Contextualizing History: Locative History and Radicalism

Note: for full citation, please see link

In 1980 Howard Zinn published a seminal work, The People’s History Of The United States. The book had the goal of a “silent revolution”, by infiltrating the academic sphere with alternative, radical history. It went through a gave a history of Columbus massacring Natives and how America's founding fathers instigated revolution to gain control. This book shook the academic world and was only one part of the idea of promoting Radical History. This idea of Radical history seeks to tell a narrative that is separate from the mainstream ideas. All points of historical significance have multiple angles and perspectives. Radical comes from a Latin term meaning “root”, Radical history then has the ultimate goal of going for the root of history, in this case people’s history. Radical history is guided by the idea that people’s experiences and struggles are of utmost importance. Radical history also throws away the idea that history must be objective, and commonly uses historical experience to denounce and discredit the status quo. To this end  radical history often can be used to tell the story of those who resist oppression and domination especially against empire and capital.

    Locative History can be defined as history rooted in location. In the American experience, Gettysburg is known for this. Seen for commemorating the dead, the space is kept sacred. There is a power to sites of historical significance. Washington DC is extremely good at this sort of back and forth with meaning and importance of certain spaces. Ford’s Theater, where Lincoln is especially good at preserving a slice of time, from the actual theater that functions both as a theater and as a memorial of this president, to the room across the street that still holds the pillow stained with blood. This sort of memorial quality is a sort of historical haunting, reminding people of history of the experiences of the dead. This is where radical history is divergent. Radical history is less about the experiences of the dead, and more about how past experiences have affected processes to result in our current situations. Due to the ability for radical history to be left out of mainstream history, the locations are often left un-commerated, to be built over and forgotten. Its also the case that when radical history is celebrated, such as the 1960s anti war movement, it is “othered” and seems distant to present day participants. Radical history is put in a light of an unobtainable situation, that everything was “just right” to allow for these past situations, therefore can not be repeated or even approved upon. The radical narrative is also too often told by those who denounce the past or were on the opposite side of struggle.
    In Oakland, California, there is a rich radical history that is based in people’s struggles. One of the major events was the 1946 General Strike. The general strike lasted for 3 days as workers all over Oakland walked off their jobs to protest the continuing resistance of unionization at Hastings and Khan’s department stores. Today that same area of Oakland is known as “Oaksterdam”  due to the density of pot clubs. What exists to commemorate this is a faded plaque at the corner of Telegraph and Broadway. This is a rare occurrence, as most locations of historical significance don’t have any of this official recognition. Other situations of Labor history in Oakland have lead to national change in the railroad industry. The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters in the 1930s and 40s was based in West Oakland, and became a strong hold for African American working class people. This union later became a part of the AFL-CIO. Yet nothing at their former office at Wood and 5th streets says anything to remember these events.
    Due to high concentrations of marginalized communities especially African Americans, The Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s had even more impact of Oakland communities. For example, The Black Panther Party was started in 1966 by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale when they were at Merritt community college in North Oakland. The party’s goal was to forward the protection of  African Americans from police brutality. They also set up food programs in West Oakland that focused on getting hungry school children breakfast and food for their families. This sort of self sustaining and dismissive attitude of the police eventually lead to their demise, yet the history influenced politics in Oakland for years to come. Locations where the panthers had conflicts with police or where they served the community are largely forgotten. Members of the current black panther party have hosted Legacy Tours of spots of significance. A Major one being Little Bobby Hutton Memorial Park, or as the city calls it DeFremery Park. When the Black Panthers started their food programs and sickle cell testing every weekend, they renamed the park to commemorate Recently slain Panther Bobby Hutton. The park sat as a strong hold for rallies and protests for the party, yet today the park does nothing to remember the panther history. Even after years after the Black Panther Party’s heyday, the city has done little to hold this history. The tours mentioned above seem to be the only instance of this, and are completely unaffiliated with city government.
    These are just a few examples of specific instances of radical history. But why does this matter? In the book “Wobblies and Zapatistas” a concept is presented of “Guerrilla History”. This history, similar to radical history, denounces the existential dilemmas of the intellectual. History needs to be done by those involved in struggle. History for it to be effective for enabling the telling of change must come from the bottom up. History is never objective, mainstream historical recounting have a goal of enforcing the current order. Alternatives to mainstream history challenge this notion and therefore challenge the power structures that exist. This is not always for the better, but it is what it is. This is seen most commonly in the United States with regards to history of the civil war. In Arthur Schlesinger’s book Age of Jackson was a radical text, but the hero, President Andrew Jackson, was one who supported slavery and the killing of Indians. There is always resistance by current social orders to alternative and radical history, For example black panther history is one that is deeply rooted in affirming power of individual communities over government policing. The annoyance of this is obvious. Radical history is important if one wants to change the current social order. Locative Radical History, gives the history teeth and allows people to not only tell their stories but break the spell of control. When people can look out their window and see where people took power, they can be inspired to do the same when that time comes. Using history in this way is much similar to a foucauldian analysis, there is no historical necessity, things can always be and are often different than mainstream perceptions. Foucault argues that there is nothing more human to man than history.
    Radicalhistory.org seeks to do just this. Through the oral tradition and utilizing the web and QR codes, everyday people are given the tools to tell their stories. With the increased pervasiveness of smart phones, these small gestures can be accessed by people walking down the street to find out what happened there. Also, using google maps, people who want to know more can create their own audio tours, around different struggles. From Labor to Race struggles, these DIY audio tours open up neighborhoods to people’s struggle. The project will start in Oakland, but the platform is built as such to encourage anyone to post their own. Right now very few avenues exist to post tours likes these in a central location. Through the recounting of Radical History, radicalhistory.org is a way to give power to the people who make history happen, and hopefully towards a better understanding of our world.

Works Cited

DelVecchio, Rick. "Tour of Black Panther Sites / Former Member Shows How Party Grew in Oakland - SFGate." Featured Articles From The SFGate. San Francisco Chronicle, 25 Oct. 1997. Web. 07 Dec. 2011. <http://articles.sfgate.com/1997-10-25/news/17759525_1_black-panther-party-david-hilliard-battle-with-oakland-police>.

"Five Views: An Ethnic Historic Site Survey for California (Black Americans)." National Park Service Cultural Resources Discover History. National Park Service, 17 Nov. 2007. Web. 07 Dec. 2011. <http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/5views/5views2h20.htm>.

Flagpole. "THE CONSCIENCE OF THE PAST." Flagpole Magazine, 28 Feb. 1998. Web. 07 Dec. 2011. <http://web.archive.org/web/20010525003828/http://www.flagpole.com/Issues/02.18.98/lit.html>.

Lynd, Staughton, and Andrej Grubačić. Wobblies & Zapatistas: Conversations on Anarchism, Marxism and Radical History. Oakland, CA: PM, 2008. Print.

O'Farrell, Clare. "Key Concepts." Michel-foucault.com. 2007. Web. 07 Dec. 2011. <http://www.michel-foucault.com/concepts/index.html>.

Weir, Stan. "1946: The Oakland General Strike." Libcom.org. 22 Nov. 2005. Web. 07 Dec. 2011. <http://libcom.org/library/oakland-general-strike-stan-weir>.

https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1dQdPD4t-ycyS9KB3jWHIUlvl5NaR_hn-iexMhV-kSWo