Two years ago today the world lost a great man far too young. Michael Brooks was not yet well known outside of online political circles, but if he had not been taken from us so young I believe he would have been. I hope that through this small tribute more people will find out who he was and what he stood for.
Michael was the kind of person I wish I was. He had seemingly endless energy and commitment to understanding people and politics around the world, bringing people together, bridging gaps and creating a better world with a broad international coalition.
He had some barbed words for people he believed were poisoning the discourse or causing harm in the world, but his general philosophy was “be kind to people and ruthless to systems.”
That phrase has always resonated with me, and I think that it cuts to the core of what we need to do to heal our divides and make real progress.
The day we lost Michael’s voice was devastating for me. Over the 7 or so years I listened to him on The Majority Report and his other shows I had come to trust and rely on his knowledge and analysis of world politics and people. I saw him learning and growing and I expected him to be a strong and increasingly influential voice for many years to come.
Recognizing that loss and the need for those of us who learned from him to try to fill the hole that he left pushed me to re-engage in politics when it seemed like a hopeless task, and ultimately to create OurVoice.social.
I only wish that Michael was here to help this movement succeed because I believe he would have supported the idea and he was far better at understanding people and communicating with them than I can ever hope to be.
Still, for Michael and for everyone who has tried to create a better world without living to see the fruits of their labor, I have to try.
I hope that you will consider reading Michael’s book Against the Web : A Cosmopolitan Answer to the New Right, watching some of his video archive, and that you will find the values he strove to promote and live by reflected here.
Michael believed in bringing people together in the struggle for love & justice, fighting for all poor & working people, a struggle that he understood to be global. He knew the only way we could do this was by bringing people together & made his life’s work bringing people from different backgrounds and countries together. We hope you join us in honoring him by continuing that work.
– From the Twitter post on Michael’s account announcing his passing.