“It’s important to make an example out of these organizers, so that this never happens again.” This message was sent to the managers of the Mall of America by Sandra Johnson, the […]
Martin Luther King Goes to the Mall (or WWMD?)
Whites fighting racism: what it’s about
Note: I was asked by SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice – a group which organizes white folks against racism) to write a few paragraphs offering a perspective on white solidarity. It […]
A Unity of Fires: Tecumseh in the Time of Monsanto, Part 1 of 3
It’s time we talked about Tecumseh. There are compelling reasons to study this powerful brother. He organized a movement that was intended to block the westward expansion of the brash, young United […]
The Marriage Amendment as decoy and how to fight the real danger
Minnesota voters face two regressive constitutional amendments this fall. One would prevent future legalization of same-sex marriage and one would suppress voter turnout with cumbersome ID requirements. They are part of a […]
Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee: a political ecology of change
Don’t fight the riptide. It’ll wear you down. A riptide occurs when water at high tide gets pooled behind reefs or sand bars so when the sea goes out again, the trapped […]
Revolution in the Time of the Hamsters
“I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore, Toto,” Dorothy shared her suspicion with her little dog as they peered out onto an unfamiliar landscape. Still reeling from her own climate crisis, […]
The Drinking Gourd: Vision as Strategy
During the Underground Railroad movement of the mid-nineteenth century, people escaping the enslaved South were instructed to follow the Drinking Gourd, the constellation in the northern sky which points to the […]
Remembering Chairman Fred
Note: Every year at this time I like to re-post this memorial piece to Fred Hampton and Mark Clark. Stories get passed on through repetition. It was first published in the Minneapolis […]
The Lizard Strategy or, How to defeat Bush without losing our souls
“Now we get to go out and lie to our members once again,” a union staffer recently complained to me. She was referring to the 2004 presidential election, and her frustration […]
The Importance of Being Artist
“The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.” “The question is, which is to be Master,” said Humpty Dumpty, smugly explaining to Alice the power […]
Ricardo Levins Morales
Ricardo Levins Morales Art Studio 