socialism

What Place Do The Artists Have in Revolution? A Poem

/ James J Jackson Jr

What Place Do The Artists Have in Revolution?

PRODUCE!

Must produce content!

For fame,

For a following,

Quite literally and painfully so,

thanks to the stench of both words.

To produce is to manufacture,

To manufacture is to produce.

The workers are the ones who produce,

So the artists,

the writers,

the creators,

we are the workers to.

We are a part of that thing called revolution,

And we must forgive Marx for forgetting us.

Artists!

Artists of the world, unite!

We have nothing to lose but our chains,

We have everything to gain

when we gain the freedom to create!

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Undemocratic, A Word Not To Be Taken Lightly

/ James J Jackson Jr

As an active DSA member I hear this word all the time, almost as much as I hear the words “organizing” and “socialism.”  I think active leftists in all organizations can relate to this, but I think the attack of something being “undemocratic” is overused.

Now I am not suggesting in any way we not call out undemocratic behavior, what I am saying is we need to acknowledge that being called “undemocratic” is the heaviest attack you can lay against someone in an organization that is supposed to be democratic.  That is not something to take lightly.

Behavior that is genuinely undemocratic is something that an elected official does not have the authority to do or is an action that goes out of its way to side step democratic procedures.  That does not stop people from throwing the term around when a comrade does something that they simply do not agree with.

Most of the time what is called ‘undemocratic behavior’ is actually just people disagreeing with how something was done, or it is people letting personal differences effect their outlook on what is good for their organization. If we attack every single thing or person we disagree with as ‘undemocratic’ then the word will lose all meaning.  It will be a boy who called wolf situation, the moment we actually have to face the consequences of someone doing something undemocratic we will be ill prepared to handle it.

An action is only undemocratic if it goes out of its way to defy democratic principles, unless it is intentionally sidestepping the consent or consensus of the voting body, the odds are it was not “undemocratic.”

I am not saying hold your tongue when you see genuinely undemocratic behavior, all I am asking is that people remember that in organizations that pride themselves on democracy, it is not a term to be taken lightly.

Courage Is The Sweetest Lullaby, a poem

/ James J Jackson Jr

Courage Is The Sweetest Lullaby

Fear not your lions,

And constrain yourself

upon the unsightly sounds

of this date of sorrow.

Do but construct,

And constrain,

For the winter’s winds are but lost

by the summer sun.

The nymphs of the seasons

do hold their treasons so,

Be not the character of

perpetual woe.

Rains do pitch upon this sight,

Wish yourself well,

Wish yourself sweet goodnight.

Liberal Identity Politics Are Dehumanizing

/ James J Jackson Jr

Recently I saw an article in the Los Angeles Times that actually used the following phrase, “The coveted black women vote.”

Candidates like Kamala Harris or Liz Warren perpetuate toxic ID politics

Before I begin my tangent let me start by saying I am hesitant to even use the term “identity politics.” I feel that the term is used more often than not to silence the voices of women or people of color in leftist spaces when confronting the reality of what it means to be anti racist becomes uncomfortable. That said, I think that there is a staunch difference between liberal identity politics and leftist identity politics.

Leftists acknowledge intersectionality and use it to improve their analysis so that they may recruit and engage with more people in a more diverse way. Liberals use identity politics to tokenize, to excuse their own complacency in white supremacy, and most shallowly to get votes.

This is why I get infuriated when we talk about “the women vote” or “the black vote,” as if anyone who is not a white straight male in our society is of some bizarre kind of hive mind.

Pundits dehumanize LGBTQA+ people when they assume Buttigieg has their votes locked down simply because he is gay.

I hope everyone realizes that is what pundits and politicians are saying when they sayings like “the coveted black women vote.”

They are saying that oppressed groups of voters, such as black people, women, black women are nothing more than who they vote for president and what is worse is the dehumanizing idea that they will all vote for the same person for the same reasons.

When it comes down to discussing the “woman vote” or the “black vote” in the eyes of liberal and conservative pundits you are no longer a collection of individuals, each with your own stories and culture and background and reasoning. No, to them you are simply a part of a demographic, a thing to be used as fodder for politicians and talking heads alike.

They are fucking insulting you and reducing you to an infantile point. We should not stand for this.


The Teacher As The Poet, a poem

/ James J Jackson Jr

The Teacher As The Poet

Content’s production,

Ease of mind and constant rush,

Narcotic ease,

And still the voices don’t stop.

Stagnation is a creative mind’s enemy,

as is cowardice.

We are our words,

our letters and symbols.

Intentions mean nothing when they fail,

Yet success is still a subjective term.

I am responsible for the quiet dawn

of these minds,

if only for a day.

What world do we live in now?

What world was it before?

And what shall it be?

This is not a journal entry,

Poetry is public record,

And to be used,

On what was “just” another day.

Right Wing Attacks on This Blog

/ James J Jackson Jr

Recently a video of me from the DSA convention has gone viral and right wing trolls have dug through my website and are publishing screen shots and videos of me, mocking my mental health and my disability.

I am not bothered. I am not hurt by any of this. But by sharing my name, hometown, and social media accounts on their website, Fox News has exposed not only myself but my family to incredible danger.

(TW/CW Ableist and bigoted language)

This above picture is a screen shot of just one of the dozens of messages I have been receiving in the last 24 hours. Some have been rants like this, others have been direct threats on my life.

It would be laughable that Fox News has picked such an insignificant event from the DSA convention and blow it up so much were it not for the fact it has put the safety of all those I care about at risk.

I have since had to deactivate my twitter and instagram because I have received a bombardment of death threats. This has effected my ability to advertise this blog since I was using both of those sites to do that. I now have to be extra intentional about writing posts and sharing my work for my readers to find.

I am not worried about my own safety but about the safety of those I love. I find Fox News and Tucker Carlson’s obsession with me hilarious, but there is nothing funny about how the safety of my friends and relatives are now at risk because of their constant and irresponsible form of coverage.

I am not afraid of the attacks against me. I am only afraid that someone I love may get hurt. Personally, I have never been afraid of bullies. I have never believed in “just ignoring” them so they “go away. ” No, ever since I was a child I have always been one to look my bullies in the eye and say one thing to them, “I am not afraid of you.”

This blog will continue and so will my regular postings. The right wing will never silence me.