CLASS, RACE, AND GENDER | A Busboys and Poets Books Presentation
Date and Time
Dec 10, 2023 6:00 pm
Location
Takoma
235 Carroll St NW, Washington, District of Columbia, 20012
Dec 10, 2023 6:00 pm
Takoma
Class, Race, and Gender: Challenging the Injuries and Divisions of Capitalism is for those who want to understand the underlying connections among today’s social justice movements.
Bringing forth the basic operations of capitalist economies, it reveals what is driving many of today’s most urgent and vexing problems: the common origins of the inequalities of income, wealth, and power; environmental devastation; militarism; racism and white supremacy; patriarchy and male chauvinism; periodic economic crises; and the cultural conflicts that are tearing at US life.
Michael Zweig illuminates all propositions with specific examples from US history, from the first settlement of the New World to current life, including his own lived experiences as an activist, educator, and organizer over the past six decades. As such, the book is an urgently needed resource for activists and organizers seeking structural and moral transformation of life in the US. Building on his analysis, Zweig also presents strategies for political action in electoral and movement-building work.
Michael Zweig, Bill Fletcher Jr and Nikki M.G. Cole is joining us on the Busboys to discuss the injuries and divisions of capitalism. Copies of the book will be available for purchase during and after the event, and the author will be signing following the program.
This event is free and open to all. Our program begins at 6:00 pm, and will be followed by an audience Q&A. Copies of CLASS, RACE, AND GENDER will be available for purchase before and after the event. Please note that this event is IN PERSON and will NOT be livestreamed.
We ask that guests RSVP in order to receive direct updates about the event from Busboys and Poets Books
Michael Zweig is the founding director of the Center for Study of Working Class Life and emeritus professor of economics at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where he received the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching. He is a member of the New York State Coordinating Committee of the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival and an elected member of the executive board of United University Professions (AFT 2190) at SUNY Stony Brook. Prior to Class, Race, and Gender: Challenging the Injuries and Divisions of Capitalism, his books include The Working Class Majority: America's Best Kept Secret and Religion and Economic Justice.
Bill Fletcher Jr has been an activist since his teen years. Upon graduating from college he went to work as a welder in a shipyard, thereby entering the labor movement. Over the years he has been active in workplace and community struggles as well as electoral campaigns. He has worked for several labor unions in addition to serving as a senior staffperson in the national AFL-CIO.
Fletcher is the former president of TransAfrica Forum; a Senior Scholar with the Institute for Policy Studies; and in the leadership of several other projects. Fletcher is the co-author (with Peter Agard) of “The Indispensable Ally: Black Workers and the Formation of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, 1934-1941”; the co-author (with Dr. Fernando Gapasin) of “Solidarity Divided: The crisis in organized labor and a new path toward social justice“; and the author of “‘They’re Bankrupting Us’ – And Twenty other myths about unions.” Fletcher is a syndicated columnist and a regular media commentator on television, radio and the Web.
Nikki M.G. is a nationally recognized campaign strategist, fundraiser, trainer, coach, and organizer for workers' rights, economic and environmental justice, and inclusive democracy. Nikki has over 25 years of experience coaching individuals, creating winning teams and cultures, developing training and curriculum, and managing operational structures and budgets for a variety of organizations and grassroots candidates in the DC Metropolitan area and nationally.
Nikki is a founding member and former director of the Restaurant Opportunities Center of Washington, DC and of One Fair Wage; has served as Executive Director or Director of Organizing for multiple coalitions, c3s and c4s; has supported over 80 grassroots progressive candidates to run for office and managed teams to mobilize hundreds of thousands of voters in the 2016, 2018, and 2020 elections.
Nikki is most proud of her leadership in coordinating historic coalition victories in the creation of Washington DC's Paid Sick Days, Minimum Wage Increase, and Wage Theft Prevention laws, as well as for founding the DC Just Pay Coalition dedicated to long term implementation of worker's rights legislation. Nikki has been featured in the Washington Post, The New York Times, NBC, etc. and is a proud and active resource mobilizer and alumna of Black Organizing for Leadership and Dignity. Nikki is a mom, writer, and avid reader and consumer of philosophy, human history, fantasy and science fiction.
