If you’re a leftist who believes in free speech you aren’t homeless
Free speech is a fundamental value of the left.
FEATURED ARTICLES
Dov and Willy talking – perspectives from the left on political violence, history, colonialism, imperialism, racism, antisemitism, social media and the importance of critical thinking and debate
Dov Osheroff and Willy Maley: perespectives from the left on political violence, history, colonialism, imperialism, racism, antisemitism, social media and the importance of critical thinking and debate
Participants:
Willy Maley
Dov Osheroff
Moderator:
Mark White
Preview next week’s Free Speech and the Left conference
View this 5 minute preview of next week’s Free Speech and the Left conference
Our panelists discuss censorship, cancel culture, identity politics, the relevance of today’s left and other issues during the upcoming Free Speech and the Left conference.
The online event will take place June 17 to 24 and feature authors, academics, journalists and activists from a dozen countries. The conference will consist of pre-recorded presentations, panel discussions and livestream segments.
Participants include Nadine Strossen, Richard Wolff, Freddie deBoer, Noam Chomsky, Jill Stein, Susan Neiman, Tara Henley, Paul Jay, Jacob Mchangama, Norman Finkelstein, Wayne Hsiung, Katherine Corcoran, Ioan Grillo, Matthew Hoh, Lawrence Wilkerson and others…
Co-hosted by Plebity, India & Global Left, Redline, and acTVism Munich, the conference will be broadcast on Plebity’s YouTube channel.
The full list of panels and conference schedule can be found here: https://www.plebity.org/conference-2023-free-speech-and-the-left/.
Noam Chomsky on What Defines the Left and on the Principle of Free Speech
Panelists: Noam Chomsky
Moderator: Mark White
Description: Noam Chomsky offers his thoughts on what defines the left and on the enduring principle of free speech. Noam Chomsky is a longtime scholar, author, teacher, intellectual, activist and social critic.
Noam Chomsky is a longtime scholar, author, teacher, intellectual, activist and social critic.
recent ARTICLES
Justice for Marguerite
The Plebity Free Speech Fund has awarded an initial grant of $1300 for Marguerite Stern, a French feminist who has been an activist in the trenches for many years. This will be our first fundraising campaign.
Members of our Patreon site reviewed the details of Marguerite's story and voted to move forward to award the grant to Marguerite, who after more than a decade of feminist activism is out of work and in need of a new living space.
In 2019 Marguerite began a campaign of posters put up in the streets to publicize the issue of femicide in France. The campaign spread to cities throughout the country and she has become a familiar name and face in France. She was just featured in the French version of National Geographic Magazine to illustrate the word justice - see the image above.
Most recently, Marguerite has been severely targeted and harassed by gender identity ideologues for her woman centered activism.
“Proud to Stand My Ground” – Raquel Rosario Sánchez
Raquel Rosario Sánchez is a writer, campaigner and researcher from the Dominican Republic. She is currently pursuing a PhD with the Centre for Gender and Violence Research at the University of Bristol. Raquel’s academic specialism is violence against women, and her PhD work focuses on online communities of men who pay for sex. In 2018, when she chaired a meeting for the organization Woman's Place UK, she began to be targeted by transgender activists on campus.
For two years Raquel endured bullying and harassment from gender identity ideologues while the University not only failed to protect her, but treated her like a perpetrator. She was subject to cross examination in front of one of the trans activist students who was leading the charge against her. She was ignored and blamed, as well as subject to questioning of her feminist beliefs. She tells me that she could never have accepted the University’s offers to settle the matter with money, and she is instead proudly standing up for women everywhere by bringing a legal case against the University.
We discuss what it feels like to momentarily be at the center of the gender war, how to weather the storm of being mobbed, and how we think the tide may be turning. The story of such an intelligent, clear-thinking feminist woman being subject to this level of abuse is deeply chilling. If you’re looking for a modern day feminist hero, look no further than Raquel.
The First Amendment in the 21st Century with Baher Azmy
Sasha White speaks with Baher Azmy. Baher is the Legal Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, where he has litigated cases related to discriminatory policing practices (stop and frisk), government surveillance, the rights of Guantanamo detainees, rights of asylum seekers, and accountability for victims of torture.
Baher joins me in this episode to discuss the history and values of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. What are the legal and ethical limits of free speech? What is the value of free speech in a democracy? We talk about these and other questions in this in-depth conversation.
The Cost of Speech with Toby Young
Sasha White speaks with Toby Young. Young is a British journalist and founder of the Free Speech Union. He is an associate editor of the Spectator, the Critic and Quillette. In January 2018, Young was “canceled” when some of his old, provocative Tweets and articles were circulated on Twitter and in the news.
Young joins us to talk about the Free Speech Union, the process of being canceled by an outrage mob on Twitter, and why the value of free speech for all must be protected and defended.
Radical Truths with Isabella Malbin
Isabella Malbin is a birth worker, radical feminist and hypnotist. In her very first doula training back in 2016, she was taught that “men can give birth too.” This phrase was her entrance into the world of gender identity ideology, a dogma she is now deeply critical of.
Isabella joins me for a fascinating discussion on why she speaks out about these controversial issues, even in the face of intense opposition, and how she sees big money and corporate interests hurting women both in and out of the medical industry. We also speak about the transgender phenomenon among teenage girls, what she might advise teens thinking about medical or surgical transition, and what radical feminism means to Isabella and her practice.
Sex, Gender, and Rock ‘n Roll with Karen Davis
Karen Davis is a musician and music teacher who has become a sensation among the gender critical crowd on Twitter and YouTube. Her blend of music, humor, and outrage has put her in the spotlight recently, in particular with a video called “Black Birthing Bodies. REALLY?”
In this interview, Karen explains how she became concerned about gender identity ideology when she encountered phrases like “front-hole havers” being used instead of the word “woman.” She also tells me about what drives her to speak out on this controversial topic, the attention she’s getting for it (both positive and negative), and the very real danger to the livelihoods and safety of those who disagree with aspects of gender identity ideology.
Karl Popper, Free Speech and the Paradox of Tolerance
Cancel culture is the horror movie that has people transfixed by their computer screens, lost in the make believe exchanges of social media when suddenly, all too real, a monster steps out of the screen and into the lives of actual people, seeking their destruction and reveling in their pain and loss.
Canceled for disagreeing with the BLM organization: Tabitha Morris
On June 9th 2020, Tabitha Morris posted a video on Facebook in which she stated that she does not support the Black Lives Matter movement. When the video went viral, Tabitha’s place of work, a Kentucky hospital, received thousands of complaints and threats, and fired her from her job of twenty years.
All you hear on the news is celebrities that are being canceled, famous people that are being canceled. The story is it's not just celebrities. It is regular everyday American people—we don't have millions of dollars to fall back on. - Tabitha Morris
MK Fain responds to The Atlantic
We're putting The Atlantic's journalistic process under a microscope. We made every effort to provide a fair, honest and thorough assessment of each claim made in the article, and evaluate the sources that Tiffany relied on.
In the traditional journalistic world, a critical piece by a major outlet like The Atlantic would go unanswered by its targets. In the new media landscape, that target gets to have her say, in full, on a small platform like Plebity. With the threat and reality of big tech censorship, the role of small independent platforms like ours becomes more apparent.