With the recent news that Private First Class Bradley Manning has pled guilty to releasing U.S. classified documents to Wikileaks in early 2010, I thought it fitting that I should come upon a free copy of a recent book about Manning in my university department’s common area. Chase Madar’s The Passion of Bradley Manning (rev. ed.; Verso, 2013) is not just a biography of Manning, but also a critical analysis of the political and legal issues related to Manning’s release of classified materials as well as the U.S. government’s torture, imprisonment, and systematic defamation of Manning. Continue reading
Tag Archives: history
May Day in America
[The Free University of NYC was born out of calls for a General Strike on May 1, 2012. Right now we are cooking up plans for May Day 2013, and we invite you to get involved with the planning process. See the meeting minutes and events pages on this website for more information about the planning process. In the meantime, here is a short essay on the history of May Day in America. With deep respect, Gregory.]
What Can We Learn From History? The Russian Revolution
At the most recent general meeting of the Free University of NYC (last Sunday), some expressed the need to contextualize our movement within a larger history of free education movements in the United States and around the world.
Perhaps this blog is as good a place as any to start such a conversation. What can we learn from history? What are particularly meaningful, inspiring, or problematic models in the history of free education?