The primers are such because they are small and accessible books. They are challenging reads, since they fit a bunch into a tiny footprint, but they are great for the broad strokes of understanding the US's role in oppression and genocide both within our country and worldwide.
It is important to know that sexism and racism are pieces to the larger picture of oppression, which is why some books about those topics are added to the deeper dives.
Resources on Marxism and anarchy are provided as starting points, but by no means cover all the alternatives to capitalism. I personally identify as an anarchist. After having read more into the Marxist-Leninist school of thought, I realized I could not condone the creation of a State - to me, power and hierarchy are what have caused the problems we see today. The more I am a part of the anarchist community, especially one where ecological stewardship and social liberation are combined, I realize that the kind of future we desperately need is one where all life forms are valued equally. If life is to continue on this planet with climate change threatening so much of what we hold dear, we need to work towards that.
However, Mao said, "Pay attention to uniting and working with comrades who differ with you." Just because I identify one way and you another does not mean we cannot work together towards a common goal of a more equitable and just living situation for the inhabitants of this planet. Regardless of where we fall on the radicalized spectrum, we have a goal: to end the capitalist regime and restore power to the indigenous peoples who have had their land brutally taken from them.
As stated in The Red Deal, we face a choice: rapid decolonization or death.
If you are not a reader, there's also a section of videos and podcasts!
I have marked media that I finished with an X like so (x). Media that are in progress are marked with an IP like so (ip). Media with no status is left blank for now.
- The Red Deal - The Red Nation (x)
- Wretched of the Earth - Frantz Fanon (x)
- All About Love - bell hooks (x)
- Mutual Aid - Dean Spade (x)
- Emergent Strategy - adrienne marie brown (x)
- The Indigenous People's History of the United States - Roxanne Dunbar-Oritz
- The Jakarta Method - Vincent Bevins
- Blood in my Eye - George L. Jackson
- Prison By Any Other Name - Maya Schenwar
- Philosophical Trends in the Feminist Movement - Anuradha Ghandy (x)
- White Rage - Carol Anderson
- A Decolonial Feminism - Francoise Verges
- The Dawn of Everything - David Graeber & David Wengrow (x)
- Anarchic Agreements - Seeds for Change
- Undrowned - Alexis Pauline Gumbs (x)
- Pleasure Activism - adrienne marie brown (x)
- Healing Resistance - Kazu Haga (ip)
- Coming Back to Life - Joanna Macy, Molly Brown (ip)
- Turn This World Inside Out - Nora Samaran (x)
- The Flowering Wand - Sophie Strand (x)
- The Will to Change - bell hooks (x)
- Anti-capitalism, Mutual Aid, and Asset-Based Community - Afrofuturist Abolitionists of the Americas (x)
- Methods of Work Party Committees - Mao (x)
- Postmodern Anarchism in the Novels of Ursula K. Le Guin - Lewis Call (ip)
Note: The fiction here features anarchist and/or alternative community structure and/or frames oppressive regimes in a way that speaks to modern discourse around radical left thinking. Le Guin was a known anarchist thinker and writer. I recommend all of her work unconditionally; I put the most popular of her fiction here, since they are the easiest to find. Her essays will also appear in other sections of this gist as I find copies of them online.
- The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin (x)
- The Broken Earth Trilogy by N.K. Jeminsin (x)
- Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (x)
- Care vs. Coercion (x)
- Dean Spade - What is Mutual Aid (aka: Shit's Totally Fucked) (x)
- Ashanti Alston on the Black Panthers and the Zapatistas (Black Anarchism)
- Seeing White - Scene On Radio (x)
- The Repair - Scene On Radio (x)
- Revolutionary Left Radio
- For the Wild (highly recommended)
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/building-capacity-for-mutual-aid-groups-workshop-3-abolitionist-practice-tickets-170387579838
Here's a series of mutual aid workshops I have been attending. This one is upcoming on Thursday, the others have recordings on Youtube findable on this channel : https://www.youtube.com/user/BCRWvideos
https://www.versobooks.com/books/3713-mutual-aid - Mutual Aid, Dean Spade - Primer on forming mutual aid groups, how consensus organizing can work, dealing with burnout etc
I haven't read this one but my partner is in an union and highly recommends it - https://labornotes.org/secrets Secrets of a Successful Organizer