Black Label Detroit would like to welcome all readers/listeners to our next chapter:
It astounds the creator of Black Label Detroit that this publication, despite being free and open to all, and, birthed into existence by someone who was locked out of becoming a professional journalist, has undoubtedly moved the needle ever so slightly since it's creation those few years ago.
Now, established journalists and petrified politicians alike look towards Black Label Detroit as a publication who has it's finger on the pulse of local Radicals, and those who seek to irreversibly change the character of Metro Detroit forever.
This goal, while tempting to fantasize about, comes up against the seemingly "immovable" obstacle that is the local elite class. Now, just as Mayor Duggan attempts to illustrate the race for mayor as "wide open" as it could possibly be, the local political and business elite are throwing all of their weight and support behind tepid Reformers such as Mary Sheffield, and now, the stakes could not be any higher for the future of a potential Radical government for the Metro area. We understand that a loss in Detroit's mayoral race could set the entire region back decades.
That's why Black Label Detroit would like to announce Project Arisen Phoenix to run in conjunction with the 2025 Detroit Mayoral Election.
"What is Project Arisen Phoenix, and what is it's connection to the mayoral race?"
Project Arisen Phoenix will be a series of analyses based on the autobiographies of Detroit's previous mayors in the timeframe between the 1967 uprising and the 2014 bankruptcy. As well as combining those men's narratives to the findings that fellow writers have wrote in great detail about the such as the auto industry and the organized crime rings that also existed during this period of time.
Any Radical who has done their history homework would know that political power isn't in the realm of the political sphere, it is instead jealously guarded by figures in the economic sphere (CEOs and drug kingpins alike), so, the task of any Radical within Metro Detroit should be to wrestle back power to the political sphere so that politics can finally become liberated from the grips of the underworld and the rich. Not only that, but also to, allow a true Democracy to establish itself here in Metro Detroit.
This goal requires a theoretical background, however, in order to properly guide Radicals towards the right path, without it, we will relegate ourselves to eternal failure and be scattered into the wind just like the movements that came before us have suffered. That part is where Project Solid Specter comes into play:
"What is Project Solid Specter, and what does it have to do with your proposed historical analysis?"
Project Solid Specter will be a series of reports on the Radical theory and important books that have shaped Black Label Detroit's editorial positions, and, it is hoped, will guide readers/listeners to think differently about what type of future this region will have under a Radical government since every entry will, more or less, be focused on Detroit or Metro Detroit. Here are the books that we will discuss, in no particular order:
1. Capitalist Realism by Mark Fisher (cultural & philosophical commentary)
2. Urban Politics Power in Metropolitan America by Bernard H. Ross & Myron A. Levine (urbanist politics)
3. Detroit 1967 by Joel Stone (history)
4. Stolen; How to Save the World From Financialization by Grace Blakeley (economics)
5. Detroit's Cold War by Colleen Doody (political history)
6. The Storm Before the Storm by Mike Duncan (political history)
7. Another Now by Yanis Varoufakis (economics & fiction)
8. Fully Automated Luxury Communism by Aaron Bastani (political theory)
9. The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber & David Wengrow (political history)
10. Post Scarcity Anarchism by Murray Bookchin (political theory)
11. The Conquest of Bread by Peter Kropotkin (political theory)
12. Massacre: The Life and Death of the Paris Commune by John Merriman (political history)
"What's the catch?"
Since life under our current social order and political system tirelessly drives creatives to monetize their passions in the face of growing financial uncertainty, Black Label Detroit has, sadly, been driven into this direction. This author assures you, dear reader/listener, that if it were feasible to produce all of this proposed content free of charge, Black Label Detroit would probably have over a hundred posts by now. Unfortunately, this author cannot feasibly keep on supplying in depth pieces while reaping no financial rewards from it's research. That's why both Project Arisen Phoenix and Project Solid Specter will only be available in full to readers/listeners who financially contribute towards Black Label Detroit. The details of what platforms that we will use is still being ironed out, but, these in depth pieces will no longer be free. This does NOT mean that free articles won't ever come out again, even with the pieces that are only available for members, there will be excerpts of what is being published behind the paywall for free so you guys won't miss out too much, yet, will be motivated to join our membership.
"So, what is all this for anyways?"
As 2025 rolls relentlessly forward, no publication will be dedicated to making sure that Radicals are equipped with the knowledge they need so they we can start making political victories like Black Label Detroit has manifested. More years of incremental reform by Reformist politicians will mean more discontent among all planes of the political spectrum, and as we have seen from following history, Radicals aren't the natural benefactor of political power, the reactionary Right is. Metro Detroit CANNOT afford a reactionary government being in place. The only way to combat that possibility is to arm Radicals with the mental tools necessary to paint a vivid picture of a drastically different world. Our imagination will carry us into power, but, only if we fight tooth and nail for it.
After these projects are all said and done, we shall set our sights on the 2025 mayoral race, then the 2026 Gubernatorial Race, then, once those two offices are secured, nothing will be able to stop the specter of Radical municipal governments from taking over those communities that've been disinvested in and left to rot. If we take the "Rust Belt" and establish ourselves in it's cities, we will completely alter the character of this country, and, hopefully, the world.
We have everything to lose if we don't act swiftly
Black Label Detroit
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