Skip to main content

A Louisville Union Built its Strength as Blacks, Whites Took on International Harvester

Toni Gilpin LEO Weekly
This “constant campaign” carried into the community as well, with Local 236 at the forefront of battles in the late 1940s and early 1950s to desegregate Louisville. But to Jim Wright, perhaps the FE’s biggest impact came at the personal level, as those whites who had come into the Harvester plant as “real racists” became friends with black workers there.

As Hurricanes Bear Down, Tribes Act Quickly to Build Resilience Plans

Terri Hansen Yes! Magazine
In January, Louisiana received a $48 million grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to move the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw and Houma Nation tribal members to more solid ground and reestablish their communities, making tribal members the first climate change refugees in the U.S.

Legal Challenge to Arpaio Pardon Begins

Jennifer Rubin The Washington Post
Those challenging the pardon understand there is no precedent for this — but neither is there a precedent for a pardon of this type. “While many pardons are controversial politically, we are unaware of any past example of a pardon to a public official for criminal contempt of court for violating a court order to stop a systemic practice of violating individuals’ constitutional rights,” Fein says.

Physicians to Sanders: We Cannot Support Barriers to Health Care

David Himmelstein, Carol Paris, Steffie Woolhandler Health Over Profit
While your staff has not shared with us the details of the current draft, we understand from colleagues in other single-payer advocacy groups that it mandates copayments for medical services for most Americans and proposes a four-year delay before the implementation of the single-payer reform.

The Real Culprits Behind the Uniquely American Opioids Crisis

Chris McGreal The Guardian
Opioids killed more than 33,000 Americans in 2015 and certainly more last year. Half of deaths involved prescription painkillers. And most of those who overdose on heroin or synthetic opiates, such as fentanyl, first became hooked on legal pills. The US, with 5% of the people, consumes 80% of the global opioid pill production. This is an American crisis, caused by Big Pharma, politicians who colluded with it, and regulators who approved one opioid pill after another.

Revealed: AARP Is Funding ALEC

Nick Surgey and Calvin Sloan Center for Media and Democracy
AARP, the non-profit seniors organization that exists to promote the financial security, pensions and healthcare of those over 50, is secretly funding the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), an organization whose bills have acted against the interests of ordinary Americans, including retirees and their families. What can you do? -- sign the petition below.

The Case for More Government and Higher Taxes

Eduardo Porter The New York Times
Four out of every five - or more - have said the government makes them feel either angry or frustrated. These frustrated Americans may not fully realize it, but there's a strong case for more government - not less - as the most promising way to improve the nation's standard of living. The American government pretty much stopped growing when the civil rights movement forced whites to share public space with African Americans, then Latinos, Asians and Native Americans.

Muslim Americans and Opposition to Misguided Wars

Moustafa Bayoumi; Peter Certo; Clancy Sigal
While Khan's speech was meant to tell everyone that Muslim Americans are proud and patriotic citizens, which is fine and true, there are also other ways to work for the good of the nation than fighting in its wars. To be a Muslim citizen of the United States, you don't have to die as a Muslim American. You can live as one, too.

Pramila Jayapal Just Scored One of the Biggest Progressive Victories of 2016

John Nichols The Nation
If there is to be a political revolution - reactionary Republicans must be removed and cautious Democrats must be replaced with outside-inside activists who understand how to make the connection between movements and policies. Pramila Jayapal is an immigrant-rights advocate who blends movement ideals with legislative skills. She was one of the first congressional candidates this year to earn an endorsement from Bernie Sanders.