this is how we win
a guide to building working-class uprisings
this was more interesting than i was expecting it to be. the core editors are from workday magazine and the book was featured on the racket cast. it’s a collection of essays from minnesota and around the world. lots of focus on labor solidarity and collective support. the essays are sourced from labor organizers, a waffle house server, and a former high school teacher (and organizer) who had a really interesting take on the pullman porter’s role in civil rights engagement.
i’ll confess, i didn’t see the strike in minneapolis this past january through the same lens they did here, but i’m with them on the journey.
recommendation: yes! it’s only a few bucks from haymarket press and they’ll bundle the ebook version as well.
(from 2026 books)
highlights
Introduction
Striking subverts the presumption that everyone is out for themselves, a prejudice that capital counts on. It is the mightiest weapon that we have, particularly when we wield it in a spirit of solidarity and community that extends beyond any single workplace.
Part 2: The Power of Refusal
But the parties agree on far too much, and that overlap of agreement provides the conditions and narrative force that allows for the Republicans to carry out their extremist agenda of gutting food and environmental safety regulations and worker protections, and pursuing violent accelerationism at home and abroad. It also shows that no one is coming to save us but us.
The only way to stop another Trump from emerging in the future is to remake our political system so that it’s more responsive to the needs of the people.
It just needs a critical mass of workers in several industries withholding their labor. Strikes by workers in crucial industries like transportation, communications, and energy are especially impactful—they can effectively shut down much of the rest of the economy.
In the fall of 2025 in Italy, upwards of two million workers participated in three brief general strikes to protest their government’s complicity in the Gaza genocide. Palestinians in the West Bank have themselves held short general strikes in solidarity with Gaza.
One big reason is because they frequently organize general strikes to fight against cuts to the social safety net and anti-labor legislation.
The general strike is as much a cultural event as it is an economic and political one. It is not the sigh of the oppressed. It is the belting outcry of the potentialities inherent in all of us workers finally realized.
Part 3: Ferrying Each Other to Freedom
Black Panther Party’s free breakfast program, to feed the vulnerable and protect those living in fear.
Operation Midway Blitz
It’s easy to feel powerless when under constant pressure or deep oppression—and frankly, that’s exactly the point. To workers who feel that pressure, I urge them to stop paying so much attention to their own reflection.
i'm not sure i follow this statement. i'll need to unpack this a bit.
We often hear folks in our movement talk about their “theory of change.” But both my ancestry and my lived experience tell me that we really should be talking about the reality of our survival.
That is why they bust unions and promote ignorance and work you so hard that you will be too tired to organize. The fact that they do these things is proof of their fear.