Rural Rebellion Anthology

Fellow rural comrades

I have contacted you to ask if you would like to write a piece to be included in an anthology on rural organizing and rural radicalism. As a fellow rural organizer, I believe that many important stories about radical politics have been lost in history. So much about what we conceive as revolutionary/insurrectionary politics has been ascribed to the cities. Country folk are generally seen as backwards or conservative and are generally ignored in radical history.  Rural organizers have been at the forefront of social justice throughout the history of the US, but their stories are generally overlooked in radical history. I think it is time to change this. I think it is time for a beautiful anthology to document the wonderful courage of rural revolutionaries.

I know personally that growing up in a small, working class town has had profound implications on my political perspective. Growing up in the woods lent me a deep appreciation of the natural world and small town democracy. In the country, climate change has never been abstract. Rural people are currently being forced off of their land bases into crowded cities because of the inability to make a decent living farming. Many of our home towns have seen increased flooding, draught and extreme weather patterns due to climate change. It is important that these stories are told so that the people who come after us can know what this time period meant to us.

Finally, I hope this anthology offers a new perspective of hope and radicalism. How have we, as rural organizers, been fighting back? I am excited to hear from voices of revolutionaries outside of the city as our stories have too often been overlooked, despite the numerous contribution rural organizers have made to social justice. Where would the environmental movement be without Earth First! And organizers like Judy Bari? The workers center in Vermont, a rural state of 600,000, has been leading the country by winning the battle for a single payer system. These are the stories that need to be told.

If you would like to submit a story, please consider the following questions. How is rural organizing distinct from city organizing? How does the country setting impact your perspective on politics, democracy and social justice? What struggles have you participated in rural setting? Which strategies worked? Which didn’t? Feel free to included essays on any of these topics or on any other particularly poignant memories of rural organizing.

I hope to have this anthology published with a radical press such as AK Press and use any profits to support rural organizations or rural organizers to continue their important work. I hope you will contribute a piece and stay in touch.

In solidarity,

Emily Reynolds

emily.reynolds@uvm.edu