Portside

Before launching The Next System Project, we sat down with historian and economic activist Jessica Gordon Nembhard to learn what the tradition of Black cooperative economic development and the long struggle for civil rights could teach us about system change and system models. What follows is an edited transcript of that conversation.

David Simon’s HBO TV series Show Me a Hero follows the racist fight against public housing in 1980s Yonkers, New York but, as author Kevin Baker reveals, it’s just one instance in the sordid American history of kicking Black people out of their neighborhoods. The issue is not only the refusal of white people to live with people of color, but their conviction that Black space is not legitimate, and that whatever Black people own can be expropriated.

Further distancing itself from Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, Vatican says Pope only had ‘real audience’ in Washington with a former student of the Pope and that student's partner.

Under public-financing plans proposed by candidates like Clinton, Bernie's grassroots fundraising would put him over the top.

The resolution, which passed unanimously, endorses the goal of having no kids in detention in Seattle. It’s a move that chips away at the school-to-prison pipeline.

After weeks of worrying traditional anti-tax Republicans with talk of a crackdown on the rich, experts across the political spectrum say Trump’s plan looks like a windfall for the wealthiest of the wealthy and for big corporations.

Ed Sheeran Performs “Ain’t No Sunshine.” Elizabeth Warren: Racial Justice. The Daily Show - Are All Cops Racist? Don't Worry Be Happy | Playing For Change. Oregon County Sheriff Vowed to Ignore Gun Control Laws.

Reader Comments: Sanders and African American support, Labor endorsements divides union ranks, GOP attacks on Hillary;; Slavery, a national institution; Syrian Refugees and growing movement to welcome refugees; Unions, Contracts and the NLRB; Public Education for Sale; Puerto Rico's new party; Support for UE resolution on BDS; Julian Bond honored; Announcements: The Art of Peggy Lipschutz; more...

Controversial posting, by a long-time peace and social justice activist - Obama is the best occupant of the office since the end of World War II. We're unlikely to elect anyone of his quality in 2016. Like all presidents post-World War II, he has presided over the world's most (super) powerful empire. 'American exceptionalism' and flouting superior military and economic might, the empire systematically generates negative consequences for peace at home and worldwide.

On Monday, the New York City Council declared that the government wrongfully executed Ethel Rosenberg. Manhattan Borough President declared Sep 28th as Ethel Rosenberg Day of Justice in the Borough of Manhattan.