Join us for a book talk on Class, Race, and Gender: Challenging the Injuries and Divisions of Capitalism with author Michael Zweig and organizers Jamel Coy Hudson, Juliet Ucelli, and Darinel Velasquez. Bringing forth the basic operations of capitalist economies, it reveals what is driving many of today’s most urgent and vexing problems: the common origins of the inequalities of income, wealth, and power; environmental devastation; militarism; racism and white supremacy; patriarchy and male chauvinism; periodic economic crises; and the cultural conflicts that are tearing at US life.
Michael Zweig illuminates all propositions with specific examples from US history, from the first settlement of the New World to current life, including his own lived experiences as an activist, educator, and organizer over the past six decades. As such, the book is an urgently needed resource for activists and organizers seeking structural and moral transformation of life in the US. Building on his analysis, Zweig also presents strategies for political action in electoral and movement-building work.
Jamel Coy Hudson is a lecturer, professor, and rhetorician. He has dedicated his academic pursuits to rhetorical studies, culminating in degrees at the undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral levels. He is a Lecturer of Rhetoric and Public Advocacy in the Department of Communication Studies at CUNY Baruch College. In addition to his appointment at CUNY Baruch College, he has also taught as a faculty member in the Department of Writing Studies and Rhetoric at his alma mater, Hofstra University. Currently, he serves as the Tri-chair of the New York State Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival and is committed to realizing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision of the Beloved Community.
Juliet Ucelli (she/her) is a founder of the Brecht Forum/NY Marxist School and Italian Americans for a Multicultural US (IAMUS), and a long-time organizer in public school, anti-racist and anti-war movements. She has served in the national leadership of Liberation Road and writes and teaches on Marx’s Capital, human development and psychology.
Darinel Velasquez (he/him) is a Community Organizer with New York Communities for Change. He has organized multiple campaigns on climate justice, public safety, and education, with a focus on housing/tenant rights. His most recent success was mobilizing tenants to win a 0% rent increase in the Village of Hempstead. Having completed the Studio Recording Technology program at Nassau Community College he emphasizes incorporating art and music into the movement space.
Michael Zweig is the founding director of the Center for Study of Working Class Life and emeritus professor of economics at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where he received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. He is a member of the New York State Coordinating Committee of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival and an elected member of the executive board of United University Professions (AFT 2190) at SUNY Stony Brook. Prior to Class, Race, and Gender: Challenging the Injuries and Divisions of Capitalism, his books include The Working Class Majority: America’s Best Kept Secret and Religion and Economic Justice. He lives with his wife in New York City and on the North Fork of Long Island, where for over thirty years he has served as a volunteer in the Southold Fire Department.
