Portside

It’s a long shot, but not out of the question.

Charlene Mitchell led a long and multi-faceted political career, including first Black woman to run for President, leader of the movement against racial and political repression, advocate for democracy, socialism and internationalism.

A baby born in the U.S. in 2021 has a life expectancy at the lowest level since 1996. Native Americans, Black people and Hispanics are hardest hit. “Our increasingly potent and deadly drug supply is a result of the war on drugs.”

Each state appears here in alphabetical order. With a poem for the District of Columbia, and a poem serving as Preface, 52 poems. But This Land invites (and even demands) that its organization and its meanings be constructed by each reader.

For poet Joseph Zaccardi, the Vietnam war lingers in memory for the fear it wrought among soldiers, but also the loss of camaraderie “after all these/years scattered across American towns and cities…”

Resolving the conflict between being visionary and being pragmatic is critical for those who want to transform society. Can we be both visionary and strategic?

Benjamin Netanyahu leads a new Israeli government, the most right-wing ever of all Israeli governments. What will happen next? Within months, perhaps a year, barely concealed settler militias will be running rampant against West Bank Palestinians.

While a big victory, Medicare did not provide full coverage for all services, and from its inception, there has been a drive to privatize and hand it over to profiteers. With privatization, profits ensue as additional restrictions are imposed.....

Democratic candidates for governor were victorious in key battleground states in 2022. Their successes, like those of Democrats up and down the ballot, were in part powered by the support of young voters, who backed Democrats by large margins.