brooklyn MAGNUM FOUNDATION Revolution at the Center New music to listen to this fall. 2017 November 59 East 4th St. for Worker Education SUN NOV 12 and a costume party COp WATCheR, p21 2PM–7PM • $15 THU NOV 16 fundraiser hosted by The Author Alex Vitale doesn’t have FUNDRAISER: PARTY LIKE IT’S 7PM • $25 Indy on Nov. 12. much use for the police. 1917: PAGEANTRY, POETRY & MUSIC: YASMINE HAMDAN PARAPHERNALIA The Lebanese singer brings InSIdIOUS MInd, p22 IndypendenT The Join this unique commemoration her modern take on Arabic pop QUEER LOVE: Rae Two new titles explore the of the 100th anniversary of the music to Le Poisson Rouge. Leone Allen and Sirita nature of the far right. Bolshevik Revolution hosted by 158 Bleecker St. Wright in the Brooklyn-set The Indypendent and the Marxist web series “195 Lewis,” ALL TOO ReAL, p23 Education Project. Indulge your showing at the Brooklyn The dystopian world of Blade imagination. Dance, eat, recite Museum on Nov. 9. Runner is nearly upon us. 4 NEW YORK

A BROAdeR CAnVAS peOpLe OF COLOR FIGhT FOR A pLACe In MOneyed ARTS eCOSySTeM

By Maya Chung year for funding” through complicated grants systems, In Queens, artist Guido Ga- Reiner said. This is “incredibly burdensome, especially raycochea confi rmed this chal- CREATING small number of legacy arts institutions for immigrant communities for whom English is not lenge. “People don’t want to give OPPORTUNITY: are sweeping up vast shares of public their fi rst language.” money,” he said. Garaycochea, Carlos Martinez, an art funding, while newer immigrant and Further, the city’s cultural plan introduces a range who immigrated to the United immigrant from Colombia, ethnic arts groups in New York City are of new mandates, including diversity quotas for staff States from Peru, said that for im- helps other immigrant

clamoring for the remaining resources. and boards. For smaller organizations, this may mean migrants, trust is a factor. “‘What artists navigate the ELIA GRAN AA new coalition of artists and advocates is pushing greater investment in administrative costs. CreateNYC are you going to do with the mon- diffi cult process of the city to increase access to arts dollars for those who is creating “more hurdles” for these groups, says Reiner. ey?’” would-be patrons ask. connecting with funding. have been left out. The group has put together a 17-page CreateNYC mandates organizations develop diversity Smaller organizations are “at document called the People’s Cultural Plan to serve as a plans, but it doesn’t “allocate funding for the creation a disadvantage compared to other organizations that set of policy recommendations for the city government of the plans.” have longevity,” Garaycochea said. “They have the rep- which, if implemented, would more defi nitively benefi t Larger institutions are better positioned to meet the utation and the names. They’re going to get the money.” smaller arts groups — often grassroots organizations new requirements because of their disposable income, Carlos Martinez, an immigrant artist from Colom- run by immigrant or minority artists. Reiner said. They also benefi t from designated devel- bia, now works as a mentor with the New York Founda- The document comes in response to a cultural plan opment staffers who can focus on fundraising, while tion for the Arts’ Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program unveiled by the New York City Department of Cultural smaller grassroots organizations don’t have this kind to help immigrant artists navigate the diffi cult process Affairs in July 2017. Called CreateNYC, the plan aims of support. “You’ve got a system that’s really piling up of connecting with funding and other resources. to “serve as a roadmap to a more inclusive, equitable, advantage on a select few institutions which tend to “Resources are the most critical part,” Martinez said. and resilient cultural ecosystem, in which all residents represent a very narrow view of what culture is worth Beyond that, “understanding the language barrier, the have a stake.” funding,” she said. change of culture, different dynamics” is often challeng- Those behind the People’s Cultural Plan argue that From her offi ce on West 89th Street, Ballet His- ing for newly arrived immigrant artists, especially when CreateNYC isn’t doing enough. And access to funding panico’s Chief Development Offi cer Lorraine LaHuta it comes to the grant application process. is where smaller groups suffer. In fi scal year 2017, $111 paints a different picture. Ballet Hispanico is a suc- Applying for grants is a huge hurdle, confi rmed million of the $177 million Department of Cultural Af- cess story, said LaHuta, explaining the company was Ayoka Wiles-Abel, grants manager at the Brooklyn fairs budget was granted to just 33 large institutions, founded in 1970 as a Latino-focused “grassroots or- Arts Council. She said there is a “learning curve” in- according to CreateNYC. These organizations are members of the Cultural Institutions Group, THE PROBLEM PERSISTS BECAUSE PEOPLE made up of culturally signifi cant, generally well-established pub- lic institutions. This imbalance ARE ‘STUCK TO A DEFINITION OF ARTISTIC of funding comes at the expense of smaller, often immigrant or QUALITY THAT’S GROUNDED IN ELITE minority-run arts groups, which then face stiff competition for the remaining resources. EUROCENTRIC NORMS.’ Nicole Reiner, an organizer of the People’s Cultural Plan, noted that there are about ganization” — similar to ones Reiner and the People’s volved, and the application process may be particu- 1,000 smaller and often less established organizations Cultural Plan are fi ghting for — when the founder, larly diffi cult if there is a language barrier or ques- that then must compete for what is left of the budget. Tina Ramirez, “saw Latino children with nothing to tions of documentation. Manhattan receives “ten times the funding per capita do” in the neighborhood. Now familiar with the complicated and competitive compared to Queens,” she said. But if Ballet Hispanico struggled to acquire funding process, Martinez works to help immigrants navigate it Reiner believes the problem persists because peo- in its early stages, it seems to be a distant memory at and connect them with spaces to exhibit their work and ple are “stuck to a defi nition of artistic quality that’s this point. to network. grounded in elite Eurocentric norms” that advantage LaHuta said she has been “overwhelmingly touched A fi nal barrier to obtaining suffi cient funding may be already privileged organizations. by the generosity and interest” of city government. that people just aren’t that interested in fi nancing the Northwestern University’s Jennifer Novak, author of Pointing out that the organization is not eligible for cer- arts, Kostmayer said. The Citizens Committee for New a 2016 paper entitled “Considering Cultural Integration tain funding because it’s “too big,” LaHuta insists that York City has “very few funders who are interested in in the United States,” agreed. “Broadening the aperture all organizations can “fi nd the opportunity [for fund- the arts.” Only 74 of the 292 grants the organization we use to understand arts and cultural participation” is ing] if you’re really looking for it.” awarded in 2017 were for arts and culture-related proj- crucial in an increasingly diverse country, she said. City Council members have been “amazingly open to ects, said Director of Programs Arif Ullah. The People’s Cultural Plan recommends the city in- hearing from arts organizations,” she said. “It’s really And unfortunately, many of the donors who do crease the Department of Cultural Affairs’ budget to impressive how much they care about what’s going on want to provide funding for the arts “want to give to $840 million — nearly fi ve times fi scal year 2017’s bud- in their districts.” the Met and give to the Whitney,” Kostmayer said. November 2017

get of $177 million, though still just 1 percent of New But looking beyond city funding, Peter Kostmayer, “They’re not focused on kids of color in Bushwick cre- York City’s total budget. Under its plan, $140 million CEO of Citizens Committee for New York City, an ating a new dance.” would be allocated to “initiatives in support of POC organization that funds neighborhood development [persons-of-color] artists and cultural workers.” projects, identifi ed another hurdle that smaller arts An imbalanced allocation of funds is not the only groups face: big donors like to give big grants. And issue the People’s Cultural Plan takes up. Smaller and as a result, smaller groups asking for less money fall

The IndypendenT mid-sized organizations also “need to compete every through the cracks. Indypendent Ad 5x7 06-23-15.pdf 1 6/23/15 1:56 PM

BROADCAST ON MORE THAN 1,300 PUBLIC TV AND RADIO STATIONS WORLDWIDE 5 FIRST PERSON A Daily Independent Global News Hour with Amy Goodman and Juan González WhO pAyS The pRICe FOR CUOMO’S “FRee” TUITIOn pLAn? WORKInG-CLASS STUdenTS LIKe Me DEMOCRACYNOW.ORG By Amir Khafagy Tune In Live Every Weekday 8-9am ET HIGHER

t’s the start of the school year and like many of (PRICED) PAT ARNOW • Audio, Video, Transcripts, Podcasts my fellow students, I am holding high aspirations LEARNING: for the upcoming semester. Yet, at the same time, Instruction at • Los titulares de Hoy (headlines in Spanish) I have an aching feeling of dread deep in the pit of CUNY’s Bronx my stomach. Community • Find your local broadcast station and schedule INormally, at the beginning of a semester, an over- College. whelming feeling of anxiety about how I am going to pay • Subscribe to the Daily News Digest for my classes at Queens College overcomes me. I wonder if I will qualify for fi nancial aid and debate if I can even afford to take time off from Follow Us @ DEMOCRACYNOW work. I spend more time stressing over the money I need to afford school than I do over my grades. I stress about another semester skipping meals, missing rent and losing sleep. Luckily our most honorable and gracious governor, Andrew Cuomo, has come to my rescue! When I heard Cuomo announce his Excelsior Scholarship program for free college tuition at a press conference with Bernie Sanders, I was ex- cited. Finally, some fi nancial relief. But a part of me was suspicious. We native New Yorkers can smell bullshit a mile away. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. The devil is in the details. In the days after the governor made his announcement, the grimy spe- cifi cs of the plan began to slowly come out. Each drop began to look much worse than the last and my optimism slowly died. What looked PATHMAKERS TO PEACE at fi rst to be a revolutionary plan to change the lives of millions of New 2017 RECEPTION+GALA DINNER Yorkers, ended up becoming a plan to further marginalize millions of THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2017 our state’s poorest and most vulnerable residents. What was supposed to 6:00 pm - 9:30 pm I Plymouth Church be a plan to bridge racial and economic divides and spread equality will 57 Orange Street, Brooklyn Heights widen those divides. Approximately 60 percent of CUNY students go to college for free HONORING already. Most members of CUNY’s student population are poor or Linda Sarsour working class, rendering them eligible for New York’s tuition assistance Racial Justice and Civil Rights Activist program (TAP) and for federal Pell grants. More than half of CUNY Co-Founder/CEO at MPower Change students dangle dangerously close to the poverty line, earning less than Co-Organizer Women’s March 2017 $30,000 a year. That population is also overwhelmingly composed of people of color. In 2015, a CUNY demographic study found that white students make up just 26.2 percent of the senior college population and 15.3 percent of the community college population. Almost a third of students in both Leslie Cagan the CUNY and SUNY systems go to school part time. Cuomo’s plan de- Coordinator, Peoples Climate Movement NY mands students take 30 credits a year and graduate on time in order to go Co-Founder, United for Peace and Justice to school for “free.” Part-time students, including the 80,000 students in the CUNY system like me, are being overtly ignored by the plan. It pun- ishes students who must work while attending school in order to survive. The governor claims that his plan incentives part-time students to be- come full-time students. He obviously does not have a clue what it’s like growing up poor and of color in one of the most unaffordable and eco- UPROSE 2017 November nomically unequal cities in the world. The state has not offered working- UPROSE Brooklyn’s oldest Latino class students of color relief from the burdens preventing them from pur- community based organization is an suing a full-time course load. We’re not considered the “deserving poor.” intergenerational, multi-racial, nationally- recognized, women of color led, Cuomo’s Excelsior Scholarship program is effectively affi rmative ac- grassroots organization that works at the tion for middle-class whites at the expense of working-class people of TO PEACE PATHMAKERS intersection of racial justice and climate The IndypendenT The color, and that expense has just got substantially more expensive. For the change and a leader in the movement for 80,000 part-time students at CUNY, including undocumented students environmental and climate justice. who are not eligible for the Excelsior Scholarship, the governor’s pro- gram has ended up being a Trojan horse for tuition hikes. Info and tickets at brooklynpeace.org 718-624-5921 On July 21, the Executive Board of CUNY’s Board of Trustees voted SUBWAY: A C to High Street; 2 3 to Clark Street

Continued on page 8

Pathmakers to Peace_5x7.indd 1 10/13/17 12:12 PM 6 TECH

GenTRIFICATIOn pRIMe pOLITICIAnS ARe FALLInG ALL OVeR TheMSeLVeS TO ATTRACT AMAZOn, BUT BIG TeCh IS ALReAdy SpARKInG FeARS OF MASS dISpLACeMenT In The CITy

By Peter Rugh for “better skills.” Critics of the push for new coders see workday. Amazon kept an ambulance on call at a Penn- it as a way of driving down wages in the tech industry, by sylvania fulfi llment center because that was cheaper than hen Amazon, the company that has fl ooding its labor pool. There’s also the issue of the wide- preventing heatstroke by putting in air-conditioning. expanded from dominating online spread displacement the industry’s expansion brings. The company’s cruelty has not been limited to its blue- book sales to chasing near-monopoly Andrew Berman, director of the Greenwich Village collar employees, either. “Nearly every person I worked status in Internet retailing, announced Society for Historic Preservation, considers the proposed with, I saw cry at their desk,” a former employee at its in September that it was looking for tech hub part of a “development virus.” Seattle headquarters told the New York Times in 2015. Wa city to plop its second North American headquarters “What we’re seeing in the blocks directly adjacent to Public offi cials from Adams to de Blasio and Gov. into, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams saw an op- the site is a stunning and overwhelming wave of develop- Andrew Cuomo argue that the tech industry brings eco- portunity. He teamed up with Andrew Hoan, president ment, some of it fueled by the expansion of the tech indus- nomic growth and jobs. But what kind of growth and of the borough’s Chamber of Commerce, to pen a letter try,” says Berman, whose organization seeks to protect what kind of jobs? to the fat cats in Seattle. the neighborhoods between 14th and Houston streets. “I think every city should take a pass on HQ2,” says “Dear Amazon: Ready, set, grow!” it begins. “Since Numerous condo and offi ce towers are in the works Jeff Reifman, a Seattle tech blogger and former Micro- Robert Fulton steamed and Emily Roebling bridged, along Broadway, as well as a luxury hotel on East 12th soft employee. “But I hope one of them does choose Am- Brooklyn has been getting ready for you.” Street and the recently completed “Death Star” at As- azon, because I don’t want them to double their size here The pining Tinder screed went on to praise Brooklyn’s tor Place — nicknamed for its imposing bulk and dark in Seattle.” “world-class arts and culture, fi ve-star foodie experi- tinted windows. Whatever the merits of Civic Hall may Amazon’s Seattle-based workforce has grown from ences, healthy workplace initiatives” and its “incredible be, the GVSHP wants the neighborhood’s current zon- 5,200 employees in 2010 to more than 40,000 today. It transit access.” Yes, they were talking about the same ing laws, which date back to 1961, amended to tie new has pursued a classic monopoly strategy, undercutting transit system that Adams called for investigating four developments between University Place and Broadway to competitors’ prices in order to gain market share. The months earlier, in order to calculate how much its en- the preservation and creation of affordable housing. City company isn’t so much concerned with making money as demic delays cost in “lost economic productivity” and Councilmember Rosie Mendez, who represents the East it is with making sure other retailers don’t. Despite being the “resulting impact to business in our city and state.” Village, has said she won’t sign off on the tech hub unless the world’s third-largest retailer after Walmart and CVS “With several prime options along Brooklyn’s Innova- it is accompanied by such a rezoning, as has her near- and having $482 billion in market capitalization, it made tion Coast already in construction, stretching from Sunset certain successor, Democratic candidate Carlina Rivera. just $252 million in profi ts in the third quarter of this Park to Williamsburg, we can accommodate your imme- “It is disappointing certain groups would use that proj- year. Some years it hasn’t made a profi t at all. diate and long-term needs,” Adams and Hoan continued. ect as a pawn to change unrelated zoning blocks away,” a Amazon’s rise in Seattle, cautions Reifman, has been New York has joined a host of other cities across spokesperson for the mayor told DNAInfo. accompanied by increased overcrowding, the widespread North America in submitting bids for Amazon’s $5 bil- Affordable housing is the “kind of thing the Mayor displacement of longtime residents and a general “ero- lion “HQ2” in advance of an Oct. 19 proposal submis- says he wants,” notes Berman, “but here he is, standing sion of the quality of life.” Average rents and the number sion deadline. The company has not, as of yet, stated in the way, saying ‘no’ to anything other than luxury of people sleeping on the city’s streets have both more when it expects to make its fi nal decision. high-rise development in the area…. If you look at places than doubled. The company’s massive investments in Even if New York beats out contenders like Atlanta, like Cambridge and San Francisco, the unchained expan- growth have not substantially improved Seattleites’ in- Boston and Toronto, whether the company will establish sion of the tech industry can fuel the fi res of gentrifi ca- comes. More than half of city residents earn less than a base in Brooklyn is anybody’s guess — although the tion to an astounding degree. What we’re saying is, ‘Do $50,000 a year and a quarter make less than $25,000. borough’s spacious, increasingly deindustrialized water- it the smart way. If you’ve identifi ed a spot for the tech Unlike Seattle, New York has rent-stabilization laws and front gives it a decent chance. But Adams’ inability to industry to go, just make sure you are protecting the sur- policies that require some new buildings to meet an af- keep his pants on at the prospect of the company’s arriv- rounding area.’” fordable-housing quota, but those haven’t been enough al is indicative of our political class’s suck-up approach Andrew Rasiej, the entrepreneur behind Civic Hall, has to stem the tide of hypergentrifi cation already under way to all things silicon. donated $4,950 to the mayor’s re-election campaign and here in Empire City. Adams spokesperson Stefan Ringel told The Indypen- $1,000 to Rivera. RAL Development Group, which is slat- Who stands to gain from the arrival of a second Ama- dent it would be between Mayor Bill de Blasio and the ed to build the tech hub, and its lobbyist, James Capalino, zon headquarters? New York City Economic Development Corporation each made separate $10,000 donations to de Blasio’s Cam- The biggest benefi ciaries, as with the tech hub near (EDC) to decide what taxpayer subsidies and other in- paign for One New York charity, which disbanded last Union Square, would be developers. Rudin Manage- centives to use as bait, while City and State quotes an year after coming under investigation for its fundraising ment, Forest City Ratner, Rubenstein Partners and Adams spokesperson saying that “all ideas will be on the practices. David Lichtenstein, CEO of Lightstone Group, Jamestown Properties have formed an alliance, joining discussion table for a unique opportunity like this.” which is behind the luxury hotel slated for 12th Street, with Borough President Adams to lobby Amazon. Ru- is another major de Blasio campaign donor. Lichtenstein benstein Partners’ 500,000-square-foot property under is also on the board of directors for the EDC — which is construction at 25 Kent Avenue in Williamsburg is one UNION SQUARE overseeing the development on the P.C. Richard site. option. Another is Jamestown’s Industry City, a 6-mil- Neither Rivera nor the mayor’s offi ce responded to re- lion-square-foot former industrial port on the waterfront Earlier this year, de Blasio announced plans to expand quests for comment. in Sunset Park that has been converted to a campus for Silicon Alley from the Flatiron District south to Union offi ces, artisanal-tchotchke makers and an avocado bar. Square. The name “Silicon Alley” is more of a metonym It has drawn ire from the surrounding community over these days, since the arrival of Google in the Meatpack- INNOVATION COAST? gentrifi cation concerns. ing District in 2013 and Facebook in the East Village the Industry City CEO Andrew Kimball told the Village following year, but the mayor’s proposal to turn the site Regardless of whether it locates its HQ2 in New York, Voice in September that 6,000 people are currently em- of the P.C. Richard electronic-appliance store on East Amazon is already expanding here. It announced on ployed on the campus, about half from Sunset Park and 14th Street into a tech hub set off alarm bells among Sept. 21 that its advertising, fashion and Web-services the neighboring communities. neighborhood residents, who have been clamoring for divisions will be setting up offi ces near Wall Street, at 5 “None of our documentation shows whether signifi - more affordable housing. Manhattan West, after securing $20 million in tax cred- cant job growth took place as a result of Industry City,” Dubbed Civic Hall, the 258,000-square-foot develop- its from the Empire State Development Corporation’s responded Doug Turetsky of the city’s Independent Bud- ment “will generate 600 good-paying jobs” on the city- (ESDC’s) Excelsior Jobs Program. Amazon is also open- get Offi ce. “It’s hard to tell if the company brought any- November 2017

owned property, the mayor’s offi ce claimed in a February ing a warehouse — or in the digital age’s Orwellian mar- thing to the neighborhood — besides $25 coffee.” press release. It will “include a digital job training facil- ket-speak, a “fulfi llment center” — on Staten Island, for Ryan Chavez of UPROSE, a Sunset Park-based envi- ity for all New Yorkers, and modern, fl exible workspaces which it will receive $18 million in tax relief from ESDC. ronmental-justice group, says his organization would designed to meet the unique needs of early-stage startups Amazon has long been dogged by accusations of mis- like to see development in the neighborhood, but Indus- in New York’s vibrant innovation economy.” treating its workforce. It has sabotaged unionization try City is precisely the opposite of what the historically That announcement seemed to presage the Democratic drives and subjected workers to security screenings that immigrant community needs. Jamestown is “looking to

The IndypendenT Party’s new platform, unveiled this spring, which called have added as much as an hour of unpaid time to each turn an industrial hub that has for decades served the 7

GenTRIFICATIOn pRIMe WBAI pOLITICIAnS ARe FALLInG ALL OVeR TheMSeLVeS TO ATTRACT AMAZOn, BUT BIG TeCh IS 2017 ART ALReAdy SpARKInG FeARS OF MASS dISpLACeMenT In The CITy AUCTION

CALL TO ARTISTS New York City's beloved progressive voice, WBAI Radio, is conducting its second annual fundraising art exhibit and auction. The event will take place on Thursday, Nov. 16, at the Chesterfield Gallery on Norfolk Street, NYC.

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35 years of celebrating music of peace and resistance!

working class into a playground for the privileged,” he told The Indy. “They’ve opened the fl oodgates to the commercialization

of our entire working waterfront.” GINO BARZIZZA Chavez must have missed the memo: It’s called “Innovation October 28 Coast” now, according to Adams and his developer allies. Jamestown is applying to rezone Industry City — currently the The Rix largest privately owned industrial site in the New York area — in Chris Nauman order to accommodate a luxury hotel. UPROSE has a different kind of innovation in mind. It wants the city to do more to ensure that Brooklyn’s waterfront preserves its manufacturing jobs by November 4 encouraging the development of new, green industries, such as Jaeger & Reid producing solar panels, that will help address climate change. “The city should draw a red line around our industrial zones Filthy Rotten System and not sign off on projects that directly undermine them,” says Chavez. “There should be a coordinated, interagency effort to identify and attract green business and foster their local devel- November 11 opment. These are blue-collar jobs that are going to be created Tsibele somewhere. Why not put a community that itself is vulnerable to climate change to work?” Diane Perry

Saturdays at 8 p.m. 2017 November Community Church of New York Unitarian-Universalist 40 E. 35th St. (Madison/Park) New York, NY 10016 The IndypendenT The doors open 7:30; wheelchair accessible 212-787-3903 www.peoplesvoicecafe.org Suggested Donation: $18, $10 PVC subscribers More if you choose; less if you can’t; no one turned away 8 bluestockings radical bookstore | activist center | fair trade cafe 172 ALLEN ST • 212-777-6028 bluestockings.com

OCT 30 • 7–9:30PM SELF DEFENSE: Whether you are a beginner or someone with experience, an accessible and confi dence-boosting good time for all. about us. Our continued exclusion within NOV 4 • 7–9:30PM TUITIOn pLAn CUNY should be an eye-opening caveat MEMOIR: Jonathan Lerner, a member Continued from page 5 to the struggle that lies ahead. of the 60’s Weather Underground who later reinvented himself as high-rolling to enact a $150-per-semester tuition Amir Khafagy is a self-described “Arab- gay hustler, shares his poignant and hike, part of a plan to raise tuition by Rican” New Yorker, born and raised. A quintessentially American story, Swords $300 a year over the next fi ve years. Who political activist, organizer, writer, per- in the Hands of Children. knew something free could be so expen- former and spoken word artist, Amir is sive? Students attending CUNY’s senior currently pursuing a master’s degree in NOV 8 • 7–9:30PM colleges are currently up against a $6,530 Urban Affairs at Queens College. HISTORY: Marcus Rediker shares The Fearless Benjamin Lay, his chronicle yearly bill. As Cuomo congratulates him- of a Quaker dwarf who demanded the self for his progressive chops, the most total, unconditional emancipation of socially and economically oppressed all enslaved Africans around the world groups of students are paying the price. and drew on his ideals to create a C U N Y ’s legac y has always been steeped revolutionary way of life. in class and racial confl ict. Working-class black and Latino students fought for and won the desegregation of CUNY in 1969. Co-founded by Michael Ratner The demographic makeup of our univer- (1943-2016) President, Center for sity today is a direct result of that strug- Constitutional Rights; and hosted by gle. It is up to us to live up to that legacy. movement lawyers Heidi Boghosian, We owe it to those who came before us. Executive Director, A. J. Muste We owe it to ourselves. And most of all, Memorial Institute; and Michael we owe it to future students. Steven Smith, New York City Without a student movement demand- attorney and author. ing an end to CUNY’s racist and class- prejudicial policies, we will continue to be at the mercy of those who care little SOME PLACES YOU CAN FIND The IndypendenT BELOW LGBT CENTER HARRY BELAFONTE BROOKLYN COMMONS WILLIAMSBURG STARR BAR LATINO PASTORAL 14TH ST 208 W. 13TH ST. 115TH ST. LIBRARY 388 ATLANTIC AVE. LIBRARY 214 STARR ST. ACTION CENTER 203 W. 115TH 240 DIVISION AVE. 14 W. 170TH ST. SEWARD PARK CARROLL GARDENS JAMAICA BAY LIBRARY LIBRARY 14TH TO HARLEM LIBRARY LIBRARY GREENPOINT LIBRARY 9727 SEAVIEW AVE. NEW SETTLEMENT 192 EAST BROADWAY 96TH ST 9 W. 124TH ST. 396 CLINTON ST. 107 NORMAN AVE. COMMUNITY CENTER SPRING CREEK 1501 JEROME AVE. HAMILTON FISH CIVIC HALL 125 STREET LIBRARY COUSIN JOHN’S CAFE KAISA’S CAFÉ LIBRARY LIBRARY 118 W. 22ND ST. 12TH 224 E. 125TH ST. & BAKERY 146 BEDFORD AVE. 12143 FLATLANDS AVE. WANT TO HELP 415 E. HOUSTON ST. FL. 70 7TH AVE. DISTRIBUTE THE INDY? GEORGE BRUCE CROWN HEIGHTS CALL 212-904-1282 OR EPIPHANY LIBRARY LIBRARY CAFÉ MARTIN LIBRARY LES PEOPLE’S FEDERAL QUEENS EMAIL CONTACT@ CREDIT UNION 228 E. 23RD ST. 518 W. 125TH ST. 355 5TH AVE. 560 NEW YORK AVE. 39 AVENUE B COURT SQUARE INDYPENDENT. MUHLENBERG LIBRARY PICTURE THE BEACON’S CLOSET EASTERN PARKWAY LIBRARY ORG. TOMPKINS SQUARE 209 W. 23RD ST. HOMELESS 92 5TH AVE. BRANCH LIBRARY 2501 JACKSON AVE. LIBRARY 104 E 126TH ST. 1044 EASTERN 331 E. 10TH ST. TACO BANDITO PACIFIC STREET PARKWAY LONG ISLAND CITY 325 8TH AVE. COUNTEE CULLEN LIBRARY LIBRARY BLUESTOCKINGS LIBRARY 25 FOURTH AVE. FLATBUSH LIBRARY 37-44 21ST ST. 172 ALLEN ST. COLUMBUS LIBRARY 104 W. 136TH ST. 22 LINDEN BLVD. 942 TENTH AVE. SUNSET PARK LIBRARY QUEENS DIVERSITY THEATER FOR THE NEW HAMILTON GRANGE 5108 4TH AVE. TUGBOAT TEA CENTER CITY MANHATTAN LIBRARY COMPANY 76-11 37TH AVE. SUITE 155 FIRST AVE. NEIGHBORHOOD 503 W. 145TH ST. CONNECTICUT MUFFIN 546 FLATBUSH AVE. 206 NETWORK 429 MYRTLE AVE. MCNALLY JACKSON 537 W. 59TH ST. UPTOWN SISTER’S OUTPOST CAFE JACKSON HEIGHTS BOOKS BOOKS DEKALB LIBRARY 1014 FULTON ST. LIBRARY 52 PRINCE ST. ST. AGNES LIBRARY W. 156TH ST. & 790 BUSHWICK AVE. 35-51 81ST ST. 444 AMSTERDAM AVE. AMSTERDAM RED HOOK LIBRARY 4TH STREET CO-OP WYCKOFF STARR 7 WOLCOTT ST. 58 E. 4TH ST. 96TH ST. LIBRARY FORT WASHINGTON COFFEE SHOP BRONX 112 E. 96TH ST. LIBRARY 30 WYCKOFF AVE. JALOPY CAFÉ THINK COFFEE 535 W. 179TH ST. 317 COLUMBIA ST. MOTT HAVEN LIBRARY 248 MERCER ST. ABOVE BUSHWICK LIBRARY 321 E. 140TH ST. INWOOD LIBRARY 340 BUSHWICK AVE. ALIGN BROOKLYN . FILM FORUM 96TH ST. 4790 BROADWAY 579 5TH AVE. HUNT’S POINT 209 W. HOUSTON ST. SWALLOW CAFÉ LIBRARY SAVOY BAKERY INDIAN ROAD CAFE 49 BOGART ST. SUNSET PARK LIBRARY 877 SOUTHERN BLVD. November 2017

170 E. 110TH ST. HUDSON PARK 600 W. 218TH ST. 5108 4TH AVE. METRO COMMUNITY BAY RIDGE LIBRARY THE POINT LIBRARY MORNINGSIDE 66 LEROY ST. LAUNDROMAT 7223 RIDGE BLVD. 940 GARRISON AVE. HEIGHTS LIBRARY BROOKLYN 561 METROPOLITAN 2900 BROADWAY CINEMA VILLAGE AVE. COBRA CLUB HIGH BRIDGE LIBRARY 22 E. 12TH ST. BROOKLYN BOROUGH 6 WYCKOFF 78 W. 168TH ST. HALL 209 JORALEMON ST. The IndypendenT 9

VOTE · Bronx native · Civil engineer by trade · Founder of Shut Down Rikers GREEN and the Kalief Browder Foundation PARTY · Equal justice advocate ON NOV. 7 AKEEM BROWDER FOR MAYOR The time to change laws, policies and regulations that devastate poor communities and families that have been impacted by mass incarceration is now. Support Akeem, Not the Machine! DANIEL VILA Paid for by the Akeem Browder for Mayor campaign FOR MANHATTAN BOROUGH PRESIDENT JAMES · Co-host for 14 years of WBAI’s La Voz Latina radio program · Coordinator of Labor Affairs for Sisa Pakari Cultural Center in Queens LANE · Former organizer for the American Postal Workers Union · Chair of the Manhattan Green Party FOR PUBLIC I believe that capitalism destroys human values of respect, tolerance and solidarity and that socialism is the cure. As borough president, I will fight for: ADVOCATE · Housing for all and an immediate stop to all evictions My top priorities are: · Immediate $15 per hour minimum wage and defense of the right to unionize · Transforming our electoral processes in all employment sectors · Creating more affordable housing · An end to abusive policing practices and full accountability for cops who · Establishing community control over policing break the law November 2017 November · Decriminalization of marijuana As public advocate, I will provide the tools for organizing and empowering communities to stand up · Self-determination for African-Americans. independence and socialism for to city government and its agencies when they fail us Puerto Rico and build a New York City that honors and respects · Full citizenship for all undocumented immigrants who do not have a violent all people and not just the wealthy few. Indypenden The criminal record Paid for by the James Lane for Public Advocate campaign. Paid for by the Daniel Vila for Manhattan Borough President campaign. T 10 MUTUAL AID

SUppORTInG pUeRTO RICO FROM neW yORK

BY LENINA NADAL KIYA VEGA-HUTCHENS Climate Justice Policy Organizer, UPROSE They called her “Screaming” Hurricane Maria on the island. Here, in New York and beyond, Diasporicans roar back with grew up in the Lower East Side as a Nuyorican, and this has been a really emotional experience. My extended family lives in the mu- large and small acts of love, light and a reclamation of our madre Inicipalities of Loíza and Carolina in the northeast of Puerto Rico. tierra (Mother Earth). They do not have power. We spent a lot of time trying to fi nd them. It’s hard to know that my family is in this urgent, desperate situation, and at the same time I also feel disconnected. There is a lot of guilt and They are also speaking their truths. The stories below are drawn feeling like we can never really do enough. The Trump administration’s mistreatment and lack of knowledge from interviews with longtime Puerto Rican activists and organiz- is infuriating. It is so callous. I’ve been really inspired by the Nuyori- ers in the diaspora who have been active in various ways in the can and Puerto Rican diaspora coming together. It makes me hopeful that we have a strong resilient foundation. We had a healing space at relief efforts — gathering and loading supplies, identifying or- UPROSE where a lot of people came and were able to grieve and also ganizations to send shipments to, coordinating actions, and cre- plan our next steps together. We communicate regularly with folks on the island and are organizing to send sustainable supplies. The ating manifestos on facebook to enliven the base. This is small groups we are working with are asking about bicycles, quality soil, sample of stories, but they suggest there are ways to engage, non-GMO seeds, water supplies and solar panels so Puerto Rico can move toward economic sovereignty. participate and increase the outrage. On Oct. 11 we held a rally at Union Square as a part of a national day of action for a just recovery. The following day we sent supplies down with bikes and generators. What we really want is a just recovery for Puerto Rico. We don’t want investment capitalists to further a plan that prioritizes their cor- porate interests. We want the commu- nities that have been directly affected SOLIDARITY IN ACTION hold mentorship workshops for Latinx and Puerto Rican youth in NYC. to determine what needs to be done for They are fundraising for schools in Puerto Rico through providing class- Puerto Rico. room materials and educational materials to la Nueva Escuela, based in UPROSE UPROSE is apart of the Climate Puerto Rico. uprose.org Justice Alliance. We will be following The oldest Puerto Rican organization in Brooklyn, UPROSE is working the lead of grassroots groups that have EL MAESTRO CULTURAL CENTER with local businesses in Sunset Park to bring sustainable supplies and been asking that we build their energy facebook.com/elmaestrobx resources to Puerto Rico. They are also working with national environ- infrastructure in a way that doesn’t Named in honor of Puerto Rican independence leader Pedro Albizu Cam- mental groups like Greenpeace in order to send massive amounts of exploit the planet and in a way that is rebuilding supplies to the Island. pos (“El Maestro”), this East Bronx community center is collecting ne- cessities to send to Ponce, Puerto Rico’s second largest city, which has resilient and regenerative. We will be experienced extreme neglect since Hurricane Maria struck the island. bringing more food to the island. We #PR ON THE MAP are going to be supporting them. rosaclemente.net #PRontheMap CENTER FOR POPULAR DEMOCRACY https://www.facebook.com/ReportReimagineRevive/ mariafund.org Activist/journalist Rosa Clemente is collecting funds for a P.R./ Latinx re- The CPD has created a Hurricane Maria Community Relief & Recovery porting team to do on-the-ground reporting that draws on strong familial Fund. Grants will be awarded by a committee of Puerto Ricans, 50 per- and organizational relationships on the island. It is the only such effort of cent from the island and 50 percent in the diaspora. Groups that have its kind from the diaspora. already receive help include the Taller Salud in Loíza, the G8 of Caño Martín Peña in San Juan and Centro para Desarrollo Político, Educativo LOISAIDA INC y Cultural in Caguas. loisaida.org This Lower East Side cultural center is gathering eco-friendly survival MUTUAL AID NETWORK FOR PUERTO RICO necessities at its home at 710 E. 9th St. The donations are assembled into redapoyomutuopr.com eco-kits that are carried to the island by volunteer travelers and grass- This volunteer-run decentralized network of more than 100 groups is November 2017 roots groups on the island. coordinating rapid response and long-term mutual aid with Puerto Rico. It hosts daily 5 pm phone calls with Spanish and English translation pro- APREE (ASSOCIATION OF PUERTO RICANS FOR EDUCATION & vided to maximize inclusivity. EMPOWERMENT) apree.org — COMPILED BY INDYPENDENT STAFF A grassroots organization based in Brooklyn made up of former members

The IndypendenT of Puerto Rican student and socialist organizations in the 1960s. They 11

GISELY COLÓN DAVID GALARZA HIRAM RIVERA LÓPEZ SANTA Former executive director of Philadelphia Alliance for Puerto Board member of the Student Union, organizer Rican Education & Labor Council of Latin Empowerment (APREE) American Advancement, have one set of grandparents that are all in Isabella in the northwest lead organizer of and friends throughout the island. I also have friends as well in the y family is impacted directly Emergency Action on IVirgin Islands, which was also hard hit by the storm. I feel driven by the aftermath of Hurricane to do something and to act. I’ve heard from family from the west side. MMaria. The majority of my Puerto Rico People are okay, but they are running out of water. family lives in Camuy on Puerto Rico’s I used to run the Urban Youth Collaborative here in the city and have northwestern plateau. We still don’t know y immediate family lives there. been involved with donation gathering and packaging in Brooklyn and the extent of damage to property or their My dad and my sisters live in in Philadelphia where I live now. Another thing I‘ve been doing is sharing ability to endure more days or weeks with Mthe small town of Florida which as much as I can through social media. I’ve been speaking to other or- minimal to no electricity. But we at least was not as hard hit, and I also have uncles ganizers and Hurricane Katrina survivors and then trying to share those know everyone has survived. and an aunt in Las Piedras in Humacao lessons with others. I’ve been most affected and empowered and I haven’t heard from them. We have had a tremendous positive response for the relief efforts. Now by the immense solidarity and national ef- I’ve been active since this crisis began. we need to shift to what will come after all this. The current push is to forts made toward relief efforts for Puerto I work for a labor union and am involved waive the Jones Act permanently and to cancel the Wall Street debt. In Rico. I have seen people collecting money in several organizations. I do the work order to win that, organizers and activists need to start targeting the on the street, bakeries selling goods in ex- of identifying groups that we know and banks directly, the bondholders directly. We need to bring the storm change for donations, and initiatives pop- trust, and am beginning to connect net- home. They need to stop business as usual. That means targeted direct ping up in cities where the Puerto Rican works to donate money directly to them. actions, rallies, workshops to build the skills of our people to carry out population is less than 1 percent. I had a meeting with Giovanni Roberto these campaigns. APREE has put together a Hurricane who runs an organization called Com- People need to be organizing. Anyone and everyone who donates items, Relief Education Fund. We are accepting edores Sociales de Puerto Rico (Puerto we need to get their contact information. We need to do popular educa- monetary donations and physical items Rico Social Kitchens). They run a food tion with our people. Our people are confused and scared and we need to that will enable children to return to program and their inspiration comes help clarify this for them. They need to understand that this is a question school while also making efforts to sup- from the Black Panther Party. They are of colonialism, and right now we have more Puerto Ricans questioning port the ability of students to continue feeding hundreds of people, but they also the colonial reality of Puerto Rico than we’ve had in decades. their education. We are making every make sure to speak to folks about what We can learn the lessons of Hurricane Katrina. As soon as New Or- effort to collaborate directly with com- is happening and what climate change is leans was inundated by the storm, there were Republicans carving out a munity-led efforts so donors know who all about and how to make Puerto Rico plan for they were going to do: Fire much of the public sector workforce, and where their donations are impacting more sustainable. destroy the Board of Education and charterize the entire school district, directly. In addition to collecting money In the towns, everyone gathers and they tear down public housing. The plan came out of then-Congressman to rebuild schools and provide food and fi re up the generator and the people are Mike Pence’s offi ce. They will offer people pennies to buy up their lands clean water for children, we are also sharing together, if people need water, you and take Puerto Rico away from the Puerto Ricans. looking into having generators donated bring back for the whole block. There is The last lesson is about what we can’t buy at Home Depot, what sol- so schools can reopen and keep electric- the beautiful Puerto Rican spirit that out- diers and relief workers can’t do. We cannot buy the emotional and psy- ity operational so students have access to shines the negativity and makes us feel chological support our community needs. There is a collective trauma fresh food and a safe school environment. like we will be okay. that will live in our brains and bodies in terms of generations to come. Puerto Ricans should invest time and We need the support from our larger We will need to deal with this together in order to survive. effort into fi nding out exactly what the networks of progressive brothers and sis- Right now we have to be building political organizations, not non- residents of Puerto Rico need now, and ters to stop any and all efforts to priva- profi ts. We need to start building up the political education of our people, how to rebuild together. We should recog- tize our paradise. It’s great to see what is run workshops on how to do home repair, basic carpentry and plumbing. nize that Puerto Rico was already endur- happening locally in New York. I visited We need to convince the people in Puerto Rico to stay. Not to leave and 2017 November ing a humanitarian crisis. Everyone, not a local restaurant in Harlem where they abandon their homes. The only way you can convince them to stay is if just Puerto Ricans, should be investing are just wrapping up efforts on behalf of we are willing to go there in droves to help them rebuild. time into studying the history of Puerto islands struck by Hurricane Irma. The Rico and the political reasons it was im- owner is African American and the wife possible to receive international aid after is Chinese and they want to know how The IndypendenT The

Hurricane Maria due to the Jones Act. they can help those affected by Hurricane IndypendenT The Maria. They don’t have to do that. I think Puerto Ricans in the city are so much a part of the rhythm and soul in this city. You can’t help but get involved. 12 13 ON THE ISLAND

A STORM MORE SEVERE DISASTER CAPITALISTS DESCEND ON DEBT-RAVAGED PUERTO RICO

By Joel Cintrón Arbasetti Tesla, Inc. has also been in conversations with the government to recon- struct the electric system and the Federal Commission of Telecommuni- n Sept. 28, just over one week after Hurricane Maria swept cations (FCC) has granted an “experimental license” to Google so that it through Puerto Rico, Gov. Ricardo Rosselló signed an ex- would provide cell phone services to islanders still grappling with Maria’s ecutive order that exempted government agencies from devastation. The private security company Academi, previously known as obeying laws that regulate contracts with private companies Blackwater, already has offers from the local and federal government and

until 90 days after the “emergency ends.” The suspension of from the Red Cross to come to Puerto Rico. Meanwhile masked men, with JOEL CINTRÓN ARBASETTI Othe requirements and contract laws is justifi ed in the order by the need for a large guns and without identifi cation, watch over the Citadel building in rapid response in the face of the emergency. Santurce, property of the multimillionaire Nicholas Prouty. But before Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico was in the middle of another storm — restructuring its $74 billion debt load under Title III of the fed- eral “Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act” LOAN SHARKS CIRCLE (PROMESA). The law, signed by President Barack Obama in 2016, imposed A PEOPLE’S RECOVERY a seven-member Fiscal Control Board upon the island, granting it domain Numerous victims of the hurricane, especially those on the interior of the over Puerto Rico’s fi nances. With the stated purpose of fi xing the govern- island and outside of metropolitan areas, fi nd themselves without electrical RADICAL ORGANIZING IN A POST-MARIA PUERTO RICO ment’s defi cit, the Control Board ordered cuts to services such as educa- power and suffering from a scarcity of water and food as The Indy goes tion and health, the privatization of public assets, increases in water prices to print. They are still awaiting assistance from local and federal agencies and general austerity measures, without consulting the public or providing and the more than 8,000 soldiers who were deployed to deliver aid. Many studies and economic projection models to justify the reasoning behind the public employees still have not been able to return to work, while private austerity policies. companies are announcing massive layoffs over the radio. By Juan Carlos Dávila The CAMs fi ght hunger while striving to raise the political consciousness Now, in Maria’s wake, creditors and private contractors are eyeing Puer- In remarks on Puerto Rico’s debt made during a paper towel-throwing of participants. to Rico for ways to shake the desperate island down. Governor Rosselló has visit to the island in early October, President Donald Trump said, “We’re SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — After Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Five of these centers have opened their doors since the hurricane. The fi rst warned that the government could run out of money to pay public pensions gonna have to wipe that out.” But the seemingly compassionate, if off-the- Rico on Sept. 20, most telecommunications services collapsed, particularly one appeared in the city of Caguas; the organizers’ philosophy is to encour- as soon as the end of October, while the credit fi rm Moody’s estimates the cuff comment, was followed by a $4.9 billion treasury loan to Puerto Rico, cell phones and internet providers. People struggled for days to contact their age communities to unite and become self-sustaining, “The CAM is the pro- cost of the damages caused by the hurricane will amount to between $45 approved by the U.S. House of Representatives on Oct. 12, that the White loved ones, and although there have been some improvements, making a call, posal of a new municipality and a new country. The CAM is the new mu- billion and $95 billion. The latter fi gure exceeds the island’s current debt House sought as part of a disaster relief package. Instead of debt relief, debt sending a text message, and connecting to the Internet is still a challenge in nicipality of Caguas... through structures like this, of people participation, I by $21 billion. is being piled on. most areas. know that we can construct other things,” said Giovanni Roberto, a former The economist José Caraballo Cueto, a development specialist and adjunct Meanwhile, the Fiscal Control Board has postponed plans to shorten Only certain analog and satellite telephones managed to survive the cat- student leader at the University of Puerto Rico and current coordinator of professor of statistics and fi nances at the University of Puerto Rico in Cayey, workdays for public employees until the following fi scal year and autho- egory-four hurricane, and the landline of Cucina 135, a community center the CAM in Caguas, which serves about 600 meals per day. Since 2013, thinks the suspension of contract laws could be benefi cial to the emergency rized the government to put $1 billion toward the emergency response. But located next to San Juan’s fi nancial center, was one of them. Roberto has run a project called Comedores Sociales (“Social Diners”) that response, but only if there is a widely announced bidding process. will the fi nancial fi rms that are looking to recover debt from the island sus- “Having a phone line was an invaluable resource,” said Luis Cedeño, seeks to provide food to university students who struggle fi nancially. This “If they take advantage of the circumstances to benefi t X or Y company, pend their demands for payment? Or, will they usurp billions of dollars in spokesperson for El Llamado, an organization focused on providing sup- served as a foundation for the establishment of the CAM. it may not be so benefi cial,” Cueto told The Indypendent. The construction public funds from an island where tens of thousands of homes lie in ruins, port and unifying social movements in Puerto Rico. El Llamado (The Call) In the long term, the objective of the CAMs is to build popular power industry will benefi t most from Maria, according to the economist, due health facilities are barely functioning and electricity and telecommunica- is supported by the Center for Popular Democracy and is led by a group of from within the communities and eventually move Puerto Rico away from to an injection of funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency tions failures are a constant. organizers from different sectors, including artists, communicators, social its colonial dependency to the United States. Currently, Puerto Rico im- (FEMA). Puerto Rico’s tourism and agriculture sectors will suffer. The principal players in the bankruptcy process under PROMESA are workers and student leaders. ports about 88 percent of its food, and, because of the Jones Act, supplies vulture funds, mutual funds, bond insurers and Wall Street banks. The The second day after the hurricane, El Llamado began calling Puerto Ri- can only arrive on U.S. vessels. This means that even aid cannot come from Baupost Group, Aurelius Capital, Goldman Sachs and Tilden Park Asset cans in the diaspora from the landline of Cucina 135 to organize relief ef- countries other than the United States. The colonial status creates a major FEEDING FRENZY Management are among Puerto Rico’s largest creditors. Many of these same forts independent of government agencies or big NGOs like the Red Cross. humanitarian problem, particularly after a catastrophe like Hurricane Ma- fi rms profi ted handsomely a decade earlier by betting against the subprime Cucina 135 is based in a small house that has been converted into a commu- ria, when Puerto Ricans are facing shortages of water, food and medicine U.S. corporations have begun to arrive on the island, including energy and mortgage market just before it tanked in 2007 and 2008 and helped to set TEMPLE OF FINANCE: Ruins of nal kitchen and meeting space. El Llamado now oversees Cucina 135, which on a daily basis. private security companies. According to Richard Ramos, executive direc- in motion the biggest fi nancial crisis in modern history. the Banco Gubernamental de Fomento, JUAN CARLOS DÁVILA serves as a gathering point for activists in a post-Maria Puerto Rico where Before Hurricane Maria, most activism in Puerto Rico was centered tor of the Electric Energy Authority of Puerto Rico (AEE), the hurricane In a continuing lawsuit against Puerto Rico, Aurelius Capital — which where Puerto Rico’s debt was orchestrated. they can exchange information and coordinate relief efforts. The main con- around the issue of the $74 billion debt and opposition to the 2016 Puerto destroyed 85 percent of the company’s transmission and energy distribu- holds $470,942,000 worth of Puerto Rican junk bonds — demands that cern of organizers coming into the space was the mobilization of thousands Rico Oversight Management and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA). The tion systems. Repairs could cost as much as $5 billion. AEE, in consulta- the government use all available resources to pay back its creditors. Aurelius of U.S. troops to the island who were not distributing the much-needed aid, latter established a seven-member unelected oversight board that controls tion with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, contracted Montana-based sued the government of Argentina for nearly a decade to force it to pay off THE RESPONSE FROM but controlling it. Meanwhile prices soar and people go hungry. Puerto Rico’s fi nances. However, activists opposing the payment of the debt Whitefi sh Energy Holdings to repair transmission lines. They also awarded the entirety of the debt the fi rm purchased at a discount. BELOW: Organizers with Olla Común In the rural town of Utuado, about 65 miles inland from San Juan, the mil- and PROMESA were focusing on hunger and poverty prior to Hurricane Weston Solutions from Philadelphia a $35.1 million contract to provide en- Another group of creditors, including The Baupost Group and Whitebox (Common Pot) make plans after hosting itary presence is widely visible. The U.S. Army has established a checkpoint Maria. The catastrophe accelerated efforts already underway as the econom- ergy to the damaged oil-fi red Palo Seco plant, which powers San Juan. On Advisors, is seeking a portion of the revenues generated by island’s sales and a community breakfast in Rio Piedras, at the entrance of the small urban center in this mountain town. Troops were ic crisis and precarious position for the masses of Puerto Ricans is worsening

Oct. 10, the Army Corps of Engineers announced that it will be granting use tax, which is not currently being charged due to the systemic collapse Puerto Rico. posted three days after the hurricane hit. Still, more than a week later (I vis- even more. 2017 November an additional $400 million in contracts to energy companies to repair AEE. caused by the storm. ited the town on Oct. 2), residents less than a mile away from the checkpoint After a community breakfast in Río Piedras, I sat down with Marisel AEE was declared bankrupt under Title III of PROMESA in May due The federal judge presiding over Puerto Rico’s bankruptcy in San Juan, had only received one FEMA meal box that contained two bottles of water. Robles, a spokesperson from the group Promises Are Over (SALP in Span- to its $9 billion debt load, now in the hands of hedge funds. BlueMoun- Laura Taylor Swain, postponed until further notice a general review of the Leonilda Maldonado Guzmán is a resident of Utuado; when I interviewed ish). SALP has been organizing against PROMESA since President Barack tain Capital, Angelo, Gordon & Co., Knighthead Capital, Marathon Asset proceedings that was set to commence on Oct. 4. But attorneys for Puerto her, she talked to me about the abandonment she feels: “It’s like we don’t ex- Obama signed it into law. Presently, Robles is one of the coordinators of the Management, the mutual funds Oppenheimer Funds, Franklin Templeton Rico’s creditors on the mainland continue to submit motions in the bank- ist. In Utuado, we feel abandoned, because no help has arrived. As in other Olla Común (Common Pot), another CAM initiative. As some volunteers November 2017 INDYPENDENT THE

and the insurance company Assured Guaranty, are among the fi rms hold- ruptcy proceedings, which are amassing in a digital archive while nearly all parts, there’s elderly people here. Most of us can’t communicate with our cleaned the support center, and others began preparing the meal for the next ing AEE debt. After the storm, the creditors offered a new $1 billion loan, of the island is without light and or stable access to the internet. families. We don’t have medicine. Nobody has come to help. My house is day, Robles stated, “Hunger was already being discussed, and the level of which would have been given repayment priority under AEE’s bankruptcy Numerous market analysts have described Puerto Rico’s current debt damaged. I have asthma. I have many health problems.” poverty was being discussed. But after the hurricane hit us so hard, the veil process. The offer, however, was rejected by regulators with Puerto Rico’s load “unpayable” given the breadth of Maria’s impact. Yet loan forgiveness Responding to this offi cial neglect, El Llamado is currently supporting of everything was lifted.” The Common Pot in Río Piedras has around 30 Fiscal Agency and Financial Advisory Authority, a fi nancial oversight body is nowhere in sight. more than 20 grassroots initiatives that range from debris cleaning brigades volunteers that coordinate the distribution of 150 breakfast meals per day created in 2016, which saw the bondholder’s proposal as an effort to take to agricultural projects to communal kitchens, including one in Utuado that

THE INDYPENDENT advantage of the crisis and deepen the island’s debt. Continued on page 14 identifi es as a Center of Mutual Support (CAM in Spanish). Continued on next page 14

A BeneFIT FOR The Indy STORM MORe SeVeRe SUndAy nOV 12Th // 2–7pM Continued from Page 12 388 ATLAnTIC AVe // BROOKLyn

As for the Electric Energy Authority, it could be subjected to an accel- erated rate of privatization, while the hedge funds that hold government CeLeBRATInG The 100Th bonds may turn into investors in the reconstruction of the country’s in- AnnIVeRSARy OF The RUSSIAn frastructure. A mass exodus of multinational corporations, wary of future hurricanes, is also expected ReVOLUTIOn Given that Puerto Rico was expected to need 10 years to recover from its ongoing economic crisis even before the storm, I asked economist Caraballo pOeTRy//pAGeAnTRy//pARApheRnALIA//MUSIC// Cueto how much further Hurricane Maria has set it back. dAnCInG//COSTUMeS OpTIOnAL “It can set us back further,” he said, especially if the current debt pay- ment blueprint and commercial restrictions, such as the Merchant Marine 2pM: STeVe BLOOM ReAdS hIS epIC pOeM “100 Act of 1920, remain in place. Also known as the Jones Act after the law’s author, the Merchant Marine Act mandates goods traveling on and off the yeARS” island be transported by U.S.-owned, -built and -operated vessels. It drives 3pM: RIChARd GReeMAn peRFORMS VICTOR SeRGe the cost of everything from food to medicine up to 20 percent above prices 4pM: pARTICIpATORy pAGeAnT on the U.S. mainland or on other Caribbean Islands. 6pM: MUSIC & dAnCInG If the Jones Act is eliminated, “economic recovery can move forward,” Cueto said. “The same happens if the local government decides to create a development plan that is not based on its current ‘laissez-faire’ model. That SUGGeSTed dOnATIOn $15// too, can bring us closer to a recovery.” eVenTBRITe.COM (pARTy LIKe Joel Cintrón Arbasetti is a reporter at the Center for Investigative Re- porting in Puerto Rico. This article was translated from Spanish by IT’S 1917) Georgia Kromrei. COnTACT: Ann SChneIdeR 347.415.7321 or [email protected] COSpOnSeRed By RAdICAL pOeTS & MARXIST edUCATIOn pROJeCT peOpLe’S ReCOVeRy Continued from Page 13

from Monday through Saturday. But the Common Pot should not be mistaken for a cafeteria, as Scott Barbés Caminero, coordinator of the CAM and member of the SALP, em- phasized when addressing residents of Río Piedras be- Mama called fore breakfast, “The Center of Mutual Support is not a from somewhere cafeteria. It is a space where near the sun, we come to help each other where dying begets in light of a situation where rainfall and the ground the government collapsed is made of the wrong earth. after Hurricane Maria,” SUppORT Barbés Caminero said. The there is a woman Common Pot operates un- in her home who threatens der an egalitarian system, to tear her roof off, to dismember the body she labored which organizers call Siste- The Indy! to remember. ma de Aportación (Contri- bution System). And while EMILY GAGE USe yOUR SMART phOne TO i remind her all comers are welcome to we come from a lineage have breakfast, the objec- BeCOMe An Indy MOnThLy of shrapnel and stone, tive is that everyone becomes an assemblage of aftermaths — involved with the project SUSTAIneR TOdAy. we will always by volunteering for work, fi nd one another. donating food items or con- tributing money, “If we all SIGn Up AT she cries over are doing this, Puerto Rico haunted sugarcane, would be advancing” said conversations one man as he waited in line pATReOn.COM/ with the moon, trees for breakfast. who offer survival. IndypendenT i have heard GIVe $5 peR MOnTh OR MORe And this song many times November 2017 but today, she taught me yOU WILL Be eLIGIBLe TO ReCeIVe the importance of rain and how, A COMpLeMenTARy AnnUAL on some days, tears suffi ce. SUBSCRIpTIOn FOR yOURSeLF OR A

The IndypendenT — Vallerie Matos FRIend. 15

SATURDAY OCTOBER 28TH 11AM

SANDY From Sandy to Maria, the climate crisis is real. NY should be a model 5TH ANNIVERSARY of a just transition. Our elected officials must act now! CADMAN PLAZA, BROOKLYN MMayor de Blasio: do right by Sandy survivors; divest NYC’s pensions from fossil fuels; fix polluting buildings. Gov. Cuomo: commit NY to 100% renewables; make corporate polluters pay. MARCH SSen. Schumer: fully fund the EPA; support legislation for 100% renewable energy; support a just ACROSS THE recovery for Puerto Rico. BROOKLYN For the full list of demands and participating organizations, visitt November 2017 November

BRIDGE SANDY5.ORG Indypenden The T 16 LATIN AMERICA

COLOMBIA’S pReCARIOUS peACe

By Mario Murillo for the communities and ongoing threats from paramili- tary groups operating in the area, the prospects do not BRICEÑO, Columbia — Mauricio Quiróz has always had look so good. The implementation process is laced with a plan. profound contradictions, as the government’s policy in- The 38-year-old farmer and entrepreneur lives with his volves both voluntary and forced eradication. That has al- wife and three kids on a small ranch on the lush, steep ready created tensions with the communities most affected mountainside that surrounds the municipality of Briceño, by the program. in the department of Antioquia in northwestern Colombia. “Offi cials focus on the number of hectares eradicated Orphaned at a very young age, he was always forced to to show success. But there is very little preoccupation fi gure out for himself how to move forward in life. And with the people, the families, the agricultural workers despite growing coca for over 15 years on his 10-hectare that are producing coca,” said Pedro Arenas, director of parcel of land (about 25 acres) in the heart of Antioquia’s the Observatory for the Cultivators and Cultivations De- coca-growing region, Quiróz had been anticipating a clared Illicit (OCCDI). time when the lucrative crop would no longer be able to The Observatory, as it is more commonly known, has sustain his household. Farms like his are the entry point worked for the last few years to support and defend the of the supply chain to the international cocaine trade, rights of the thousands of peasant farmers and their fami- which has been the target of U.S. and Colombian offi cials lies who have been involved in coca cultivation. The or- for generations. ganization rejects the forced eradication of the coca fi elds So several years ago, he began to cultivate coffee, co- and the U.S.-backed aerial fumigations that have gone on coa, bananas, avocados and other licit products. Today, for years throughout the countryside — now on hold. It he plans on farming and marketing tilapia in a small pond denounces the criminalization of the peasant farmers, he’s converting from the enclosed area where he once arguing that they are honest, hard-working people with maintained his processing lab for coca paste. families who have had no other choice, given the economic “It’s going to be tough, because we’re used to getting conditions facing rural Colombia for decades. every two to three months anywhere between three to four “This is a complex network we are talking about — million Colombian pesos (about $1,500-$1,600) for our not only the coca farmers and the coca collectors, but the coca paste, whereas with the other products we grow, like women who work on the farms, the small merchants in coffee, that’s our take for the entire year,” he says, smiling the area, the small-scale transporters that move products broadly as we make our way through the remaining coca and services into and out of the veredas, or small villages,” fi elds on his sloping property. “But I knew this day would Arenas said. come and now it’s a matter of working with all the people In the fi rst six months of the PNIS coca-substitution in the community to make the diffi cult transition as pain- program launched earlier this year, more than 90,000 less as possible.” families agreed to eradicate more than 115,000 acres of That transition is the radical overhaul of the local econo- coca crops manually. Up to 40 coca-growing communi- my that is occurring as a result of the peace deal signed last ties in 13 departments have signed collective agreements year between the government of President Juan Manuel for voluntary coca eradication. The government hopes Santos and the leftist rebels of the Revolutionary Armed to increase the total number of families participating in Forces of Colombia (FARC). the program to over 130,000, responsible for roughly 170,000 acres of coca. That’s an ambitious number by any stretch of the imagination. RIPPING OUT THE ROOTS In some regions, like Briceño, the government has al- ready made the fi rst payments to families that have signed The coca-crop substitution program is one of the most on. They will receive subsidies to compensate for their complex aspects of the peace agreement that is aimed at initial loss of income, and are expected to receive further putting an end to the country’s 53-year armed confl ict, and payments to help them set up substitution projects, such it has already become the fl ashpoint of a recent wave of as Quiróz’s fi sh farm. Each family can expect to receive a violence by state security forces participating in eradica- total of about $12,000 in direct payments and technical tion effort as they confront the coca farmers, particularly assistance over the course of two years. in the southern department of Nariño. As an armed group, The problem is that once the farmers begin receiv- the FARC had maintained considerable territorial control ing those subsidies, they have to eradicate their crops for many years in several regions of the country, serving as completely — pulling them out by hand — within 60

the de-facto state in coca-growing territory. This history days, or they will be put out of the program and be held GROUNDWORK: Mauricio MARIO MURILLO is at the crux of the fi rst and fourth points of the six-point criminally liable. This ultimatum has put intense pres- Quiróz looks out on his small agenda that the FARC and the government signed and sure on the farmers and the communities they live in, ranch on the lush, steep have been in the process of implementing since January. without addressing many of the other issues that affect mountainside that surrounds Point one relates to comprehensive land reform and in- their economic condition. the municipality of Briceño, in vestment in and development of the countryside, which Things came to a head on Oct. 5 when rural farm- the department of Antioquia in the FARC emphasized in its decades-long insurgency. ers gathered in Tumaco, Nariño, to protest the forced northwestern Colombia. Point four relates to the issue of illicit crops, specifi cally eradication being implemented by the security forces. how to wean the countryside from its dependency on Up to a thousand local farmers were protesting the coca. The rush is on in the government’s attempt to eradi- government’s refusal to address the local confl icts that TRADE OFFS: Wilmar cate coca through the National Comprehensive Program clearly affect how to best to implement the PNIS sub- Moreno says the government’s for the Substitution of Illicit Crops, known by its Spanish stitution program. Eyewitnesses reported that highly single-minded focus on total acronym, PNIS. armed special forces police fi red indiscriminately acreage of coca crops eradicated The challenge is trying to reconcile the two points — on the protesters, resulting in at least eight reported comes at the expense of farmers. comprehensive land reform and rural development on the deaths and over 50 wounded. The government ini- November 2017

one hand, and crop eradication and substitution on the tially claimed that the demonstrators had been forced other — in a way that is economically and socially sus- to protest by so-called FARC dissidents that are fi ll- tainable and will not be too disruptive for the vast major- ing the vacuum left by the guerrilla demobilization ity of the poor peasant farmers in just about every region process, and that they were responding to an attack of Colombia. initiated by these dissidents. But eyewitness testimony Given the history of government neglect, lack of infra- overwhelmingly rejected that claim, a charge that was

The IndypendenT structure, a total absence of any level of technical support reminiscent of the discourse used by the government 17

100TH whenever unarmed social movements protested during the years ANNIVERSARY of the insurgency.

“The government fi rst has to focus on changing its attitude towards MARIO MURILLO us,” warns Quiróz, who has committed himself to the crop substitu- tion program. “They need to provide us training and infrastructure in RUSSIAN order to make the people aware of the options regarding the substitu- tion of crops. We need support and assistance from the government for this to happen.” Given right-wing Colombians’ vocal resistance to almost every as- REVOLUTION pect of the peace process with FARC, it’s unlikely that the government will even appear to backpedal on the eradication program. President Santos and his allies, many of whom are now actively campaigning for the 2018 presidential elections, do not want to appear weak in the face of non-stop attacks by members of the right-wing opposition, which TUE // NOV 7 // 6 –9 PM are readily echoed in Colombia’s mainstream corporate media. CENTER FOR Things got complicated in July, when the U.N. Offi ce on Drugs and Crime reported that coca cultivation in Colombia had increased by WORKER EDUCATION 52 percent, from 141,000 acres in 2015 to 215,000 hectares in 2016. 25 BROADWAY // 7TH FLOOR AUDITORIUM Critics of Santos, including the Trump Administration, pointed to the U.N. report as evidence that the peace agreement with the FARC was a failure. SPEAKERS The White House is taking a hard line against any tolerance of Anthony Monteiro // Brian Becker // Roger Keeran gradual eradication. President Trump threatened to decertify Colom- // Angelo D’Angelo // Sarika Chandra // Anna bia as an ally in the drug war in September, demanding a heavier Rebrii // Larry Holmes // Michaela Martinazzi hand in dealing with the coca growers and continuing to reject any cooperation with FARC, still considered a terrorist group by the & INTERNATIONAL GUESTS State Department. In response, the Observatory argues that Colombia’s history shows that violent, forced eradication works in the short term by reducing ENDORSING ORGANIZATIONS coca acreage, but that it is not sustainable in the long term, as it does Party of Socialism & Liberation // International not provide concrete solutions to the economic and social conditions Action Center // Marxism Leninism Today // that led these farmers to grow coca. American Party of Labor // US Friends of the For Wilmar Moreno, a longtime community organizer in Briceño, Soviet People // Party of Communists USA // the problem is the government’s single-minded focus on total acreage eradicated. He says the vast majority of people in the area are commit- Harlem Coalition Against War // Workers World ted to the substitution program, as long as the government fulfi lls its Party // United National Anti-War Committee // commitments — which up to now, it has not. Freedom Road Socialist Organization // BAYAN-USA “Despite the many problems [coca] brings with it, it is an economy that has given us food to eat, for our families, for our kids. And it’s not simply about replacing a coca plant with a banana plant, as President FREE ADMISSION • BRING Santos did recently when visiting the area,” he says. “The government has to create the conditions for us to be able to make this transition ID • FOOD & REFRESHMENTS into a new economy.” N/R/W to RECTOR ST. // 2/3/4/5 to WALL ST.

FILLING THE VACUUM 2017 November ORGANIZED BY THE 1917 CENTENARY COMMITTEE & Security is another problem. As in Tumaco, in Briceño and other parts SPONSORED BY THE JOURNAL OF LABOR & SOCIETY of the country, the recent incursion of new armed groups is fi lling in the vacuum where FARC fi ghters have demobilized. In April, INDE- CONTACT: (347) 512-2547 PAZ (Instituto de Estudios para el Desarrollo y la Paz, the Institute of [email protected] Studies for Development and Peace, based in Bogotà) reported that 14 IndypendenT The “narco-paramilitary” structures had a visible presence in 149 munici- palities, occupying territories that had been controlled by the FARC FACEBOOK.COM/ for decades and intimidating community leaders, social-movement ac- BOLSHEVIKREVOLUTIONCOMMITTEE tivists and peasant farmers.

Continued on page 21 18 HISTORY

The ReVOLT ThAT ShOOK The WORLd WhAT We CAn LeARn FROM The TRIUMph OF The RUSSIAn ReVOLUTIOn And ITS SUBSeQUenT deMISe

By Pete Dolack darity by refusing to load ships intended to be sent much deeper than the U.S. contraction during the to support the counterrevolutionary White Armies. Great Depression. istory does not travel in a straight Those armies, assisted by 14 invading countries, mas- A revolution that began with three words — peace, line. I won’t argue against that sen- sacred Russians without pity, seeking to drown the bread, land — and a struggle to fulfi ll that program tence being a cliché. Yet it is still true. revolution in blood. ended with imposed “shock therapy” — a term de- If it weren’t, we wouldn’t be still de- The revolution survived. But the revolutionaries noting the forced privatization and destruction of so- bating the meaning of Russia’s 1917 inherited a country in ruins, subjected to embargoes cial safety nets coined by neoliberal godfather Milton HOctober Revolution on its centenary, and more than that allowed famines and epidemics to rage. The cit- Friedman as he provided guidance to Chilean dictator a quarter-century after its demise. ies emptied of the new government’s working-class Augusto Pinochet. Millions brought that revolution Neither the Bolsheviks nor any other party played base and the new nation was surrounded by hostile to life; three people (the leaders of Russia, Ukraine a direct role in the February revolution that toppled capitalist governments. There was one thing the Bol- and Belarus) put an end to it in a private meeting — Tsar Nicholas II, for the leaders of those organiza- shevik leaders had agreed on: Revolutionary Russia with the fi nancial weapons of the capitalist powers tions were in exile abroad or in Siberia or in jail. could not survive without revolutions in at least some looming in the background, ready to pounce. Nonetheless, the tireless work of activists laid the European countries, both to lend helping hands and The Soviet model won’t be recreated. That does groundwork. The Bolsheviks were a minority even to create a socialist bloc suffi ciently large enough to not mean we have nothing to learn from it. One im- among the active workers of Russia’s cities then, but survive. The October Revolution would go under if portant lesson from revolutions that promised social- later in the year, their candidates steadily gained ma- European revolution failed. ism (such as the October Revolution) and revolutions jorities in all the working-class organizations — fac- Yet here they were. What was to be done? With no that promised a better life through a mixed economy tory committees, unions and soviets. The slogan of road map, shattered industry, depopulated cities, and (such as Nicaragua’s Sandinista revolution) is that a “peace, bread, land” resonated powerfully. infrastructure systematically destroyed by the armies democratic economy and thus a stable political de- The time had come for the working class to take hostile to the revolution — and having endured seven mocracy have to rest on popular control of the econ- power. Should they really do it? How could backward years of world war and civil war — the Bolsheviks omy — or, to use the old-fashioned term, the means Russia, with a vast rural population still largely il- had no alternative to falling back on Russia’s own re- of production. literate, possibly leap all the way to a socialist revolu- sources. Those resources included workers and peas- Leaving most of the economy in the hands of capi- tion? The answer was in the West: The Bolsheviks ants. For it was from them that the capital needed to talists gives them the power to destroy the economy, were convinced that socialist revolutions would soon rebuild the country would come, as well as to begin as Nicaragua found out in the 1980s and Venezuela is sweep Europe, after which the advanced industrial building an infrastructure that could put Russia on a fi nding out today. Putting all of the enterprises in the countries would lend ample helping hands. The Oc- path toward actual socialism, to make it more than hands of a centralized state and its bureaucracy re- tober Revolution was staked on the prospect of Euro- an aspirational goal well in the future. produces alienation on the part of those whose work pean revolutions, particularly in Germany. The debates on this, centering on the tempo of makes it run. It also puts into motion distortions and We can’t replay the past, and counterfactuals are transition and how much living standards could be ineffi ciencies, because no small group of people, no generally sterile exercises. History is what it is. It shortchanged to develop industry, raged through the matter how dedicated, can master all the knowledge would be easy, and overly simplistic, to see the idea 1920s. Russia’s isolation, the dispersal of the working necessary to make the vast array of decisions that of European revolution as romantic dreaming, as class, the inability of a new working class assembled make it work smoothly. many historians would like us to believe. Germa- from the peasantry to assert its interests, and the The world of 2017 is different from the world of ny came close to a successful revolution, and like- centralization necessary to survive in a hostile world 1917. For one, the looming environmental and glob- ly would have done so with better leadership and — all compounded by ever-tightening grasps on po- al-warming crisis of today gives us additional impetus without the treachery of the Social Democrats who litical power by ever-narrowing groups that fl owed to transcend the capitalist system. Unlike a century suppressed their own rank and fi le in alliance with from the country’s isolation — would culminate in ago, we need to produce and consume less, not more. the deeply undemocratic Germany army. That alone the dictatorship of Joseph Stalin. We need the participation of everyone, not bureau- would have profoundly changed the 20th century, Stalin would one day be gone, and the terror he cracy, and planning from below with fl exibility, not and provided impetus to the uprisings going off used to maintain power gone with him. But the po- rigid planning imposed from above. But we need also across the continent. litical superstructure remained — the single party learn from the many advances of the 20th century’s Consider the words of British Prime Minister Da- controlling economic, political and cultural life, and revolutions — the ideals of full employment, culture vid Lloyd George in 1919 as he discussed his fears the over-centralized economic system that steadily available for everyone, affordable housing and health with Georges Clemenceau, the French prime min- became a more signifi cant fetter on development. The care as human rights and dignifi ed retirement, and ister: “The whole of Europe is fi lled with the spirit Soviet system was overdue for large-scale reforms, in- the notion that human beings exploiting and stunt- of revolution. There is a deep sense not only of dis- cluding giving the workers in whose name the party ing the development of other human beings for per- content, but of anger and revolt among the workmen ruled much more say in how the factories (and the sonal gain is an affront. against prewar conditions. The whole existing order, country itself) were run. Once the Soviet Union col- The march forward of human history is not a gift in its political, social and economic aspects is ques- lapsed, and the country’s enterprises were put in pri- from gods above nor a present handed us by benevo- tioned by the masses of the population from one end vate hands for minuscule fractions of their value, the lent rulers, governments, institutions or markets. It of Europe to the other.” chance to build a real democracy vanished. is the product of collective human struggle on the Russia was the weak link in European capitalism, A real democracy? Yes. For without economic de- ground. If revolutions fall short or fail, that simply and the stresses of World War I added to the condi- mocracy, there can be no political democracy. The means the time has come to try again and do it better. tions for a revolution. Revolution was not inevitable. capitalist world we currently inhabit testifi es to that. Leon Trotsky’s analogy of a steam engine comes to What if the people of the Soviet Union had rallied to Pete Dolack is the author of It’s Not Over: Learning life here: “Without a guiding organization, the en- their own cause? What if the enterprises of that vast From the Socialist Experiment (Zero Books, 2016), ergy of the masses would dissipate like steam not en- country had become democratized — some combina- which includes a study of the Russian and German closed in a piston-box. But nevertheless what moves tion of cooperatives and state property with demo- revolutions after World War I and the development things is not the piston or the box, but the steam.” cratic control? That could have happened, because and fall of the Soviet Union, with a focus on retriev- The October Revolution wouldn’t have happened the economy was already in state hands. That could ing this history for emerging and future movements without a lot of steam; without masses of people in have happened, because a large majority of the Soviet that seek to overcome the political and economic cri- November 2017

motion working toward a goal. The revolution faced people wanted just that. Not capitalism. ses of today. enormous problems, assuming it could withstand the They were unable to intervene during perestroika. counter-assault of a capitalist world determined to Nor did they realize what was in store for them once destroy it. It was a beacon for millions around the the Soviet Union was disbanded, and Boris Yelt- world, inspiring strikes and uprisings across Europe sin could impose shock therapy that threw tens of and North America. Dock and rail workers in Brit- millions into poverty and would eventually cause a

The IndypendenT ain, France, Italy and the United States showed soli- 45 percent reduction in gross domestic product — 19

The ReVOLT ThAT ShOOK The WORLd WhAT We CAn LeARn FROM The TRIUMph OF The RUSSIAn ReVOLUTIOn And ITS SUBSeQUenT deMISe

“October Song is wonderful—a vivid account of the Revolution, moving beyond the merely defensive to thoughtful consideration of not only external challenges but also internal problems among the revolutionaries, critical-minded yet at the same time deeply sympathetic.” —China Miéville, author of October

Centennial Edition from International Publishers www.intpubnyc.com GABRIELLA SZPUNT

In honor of the 100th Anniversary of the Great October Revolution November 2017 November WOMEN & REVOLUTION International Publishers is proud to offer this Free love, universal child care, paid maternity special Centennial Edition of Philip Foner’s leave, free abortions on demand — in 2017 classic documentary history, with a new America, these might seem like goals for a distant foreword by Professor Gerald Horne IndypendenT The feminist utopia, but nearly a hundred years ago in $18.00 Bolshevik Russia these reforms were real. Check out our special web feature on women who led and Order today via our website or call; 212-366-9816 shaped the Russian Revolution at indypendent.org. Pay by cash, check, MO or any credit or debit card. 20 MUSIC

ALBUMS TO LISTen TO ThIS FALL

Losing By Bully Sub Pop

Lotta Sea Lice Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile Matador

All American Made It’s a cathartic, emotional, em- revolution, is giving young women abuse.” BRANDON ANDERSON Margo Price powering record. Price carries the torch for country music, Third Man Records If you’re looking for something women and America on this stellar record. a little more easy-going, pop on If hip-hop’s more your fl avor, give Ant- Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile’s won’s Sunnyvale Gardens mixtape a shot. Sunnyvale Gardens Lotta Sea Lice. This album comes The San Diego rapper established his mu- Antwon as a collaboration between two sical pedigree in the hardcore scene but Self-released of indie rock’s biggest names in found rap to be his true calling. He has recent years. Barnett’s debut LP been known to collaborate with a diverse Sometimes I Sit and Think, and group of musicians, often working with What In The World Sometimes I Just Sit was one of folks who don’t typically produce rap mu- The Professionals 2015’s best albums, and certainly sic. His wide array of infl uences and col- Metalville Records one of the strongest debut records laborators makes for an interesting, com- in recent memory. Kurt Vile’s pletely individual record. The standout excellent record b’lieve i’m goin track, “Visine,” featuring up and coming By Brady O’Callahan down came out that same year. sad-boy rapper Lil Peep, fi nds the pair Mutual admiration brought them smoking weed without eye drops to mask all brings with it a sense of together for an altogether pleasant album. their THC-fueled antics. The song mixes endings. It makes us consider The pair’s mutually laid-back styles make hip-hop braggadocio with laid back, al- the ephemerality of life. But it them a natural couple. It results in sing- most melancholic beats and melody. As is also a time for new begin- along-worthy harmonies (“Let It Go,” in a whole the mixtape is funny, weird and nings, new school years, fresh particular, stands out), traded verses and guaranteed to merit repeated listens. Felections. We see a change in weather a quirky naturalism — like maybe we’re If you’re in the mood for a comeback, as the leaves start to fall, even if climate just listening in on two buddies having fun you’ll probably be interested in The Pro- change seems hell bent on robbing us here with rock songs. fessionals’ What In The World. Formed by in New York of that pleasure. If your re- With last year’s Midwest Farmer’s Paul Cook and Steve Jones of the dissolved cord collection seems to be dragging just Daughter, Margo Price planted herself Sex Pistols in the early 1980s, the band en- as much as the season, consider giving a fi rmly in the mists of modern country tertained a brief stay on the British punk few of these autumn releases a spin. greats, earning her supporting spots for rock scene before calling it quits. They’re

Nashville natives Bully follow up their Willie Nelson, Chris Stapleton, Faith Hill back this year with a star-studded album. ANGELINA CASTILLO FOR THIRD MAN RECORDS 2015 debut LP with Losing. The album and Tim McGraw. Praised for her apt sto- What In The World features contributions RUNNING THE charges from the very start, with singer- rytelling — reminiscent of classic country from members of The Clash, Def Leppard, GAMUT: The punk- songwriter Alicia Bognanno’s powerful legends like Emmylou Harris and current Guns ’n’ Roses and others. Overall the al- influenced rapper, howl fully intact. The record would sit label-make Loretta Lynn — Price has bum is clean without sacrifi cing edge, pre- Antwon (top), and comfortably on a shelf next to 90’s col- taken her sound a step further with All cise and fun as hell. It has a spirited energy country cantatrice lege rock stalwarts Sonic Youth, Nirva- American Made. that could challenge any punk band with Margo Price are among na, Weezer or Hole. Bognanno’s vocals It’s a welcome addition to a genre that’s members a quarter all these guys’ age, all a diverse group of artists jump from gravelly roar to tender breaths going through a bit of a renaissance. A the while maintaining a clear rock veter- putting out innovative and back again, adding a powerful dyna- little more bluesy, a little more soulful an’s approach to songwriting. sounds this autumn. mism to her personal lyrics — exempli- than Farmer’s Daughter, the record is With autumn quickly approaching fi ed by the album’s opening track, “Feel also one that will undoubtedly push coun- (hopefully), your playlists could probably the Same.” She lets us listen into a vulner- try forward. Price turns outward on Alll use a change of color too. These records able moment in a romantic relationship: American Made, examining the world will carry you through the rest of the year “Spoke with you last night. (Do you still we’ve found ourselves in and speaks her or until winter, at least. Happy listening! hate me?) But you were upset. (I miss you mind without a fi lter. “Pay Gap,” takes lately.) But I felt calm when I woke up. shots at gender injustice. “At the end of the (Let’s just forget it.) Found my head. (I day it feels like a game, one I was born to won’t regret it.)” lose,” Price sings. “This institution, a dead November 2017 GLOSSOLALIA postrock ~ shoegaze a new album by SPIRIT OF… SpiritOf.bandcamp.com The IndypendenT 21 LAW ENFORCEMENT

By Michael Hirsch repression of the left in just one omnibus chapter. He’s not wrong, but treating these as purely political and not also o we need the police? fundamentally economic attacks slights the broader sys- Brooklyn College sociologist Alex S. Vitale temic aspect of police intervention against strikes and job poses that question vividly in his The End of actions. Labor history is replete with those attacks. Policing: Are the police guarantors of social He also doesn’t acknowledge the reactionary role played peace or its disruptors? Is the force’s mandate by police unions. In New York, the Patrolmen’s Benevo- toD serve the public equally and fairly, or to act as social- lent Association, along with the detectives’ and sergeants’ control agents, protecting property and its few owners at the unions, do more than defend their members: They actively expense of the many? lobby for retrograde social legislation both in City Hall and Vitale traces the origins of the current push for policing in Albany. Opposition, largely from offi cers of color, does as the universal solution for social ills to the 1980s popu- occur, but more often over issues like discrimination within larization of the conservative nostrum “broken windows the force than over community concerns. policing.” It promoted “zero tolerance” for surface mani- Vitale presents a dialectic in which police intervention festations of disorder no matter how minor, arguing that becomes provocation in too many situations, causing op- if that disorder were allowed to exist, it would inevitably pressed people to fi ght back sometimes but not often enough metastasize into serious crime. in ways that build the community and a movement, which He argues that policing is the wrong solution for many in turn only exacerbates police and state repression. Even issues, particularly those where something’s illegality it- where police try a soft approach, as with community po- self — alcohol in the 1920s, gambling and marijuana — is licing or the use of non-punitive civil rather than criminal what makes it a problem. Drug addiction, he insists, is not courts, the threat of arrest and criminalizing is omnipresent. a criminal-justice issue: As with sex work, it is the pro- For addicts, treatment and housing is never longterm. In the hibition that makes it criminal and allows victimization absence of such necessary arrangements, it is no wonder that through exploitation. Even gang violence, he claims, is some despairing elements in affected communities ironically largely a response to police provocations against black and demand more police protection even as others fi ght for bet- brown youth. Border policing, when not just deadly, is a ter-grounded services. dead end. It can’t stop the fl ow of migrants, not when free Any ameliorating infl uences police could provide would trade destroyed local economies in Central America while better be served, as Vitale gives examples throughout, in U.S. agribusiness requires a seasonal workforce, but won’t well-funded social programs framed with the advice and pay living wages to Americans. consent of local people. Above all, jobs or an adequate in- Even when police practices are based on good intentions, come fl ow would be the death knell Vitale argues, cops often work with populations better of urban and rural poverty, the real

served by specialists, especially those like drug counsel- cause of crime and delinquency, and GARY MARTIN ors and youth social workers who have emerged from the Vitale says as much. But that requires pOLICe, The pROBLeM communities affected by those problems. The law creates radical social change, Vitale’s over- a Catch-22 for social services such as drug treatment: Even all point, though he doesn’t press it nOT The SOLUTIOn where special programs exist for treating and housing ad- home. The book is only implicitly an dicts, individuals referred by the criminal-justice system get anti-capitalist critique. To do more to jump the line and displace those with similar needs who would mean writing another book. The End of Policing aren’t facing criminal charges. In many cases, people not Short of the average cop having the By Alex S. Vitale facing charges aren’t eligible for services. wisdom of a Talmudic scholar and Verso, 2017 In the case of the mentally ill, Vitale notes how such seem- the patience of a sacristan, nothing ingly salutary innovations as “crisis response teams, special- can overcome the objective reality of ized courts and improved training can reduce the impact of ineffective training, dangerous situa- By Michael Hirsch the criminal system on the mentally ill and on the criminal- tions and an ethos that stresses sup- justice system, but these are not replacements for a rational, pressing criminals over community-building and systemic functioning mental-health system.” prevention of crime, and often doesn’t discourage thuggery. The punitive treatment of sordid-looking and often an- The end of policing as we know it can’t come too soon. noying homeless such as aggressive panhandlers may soothe Much of Vitale’s empirical evidence parallels that in the public sensibilities, but has no impact on the overall home- excellent Truthout collection Who Do You Serve, Who Do less situation. Without a housing policy that creates stable, You Protect? and he acknowledges an intellectual debt to long-term residences, chasing the homeless away and eradi- Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow. Those are both cating squatter camps is not just ineffective, but cruel. key works in understanding police and racial repression. But In a humane and relatively cooperative society, there Vitale’s amassing of trenchant facts into an enticing intel- would be few areas that require police intervention. Vitale’s lectual framework makes The End of Policing a must-read point, then, is not to eliminate the police per se, but to col- for anyone interesting in waging and winning the fi ght for lapse the need for police to an irreducible minimum. economic and social justice. In an otherwise comprehensive discussion of political re- pression, Vitale could have spent more time on police re- pression of workers’ struggles, which he treats as political

FARC members and their families now also appear to be at “We hope this peace is going to be long-lasting, because

COLOMBIA risk. Former FARC combatants are getting killed regularly in tranquility does not have a price,” he says, sipping a cup of 2017 November Continued from Page 17 a variety of departments. This echoes the “dirty war” of the sugar water on his porch. “But if the government doesn’t 1980s when thousands of militants of the Patriotic Union, the provide us with guarantees, doesn’t fulfi ll its side of the deal One of these is the new paramilitary group “Clan del political party affi liated with the FARC, were assassinated in and continues treating us as criminals, this tranquility won’t Golfo,” which has been operating in northern Antioquia for what some have called political genocide. last long.” the past several months, according to several interviews. This is It is still too early to tell how all of this will play out, but the part of an alarming national trend that has been growing since situation is indeed precarious. Quiróz recalled the darkest days Mario Murillo is a professor of communication and Latin IndypendenT The the peace accords were signed last year. of the confl ict in Briceño and the surrounding municipalities, American studies at Hofstra University on Long Island, and Since January, over 60 social-movement leaders have been when all the local farmers would hunker down in their homes is the author of Colombia and the United States: War, Unrest murdered, including people involved in land-recuperation ef- with their families by 6 p.m. to avoid getting caught in any and Destabilization. forts environmental-defense campaigns against extractive in- outbreak of combat. Today, things are noticeably different, he dustries such as mining and indigenous and peasant activists. said, with local residents walking freely throughout the terri- While the victims have been mostly civilians, demobilized tory, even after sunset. 22 BOOKS

By Steven Sherman of President Ronald Reagan’s assault they revise economic theories that give on the welfare state left him convinced labor credit for the creation of econom- ith the Republicans that Social Security should be attacked ic value — most notably in the work of controlling all three through stealth and deception, because Adam Smith — and shift that credit to branches of the fed- there was minimal public support for some elite, such as men of capital, en- eral government destroying it. He won a Nobel Prize trepreneurs, or taste makers. and 26 states, now and crossed paths with Charles Koch, When Robin shifts focus to the isW a good time to examine far-right ide- who would fund academic programs United States, the narrative loses some- ology. Two recent books, Democracy that led to George Mason becoming the thing. Ayn Rand and Antonin Scalia in Chains by Nancy MacLean and the training ground for a disciplined cadre simply aren’t as interesting thinkers as newly revised edition of Corey Robin’s sent out to reshape U.S. politics in line those mentioned above. More im- The Reactionary Mind, do just that. with extreme libertarian positions. portant, he doesn’t really address the Democracy in Chains, focused on In the fi nal chapter, MacLean de- question of right-wing populism, the the life and legacy of little-known econ- scribes those Koch-trained cadre embrace of reactionary ideas of hier- omist James Buchanan, makes the case wreaking havoc as they advance their archy by ordinary people. He seems to that the far right is fundamentally anti- vision of securing property rights think it’s cooked up by elites and sold democratic, because its upper-class against the dream of public gover- to the masses, rather than allowing for elites know that an economic agenda nance. In this world, even providing the sort of subaltern agency that might that makes them richer at the expense public-health services is an overreach produce it on its own. of everyone else cannot survive normal of government, and the people of Flint All this is prelude to the question democratic proceedings. would have drinkable water if they of Trump. In power, Robin believes, MacLean begins by looking at John had more “personal responsibility.” If Trump is not an American Adolf Hit- C. Calhoun, who, in the years before I have a complaint about the book, it is ler, as he has repeatedly been checked the Civil War, argued that property that I wish there were one more chapter by opposition within the halls of rights guaranteed by the Constitu- detailing the march from George Ma- power and the street. He has done tion prohibited the federal govern- son into centers of power. the most damage not through un- ment from interfering with slavery. Democracy in Chains touches on precedented authoritarian gestures, Defenders of slavery even questioned many subjects the left needs to think but through the ordinary presidential whether the principle of government hard about. These include the rela- powers of appointing judges and ex- by the people was as legitimate as tionship of racial backlash to extreme ecutive-branch administrators. their property rights. libertarian economics; the use of state Robin emphasizes the long-term Buchanan, after studying with liber- governments as a bulwark against both downward trajectory of Republican tarian economic philosophers Milton federal regulation and local insurgen- electoral prospects, with Trump win- Friedman and F.A. Hayek, began his cies; the potential for democracy in the ning the presidency with a smaller academic career in Virginia, just af- United States to become further con- percentage of the vote than Richard ter the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown strained; and the use of a base in the Nixon, Reagan, or either George Bush. v. Board of Education decision. Bu- universities to train a cadre to march He sees the splintering chanan argued that funding for pub- through the institutions of the state. of the far right as dif- lic education should be converted to One might wonder if the academic left’s ferent tendencies going

a voucher program, in which parents emphasis on cultural studies in the last their own ways. Trump InSIde The COnSeRVATIVe GARY MARTIN could choose which schools their chil- few decades has been a poor strategy, has not been an effective dren attended and the state would pay, compared to what the Koch/Buchanan leader for this moment, MInd saying that he disapproved “of both cadres have accomplished. as his rage focuses on involuntary (or coercive) segregation Corey Robin revised his 2011 book his own obsessions rath- and involuntary integration.” This idea for two reasons — fi rst, because some er than resonating with Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s dovetailed neatly with some Virginia readers told him that after a strong the broader concerns of Stealth Plan for America localities’ attempts to reinvigorate seg- start, it degenerated into a series of es- people outside his cult Nancy McLean regation by closing public schools. says. Second, he wanted to say some- of personality. Viking, 2017 It was in this context that Bu- thing about Donald Trump. The new Most strikingly, chanan developed his “public choice” edition is in some ways more cohesive Robin suggests the real theory. Politicians are rational actors, than the original. root of the dilemmas of The Reactionary Mind (2nd Edition) analogous to economic actors in the His statement of the theoretical both Trump and the Re- Corey Robin marketplace. While the latter seek framework remains powerful. The U.S. publicans is the weak- Oxford University Press, 2017 to maximize their return, he wrote, far right — obsessed with sustaining ness of the left — that politicians’ primary goal is re-election. power and hierarchy — is more re- the reactionaries are Since taxing the wealthy and redistrib- actionary, he says, than conservative adrift without a genuine By Steven Sherman uting funds was likely to be popular, (skeptical of change, venerating the free emancipatory project to this created incentives for them to en- market and tradition, and suspicious confront. This is a very suggestive idea, trench the tyranny of the state over of state power). When power relation- but the timing is more complex. When property holders. ships at work or in the family, typically Reagan entered the White House, the He passed through the University of regarded as private, are unsettled by movements of the 1960s were mostly California at Los Angeles, where radi- revolts from below and are no longer in retreat, if not altogether vanquished. cals like the Black Panthers helped in- taken for granted, the reactionary mind George W. Bush had an impressive re- spire him to develop ideas about how sets to work recasting those hierarchies. actionary presidency without much of to empty the universities of critical Reactionaries thus recognize the a left around at all. During the 2016 thought and focus students on careers threat from the left and rise to the campaign, many observers, includ- in business — not least through the struggle. Robin demonstrates that they ing Robin, took Trump’s candidacy as promotion of student debt. He advised can be protean and intellectually dar- evidence of the right’s unprecedented November 2017

Chilean military dictator Augusto Pi- ing, and seek regeneration through vio- weakness. Is it not possible that Trump nochet on crafting a constitution that lence. He devotes a number of chapters is being underestimated again, based banned labor unions and privatized to giants of Western political thought, on the chaos of his fi rst year? pensions and health care. including Thomas Hobbes, Edmund By the mid-1980s, he was ensconced Burke, Friedrich Nietzsche, and F.A. at George Mason University in Wash- Hayek, to show how this process

The IndypendenT ington’s Virginia suburbs. The limits works. Of particular note is the way 23 FILM dySTOpIA RedUX

Blade Runner 2049 Directed by Denis Villeneuve

Warner Bros. Nearly every preview in down Tyrell Corp. in its wake. In its a cartoon bad guy, who, ALCON ENTERTAINMENT, LLC the theater is some varia- place stands Wallace Corp., with new Leto plays cartoonishly. ALL TOO tion on the theme of near- replicants that have been rendered The real killer, how- INHUMAN: By Mark Read future doom. more docile and predictable, but no ever, is how the fi lm Ryan Gosling & For these contextual less capable. So capable, in fact, that posits biological repro- Sylvia Hoeks in n 1982, the year Blade Runner reasons as much as any fl aws in the replicants now perform as Blade Run- duction as the ultimate Blade Runner 2049. was released, climate change fi lm itself (and there are several), Blade ners themselves. Replicants hunting proof of “real” life. This was a dimly understood phe- Runner 2049, the sequel, is unable to replicants. Ryan Gosling’s character, makes little sense within the world of nomenon discussed by a few quite match the mythic grandeur of K, is one such Blade Runner. The these characters, the best of whom scientists. Set in 2019, it fol- its predecessor. It is as though the real fi lm does a wonderful job exploring were not born at all. The miracle of lowedI Decker (Harrison Ford) as he world has caught up with the dark themes that emerged in the original, birth is posited as the golden chalice, hunted down rogue replicants that imaginings of Ridley Scott and Philip such as the role of memory, and thus the holy grail of being, end of story. had become discontent with the brief K. Dick, rendering the landscapes and story, in the construction of self. Gos- Really? Is K really of less value than and limited existence they were given situations of their fi ctions incapable ling is effective and affecting as K the biological progeny of a replicant? by their maker, Eldon Tyrell. The of fostering the unsettling awe that is pulls on thread after thread, unravel- The fi lm doesn’t appear to be very constant rain and gloom of its future needed to create a work of great exis- ing the mystery of his origin, with the interested in this question, which, if Los Angeles gave the fi lm a mysteri- tential scope. Don’t get me wrong, this tantalizing possibility of him being a you ask me, is an insult to replicant- ous aura, the backdrop against which is a worthy sequel. The cinematogra- “real boy” dangled in front of him, kind the galaxy over. Most of all, it a dark fable about consciousness and phy is breathtaking, the sound over- egging him ever onward. is a profound insult to Roy Batty’s freedom was set. Dystopian fi lms were whelming, the acting is mostly terrifi c While the fi lm does a wonderful job tears, shed in rain at the end of his relatively rare back then, and the audi- (with the exception of Jared Leto), and exploring some of the same themes as brief existence, which was no less a ence for them was narrow. the script is very, very good. By most the fi rst, its efforts at mapping new miracle than any human boy’s. In 2017, when a global-warming di- measures it is a tour-de-force. Despite terrain feel either overwrought or ill saster is looming and droughts, forest all of its majesty, however, it cannot conceived. In the character of Wal- fi res and hurricanes are ravaging Cali- manage to ascend to the heights of a lace, for instance, the writers have fornia and the Caribbean, the back- bare-chested Rutger Hauer, as Roy created a villain that belongs in a drop of of ecological collapse in the Batty, describing and lamenting his James Bond movie, a creature of pure sequel doesn’t feel so much mysterious brief but miraculous life. malevolence, completely inhuman in as terrifyingly plausible. Dystopia is Blade Runner 2049 picks up in the his aspirations and actions. Bad guys no longer a niche-market notion, the aftermath of a replicant insurgency can be complex and interesting, and speculative setting for a dark fable. that has shaken the galaxy and taken this fi lm needed one of those — not

The End of Policing by Alex S. Vitale

How the police endanger us and why we need to find an alternative

“Deeply researched, but also vibrantly and accessibly written ... Essential reading for anyone wishing to understand the dire state of policing today.” —Elliott Currie, author of Crime and Punishment in America

“Urgent, provocative, and timely, The End of Policing will make you question most of what you have been taught to believe about crime and how to solve it.” —James Forman Jr., author of Locking Up Our Own

“A clearly argued, sure-to-be-controversial book.” —Kirkus

Available at versobooks.com 2017 November and wherever books are sold

@versobooks The IndypendenT The