Rev Left Radio Eric Mann on Revolutionary Struggle Part 2: Labor Organizing, The Working Class, and Proletarian Internationalism
Dec 12, 2025
Eric Mann, a veteran organizer and revolutionary activist, shares his wealth of experience in labor and civil rights movements. He discusses the significance of revolutionary writing, particularly about George Jackson, and the impact of campaigns like the one to keep the GM Van Nuys plant open. Mann highlights the importance of empathy in organizing and building trust among workers. He candidly analyzes the Hard Hat Riot and critiques the U.S. as a settler fascist state, underscoring the need for international solidarity among oppressed peoples.
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Episode notes
Friendship With Howard Zinn
- Eric describes meeting Howard Zinn and bonding over anti-racist student work at Boston University.
- They collaborated on the Left Field Stands column and influenced campus institutional organizing.
Target Institutions, Not Just Streets
- Do target institutional power (university, union) not just protests to delegitimize imperialism.
- Build campaigns with concrete demands like ending ROTC or military research to gain leverage.
From Care Work To Factory Organizing
- Eric explains joining workplace struggles after becoming a nurse's aide and orderly to ground his politics.
- His move into factories with Leanne led him into the August 29th movement and shop-floor organizing.
