An event on Saturday night at Orca Books, 509 4th Ave E, downtown Olympia:

Historian Michael Staudenmaier will read from Truth and Revolution: A History of the Sojourner Truth Organization, 1969-1986.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the revolutionary left in the United States went through a series of profound political, demographic, and cultural transformations as it struggled to find its footing in a rapidly changing world. The unorthodox political agenda of the Sojourner Truth Organization represented a small but strong thread running through the politics of the left during these decades. Drawing on detailed archival research and oral interviews, Truth and Revolution skillfully combines social and intellectual history to shed light on both the theory and the practice of the STO. Perhaps most famous for its theoretical formulations of white skin privilege, the group also developed a novel analysis of class consciousness that reflected its commitment to an autonomist Marxism. In all the major areas of its work—which included factory organizing, anti-imperialist solidarity, anti-nuclear and anti-fascist struggles—STO combined a strategic assessment of the urgent tasks facing an activist left with a theoretical sophistication that merits sustained attention. Staudenmaier also includes a final chapter linking the legacy of STO directly to the challenges facing twenty-first century radicals.