Marcus Raskin

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Marcus Raskin

The late Marcus G. Raskin was a founder[1] and on the Board of Trustees of the Institute for Policy Studies, which was "dutifully in sync with Soviet geopolitical goals".[2],[3]

He is the father of Jamie B. Raskin.

Paths for Reconstruction in the 21st Century

In his 2008 essay “Paths for Reconstruction in the 21st Century,” Raskin denounced the concentration of American wealth in the hands of a few elites, the militarism of politicians who fail to learn from past errors, and the contradictions of a global economy that produces “a metastasized consumer good system for the relative few, debasement of artistic creativity, [and] ecological destruction.”[4]

IPS

Marcus Raskin and another founder of the Institute for Policy Studies, Arthur Waskow, had previously worked for Democratic Congressman Robert Kastenmeier of Wisconsin. In 1961 they co-authored a report for him that recommended unilateral disarmament for the U.S.[5]

Working with Seymour Melman

Seymour Melman was part of a circle of critical intellectuals with epicenters in various networks. Three were central. First, Melman was part of the Frame of Reference group led by University of Pennsylvania Professor Zellig Harris. Second, he was part of a group of critical scholars at Columbia University including Robert S. Lynd, a leading sociologist in the United States. Third, he was connected to a wide network of national and international scholars and activists concerned with disarmament, economic conversion and economic democracy, e.g. Noam Chomsky, Marcus Raskin, Harley Shaiken, John Ullmann, Lloyd J. Dumas, John Kenneth Galbraith, among many others.

Soviet visit

On April 10, 1982, an IPS-sponsored group visiting Moscow for a week of meetings with high-level Soviet officials responsible for disseminating disinformation and propaganda for U.S. consumption, met with U.S. reporters to serve as the unofficial means for floating the possibility that Brezhnev might agree to a New York summit meeting in New York at SSD-II. The IPS group, led by its principal spokesman, Marcus Raskin, IPS cofounder and senior fellow, included Robert Borosage, IPS director, National Lawyers Guild activist and former director of the Center for National Security Studies; Minneapolis Mayor Donald M. Fraser; Rt. Rev. Paul Moore, Episcopal Bishop of New York; New York lawyer Robert S. Potter; and Roger Wilkins, journalist and senior fellow of the Joint Center for Political Studies which specializes in "black issues."

The IPS group identified only two of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Central Committee officials they met - Georgi A. Arbatov, head of the Institute of the USA and Canada, a "think-tank" that provides research and analysis and also cultivates and develops contacts with Americans at the direction of the KGB and the International Department of the CPSU Central Committee; and Vadim V. Zagladin, first deputy chief of the International Department.

In various U.S. interviews, Borosage has floated such standard Soviet themes as the Soviet Union is satisfied by "rough parity" with the United States; that the United States is restarting the arms race; that the Soviets want to go back to SALT II and get U.S. ratification; that if the United States starts another round in the arms race, it will seriously hurt the Soviet economy and ordinary Soviet citizens-but they'll still go ahead, so competition is futile; and the threat that the modern U.S. weapons proposed for deployment are "very dangerous... and would lead to much more dangerous stages that would make both sides insecure, not more secure."

Borosage took pains to say that the Soviets are "skeptical" of the disarmament movement and "they hadn't expected it. It was much more powerful and widespread than they'd ever imagined."[6]

Institute for Policy Studies 20th Anniversary

According to the Information Digest,[7] the Institute for Policy Studies celebrated its 20th anniversary with an April 5, 1983, reception at the National Building Museum attended by approximately 1,000 IPS staffers and former staff.

In addition to 1960s folk songs by Josh White, Jr. and a bluegrass band, consisted of an underdone "roast" of IPS leaders Marcus Raskin and Richard Barnet hosted and chaired by IPS trustee Paul C Warnke, head of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency and chief SALTII negotiator for the Carter Administration. Zoe Mikva, wife of Congressman Abner Mikva handled arrangements . The "roasting" was urdertaken by former Senator George McGovern, Rep. Ron Dellums, Ralph Nader, lesbian activist and author Rita Mae Brown, Village Voice cartoonist Jules Feiffer, Harry Belafonte and Cora Weiss, substituting for IPS board chairman Peter Weiss.

SANE

As at March, 1982, the following served on the Board of Directors of SANE:[8]

Advising Presidential hopefuls

During the 1984 Democratic primaries, Institute for Policy Studies founders Marcus Raskin and Richard Barnet advised George McGovern and Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.), and IPS fellow Saul Landau, an Emmy-winning filmmaker, shot some of McGovern's spots.[9]

Recommended appointees for a new Administration

In the 1988 book "Winning America: Ideas and Leadership for the 1990s" edited by Marcus Raskin, Chester Hartman, Sean Gervasi recommended Barry Bluestone, Gar Alperovitz, Donald Harris, Robert Browne, Jeff Faux, Carol O'Cleireacain, Jamie Galbraith, Howard Wachtel, Bennet T. Harrison, Michael Tanzer and Arthur MacEwan as recommended appointees for a new Administration page 24, 25).

Institute for Southern Studies

The Institute for Southern Studies was incorporated in the state of North Carolina on July 28, 1989. The founding members listed on the incorporation papers:

The Nation

In 2009, the Editorial board of The Nation[10] included Marcus Raskin, Deborah Meier, Richard Falk, Deepak Bhargava, Norman Birnbaum, Barbara Ehrenreich, Frances FitzGerald, Eric Foner, Philip Green, Lani Guinier, Tom Hayden, Tony Kushner, Elinor Langer, Toni Morrison, Walter Mosley, Victor Navasky, Pedro Antonio Noguera, Richard Parker, Michael Pertschuk, Elizabeth Pochoda, Kristina Rizga, Andrea Batista Schlesinger, David Weir and Roger Wilkins.

Washington Peace Center award

On December 8, 2010, the Washington Peace Center hosted their 6th Annual Activist Awards Grassroots Gala, at All Souls Church and" celebrate the hard work and successes of DC activists in creating a more just and peaceful world." IPS takes pride that our very own Marc Raskin is one of the recipients of this year's Activist Award! Join us for the activist party of the season!

The awardees were:[11]

Supporting progressives

Lynn Raskin, a Washington D.C. realtor, and her husband, Marcus Raskin, a cofounder of the Institute for Policy Studies, contributed to progressive candidates in several tight congressional races during the 2012 election cycle. They donated to Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), and Elizabeth Warren, the Democrat running for Senate in Massachusetts. They've also given money to Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).[12]

"John Conyers’ 50 Years of Service"

Julian Bond, Charles B. Rangel, John Conyers, Marcus Raskin

January 7 2015, "John Conyers’ 50 Years of Service", was celebrated at Andy Shallal's Eatonville Restaurant in Washington DC., primarily sponsored by the Institute for Policy Studies. Guests included Robert Creamer, and Irvin Jim of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (a self proclaimed Marxist-Leninist)[13], and members of the Congressional Black Caucus and Congressional Progressive Caucus. Robert Borosage sent a tribute.

Speakers included civil rights icon Julian Bond, actor and activist Danny Glover, IPS founder Marcus Raskin, and Congressmembers Charles B. Rangel, Jan Schakowsky, Steve Cohen, and Alan Grayson.

John Cavanagh and Karen Dolan of the IPS MC'd.

Friends and colleagues of Congressman Conyers from all stages of his work for civil rights, peace, human rights attended.[14]

Co-sponsors included: The Sentencing Project, The Nation, Peace Action, National People’s Action, Restaurant Opportunities Center United, Jobs with Justice, Friends of the Earth, Social Security Works, Campaign for America's Future, US Action, Progressive Democrats of America, Council for a Livable World, Alliance for Justice, Fund for Constitutional Government, ProgressiveCongress.org, Win Without War, Economic Policy Institute, and Center for Economic and Policy Research.[15]

External links

References

  1. redirecttemplate:Institute for Southern Studies
  1. ↑ http://www.ips-dc.org/
  2. ↑ https://providencemag.com/2018/01/recalling-radical-thinktank/ Recalling a Radical Think-Tank (accessed Sept 13 2024)
  3. ↑ https://ips-dc.org/tribute-institute-policy-studies-co-founder-marcus-raskin/ A Tribute to Institute for Policy Studies Co-founder Marcus Raskin (accessed Sept 13 2024)
  4. ↑ https://chicagomaroon.com/25243/news/remembering-marcus-raskin-philosopher-progressive/ Remembering Marcus Raskin, Philosopher and Progressive Firebrand (accessed Sept 13 2024)
  5. ↑ Communists in the Democratic party, page 70
  6. ↑ The War Called Peace: Glossary, published 1982
  7. ↑ Information Digest April l5, 1983 p77-79
  8. ↑ warcalledpeace
  9. ↑ Left-Wing Thinkers Interview by Sidney Blumenthal Washington Post, 30 July 1986
  10. ↑ http://www.thenation.com/about/masthead.mhtml
  11. ↑ IPS Co-Founder Marc Raskin Given 2010 Activist Award!, IPS website, accessed November 30, 2010
  12. ↑ Mother Jones, How Google Mixed Up Sherrod and Scott Brown—By Deanna Pan, Thu Aug. 30, 2012
  13. ↑ Jim: Mail & Guardian. Numsa won't convert to a 'political party'13 DEC 2014 13:54
  14. ↑ Representative John Conyers 50 Years in Congress
  15. ↑ John Conyers’ 50 Years of Service
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