The name ‘Back to the Root’ refers to the authentic meaning of the word ‘radical’. Though people now say ‘radical’ when they mean extreme or beyond the acceptable range of discourse, the etymology of the word is “to the root” (think radish).

The first ‘capital R’ Radical movement was born in late 18th to early 19th century England among those who sought egalitarian and democratic reforms to the British social and political systems. The general radical ethos was carried on later by Thomas Paine and the French Revolution until a fuller flowering in 19th century socialisms, marxism, and then by a host of post-Marx socialist programs in the 20th century.

American radicalism has a long and proud history just as have American progressivism and leftist social and political movements. Together, all have played a crucial role in the narrative of leftist movements worldwide.

Sentient beings must reject any notion of rightwing or conservative radicalism or ‘reform’; these are leftist and progressive concepts. The right has only extremism and reaction. Real radicalism died quietly in its sleep sometime in the 1980s.

The motto in the Back2theRoot banner is a persiflage echoing one of the slogans of the May 1968 Paris Commune: “Sous les pavés, la plage” (Beneath the paving stones, the beach), which the radicals at the barricades gleefully shouted in ironic reference to their practice of tearing out street paving stones to hurl at the French police.