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In Philadelphia, Progressive Education Organizers Fight ‘Disaster Capitalism’

Molly Knefel Working In These Times
The battle over public education is, in large part, a battle over labor, and there’s no better illustration of that than Philadelphia. In 2013, the city’s School Reform Commission (which is appointed, not elected) closed roughly 10 percent of the city's schools, laid off almost 4,000 teachers and other school staff and, in 2014, terminated the teachers' contract to save on health insurance costs. They remain without a contract to this day.

What Does It Mean to be Safe?

Saru Jayaraman and Zachary Norris Ella Baker Center
What do you think #SafetyIs? Too often, conversations about safety revolve around crime and fear. Now more than ever, we know that police are not the pathway to safety, especially for black and brown communities. Join us on August 2nd for Night Out for Safety and Liberation (NOSL) as we redefine and reimagine what public safety really means for our communities.

The Trojan Drone An Illegal Military Strategy Disguised as Technological Advance

Rebecca Gordon TomDispatch
Strangely, amid the spike in racial tensions after the killing of two black men by police in Louisiana and Minnesota, and of five white police officers by a black sharpshooter in Dallas, one American reality has gone unmentioned. The U.S. has been fighting wars -- declared, half-declared, and undeclared -- for almost 15 years and, distant as they are, they’ve been coming home in all sorts of barely noted ways.

The Relentless “Eye”: Local Surveillance

May First/People Link May First/People Link
Local Surveillance: Its impact on human rights and its relationship to national and international surveillance. Statements by grassroots organizations compiled by May First/People Link https://mayfirst.org/. The document was initially submitted to the United Nations Rapporteur on Privacy and is now being released publicly. It is the first compilation of local organizations' statements on surveillance and a look at a strategically critical area of movement work.

The Peace Boat Golden Rule Sails Into a New Era of Nuclear Activism

Dawn Stover Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Achieving disarmament will probably take more than volunteers sailing into town to host a potluck picnic for yachters and stand-up paddlers. It will probably take more than “people who have never thought about war and peace,” as Jaccard calls them, spotting a sailboat with a peace symbol and wondering what it’s all about. Sometimes it takes something brave and brazen to catch a nation’s attention.