How the militant, poet, political theorist, organizer, and giver of presents refused to die.
Advert Coverage
Joshua Clover, 2015.(Joe Mabel / Inventive Commons)
In early April, Joshua Clover eliminated some transphobic indicators from a Turning Level USA occasion at UC Davis. The video circulated on Twitter: There he’s in all-black, digicam slung over his shoulder, mountain climbing pole in hand, crossing a garden with that new, unsteady gait that had nervous me for months. He appears to be like outdated, frail, but concurrently proud and content material. When the girl with the digicam rushes up demanding her indicators again, he merely refuses. “No, no, it’s good,” he tells her. “I used to be cleansing up the trash that persons are leaving out right here.”
My first thought watching this footage, consumed with concern for his well being: Why is he doing that? After which it struck me—oh, there he’s, refusing to die.
When he died a number of weeks later, social media overflowed with tributes: He bailed me out of jail on Could Day as soon as; with out figuring out me, he contributed 1000’s of {dollars} to assist cowl my bail; I e-mailed him out of the blue and he edited my first e book of poems.
I’ve my very own tales. I keep in mind him throughout that unsuccessful Occupy Oakland–ish motion to probably occupy the Kaiser Middle, motioning me and my son down an alley and away from the road of police eagerly loading their tear gasoline rifles. I keep in mind answering a name from him throughout a Could Day protest. He occurred to be in a constructing overlooking downtown Oakland, assembly with legal professionals about one other buddy arrested earlier that day. From his hen’s-eye vantage level, he noticed me—and the officers approaching across the nook. “Run,” he mentioned merely. And I did.
This was Joshua the Militant. And but there have been so many Joshuas, usually contradicting but incessantly overlapping. There was Joshua the Political Theorist, maybe finest identified for Riot Strike Riotthe place he outlined political eras by their tendency towards riots or strikes. But whereas Joshua the Political Theorist was on the facet of riots and remained hesitant round strikes, when Oakland Lecturers launched into their bitter, extended strike, he referred to as me: “Meet me outdoors Sankofa United Elementary College at 8 am.” We confirmed up each morning till the strike ended. There was Joshua the Scholar, writing unusually beneficiant and optimistic readings of common music and movie, whether or not his focus was Jonathan Richman and the Fashionable Lovers’ 1972 “Roadrunner” or Lil Nas X’s 2018 “Previous City Highway” or The Matrix. Joshua the Organizer of Summer season Camps, from the 95 Cent College to the current Summer season Seminars of the Marxist Institute for Analysis. Joshua the Convention Organizer, as in Revolution and/or Poetry. Joshua the Writer of Commune Editions and Editor of Commune Journal. Joshua the Tweeter, lover of barbs and jabs, the shit-talker, the contrarian, and likewise writer of “How I Stop Spin.” Joshua the Marxist who proclaimed and educated concerning the value-form throughout quite a few arenas. Joshua the Organizer of Lengthy Bike Rides. Joshua the Tutorial who taught at UC Davis for a few years, who defended its public funding by shutting down an on-campus department of US Financial institution in 2011 with 11 college students, who emotionally supported its college students when UCD police pepper-sprayed them. Joshua the Connoisseur of Gummy Candies.
After which there was Joshua the Poet. He knew the way to flip a phrase, construct optimism, and remind us to like one another not simply inside occupied buildings but additionally inside the brief, restricted strains of verse. He printed his first e book—Madonna Yr Domini—in 1987. His final—Pink Epic—in 2015. He was by no means a poet for poet’s sake. Joshua the Militant at all times maintained a sure hesitancy round poetry’s usually exaggerated revolutionary potential and cherished to say he had left poetry behind. That was one thing of a ruse. His remaining poem—“Poem (Sept 26, 2023)”—appeared in Protean Journal in July. He wrote: “The revolution / in Palestine just isn’t over. It’s twelve years for the reason that Port of Oakland / which isn’t over. It’s eight years since Standing Rock / which isn’t over. It’s three years for the reason that George Floyd Rebellion / which isn’t over.”Lastly, Joshua the Lover of Animals, Notably Cats. The previous couple of instances I noticed him outdoors of the hospital, we drove round in search of the herd of sheep whose job it was to eat the understory. He was notably keen on the sheepdog, Pedro, who watched over them. “It was true that the extra I hated individuals the extra I cherished cats,” one among his most quoted poems begins. After which continues, “Then individuals began to shock me. / Usually this concerned hearth or coca-cola / bottles with petrol which quantities to the identical factor.” Those that shocked him, he held so tight. Being mates with him was like coming into a magic circle. Those that noticed solely his outdoors might not know this, however he was a giver of all kinds of presents, not simply mental and likewise materials as in small trinkets, heat jackets, particular candies, amusing notebooks, bottles of wine. It was not simply that he made these in his circle really feel particular; if his writing is anyone single factor, it’s an invite to hitch him in refusing to die. Those that wish to pay homage would possibly donate to their native bail fund, or I’m positive a lot of you’ll be able to think about some methods to refuse to die that may have shocked him if he was nonetheless right here.
Juliana Spahr
Juliana Spahr is a poet and a scholar. Amongst her works is #Misanthropocene: 24 Theses, which she wrote with Joshua Clover. Her most up-to-date e book is Ars Poeticas from Wesleyan College Press.
