The MAGA storming of the Capitol is two years old. The attempted coup is still happening. The reshaping of the Republican Party as an insurrectionary force and the expansion of armed gangs aim to smash democracy. Please help us to inform, to mobilize and to inspire the forces of multi-racial, radical, inclusive democracy to defeat this threat in 2023.

Beware Corporate Democrats “Passing the Torch”

Congressman Hakeem Jeffries is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, but that affiliation for the heir apparent to the current House Speaker should not be taken at face value.

COVID-19 in China and Global Concern

It’s clear that the ever-stricter measures in China are failing to keep up with more-transmissible variants while becoming increasingly costly to society. This has caused country-wide protests sparked by frustration, anger, discontent, and despair.

The Culture Workers Go on Strike

From the New School to museums and book publishers, we’re witnessing the black-turtleneck-worker uprising.

The Push Back Against Biden Betrayal of Rail Workers

"What we're seeing is an inhumane deal being pushed onto workers even after a majority voted it down," said Rep. Jamaal Bowman

Media Bits and Bytes – November 29, 2022

Twitter SNAFUs, and more reports from MSM and cyberworld

Failure to Defend Bail Reform Bit NY Dems at PollsAnna

Republicans across the country campaigned on crime. Nowhere did it resonate more than in New York.

On Giving Tuesday: New Challenges for the Left

Once in a while, we – the volunteer moderators of Portside – take the opportunity to talk directly to us – the entire Portside community – about how we see things and how you can pitch in, especially for Giving Tuesday. Our thoughts, in brief:

Why the New Special Counsel Won’t Be Like Mueller

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Andrew Weissmann, a former senior prosecutor on the Robert Mueller probe, about what's next for the special counsel on the Trump investigations.

Amazon Workers Walk Off the Job

Amazon warehouse workers have walked off the job on Friday which is one of the busiest shopping days of the year to demand higher wages and better working conditions from the online retail giant.

Media Misled on Issues Important to Voters

The real problem with the 2022 news coverage is not that it was off target, but rather that “prognostication-as-reporting is utterly dysfunctional.”
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Culture

food

The Fakelore of Food Origins

Ashawnta Jackson JSTOR
Food history is replete with honored legends, creative stories, slightly twisted truths, unsupported claims, leaps of faith, and outright lies. Actually most new dishes are not invented; they evolve.

It’s Been a Helluva Year, Tuesday Is Giving Tuesday

Portside Moderator Portside
Once in a while, we – the volunteer moderators of Portside – take the opportunity to talk directly to us – the entire Portside community – about how we see things and how you can pitch in. (Tuesday is Giving Tuesday) Our thoughts, in brief:

poetry

The Americans

Peter Neil Carroll Amsterday Quarterly
Thanksgiving Day is surely an American holiday, even for some subversives who defy the US government--at least on TV!

music

Jazz Musician Esperanza Spalding To Depart Harvard

Paton D. Roberts and Eric Yan The Harvard Crimson
I am no longer willing to endorse a cultural norm whereby artists & artist-educators passively participate-in, and benefit-from institutions born and bolstered through the justification..or practice of exploiting and destroying Black and Native life

books

The Legacy of a Caged Bird

On Gene Andrew Jarrett’s “Paul Laurence Dunbar” Los Angeles Review of Books
During his lifetime, Paul Laurence Dunbar, an African American, was among the most famous poets in the United States. It is one of the great paradoxes of the early Jim Crow era. This biography sheds new light on the writer's life and work.

Labor

labor

Unemployment Data on Native Americans Shows a Stark Picture

Robert Maxim, Randall Akee, and Gabriel R. Sanchez Brookings
Drawing of a sign saying Native American Heritage month Nearly two years into the recovery, Native American workers are contending with a labor market that would be considered catastrophic if it was reflective of the full economy.

Friday nite video

video

Qatar World Cup | John Oliver

The Qatar World Cup, human rights violations in the host country, and what perfection really means to David Beckham

video

The Torch | The Story of Buddy Guy

Guitar icon Buddy Guy reflects on his legacy and passes along the blues lessons he received from legends Muddy Waters and Howlin Wolf to a phenom of the next generation