Hard Crackers

Noel Ignatiev started the Hard Crackers project in early 2016. It was his brainchild. Noel steadfastly maintained that the so-called ordinary people of our world hold in their grasp the potential to be extraordinary in all endeavors, including the pursuit of revolutionary change to form a new liberated society. As Marx wrote, so Noel insisted: “The free development of each is the condition for the free development of all.” He also believed, like C.L.R. James, that “the future is in the present.” His passing was a major loss to a world he fought so hard to change, and to all who fight for human liberation.

The new Hard Crackers release is a special issue that pays tribute to Noel. It features remembrances and reflections by some of the folks who knew him best, including John Bracey, Beth Henson, M. Treloar, Don Hamerquist, Jay Caspian Kang, several Hard Crackers collaborators, and other comrades and friends of Noel. The issue also features an excerpt from Noel’s forthcoming memoir Acceptable Men, out soon from Charles H. Kerr Press.

Meticulously overseeing Hard Crackers throughout the creation of each issue was always a labor of love for Noel. It remains the same for us, as we soldier on without our instigator, our comrade, our friend. We dedicate this special issue to the memory of Noel Ignatiev—may it last long and be fondly remembered in a better world to come.