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No Surrender: Writings From An Anti-Imperialist Political Prisoner

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Since 1981 David Gilbert has been in prison in upstate New York, down on felony murder charges after driving a getaway car in a Black Liberation Army armored car robbery that went terribly wrong. After 23 years locked up you might think he'd be a broken man, but he has remained politically active inside, and a look at some of the writing collected in this book (or a listen to some of his prison interviews) provides much inspiration. Gilbert's writing remains not just lucid and alive but relevant, engaged, energetic and interesting.

No Surrender is an anthology of pieces, some quite brief, which David Gilbert has published over the course of his years locked up. Quite a few are book reviews, thematically organized here, and I was compelled to pick up a few works both old and new after reading D.G.'s recommendations. He also includes here a number of essays previously only available in pamphlet/zine format. The one I found most useful was "Looking at the White Working Class Historically" -- an essay written to socialist/leftist activists in the '90s who are negotiating the political tension between the white working class and movements led by people of color. How does the white working class fit into american political change now? A really useful essay. Other longer pieces include reports of his work as a peer educator early in the HIV epidemic in the U.S. prison population, interviews with representatives of various political groups about what it means to be an anti-imperialist activist, and an essay about the Weather Underground, of which he was a member.

No Surrender is not an autobiography, though it has a couple of autobiographical segments -- early in the book he describes his political coming of age as a young student at Columbia University, visiting Harlem, inspired by the civil rights movement, seeing Malcolm X speak and becoming more and more opposed to the war in Vietnam. Later he writes a tribute to his friend Ted Gold, a fellow member of the WUO who died in the 1970 accidental New York townhouse explosion. You get touches of David's personal and interior life. His theory has been his practice, so he's a feminist, anti-racist, anti-imperialist direct action political prisoner who's been struggling all his life.

What you don't get are more of the details you may seek about what life was like in the Weather Underground, or how he became a young mover and shaker in Columbia's Students for a Democratic Society, or why exactly he and his partner Kathy Boudin didn't re-emerge from underground when the other members of the WUO were doing so. These belong in a personal autobiography, which I hope D.G. will be able to put out eventually, despite the frustrations he must experience trying to write in prison.

No Surrender is a great book for leftist activists, people interested in the work and legacy of SDS/the Weather Underground, men exploring what it means to be feminist, and anyone curious about what it means to be an anti-imperialist in today's world. Strongly recommended.

this book, gilbert's first, collects his writings from the more twenty years of his incarceration. everything from book reviews to interviews to reflective pieces fill this wonderful book.

many people will remember gilbert from sam green's documentary on the weather underground. his warmth and grace came through the screen, and he brings the same humility, passion for social justice, and sharp intellect to this book. he self-critically analyzes the movements he was a part of while still offering hope that progressive change can happen. a powerful and important book. may be available from independent distributors such as AK Press, if you can't find it here.

this book is a bit similar to the truth pill in the matrix movie; your eyes will be opened to the true situation of the world. this book contains useful reviews of other books, and other writings by david gilbert. this book is important.