Ultra-red

"It’s impossible to arrive on December 1, World AIDS Day, and not be overcome with feelings of joy, grief, desire, and rage. When the topic of feelings and affects in the context of political struggles comes up, my thoughts immediately turn to my earliest movement experiences in the 1980s. Words come from my lips involuntarily: 'The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power is a nonpartisan group of diverse individuals united in anger to end the AIDS crisis through direct action.' This sentence remains etched in my memory and bursts into the room regardless of the context of the conversation, whether AIDS activism, harm reduction, or tenant organizing. In my imaginary, this declaration of purpose and aim stands in as the paradigmatic example of the centrality of political feelings."

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INAPPROPRIATE USES OF THE CITY An interview

This past Sunday, members of Ultra-red's Central American Popular Pedagogies research team presented preliminary insights from their trip to Central America over the summer. Back in June, Tony Carfello, Daniela Lieja Quintanar, and Christina Sánchez Juárez visited popular and political education projects in El Salvador, Honduras, and Costa Rica at a time when Central America is increasingly playing a critical role in the struggle against neofascism.

Hosted by Alyson Escalante from the Red Menace Podcast and Dont Rhine from Ultra-red, the presentation highlighted the role of intentional political networks including formation schools designed to prepare young people as movement organizers. Both the formation schools and the historic networks of popular education centers across the region put individuals and groups in relation to each other. Such networks have for decades nurtured a movement of land defenders, indigenous activists, and anti-imperialist struggle. The various projects across Central America synthesize a political analysis with cultural production, where historical memory sits at the center of strategy and tactics.

Sunday’s audience gathered at All Power Books on West Adams Blvd in Mid-City to hear the report from the Ultra-red research team. The audience was made up of organizers from numerous chapters of the L.A. Tenants Union and other activists.

At the end of the conversation, the group delivered a video message of solidarity to our comrades in Central America, joining with them in building strong movements of community defense and anti-imperialism.

The Central America Popular Pedagogies team are in the process of preparing a future issue of ULTRA-RED: A Journal of Militant Sound Inquiry, published by Rab-Rab Press based in Helsinki, Finland. For more information about ULTRA-RED find us on Facebook or Substack.

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https://allpowerbooks.org
http://redmenace.libsyn.com