[WCUSP] Fwd: [sds] MDS Conference Elects Manning Marable Chair of MDS, Inc.

[Odile Hugonot Haber]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Thomas Good <tmgood at loveandstruggle.net>
Date: Feb 20, 2007 9:28 PM
Subject: [sds] MDS Conference Elects Manning Marable Chair of MDS, Inc.
To: SDS Announce <sds at lists.mutualaid.org>

MDS Conference Elects Manning Marable Chair of MDS, Inc.
February 20th, 2007 by Thomas Good

 Manning Marable, new elected Chair of MDS, Inc. (Photo: Thomas Good)

New York, NY - February 17, 2007. A bitter cold day did not prevent
the Movement for a Democratic Society (MDS) from holding a well
attended conference at New York City's New School University. The
event was held in the Graduate Center, 65 Fifth Avenue, and about 100
participants were in attendance. The meeting featured several speakers
who are well known figures on the US Left and an agenda that centered
around electing a board of directors for MDS, Incorporated - the
non-profit arm of MDS that was founded last August in Chicago, at the
national SDS convention. Its purpose is to provide SDS' student
activists with a legal defense fund, monies for the Radical Education
Project and a general fund for meetings, conventions and other SDS
functions. Organizers were pleased with the turnout and excited about
the election of Manning Marable as Chair of the new Board.

The new board, elected by acclamation, includes: Mark Rudd, David
Graeber, Judith Malina, Jesse Zearle, Kate Khatib, Roderick Long, Alan
Haber, Manning Marable, Muhammed Ahmad, Charlene Mitchell, Starhawk,
Gideon Oliver, Jeff Jones and Bert Garskof. Elected as officers, in
addition to Marable as Chair, were three Vice Chairs: Paul Buhle,
Judith Malina and Jesse Zearle. The board is remarkable for its
diversity and organizers describe the conference as "historic."

View Photos/Documents From The Conference

Paul Buhle served as Master of Ceremonies and introduced Pat Korte of
New School SDS who spoke briefly, welcoming the participants. Oz
Frankel also welcomed the attendees and then Buhle introduced MDS,
Inc. Secretary Thomas Good who gave a detailed report on "SDS, The
Last Year". Good introduced ex-Weatherman and former leader of the
1968 Columbia student strike, Mark Rudd. Rudd spoke about the need for
new, creative strategies for nonviolent resistance, commenting at
length about the errors he and others made in 1969 - paying particular
attention to the decision to disband SDS, a decision he still regrets.
Rudd noted that "the state is violent, we are not" and made a general
call for a "100% commitment to nonviolence", "purely on practical
grounds". Rudd also spoke about the need to foster resistance within
the military as a means of ending the US war in Iraq. Commenting on
the rancor that sometimes afflicts MDS internet mailing lists, Rudd
noted "(we) old people need to get our shit together" and eliminate
the listserv problems which appear to be "some sort of Maoist virus,
long dormant". "Let's just do some work that needs doing," he urged.

Manning Marable, one of the US's most influential and widely read
scholars, spoke next. Since 1993, Dr. Marable has been Professor of
Public Affairs, Political Science, History and African-American
Studies at Columbia University. By all accounts his speech was the
highlight of the conference. Marable blasted neoliberalism, globalized
capitalism and what he termed "global apartheid". Marable called
neoliberalism a "war on the public" whose stated goal is the
elimination of all programs that seek to address poverty. He listed
Iraq, Iran and Syria as targets/victims of globalized imperialism
which has an insatiable appetite for profits. Marable spoke at length
about the "global apartheid" system of racial segregation the US
practices at home - and looks to export to every corner of the globe.
He pointed out that apartheid in the US consists of mass unemployment
in the African American community which leads to mass incarceration
and subsequently mass disenfranchisement of Blacks - as felons are
unable to vote in most states. "Why are we building so many prisons?"
he asked. "To warehouse redundant labor," he concluded. Marable
pointed out that prisons are usually located in Republican districts
as they bring in tax monies, provide slave labor and create jobs in
surrounding communities. The system of oppression, what he termed the
prison industrial complex, is something MDS must address he noted.
"The most effective thing SDS can do is to join with other
abolitionists to close prisons," he said. He also spoke of the need to
fight privatization which he called "a tool of those who promote
global and domestic apartheid." In conclusion, he observed that
neoliberalism is nothing more than a philosophical fig leaf for global
apartheid and imperialism and must be resisted. Marable left the
podium to sustained applause.

An SDS student panel that featured Jenna Peters-Goldman, Josh Russell,
Senia Barragan and Brian Kelly outlined the need for an
intergenerational organization but stressed the need for cooperation
and an end to sectarianism. After the panel, Senia Barragan told NLN:
"SDS' relationship with MDS could be really something that is very
beautiful, and functioning and radical. We've got to put our shit
away. Move on. New era, new generation. Let's make this happen."

After a lunch break, Barbara Ehrenreich, noted feminist author,
lecturer and MDS Board nominee, spoke about her new book which
chronicles the role of the festive tradition in resistance to empire.
She compared what she termed "the carnivalization" of recent protests
to "planting the maypole" in historical European revolutions and
called drums a "symbol of collective power". She also called Lenin
"one of the leading killjoys of all". Arguing that the festive
tradition fosters individual creativity as well as communal
solidarity, Ehrenreich urged MDS to consider "raising the possibility
of taking the festive tradition seriously". Ehrenreich was followed by
Judith Malina, director of the Living Theatre in New York. Malina
spoke about street theatre, a festive tradition in its own right. She
argued for a joyous revolution calling it "essential" if MDS is to be
able to present alternatives to the larger movement. Malina pledged to
attempt to "make peace, in my life, in my family, for the rest of my
life." She concluded her remarks with a poem that listed reasons why
the Living Theatre had returned to New York after a stint in Europe
citing, amongst other things, that "metaphors can be lethal" and must
be resisted. "We're back!" she exclaimed to enthusiastic applause.

The business portion of the meeting followed with each board nominee
introducing themselves to the conference. The board, a very diverse
group, was voted in by acclamation after some very inspiring
introductions. Jeff Jones said reading "the Port Huron Statement
changed my life." Starhawk stressed the urgent need for a national
network of resistance and pledged to help make MDS that network.
Following the vote, Paul Buhle nominated Manning Marable for Chair of
the Board. Alan Haber was also nominated from the floor. The vote for
Marable was a landslide, however, and he accepted the post offered him
by his fellow board members. Three vice chairs were also elected: Paul
Buhle, hip hop artist Zearle and Malina. Marable spoke briefly,
following the elections, urging the audience to "keep our own quarrels
under control". Parliamentarian Bruce Rubenstein introduced a motion
at this point - calling for a bylaw change that would allow for a
direct election of MDS Inc. officers by the general membership at the
next national convention (instead of the board electing officers).
This carried and with that, the business meeting was concluded.

Social Naturist (Nudist) Judy Williams spoke about the affinities
between her movement and MDS and then Alan Haber ended the conference
with a recitation of an original piece entitle "SDS, a poem". The
event ended on time - and organizers expressed satisfaction with the
work accomplished. "Now we can set to work building a movement for a
democratic society," said Paul Buhle.




(c) 2007 Next Left Notes
 All articles, photographs and other materials on NLN are released
under the "GNU Free Documentation License".
 --

Thomas Good, Organizer
SDS New York City
NYC War Resisters League
IWW x358303 / IU 560

www.nextleftnotes.net
 www.myspace.com/loveandstruggle



_______________________________________________
You are subscribed to the sds mailing list
http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sds
To Unsubscribe from this or any mutualaid.org hosted mailing list,
visit: http://lists.mutualaid.org/unsub.php