Portside

Barriers to social change posed by our constitutional structure should not overwhelm us with pessimism. The history of the United States is punctuated by radical reform periods: Reconstruction, the Progressive Era, the New Deal and the civil rights era. Militant social movements can make major gains when ruling elites prove incapable of solving major social crises. During these periods a moderate reform party temporarily controls all three branches of government,

This Sunday, Greek citizens will debate two alternatives: austerity and depression without end, or the possibility of deciding their own destiny in a context of huge uncertainty. None of the options are nice. Both could lead to even worse social disruptions. But while with one of them there is some hope, with the other there is not.

Puerto Rico’s debt dwarfs Detroit’s when it went bankrupt. But as a U.S. territory, the island cannot file for bankruptcy without new legislation from Congress.

Nearly 500 years since Galileo was found guilty of heresy, the Holy See is leading the rallying cry for the world to wake up and listen to scientists on climate change. Multi-faith leaders will walk alongside scientists and campaigners, hailing from organisations including Greenpeace and Oxfam Italy, marching to the Vatican to celebrate the pope’s tough stance on environmental issues.

Moynihan and his defenders were not wrong in regarding “compensatory treatment” as an embryonic form of what a decade later came to be called affirmative action. In retrospect, the conflict between civil rights leaders and liberals over the Moynihan report was a dress rehearsal for the bitter and protracted affirmative action battle.

Calling Roof a terrorist helps historicize the nature of organized violence against African-Americans and other oppressed communities. But it needs to be done with an eye to dismantling the architecture of the war on terror.

Hate Inc.; Ford Foundation restructures; Comedians lead; Surviving in Brooklyn; Ramadan Mubarak

The lead articles are now appearing across the major news outlets that the week's events may force the Republicans to change opinions. According to The Washington Post, the Republicans need to "evolve" their positions to keep up with public opinion, and The New York Times says that they have lost the culture war.

"In approving this resolution, the UCC has demonstrated its commitment to justice and equality,” said Rev. Mitri Raheb, a Christian Palestinian and Pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, who travelled to Cleveland for the synod. It comes as a response to the Christian Palestinian community’s call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions, which seeks to achieve Palestinian freedom and rights by peaceful means...

Tsipras’ spectacular decision late on Friday to fly back to Athens and put the Eurogroup’s final bailout offer to a referendum — with the government advising voters to reject the deal — has stunned friends and foes alike. An analysis, and a view from the street.