Wisdom for this moment and for the long struggle ahead ...

Rachel Herzing, director of the Center for Political Education and one of the founders of the prison abolitionist movement Critical Resistance, passed along thoughts for A Time of Rebellion. Here are some excerpts.

As thousands of people across the world protest in the wake of George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis cops, it’s clear that we need the both the expressions of rage and frustration, and solidarity and care that have been communicated by the uprisings. We also need continued political education. ...

None of us is born already understanding how to do all this. We learn how and improve our practice by trial and error (which is a form of study), but also by paying attention to what others around us do, in conversation with people with more experience, by reading things in formal educational settings and many other ways. None of these methods is the single best way and none of them are bad ways if we’re gaining knowledge and skills that help us make our work more effective. We join struggles already in motion. Being curious about what has already happened and why helps us avoid repeating old errors. It also helps us build off previous momentum, connect our actions to a lineage of fight back, and acknowledge those who have helped our struggles develop. ...

Right now there is a cacophony of opinions trying to lead us, get our attention, and provide us with the “correct” ideas. Being able to make sense of our own opinions in relationship to what’s out there and deciding what to keep and what to ignore requires developed skills of analysis. When Attorney General Bill Barr says he will bring federal charges against people crossing state lines to “riot” we benefit from understanding what’s underneath this threat—the long legacy of state actors suggesting that “outside agitators” are always behind protests as a way of discrediting dissent, the weight of federal charges versus local ones, and the contradiction of this statement on the heels of right-wing “open up” protestors amassing to challenge COVID-19 public health orders.

... When groups promote demands, it’s important that we understand them and take the time to consider if we agree with them before signing on or circulating them. It’s not enough to just take in these pieces of information, we need to sharpen our skills to make meaning from them.

[She explains some points for this moment:]

• Don’t fall for the myth that study is the enemy of action. ...

• Avoid false distinctions between thinkers and doers. ...

• Put effort into locating and using the many, many good resources already out there ...

• If you find something that is useful but not 100% perfect for your situation, credit it, adapt it, and circulate it. ...

• Be accountable for your own learning and develop something on your own or with others and then test it out. ...

• The time when you think you’ve got it all figured out is probably the time you need to push yourself to learn even more. ...

Political education isn’t just education about politics. It’s education for the specific purpose of making our politics more powerful. It is front line work. It is core to advancing our struggles, not the “extra” activity we take up after the struggle is over or for recreation. ...

Now go read it all.