Oh my fucking god. We are at the point where someone spending years of their life teaching in a low-income school has become a point of criticism. You fucking suck.

I don’t disagree, just... I’ve come to have a healthy dose of respect for what is becoming the new cycle of social activism. I’ve long been the “question authority,” “down with commercialism,” “selling out is death” cynic of the Reality Bites generation. But there comes a point where just pointing out the problem only…

I’m sorry, I’m going to have to agree with Jer’Maine on this one.

I dispute your premise that change from the inside doesn’t exist. In fact, I’d argue that change from the inside is really the only kind of change. The thing is that someone like, to borrow your example, King can throw endless stones from the outside and effect widespread changes in the attitudes of Americans, but…

So what, they just don’t try?

Mayor is lower level in that where the work needs to happen (locally instead of electing a president and thinking it’s gonna change) it’d have a better chance of happening if the mayor can give a fuck. They do "control" the police force.

Is there any evidence to that other than usually people protect their own interests first? I don’t agree with TNC across the board but attacking him seems counterproductive to me. I also don’t understand the perceived mutual exclusivity of the socialist ideology in the Jacobian and TNCs views

you say you don’t want to question his motives but in the next breath you question his motives. by your line of reasoning, any activist who tries to make change by running for office is a collaborator or glory-boy.

I mean, Deray tweets about Spotify. That’s a little weird.

We’re a few generations removed from MLK and Malcolm. There is something to be said about each generation discovering their own goals and limitations (I tend to think that’s the reason we’re seeing the divide between Sanders and Clinton supporters... one generation that is hitting it’s activist stride, another older…

I’m just saying it gives off a smell that a white guy wants to question the intent of a black activist’s intent with no evidence except “they want to attain office.”

This...this is awful.

Other than an excuse to show off some creative nicknames, I’m not sure I understand your point. Does the fact that Coates is not a lower-class citizen make his points less valid? The article from the Jacobin is interesting and an argument that hasn’t gone away. It gets talked about extensively and almost always…

McKesson is also default accepting the publicly bestowed title of the standard bearer of the movement, when the women who’ve been on the ground for years and actually are the architects of the movement are being minimized.

This was a great article, Greg! Quick question though-

The end of this piece hit on the most important point, IMO, in that it’s more important that he’s running for mayor, than it would be for him to actually win. DeRay is a sharp guy, and if holding elected office is what he wants to do, I wish him well. But it sure looks like his calling is leading a movement, which is…

It’s 100% necessary to keep the movement going and to give it more relevance. I think Occupy and Tea Party are good examples. While the Tea Party gained many reps in various parts of the governance structure in the US, Occupy really didn’t get much. It now has Sanders as an adopted figure, but if he loses, it is…

A lot of people walked in civil rights marches back in the day. It’s no guarantee that they’re still in line with that thinking today. Not saying Sanders is guilty of this, but it’s not an accurate measuring stick.

“ I’m also pretty sure as a thirty-eight year-old white guy, I can’t possibly understand all the angles from which your viewpoint is informed, so in general I try to just read with an open mind.”