Friday, August 10, 2007

AK Press Collective: Ward Churchill; New Books; Become a Friend

(The Dialogic crew whole-heartedly support the efforts of AK Press Colective and view them as one of the most important publishers operating today. Also check out The Try-Works archive of the The Churchill Smear campaign.)

****SUPPORT WARD CHURCHILL****

As many of you may know, Ward Churchill, an AK author who has long been active in the struggle for indigenous rights as well as around other struggles surrounding the oppressive role the US government plays in so many lives, has recently been fired from his position as a professor in the Ethnic Studies Department at the University of Colorado Boulder. Ward has consistently been attacked on varying grounds by other
academics, the US government and members of our own communities. It is important to remember that the state has historically used underhanded tactics to create divisiveness in communities and social movements, particularly ones perceived to be a threat. Ward’s case is just one example of state attacks on academics, activists and radicals and must be viewed and analyzed in the context of the ongoing evolution of a strategic onslaught by the government and its powerful interests against forms of dissent worldwide. Ward, of course, is no stranger to state repression, having written extensively on the subject. Below are but a handful of titles from this prolific author.

To find out more about Ward’s continuing battle with UC Boulder and the Colorado Regents as well as how to support him, please visit Ward Churchill.

PACIFISM AS PATHOLOGY: REFLECTIONS ON THE ROLE OF ARMED STRUGGLE IN NORTH AMERICA (2nd EDITION)
By Ward Churchill
Pacifism, the ideology of nonviolent political resistance, has been the norm among mainstream North American progressive groups for decades. But to what end? Ward Churchill challenges the pacifist movement's heralded victories—Ghandhi in India, 1960s anti-war activists, even Martin Luther King's civil rights movement—suggesting that their success was in spite of, rather than because of, their nonviolent tactics.
“Pacifism as Pathology” was written as a response not only to Churchill's frustration with his own activist experience, but also to a debate raging in the activist and academic communities. He argues that pacifism is in many ways counterrevolutionary; that it defends the status quo, rather than leading to social change. In these times of upheaval and global protest, this is a vital and extremely relevant book. Also includes an extensive new introduction by Derrick Jensen, a preface from Ed Mead, former political prisoner and member of the George Jackson
Brigade, and Mike Ryan's essay "On Ward Churchill's 'Pacifism as Pathology: Toward a Revolutionary Practice."

ACTS OF REBELLION: THE WARD CHURCHILL READER
By Ward Churchill
A greatest hits, and his most important writings on indigenism from the last two decades—many published in book form for the first time. From land issues to culture, government repression to genocide, "Ward Churchill has carved out a special place for himself in defending the rights of oppressed people, and exposing the dark side of past and current history, often forgotten, marginalized, or suppressed. These are
achievements of inestimable value." - Noam Chomsky. Almost 500 pages of the best of WC.

ON THE JUSTICE OF ROOSTING CHICKENS: REFLECTIOSN ON THE CONSEQUENCES OF US IMPERIAL ARROGANCE AND CRIMINALITY
By Ward Churchill
As far as Ward Churchill is concerned, the record speaks for itself. The "Most Peace-Loving of Nations" has been engaged in brutal military campaigns in every corner of the globe, unceasingly, since its inception. In attempting to forever alter American’s false self-concept, Ward Churchill contextualizes US aggression and the most effective response to it yet—the attacks of September 11th—in a readable format.
Churchill has painstakingly chronicled both US military campaigns—domestic and foreign—from 1776 to the present and US attemptsto violate, obstruct, and/or subvert International Law from 1945 to the present. Drawing from US military and interventionist history, lessons from Nuremberg and the UN's own voting records, the two chronologies, exhaustively researched and annotated, illustrate a heart-wrenching
history of senseless butchery and democracy deterred. In this context, the only fitting question for a nation still reeling from the wake-up call of September 11th is "How can they not hate us?" In his newest offering, Churchill demands that the American public shake off its collective unconscious and take responsibility for the criminality carried out in its name. Introduction by Chellis Glendinning.

AGENTS OF REPRESSION: THE FBI’S SECRET WAR AGAINST THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY AND THE AMERICAN INDIAN MOVEMENT
By Ward Churchill
"A powerful indictment, with far-reaching implications concerning the treatment of political activists, especially those that are black or Native American." - Noam Chomsky. This excellent exposé should be an obligatory text. This new edition
features a new preface by Ward Churchill exposing the FBI's recent efforts to prevent a presidential pardon of Leonard Peltier and its ongoing cover-up of a roster of murders of AIM members and sympathizers.

FANTASIES OF THE MASTER RACE: LITERATURE, CINEMA, ART AND THE COLONIZATION OF AMERICAN INDIANS
The reworking of fact into expedient fantasies is a well-known historical process. In this volume of incisive essays—expanded and revised since the original publication in 1992—Churchill examines the cultural propaganda that has served to support the continued colonization of Native America. From justifying exterminating the savages, to "civilizing" them, to the appropriation and stereotyping of native culture—the noble savage and the quaint dispenser of native wisdom—literature, art, and film crafted by the dominant culture are an insidious political force, disinforming people who might otherwise develop a clearer understanding of Native American struggles.

IN A PIG’S EYE: REFLECTIONS ON THE POLICE STATE, REPRESSION, AND NATIVE AMERICA CD
By Ward Churchill
More than 17 years after the firefight at Oglala Village on Pine Ridge Reservation in 1975, Leonard Peltier continues to sit in a cage in a federal prison. Not for anything anyone, including his prosecutor at any point in the last 15 years has been prepared to say they actually believe he did, but rather as a symbol of the arbitrary ability of the Federal Government of the United States to repress the legitimate aspirations, for liberation, of the indigenous peoples within its
claimed boundaries. And why, despite still "owning" some of the most valuable land in
America (most of the uranium reserves, 20% of the oil and natural gas, water rights throughout the arid West, et al.) do the remaining 2 million Native inhabitants live in conditions of poverty commonly found only in the Third World—a life expectancy averaging under 50 for both men and women; 60% unemployment; a per capita income on the Pine Ridge Reservation of $2,000 a year... Welcome to counterinsurgency, American
style. State financed, highly illegal methods of framing, blaming, and murdering activists has quite a history. From anti-labor Pinkerton thugs and the Palmer raids on anarchists to infiltration of the anti-globalization movement, Churchill traces the ugly history of the FBI and US State repression. In this keynote lecture, Churchill weaves together the themes for which he has become hailed as an activist and scholar—genocide, repression, and resistance—and amply demonstrates why the fate of Leonard Peltier, the current state of Native America, and the long, sordid history of the State clampdown on dissent have ramifications across the globe.


****NEW FROM AK PRESS DISTRIBUTION ****

AK Press has been a distributor of left, radical and anarchist books and other media since its inception. We are committed to promoting and supporting small, independent presses who not only elide the mainstream publishing world but who, like AK Press, seek to print those voices of dissent speaking out against and providing a useful analysis of oppression, colonization and environmental destruction. You can find
selections from these various publishers in the “New From AK Press Distribution” section in our montly e-mail update. Enjoy!

INSIDE LEBANON: JOURNEY TO A SHATTERED LAND
Edited by Assaf Kfoury
In May 2006, Noam and Carol Chomsky visited Lebanon for the first time — just two months before Israel unleashed a new military campaign against both Lebanon and Palestine. During their eight-day trip, they toured refugee camps and a former Israeli prison and torture compound; met with political leaders — including the pro-government coalition; and Noam conducted interviews and gave public lectures on U.S. imperialism and the imminent crises facing the Middle East. “Inside Lebanon” documents Noam and Carol Chomsky's journey and situates it within the tragically altered context of Lebanon and Palestine before and after the war of 2006. Noam Chomsky's essays provide the background and framework for understanding the role of U.S. politics, power, and policies in these conflicts by examining how the United States wages war and imposes world domination while presenting itself as the righteous protector of democracy. Ironically, U.S. efforts at imperial control
generate conflict and crises within the region while undermining the very democracy they claim to promote. “Inside Lebanon” also includes essays, diaries, and photographs by Irene L. Gendzier, Assaf Kfoury, Jennifer Loewenstein, Fawwaz Traboulsi, Hanady Salman, Rasha Salti, Mona el-Farra, Laila el-Haddad, and Carol
Chomsky. Collectively, their contributions illuminate the region-wide conflict, of which Lebanon is only one piece. It serves as a record of events during the war, while linking conflicts on the ground to the global order.


DEMOCRACY DETAINED: SECRET UNCONSTITUTIONAL PRACTICES IN THE US WAR ON
TERROR
By Barbara Olshansky
Published by Seven Stories Press
“Democracy Detained” exposes the deplorable secret crimes committed by the Bush administration in their war on terror. Prominent legal activist Barbara Olshansky documents the assault on our constitutional democracy since 9/11, meticulously analyzing the unlawful justifications made by the U.S. government for covert actions at home and abroad. She reports on current shocking practices, from the outsourcing of torture through extraordinary rendition, to first-person testimony from innocent men imprisoned without charge at Guantánamo Bay, to revelations of a surveillance network tapped into the homes of average citizens. “Democracy Detained” is an essential resource for Americans concerned about their civil rights.

OUR ENEMIES IN BLUE: POLICE AND POWER IN AMERICA
By Kristian Williams
Published by South End Press
Even critics have a difficult time imagining a world without police. But just what is the role of police in a democracy: to serve the public or to protect the powerful? Tracing the evolution of the modern police force back to the slave patrols, this controversial study observes the police as the armed defender of a violent status quo. Written for both the lay reader and for scholars, “Our Enemies in Blue” demonstrates that police misconduct isn't just a matter of a "bad apples," but a function of the very nature of policing in the US. Williams examines the populations most often subjected to police abuse and the forms that abuse takes, delving into the role of police brutality in repressing political dissent and in preserving existing structures of inequality.

YOUTH, IDENTITY, POWER: THE CHICANO MOVEMENT
By Carlos Muñoz, Jr.
Published by Verso Books
Youth, Identity, Power is a unique exploration of the origins and development of Chicano radicalism in America. Carlos Muñoz, Jr., himself a leader of the Chicano movement of the 1960s, places the movement in the wider context of the political development of Mexicans in the US. Fully revised and updated throughout, Youth, Identity, Power fills a significant gap in the history of political protest in the United States and makes a major contribution to the history of cultural development of the Latino population as a whole. Carlos Muñoz, Jr. is a scholar-activist and Emeritus Professor in the Department of Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He was the founding chair of the first Chicano Studies Department in the nation and a founder of the National Association of Chicano and Chicana Studies.

INTO THE FIRE DVD
Directed by Julia Newman
Spain, 1936: right-wing military officers led by General Franco (and supported by Hitler and Mussolini) attempt to overthrow the newly elected, democratic government. In response, nearly 80 American women joined the Good Fight- volunteering, in defiance of the US government, to help fight the Fascists in what would become the Spanish Civil War. In this enthralling, meticulously researched documentary, 16 of these brave and idealistic nurses, writers and journalists share stories of courage and commitment to a just cause.

A DANGEROUS WOMAN: THE GRAPHIC BIOGRAPHY OF EMMA GOLDMAN
By Sharon Rudahl
A wonderful retelling of the famous anarchist and radical icon Emma Goldman's extraordinary life, this graphic biography embodies the richness and drama of Goldman's story in a wholly original way. “A Dangerous Woman” depicts the full sweep of a life lived to the hilt in the struggle for equality and justice. Emma Goldman was at the forefront of the radical causes of the twentieth century, from leading
hunger demonstrations during the Great Depression—"Ask for work! If they do not give you work, ask for bread! If they do not give you work or bread, take the bread!"—to organizing a cloakmakers' strike, from lecturing on how to use birth control to fighting conscription for World War I, while her soulmate, Alexander Berkman, spent fourteen years in jail for his failed attentat against industrialist Henry Clay Frick. Sharon Rudahl's lovely, energetic illustrations bring Goldman's many facets and passions to new life; her work belongs with the critically acclaimed graphic nonfiction of Alison Bechdel's “Fun Home” and Marjane Satrapi's “Persepolis”. Featuring a foreword by Alice Wexler, “A Dangerous Woman” is a marvelously compelling presentation of a woman devoted to revolutionizing her age.

****NEW FROM AK PRESS ****

MY FIRST TIME: A COLLECTION OF FIRST PUNK SHOW STORIES
Edited by Chris Duncan
The punk movement has permanently altered youth culture. Today's art, politics, and aesthetics wouldn't be the same without the hundreds of thousands of young people who have embraced punk over the last 30-odd years. What does each of these recruits have in common? They all remember their first time. Hear what it was like straight from the fanatics. Whether it was Jawbreaker in Berkeley; Sick of it All in DC; The Dead Kennedys in Berkeley; The Dickies at CBGB's; Gang Green in Boston; the Ramones in Milwaukee; The Circle Jerks in the West Village-or Baltimore; Neurosis at Gilman Street; “The Decline of Western Civilization” in Venice; Fugazi in Chapel Hill; 7 Seconds in Sparks, NV; or their goofyfriends at a party, these fans recount the inspiration, the embarrassment, and the redemption of their first time. Contributors include: George Hurchalla, Harrison Haynes, Jack Rabid, Rob Fish, Joe Queer, Shawna Kenney, Chris Rest, Al Quint, Ben Sizemore, Boff Whalley, Shannon Stewart, Pete Slovenly, Paul Curran, Darren Walters, Scott Kelly, Jillian Lauren, Scott Bourne, Michelle Tea and many, many more.

****BE OUR FRIEND****

One of the ways we keep putting out books and other media is through the help of the "Friends of AK." To become a Friend, you agree to pay a minimum of $20 per month (or as much more as you can afford). In return, you receive a copy of every book, CD and DVD we put out during the course of your membership, plus a 10% discount on every other title we distribute. All the money we receive goes directly into our publishing projects. The more people who become Friends of AK, the more world-altering material we can produce--and, believe us, we have a HUGE list of great things we want to publish, but can't afford at the moment.

What exactly do Friends get? Well, besides that sweet 10% discount, in 2006 the Friends of AK received 14 books, 3 DVDs and 2 CDs--that's 19 items, with a total retail value of nearly $400! Some highlights of the selection include "What We Want, What We Believe," the four disc Black Panther Library DVD, three books by the late and great anarchist historian Paul Avrich as well as the inspiring and subversive anthology of revolutionary environmentalism, "Igniting a Revolution."

To become a Friend of AK Press today, please go to:
Friends of AK Press

******

Please stop by AK Press often to see what's new!

See you in the streets,
The AK PRESS Collective

No comments: