One century ago, on 31 May and 1 June 1921, a so-called “race riot” erupted in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Despite a brave attempt by black residents of Tulsa to fight the pogromists, an estimated 300 black people were murdered in those events. The true history of these events has been airbrushed to this day. They represent the horrific fruit of centuries of divide and rule by the American ruling class.
The year 2021 commenced with dramatic events. The crisis of world capitalism is making waves that are spreading from one country and continent to another. On all sides, there is the same picture of chaos, economic dislocation and class polarisation.
Dominic Cummings – formerly Boris Johnson’s right hand man – has delivered a bombshell testimony to two parliamentary committees about the government’s response to the COVID crisis last year. Cummings pulled no punches in his attacks on Johnson and other senior Tories. He argued that due to their incompetence, “tens of thousands of people died who didn’t need to die”.
After eleven days of the ruthless bombardment of Gaza – which has killed more than 240 Palestinians (almost half of whom were children and women) and left thousands severely injured – Israel has eventually agreed to a ceasefire.
Millions of people are still stuck in deadly homes, almost four years since the Grenfell tower disaster. Despite the Tories’ Fire Safety Bill, the flammable cladding scandal is still far from being resolved. The ongoing Grenfell enquiry has continued to expose the unscrupulous means by which landlords and housing developers Read more…
Capitalism has ceased to take humanity forward. It should long ago have been overthrown by the working class. Why hasn’t it then? The key to answering that question lies in the role of leadership and of the revolutionary party. This article, based on a talk at the 2021 Montreal Marxist Read more…
Socialism is often portrayed in capitalist societies as the antithesis of democracy. However, this is a myth, which is used by the ruling class to deter workers and youth from learning about the reality of socialism. Socialism and workers’ democracy are not only compatible but need each other. You cannot have genuine socialism without workers’ democracy. And you cannot have genuine workers’ democracy without socialism.
Mass demonstrations were seen in cities across Britain over the weekend, as thousands took to the streets to condemn the crimes of Israeli imperialism, and to show support for the Palestinian liberation struggle. Intifada until victory!
One hundred years ago, on 3 May 1921, the partition of Ireland became law in the British parliament. As the Marxist revolutionary, James Connolly, had predicted, partition created “a carnival of reaction both North and South”. It took years of terror, pogroms and bloodshed to establish what the first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, James Craig, termed a “Protestant state for a Protestant people”. In the South, the newly established Free State was baptised in the blood of the Republicans who resisted the Treaty and partition.
The democratic mandate for an independence referendum has been renewed, with the SNP hailing their victory in the Scottish Parliament elections as a ‘landslide’. Securing a fourth term in government, the party fell short of an overall majority of MSPs by one seat, but still gained the highest number of votes ever cast for a single party in a Holyrood election.
The Israeli bombing of Gaza has already killed at least 48 Palestinians – among whom 14 are children – and injured hundreds, while six Israelis have been killed by rockets fired from the Gaza Strip. The international media has once again presented the bombings as a legitimate retaliation against Hamas’ decision to fire rockets into Israel. However, as usual, they give a completely one-sided view of the real causes of this escalation of the crisis in Israel and Palestine.
On the 105th anniversary of his death, we republish this pamphlet by James Connolly. A man can die, but an idea never can!
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