Excerpts from the chapters “Official Fists” and “Banjo’s Ace of Spades,” in McKay’s novel Banjo (1929) Read the rest of this entry »
Playing Giovannitti – fiction by Joe Emersberger
August 18, 2009 — tcOn the first day of my Grade 11 history class, Mr. Marini had written out a quote by someone named Arturo Giovannitti on the blackboard. Before I could sit down, Marini gave me a stack of blue paperback books to hand out to everyone.
“These books are yours to keep,” he announced. “In them, you’ll find all the material we’ll be covering this semester.”
The book was “A people’s History of the US” by Howard Zinn.
Peter Howard’s hand shot up in the air.
“Yes, Peter.”
“Sir, how is this ancient history?”
“It isn’t.”
“But you’re supposed to teach us ancient history.”
“I know, but I’m not going to, so you can drop the course, rat me out to your parents, or stay and try to learn something. It’s up to you.” Read the rest of this entry »
Wovokia – fiction by Joe Emersberger
July 13, 2009 — tcJack Wilson, a reporter for the Scottish edition of the Daily Telegraph, uncovered opinion polls that found 60% of US citizens (40% of Canadians) did not know that Wovokia was an independent country or that the US and Canada had made traveling to Wovokia illegal. (Wovokia had previously been known as the Canadian province of British Columbia, and the US states of Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, and Arizona.) These polls were done fifteen years after Wovokia declared its independence. The polls also showed that most people who did know about Wovokia’s independence did not consider it a matter of great concern.
Jack was surprised that most US officials would say nothing to him about Wovokia – even off the record. However, one official dared to claim that Wovokia’s independence had been granted because a massive influx of ethnic minorities made the region ungovernable. The US, like a major corporation, had simply decided to downsize – to stop the drain on its resources. Jack was no economist but knew the natural and industrial wealth of Wovokia made this claim more laughable than any wild conspiracy theory.
The more Jack researched, the more he gasped at how successfully the government and media had buried the loss of huge swaths of territory, but Wovokians had also contributed to this success by keeping a low profile internationally. That had changed very recently. Wovokia was now clashing with the USA frequently at the UN. Hence the Daily Telegraph’s sudden interest.
Read the rest of this entry »
What I Tell the Young When They Ask – poetry by Margaret Randall
March 31, 2008 — tcThe art of resist.
“Apostles of Ugliness”: 100 Years Later – essay by Mark Vallen
March 28, 2008 — tcMuch of Liberation Lit’s first issue cover art is in the style overviewed below, including work by John Sloan.
Liberation Lit – first issue – cover
January 28, 2008 — tcIn 2009 Mainstay Press will publish the groundbreaking first anthology of Liberation Lit, the journal of progressive and revolutionary fiction.
Liberation Lit
The images of the front and back cover for this issue help connect the works inside with some of the progressive and revolutionary tendencies in the USA of the past century. The stories move beyond this past, especially in being written by authors from around the world. The cover collage of the first Liberation Lit issue originates mainly from illustrations of The Masses magazine from early last century, and posters from the WPA Federal Theater Project.
