George Ciccariello-Maher

George Ciccariello-Maher on Al Jazeera America, March 5th 2014

George Ciccariello-Maher is an associate professor of "politics and global studies" at Drexel University in Philadelphia, author, "radical political theorist," and self-described communist who was a vocal supporter of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Writings

George Ciccariello-Maher wrote "We Created Chávez: A People’s History of the Venezuelan Revolution," which was published by Duke University Press in 2013. He also wrote "Building the Commune: Radical Democracy in Venezuela." His third book, "Decolonizing Dialectics," will be published in early 2017.

He is co-editor, with Bruno Bosteels, of the book series Radical Américas, which launches in 2017 with Duke University Press.

George Ciccariello-Maher has written for the Democratic Socialists of America publication, the Jacobin, as well as for GreenLeft.org, a publication of a major Australian Trotskyist group, the Socialist Alliance.

REFUSE FASCISM petition

George Ciccariello-Maher signed a REFUSE FASCISM petition: "RefuseFascism.org Calls for Mass Defiance of Fascist Trolls" "Calls for Mass Defiance of Fascist Trolls In the Name of Humanity – We REFUSE to Accept a Fascist America!"

White Genocide Tweet

George Ciccariello-Maher tweet

On Christmas day 2016, George Ciccariello-Maher received national attention after he tweeted, "All I want for Christmas is White Genocide." He also tweeted in support of the Haitian revolution of 1804, which resulted in the deaths thousands of white men, women and children.

Drexel University condemned the tweet, prompting to respond in part: :“White supremacy is on the rise, and we must fight it by any means. In that fight, universities will need to choose whether they are on the side of free expression and academic debate, or on the side of the racist mob.”

Support of the Party of Socialism and Liberation

In the wake of the controversy surrounding his tweets, the Party for Socialism and Liberation published an article proclaiming their support for George Ciccariello-Maher and criticizing Drexel University for condemning the tweets.

They write in part:

"The election of Donald Trump has emboldened the far right. When the mainstream media repeats the right’s attacks, it becomes their instrument. When universities bend to the bullying tactics of the far right, they embolden the fascists and help them gain mainstream credibility.

"In the weeks and months to come, it will become imperative for us all to stand in solidarity with those involved in anti-racist and anti-capitalist struggle. Standing together, we can turn resistance into revolution."

We Are Many

George Ciccariello-Maher was featured in the book, We Are Many: Reflections on Movement Strategy from Occupation to Liberation, a book about activism that led to the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Supporting Bolivian revolution

In September 2007 a statement was circulated by the blog Bolivia Rising in support of the revolutionary government of Bolivia;

The democratically elected government of Bolivia's first indigenous president Evo Morales Ayma, which is heading a process of democratic change, is Washington's immediate target in Latin America today. Bolivia is in Washington's sight, not only because it is viewed as the weakest link of the growing axis of hope in the region, but because of its role as a catalyst for inspiring the struggles of indigenous peoples, regionally and internationally, for real social justice...

Now is the time for all intellectuals, union militants, solidarity activists, political parties and progressive minded individuals who believe in real justice and equality to raise their voices in defense of the Bolivian government and its people. No to US interference in Bolivia!

Signatories included;

• Australia - Federico Fuentes, Kiraz Janicke, John Percy, Rohan Pearce, Adrian Fuentes
• Peru - Hugo Blanco
• Chile - Marta Harnecker, Maria Eliana Astaburuaga
• Mexico - John Ross
• Bolivia - Georg Ann Potter
• Canada - Michael Lebowitz, Derrick O'Keefe, Sid Shniad, John Riddell, Roger Annis Susan Spronk, Nelson Rubio, Canadian Dimension editorial collective, Vancouver Bolivia committee, Vancouver Socialist Forum, Judy Rebick
• US - Gregory Wilpert, Michael Albert, Benjamin Dangl, Martin Hart-Landsberg, Michael Parenti, Walter Lippmann, George Ciccariello-Maher, Al Campbell, Kirkpatrick Sale, Chesa Boudin, Greg Grandin, Thomas Mertes, Ronald Christ, Chellis Glendinning
• Cuba - Camila Pineiro Harnecker
• Nicaragua - Felipe Stuart Cournoyer
• UK - Pablo Navarrete, Alfredo Saad Filho, Andrew J. Silvera, Janet Duckworth
• France - Susan George
• Sweden -Left Party of Sweden
• Norway - Marta Sanchez
• New Zealand - Grant Morgan, Vaughan Gunson, Mike Treen
• South Africa - Ighsaan Schroeder

"Support Bill Ayers"

In October 2008, several thousand college professors, students and academic staff signed a statement Support Bill Ayers in solidarity with former Weather Underground Organization terrorist Bill Ayers.

In the run up to the U.S. presidential elections, Ayers had come under considerable media scrutiny, sparked by his relationship to presidential candidate Barack Obama.

We write to support our colleague Professor William Ayers, Distinguished Professor of Education and Senior University Scholar at the University of Illinois at Chicago, who is currently under determined and sustained political attack...

We, the undersigned, stand on the side of education as an enterprise devoted to human inquiry, enlightenment, and liberation. We oppose the demonization of Professor William Ayers.

George Ciccariello-Maher of the University of California, Berkeley signed the statement.

Rent Freeze Now!

Lenina Nadal June 17, 2014;

Let's do this. Please share. — with George Ciccariello-Maher, Kate Cavanagh, Claudia Copeland, Maria Elena Perez, Maribel Cordero-Garcia, En Bey, Estevan Lee Roman, Beka Economopoulos, Ejima Baker-Morales, Crecensio Morales, Eulan Atkinson, Heidi Schwa, Stuart Ewen, Teresa Basilio, Jed Brandt, Eric Odell, Brian Hernandez, Christopher Gunderson, Janvieve Williams Comrie, Laurie Davidson, Mark Swier, Ramiro Campos, El Lopex, Jesse Ehrensaft-Hawley, Elisha Miranda, Prof. Antonio Nadal, Digna Sanchez, Elizabeth Walsh, Blandon Casenave, Kazembe Balagun, Dasha Munoz, Caridad De La Luz, Yasmeen Perez, Yvonne Enid Rodriguez-MacDonald, Lilo Carr Rivera, Esther Wang, Stomp Box, Dee PoeticalGenius, Esperanza Martell, Eddy Nelson Rivera, Tamara Czyzyk, Jessica Klonsky, Luz Schreiber, Carlos J. Serrano and Roger Bonair-Agard.

Philly activism

October 2015, at a rally initiated by the Revolutionary Student Coordinating Committee, PHL, Black Lives Matter activists and others took to the grounds of Community College of Philadelphia to protest, among other things, the presence of a Philadelphia Police Department recruiter on campus that day. The speakers at the protest included CCP adjunct English professor Divya Nair, and later that same day, Nair was suspended by the school.

"The administration suspended her with no explanation at all within hours of the protest," says Kasturi Sen, a Philadelphia attorney who is assisting Nair in an unofficial capacity. More recently, says Sen, CCP administration sent Nair a letter citing a number of policies that she had supposedly violated, but the school did not explain exactly how she violated those policies. "We still, to date, don't have any factual basis. They're not saying anything. We're staring into a black hole at this point."

Nair has not responded to our requests for an interview, and we were told by her supporters that she is likely to refrain from commenting until after a closed-door disciplinary hearing that will take place Thursday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. at 1500 Spring Garden Street, an administrative building at the school. Another protest is scheduled outside of that building at the time of the hearing.

Last Thursday's protest began outside, where Nair spoke about policing and colonization, according to Drexel politics professor George Ciccariello-Maher, who also spoke that day. "She was not disorderly in any way," he observes. "Security kept yelling about people being disorderly, but she was quieter than most people present. There was no aggression. It's egregious that she's being targeted. She an adjunct faculty member, and they think they can get rid of her."

As the rally progressed, some of the protestors, including Nair, went inside, where the police recruiter had a table. (As fellow protestor George Ciccariello-Maher put it, the protestors were taking issue with "police on campus recruiting poor students of color to then send them into their neighborhoods to police and kill their own people.") The protest moved into the same room as the recruitment table, and according to two people in attendance, CCP president Donald Generals asked the protestors to go back outside. They refused, and one protestor reportedly shouted over a bullhorn "Go fuck yourself!" at Generals in response to his request.

Eventually, officials decided to move the recruitment table outside the building, as seen in the video below. The protest continued, with a small group of protestors chanting, "Tell the pigs: Pack up, go home."CCP Adjunct Professor, Black Lives Matter Activist Suspended After Speaking at Rally Divya Nair to face a disciplinary hearing this week. A Change.org petition to reinstate her has over 270 signatures.

LeftRoots HangOuts

LeftRoots HangOuts are national, online political education spaces for social movement leftists - revolutionaries and radicals engaged in frontline mass organizing, movement building, people's struggles - to have dialogue about critical left ideas and inspiring movement work collectively. Past HangOuts have featured Alicia Garza on Black Lives Matter, Marta Harnecker on 21st Century Socialism, George Ciccariello-Maher on Venezuela, comrades from MXGM & FRSO on Jackson Rising, and Sandra Moran on Grassroots Internationalist Feminisms, M. Adams, a Black Queer Wimmin, dad, political theorist, movement scientist and community organizer. She is the co-executive director of Freedom Inc. and co-founder of Young Gifted and Black Coalition in Madison, WI. Biju Mathew is Secretary of the National Taxi Workers Alliance and is active in developing transnational strategy to combat the religious right.