Information is power. Our mission at Portside is to seek out and to provide information that empowers you -- that empowers the left. Every day we search hundreds of sources to connect you with the most interesting, striking and useful material. Just once a year we appeal to you to contribute to make it possible to continue this work. Please help.

 

The Virginia Gun Rights Rally Raising Fears of Violence

Why an annual Lobby Day has resulted in a state of emergency and online calls for a civil war.

Voter Purge in Wisconsin Aims to Reduce Black Vote

A voter purge in Wisconsin will disproportionately impact black voters, undermining the right to vote.

The Equal Rights Amendment Passes in Virginia

Virginia has voted to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. Although obstacles still exist, it bolsters activism for gender equality. And it marks a profound change in Virginia, a state that in the past had often been on the wrong side of history.

Transforming India into an Israel-style Ethnostate

Indians protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act
The Citizenship Amendment Act is the latest repressive step the Indian government has taken against the country’s Muslim minority. By making religion a condition of citizenship, the act is devised to transform India into a Hindutva version of Israel.

Native Americans Fight to be Counted in 2020 US Census

Lizzy Hawley and her sister Ella Hawley in Kivalina, Alaska.
For Native Americans, the census ‘impacts everything,’ from federal funding to political representation. But Native Americans have historically been undercounted; an estimated one in seven Native Americans were not counted in the 2010 US census.

Friday Nite Videos | January 17, 2020

Parnas Implicates Trump & Co. in Ukraine Crimes, and He Has Receipts. Sam Cooke | A Change Is Gonna Come. Why Australia's Fires Are Linked to Floods in Africa. Just Mercy | Movie. Debunking Anti-Vaxxers.

The Truth About the Trump Economy

It is becoming conventional wisdom that US President Donald Trump will be tough to beat in November, because, whatever reservations about him voters may have, he has been good for the American economy. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Get Out of Jail? First You Have to Take a Fast Food Job

To pay off fines and other debts, inmates in Mississippi’s little-known restitution centers must work grueling low-wage jobs, pay rent and endure strip searches. Caught between prison and freedom, they often don’t know when they’ll get to go home.

Learning From King’s Last Campaign

Before he died, Martin Luther King, Jr. joined a campaign to unify working people of all races. Today, nothing could be more powerful.

Terence Hallinan, SF DA and Civil Rights Fighter

As San Francisco’s top prosecutor for eight years, Hallinan hired women, minorities, gays and lesbians in unprecedented numbers, sought alternatives to prosecution for nonviolent crimes and declined to seek the death penalty for any capital case
Read more

Culture

Trump's Gotta Go! Trumpism Too. Please Help.

Portside
Trump is on trial. We will, of course, present the case for his conviction and removal. But beyond that, we will work to vaccinate society against Trumpism by providing a continuous stream of fact, analysis and vision.

poetry

Frisking Two Men in Sadiyah

Hugh Martin In Country
Hugh Martin’s poetry captures the interior agonies of US soldiers at war in Iraq.

Labor

labor

The Yellow Vests and the Erosion of Trade Union Strength

Ben Chacko Morning Star
The emergence of the Yellow Vests showed the absence of the left and labor from large parts of France. Trade unions are still essential to protect workers. But a theoretical need for unions doesn't guarantee that they will be effective.

labor

Sports Illustrated Staffers Become Latest to Try to Unionize

Kathryn Hopkins WWD
The 2019 trend of newsrooms unionizing shows no sign of running out of steam as a new year begins.The latest is Sports Illustrated, with the majority of its staff revealing today that they intend to form a union with the NewsGuild of New York

labor

Take My Benefits—Please!

Mark Dudzic New Politics
Employment-based Health Care Has Become an Anchor Around the Neck of the U.S. Working Class

Friday nite video

video

Just Mercy | Movie

A true story of official injustice and the long battle for vindication (in theaters now), based on a book by Bryan Stevenson

video

Debunking Anti-Vaxxers

The seven most common anti-vaccination arguments and how to answer them

video

Soul Rebel Featuring Bunny Wailer and Manu Chao

Bob Marley once said “One good thing about music, when it hits you feel no pain...” Enjoy Bunny Wailer, Manu Chao and Bushman singing the Wailer’s classic, “Soul Rebel,” along with musicians from around the world.