OUR VISION ON THE OCCASION OF THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SATURDAY FREE SCHOOL FOR PHILOSOPHY AND BLACK LIBERATION
With confidence and pride, The Saturday Free School for Philosophy and Black Liberation celebrates our tenth anniversary. We do this at a time when the world and our nation are in historic crises. The most glaring features of the crises are, war, climate change and environmental destruction, poverty and rule by networks of anti-people elites. They are a neo-liberal, undemocratic and authoritarian elite, who are no more than 5% of the population, are the wealthiest part of it and have almost complete power over the nation. Estimates are that more than fifty trillion dollars have gone from the working and middle classes to them over the past forty years. Social and economic injustice abounds. Suicide is a life choice for many children and teenagers who see it as an answer to overwhelming social and personal problems. Most Americans don’t see a future and life appears as bottomless cruelty. Americans are poorer than fifty years ago. Large parts of the working and middle classes have almost completely collapsed. Bewilderment, uncertainty and despair define their life worlds. Most Americans are either unemployed, underemployed, poor, homeless or ill-housed, hungry or ill-fed, uneducated or poorly educated, drug addicted, mentally or physically ill, and imprisoned; lives are cut short as life expectancy dramatically declines and suicide reaches historic levels. Stranded populations of young, mainly white people, exist on precarious islands of drug addiction and homelessness, encamped in deindustrialized urban neighborhoods. Children and teenagers are experimenting with and becoming addicted to lethal drugs. Many overdose on them. The weight of social inequality has brought our society to the edge of collapse. Fear grips the people, forcing many to retreat from society and the struggle for change. Children and youth are in the deepest distress. They have been abandoned by a society driven insane by greed, the worship of obscene wealth, extreme materialism and war. For tens of millions of children and youth, life is a long cold winter. This social, economic and political situation is unsustainable. We face a great catastrophe.
The people are divided, and the nation is in the worst political crisis of its history. Most Americans do not trust the government, with 60% saying the government is corrupt and does not represent them. So alienated is part of the people that 25% say they would support using arms to change the government. For many Americans, the US nation is a dark and tragic landscape. It is this geography within which we struggle for change. Despite what seems like unbroken darkness there are possibilities for change. Great crises can compel great leaps forward. They create possibilities for great change. Everything depends upon the consciousness and ideological clarity of the people and what they do.
OUR MORAL CHOICE IS TO FIGHT FOR UNITY
The Saturday Free School has but one moral choice: to cast our lot with the people, and to encourage unity and struggle. Like most of the American people, we believe that the primary condition for change is in unity. We believe a great social transformation is closer than most people think. We bring with us our unique vision of what is possible. We believe that pregnant in the deepest wells of people’s aspiration are solutions. Moreover, we believe that human beings possess the moral capacity to rise above crises and to save the planet from war, climate destruction and poverty and to create democracies worthy of human life. It is upon these foundations that we go forward, unafraid of the future, yet recognizing the great dangers before us.
In world historic terms we are witnessing a change of epochs, from the epoch of European hegemony to the epoch of humanity, and what is defined as a multipolar world. The myths of white supremacy, and the inevitability of war, capitalism and the rule of finance capital are being exploded in every part of the world. Vast changes are taking place. The question is, how will change come about in the US. How with so much division can the people come forward with a single vision for the future.
A FOURTH AMERICAN REVOLUTION
Three American Revolutions have occurred: that of 1776, the Civil War and Reconstruction and the Civil Rights and Black Freedom Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. While incomplete, the American people and the nation are offspring of the three American Revolutions. More than the American Revolution and the Civil War and Reconstruction, the Third American Revolution most clearly rethought the possibilities of a new nation and a new people. Guided by the vison of Martin Luther King Jr., the nation was compelled, in ways it never had, to reckon with its history, identity and what we must become if we are to survive. The American nation and the American people, consequently, were changed—we are different from what we were at that time. But we are not yet complete; we are not yet free; nor are we what we must become. The task of achieving the moral, spiritual, economic and political remaking of the nation and the people requires us to return to the values of the Third American Revolution. In the name of a new people’s democracy and the realization of a new people a Fourth American Revolution is necessary.
Despite the uncertainty and chaos of the moment we are at the beginning of a Fourth American Revolution. The central democratic goal of the Fourth American Revolution is to bring to actuality the yet unfinished goals of the Third American Revolution. To achieve Democracy and Peace, we as a nation must grasp the moral, spiritual and political values articulated by Martin Luther King Jr. Based on these values and the vision that inspired them, the people must take power. If we are to have a future, a new democracy anchored to the people and their aspirations must be established. A new democracy is a democracy for all our people; however, first on this democratic agenda must be children and youth—our future. A new people’s democracy will compel us to reject our nation’s definition of being a white nation. Heroically our people must make ours the last white nation—an accomplishment of world historic significance.
A FUTURE WORTH FIGHTING FOR
The Saturday Free School has confidence that the most courageous of our people can come forward to lead us to this new democracy, to unity and an end to war. A new consciousness must arise that is anchored to a recognition that we are all part of a single garment of destiny, that what affects one of us directly affects us all indirectly. But more, as a nation devoted to peace and democracy, we can help humanity construct a world house of all nations, civilizations and races. This consciousness recognizes there is a future, if we but fight for it. Martin Luther King Jr. was right in insisting that we not be confined to the colony of now, but aspire to the empire of eternity, to a future of limitless possibilities.
The moral and spiritual values we must embrace are as old as humanity itself, enshrined in the doctrines of all great religions, spiritual systems, ethical and humanistic philosophies and as contemporary as this moment. These values must be taught and retaught. They must be actualized in music, song, poetry and painting. A radical revolution of values must be the grounding principles for the Fourth American Revolution.
We can choose (as many will) to retreat into pessimism and escapism. The best of our children, youth and older people will come to the forefront and proclaim our unbending commitment to humanity. That moment contains the essential lessons for this time. For us the thinking of W.E.B. Du Bois, Martin Luther King Jr. and James Baldwin are the foundation for a vision for this time. They conceived the coming American revolution to be tasked with creating a new American people and thus a new nation and a new people’s democracy.
WE STAND UPON OUR HISTORY AND WORLD HISTORY
The Saturday Free School is part of and inheritors of the great revolutionary achievements of the modern world. We are connected to the Russian and Chinese Revolutions, the Indian Independence Movement, the African freedom struggles and the Cuban Revolution. We continue to learn from Marx and Lenin, Mao, Ho Chi Minh, Kim Il Sung, Gandhi and Fidel Castro. The courageous African freedom fighters, who were socialist and communist, are a source of inspiration. Our moral and political values must include such figures as Kwame Nkrumah, Patrice Lumumba, Amilcar Cabral, Sekou Touré, Modibo Keita, Chris Hani and Marien Ngouabi.
We stand, moreover, upon the legacies of Thomas Paine, Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth and William Lloyd Garrison. John Brown, Henry Highland Garnet and other fighters against slavery. We are connected to the spirit of Paul Robeson, Mother Jones, Elizabeth Gurly Flynn, Ida B Wells Barnett, Lucy Parsons, Eugene V. Debs, Big Bill Haywood, Henry Winston and the legions of fighters for the rights of workers and the poor.
REVOLUTIONARY SCIENCE FOR OUR TIME
A new scientific synthesis for this time of crisis is called for. Drawing on the theoretical possibilities proposed by Henry Winston, in his books Strategy for A Black Agenda and Class, Race, and Black Liberation, we are working out a new revolutionary philosophical and theoretical framework. Such a framework emerges from European and radical thought, including the thought of Karl Marx, V.I. Lenin and the Russian Revolution and the principal thinkers of the Black Radical Tradition. In essence this is a synthesis of the scientific thought of W.E.B. Du Bois and V.I. Lenin. Recognizing that every revolution must be guided by great ideas and science, we seek to equip our people with possible theoretical frameworks for this time. Such a synthesis is a new lens to understand the world. Marx, Lenin and the Russian Revolution advanced revolutionary theory to a new level. They advanced social science quite a distance. They linked social science to revolutionary change. Their thought, however, was not complete. W.E.B. Du Bois brought the full weight of scientific understanding of slavery, the Color Line, colonialism and racial oppression to earlier revolutionary theory. This constitutes a more complete understanding of modern societies and their potential for change. W.E.B. Du Bois completed what Marx and Lenin and their collaborators began, producing new and in fact richer theory for our time. Du Bois introduces the scientific understanding of racial oppression and how it shapes class consciousness and revolutionary practice. Du Bois further argued for the possibility, indeed the inevitability of an Afro-Asiatic reconstitution of world civilization—a reconstitution that would bring with it new forms of government, state organization, philosophy, economic systems, art and culture. For Du Bois this is a rebirth of humanity as such and a restart of history. Du Bois’ civilizational predisposition suggests that the crises of our time demand not merely new ways of talking about the human situation, but new civilizations, new democracies, new philosophical and moral frameworks emerging from humanity’s majorities—the darker races. The democratic and revolutionary vison and practice of the Third American Revolution further enlarged upon the methods and modalities of revolutionary change. The Third American Revolution irrevocably established that revolutions, in the end, are about people, not revolutionaries.
WITH MORAL CLARITY WE WELCOME THE FUTURE
Our nation and people are at the start of a long march to a new democracy, peace and to people’s power. The Saturday Free School for Philosophy and Black Liberation joins this march. Imbued with knowledge and courage, driven by the moral imperative to act we see the future and we see a new people in the making.
On this occasion of celebration, we greet and salute the people, the children and youth, the activists, the revolutionaries and democrats, the people’s artists and poets. We join our children and youth and proclaim to them, “There Is a Sky, There Is a Future”, but it can only be won through struggle. We do not damn the future—we greet it. We do not fear the future—we welcome it. Because tomorrow is today, what must be is determined by what we do now. We appeal to the moral instincts and the moral capacity of the American people and their ability for reasonable discourse. Like Martin Luther King Jr. we believe that the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends to justice. Like James Baldwin we believe the most important moral imperative is to love your neighbor as you love yourself. Love is the moral capacity to think in collective rather than merely individualist and egoistic ways. Love bestows the ability to see humanity and to recognize oneself as unalterably a part of humanity. To see the I in the We. Love gives to human actions an all-embracing and all-humanity character. Love aspires to build a world house where all who inhabit it see themselves as sisters and brothers. Love, as Martin Luther King Jr. insisted, is the sword that heals. We believe we can achieve our nation and achieve democracy in the name of the people. With humility, moral clarity, courage and love The Saturday Free School for Philosophy and Black Liberation invites all to join us in our celebration.
The people are divided, and the nation is in the worst political crisis of its history. Most Americans do not trust the government, with 60% saying the government is corrupt and does not represent them. So alienated is part of the people that 25% say they would support using arms to change the government. For many Americans, the US nation is a dark and tragic landscape. It is this geography within which we struggle for change. Despite what seems like unbroken darkness there are possibilities for change. Great crises can compel great leaps forward. They create possibilities for great change. Everything depends upon the consciousness and ideological clarity of the people and what they do.
OUR MORAL CHOICE IS TO FIGHT FOR UNITY
The Saturday Free School has but one moral choice: to cast our lot with the people, and to encourage unity and struggle. Like most of the American people, we believe that the primary condition for change is in unity. We believe a great social transformation is closer than most people think. We bring with us our unique vision of what is possible. We believe that pregnant in the deepest wells of people’s aspiration are solutions. Moreover, we believe that human beings possess the moral capacity to rise above crises and to save the planet from war, climate destruction and poverty and to create democracies worthy of human life. It is upon these foundations that we go forward, unafraid of the future, yet recognizing the great dangers before us.
In world historic terms we are witnessing a change of epochs, from the epoch of European hegemony to the epoch of humanity, and what is defined as a multipolar world. The myths of white supremacy, and the inevitability of war, capitalism and the rule of finance capital are being exploded in every part of the world. Vast changes are taking place. The question is, how will change come about in the US. How with so much division can the people come forward with a single vision for the future.
A FOURTH AMERICAN REVOLUTION
Three American Revolutions have occurred: that of 1776, the Civil War and Reconstruction and the Civil Rights and Black Freedom Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. While incomplete, the American people and the nation are offspring of the three American Revolutions. More than the American Revolution and the Civil War and Reconstruction, the Third American Revolution most clearly rethought the possibilities of a new nation and a new people. Guided by the vison of Martin Luther King Jr., the nation was compelled, in ways it never had, to reckon with its history, identity and what we must become if we are to survive. The American nation and the American people, consequently, were changed—we are different from what we were at that time. But we are not yet complete; we are not yet free; nor are we what we must become. The task of achieving the moral, spiritual, economic and political remaking of the nation and the people requires us to return to the values of the Third American Revolution. In the name of a new people’s democracy and the realization of a new people a Fourth American Revolution is necessary.
Despite the uncertainty and chaos of the moment we are at the beginning of a Fourth American Revolution. The central democratic goal of the Fourth American Revolution is to bring to actuality the yet unfinished goals of the Third American Revolution. To achieve Democracy and Peace, we as a nation must grasp the moral, spiritual and political values articulated by Martin Luther King Jr. Based on these values and the vision that inspired them, the people must take power. If we are to have a future, a new democracy anchored to the people and their aspirations must be established. A new democracy is a democracy for all our people; however, first on this democratic agenda must be children and youth—our future. A new people’s democracy will compel us to reject our nation’s definition of being a white nation. Heroically our people must make ours the last white nation—an accomplishment of world historic significance.
A FUTURE WORTH FIGHTING FOR
The Saturday Free School has confidence that the most courageous of our people can come forward to lead us to this new democracy, to unity and an end to war. A new consciousness must arise that is anchored to a recognition that we are all part of a single garment of destiny, that what affects one of us directly affects us all indirectly. But more, as a nation devoted to peace and democracy, we can help humanity construct a world house of all nations, civilizations and races. This consciousness recognizes there is a future, if we but fight for it. Martin Luther King Jr. was right in insisting that we not be confined to the colony of now, but aspire to the empire of eternity, to a future of limitless possibilities.
The moral and spiritual values we must embrace are as old as humanity itself, enshrined in the doctrines of all great religions, spiritual systems, ethical and humanistic philosophies and as contemporary as this moment. These values must be taught and retaught. They must be actualized in music, song, poetry and painting. A radical revolution of values must be the grounding principles for the Fourth American Revolution.
We can choose (as many will) to retreat into pessimism and escapism. The best of our children, youth and older people will come to the forefront and proclaim our unbending commitment to humanity. That moment contains the essential lessons for this time. For us the thinking of W.E.B. Du Bois, Martin Luther King Jr. and James Baldwin are the foundation for a vision for this time. They conceived the coming American revolution to be tasked with creating a new American people and thus a new nation and a new people’s democracy.
WE STAND UPON OUR HISTORY AND WORLD HISTORY
The Saturday Free School is part of and inheritors of the great revolutionary achievements of the modern world. We are connected to the Russian and Chinese Revolutions, the Indian Independence Movement, the African freedom struggles and the Cuban Revolution. We continue to learn from Marx and Lenin, Mao, Ho Chi Minh, Kim Il Sung, Gandhi and Fidel Castro. The courageous African freedom fighters, who were socialist and communist, are a source of inspiration. Our moral and political values must include such figures as Kwame Nkrumah, Patrice Lumumba, Amilcar Cabral, Sekou Touré, Modibo Keita, Chris Hani and Marien Ngouabi.
We stand, moreover, upon the legacies of Thomas Paine, Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth and William Lloyd Garrison. John Brown, Henry Highland Garnet and other fighters against slavery. We are connected to the spirit of Paul Robeson, Mother Jones, Elizabeth Gurly Flynn, Ida B Wells Barnett, Lucy Parsons, Eugene V. Debs, Big Bill Haywood, Henry Winston and the legions of fighters for the rights of workers and the poor.
REVOLUTIONARY SCIENCE FOR OUR TIME
A new scientific synthesis for this time of crisis is called for. Drawing on the theoretical possibilities proposed by Henry Winston, in his books Strategy for A Black Agenda and Class, Race, and Black Liberation, we are working out a new revolutionary philosophical and theoretical framework. Such a framework emerges from European and radical thought, including the thought of Karl Marx, V.I. Lenin and the Russian Revolution and the principal thinkers of the Black Radical Tradition. In essence this is a synthesis of the scientific thought of W.E.B. Du Bois and V.I. Lenin. Recognizing that every revolution must be guided by great ideas and science, we seek to equip our people with possible theoretical frameworks for this time. Such a synthesis is a new lens to understand the world. Marx, Lenin and the Russian Revolution advanced revolutionary theory to a new level. They advanced social science quite a distance. They linked social science to revolutionary change. Their thought, however, was not complete. W.E.B. Du Bois brought the full weight of scientific understanding of slavery, the Color Line, colonialism and racial oppression to earlier revolutionary theory. This constitutes a more complete understanding of modern societies and their potential for change. W.E.B. Du Bois completed what Marx and Lenin and their collaborators began, producing new and in fact richer theory for our time. Du Bois introduces the scientific understanding of racial oppression and how it shapes class consciousness and revolutionary practice. Du Bois further argued for the possibility, indeed the inevitability of an Afro-Asiatic reconstitution of world civilization—a reconstitution that would bring with it new forms of government, state organization, philosophy, economic systems, art and culture. For Du Bois this is a rebirth of humanity as such and a restart of history. Du Bois’ civilizational predisposition suggests that the crises of our time demand not merely new ways of talking about the human situation, but new civilizations, new democracies, new philosophical and moral frameworks emerging from humanity’s majorities—the darker races. The democratic and revolutionary vison and practice of the Third American Revolution further enlarged upon the methods and modalities of revolutionary change. The Third American Revolution irrevocably established that revolutions, in the end, are about people, not revolutionaries.
WITH MORAL CLARITY WE WELCOME THE FUTURE
Our nation and people are at the start of a long march to a new democracy, peace and to people’s power. The Saturday Free School for Philosophy and Black Liberation joins this march. Imbued with knowledge and courage, driven by the moral imperative to act we see the future and we see a new people in the making.
On this occasion of celebration, we greet and salute the people, the children and youth, the activists, the revolutionaries and democrats, the people’s artists and poets. We join our children and youth and proclaim to them, “There Is a Sky, There Is a Future”, but it can only be won through struggle. We do not damn the future—we greet it. We do not fear the future—we welcome it. Because tomorrow is today, what must be is determined by what we do now. We appeal to the moral instincts and the moral capacity of the American people and their ability for reasonable discourse. Like Martin Luther King Jr. we believe that the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends to justice. Like James Baldwin we believe the most important moral imperative is to love your neighbor as you love yourself. Love is the moral capacity to think in collective rather than merely individualist and egoistic ways. Love bestows the ability to see humanity and to recognize oneself as unalterably a part of humanity. To see the I in the We. Love gives to human actions an all-embracing and all-humanity character. Love aspires to build a world house where all who inhabit it see themselves as sisters and brothers. Love, as Martin Luther King Jr. insisted, is the sword that heals. We believe we can achieve our nation and achieve democracy in the name of the people. With humility, moral clarity, courage and love The Saturday Free School for Philosophy and Black Liberation invites all to join us in our celebration.
