Portside

#FreeOscarLopez: “It is now or never and President Obama holds all the cards.”

As the African-born mother of US-born black children, I am deeply aware of the impact African American pop culture has on them. I freely acknowledge that African American pop culture contributes significantly to the ways in which my children see their world and how they develop a sense of identity. My son immerses himself in hip-hop. My other daughter watches dancer WilldaBeast videos. For Ojurere, it is Beyoncé all the way.

When asked if they ever went without eating for an entire day because they lacked enough money for food, 7% of students at two-year colleges and 5% of students at four-year colleges said yes.

Race and police violence – doing the math; Toxic testosterone; Hunting Muslims; BLM data; Libraries are back

People for Bernie’s statement on Bernie Sanders endorsement

 Sanders was clear early on that his campaign aimed to fortify a grassroots movement, not himself as a candidate. He identified the platform as a way to register the Democratic Party’s commitment to a progressive agenda—a kind of peace treaty between the DNC and the political revolution, but also an historical marker of dissent from the party’s neoliberal agenda.

I think we all know, deep down, that something more is required of us now. This truth is difficult to face because it’s inconvenient and deeply unsettling. And yet silence isn’t an option. And I’m sure that many who refused to ride segregated buses in Montgomery after Rosa Parks stood her ground wished they could’ve taken the bus, rather than walk miles in protest, day after day, for a whole year. But they knew they had to walk. And so do we.

A combination of better jobs and pensions will remove one political obstacle to a green transition—and it’s the right thing to do.

In June the Japanese island of Okinawa saw one of the biggest demonstrations in two decades, involving at least 50,000 people who protest against heavy US military presence after a local woman was murdered by an ex-Marine and a string of other incidents.

No one should take what Donald Trump stands for this election year less seriously because the man with the bouffant hairdo is the most fragile of creatures, and that the illusion of a campaign he had so singlehandedly created might dissolve at any moment. He may not be ultimate messenger; serious human being or candidate; but those he’s rallied to his side couldn’t be more human, serious, or needy. The messenger might not last; the message is another story entirely.