Cliff Willmeng – working class fighter, environmental and anti-fracking activist, and socialist – is running for city council in Lafayette, Colorado. Here he explains why he’s running and what he hopes to […]
oaklandsocialist
The administrator of this blog site, I am a lifelong socialist and a retired carpenter and the former recording secretary and an expelled member of Carpenters Local 713. I was expelled for my leading role in the 1999 SF Bay Area carpenters wildcat strike as well as for his opposition to the union bureaucracy in general. I was one of the founding members of a small group called Labor Militant, which was the forerunner to Socialist Alternative. Along with a small group of others, I was expelled when that group started to adapt to the union bureaucracy. I have also visited the workers' movement internationally, including in Pakistan, Egypt (during the Arab Spring), Britain, Mexico and Chile (during the uprising there in 2020). Unless otherwise specified, I am the author of the articles that appear here. Although I am the main author, Oaklandsocialist welcomes articles on any issue that relates to the working class. Contact us at Oaklandsocialist@gmail.com.
Qilombo: The Struggle Lives On
Struggles rise and fall back, but they always leave something behind – a heritage, lessons for people to learn from and carry on. Occupy Oakland was one example. It couldn’t last forever, […]
Democratic Presidential “Debate”: No Solution Here
The Democratic and Republican primaries offer two different visions of how Corporate America – the US capitalist class – sees a way forward; how they see resolving their problems. Their main problems are […]
Oakland Yuppifies
Oaklandsocialist thanks the National Security Agency (NSA) for their extensive news reporting service, otherwise known as eavesdropping. As Edward Snowden has revealed, the NSA listens in to almost all phone conversations. We recently […]
Report from Refugee Camp in Germany
Karen R. volunteers teaching Asian and African refugees German at a refugee camp in Dresden, Germany. She recounts her experiences there. Sept. 12, 2015 Yesterday I went by to visit Ceebla again. […]
Debate on Bernie Sanders
A debate on Bernie Sanders was organized by the Peace and Freedom Party in Oakland yesterday ((Oct. 3). The debate gave an insight into the justifications for those who support Sanders. Some […]
Campaigning for 15 Now Tacoma
Over this last weekend, I was up in Tacoma helping 15 Now Tacoma campaign for their initiative. Among other things, Initiative One not only really calls for an immediate $15/hour minimum wage (as […]
A Bitter Pill to Swallow…
Somebody posted a rant that ends up supporting Bernie Sanders. It starts by talking about sweating for a living and barely being able to pay the bills. It ends: When Bernie Sanders […]
The early history of what became Socialist Alternative, and beyond
by John Reimann Attached is a history of the evolution of the predecessor to Socialist Alternative, what was known as “Labor Militant”. As explained, this was written by this author in the […]
Sawant and Hedges Speak in Oakland
Seattle city council member Kshama Sawant, the most prominent socialist in America, spoke in Oakland last night. She spoke along with the noted left journalist Chris Hedges. Also speaking was former left […]