Songs To While Away The Class Struggle By- Tupac Shakur’s "Papa'z Song"

In this series, presented under the headline Songs To While Away The Class Struggle By, I will post some songs that I think will help us get through the “dog days” of the struggle for our communist future. I do not vouch for the political thrust of the songs; for the most part they are done by pacifists, social democrats, hell, even just plain old ordinary democrats. And, occasionally, a communist, although hard communist musicians have historically been scarce on the ground. Thus, here we have a regular "popular front" on the music scene. While this would not be acceptable for our political prospects, it will suffice for our purposes here. Markin.

*******

Markin comment:

Sometimes the truth comes out a little raggedy and not in our Marxist high-flown style but it is the truth, or a close approximation of it nevertheless.

*********

Papa'z Song lyrics-Tupac Shakur

(feat. Wycked)

Daddy's home...

[2Pac]
Heh, so?
You say that like that means somethin to me
You've been gone a mighty long motherfuckin time
for you to be comin home talkin that "daddy's home" shit (nigga)
We been gettin along fine just without you
Me, my brother, and my mother
So if you don't mind, you can step the FUCK off, POPS.. fuck you!

[2Pac]
Had to play catch by myself, what a sorry sight
A pitiful plight, so I pray for a starry night
Please send me a pops before puberty
the things I wouldn't do to see a piece of family unity
Moms always work, I barely see her
I'm startin to get worried without a pops I'll grow to be her
It's a wonder they don't understand kids today
so when I pray, I pray I'll never grow to be that way
And I hope that he answers me
I heard God don't like ugly well take a look at my family
A different father every weekend
Before we get to meet him they break up before the week ends
I'm gettin sick of all the friendships
As soon as we kick it he done split and the whole shit ends quick
How can I be a man if there's no role model?
Strivin to save my soul I stay cold drinkin a forty bottle
I'm so sorry...

[Chorus]
I'm so sorry
for all this time (I'm so sorry)
for all this time
for all this time (don't lie)
I'm so sorry
for all this time (so, sorry)
for all this time
for all this time, so sorry baby!

[Wycked]
Moms had to entertain many men
Didn't wanna do it but it's time to pay the rent again
I'm gettin a bit older and I'm startin to be a bother
Moms can't stand me cause I'm lookin like my father
Should I stay or run away, tell me the answer
Moms ignores me and avoids me like cancer
Grow up rough and it's hard to understand stuff
Moms was tough cause his poppa wasn't man enough
Couldn't stand up to his own responsibilities
Instead of takin care of me, he'd rather live lavishly
That's why I'll never be a father;
unless you got the time it's a crime don't even bother
(That's when I started hatin the phony smiles
Said I was an only child)
Look at mama's lonely smile
It's hard for a son to see his mother cry
She only loves you, but has to fuck with these other guys
I'm so sorry...

[Chorus]
I'm so sorry
for all this time
for all this time
for all this time
I'm so sorry
for all this time
for all this time (so sorry)
for all this time, so sorry baby!

[2Pac]
Man child in the promised land couldn't afford many heroes
Moms was the only one there my pops was a no-show
And ohh -I guess ya didn't know
that I would grow to be so strong
Lookin kinda pale, was it the ale oh pops was wrong
Where was the money that you said, you would send me
talked on the phone and you sounded so friendly
Ask about school and my welfare
but it's clear, you ain't sincere hey who the hell cares
You think I'm blind but this time I see you comin, Jack
You grabbed your coat, left us broke, now ain't no runnin back
Ask about my moms like you loved her from the start
Left her in the dark, she fell apart from a broken heart
So don't even start with that "wanna be your father" shit
Don't even bother with your dollars I don't need it
I'll bury moms like you left me all alone G
Now that that I finally found you, stay the Fuck away from me
You're so sorry..

[Chorus]
I'm so sorry (so sorry)
for all this time (so, so sorry)
for all this time (I'm so so sorry)
for all this time (fuck that!)
I'm so sorry
for all this time (no)
for all this time (so sorry)
for all this time, so sorry baby!

[Tupac - impersonating his father]
I never meant to leave but I was wanted
Crossed too many people every house I'd touch was haunted
Had to watch the strangers every brother was in danger
If I was to keep you breathin, had to be out of range-a
Had to move, one to lost my name and pick the number
Made me watch my back I had no happy home to run to
Maybe it's my fault for being a father livin fast
But livin slow, mean half the dough, and you won't get no ass
Hindsight shows me it was wrong all along
I wanted to make some dough so you would grow to be so strong
It took a little longer than I thought
I slipped, got caught, and sent to jail by the courts
Now I'm doin time and I wish you'd understand
all I ever wanted was for you to be a man
and grow to be the type you was meant to be
Keep the war fightin by the writings that you sent to me
I'm so sorry...

[Chorus w/ variations til end]

Songs To While Away The Class Struggle By- Tupac Shakur’s "Panther Power"

In this series, presented under the headline Songs To While Away The Class Struggle By, I will post some songs that I think will help us get through the “dog days” of the struggle for our communist future. I do not vouch for the political thrust of the songs; for the most part they are done by pacifists, social democrats, hell, even just plain old ordinary democrats. And, occasionally, a communist, although hard communist musicians have historically been scarce on the ground. Thus, here we have a regular "popular front" on the music scene. While this would not be acceptable for our political prospects, it will suffice for our purposes here. Markin.

*******

Markin comment:

Sometimes the truth comes out a little raggedy and not in our Marxist high-flown style but it is the truth, or a close approximation of it nevertheless.

**********

Panther Power lyrics-Tupac Shakur

[Tupac]
As real as it seems the American Dream
Ain't nothing but another calculated schemes
To get us locked up shot up back in chains
To deny us of the future rob our names
Kept my history of mystery but now I see
The American Dream wasn't meant for me
Cause lady liberty is a hypocrite she lied to me
Promised me freedom, education, equality
Never gave me nothing but slavery
And now look at how dangerous you made me
Calling me a mad man cause I'm strong and bold
With this dump full of knowledge of the lies you told
Promise me emancipation indispute nation
All you gave my people was our patience
Fathers of our country never cared for me
They kept my answer shackled up in slavery
And Uncle Sam never did a dam thing for me
Except lie about the facts in my history
So now I'm sitting hear mad cause I'm unemployed
But the government's glad cause they enjoyed
When my people are down so they can screw us around
Time to change the government now panther power

[Chorus]
Panther power
Panther power
Panther power

[Tyson]
Coming straight that resides within
Go toe to toe with a panther and you just can't win
Suffered fame bats suppressed the rest
The rich get richer and the poor can't last
The American Dream was an American nightmare
You kept my people down and refuse to fight fair
The Klu Klux Klan tried to keep us out
Besides drew they know no blacks allowed
With intimidation and segregation was a way for our freedom
But now were impatient
Blacks the other skin: dead or sell outs
Freedom, equality, then I'll yell out
"Don't you ever be ashamed of what you are
It's ya panther power that makes you a star"
Panther power

[Chorus]
Panther power
Panther power
Panther power

[Tupac]
My Mother never let me forget my history
Hoping I was set free chains never put on me
Wanted to be more than just free
Had to know the true facts about my history
I couldn't settle for being a statistic
Couldn't survive in this capitalistic
Government cause it was meant to hold us back
Using ignorant, drugs, to sneak attack
In my community think of unity
But when I charged them, tried to claim immunity
I strike America like a case of hard disease
Panther power is running through my arteries
Try to stop oh boy you'll be clawed to death
Cause I'll be fighting for my freedom with my dying breath
Do you remember that is what I'm asking you?
You think you living free don't let me laugh at you
Open your eyes realize that you have been locked in chains
Said you wasn't civilized and stole your name
Cause some time has passed seem you all forget
There ain't no liberty to you and me we all ain't free yet
Panter power

[Chorus]
Panther power
Panther power
Panther power

[Tupac]
As real as it seems the American Dream
Ain't nothing but another calculated schemes
To get us locked up shot up back in chains
To deny us of the future rob our names
Kept my history of mystery but now I see
The American Dream wasn't meant for me
Cause lady liberty is a hypocrite she lied to me
Promised me freedom, education, equality
Never gave me nothing but slavery
And now look at how dangerous you made me
Calling me a mad man cause I'm strong and bold
With this dump full of knowledge of the lies you told
Promise me emancipation indispute nation
All you gave my people was our patience
Fathers of our country never cared for me
They kept my answer shackled up in slavery
And Uncle Sam never did a dam thing for me
Except lie about the facts in my history
So now I'm sitting hear mad cause I'm unemployed
But the government's glad cause they enjoyed
When my people are down so they can screw us around
Time to change the government now panther power

[Chorus]

Songs To While Away The Class Struggle By- Tupac Shakur’s "Military Minds"

In this series, presented under the headline Songs To While Away The Class Struggle By, I will post some songs that I think will help us get through the “dog days” of the struggle for our communist future. I do not vouch for the political thrust of the songs; for the most part they are done by pacifists, social democrats, hell, even just plain old ordinary democrats. And, occasionally, a communist, although hard communist musicians have historically been scarce on the ground. Thus, here we have a regular "popular front" on the music scene. While this would not be acceptable for our political prospects, it will suffice for our purposes here. Markin.

*******

Markin comment:

Sometimes the truth comes out a little raggedy and not in our Marxist high-flown style but it is the truth, or a close approximation of it nevertheless.


Military Minds lyrics-Tupac Shakur

[Tupac Talking]

Stand in formation
My motherfucking real troopers
Lets do it like soldiers
All in together now
Ready?
Hell yeah
No retreat no surrender
Death before dishonor motherfucker
Do it to them
Come on
Never got thuggish
Uhh
Yes yes YES
Say whut
Westide eastside ride
Where you at?, where you at?
Where my real thugs?
Where you at?, where you at?
Where my real thugs?
Where you at?, where you at?
Where my real thugs?
Where you at? (Huhuhu)
The cases of a drug dealer
Real thugs, where you at?
Yo a motherfucking army
Do it to them
Do it to them
They love the way we do it to them
We do it to them
Calvary

[Verse 1: Tupac]

Suppress the revolution of premeditated scheme [echo]
Introduce a drug called crack
To us ghetto teens [echo]
Got a law for raw niggas now
Playa what it be like? [echo]
When will niggas see they got us bleeding with 3 strikes [echo]
Can't seem to focus
Hopeless
With violent thoughts
I wrote this
Got these devils petrified
Hiding from my hocus pocus
And so I learned to earn my currency
And over time [echo]
Affiliated
Clearly click a military mind [echo]
May god forgive us
Though we dwell inside a paradox
Thugged out and drug dealing
>From the womb to the block [echo]
My live mind got me surviving 5 shots [echo]
My 45 got me fortified with live rounds
When shit stick
We plot hits
When our block spits
All hail
Out on bail
Wrath of 2pacalypse [echo]
Forever ghetto
Necessary picture food stamps
Outlaw thug niggas
Never left the boot camp

[Verse 2: BuckShot & Cocoa Brovas]

I'm a nigga for assignment
One of the suqads finest [echo]
Skilled in gorilla warfare
And blessed
Work with firearm [echo]
My rap shit
Contains sections of bomb sessions
Says I'm responsible for black smith and wessons [echo]
Putting up on ?? in the military state of mind [echo]
Dangerous like chronic and yard when combined
Cocoa Brovas pan the borderline [echo]
That's the sound and your dead son

Man to man
I'm facing the devil with a plan [echo]
Judo stance
First glance
I'm making my advance [echo]
Animal instincts
Intelligence of an assassin [echo]
Mask my ninja style
Surround me ready to attack [echo]
I react swiftly
What father taught me sticks with me [echo]
Never forget the methods stick and move strictly [echo]
Shit be seeming like its closing in
With no regrets I hold position
Cause I circles
I'm one of the chosen men [echo]

Picture being put in position to move [echo]
And you can't move
Cause your move is blocked by the knight at 12 O'clock
That's when the madness beings [echo]
So I start to focusing
My thoughts on the war
Cause the rule is the law [echo]
And the law that we live by is to stay true to self
In this case beady eye [echo]
Why try
Everybody lie
About the block
True soldier mentality
This is how we rock and move [echo]

Stick and move
Time to show what kinda nigga
Move or get moved on
Lets see whos strong [echo]

In the days of the strange
Where nothing stays the same
With new faces come through with similar game [echo]
And who you thought them
Really ain't they (echo)
Catching deja vu
Of the game people play [echo]
It's a call for re-adjustment
Fine tune your positions
You slipping and tripping
Instead of bobbing and dipping [echo]
Will never let this world of stress get me [echo]
Taking breathing techniques
Slay you with tai chi [echo]

What did you change
To get a break
In the world of snakes
And those who fake
Elimination I'm facing
Destruction
Outlaw till I duck down [echo]
From po po's bustin'
No one to trust in
Rushing to the goal line
Catch a nigga
Beat him
Treat him like he stole mine [echo]
No swine
I'm a soldier
Told cha I control mine [echo]
Time to take you back into time
Follow this here

One way out
This black hole
For this black soul
Shit is outta control
I'm fighting for my position
To be a fetus in this world I am entering [echo]
And my face is sentencing for repentance [echo]
Before my body was fully formed into a human [echo]
I was already consuming weed
Cause my mom's use to smoke back in the 70's [echo]
Maybe that's why in the 90's
I drop g's when I drop degrees [echo]
When I ease across the block
With Pac [echo]
And got all you niggas shot
You didn't think
Boot Camp click would link
With the outlaw minded
If you do you press rewind
And you can peep gorilla tactics in every line

[Tupac]

Yeah
And this is how we do it
Where my real thugs?
Where they at?
Let me see my real thugs
Where you at
Wont you see my real thugs
Where you at
Let me see my real thugs
Where u at
Now
Where my real thugs
Let me see where you at
Tell me where my real thugs
Gots to see where you at
Where's my soldiers
Where you at
Where's my real soldiers
Where you at
Where my soldiers at
Where you at
Where you at
Get your strap my nigga
Where you at?
Where you at?
Where my soldiers at
Where you at?
Where you at?
Hit your thug niggas
Where you at?
With your strap
Where my soldiers at
With my true thug niggas
No longer drug dealers
Cause we now thug niggas
Where my soldiers at?
No longer drug dealers
Cause we now thug niggas
Let me
Where my
Where my soldiers at
Put your pistols in the air
Where my soldiers at
Put your guns up
Tell me where my soldiers at
Put your pistols in the air
Where my, soldiers
My true thug rollers
Yes
It just doesn't quit
Yes
This is that real hip hop shit
Yes
Fuck what you heard
From the ghetto to the 'burbs
Know we meant every word
Where my soldiers
Where my soldiers at
Where my soldiers
Where my soldiers at
Put your hand on your pistol
Point your pistols in the air
Where my soldiers at
Where my soldiers at
Where my soldiers
Where my soldiers at
Where my soldiers
Where my soldiers at
When Bob Dole and Deloris Tucker wanna know, where my soldiers at
Code Fo'

Songs To While Away The Class Struggle By- Tupac Shakur’s "Let Knowledge Drop"

In this series, presented under the headline Songs To While Away The Class Struggle By, I will post some songs that I think will help us get through the “dog days” of the struggle for our communist future. I do not vouch for the political thrust of the songs; for the most part they are done by pacifists, social democrats, hell, even just plain old ordinary democrats. And, occasionally, a communist, although hard communist musicians have historically been scarce on the ground. Thus, here we have a regular "popular front" on the music scene. While this would not be acceptable for our political prospects, it will suffice for our purposes here. Markin.

*******

Markin comment:

Sometimes the truth comes out a little raggedy and not in our Marxist high-flown style but it is the truth, or a close approximation of it nevertheless.

************

Let Knowledge Drop lyrics

* [Tupac]

Let knowledge drop
Why should I be forced to play dumb?
I know where I came from so I'm going to claim some
But rocking to the top where the cream of the crop
Suckers calling the cops but they can come and get dropped
Stop think of the past the brothers that die for
Sucker to try for never to cry more
Tricks to hold his back but we'll see at the end
He's a fake not a friend
So he's thinking of when he can backstab grab or go your hole
Now I know the reason we must excel
Cause if we don't we'll end up in the cell
Move on be strong with unityCause that's the only way to build communities
Lies are told but yo lives must move on
And never stop open your mind to this rhyme and let it drop[Chorus]
Drop that [3x]
Let knowledge drop[Rock
]Yo I'm running so I refuse to stop
Get sweated by them sell out cops
And I wink cause I pin the opposition
I'm on a mission to preach and teach to reachSo listen up to the flavor
I gave you now dropping it
We folks know ballers know no stopping it
Dropping knowledge like the ay bomb dilly as napalm
I got you scared all you got to do is stay calm
For the simple fact that I'm black and educated
Proud of who am I and you hated
So all I have tried for this many have die for this
You see it and you hear it and you loving it
Now you buying this always keep your head look to the mountain top
Aiyyo rock and let knowledge drop
[Chorus]Drop that [3x]
Let knowledge drop[Tupac]
People rush when I hype this because you can write this
You constantly bite this
Thought that you could get me but you sweating me too close
Caught with the dope dose
Now suckers get toast wondering who you tossed
Cause you feeling the full force
Like what you hearing so your checking with the source
Tupac brother with the rhymes to rock on
Dizzy gets busy by putting beats to drop on
Amateurs get damaged if you try to attack me
Suckers get jealous cause the girls get at me
I'm not conceited but defeated I won't be
As long as there's dope beats I'll never be lonely stop
And let me breathe a minute
Aiyyo Dizzy what's up put the base back in it
[Chorus]Let knowledge drop [3x]
[Rock]By any means neccessary it's kind of scary
Knowledge of the hands of adversaries
Makes them the larger leader kind of guerilla control
I was waiting for a prayer GOD gave me a goal
I refuse to be busting like a sucker for I'm fighting like a titan
And run you down like a truck
I'll take a chance I go as far as rock can see
Not mediocrity thinking security you got deal with me
Knowledge appealed to me
Pay back's a mutha if you steal from me
The bass pumps as the speakers pop the house jump
And knowledge drops[Chorus]
Drop that [3x]
Let knowledge dropStrictly strictly yea dope [till end]

Songs To While Away The Class Struggle By- Tupac Shakur’s "I Wonder If Heaven Got A Ghetto"

In this series, presented under the headline Songs To While Away The Class Struggle By, I will post some songs that I think will help us get through the “dog days” of the struggle for our communist future. I do not vouch for the political thrust of the songs; for the most part they are done by pacifists, social democrats, hell, even just plain old ordinary democrats. And, occasionally, a communist, although hard communist musicians have historically been scarce on the ground. Thus, here we have a regular "popular front" on the music scene. While this would not be acceptable for our political prospects, it will suffice for our purposes here. Markin.

*******

Markin comment:

Sometimes the truth comes out a little raggedy and not in our Marxist high-flown style but it is the truth, or a close approximation of it nevertheless.

*********

I Wonder If Heaven Got A Ghetto lyrics-Tupac Shakur

[Chorus: I wonder if heaven got a ghetto (4X)]

I was raised, the little young nigga doin bad shit
Talk much shit cause I never had shit
I could remember being whupped in class
And if I didn't pass mama whupped my ass
Was it my fault papa didn't plan it out
Broke out left me to be the man of the house
I couldn't take it, had to make a profit
Down the block, got a glock, and I clock grip
Makin G's was my mission
Movin enough of this shit to get my mama out the kitchen and
why must I sock a fella, just to live large like Rockefeller
First you didn't give a fuck, but you're learnin now
If you don't respect the town then we'll burn you down
God damn it's a motherfuckin riot
Black people only hate police so don't try it
If you're not from the town then don't pass through
Cause some O.G. fools might blast you
It ain't right but it's long overdue
We can't have peace til the niggaz get a piece too
I want G's so you label me a criminal
And if I die, I wonder if heaven got a ghetto

[Chorus]

[Verse Two: 2Pac]

Here on Earth, tell me what's a blick life worth
A bottle of juice is no excuse, the truth hurts
And even when you take the shit
Move counties get a lawyer you can shake the shit
Ask Rodney, LaTasha, and many more
It's been goin on for years, there's plenty more
When they ask me, when will the violence cease?
When your troops stop shootin niggaz down in the street
Niggaz had enough time to make a difference
Bear witness, own our own business
Word to God cause it's hard tryin to make ends meet
First we couldn't afford shit now everything's free
so we loot, please don't shoot when you see
I'm takin from the, cause for years they would take it from me
Now the tables have turned around
You didn't listen, until the niggaz burned it down
And now Bush can't stop the hit
Predicted the shit, in 2Pacalypse
And for once I was down with niggaz, felt good
in the hood bein around the niggaz, yeah
And for the first time everybody let go
And the streets is death row, I wonder if heaven got a ghetto

[Chorus]

[Verse Three: 2Pac]

I see no changes, all I see is racist faces
Misplaced hate makes disgrace to races
We under I wonder what it take to make this
one better place, let's erase the wait state
Take the evil out the people they'll be acting right
Cause both black and white are smokin crack tonight
And only time we deal is when we kill each other
It takes skill to be real, time to heal each other
And though it seems heaven-sent
We ain't ready, to have a black President, huh
It ain't a secret don't conceal the fact
The penitentiary's packed, and it's filled with blacks
I wake up in the morning and I ask myself
Is life worth living should I blast myself
I'm tired of being poor and even worse I'm black
My stomach hurts so I'm lookin for a purse to snatch
Cops give a damn about a ne-gro
Pull a trigger kill a nigger he's a hero
Mo' nigga mo' nigga mo' niggaz
I'd rather be dead than a po' nigga
Let the Lord judge the criminals
If I die, I wonder if heaven got a ghetto

[Chorus (to :27 from fade)]

Just think, if niggaz decide to retaliate
(Soldier in the house)
I wonder if heaven got a ghetto [4X to fade]

Songs To While Away The Class Struggle By- Tupac Shakur’s "Hold On Be Strong"

In this series, presented under the headline Songs To While Away The Class Struggle By, I will post some songs that I think will help us get through the “dog days” of the struggle for our communist future. I do not vouch for the political thrust of the songs; for the most part they are done by pacifists, social democrats, hell, even just plain old ordinary democrats. And, occasionally, a communist, although hard communist musicians have historically been scarce on the ground. Thus, here we have a regular "popular front" on the music scene. While this would not be acceptable for our political prospects, it will suffice for our purposes here. Markin.

*******

Markin comment:

Sometimes the truth comes out a little raggedy and not in our Marxism high-flown style but it is the truth, or a close approximation of it nevertheless.

**********

Hold On Be Strong lyrics-Tupac Shakur

Hold on... [lighter flicks up]
Yeah it's gonna be alright, don't trip baby [inhales]
It'll get better... [coughing]

Ay do this Thug style main, Thug style
When this whole beat drop we just gon' run it to em bet
It's all good, uhh

I never had much, ran with a bad bunch
Little skinny kid sneakin weed in my bag lunch
And all through Junior High, we was just gettin by
And drivebys robbed my homies of their young lives
I never did cry, and even though I had
pain in my heart, I was hopeless from the start
They couldn't tell me nothin, they all tried to help to help me
The marijuana had my mind gone it wasn't healthy
I travelled places, caught cases, what a ill year
I felt the pain and the rain but I'm still here
Never did like the police, let the whole world know
Now I gets no peace, cause they chasin me down
And facin me now, what do I do?
These thangs that a Thug goes through
And still I rise so keep ya head up, and make ya mind strong
It's a struggle every day but you gotta hold on

[Chorus: repeat 4X]

Hold on, be strong, hold on
Be strong, hold on
When it's on it's on

There's, never a good day, cause in my hood they
let they AK's pump strays where the kids play
And every Halloween, check out the murder scene
Can't help but duplicate the violence seen on the screen
My homies dyin 'fore they get to see they birthdays
These is the worst days, sometimes it hurts to pray
And even God turned his back on the ghetto youth
I know that ain't the truth, sometimes I look for proof
I wonder if heaven got a ghetto, and if it does
Does it matter if you blood or you cuz
Remember how it was, the picnics and the parties in the projects
Small time drinkin gettin high with them armies
Just another knucklehead kid from the gutter
I'm dealin with the madness, raised by a single mother
I'm tryin to tell you when it's on
You gotta keep your head to the sky and be strong, most of all hold on

[Chorus]

[Interlude:]

Hold on, be strong
I know them ain't tears comin down your face
When it's on it's on but
Wipe your eyes
Hold on, be strong
In this world
When it's on it's on but
Only the strong survive y'know
Hold on, be strong
Hmm, I know it's hard out there
When it's on it's on but
Welfare
Hold on, be strong
AIDS, earthquakes
Cause when it's on it's on but
Muggings, carjackings
Hold on, and be strong
Yeah we got problems
Cause when it's on it's on but
But believe me when I tell you
Hold on, and be strong
Things always get better
Cause when it's on it's on but
God don't like ugly
Hold on, and be strong
And God don't like no quitters
Cause when it's on it's on but
You know what Billie Holiday said bay-bee
Hold on, and be strong
God bless the child that can hold his own
Cause when it's on it's on but
Y'know?
Hold on, and be strong
You got to stand strong
Cause when it's on it's on but
And when these bustas try to knock you out your place
Hold on, and be strong
You stand there to they face
Cause when it's on it's on but
Tell em hold on, and be strong
Hold on, and be strong
The game don't stop
Cause when it's on it's on but
Hmmm
Hold on, and be strong
This here is black main
Cause when it's on it's on but
If you don't never leave nothin, learn one thing
Hold on, and be strong
It don't stop, til the casket drop
Hold on
Thug, for Life... feel me?
All my homeboys and my homegirls, stay strong
When things get bad, especially come the first and the fifteenth
Stay strong, and stay ballin, hold on
I'll catch y'all at the next life, we in traffic

Songs To While Away The Class Struggle By- Tupac Shakur’s "Ghetto Star"

In this series, presented under the headline Songs To While Away The Class Struggle By, I will post some songs that I think will help us get through the “dog days” of the struggle for our communist future. I do not vouch for the political thrust of the songs; for the most part they are done by pacifists, social democrats, hell, even just plain old ordinary democrats. And, occasionally, a communist, although hard communist musicians have historically been scarce on the ground. Thus, here we have a regular "popular front" on the music scene. While this would not be acceptable for our political prospects, it will suffice for our purposes here. Markin.

*******

Markin comment:

Sometimes the truth comes out a little raggedy and not in our Marxism high-flown style but it is the truth, or a close approximation of it nevertheless.

**********

Ghetto Star lyrics-Tupac Shakur

For all my low life thug niggas,
For all my niggas in the hood,
Livin the life of a ghetto star,
Ha ha ha Makavelli,

Just holla my name
And witness game official
Niggas is so shame
They stare stiff like scared bitches
While I remain inside a paradox
Gone my block
Though gun shots is promised to me when will I stop
I hit the weed
And hope to god I can fly high
Witness my enemies
Die when I ride by
Ita's shit to try
Send they bodies to they parents up north
With they faces they wrists and they nuts cut off
Fuck em all what I scream as I dream

*Songs To While Away The Class Struggle By- Tupac Shakur's "Dear Mama"

In this series, presented under the headline Songs To While Away The Class Struggle By, I will post some songs that I think will help us get through the “dog days” of the struggle for our communist future. I do not vouch for the political thrust of the songs; for the most part they are done by pacifists, social democrats, hell, even just plain old ordinary democrats. And, occasionally, a communist, although hard communist musicians have historically been scarce on the ground. Thus, here we have a regular "popular front" on the music scene. While this would not be acceptable for our political prospects, it will suffice for our purposes here. Markin.

*******

Markin comment:

Sometimes the truth comes out a little raggedy and not in our Marxism high-flown style but it is the truth, or a close approximation of it nevertheless

*********

Dear Mama lyrics-Tupac Shakur

You are appreciated

[Verse One: 2Pac]

When I was young me and my mama had beef
Seventeen years old kicked out on the streets
Though back at the time, I never thought I'd see her face
Ain't a woman alive that could take my mama's place
Suspended from school; and scared to go home, I was a fool
with the big boys, breakin all the rules
I shed tears with my baby sister
Over the years we was poorer than the other little kids
And even though we had different daddy's, the same drama
When things went wrong we'd blame mama
I reminice on the stress I caused, it was hell
Huggin on my mama from a jail cell
And who'd think in elementary?
Heeey! I see the penitentiary, one day
And runnin from the police, that's right
Mama catch me, put a whoopin to my backside
And even as a crack fiend, mama
You always was a black queen, mama
I finally understand
for a woman it ain't easy tryin to raise a man
You always was committed
A poor single mother on welfare, tell me how ya did it
There's no way I can pay you back
But the plan is to show you that I understand
You are appreciated

[Chorus: Reggie Green & "Sweet Franklin" w/ 2Pac]

Lady...
Don't cha know we love ya? Sweet lady
Dear mama
Place no one above ya, sweet lady
You are appreciated
Don't cha know we love ya?

[second and third chorus, "And dear mama" instead of "Dear mama"]

[Verse Two: 2Pac]

Now ain't nobody tell us it was fair
No love from my daddy cause the coward wasn't there
He passed away and I didn't cry, cause my anger
wouldn't let me feel for a stranger
They say I'm wrong and I'm heartless, but all along
I was lookin for a father he was gone
I hung around with the Thugs, and even though they sold drugs
They showed a young brother love
I moved out and started really hangin
I needed money of my own so I started slangin
I ain't guilty cause, even though I sell rocks
It feels good puttin money in your mailbox
I love payin rent when the rent's due
I hope ya got the diamond necklace that I sent to you
Cause when I was low you was there for me
And never left me alone because you cared for me
And I could see you comin home after work late
You're in the kitchen tryin to fix us a hot plate
Ya just workin with the scraps you was given
And mama made miracles every Thanksgivin
But now the road got rough, you're alone
You're tryin to raise two bad kids on your own
And there's no way I can pay you back
But my plan is to show you that I understand
You are appreciated

[Chorus]

[Verse Three: 2Pac]

Pour out some liquor and I reminsce, cause through the drama
I can always depend on my mama
And when it seems that I'm hopeless
You say the words that can get me back in focus
When I was sick as a little kid
To keep me happy there's no limit to the things you did
And all my childhood memories
Are full of all the sweet things you did for me
And even though I act craaazy
I gotta thank the Lord that you made me
There are no words that can express how I feel
You never kept a secret, always stayed real
And I appreciate, how you raised me
And all the extra love that you gave me
I wish I could take the pain away
If you can make it through the night there's a brighter day
Everything will be alright if ya hold on
It's a struggle everyday, gotta roll on
And there's no way I can pay you back
But my plan is to show you that I understand
You are appreciated

[Chorus]

Sweet lady
And dear mama

Dear mama
Lady [3X]

*Songs To While Away The Class Struggle By-Tupac Shakur's "16 On Death Row"

In this series, presented under the headline Songs To While Away The Class Struggle By, I will post some songs that I think will help us get through the “dog days” of the struggle for our communist future. I do not vouch for the political thrust of the songs; for the most part they are done by pacifists, social democrats, hell, even just plain old ordinary democrats. And, occasionally, a communist, although hard communist musicians have historically been scarce on the ground. Thus, here we have a regular "popular front" on the music scene. While this would not be acceptable for our political prospects, it will suffice for our purposes here. Markin.

*******

Markin comment:

Sometimes the truth comes out a little raggedy and not in our Marxism high-flown style but it is the truth, or a close approximation of it nevertheless.


16 On Death Row lyrics-Tupac Shakur

Death Row
That's where motherfuckers is endin up

Dear mama, I'm caught up in this sickness
I robbed my adversaries, but slipped and left a witness
Wonder if they'll catch me, or will this nigga snitch
Should I shoot his bitch, or make the nigga rich?
Don't wanna commit murder, but damn they got me trapped
Hawkin while I'm walkin, and talkin behind my back
I'm kind of schizophrenic, I'm in this shit to win it
Cause life's a Wheel of, Fortune here's my chance to spin it
Got no time for cops, who trip and try to catch me
Too fuckin trigger happy, to let them suckers snatch me
Niggaz gettin jealous (jealous) tryin to find my stash
Whip out the nine, now I'ma dive and pump your ass
Peter picked a pepper, but I can pick a punk
Snatched him like a bitch, and threw him in the trunk
The punk thought I was bluffin, but swear I'm nothin nice
Before I take your life, first wrestle with these, mics
I listen to him scream, Tray Deee went insane
I guess the little, mites had finally found his brain
New Rovers pull me over, I'm sentenced to the pen
Remember that little, bird, he snitched and told a, friend
It's trouble on my mind, I'm with the old timers
And fuck five-oh, blaow blaow.. turn em into forty-niners

[Tupac sings]
Bye bye, I was never meant to live
Can't be positive, when the ghetto's where you live
Bye bye, I was never meant to be
Livin like a thief, runnin through the streets
Bye bye, and I got no place to go...
Where they find me? 16 on Death Row

Dear mama, these cops don't understand me
I turned to a life of crime, cause I came from a broken family
My uncle used to touch me, I never told you that
Scared what you might do, I couldn't hold you back
I kept it deep inside, I done let it fuel my anger
I'm down for all my homies, no mercy for a stranger
The brother in my cell, is 16 as well
It's hard to adapt, when you're black and you're trapped in a livin Hell
I shouldn'ta let him catch me
Instead of livin sad in jail I coulda died free and happy
And my cellmate's raped on the norm
And passed around the dorm, you can hear his asshole gettin torn
They made me an animal
Can't sleep, instead of countin sheep, niggaz countin cannibals
And that's how it is in the pen
Turn old and cold, and your soul is your best friend
My mama prayed for me
Tell the Lord to make way for me, prepare any day for me (why?)
Cause when they come for me they find a struggler
To the death I take the breath from your jugular
The trick is to never lose hope
I found my buddy hangin dead from a rope, 16 on Death Row

[Tupac sings]
Bye bye, I was never meant to live
Can't be positive, when the ghetto's where you live
Bye bye, I was never meant to be
Livin like a thief, runnin through the streets
Bye bye, and I got no place to go...
Where you find me? 16 on Death Row

Dear mama, they sentenced me to death
Today's my final day, I'm countin every breath
I'm bitter cause I'm dyin, so much I haven't seen
I know you never dreamed, your baby would be dead at 16
I got beef with a sick society that doesn't give a shit
And they too quick to say goodbye to me
They tell me the preacher's there for me
He's a crook with a book, that motherfucker never cared for me
He's only here to be sure
I don't drop a dime to God bout the crimes he's commitin
on the poor, and how can these people judge me?
They ain't my peers and in all these years, they ain't never love me
I never got to be a man, must be part of some big plan
to keep a nigga in the state pen
And to my homies out buryin motherfuckers
Steer clear of these Aryan motherfuckers
Cause once they got you locked up
They got you trapped, you're better off gettin shot up
I'm convinced self-defense is the way
Please, stay strapped, pack a gat every day
I wish I woulda known while I was out there
Now I'm straight headin for the chair

[Tupac sings]
Bye bye, I was never meant to live
Can't be positive, when the ghetto's where we live
Bye bye, I was never meant to be
Livin like a thief, runnin through the streets
Bye bye, and I got no place to go...
Where you find me? 16 on Death Row

16 on Death Row
It's to all my partners in the penitentiaries
16 on Death Row

* “Workers of The World Unite, You Have Nothing To Lose But Your Chains”-The Struggle For Trotsky's Fourth (Communist) International-From The Archives

Click on the headline to link to the Toward A History Of The Fourth International website for the article listed below.

Two Letters on Building
the Fourth International
(July/August 1929)

Written: July 12 and August 6, 1929.
Source: Fourth International [New York], Vol.7 No.8 (Whole No.69), August 1946, pp.249-252.
Translated: Fourth International.
Transcription/HTML Markup: David Walters.
Copyleft: Leon Trotsky Internet Archive (www.marxists.org) 2002. Permission is granted to copy and/or distribute this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License



*********

Markin comment:

Recently, when the question of an international, a new workers international, a fifth international, was broached by the International Marxist Tendency (IMT), faintly echoing the call by Venezuelan caudillo, Hugo Chavez, I got to thinking a little bit more on the subject. Moreover, it must be something in the air (maybe caused by these global climatic changes) because I have also seen recent commentary on the need to go back to something that looks very much like Karl Marx’s one-size-fits-all First International. Of course, just what the doctor by all means, be my guest, but only if the shades of Proudhon and Bakunin can join. Boys and girls that First International was disbanded in the wake of the demise of the Paris Commune for a reason, okay. Mixing political banners (Marxism and fifty-seven varieties of anarchism) is appropriate to a united front, not a hell-bent revolutionary International fighting, and fighting hard, for our communist future. Forward

The Second International, for those six, no seven, people who might care, is still alive and well (at least for periodic international conferences) as a mail-drop for homeless social democrats who want to maintain a fig leaf of internationalism without having to do much about it. Needless to say, one Joseph Stalin and his cohorts liquidated the Communist (Third) International in 1943, long after it turned from a revolutionary headquarters into an outpost of Soviet foreign policy. By then no revolutionary missed its demise, nor shed a tear goodbye. And of course there are always a million commentaries by groups, cults, leagues, tendencies, etc. claiming to stand in the tradition (although, rarely, the program) of the Leon Trotsky-inspired Fourth International that, logically and programmatically, is the starting point of any discussion of the modern struggle for a new communist international.

With that caveat in mind this month, the September American Labor Day month, but more importantly the month in 1938 that the ill-fated Fourth International was founded I am posting some documents around the history of that formation, and its program, the program known by the shorthand, Transitional Program. If you want to call for a fifth, sixth, seventh, what have you, revolutionary international, and you are serious about it beyond the "mail-drop" potential, then you have to look seriously into that organization's origins, and the world-class Bolshevik revolutionary who inspired it. Forward.

*On The Question Of Organizing Anti-War Contingents For The October 2, 2010 One Nation Demonstrations In Washington, D.C.

Click on the headline to link to the Majority Agenda Report website for information on the aims of sponsors of the One Nation October 2, 2010 March and Rally in Washington, D.C.

Markin comment:

Last winter I went out of my way to argue, and argue strongly, for organizing our anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist forces as best we could for the March 20th anti-war rally in Washington, D.C. (See, On The Question Of Organizing For A Major National Anti-War Rally This Spring – A Commentary, dated January 30, 2010.) My motivation at that time was to stir up opposition to President Barack Obama’s then recent troop escalations in Afghanistan with a show of anti-war forces in the streets if for nothing else than to see who we really had on board, and to stick a thumb in Obama’s false anti-war credentialed eye. As I noted after the event the turnout was not as large, not nearly as large, as we could have used in order to create an effective battering ram against the Obama war policies. I believed, and argued so shortly after that rally to the effect, that it was still a worthwhile effort.

Now comes the inevitable fall campaign season, no, not the electoral sideshow 2010 Congressional elections but a labor-centered rally in Washington, D.C. on October 2nd being pushed by the NAACP, SEIU, AFL-CIO and the usual other suspects . (See the call to action from the Majority Agenda Project website below). As a perusal of the call indicates this is about jobs and other economic issues (all important, no question) but has no, none, nada, point on the struggle against Obama’s imperial war policies. I assume the sponsors, given their almost unanimous 2008 support to his candidacy, believed that they were being very “radical” by merely advocating the idea of a rally in Obama’s Washington during election time. Well, as the saying use to go back in the day, the 1960s day, a Maoist favorite aphorism as well, that is THEIR contradiction.

That, however, still begs the question of what leftists and other anti-war militants should do about the war issue at this rally. Or, for that matter, about whether we should be marching in this thing at all. I believe on that second point, which also will incorporate the first point, that we should attend as anti-war contingents linking the opposition to the Obama war policies with the one thousand and one other things that need fixing and that his Administration is patently incapable of fixing, even if it knew how to do so is which is very much up an open question these days.

As motivation for this position I would offer up most of the arguments that I made for participation in the March rally and will repost the pertinent sections below:

“In a recent blog entry, As The 2010 Anti-War Season Heats Up- A Note On "The Three Whales" For A Class Struggle Fight Against Obama’s Wars, dated January 19, 2010, I put forth a few ideas, particularly around the concept of forming anti-war soldiers and sailors solidarity committees, that the circle of anti-war militants that I work with locally are committed to pursuing this year as the struggle against War-monger-in-Chief Obama’s Afghan war policies takes shape. The elephant in the room that was missing in that laundry list of tasks enumerated in the entry was any notion of supporting a national mass anti-war rally in Washington, D.C. this spring, now scheduled, as usual, for the anniversary of the start of the Iraq war in 2003, March 20th. And there is a good and sufficient reason for that omission. The circle is split on an orientation toward that event. Thus, the comment that follows in favor of organizing for and building such an endeavor and putting some resources and energy into the event is my own personal take on the question, fair or foul.

Certainly, given the priorities listed in that previous blog entry mentioned above, it would be quite easy to walk away from serious organizing for, getting transportation for, making housing arrangements for, and the thousand and one details that go into providing a contingent for a national march or rally. Moreover, as has been argued in the circle by a number of militants, to do so for just one more garden variety of a seemingly endless (and fruitless) series of mass marches over the past several years. And normally I would agree with that analysis, especially once it became clear that the main strategy of those groups who call such national marches is to make such events the main, and exclusive, point of extra-parliamentary opposition to the war. Or worst, see these things as an effective political tool for “pressuring” politicians, especially “progressive” Democrats (if there are any left, as of late). Pleassee...

Hear me out on this one though. President Obama made his dramatic announcement for a major Afghan troop escalation on December 1, 2009. That, along with a less publicized build-up in February 2009, and the odd brigade deployed here or there since has meant that the troop totals-I will not even bother to count “contractors”, for the simple reason that who knows what those numbers really are. I don’t, do you? - are almost double those that ex-President Bush nearly had his head handed to him on a platter for in the notorious troop “surge” of 2007. And the response to Obama’s chest-thumping war-mongering. Nada. Or almost nothing, except a small demonstration in Washington on December 12th with the “usual cast of suspects” (Kucinich, McKinney, et. al) and a few hundred attendees and small local demonstrations around the country.

Now this might seem like a slam-dunk argument for wasting no more time on the spring rally tactic. And that argument is enticing. But, as a veteran of way too many of these demos, and as a militant who has spilled no small amount of ink arguing against the endless rally strategy on many previous occasions, I still like the idea of a spring march. First, because Obama needs to know that those on his left, particularly those who supported him in the 2008 election cycle are more than just passively angry at him for the Afghan troop escalation. And that is important even if the numbers do not match those of the Bush era. Secondly, those of us on the extra-parliamentary left need to see who those disenchanted Obamians are. If we are going to be successful we have to get our fair share of these left-liberals before they ditch politics altogether. And lastly, as the bikers and gang members say- “we have to show our colors”. Large or small we need to see what we look like. All those may not be individually, in the end, sufficient reasons but I will say this to finish up. Unless you plan to have an anti-war demonstration outside the gates of places like the military bases at Fort Bragg, Fort Hood, Fort Drum, and Fort Lewis in which case I will be more than happy to mark you present and accounted for you should be in Washington on March 20th. And ready to fight around the slogan – Obama- Immediate, Unconditional Withdrawal of all U.S./Allied Troops and Mercenaries from Iraq and Afghanistan!”

And on October 2nd too! More later.



***************


Published on Majority Agenda Project (http://majorityagendaproject.org/go)

Home > A Call to all sectors of our movements for justice and peace to mobilize for October 2

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A Call to all sectors of our movements for justice and peace to mobilize for October 2
signatories [1] || what you can do [2] || transportation [3]

The NAACP, SEIU 1199, United for Peace and Justice, the AFL-CIO, Green for All, and a broad range of civil rights, labor, peace and social justice organizations around the country are calling upon us to join them on October 2 in Washington. Leading with a demand for jobs, this will be a massive demonstration to blunt the attack from the right and to unify a majority of Americans around a hopeful and inspiring vision of our nation based on social justice, mutual respect and common values.

Come to Washington DC on October 2 for an emergency mobilization of all our forces at this critical moment before the fall elections!

•Take our government back from big oil and the banks.
•Stand up for the well-being and economic security of all our families.
•Stand up against hatred, intolerance and immigrant-bashing.
•Stand up for a society that works for all of us.
•Demand the change that we voted for in 2008.

Dear Friends,
Our country is at a crossroads. Big oil, big banks, big pharmaceuticals, the military-industrial complex and big money of all types have a stranglehold on our government and our society. Their corporate agenda has led us into an unparalleled social crisis marked by economic distress, environmental danger, unsustainable military spending and endless war.

But this is also a time of opportunity for comprehensive, mutually-reinforcing and effective solutions: building a green economy cuts harmful emissions and creates millions of desperately needed jobs; national security based on international cooperation and negotiation rather than war frees up the resources needed to keep our teachers in the classroom and maintain all essential local services; sustainable economic policies protect our environment and foster grassroots economic development. All of these goals are within our grasp and are supported by a growing majority. Together they save lives, dollars and the planet that sustains us.

Yet instead of positive solutions we see the media dominance of an aggressive, energized and reactionary movement of the right fostered by Fox News and an out-of-control talk radio establishment. Intolerance, hatred and immigrant-bashing will be the big story this fall--grabbing national attention and electing extremist candidates who will ride the coattails of that mobilization to make big gains in November and beyond. Unless …

…we all come together to create a vibrant, viable grassroots mobilization built on a vision that inspires action and commitment. That galvanizes the majority for justice and fair play. That builds a movement that involves everyone in dealing effectively with the multiple crises confronting the country.

Now is the time to give visibility to effective policies that actually address our crises of employment, health care, environmental catastrophe and a deepening war in Afghanistan and Pakistan that is draining our resources, undermining out security and killing scores of people every day.

It is critical that our social movements join together with labor and major African-American and Latino organizations to make a broad-based showing of strength.

Fortunately, the NAACP in Washington and SEIU 1199 in New York have initiated “One Nation Working Together.” Exciting meetings in New York and Washington brought together the AFL-CIO, many other labor unions, United for Peace and Justice, Green For All and over one hundred other major social change organizations. They are building a mobilization that can unify the majority around a hopeful and inspiring vision of our nation based on social justice.

The signature event of One Nation is a massive march on Washington on October 2, 2010.

They have asked all of us to join them in this major effort to move us off the sidelines of the national debate and out, onto the playing field where we can participate in the fight for the future, starting with the fall elections.

This mobilization addresses only some of the key issues that deeply concern us. But without such a mobilization, all of our efforts will be set back years if the right-wing mobilization is allowed to go unchallenged.

We call on all parts of our social movements to mobilize for the October 2 demonstration and participate in the One Nation Campaign and bring your priorities to D.C.

- The Majority Agenda Project
August 4, 2010

* “Workers of The World Unite, You Have Nothing To Lose But Your Chains”-The Struggle For Trotsky's Fourth (Communist) International-From The Archives

Click on the headline to link to the Toward A History Of The Fourth International website for the article listed below.

Founding Conference of the
Fourth International
1938

Salute to Our Living Martyrs And Our Heroic Dead


Markin comment:

Recently, when the question of an international, a new workers international, a fifth international, was broached by the International Marxist Tendency (IMT), faintly echoing the call by Venezuelan caudillo, Hugo Chavez, I got to thinking a little bit more on the subject. Moreover, it must be something in the air (maybe caused by these global climatic changes) because I have also seen recent commentary on the need to go back to something that looks very much like Karl Marx’s one-size-fits-all First International. Of course, just what the doctor by all means, be my guest, but only if the shades of Proudhon and Bakunin can join. Boys and girls that First International was disbanded in the wake of the demise of the Paris Commune for a reason, okay. Mixing political banners (Marxism and fifty-seven varieties of anarchism) is appropriate to a united front, not a hell-bent revolutionary International fighting, and fighting hard, for our communist future. Forward

The Second International, for those six, no seven, people who might care, is still alive and well (at least for periodic international conferences) as a mail-drop for homeless social democrats who want to maintain a fig leaf of internationalism without having to do much about it. Needless to say, one Joseph Stalin and his cohorts liquidated the Communist (Third) International in 1943, long after it turned from a revolutionary headquarters into an outpost of Soviet foreign policy. By then no revolutionary missed its demise, nor shed a tear goodbye. And of course there are always a million commentaries by groups, cults, leagues, tendencies, etc. claiming to stand in the tradition (although, rarely, the program) of the Leon Trotsky-inspired Fourth International that, logically and programmatically, is the starting point of any discussion of the modern struggle for a new communist international.

With that caveat in mind this month, the September American Labor Day month, but more importantly the month in 1938 that the ill-fated Fourth International was founded I am posting some documents around the history of that formation, and its program, the program known by the shorthand, Transitional Program. If you want to call for a fifth, sixth, seventh, what have you, revolutionary international, and you are serious about it beyond the "mail-drop" potential, then you have to look seriously into that organization's origins, and the world-class Bolshevik revolutionary who inspired it. Forward.

* “Workers of The World Unite, You Have Nothing To Lose But Your Chains”-The Struggle For Trotsky's Fourth (Communist) International-From The Archives

Click on the headline to link to the Toward A History Of The Fourth International website for the article listed below.

Founding Conference of the

Fourth International
1938

A MANIFESTO

Against Imperialist War!

*************
Markin comment:

Recently, when the question of an international, a new workers international, a fifth international, was broached by the International Marxist Tendency (IMT), faintly echoing the call by Venezuelan caudillo, Hugo Chavez, I got to thinking a little bit more on the subject. Moreover, it must be something in the air (maybe caused by these global climatic changes) because I have also seen recent commentary on the need to go back to something that looks very much like Karl Marx’s one-size-fits-all First International. Of course, just what the doctor by all means, be my guest, but only if the shades of Proudhon and Bakunin can join. Boys and girls that First International was disbanded in the wake of the demise of the Paris Commune for a reason, okay. Mixing political banners (Marxism and fifty-seven varieties of anarchism) is appropriate to a united front, not a hell-bent revolutionary International fighting, and fighting hard, for our communist future. Forward

The Second International, for those six, no seven, people who might care, is still alive and well (at least for periodic international conferences) as a mail-drop for homeless social democrats who want to maintain a fig leaf of internationalism without having to do much about it. Needless to say, one Joseph Stalin and his cohorts liquidated the Communist (Third) International in 1943, long after it turned from a revolutionary headquarters into an outpost of Soviet foreign policy. By then no revolutionary missed its demise, nor shed a tear goodbye. And of course there are always a million commentaries by groups, cults, leagues, tendencies, etc. claiming to stand in the tradition (although, rarely, the program) of the Leon Trotsky-inspired Fourth International that, logically and programmatically, is the starting point of any discussion of the modern struggle for a new communist international.

With that caveat in mind this month, the September American Labor Day month, but more importantly the month in 1938 that the ill-fated Fourth International was founded I am posting some documents around the history of that formation, and its program, the program known by the shorthand, Transitional Program. If you want to call for a fifth, sixth, seventh, what have you, revolutionary international, and you are serious about it beyond the "mail-drop" potential, then you have to look seriously into that organization's origins, and the world-class Bolshevik revolutionary who inspired it. Forward.

*Just When You Thought It Was Safe To…, Not Bop-Doo-Wop-An Encore

Click on the headline to link to a YouTube film clip of the Capris performing There's A Moon Out Tonight.

CD Review

Best Of Old Town Doo Wop, Various artists, 2-CD set, Ace Records

Confused by the headline? Don’t be, all it does is refer to a previous series of Oldies But Goodies (1950s-1960s oldies but goodies, just so you know) CD reviews in this space. That gargantuan task required shifting through ten, no, fifteen volumes of material that by the end left me limping, and crying uncle. See, as I explained in the last few reviews of the series, just when I thought I was done at Volume Ten I found that it was a fifteen, fifteen count ‘em, volume series. In any case I whipped off those last five reviews in one shot to be done with it.

The reason for such haste at that point seemed self-explanatory. After all how much can we rekindle, endlessly rekindle, memories, teen memories, teen high school memories mainly, from a relatively short, if important, part of our lives, even for those who lived and died by the songs (or some of the songs) in the reviewed compilations. How many times can one read about guys with two left feet, the social conventions of dancing close, wallflowers, the avoidance of wallflower-dom, meaningful sighs, meaningless sighs, the longings for certain obviously unattainable shes (or hes), the trials and tribulations associated with high school gymnasium crepe paper-adorned dances, moonlight-driven dream thoughts of after dance doings, and hanging around to the bitter end for that last dance of the night to prove... what. And there and then I threw in the towel, I thought.

Well now I have recovered enough to take a little different look at the music of this period-the doo wop sound that hovered in the background radio of every kid, every kid who had a radio, a transistor radio, to keep parental prying ears at arms length, and who was moonstruck enough to have been searching, high and low, for a sound that was not just the same old, same old that his or her parents listened to. Early rock and rock, especially that early Sun Record stuff, and plenty of rhythm and blues met that need but so did, for a time, old doo wop-the silky sounds of lead singer-driven, lyrics-driven, vocal-meshing harmony that was the stuff of teenage “petting” parties and staid old hokey school dances, mainly, in my case, elementary school dances.

As I mentioned in the oldies but goodies reviews not all of the material put forth was good, nor was all of it destined to, or meant to be, playable fifty or sixty years later on some “greatest hits” compilation but some of songs had enough chordal energy, lyrical sense, and sheer danceability, slow danceabilty, to make any Jack or Jill start snapping fingers then, or now. As I asked in that previous series and is appropriate to ask here as well what about the now seeming mandatory question of the best song in the compilation? The one that stands out as the inevitable end of the night high school dance (or maybe even middle school) song? The song that you, maybe, waited around all night for just to prove that you were not a wallflower, and more importantly, had the moxie to, mumbly-voiced, parched-throated, sweaty-handed, asked a girl to dance (women can relate their own experiences, probably similar).

Here The Capris’ There’s A Moon Out Tonight fills the bill. And, yes, I know, this is one of those slow ones that you had to dance close on. And just hope, hope to high heaven, that you didn’t destroy your partner’s shoes and feet. Well, as I have noted before, one learns a few social skills in this world if for no other reason that to “impress” that certain she (or he for shes, or nowadays, just mix and match your sexual preferences) mentioned above. I did, didn’t you?

*Labor's Untold Story- From The Pen Of James P. Cannon- An Evaluation of Early American Communist Party Leader William Z. Foster

Click on the title to link to a James P. Cannon Internet Archive online copy of his evaluation of early American Communist Party leader William Z. Foster.

Every Month Is Labor History Month

This commentary is part of a series under the following general title: Labor’s Untold Story- Reclaiming Our Labor History In Order To Fight Another Day-And Win!

As a first run through, and in some cases until I can get enough other sources in order to make a decent presentation, I will start with short entries on each topic that I will eventually go into greater detail about. Or, better yet, take my suggested topic and run with it yourself.

Markin comment:

This analysis of William Z. Foster by early American Trotskyist leader and Socialist Workers party founder, James P. Cannon, a fellow early American Communist Party (one of them, anyway)post-World I leader when all things seemed possible, factional partner in the never-ending factional struggles that rend that party in the "lost generation" 1920s, and later opponent of his, from inside and outside, the generic American communist movement takes on added significance because it is likely to stand as one of the few fairly honest evaluations of the man from a contemporary who maintained a communist perspective. Don't expect it from the latter days Stalinists (including Maoist variant). No way.

* “Workers of The World Unite, You Have Nothing To Lose But Your Chains”-The Struggle For Trotsky's Fourth (Communist) International-From The Archives

Click on the headline to link to the Toward A History Of The Fourth International website for the article listed below.

Victor Serge 1939

Victor Serge and the IVth International

Source: Victor Serge & Leon Trotsky, La Lutte Contre le Stalinisme. Maspero, Paris, 1977
Translated for marxists.org by Mitch Abidor in 2005
Authors: The Editors of the Bulletin of the Russian Opposition, in “Quatrième Internationale,” April 1939

*********

Markin comment:

Recently, when the question of an international, a new workers international, a fifth international, was broached by the International Marxist Tendency (IMT), faintly echoing the call by Venezuelan caudillo, Hugo Chavez, I got to thinking a little bit more on the subject. Moreover, it must be something in the air (maybe caused by these global climatic changes) because I have also seen recent commentary on the need to go back to something that looks very much like Karl Marx’s one-size-fits-all First International. Of course, just what the doctor by all means, be my guest, but only if the shades of Proudhon and Bakunin can join. Boys and girls that First International was disbanded in the wake of the demise of the Paris Commune for a reason, okay. Mixing political banners (Marxism and fifty-seven varieties of anarchism) is appropriate to a united front, not a hell-bent revolutionary International fighting, and fighting hard, for our communist future. Forward

The Second International, for those six, no seven, people who might care, is still alive and well (at least for periodic international conferences) as a mail-drop for homeless social democrats who want to maintain a fig leaf of internationalism without having to do much about it. Needless to say, one Joseph Stalin and his cohorts liquidated the Communist (Third) International in 1943, long after it turned from a revolutionary headquarters into an outpost of Soviet foreign policy. By then no revolutionary missed its demise, nor shed a tear goodbye. And of course there are always a million commentaries by groups, cults, leagues, tendencies, etc. claiming to stand in the tradition (although, rarely, the program) of the Leon Trotsky-inspired Fourth International that, logically and programmatically, is the starting point of any discussion of the modern struggle for a new communist international.

With that caveat in mind this month, the September American Labor Day month, but more importantly the month in 1938 that the ill-fated Fourth International was founded I am posting some documents around the history of that formation, and its program, the program known by the shorthand, Transitional Program. If you want to call for a fifth, sixth, seventh, what have you, revolutionary international, and you are serious about it beyond the "mail-drop" potential, then you have to look seriously into that organization's origins, and the world-class Bolshevik revolutionary who inspired it. Forward.

*From The Blogosphere-"The Rag Blog"- Life During Wartime: 'Danse Macabre'

Click on the title to link to the blog entry mentioned in the headline.

Markin comment:

Hey, I can appreciate a nice political cartoon as well as the next guy. But, why, go after the easy targets, the very easy targets, Beck and Palin? On the question of war the main enemy of the peoples of the world, and specifically the Afghan people, right now is one chief executive of the American imperial state, Barack Obama. Immediate, Unconditional Withdrawal Of All U.S. Troops From Afghanistan (And Iraq)! Is that fact so hard to put in cartoon form?

*Once Again, Just When You Thought It Was Safe To…, Not Bop-Doo-Wop

Click on the headline to link to a YouTube film clip of the Capris performing There's A Moon Out Tonight.

CD Review

Old Town Doo Wop, Volume Five, Various artists, Ace Records

Confused by the headline? Don’t be, all it does is refer to a previous series of Oldies But Goodies (1950s-1960s oldies but goodies, just so you know) CD reviews in this space. That gargantuan task required shifting through ten, no, fifteen volumes of material that by the end left me limping, and crying uncle. See, as I explained in the last few reviews of the series, just when I thought I was done at Volume Ten I found that it was a fifteen, fifteen count ‘em, volume series. In any case I whipped off those last five reviews in one shot to be done with it.

The reason for such haste at that point seemed self-explanatory. After all how much can we rekindle, endlessly rekindle, memories, teen memories, teen high school memories mainly, from a relatively short, if important, part of our lives, even for those who lived and died by the songs (or some of the songs) in the reviewed compilations. How many times can one read about guys with two left feet, the social conventions of dancing close, wallflowers, the avoidance of wallflower-dom, meaningful sighs, meaningless sighs, the longings for certain obviously unattainable shes (or hes), the trials and tribulations associated with high school gymnasium crepe paper-adorned dances, moonlight-driven dream thoughts of after dance doings, and hanging around to the bitter end for that last dance of the night to prove... what. And there and then I threw in the towel, I thought.

Well now I have recovered enough to take a little different look at the music of this period- the doo wop sound that hovered in the background radio of every kid, every kid who had a radio, a transistor radio, to keep parental prying ears at arms length and who was moonstruck enough to have been searching, high and low, for a sound that was not just the same old, same old that his or her parents listened to. Early rock and rock, especially that early Sun Record stuff, and plenty of rhythm and blues met that need but so did, for a time, old doo wop-the silky sounds of lead singer-driven, lyrics-driven, vocal-meshing harmony that was the stuff of teenage “petting” parties and staid old hokey school dances, mainly, in my case, elementary school dances.

As I mentioned in the oldies but goodies reviews not all of the material put forth was good, nor was all of it destined to, or meant to be, playable fifty or sixty years later on some “greatest hits” compilation but some of songs had enough chordal energy, lyrical sense, and sheer danceability, slow danceabilty, to make any Jack or Jill start snapping fingers then, or now. As I asked in that previous series and is appropriate to ask here as well what about the now seeming mandatory question of the best song in the compilation? The one that stands out as the inevitable end of the night high school dance (or maybe even middle school) song? The song that you, maybe, waited around all night for just to prove that you were not a wallflower, and more importantly, had the moxie to, mumbly-voiced, parched-throated, sweaty-handed, asked a girl to dance (women can relate their own experiences, probably similar).

Here The Capris'Stars In The Sky fills the bill. And, yes, I know, this is one of those slow ones that you had to dance close on. And just hope, hope to high heaven, that you didn’t destroy your partner’s shoes and feet. Well, as I have noted before, one learns a few social skills in this world if for no other reason that to “impress” that certain she (or he for shes, or nowadays, just mix and match your sexual preferences) mentioned above. I did, didn’t you?

*From The Pages Of "Workers Vanguard"- In Honor Of Keith Anwar-1952-2010

Markin comment:

I do not ordinarily post most current leftist political obituaries in this space but on this occasion I feel compelled to so for several reasons . For one, I actually ran across Keith Anwar back in the old days at various political functions in Boston and found him to be as described in his political obituary posted below, thoughtful, politically tough, and committed. Those were the days in Boston, at least, when the Sparts were seen as the "crazies" and "wild boys and girls" of the left, especially by non-wave-making, Democratic Party popular front-craving Stalinists led by Progressive Labor and assorted Social Democrats (led by the Socialist Workers Party, but there were many other candidates, willing candidates, for that designation). Brother Anwar's demeanor took the sting out of those accusations, false as they were among knowledgable politcal people in any case.

For another, as described in the tribute, Anwar was one of those dwindling number of labor militants who went back to those days, days when we "found" the working class and were all fighting like crazy to figure out what was what in the labor movement. And then spent most of the rest of his life testing that program he was committed to and himself out. Little did we know then that the next few decades would bring not only a dearth of class struggle but the effective deindustrialization of the American labor scene, and with it fewer opportunities to affect history at the base of society. Such fellow militants, rare in any case after the heyday of serious student leftism ended in the early 1970s, are becoming rarer and rarer as the baby-boomer generation starts passing away.

Finally, and this is a very important example of how the living links in the international working class movement are developed, his ethnic Afghani family background provided insight into the dogged, never-ending struggle for secularism in Afghanistan, especially at the time of the Soviet intervention in the late 1970s. That intervention by the Soviets, a progressive move as we are now painfully aware of, separated out those who would "scab" on defense of the Soviet Union when th eheat was on here in the West and those who would not. Keith Anwar's life was, seemingly, dedicated to this proposition: picket lines mean don't cross in the local workplace and in the international class struggle arena as well. Farewell, brother militant.

*******

Workers Vanguard No. 963
27 August 2010

Keith Anwar

1952-2010

Keith Anwar, an ardent socialist and longtime supporter of the Spartacist League, died in Oak Park, Illinois, on July 5 of an especially aggressive liver cancer that had been diagnosed barely five weeks earlier. He was 58 years old. We extend our heartfelt condolences to Keith’s wife, Connie; his two children, Brian and Tessa; his brother Bruce and sister-in-law Blandine; and to his many friends, co-workers and extended family. The speed with which this disease took Keith’s life has left us all stunned and deeply saddened.

A memorial service held shortly after Keith’s death drew close to 200 people, including family, Spartacist League members and supporters, former co-workers at the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) and local writers. Those who knew him well have recalled his uncompromising honesty, compassion and strength of character. As his son, Brian, poignantly pointed out at the gathering, “There are few men, few people that give more than they take. And that was Dad. He was more focused and hard-working than any person I’ve ever met.”

Keith was a multifaceted, talented individual who dedicated his adult life to fighting against oppression and bigotry in its many manifestations. A trade-union militant and talented writer, he was a materialist, an atheist who believed that mankind made its own history. Keith understood the importance of building a revolutionary workers party, representing the interests of workers, black people and other minorities, as the necessary instrument to bring about a society where those who labor rule. Those who worked with Keith were aware of his fierce opposition to both capitalist parties, the Democrats and Republicans.

Keith came of age at a time of great radicalization and outpouring of opposition to U.S. imperialism’s dirty war against the Vietnamese workers and peasants. And like many young activists at that time, he joined Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). Being the kind of guy who looked for answers and required some serious convincing, Keith took notice of Workers Vanguard while attending Brandeis University in the early 1970s and was won to the views of the Spartacist League. Keith moved to Chicago in the late ’70s and landed a job at U.S. Steel’s South Works, later becoming an apprentice millwright at Inland Steel, where he quickly became known as a fighter for labor by honoring a bricklayers strike.

In 1979, while employed at Inland and a member of United Steelworkers of America (USWA) Local 1010, Keith refused to cross a picket of striking workers from sister Local 8180. The company reacted swiftly by firing him. A campaign to get Keith reinstated in his job, which was heavily featured in WV at the time, generated enormous support among steel workers in the Chicago-Gary district who understood that Keith had acted in defense of a tradition that helped build the industrial unions in this country: Picket lines mean don’t cross!

The union took his case to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and won in 1982, when Inland was ordered to reinstate Keith with full back pay and seniority. Though this ruling was later overturned and Keith never got his job back, his refusal to cross picket lines earned him a great deal of authority that lasted throughout his life. Keith’s ties to USWA Local 1010 were instrumental in gaining the endorsement of a number of union officials for a labor-centered, united-front demonstration initiated by the SL that mobilized 3,000 people and prevented the Nazis from attacking Chicago’s Gay Pride March in June 1982. The union’s vice president, Cliff “Cowboy” Mezo, joined the mobilization and spoke at the rally. In 2001, Keith got a warm welcome from his former local as he was helping organize an anti-Klan mobilization in Gary, Indiana.

In 1986, Keith became a mechanic for the CTA and a member of Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 308, where he again came to be known as a union militant and outspoken opponent of racism and bigotry in all forms. In 1987, bus driver Cassandra Seay and her mother were brutally beaten by the Chicago cops in their own home and slapped with trumped-up charges, including assaulting a police officer. Keith was in the forefront of rallying support in Local 308 for the defense of Seay, a member of ATU Local 241. It was through this successful campaign that the Chicago Labor Black Struggle League was formed, and Keith was one of its founding members. In the late 1980s, Keith helped organize an integrated team of transit workers to help a black co-worker move into a neighborhood that was just becoming integrated and where, the previous year, the home of a black couple who had moved in had been firebombed. The team of transit workers moved the family in and made a point to ostentatiously hang out on the front porch before leaving.

Upon hearing of Keith’s death, ATU Local 308 passed a motion offering condolences and solidarity to his family, noting “his high integrity and the faithful service he rendered to humanity.” Keith was instrumental in getting his union local to sign on in defense of class-war prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal and to donate repeatedly to his legal funds in the fight for freedom. Keith also helped build the Partisan Defense Committee’s annual Holiday Appeal benefits, successfully soliciting contributions from his union.

Keith was politically active for over 40 years. Swimming against the stream and fighting for what you know to be right and just can be a tough job, especially in this extended period of union defeats, lack of class struggle, and political and social reaction. In the last few years of his life, he stepped back from political work and focused on his writing, approaching it with the same professionalism and seriousness that he showed in other areas. In 2004, Keith edited a second edition of Memories of Afghanistan, the memoirs of his father, Mohammad H. Anwar, a modernizing Afghan intellectual of the last century. Keith wrote an afterword discussing the role of the U.S. government in fostering Islamic fundamentalism and tribal backwardness in Afghanistan. He focused on Washington’s support to Osama bin Laden and other reactionary mujahedin (holy warriors) following the 1979 entry of the Soviet Army into Afghanistan, where it fought on the side of social progress, particularly for horribly oppressed Afghan women.

Keith went on to become an active member of the Oak Park Writers Group, a network playwright at Chicago Dramatists and a member of the Dramatists’ Guild. He authored several short plays, primarily political-social satires, which were given public readings by established actors. This past June, Keith won the 2010 Dionysos Cup at the Polarity Ensemble Theatre’s Festival of New Plays for his script Kabulitis, which weaves together a story about a woman’s decline into dementia and the brutal treatment of women in Afghanistan.

This touching drama of an elderly American woman in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease who is haunted by memories of Afghanistan was based on the experience of Keith’s mother, Phyllis, who had joined her Afghan husband, Mohammed, in an ill-fated attempt to foster secularism and modernity in mid 20th-century Afghanistan. Phyllis was a longtime friend of the Spartacist League and a member from 1979 to 1982. As part of a 1980 national speaking tour titled “Women of the East—Proletarian Revolution or Slavery: Down With Islamic Reaction! Hail Red Army in Afghanistan!” she vividly retold her experience as the first woman of her time to refuse to wear the tent-like veil on the streets of Kabul. At the risk of her life, she secretly taught girls at a school which was disguised as a hospital to fool the mullahs.

Keith never sought the spotlight, so it was easy to miss the depth of his work on so many fronts. He was comfortable in his own skin, confident in his worldview and his approach to life. An obituary for Keith in the Chicago Tribune (13 July) quoted a member of the Oak Park Writers Group who remarked, “Keith was a lovely writer, but was just as proud of his work repairing trains.” As his son, Brian, put it at the memorial meeting, “Dad had those kind of hands. Hands that could fix a motor, or write an award-winning play.”

We will never forget that within Keith’s stoic sensibility and sometimes brooding style, there was an inner core of tremendous passion, will and creative ability that brought joy and sustenance to his family and friends, creative and intellectual contributions to the world and an unyielding fight on behalf of the working class. These qualities made up a man whose life made a difference in this world. He will be sorely missed.

* “Workers of The World Unite, You Have Nothing To Lose But Your Chains”-The Struggle For Trotsky's Fourth (Communist) International-From The Archives

Click on the headline to link to the Toward A History Of The Fourth International website for the article listed below:

How the Fourth International Was Conceived
by Jean van Heijenoort

This article was first published in the August 1944 issue of Fourth International.

[Jean van Heijenoort (1912-1986) was Trotsky's secretary in 1932 in Prinkipo, and followed him to France, Norway and Mexico. As a leader of the Fourth International he headed a provisional international centre in the United States during World War Two and left politics shortly thereafter.]

***************

Markin comment:

As a devotee of founding father Karl Marx’s communist work and writings started in the 1840s, especially the founding document, The Communist Manifesto, I know that the slogan-“Workers of The World Unite, You Have Nothing To Lose But Your Chains”- has been honored more in the breech than in the observance for more historical reasons than I want to go into in this commentary. Nevertheless the idea behind that slogan has, rightly, animated generations of revolutionaries in the search, the necessary search, for some kind of international configuration of workers' parties and workers' republics that would give weight and meaning to the slogan and lead, at some point, to that communist future that we so fervently desire, and given just a quick look at this old benighted world today, desperately need.

The idea of some kind of workers international has animated my political work for most of my life, even before I learned idea number one in the Marxist catechism. Hell, when I was nothing but scared rabbit, wet behind the ears, wonky little know-it-all little sophomore or sometime around that period, in high school I was trying to create such an organization (or, better, a youth auxiliary to such an organization) with a now preposterous sounding little name, Student Union For World Goals. That youth organization was, besides being mildly anti-communist, programmatically, a left-center rehash of the (adult) Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) program, that I took as my political model in those days. The folly of that activity is neither here nor there today, but what remains in that from very early on I sensed that if the oppressed of the world (although I would not have used such a term at that time) were to get a fair shake in this wicked old world then they would have to make up for the political weaknesses and not having ruled previously stemming from a feeling of powerlessness by being organized massively on an international basis.

So, recently, when the question of an international, a new workers international, a fifth international, was broached by the International Marxist Tendency (IMT), faintly echoing the call by Venezuelan caudillo, Hugo Chavez, I got to thinking a little bit more on the subject. Moreover, it must be something in the air (maybe caused by these global climatic changes) because I have also seen recent commentary on the need to go back to something that looks very much like Karl Marx’s one-size-fits-all First International. Of course, just what the doctor by all means, be my guest, but only if the shades of Proudhon and Bakunin can join. Boys and girls that First International got disbanded in the wake of the demise of the Paris Commune for a reason, okay. Mixing political banners (Marxism and fifty-seven varieties of anarchism) is appropriate to a united front, not a hell-bent revolutionary International fighting, and fighting hard, for our communist future. Forward

The Second International, for those six, no seven, people who might care, is still alive and well (at least for periodic international conferences) as a mail-drop for homeless social democrats who want to maintain a fig leaf of internationalism without having to do much about it. Needless to say, one Joseph Stalin and his cohorts liquidated the Communist (Third) International in 1943, long after it turned from a revolutionary headquarters into an outpost of Soviet foreign policy. By then no revolutionary missed its demise, nor shed a tear goodbye. And of course there are always a million commentaries by groups, cults, leagues, tendencies, etc. claiming to stand in the tradition (although, rarely, the program) of the Leon Trotsky-inspired Fourth International that, logically and programmatically, is the starting point of any discussion of the modern struggle for a new communist international.

With that caveat in mind this month, the September American Labor Day month, but more importantly the month in 1938 that the ill-fated Fourth International was founded I am posting some documents around the history of that formation, and its program, the program known by the shorthand, Transitional Program. If you want to call for a fifth, sixth, seventh, what have you, revolutionary international, and you are serious about it beyond the "mail-drop" potential, then you have to look seriously into that organization's origins, and the world-class Bolshevik revolutionary who inspired it. Forward.