Use PayPal to make a safe,
tax-deductible donation to the
Marxist School today!

Marxist School of Sacramento

All Speakers

2000 - present

Major Annual Lectures

  1. Inaugural Lecture: Michael Parenti, Author and Lecturer. “Democracy vs. Capitalism.” May 20, 2000.
  2. First Anniversary Lecture: Manning Marable, Professor of History and Political Science, Columbia University. “Challenges for the Left.” May 10, 2001.
  3. Second Anniversary Lecture: Doug Dowd, Economic Historian and Professor Emeritus, Cornell University. “Depths Below Depths: How Capitalism Destroys Humanity, Society, and Nature.” May 19, 2002.
  4. Third Anniversary Lecture: Angela Y. Davis, University of California, Santa Cruz. “The Politics of Women, Race, and Class in the 21st Century.” March 14, 2003.
  5. Fourth Anniversary Lecture: Joel Kovel, Green Activist, Author and Scholar. “Saving the Earth: A Socialism for the 21st Century.” May 15, 2004.
  6. Fifth Anniversary Lecture: Michael Parenti, Author and Lecturer. "U.S. Empire vs. U.S. Democracy," May 6, 2005.

Monthly Point of View Speaker Series Lectures

  1. Michael Perelman, California State University, Chico. “The Information Age: New Technologies, Same Old Capitalism.” September 20, 2000.
  2. Bill Fletcher, Labor Leader and Co-Founder of the Black Radical Congress. “The Challenges of Labor in the New Millennium.” October 13, 2000.
  3. Fran Beal, Black Radical Congress. “The Politics of the Black Radical Congress. October 19, 2000.
  4. Charles Andrews, Author and Activist. “Thirty Years of Inequality: How Can We End It?” November 16, 2000.
  5. John Henry, California State University, Sacramento. “Racism and the Economics of Privilege.” December 14, 2000.
  6. Christian Parenti, Author and Activist. “Police and Prisons in the Age of Crisis.” January 18, 2001.
  7. Linda Burnham, Women of Color Resource Center. “Marxism and Feminism.” February 21, 2001.
  8. Elizabeth Martinez, Chicana Historian and Founder of the Institute for MultiRacial Justice. “The Quest for Unity Among People of Color.” April 19, 2001
  9. George Wright, California State University, Chico. “Is There a Ruling Class in America?” September 20, 2001.
  10. Ivory Madison, Feminist Writer and Political Activist. “Marxism and Feminism: An Uneasy Affair.” October 18, 2001.
  11. Richard Becker, International Action Center. “A Marxist View of the Middle East Conflicts.” November 15, 2001.
  12. Bob Wing, Former Editor of ColorLines. “Post 9/11 Left Political Strategy.” December 11, 2001.
  13. Jim Devine, Loyola Marymount University. “Marxist Theory and the Millennium Crisis.” December 20, 2001.
  14. Robert Weil, University of California, Santa Cruz. “The Future of China.” January 17, 2002.
  15. Urzsula Wislanka, Marxist-Humanist Writer and Activist. “The I That Is We: Women Prisoners Reach for a New Future.” February 21, 2002.
  16. Arline Prigoff, California State University, Sacramento, and Jim Prigoff, Photographer. “Report on the 2002 World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil.” March 21, 2002.
  17. Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, California State University, Hayward. “International Human Rights.” April 18, 2002.
  18. Max Elbaum, Activist, Organizer, Author. “Revolution in the Air: Third World Marxism of the 1960s.” August 15, 2002.
  19. Bob Randolph, Poet, Truth Teller, Liar. “Karl Marx and I Have Been Wanting to Talk to You.” September 19, 2002.
  20. Giuliana Milanese, Labor/Community Activist. “Anti-Racist Organizing.” October 17, 2002.
  21. Jim Craven, Clark College, Vancouver, Washington. “Marxism and Indigenous Struggles: A Case Study of the Blackfoot Nation.” November 21, 2002.
  22. James Cypher, California State University, Fresno. “U.S. Military Policy.” December 19, 2002.
  23. Richard Lichtman, The Wright Institute, Berkeley. “The Illusions of Contemporary Therapy: A Marxist Study in Ideology.” January 16, 2003.
  24. Ivory Madison, Feminist Writer and Political Activist. “Das Capitol: How Marxism Has Shaped American Law and Policy.” February 20, 2003.
  25. Gilbert Achcar, University of Paris. “The Clash of Barbarisms: September 11 and the Making of the New World Disorder.” February 26, 2003.
  26. Richard Walker, University of California, Berkeley. “The Conquest of Bread: 150 Years of Agribusiness in California.” April 17, 2003.
  27. Jason C. Myers, California State University, Stanislaus. “The Invisible Hand: Markets and Market Ideology.” May 14, 2003.
  28. David Bacon, Activist, Writer, and Photographer. “International Labor Solidarity.” September 18, 2003.
  29. Peter Olney, Institute for Labor and Employment, UC Berkeley. “Labor’s Challenges on the Eve of Election 2004.” October 16, 2003.
  30. Urszula Wislanka, Marxist Humanist. “Marxist Humanism and the Philosophy of Liberation.” November 20, 2003.
  31. Bill Gallegos, Freedom Road Socialist Organization. “How Chicano Liberation Can Help Defeat U.S. Imperialism.” December 18, 2003.
  32. Michael Yates, Labor Economist, Author, and Associate Editor of Monthly Review. “Can the Working Class Change the World?” January 22, 2004.
  33. Phil Hutchings, Racial Justice Activist. “Black Liberation and Marxism: What Each Has to Offer the Other.” February 19, 2004.
  34. Ann Fagan Ginger, Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute. “How the Left Can Use the Law After 9-11. March 19, 2004.
  35. Cynthia Kaufman, De Anza College, Cupertino. “Challenging Capitalism in the Here and Now.” April 16, 2004.
  36. Martha Gimenez, University of Colorado, Boulder. “Karl Marx: The Continuing Relevance of His Thought.” August 19, 2004.
  37. Michael Perelman, California State University, Chico. “Fouling the Nest: How Right Wing Extremism Threatens American Prosperity.” September 16, 2004.
  38. Ron Kelch, Marxist Humanist Philosopher and Political Activist. “Marxism and Freedom.” Thursday, October 21, 2004.
  39. Harmony Goldberg, School of Unity and Liberation. “Reclaiming Revolution.” November 18, 2004.
  40. Richard Lichtman, The Wright Institute, Berkeley. “Issues in the Marxist Theory of Ideology.” December 16, 2004.
  41. Urszula Wislanka, Marxist Humanist Writer. “Marx’s Vision of Alternatives to Capitalism.” January 20, 2005.
  42. Jason Myers, California State University, Stanislaus. “Fighting Words or False Consciousness? Ideology and Historical Materialism.” February 17, 2005.
  43. John Bellamy Foster, Editor of Monthly Review. Capitalism and Socialism. March 5, 2005.
  44. Eleanor Walden, Cultural Worker and Political Activist. “Gramsci and Campanilismo: A View of the Crisis of Culture for the Left.” April 21, 2005.
  45. Jackie Carrigan, California State University, Sacramento. “Overworked and Overweight Under Capitalism”, Sept.15,  2005
  46. Jason Negron-Gonzales and Steve Williams, POWER. “Anti-Imperialism from the Grassroots”, October 20, 2005
  47. David Roediger, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “The Dilemmas of Popular Front Antiracism: Looking at the House I Live In”, November 17, 2005,
  48. Lila Rajiva, Baltimore-based journalist and author. The Language of Empire: Abu Ghraib and the American Media. December 15, 2005,
  49. Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz:  “Blood on the Border: A Memoir of the Contra War,” the third volume in her critically-acclaimed memoir. Dunbar-Ortiz recounts on-the-ground memories of the contra war in Nicaragua. Thursday, January 19, 2006
  50. Kevin Wehr: Assistant Professor of Sociology, CSUS.  “The Capitalist Environment: Mystification and Natural Resources”  Thursday, February 16, 2006
  51. Manuel Barajas: Assistant Professor of Sociology, CSUS.  “The Mexicanization of Labor in the Farm Fields and Outside the Fields” Thursday, March 16, 2006   
  52. Berch Berberoglu: Ph.D.  Professor of Sociology, University of Nevada, Reno. "Globalization: The Highest Stage of Imperialism".   Thursday, April 20, 2006
  53. Urszula Wislanka: “On the 25th anniversary of Poland's Solidarity.”  Thursday, May 18, 2006
  54. Michelle Matisons, Professor of Women’s Studies, CSU Sacramento, “Marxism and Feminism in the 20th Century.”  Thursday, Sept. 21, 2006.
  55. Michael Perelman, Professor of economic, CSU Chico, presenting his new book: Railroading Economics: The Creation of the Free Market Mythology. Monday, October 16, 2006.
  56. Doug Orr., PhD., Professor of economics, Eastern Washington University.  “The Attack on Retirement Income: Class war in slow motion.”  Thursday, Nov. 16, 2006.
  57. David Bacon, photo presentation on "NAFTA and Immigration."  Bacon is a photojournalist and writer based in San Francisco, who documents labor, migration and globalization issues. Tuesday, December 12, 2006.
  58. Doyle Saylor, photo presentation on "Disabled Workers in Capitalism." Saylor is a co-host of Pushing Limits, a KPFA radio program from Berkeley that covers disabled rights, and an expert on disabled people’s access to the World Wide Web. Thursday, January 18, 2007. 
  59. Panel Discussion: professors Manuel Barajas, Jackie Carrigan, Jeff Lustig and Kevin Wehr, plus graduate students James Banyai and Loran Garcia: "Class Struggle at CSU Sacramento: A Marxist analysis of the assault on academic excellence at CSUS." Thursday, February 15, 2007
  60. Raghuraman Trichur, Professor of anthropology, CSU Sacramento. "Tourism and Capitalist Development in Goa, India." Monday, April 23, 2007.
  61. Catherine Hodge McCoid, Ph.D. "Eleanor Burke Leacock, Marxist anthropologist, and Frederick Engels’ Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State." Thursday, May 17, 2007. 
  62. Michael D. Yates, presentation of "Cheap Motels and a Hot Plate: An Economist’s Travelogue," Thursday, May 24, 2007.
  63. Alexander Saxton, "Religion and the Human Prospect," Thursday, September 20, 2007
  64. Kevin Wehr,  "Bicycle Messengers and fast capitalism," Thursday, October 18, 2007
  65. Carl Bloice, "Homelessness and the market economy," Thursday, November 15, 2007
  66. Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, "Roots of Resistance: History of Land Tenure in New Mexico," Thursday, December 20, 2007
  67. Deepa Kumar, "UPS & Globalization," Thursday, July 10, 2008
  68. Paul Zarembka, “The Hidden History of 9/1,” Thursday, September 11, 2008
  69. Todd Chretien "Democracy for the Rich." Todd Chretien was Green Party Candidate for U.S. Senate from California in 2006. Chretien is a member of the National Writers Union, and writes regularly for Socialist Worker, the International Socialist Review and Counterpunch. Thursday, October 16, 2008
  70. Doug Orr, San Francisco City College “The Financial Crisis.” Wednesday Nov 12, 2008
  71. Jason Myers, CSU Stanislaus. "Public Good, Private Freedoms: The Core Values of Social Egalitarian Political Philosophy." Thursday, November 20, 2008
  72. Paddy Quick, St. Francis College, N.Y., professor of economics, “Household Production and Commodity Production,” Monday, Jan. 5, 2009.
  73. Eugene Coyle , economist, “Practical and Radical Responses to the Economic and Environmental Crises,” Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009.
  74. Ann Tompkins and Lincoln Cushing, “Chinese Posters: Art from the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution,” Thursday, Feb. 19, 2009.
  75. Charles Andrews, “Capitalism and After: New results on stages of history & the key to the next stage,” Thursday, Mar. 19, 2009.
  76. Jeff Mackler. "A Marxist analysis of the present economic crisis facing world capitalism." Jeff Mackler is founder of the Mobilization for Peace, Jobs and Justice; coordinator of National Assembly to End the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and Occupations; director of the Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal; national secretary of Socialist Action. Thursday, April 16, 2009
  77. Minqi Li, “The Rise of China and the Demise of the Capitalist World Economy.” Minqi Li is Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Utah. Thursday, May 21, 2009
  78. Martha E. Gimenez, “Race and Class in Obama’s Political Discourse.” Martha Gimenez is a retired Professor of Sociology at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Wednesday, August 12, 2009
  79. Dr. Berch Berberoglu, Professor of Sociology, University of Nevada, Reno, was scheduled to speak on "Labor and Capital in the Age of Globalization." Dr. Berberoglu was unable to come. Instead we showed a video, Professor Rick Wolff, "Capitalism Hits the Fan," on the underlying causes of the current economic crisis. Thursday, Sept.. 17, 2009.
  80. Kamran Nayeri, "The Political Economy of Health Care." Dr. Nayeri has been an active socialist since 1971 and has taught or donducted research at SUNY -HSCB, UC Berkeley (Survey Research Center) and UC Office of the President for 29 years. Thursday, October 15, 2009.
  81. Steve Early, labor author and journalist. “U.S. Labor’s Perils and Promises” Steve Early has been an organizer, strike strategist, labor educator, and lawyer. He recently retired from his job as national staff member of the Communications Workers of America. Thursday, November 19, 2009.
  82. Peter McLaren, “Rethinking Students and Teachers: A Critical View of Schools and Society” McLaren is Professor in the UCLA Graduate School of Education, specializing in Urban Schooling: Curriculum, Teaching, Leadership & Policy Studies. His website explains that he practices a revolutionary critical pedagogy, which advocates “non-violent dissent, the development of a philosophy of praxis guided by a Marxist humanism, the study of revolutionary social movements and thought, and the struggle for socialist democracy. Thursday, December 17, 2009.
  83. Al Sandine, "The taming of the American crowd." February 18, 2010
  84. Jonah Raskin, "Imperialism and revolution: yesterday and today"  March 5, 2010
  85. Karl Beitel, "Global finance in the current economic crisis and restructuring of capitalism."   March 30, 2010
  86. Julio Huato, "The political economy of Mexico today"    April 15, 2010
  87. Jackie Carrigan and Jennifer Murphy, "Education Shock Doctrine"  Sept. 23, 2010
  88. Rob Weil, "Resistance and Revolution: New Developments in China and India."  Oct. 21, 2010
  89. Andrej Grubacic, "The Haymarket and libertarian socialism in the US" Nov. 18, 2010
  90. David Bacon, "Rethinking Immigration"   Dec. 16, 2010   
  91. Patrick Bond, "Eco socialism and Climate Justice Politics"  Jan 20, 2011
  92. Sasha Lilley, "Capital and its Discontents: Conversations with Radical Thinkers in a Time of Tumult."  (Rescheduled from November 2010).  Feb. 17, 2011
  93. David Harvie & Keir Milburn, "Moments of Excess."  March 17, 2011
  94. David McNally, "Global Slump: The Economics and Politics of Crisis and Resistance."  April 14, 2011
  95. Kim Stanley Robinson and Terry Bisson, "The politics of science fiction and the left." May 12, 2011
  96. Chelsea Szendi Scheider, "A Brief History of Organized and Spontaneous Protest in Postwar Japan." Sept. 15, 2011
  97. Forum: Kevin Weir (CSUS);Preston Rudy (SJ State); Travis Silcox (SCC); Manuel Barajas (CSUS), "The Crisis in Higher Education."  Oct. 20, 2011
  98. Sasha Lilley, William Morris, Romantic to Revolutionary. Nov. 17, 2011
  99. Film: "Capitalism Hits the Fan," lecture by RIchard Wolff. Dec. 15, 2011.
  100. Terry Bisson and Rob McBride, "Occupying Radical History: Lessons of the Weather Underground for Today's Activists." Jan. 26, 2012
  101. Richard Becker, "Empty Homes and Homeless People." Feb. 16, 2012
  102. Selma James, "
  103. Iain Boal, West of Eden: Commun es and Utopia in Northern California. April 19, 2012
  104. Forum: Dan Bacher, Dan Gougherty, "Capitalism and the Internet." May 17, 2012.
  105. James Kilgore, "Prudence Couldn't Swim." Sept. 29, 2012
  106. Silvia Federici, Revolution at Point Zero: Housework, Reproduction, and Feminist Struggle. Oct. 18, 2012
  107. Sasha Lilley, "Catastrophism." Nov. 15, 2012
  108. Forum: Constance Slider Pierre, Colin Bailey, Jermain Gill, "Not Walking on Gas: A Neighborhood Success Story." Dec. 20, 2012
  109. Donald Nicholson-Smith, translator/editor of Revolution of Everyday Life, by Raoul Vaneigem, originally published just months before the May 1968 upheavals in France. February 21, 2013.
  110. Victoria Law, author of Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women.March 14, 2013.
  111. Bruce Neuburger Lettuce Wars: ten years of work and struggle in the fields of California. April 18, 2013.
  112. Cynthia Kaufman presented her new book, Getting Past Capitalism, a critique of the impacts of capitalism on human society and the environment. It looks in new ways at what capitalism is and at how it is reproduced. May 16, 2013.
  113. Alan Wieder presents his book, Ruth First and Joe Slovo in the War Against Apartheid, September 19, 2013.
  114. Red Army Faction : A documentary history in two volumes, for the first time in English. Edited by J. Smith and Andre Moncourt, presented by J. Smith. October 3, 2013.
  115. "Attack on K-12 Public Education: School Closures, Court Rulings and Resistance Tactics": Panel Discussion with local public school activists. November 21, 2013.
    Panel included:
    Carl Pinkston, secretary, Black Parallel School Board
    Darryl White, chair of the Black Parallel School Board
    Lori Jablonski, government teacher, McClatchy High School
    Kate Lennox, activist/blogger, Sacramento Coalition to Save Public Education
    Jonathan Tran, Hmong Innovating Politics.
  116. Songs of Freedom: Songbook by Irish revolutionary socialist James Connolly, presented by Mat Callahan and Yvonne Moore. January 16, 2014.
  117. Clifton Ross and Marcy Rein, editors of Until The Rulers Obey: Voices from Latin American Social Movements. February 20, 2014.
  118. Peter Linebaugh: Stop, Thief! The Commons, Enclosures, and Resistance. March 20, 2014.
  119. Special event: Norman Nawrocki presents: Cazzarola! a gripping, epic, political, historical, and romantic novel spanning 130 years in the life of the Discordias, a fictional family of Italian anarchists. March 27, 2014.
  120. Steve Early presents his new book, Save Our Unions: Dispatches from a Movement in Distress. April 17, 2014.
  121. Duane Campbell, professor emeritus of bilingual multicultural education, California State University, Sacramento, spoke on "End this Depression Now!" May 15, 2014.
  122. Jeff Mackler, author and social justice activist, spoke on the environmental crisis, and what we can do to counter this threat. September 18, 2014.
  123. John Curl, author of For All The People (the history of workers’ cooperatives in America). October 16, 2014.
  124. Joshua Kahn Russell, editor of A Line in the Tar Sands: Struggles for Environmental Justice (with Toban Black and Stephen D'Arcy). November 20, 2014
  125. David Hartsough, author of Waging Peace. December 18 2014.
  126. Film showing (1 hour) with director Sam Mayfield.  Wisconsin Rising: A Documentary Film on resistance to Winsconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s stripping collective bargaining power from state public employees. Directed and Produced by Sam Mayfield. January 15, 2015.
  127. William E. Myers, PhD, "Should Children Work?" examines the idea of reconciling children's work and education so that children can fit both into their lives, perhaps ultimately more beneficial for children and society. February 19, 2015.
  128. Dawn Paley, Drug War Capitalism (event was cosponsored by Sacramento Area Peace Action and Sacramento Action for Latin America). March 19, 2015.
  129. Francis Dupuis-Deri from Montreal, author of Who's Afraid of the Black Blocs; and John Clark, from New Orleans, editor, translator, and introducer of Anarchy, Geography, Modernity: the writings of Elisée Reclus. April 23, 2015.
  130. Immanuel Ness, Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, New Forms of Worker Organization, April 30, 2015.
  131. Diana Block - Clandestine Occupations. September 17, 2015
  132. Joseph Matthews - Everyone Has Their Reasons. October 22, 2015.
  133. Kris Hermes - Crashing the Party: Legacies and Lessons From The RNC 2000. November 12, 2015.
  134. Ramsey Kanaan, "The Anti-Poll Tax Movement in the UK."  November 19, 2015.
  135. Robb Johnson came from the UK, where he has worked with Leon Rosselson on The Anti-Capitalist Roadshow, The Liberty Tree: A Celebration of the Life and Writings of Thomas Paine and the “No Gods No Masters” tour. January 14, 2016.
  136. Mat Callahan and Yvonne Moore returned to commemorate the 2016 anniversary of the Easter Uprising and to celebrate the life of James Connolly. January 21, 2016.
  137. Richard Walker: “Forget it Jake, it’s (still) Chinatown,” dealing with California’s misallocation of water, leading to water shortages, unnecessary even in time of drought. Feb 18, 2016.
  138. Matt Meyer, editor of both the War Resisters League anthology We Have Not Been Moved (writings on race and anti-war activity), and of the collections of political prisoner writings Let Freedom Ring and Maroon the Implacable (by Black Panther/Black Liberation Army prisoner Russell ‘Maroon’ Shoatz); he wrote the introduction to Between Torture and Resistance (in essays, paintings and photographs, the story of Puerto Rican independentistaOscar Lopez Rivera).  March 17, 2016.
  139. Alana Apfel, author of the new book, Birth Work as Care Work, on the revolutionary work of doulas, and the politics surrounding such ‘care work’. Her book, a vibrant collection of stories and insights from the front lines of birth activist communities, has a preface, introduction and foreword by Loretta Ross, Silvia Federici and Victoria Law. April 21, 2016.
  140. We heard again from our friend Ramsey Kanaan, whose publishing house PM Press has brought us many of our speakers. Ramsey will speak of what he knows well: The Rise and Fall of Publishing. April 28, 2016. 
  141. Film, "Women's International League for Peace and Freedom on Abolishing Corporate Personhood". Sept. 15, 2016.
  142. Karen Bernal: "The Bernie Sanders Campaign and the way forward."  Karen Bernal has contributed to the labor and political movements in California for many years. Her latest efforts have been in the formation of the Progressive Caucus of the California Democratic Party. Her twelve years with the party has promoted important platform changes: Single Payer Health Care; a Statement of Principles which includes UN Declaration of Human Rights; anti-war policies; repeal of the Death Penalty; and many other Progressive ideas.

    Co-chair of California's Bernie Sanders delegates to the 2016 Democratic Convention, Karen explains the difficulties of any grassroots group having an effect on Democratic Party politics. In the Q&A session, she outlines a project being undertaken by some of the returning delegates to mount an independent challenge for control of the Party. October 20, 2016. (Substitute for Andrej Grubacic.)
  143. Terry Bisson (great sci-fi author) and Carter Scholz (another great sci-fi author) will interview each other on the significance of their genre, which if you didn’t know it, provides a useful way of looking at our own reality from a different perspective. November 17, 2016. 
  144. Peter Linebaugh presents his new book The Incomplete, True, Authentic, and Wonderful History of May Day.  December 1, 2016.
  145. Mat Callahan presented his new book The Explosion of Deferred Dreams: Musical Renaissance and Social Revolution in San Francisco, 1965-1975. As the fiftieth anniversary of the Summer of Love floods the media with debates and celebrations of music, political movements, “flower power,” “acid rock,” and “hippies”; The Explosion of Deferred Dreams offers a critical re-examination of the interwoven political and musical happenings in San Francisco in the Sixties. December 8, 2016.
  146. Shanta Nimbark Sacharoff, Other Avenues are Possible: Legacy of the People's Food system of the San Francisco Bay Area: a vivid account of the dramatic rise and fall of the San Francisco People’s Food System of the 1970s. February 16, 2017.
  147. "Elections Panel 2017: A debriefing of the 2016 local elections." A former elected official, a journalist, and a failed candidate discuss their experiences with the American election process, with an emphasis on local issues, including what possessed them to get involved at all.
    * Shane Brinton is a Sacramento-based labor organizer and activist who previously served as City Council Member and Mayor of Arcata, CA.
    * Dan Gougherty is a journalist who has written the Elk Grove News blog, touted as the city's independent, non-corporate voice, since 2008. His focus is on local politics and economic development.
    * Michael Monasky is the secretary of The Marxist School of Sacramento, and ran for Elk Grove mayor in 2016. He garnered 171 votes. March 16, 2017.
  148. Cynthia Kaufman presents her book: Ideas for Action: Relevant Theory for Radical Change (Fully updated 2nd Ed, Published by PM Press).
    Written in an engaging and accessible style, Ideas for Action gives activists the intellectual tools to turn discontent into a plan of action. Exploring a wide range of political traditions—including Marxism, anarchism, anti-imperialism, postmodernism, feminism, critical race theory, and environmentalism—Cynthia Kaufman acknowledges the strengths and weaknesses of a variety of political movements and the ideologies inspired by or generated through them. April 20, 2017.
  149. Water Forum 2017: Expert panel discusses water issues and social justice
    * Dan Bacher is a seasoned reporter for FishSniffer magazine, a sportsman's newsletter with an environmental edge. Dan's journalism is published by AlterNet, CounterPunch, and other, alternative outlets.
    *Rev. Amanda Ford, coordinator of the Environmental Justice Coalition for Water (EJCW), a resource for local communities engaged in social justice battles against corporations, including access to water. The coalition's attorney, Colin Bailey, is a Marxist School Praxis Award winner who fought plans by to store millions of cubic feet of the stuff under South Sacramento's Glen Elder community. May 18, 2017.
  150. Scott Nappolos presents Rebellion in Patagonia, Osvaldo Bayer (author), Paul Sharkey (Translator), Joshua Neuhouser (Translator), Scott Nappolos (introduction).  This book is a moving and nuanced study of strikes led by the powerful anarcho-syndicalist labor union FORA against the despotic landowners and industrialists of Argentina’s Patagonia region in 1921–1922. September 21, 2017.
  151. James Brook Presents A Blaze in the Desert: Selected Poems by Victor Serge. Victor Serge (1890–1947) played many parts, as he recounted in his indelible Memoirs of a Revolutionary. The son of anti-czarist exiles in Brussels, Serge was a young anarchist in Paris; a syndicalist rebel in Barcelona; a Bolshevik in Petrograd; a Comintern agent in Central Europe; a comrade of Trotsky’s; a friend of writers like Andrei Bely, Boris Pilnyak, and André Breton; a prisoner of Stalin; a dissident Marxist in exile in Mexico. October 19, 2017.
  152. Chris Robé will present his book Breaking the Spell: A History of Anarchist Filmmakers, Videotape Guerrillas, and Digital Ninjas. Breaking the Spell offers the first full-length study that charts the historical trajectory of anarchist-inflected video activism from the late 1960s to the present. October 26, 2017.
  153. Ward Churchill presented his books Wielding Words Like Weapons: Selected Essays in Indigenism 1995-2005; and Pacifism As Pathology, Reflections on the Role of Armed Struggle in North America (3rd edition) . Wielding Words like Weapons is a collection of acclaimed American Indian Movement activist-intellectual Ward Churchill’s essays in indigenism, selected from material written during the decade 1995–2005.

    We also met the dissident classic, Pacifism as Pathology: Reflections on the Role of Armed Struggle in North America, Third Edition. Originally written during the mid-1980s, the seminal essay “Pacifism as Pathology” was prompted by veteran activist Ward Churchill’s frustration with what he diagnosed as a growing—and deliberately self-neutralizing—”hegemony of nonviolence” on the North American left. November 16, 2017.
  154. "Single Payer and the California Legislature," A panel discussion on the political economy of health care costs. Senate Bill 562 was introduced early 2017 in California by the super-majority liberal Democrats. They advanced and then withdrew their support for universal access, including undocumented immigrants, to comprehensive health care resources. For decades, insurance companies have turned billions in profits in the Golden State, while costs soar and premiums skyrocket at three times the rate of inflation. Could a single payer health insurance program in California mitigate such costs and distribute a universal benefit?
    Panelists:
    * William Bronston, physician with family connections to the Russian Revolution, Hollywood blockbuster films, and a precedent-setting US Supreme Court case cited by Bill Clinton during his impeachment trial. His active promotion of universal health care reaches back decades with Physicians for a National Health Plan.
    * Keith McCallin is a licensed physician assistant. In his past life, he wrote television scripts in New York and Los Angeles. Now he plays a leading role in creating alternative state health policy with Healthy California, sponsored by the California Nurses Association. January 18, 2018.
  155. Juliana "Jewels" Smith is the creator and writer of (H)afrocentric that features four disgruntled undergrads of color and their adventures at Ronald Reagan University. In 2016, Smith took home the Glyph Award for Best Writer for Volume 4 of her independent series. She was also honored by the African American Library and Museum of Oakland with the first annual Excellence in Comics and Graphic Novels Award. She created (H)afrocentric as a way to challenge students and readers alike about the presumptions around race, class, gender and sexuality through character dialogue. March 15, 2018.
  156. Richard A. Walker, Pictures of a Gone City: Tech and the Dark Side of Prosperity in the San Francisco Bay Area, a sweeping account of the Bay Area in the age of the tech boom. It begins with the phenomenal concentration of IT in Greater Silicon Valley, the fabulous economic growth of the bay region and the unbelievable wealth piling up for the 1% and high incomes of Upper Classes—in contrast to the fate of the working class and people of color earning poverty wages and struggling to keep their heads above water. April 19, 2018.
  157. Phil Cohen played a key role in the London counterculture scene of the 1960s. For the past forty years he has been involved with working-class communities in East London documenting the impact of structural and demographic change on their livelihoods, lifestyles, and life stories.
    Cohen’s book Archive That, Comrade! Left Legacies and the Counter Culture of Remembrance (PMPress,), explores issues of archival theory and practice that arise for any project aspiring to provide an open access platform for political dialogue and democratic debate. It is informed by the author’s experience of writing a memoir about his involvement in the London “underground” scene of the 1960s, the London street commune movement, and the occupation of 144 Piccadilly, an event that hit the world’s headlines for ten days in July 1969.

    May 3, 2018.
  158. George Katsiaficas, The Global Imagination of 1968, brings to life social movements of the 1960s, a period of world-historical struggles. With discussions of more than fifty countries, Katsiaficas articulates an understanding that is neither bounded by national and continental divides nor focused on “Great Men and Women.” Millions of people went into the streets, and their aspirations were remarkably similar. From the Prague revolt against Soviet communism to the French rights movement, and campus eruptions in Latin America, Yugoslavia, the United States, and beyond, this book portrays the movements of the 1960s as intuitively tied together.

    September 27, 2018.
  159. Victor Wallis, Red-Green Revolution.
    His book, Red-Green Revolution (Political Animal Press) is an impassioned and informed confrontation with the planetary emergency brought about by accelerated ecological devastation in the last half-century. Wallis argues that sound ecological policy requires a socialist framework, based on democratic participation and drawing on the historical lessons of earlier efforts.

    Wallis presents a relentless critique of the capitalist system that has put the human species into a race against time to salvage and restore what it can of the environmental conditions necessary for a healthy existence. He then looks to how we might turn things around, reconsidering the institutions, technologies, and social relationships that will determine our shared future, and discussing how a better framework can evolve through the convergence of popular struggles, as these have emerged under conditions of crisis. October 8, 2018.
  160. Mat Callahan, "1968 and Beyond: Culture, Counterculture and Revolution"
    In his book The Explosion of Deferred Dreams Callahan explores these questions:
    —why did "culture" suddenly assume such prominence in the Sixties?
    —what distinguished the New Left and the Counterculture?
    —why did the Reagan/Thatcher counterrevolution launch the "Culture Wars?"
    —does "culture" have any usefulness for revolutionaries today? October 25, 2018.
  161. Michael Fine, Health Care Revolt: A doctor's manifesto. The work is nothing short of a clear manifesto of what is wrong and what should be done to ensure the health of everyone in our communities. Fine’s vision is that of true democracy. A society with sick people cannot be at peace with itself and its neighbors. A health market system that robs the economy of a trillion dollars every year does so to the detriment of the many and the benefit of the few. 
    After his talk about his book, Dr. Fine was joined by two panelists: David Siegel, MD, former regional director of Northern California Veterans Administration Hospitals, and Keith McCallin, a physician assistant/health care activist. November 16, 2018.
  162. Bob Wing, Toward Racial Justice and a Third Reconstruction: Essays on POlitics, Theory & Strategy. "This collection of his always insightful writings from the last two decades allows us to trace recent challenges of left movements, both inside and beyond electoral politics, and to reflect on how we defeat Trump and the ultra right he has emboldened in the years to come."
    —Angela Y. Davis
    This event was cosponsored by the Marxist School of Sacramento and Democratic Socialists of America–Sacramento Chapter. March 23, 2019.