Radical: My Year with a Socialist Senator


Book Description

You won the election... now what? Activist organizing meets government gridlock as a millennial New Yorker cartoonist follows a first-year senator on her unforgettable journey — from outsider to insider. In early 2018, cartoonist Sofia Warren was not paying attention to New York state politics. But that summer, her Brooklyn neighborhood began buzzing about Julia Salazar, a 27-year-old democratic socialist running for state senate whose grassroots campaign was inspiring an army of volunteers. When they beat the odds and won, Warren found herself wondering what would happen next. How does it work when an outsider who runs on revolutionary change has to actually do the job? So she decided to find out. Using the graphic memoir format, Radical: My Year with a Socialist Senator is a remarkable first-hand account of Warren’s experience embedded with Julia Salazar and her staff during their first year in office. From candid conversations and eyewitness experiences, Warren builds a gripping and intimate portrait of a scrappy team of community organizers battling entrenched power structures, particularly to advance Julia’s marquee issue of housing rights. At every key point during the year — setting up an office, navigating insider politics, public pushback, testy staff meetings, emotional speeches, protest marches, setbacks, and victories — Warren is up close and personal with Julia and her team, observing, questioning, and drawing, as they try to translate their ideals into concrete legislation. Along the way, Warren works toward answers to deeper questions: what makes a good leader? What does it mean to be a part of a community? Can democracy work? How can everyday people make change happen? All these themes are explored — with nuance, compassion, and humor — in Sofia Warren's remarkable debut.




Radical: My Year with a Socialist Senator


Book Description

You won the election… now what? Activist organizing meets government gridlock as a millennial New Yorker cartoonist follows a first-year senator on her unforgettable journey — from outsider to insider. In early 2018, cartoonist Sofia Warren was not paying attention to New York state politics. But that summer, her Brooklyn neighborhood began buzzing about Julia Salazar, a 27-year-old democratic socialist running for state senate whose grassroots campaign was inspiring an army of volunteers. When they beat the odds and won, Warren found herself wondering what would happen next. How does it work when an outsider who runs on revolutionary change has to actually do the job? So she decided to find out. Using the graphic memoir format, Radical: My Year with a Socialist Senator is a remarkable first-hand account of Warren’s experience embedded with Julia Salazar and her staff during their first year in office. From candid conversations and eyewitness experiences, Warren builds a gripping and intimate portrait of a scrappy team of community organizers battling entrenched power structures, particularly to advance Julia’s marquee issue of housing rights. At every key point during the year — setting up an office, navigating insider politics, public pushback, testy staff meetings, emotional speeches, protest marches, setbacks, and victories — Warren is up close and personal with Julia and her team, observing, questioning, and drawing, as they try to translate their ideals into concrete legislation. Along the way, Warren works toward answers to deeper questions: what makes a good leader? What does it mean to be a part of a community? Can democracy work? How can everyday people make change happen? All these themes are explored — with nuance, compassion, and humor — in Sofia Warren’s remarkable debut.




The Socialist Manifesto


Book Description

The success of Jeremy Corbyn's left-led Labour Party and Bernie Sanders's 2016 presidential campaign revived a political idea many had thought dead. But what, exactly, is socialism? And what would a socialist system look like today? In The Socialist Manifesto, Bhaskar Sunkara, editor of Jacobin magazine, argues that socialism offers the means to achieve economic equality, and also to fight other forms of oppression, including racism and sexism. The ultimate goal is not Soviet-style planning, but to win rights to healthcare, education, and housing and to create new democratic institutions in workplaces and communities. The book both explores socialism's history and presents a realistic vision for its future. A primer on socialism for the 21st century, this is a book for anyone seeking an end to the vast inequities of our age.




Outsider in the House


Book Description

The inside scoop on Washington from the only Independent in Congress.




The "S" Word


Book Description

Political reporter Nichols argues that socialism has a long, proud American history. This short, irreverent book gives Americans back a crucial part of their history and makes a forthright case for socialist ideas today.




Red Army


Book Description

In Red Army, Aaron Klein and Brenda J. Elliot—bestselling authors of The Manchurian President—expose the nexus of radical socialist groups shaping the presidential agenda of Barack Obama and reveal how their plan to transform America is already well underway. A truly eye-opening work of investigative reporting, Red Army is filled with startling revelations about Obama’s healthcare legislation, the shocking misuse of federal stimulus money, the existence of a powerful “Marxist-socialist” bloc in Congress, and much more. It is a book that every concerned American must read.




Why Bernie Sanders Matters


Book Description

Missionary. Radical. Hippy. Revolutionary. Red Mayor. Pragmatist. Socialist. Hot from the campaign trail, a vivid new biography that goes inside Bernie Sanders’s contradictions, his unusual life, and his electrifying quest to make the American dream a reality for all. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders may be the least political person in politics—a brusque, unpolished, Jewish Socialist from Brooklyn with deep-seated convictions and distaste for small talk. He is also, at seventy-four, the rising star of the Democratic party, whose underdog bid for the presidential nomination has hit the marks of a serious contender: He’s competitive with, and in some cases leading, Hillary Clinton in early state polls. He’s closed the fundraising gap, and is drawing crowds of thousands to campaign rallies. Why? Because where most candidates are calculating and rehearsed, Sanders is frank, authentic, and impassioned. For thirty years, he has spoken out against income inequality, environmental injustice, and privatized healthcare. Now—amid an ever-widening chasm between the rich and the rest, and growing voter disenchantment—the country is listening. With reporting from inside the campaign, personal relationships with Sanders’s friends and colleagues, and meticulous research, noted reporter Harry Jaffe offers an engaging, insightful portrait of the ultimate outsider candidate, charting Sanders’s course from Brooklyn to Burlington, and now to Des Moines and beyond. Within the untold narrative of Sanders’s origins and political development, he also examines the growth of the progressive movement, and the recent developments—including the Occupy movement, the Great Recession, and the rise of the millennial generation—that have shifted Sanders’s views from fringe to focal point. At once a captivating biography, and a thought-provoking window into the contemporary political landscape, this will become the defining account of a pivotal moment in American history.




Where We Go from Here


Book Description

The inspiring national bestseller from the U. S. Senator and leading Democratic candidate for president—about the fierce fight for democracy and social justice, and what we need to do next. In Where We Go from Here, New York Times bestselling author Bernie Sanders reveals the blueprint for his 2020 presidential run by chronicling the day-by-day struggles that he and his progressive colleagues have waged over the last two years in the fight against Donald Trump's reactionary agenda and for a government that works for all, not just wealthy campaign contributors. At home, Sanders has helped lead the fight for Medicare for all, fought for workers desperate for higher wages, and supported immigrants in the DACA program and children affected by gun violence. He has stood with the people of Puerto Rico devastated by Hurricane Maria, as well as veterans, teachers, the incarcerated, the persecuted, and all those who are too often ignored by Washington. Abroad, his voice has been clear that we need a foreign policy that strives for peace—not war—and international cooperation to address the crisis of climate change. The good news is we're making progress. People all across America are standing up to the most dishonest and reactionary president in our history. They're taking on establishment politicians who've turned a blind eye to the concerns of everyday citizens. They're fighting back against the oligarchs of Wall Street, who would happily see our children do worse than their parents so long as the Dow does better. And the general public continually demonstrates that we are more united than the media would allow us to believe, and what we agree on are largely progressive ideals. Maintaining a vibrant democracy has never been easy, and in these dangerous and unprecedented times, it has been more difficult than ever. Bernie Sanders shows, however, that we can repair the damage Trump has done—and create a nation based on the principles of economic, social, racial, and environmental justice.




Why You Should Be a Socialist


Book Description

A primer on Democratic Socialism for those who are extremely skeptical of it. America is witnessing the rise of a new generation of socialist activists. More young people support socialism now than at any time since the labor movement of the 1920s. The Democratic Socialists of America, a big-tent leftist organization, has just surpassed 50,000 members nationwide. In the fall of 2018, one of the most influential congressmen in the Democratic Party lost a primary to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a 28-year-old socialist who had never held office before. But what does all this mean? Should we be worried about our country, or should we join the march toward our bright socialist future? In Why You Should Be a Socialist, Nathan J. Robinson will give readers a primer on twenty-first-century socialism: what it is, what it isn’t, and why everyone should want to be a part of this exciting new chapter of American politics. From the heyday of Occupy Wall Street through Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign and beyond, young progressives have been increasingly drawn to socialist ideas. However, the movement’s goals need to be defined more sharply before it can effect real change on a national scale. Likewise, liberals and conservatives will benefit from a deeper understanding of the true nature of this ideology, whether they agree with it or not. Robinson’s charming, accessible, and well-argued book will convince even the most skeptical readers of the merits of socialist thought.




Rules for Radicals


Book Description

“This country's leading hell-raiser" (The Nation) shares his impassioned counsel to young radicals on how to effect constructive social change and know “the difference between being a realistic radical and being a rhetorical one.” First published in 1971 and written in the midst of radical political developments whose direction Alinsky was one of the first to question, this volume exhibits his style at its best. Like Thomas Paine before him, Alinsky was able to combine, both in his person and his writing, the intensity of political engagement with an absolute insistence on rational political discourse and adherence to the American democratic tradition.