Avant-Garde Journal

12/11/2024

In October 2019 in Philadelphia, Rev. James Lawson joined a conversation with members of the Saturday Free School as part of the Year of Gandhi, a yearlong celebration of Mahatma Gandhi’s 150…

12/06/2024

This is how the American State’s unabashed support for Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has to be seen: as a war in defense of white supremacy. Baldwin makes it clear that the “compulsive American dream of genocide” starts with the systematic destruction of Black folk. For Black folk, there is no such thing as individual freedom without the fight for the collective freedom of Black people. Thus, Baldwin would say that it was impossible to create “a separate peace” and that, “In America, I was free only in battle, never free to rest—and he who finds no way to rest cannot long survive the battle.” The task is for all Americans to adopt this definition of freedom—that no individual can be free for as long as society is unfree from white supremacy.

Thus, Black people have historically been at the vanguard of the struggle for freedom in America and as part of the world anti-colonial and freedom movements. Ironically, as Baldwin notes, it is Black folk, the oppressed and disinherited, who are the most free and inject new meaning into freedom. On the other hand, it is white folk who are the most unfree and must be helped through struggle to shed their ideological chains of white supremacy.

Excerpt from essay by Emily D**g and Purba Chatterjee: https://avantjournal.com/2024/11/03/relocating-the-revolutionary-james-baldwin/

11/22/2024

Written as a salute to the assassination of Martin Luther King, Baldwin's last novel explains the inheritance of a new century, and what we are to become because of our responsibility to it: Young, Gifted and Black.

Essay by Serafina Harris:

James Baldwin’s last novel explains the inheritance of a new century, and what we are to become because of our responsibility to it: Young, Gifted and Black.

11/20/2024

In the wake of the Gaza encampments of the spring, James Baldwin's prophetic words best describe the inner turmoil which besets today's students—and the moral, revolutionary choice they must now make.

Essay by Nuri Yi:

Compelled by Gaza, the student protests of late spring reestablished a moral center desperately needed in American society.

11/19/2024

In 2020, we interviewed Catherine Blunt, a longtime educator and activist in Philadelphia. She is a native of the city and has witnessed its decades of transformation, from the 1950s up to the present day. Throughout her life, Catherine has participated in numerous political movements, including the Black freedom movement, the world peace movement, the anti-apartheid movement, and the struggle against gentrification. Our interview with Catherine sought to learn more about her experiences, and to understand the principles that guide her ongoing political and community work in Philadelphia, including with The Saturday Free School for Philosophy & Black Liberation.

Today’s youth are placed at a distinct disadvantage if they wish to know the history of a city like Philadelphia, whether they are born here or newcomers to the city. The ruling class distorts our view of the past by suppressing the example of revolutionary traditions and leaders, thus limiting the possibility of discovering our own revolutionary potential for the present and future. If young people do become interested in politics, we are told that groups like the MOVE organization, which agitated against ordinary people, represent the most radical expression of politics in Philadelphia, or that increased apartment density and European-style urbanism are the progressive path to solving the housing crisis. These messages come from universities, nonprofits, dark money groups, and other powerful institutions; they do not come from people like Catherine who have been at the heart of decades-long struggles to carve out a better future for children and working people.

We published these interviews with the hope that they can open a window into a different understanding of the city and our nation’s recent history. This understanding can help us navigate the confusing, isolating ideological landscape of our times and encourage a new perspective on the contemporary possibilities and avenues of struggle today.

Interview Introduction: https://avantjournal.com/2023/01/25/catherine-blunt-interview-introduction/

Part 1: https://avantjournal.com/2023/01/25/catherine-blunt-interview-part-1/

Part 2: https://avantjournal.com/2023/02/08/catherine-blunt-interview-part-2/

Part 3: https://avantjournal.com/2023/02/16/catherine-blunt-interview-part-3/

Part 4: https://avantjournal.com/2023/03/03/catherine-blunt-interview-part-4/

Part 5: https://avantjournal.com/2023/03/23/catherine-blunt-interview-part-5/

11/18/2024

There is a door that each of us must enter
(today in Gaza — and tomorrow…?)
and the price of its ticket is death

A poem for James Baldwin, in Issue 3 of Avant-Garde:

There is a gate at the end of the world / and it is the mouth of a burning paradise

11/15/2024

James Baldwin's centenary calls for a reassessment of what freedom means in America, as well as a hard look at the q***r movement which seeks to ideologically assassinate Baldwin.

Essay by Emily D**g & Purba Chatterjee:

Baldwin’s centenary calls for a reassessment of freedom in America, as well as a hard look at the q***r movement which seeks to ideologically assassinate Baldwin.

11/13/2024

Even as the world passes through a period of erupting violence, it is clear the Western world’s sun is setting. The darker world stands at a precipice of a new colored modernity — a stage of history that finds its first example in the African American experience.

Nandita Chaturvedi's essay in Avant-Garde:

Pressing toward a new stage of modernity, the darker world finds its first example in the African American experience.

11/11/2024

"And then I got started loving the Sound of Philadelphia. So it was like part of my DNA."

Today, Jazz is assumed to be more advanced than Rhythm & Blues because it is more abstract and favored by sophisticated audiences. But each is part of a single garment of musical creativity that manifests the people, The Black Proletariat, from which it comes.

An interview with Alfie Pollitt, Master of the Philly Sound — by Michelle Lyu, Kathie Jiang, Anthony Monteiro: https://avantjournal.com/2024/11/03/alfie-pollitt-master-of-the-philly-sound/

11/08/2024

The U.S. empire is in decline, poverty increases, and for the majority of people, life is a dark and tragic landscape. Du Bois and Baldwin offer theory which ascends to the concrete realities of the U.S., especially at this moment of crisis.

Read Anthony Monteiro's essay in Issue 3 of Avant-Garde:

As two of the most important thinkers of the modern epoch, they provide foundations for new and better theory in today’s battle of ideas.

11/03/2024

In the throes of our nation's greatest crisis, we present the Third Issue of Avant-Garde. We dedicate this Issue to the revolutionary James Arthur Baldwin in the year of his centenary—with the conviction that the next 100 years may well be defined by his ideas, philosophy, language, and vision of our human future.

Read online at avantjournal.com

10/27/2024

"Human rights are very often spoken of, but we must also speak of humanity’s rights.

Why should some people go barefoot so that others may ride in expensive cars? Why should some live for only 35 years so that others may live for 70?

Why should some be miserably poor so that others can be excessively rich?

I speak on behalf of the children of the world who don’t even have a piece of bread. I speak on behalf of the sick who lack medicine. I speak on behalf of those who have been denied the right to life and to human dignity.

Some countries border the coast; others do not. Some have energy resources, others do not. Some possess abundant land on which to produce food, others do not. Some are so glutted with machinery and factories that you cannot breathe the air because of the poisoned atmosphere. And others have only their own emaciated bodies with which to earn their daily bread.

In short, some countries possess abundant resources, others have nothing. What is their fate? To starve? To be eternally poor? Why then civilization? Why then the conscience of humanity? Why then the United Nations? Why then the world?

You cannot speak of peace on behalf of tens of millions of human beings all over the world who are starving to death or dying of curable diseases. You cannot speak of peace on behalf of 900 million illiterate people.

The exploitation of the poor countries by the rich must cease.

I address myself to the rich nations, asking them to contribute. And I address myself to the poor nations, asking them to distribute.

Enough of words! We need deeds!

Enough of abstractions. We want concrete action! Enough speculating about a new international economic order, which no one understands. We must now speak of a real, objective order that everyone understands!

I have not come here as a prophet of the revolution. I have not come here to ask or to wish that the world be violently convulsed. I have come to speak of peace and cooperation among the peoples. And I have come to warn that if we do not peacefully and wisely resolve the present injustices and inequalities, the future will be apocalyptic.

The rattling of weapons, threatening language and overbearing behavior on the international arena must cease.

Enough of the illusion that the problems of the world can be solved by nuclear weapons. Bombs may kill the hungry, the sick and the ignorant; but bombs cannot kill hunger, disease and ignorance. Nor can bombs kill the righteous rebellion of the peoples. And in the holocaust, the rich, who have the most to lose in this world, will also die.

Let us say farewell to arms, and let us, in a civilized manner, dedicate ourselves to the most pressing problems of our times. This is the responsibility, this is the most sacred duty of all the leaders of all the world. This, moreover, is the basic premise for the survival of humankind."

— From Fidel Castro's 1979 speech to the United Nations
https://avantjournal.com/2024/10/27/vision-of-new-international-order-fidel-castro/

10/27/2024

His speech laid out the task of achieving a democratic world order, which is now the inheritance of a new generation.

10/23/2024

A new era is being born, and Africa and Asia are poised now to play a central role in the shaping of the world order. The modern civilizations of the world need to understand each other unmediated by the West.

'A New Era Needs Intercivilizational Dialogue' by N. Chaturvedi and A. Raju

By Nandita Chaturvedi and Archishman Raju. Recent reports show that inflation in the U.S. has reached a 40 year high. On the international front, the west, led by the US, has failed to mobilize mos…

10/17/2024

Scientists in this time are acting as henchmen for war: for the war economy and for the war machine—unless they oppose it, which most of them don’t. And even beyond the structural problems of natural science departments, there’s a crisis in thought. Physics and scientific departments don’t know where to go.

Western scientists have exhausted themselves and act as henchmen for war. Where, then, must we look for truth?

10/16/2024

To defend a civilization, what you have to do is to control the means of ideological production. You have to control the means of knowledge, and that essentially is how the American ruling elite conceptualizes what it is doing and why the American university has become such a central part of the state and of the strategy of the ruling elite.

The American state today operates in defense of the supremacy of Western civilization—for which control over the means of ideological production is paramount.

10/16/2024

The aim of postmodern theory is not to clarify, but to confuse. You can say whatever you want and have it pass for “scholarship” without consequence. For the intellectual or artist who engages in this endeavor, it is a way of fleeing reality and therefore fleeing responsibility.

The very term postmodern does not signal a forward movement, but a stagnation—a condition of perpetual disillusionment within the bowels of Western modernity.

10/11/2024

What are the foundations of knowledge and thought which canonize today’s University and serve to perpetuate war abroad and social degradation at home?

We share a report on The Saturday Free School's June symposium on the crisis of American universities, James Baldwin, and the struggle for our human future:

Reporting on a recent symposium on the crisis of universities, James Baldwin, and the struggle for our human future.