Portside

Incredibly, when King called for full employment in 1967, the national unemployment rate was under 4 percent. Flash forward to today: 56 consecutive months of unemployment above 7 percent, among African Americans above 13 percent, above 9 percent among Latinos. At our current rate of job creation, it would take another seven years to get the national unemployment rate down to 5 percent, where it was at the end of 2007.

A fascinating new book from historian William P. Jones puts the 1963 action in its organizing context. Every U.S. school child learns the opening words of Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech, but how many are taught that the march was the brainchild of the nation's leading black labor activists--and called not only for an end to prejudice, but also for a federal jobs program, equality at work, and a boost to the minimum wage?

Reader Comments: Chelsea Manning Sentencing; Egypt; Koch Bros.; Kerry and the Mideast Peace Process; Petition to Hold Kerry Accountable; False History; Labor Unions At Another Crossroad-Exchange (Martin Morand & Bill Fletcher); Dawkins Dresses Up Bigotry; Announcement: Encore-The Blacklisting of Hope Foye - Los Angeles-Aug 24 Resources: The Unfinished Dream - The March on Washington & the Radical Legacy of Martin Luther King

The `new majority' of youth, minority, gay and lesbian, women, labor, and immigrant voters is the foundation of a new March on Washington coalition. A contemporary civil rights movement that incorporates immigrant rights, climate justice, reproductive rights, & marriage equality may converge with a revitalized labor movement committed to organizing low-wage, youth, and immigrant workers - to once again bring pressure from below to usher in a new era of progressive reform

Last month's removal by the army of the Mohammed Morsi government and the subsequent bloody dispersal of Muslim Brotherhood camps in Cairo have provoked contradictory emotions about the situation in Egypt. This is the second time in as many years that the generals have acted. In both cases, it was unparalleled, insurrectionary-like mobilizations prompting them to strategically head off boundless anger against two discredited rulers in a row.

The Graduate Center for Worker Education was a beacon of hope and ascendency for working class students seeking intellectual challenges, social advocacy and professional advancement. So I was shocked and dismayed to learn about the closing of the GCWE by Brooklyn College President Karen Gould, following a stream of attacks against the Center's working students, faculty, and staff.

In July, Washington berry pickers went on strike. A week after their return, farm owners brought in H2A guest workers.

The following is a transcript of the statement made by Pfc. Bradley Manning as read by David Coombs at a press conference on Wednesday after Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison.

An excerpt from the new eBook Vonnegut by the Dozen: Twelve Pieces by Kurt Vonnegut.

Defenders of stop-and-frisk and racial profiling have made me break my public silence about the night I almost died