Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee
A political ecology of change
When the political tide runs against us it takes all our effort just to stay in place. Our standards slide until a "victory" just means that we didn't get screwed as badly as we could have been. Our gains are swept away the moment we turn away...
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Revolution in the Time of the Hamsters
Thinking about fresh organizing strategy in a time of change:
"I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto," Dorothy shared her suspicion with her little dog as they peered out onto an unfamiliar landscape. Still reeling from her own climate crisis, Dorothy could recognize a new strategic reality when she saw it; one which would force her to rethink her capabilities, her goals and the alliances she would need to pursue her interests under radically altered conditions. We in US left and progressive politics are experiencing a "Dorothy moment." Pressures that have been building for decades along underground political fault lines are combining to produce political tremors that cannot be ignored.
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Tecumseh's Fist
This analysis started out to examine what Left electoral proposals fit best with out overall strategy for transformational social change in the US. It became quickly clear that we have no such strategy. Tecumseh's Fist lays out an approach to building a movement for change and uses it to measure the election politics of groups such as Progressives for Obama and the Green Party. The strategic thinking of the nineteenth century Shawnee leader Tecumseh is employed as a challenge to today's radicals.
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Lihish'tah'weel
A major re-examination of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict through the lens of global anti-colonialism and strategic compassion. Emphasis is on shifting the terms of the conflict through local action on the ground in the area of conflict. Addresses all the stickiest aspects of the conflict. 55 pages.
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A printed copy of this pamphlet is available for $8.00, postage inculded. Checks should be made out to:
RLM Arts
PO Box 7231, Minneapolis, MN 55407
The Drinking Gourd
A look at the importance of vision for the struggle for justice. How to steer by the stars in reactionary times. Seven Pages.
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Remembering Chairman Fred
A tribute to Chicago Black Panther, Fred Hampton, on the 35th anniversary of his assassination. Two pages.
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A Way Out Of Iraq
A proposal for ending the war and occupation of Iraq while there were still some doors open and before the looming destruction of the society. The local newspaper wouldn't print it even after I got a few local politicians and academics to sign on. Two pages. 2004.
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The Lizard Strategy
In the run-up to the 2004 US presidential elections, this article proposes a strategy to prevent the re-election of George W. Bush while building an independent opposition current in national politics. Six pages.
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The Return of History
Mirage of Conquest, Oasis of Resistance. 2003 piece which dissects the reasons for, and implications of, the ultimate US defeat in Iraq. Seven pages.
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September Lightning
Published shortly after the 9/11 attacks in the united States. It was one of a handful of pieces solicited from writers and observers by the Report on the Americas in response to those events. Two pages.
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The Importance of Being Artist
An exposition on art, dreams and social change. It was the lead chapter in Re-imaging America, a 1990 collection on art and politics. Seven pages.
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Copyright 2007 Ricardo Levins Morales. This report may be posted, forwarded and copied for the purposes of discussion and education as long as it is reproduced in its entirety. All other uses require permission of the author. Any future changes to these terms will be posted on this page.