Days of Dissent: Revolts, Strikes, and Rebel Histories
Days of Dissent brims with defiance in recounting the rebellious history that has reshaped the United States and the world. With poetic fervor, journalist Gabriel San Román delves into the strikes and forgotten martyrs of the labor movement to expose the fetid underbelly of exploitation. In a subverted “this day in history” format and rising from San Román’s Subversive Historian commentaries on Pacifica Radio, a story is told for every day of the year with poignant vignettes about protests—no matter how big or small. Uprisings of enslaved Africans and abolitionists confronting the scourge of slavery, brave Black youth challenging Jim Crow segregation, Indigenous peoples resisting colonial America’s encroachments, Mexican women organizing labor strikes in the Southwest, antiwar protesters marching for peace, and much more. Arriving at a time when history from below faces relentless attacks from above, these stories span centuries and recount the everyday bravery of people organizing for a world free of hate and exploitation. In these pages, history stands firmly where no markers remember massacres disguised as race riots, where the voiceless speak for themselves, and those at the margins of movements demand dignity within them. For every reader who is a worker, student, activist, or is just frustrated by the status quo, Days of Dissent offers one simple suggestion: Read, remember, rebel! What People Are Saying “Gabriel San Román’s Days of Dissent offers us a daily guide for the days when our faith in justice wobbles—to remind us that we have always fought our oppressors, and we have never given up. Everyone dreaming of a better future should have this book in their library.” Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, author of The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred “A call to true justice and the persistence of memory.” Alicia Kozameh, Chapman University creative writing professor, novelist, poet, and former Argentinian political prisoner “In the midst of today’s outlandish claims and public lies, Gabriel San Román’s Days of Dissent offers readers a much-needed reality check. By embracing the tenets of a people’s history, he beautifully weaves a tapestry of antiestablishment vignettes across time to remind us that only through nonnegotiable commitments to speak truth to power can democracy survive.” Antonia Darder, Leavey Presidential Endowed Chair in Ethics and Moral Leadership, Loyola Marymount University “As smart as it is beautifully rendered, Days of Dissent alters our sense of time by channeling the voices of people’s history, giving lie to the biggest of the Big Lies: You can do nothing to alter the course of capitalist history.” Roberto Lovato, journalist, creative writing professor and author of Unforgetting: A Memoir of Family, Migration, Gangs, and Revolution in the Americas “Somehow dramatic and intimate at the same time, this collection captures stories of resistance, rebellion, and revolutionary thought. Each vignette serves as a daily invitation to rethink history through the lens of dissent, offering a new perspective on the world’s most pivotal—and often overlooked—moments of radical change.” Andrej Grubačić, author of Wobblies and Zapatistas “Days of Dissent brilliantly demands we look past status quo lethargy and unpack the deeply inherent tensions which have long existed in American schools—with their specific erasures of nonwhite peoples and our continuous history of dissent.” Jerry Quickley, poet and war correspondent “Days of Dissent makes learning about people’s history as easy and pleasurable as eating a delicious box of candy. And inside each piece is a nourishing core of historical research and literary craft.” Jeremy Brecher, author of Strike! and The Green New Deal from Below About the Author Gabriel San Román is an award-winning journalist and author. He has investigated political corruption as a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, written long-form histories for OC Weekly and voiced the Subversive Historian radio series on Pacifica Radio. He is also the author of Venceremos: Víctor Jara and the New Chilean Song Movement (PM Press). He lives in Orange County, California.