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The Families That Can't Afford Summer

KJ Dell’Antonia The New York Times
We can indulge our annual illusion of children filling joyful hours with sprinkler romps and robotics camp or we can admit the reality: Summer’s supposed freedom is expensive.

Hillary Clinton Isn't Progressive, She's the Lesser Evil

Kiese Laymon The Guardian
Writer Kiese Laymon on Hillary Clinton: "I will vote for Hillary Clinton in November only if she faces her history of punishing and disciplining vulnerable black Americans." A truly great candidate would face – and fix – decades of systemic harm done to black Americans.

Film: "I, Daniel Blake" - Ken Loach's Shock at the 'Conscious Cruelty' of the Welfare State

Diane Taylor The Guardian
Ken Loach just became the first British director to win the Palme d’Or at Cannes twice, when his welfare state polemic I, Daniel Blake picked up the prize. The 79-year-old film-maker had previously announced he was finished with directing but became so infuriated by the plight of the poor under the current Conservative government that he came out of retirement to make a new film, addressing the human cost of their policies. ‘Hunger is being used as a weapon.'

The Free-Spirited Journey of A Taxi Union Organizer

Sonny Singh Asian American Writer's Workshop
From sufism to reggae, from construction work to driving taxis, it has been a colorful ride for one of the co-founders of a taxi drivers union in New York.

If Sanders Has Lost, What Have the Democrats Won?

Peter Bloom Common Dreams
There is a more important question than whether or not Clinton has officially emerged bloody but victorious. If in fact Sanders has lost, than what have the Democrats won? And what does this mean for the future prospects of the country and world?

 Dear Class of 2016: Don’t Be Fooled by This Glorious Day

 Tom Engelhardt The Nation
Perhaps it would be better to see Donald Trump as a symptom, not the problem itself, to think of him not as the Zika Virus but as the first infectious mosquito to hit the shores of this country. If you need proof that he’s at worst a potential aider and abettor of authoritarianism, just take a look at the rest of our world, where the mosquitoes are many and the virus of right-wing authoritarianism spreading rapidly with the rise of a new nationalism...

Voter Repression Is a Serious Problem: It Is Time for a New Freedom Summer

Bill Fletcher Alternet
Republicans have created immense obstacles to registration - reduced the number of days for early voting, eliminated same-day registration - all with the clear and unadulterated aim of sinking, if not eliminating the Democratic electorate. What is striking is that, not very far behind their bogus arguments regarding alleged voter fraud, Republicans are close to admitting, or will outright admit, that their aim is to get potential Democratic voters to remain home.

Washington, D.C. Lawmakers Approve $15 Minimum Wage, Joining N.Y., Calif.

Aaron C. Davis The Washington Post
The District’s move is the latest in a series of unexpected and rapid-fire victories for the $15-minimum-wage movement. What began as an audacious push by fast-food workers just a few years ago is evolving into a new labor standard, with state lawmakers in California and New York agreeing to implement a $15 minimum wage by 2022 and legislatures in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Jersey weighing similar measures.

CSPG's Poster of the Week

Center for the Study of Political Graphics Center for the Study of Political Graphics
More than thirty years have passed since the end of the dictatorship but Brazil's democracy is again being challenged.