Letter from ALBA: Liberation through Solidarity
Dear Friends,
“The courage and fortitude the Lincoln Brigade exemplified is desperately needed today. They saw the writing on the wall and didn’t wait until the powers that be caught up with them to take what J. Edgar Hoover preposterously described as premature anti-fascist action.”
Audrey Sasson, the Executive Director of Jews for Racial and Economic Justice Community, paid a lovely tribute to the Lincoln volunteers when she accepted the ALBA/Puffin Award for Human Rights Activism in May. But at the center of her speech, which you can read in full here, was a more urgent message: “the idea of collective liberation is not just a slogan. It’s a daily, embodied practice of solidarity, rooted not in charity, but in authentic mutual interest first.”
Close to half a year into a dizzying barrage of developments that are quickly pushing this country down the road to autocracy, the proverbial checks and balances of American democracy are slowly, and only partially, kicking into gear. Yet as people everywhere are finding their antifascist footing, the long tradition of internationalist activism reemerges as a source of inspiration. It’s heartening to see so many new and familiar faces at our online events—the recordings of which, by the way, are all available on alba-valb.org and ALBA’s YouTube channel.
Inspiration is also what we hope the stories in this issue will provide—from the interviews with the brilliant Catalan muralist Roc Blackblock and the folks behind a new theater production in New York inspired by the International Brigades, to a moving report on the memorial Jarama march, which included the stage-reading of a recently discovered play written by a Lincoln vet. The Madrid-based historian Martin Minchom explains how we might think of “fake news” in the media coverage of the Spanish war. We’re also thrilled to introduce a new recurring feature, Arkivo, in which we present a noteworthy document from our archives.
We can’t tell you how grateful we are for your continued support, without which this magazine, and everything ALBA does, would not be possible. To quote Audrey Sasson: we are “antifascist always!”
¡Salud!
Sebastiaan Faber & James D. Fernández
Editors
P.S. Did you know that it’s easy to set up recurring monthly donations? Go to alba-valb.org/donate for more information.
