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Radical political analysis, commentary and discussion in Wales
Dadansoddiad a thrafodaeth radicalaidd o wleidyddiaeth yng Nghymru
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Showing posts with label communism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label communism. Show all posts

'Left unity' could be happening, but needs to be inclusive.

There's some hope for ordinary people in the People's Assembly. Elspeth, a lay preacher from Merthyr, present at the meeting, asked the room "Where are all the existing community groups of Cardiff? Why don't we ever see in our meetings those actually struggling to make ends meet? Where are the black women's groups, the community centres, the refugees, the wider community?"
She had a timely point for everyone who considers themselves an activist today.

The room agreed that more could be done and that we had a responsibility to invite people to the meeting, without expectation that they are in a trade union or ready to join a socialist party. It got better. The proposal for a Cardiff and the Vale People's Assembly was rejected, as this would have made it difficult for single parents, anyone on low income, and those without means of transport to get to. This was a rare sign of different-from-the-usual 'centralisation' that we expect from most of the left.


Emma Goldman in Wales

“I welcomed the Welsh crowds and their enthusiasm. The difficulty was not the indifference of the workers, but their dreadful poverty. . . If I could at least enter their lives, share in their struggles, show them that anarchism alone has the key that can transform society and secure their well-being. . .” - Emma Goldman, Living My Life
Emma Goldman is still one of the world's most celebrated radicals, despite the fact she has been dead for over 70 years, a recent survey of anarchists saw her come top of the 'who do you most identify with' question. Her refusal to be associated with the first wave of feminism gave birth to what we now know as anarcha-feminism and beyond her ideological contribution to libertarian socialism her work on contraception, abortion and the rejection of marriage laid the foundations for greater freedoms for countless women and men.

Born in Lithuania in 1869, her family moved to Saint Petersburg when she was 13. An avid reader of radical literature, she fled to the United States in 1885 with her sister to avoid marriage. Attracted to anarchism by the Haymarket affair, Emma was embroiled in some of the most tumultuous events in the protracted period of industrial unrest that characterised the USA at the time. Among other things she was involved in the attempted assassination of "America's most hated man" Henry Clay Frick, imprisoned for incitement to riot and accused of inciting the assassination of US President William McKinley.