The Convention is underway here in Detroit, in a mammoth building that only the weighty hand of American capitalism could design. The Rennaisance Center has the likeness of a freeway system on the inside, so whatever you plan on doing at the NLG Convention, make sure you know where the room is and make sure you've given yourself time to get there.
There's a TUPOCC table in the "Ambassador" lobby, so be on the look out -- to pick up fliers, materials, and to connect with TUPOCC members!
This afternoon, at 1pm, a couple of us TUPOCCers are heading to a panel on ICE raids; it's not the only event this weekend dedicated to strategizing around the raids and their community-wide impact. Check out the workshop schedule at http://nlg.org/convention.
Tonight's keynote address is of particular interest to TUPOCC members and allies. The legendary activist Grace Lee Boggs will be address the Convention tonight. The scheduled time is 6:45-8:45PM. She won't be speaking the entire time -- probably just 30 minutes of it.
Here's a link to Grace Lee Boggs' essay 2050 Will Be What We Make It:
Living for Change; 2050 Will Be What We Make It
January 04, 2001
by Grace Lee Boggs
As we enter the 21st century, I believe we are in the early stages of the second American democratic revolution in my lifetime.
The first began 45 years ago with the Montgomery Bus Boycott triggered by the Emmett Till lynching. Now, in the wake of the Supreme Court coup awarding the presidency to Bush, Americans in all walks of life are questioning the legitimacy of the American political system and wondering how to create a "government of, by and for the people" to replace the "government of, by and for corporations" that we have now.
The revolution, as Karl Marx once wrote, sometimes needs the whip of the counter-revolution.
2 comments:
TUPOCC videotaped Grace Lee Boggs's keynote speech, "Detroit City of Hope". Detroit, once the capital of modern industry in America, has experienced decades of urban decay, rebellion and now grassroot movements such as "Detroit Summer". It's reminiscent of the dramatic civil rights mobilization of the '60s, "Mississipi Summer". It also represents the transformational, sustainable local movements that are taking place that challenge racism, materialism and militarism, the revolution in values, that Martin Luther King began to talk about shortly before his assassination.
Post a Comment