Thursday, May 25, 7-8:30pm, St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 30 W. Woodruff Ave.

The demonstrations against Milo Yiannopolis’s planned speech in Berkeley, and subsequent efforts to shut down the Right, have renewed debate on the role of free speech within the Left and society more broadly. In light of these debates, how should the Left understand free speech, and the relationship between speech and power? What has the role of socialists been in struggles for free speech?

To take on these questions, we will read articles that assess the experiences of the demonstrations in Berkeley and a more recent attempt to shut-down a right-wing “Free speech” rally in Boston.

We are the Columbus branch of the International Socialist Organization. We are opposed to all oppression and fight for a world centered around human need, not corporate greed. We are students, community members, workers, and activists. We are socialists.

Suggested readings:

Thousands confront the right in Berkeley, by Mukund Rathi

The far right pollutes Boston Common, by Alpana Mehta and Michael Fiorentino

Free Speech and Political Struggle, by Hal Draper

Contact: iso.columbus@gmail.com