In !Brigadistas!, an exhilarating graphic novel about the Spanish Civil War, three American friends set off from Brooklyn to join in the fight—determined to make Spain “the tomb of fascism” for the sake of us all. Together they defy the U.S. government and join the legendary Abraham Lincoln Brigade, throw themselves into battle, and conduct sabotage missions behind enemy lines. As Spain is shattered by the savagery of combat during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), readers see the darkening clouds of the World War to come.
To start us off, author Miguel Ferguson shares an inspiring, humorous story about Abraham Lincoln Brigade member Abe Osheroff, one of the thousands of American volunteers that played their part in the Spanish Civil War.
PART I:
PART II:
About the speakers:
Miguel Ferguson
Miguel Ferguson is the author of !Brigadistas! and an award-winning professor, author, and educational entrepreneur. Ferguson is the son of an Irish emigrant and a Mexican-American mother who instilled in him a passion for history and social justice, leading him to found the educational company OfCourse! – which creates innovative curricula and provides training on public policy and social justice topics. Ferguson first met Abe Osheroff in 1994 when he took a class Abe taught on the Spanish Civil War at the University of Washington.
Paul Buhle
Paul Buhle, a frequent MR contributer since 1970, is coeditor of !Brigadistas! and a retired Brown University Senior Lecturer. Over the past decades he has organized and edited more than a dozen nonfiction graphic novels, including Ballad of an American: A Graphic Biography of Paul Robeson, (with Sharon Rudahl and Lawrence Wehr) as well as Red Rosa: A Graphic Biography of Rosa Luxemburg (with Kate Evans), and A People’s History of American Empire (with Howard Zinn & Mike Konopacki). He has authored and edited more than forty books on the American and Caribbean Left, including C.L.R. James: The Artist as Revolutionary (the authorized biography) and Tim Hector, Caribbean Radical.
Fraser M. Ottanelli
Fraser Ottanelli is coeditor of of !Brigadistas! and a professor of History at the University of South Florida. He is the author of six books and scores of articles on radicalism, immigration and the politics of identity. His most recent works include The Asaba Massacre: Trauma, Memory and the Nigerian Civil War (recipient of the Oral History Association’s book of the year award for 2018) and Assassins Against the Old Order: Italian Anarchist Violence in Fin de Siècle Europe.
Daniel Czitrom
For 35 years Daniel Czitrom has served on the Board of Governors of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives (ALBA), including a term as Chair from 1990-94. Recently, before retiring as Professor of History at Mount Holyoke he published New York Exposed: The Gilded Age Police Scandal That Launched the Progressive Era, and co-authored of Out of Many. Czitrom appears frequently on PBS as a documentary film commentator, and has also served as the historical advisor for BBC America’s historical drama, “Copper.”
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