Support the International School for Bottom-up Organizing

Ash-Lee about 1 year ago

To make sure you can receive emails from ISBO--scroll to the top of the screen and click "Causes Account". If you haven't approved emails there should be a message on your screen prompting you to do so. Make sure ISBO has a check mark beside it!

Kathy about 1 year ago

Hey, Friends of ISBO: make sure you are set up to receive emails from the Cause!

Curtis about 1 year ago

ISBO has made an amazing start. Since October, when organizers from five countries met in Caracas, we’ve been fighting and organizing! We had to fight just to get everyone to the meeting, almost creating an international incident at the Colombia-Venezuela border. That struggle built a spirited, unified collective that understood we have to be radical in order to build a school to train revolutionary organizers.

Since then, ISBO international organizers have traveled to Colombia to visit the local ISBO group, which is organizing in a mountain community of African- and indigenous-descended people. They met with three other groups connected to the ISBO organizers, all in Afro-Colombian communities. In one of these communities, slavery was still practiced in the 1920s, and just in the last month, we’ve organized international support to help them confront the racist landlord who was trying to evict them from their community center. We sent a strong letter denouncing racism, which gave them a morale-boost. It also resulted in a flurry of e-mails internationally about racism and militancy, which was a good learning opportunity. The end result was a large, long and militant confrontational meeting which forced the landlord to back down. The Colombian ISBO group will soon have a retreat to process and consolidate this victory, which will involve people from at least three organizing projects.

Meanwhile, in Jamaica, our organizing project has made several qualitative steps, on the back of months of work which included a spirited roadblock protest demanding water that resulted in an arrest of an ISBO organizer. In recent months, the community group has overcome the tribalism of a few who wanted to divide in two by village. We’ve organized a highly successful Afro-Jamaican cultural activity that involved nearly two dozen youth dancing through the community to everyone’s delight. A solid collective of people from the bottom has taken the reins of leadership and is facilitating meetings, doing house visits, and has a fundraising party, a community workday, and a protest for the return of the post office planned all in the next month. It has roofs under construction at two community centers and has established a relationship with a professor at a major university who will be sending students to the area on fieldwork assignments to help with the organizing work.

Saad about 1 year ago

I don't think we can ever be completely rid of them. And we can never be too sure we know who is who. However, this is a "support" cause, and some folks just can not support this way of thought, and should excuse themselves. I wonder what folks think.

Curtis about 1 year ago

It is interesting that the first two post after the dialogue was introduced by Kathy is from the USA government. I wonder if the USA shows this much interest in all the causes. I suggest we ban all government personal.

Saad about 1 year ago

The past paths of the "isms" were a lesson to us all. Hopefully, through dialogue put to action, we can find the better way to achieve equality.

Joseph about 1 year ago

Open, honest and calm dialogue and discussion is not a function of a socialist group. The only opinion that counts is the moderator, who cannot be confused with facts, history or even evidence. The progressives in the 1930's thought Mussellini, Stalin and Hitler were patriots and the murder that they performed while cleansing their societies was acceptable. For what ever it is worth.

Joseph about 1 year ago

Freedom is not granted by governments, it is an inalienable right. The poor cannot lead, those who want out have to work for it, those who do not stay in their rut. There will always be poor in the world and nothing can be done to stop this. Compare poverty in the US vs Honduras or any other country, you can give US poor housing, food, tax refunds (even though they do not pay taxes), free education and the majority stay poor. The ones who want out, get out, no one is holding them down except themselves. History bears all of this out. You can provide a person with fish to eat and he will do nothing, however, if he wants to learn to fish he can feed himself and others. You cannot help those who will not help themselves. So, there will always be haves and have not's, however, if they have the freedoms we in the US were guaranteed by the constitution then they will flourish. Yet, if they squander these freedoms, the haves will become dominated by thugs (Chavez, Mugabi, et. al.) and the freedoms will be granted by the dictators. Again, do not learn from history, try to reinvent the wheel. As for socialism, history again shows that it has not and never will work. Why should I work and you get the same benefits to stay home? See USSR, as long as you were a senior party member, you were good to go, oh, that is correct all were equal.

Kathy about 1 year ago

“Ours is an international struggle that must be led by the poorest and darkest, especially women. We all need the same freedom and equality; we all have the same oppressors, worldwide. Our movement will work toward an internationalist, egalitarian world. We foresee a world in which the genius and creativity of humanity is unleashed, in which all humans share and share alike, whether in starvation or in plenty: in which we are free to love and truly take care of one another. We realize that the “haves” are a ruthless enemy who will stop at nothing to keep their power and resources. We see examples of their viciousness, violence and greed all around us all the time. We will be prepared to fight fire with fire.” (from in-publication book by ISBO, "The Bottom Will Rise and Create a New World")