Portside

Last night, President Donald Trump gave his first State of the Union address. Working people were quick to point out that most of us don't live in the reality described in the president's speech and when it comes to the issues we care about, actions speak louder than words.

Trump never mentioned the Russia probe—but he clearly signaled his intentions.

The rise of the coded gaze has implications that go beyond the details of any one app.

This book has prompted a wide-ranging and rich discussion about the state of liberal democracy today, especially in the United States. Here, reviewer Issac uses the book to inquire into a wide range of topics regarding how we might think about democratic norms and procedures in the current period.

Portside extends its heartfelt thanks to our readers - who so generously responded to our annual fund appeal. Thanks to your support, Portside continues to share progressive news and actions that keep you informed and motivated. Last night we heard the message of this racist in chief - sloganeering, bellicosity and fear-mongering. Portside is one of those places that offers an alternative - reporting, analysis and advocacy based in reality.

We are all fighting to be recognized as citizens of a country where we’ve lived for close to 20 years now, and we also fight to be recognized as human beings. With the president recently expounding his racist view of people from non-white countries, it has become that much harder to hold onto my dream of American citizenship.

It happened again this week, as it has happened more than 100 times so far this year. Police in Louisiana and Minnesota shot and killed two more black men. Stop asking us to be calm. Stop asking us to wear the mask. Stop asking us to take whips, nooses and now police bullets without emotion. In the words of Fannie Lou Hamer, "We are sick and tired of being sick and tired." Two years after Ferguson, police induced murders are continuing...#BlackLivesMatter

The disgraceful history of voter disenfranchisement is no secret. For more than a century, African Americans (and other marginalized groups) were restricted or evendisqualified from voting. Today these practices are formally outlawed, yet we still see patterns in voter turnout that indicate that voting discrimination is alive and well. Non-voters also tend to be younger, less educated, and less affluent than their voting counterparts.

A thoughtful and nuanced look at the role identity played in this year's primary contest between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton by a Sanders supporter. Hillary's passionate female (and male feminist) supporters are speaking with sincerity about their hopes for a gender revolution. The reality is that women work for less pay; do more childcare; are often single parents; must weather sexual harassment, abuse, and assault throughout their lives...

On both sides of the Atlantic, citizens are seizing upon trade agreements as a source of their woes. While this is an over-simplification, it is understandable. Today's trade agreements are negotiated in secret, with corporate interests well represented, but ordinary citizens or workers completely shut out. Not surprisingly, the results have been one-sided: workers' bargaining position has been weakened further, compounding the effects of legislation undermining unions.