Portside

The timeliness of The Butler's Child has just been demonstrated by the death of a black man in Baton Rouge at the hands of two ill trained young white police officers. Fifty years ago Steel thought of the Deep South as a dangerous and racist place. Today, however, it has become clear that racism and trigger-happy cops are national phenomena.

This memoir is last book written by the late Benedict Anderson, whose Imagined Communities (1983) was a major contribution to the modern understanding of the nation-state and of nationalism. As Joshua Kurlantzick shows, Anderson's life was as rich as his scholarship was provocative.

The 700,000 member Communications Workers of America has endorsed Secretary Hillary Clinton. They had formerly endorsed Senator Bernie Sanders. They wrote, We know that elections are about choices. the contrast between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, couldn't be greater."

"Ludlow: Greek Americans in the Colorado Coal War" and "The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble" -- two new documentaries, both of them stunning not only in their execution but in their implications, raise all the critical issues about the worth of human life. One takes place in the violent coal mines of the Southwest a century ago, and another takes place today in many locales leading up to appearances in concert halls all over the world.

As the nation becomes more Black and Brown, an economic crisis in wage earnings could be on the horizon.

Native American cooking has all the makings of a culinary trend, but it’s been limited by many diners’ unfamiliarity with its dishes and its loaded history.

The working women’s group 9to5 developed innovative ways for women to talk about their experiences in the workplace, in a way that was safe and encouraging. 9to5 showed that more than just presenting facts, good organizing also required creating spaces for workers to discuss their feelings.

One of the most compelling undercurrents of the show is how it's developed a kind of “against the grain” feminism with its female characters. This came to a head in Season 6, arguably Game of Thrones' most feminist season yet.

What was intended to be a rule protecting workers’ rights has been stopped from taking effect by a judge’s order that was solely focused on the rights of union-busters.

When it came time to fight, the Sanders forces tried two tactics. The first was an amendment to the compromise plank, tweaking it to say "and that's why we oppose the TPP." The second was a separate amendment that would have put the party on record against a TPP vote this year.