Civil Rights and Structural Attacks: Conversations with Walter Riley (Legacy Left) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1849356335 ISBN 13: 9781849356336

Publisher: AK Press, 2026

Synopsis

Profound lessons from someone who has seen it all in US freedom movements

In Civil Rights and Structural Attacks Walter Riley, from his more than eighty years of political organizing, begs readers to throw haymakers--to take action.

Raised among the entrails of chattel slavery in Durham, North Carolina, Walter shares political reflections and lessons from decades of movement experience. This includes 1950s and early 1960s mobilizations against Jim Crow apartheid laws and welcoming Freedom Riders to Durham, followed by later 1960s student and labor organizing with the Progressive Labor Party, early Black Panther Party formations, anti-war activities, and co-leading the Peace and Freedom Party's Black Caucus. By the 1970s, Walter had become a leader in the national Progressive Labor Party and led labor and welfare organizing in Chicago and Detroit. In the 1980s he became a criminal defense and civil rights lawyer and challenged South Africa's apartheid system from the Bay Area. He also addresses his more recent work, supporting infrastructure for Haitian movement-building as well as challenging police violence in Oakland. 

This text is a multi-generational conversation between legendary Civil Rights organizer Walter Riley and longtime friend and Oakland anarchist Jesse Strauss. Together, they reflect on the importance of political action as the primary venue for learning and reflection. Walter Riley has a never-ending commitment to building a better world and he'll challenge readers to avoid the paralysis of analysis that slows movements down and to avoid getting caught in the missives of ego. Includes a foreword by Walter Riley's son, Boots Riley.

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Edition details

• Publisher: AK Press
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1849356335
• ISBN 13: 9781849356336
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 264
• Editor: Strauss Jesse